Yule Blessings

In researching what I want to include in my Yule ritual this year, I have been finding some really good prayers, blessings and ideas to include. Here are a few of my favorites.

I identify with the Celtic and Norse pagans of old, so I am drawn to the Celtic prayers when I find them,

Celtic Yule Blessing
The food is put away for the winter,
the crops are set aside to feed us,
the cattle are come down from their fields,
and the sheep are in from the pasture.
The land is cold, the sea is stormy, the sky is gray,
the nights are dark, but we have our family.
kin and clan around the hearth,
staying warm in the midst of darkness,
our spirit and love, a flame
a beacon burning brightly
in the night.

Yule Sunset Prayer
The longest night has come once more,'
the sun has set and darkness fallen.
The trees are bare, the earth asleep, and the skies are cold and black.
Yet tonight we rejoice in this longest night,
embracing the darkness that enfolds us.
We welcome the night and all that it holds,
as the light of the stars shines down.

Yule Alter

I tend to keep my alter relatively the same all year, just adding decorations depending on the closest holiday. For the next year, I plan to be a little more involved in creating special alter setups for the wheel of the year, changing the set up monthly. That will begin with Yule, keeping the set up for the last two weeks of December, especially since we celebrate secular Christmas as well as Yule and many of the decorations are the same.
Last week I got some Yule flowers from the dollar store, which I plan on using to decorate the space, as well as some artificial pine tree branches and an old wreath I can take apart to use for extra pine branches. This should be fun! First, though, I need to clean the house a bit and create some sacred space that is accessible to both Galinda and I to use.
Yule ritual is almost done being written and I need to remove the wax from my load stone after I sealed the vibes into the stone before banishing them from my life. I sealed the stone in wax and white sage to cleanse it of the vibes.
Well, time to get to work around here!
Blessed be!
Elphaba

Yule Is Almost Here!

Yule is this week, in fact, it is 2 days from now and I have so much to do. It is the first Yule I am celebrating with Galinda as a member of my extended family. We have lots planned and I still have much work to do.
I am behind in setting up my Yule alter while also looking for a larger alter since I have outgrown my current one. I also must put the finishing touches on my ritual for the day of. Cooking and baking plus cleaning. Oh, and I have to finish the hand made gift I am giving Galinda and her daughter.
For the first time in a long time, I am excited about Yule and looking forward to celebrating.
Blessed be!
Elphaba

With Love And Light

For the past few weeks I have been looking for a daily devotional style book especially for Pagans. Without my knowledge, my husband found one, Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day 2017 Almanac. So, he got both Galinda and I a copy for Yule! So sweet of him.
After looking over the book, I am excited for 2017 to begin, and not just because that means 2016 will be over, since 2016 has been a year plagued by stress, struggle and just otherwise bad stuff.
There is a lot of great information in the almanac and a spell, ritual, or task for each day of the year. I can not wait to begin using it! Now to figure out where to order the different daily incense sticks and supplies needed for the first two weeks worth of entries, lol.
Blessed be!
Elphaba