Presenting an around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants, Ellen Evert Hopman shares lore, recipes, rituals, and crafts you can make as a family activity to enliven your Yuletide observance. She explores the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, as well as female gift bringers, holiday Spirits, and Yuletide animals. She shows how to make a Yule Log and decorate your house with greenery and grain weavings. She explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and cook traditional foods and drinks such as Wassail and Elizabethan gingerbread cookies. And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Hibiscus, Bayberry, and many more
An around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants
•
Explores in depth the medicinal and magical properties of the many
herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide
season
• Looks at the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa
Claus, as well as female gift bringers, holiday Spirits, and Yuletide
animals
• Shares crafts such as how to make a Yule Log, practices
such as Winter Solstice divinations, and recipes for traditional foods
and drinks
For millennia cultures have taken time out to honor the darkest days of the year with lights, foods, and festivities.
In
ancient Egypt, people decorated their homes with greenery at the
festival of the rebirth of the God Horus. The ancient Romans shared
gifts, especially candles, at the midwinter festival of Saturnalia. In
Scandinavian and Germanic cultures, the Yule Log was burned in the
hearth, fruit orchards were wassailed, and sheaves of wheat were
displayed to carry luck into the New Year. In Celtic cultures, mummers
and guisers went door to door, and European mistletoe (Viscum album) was gathered by Druids as a medicinal and magical aid.
Ellen
Evert Hopman shares folklore, recipes, rituals, and crafts to enliven
your Yuletide observance. She explores the origins of the Christmas tree
and Santa Claus as well as holiday Spirits and Yuletide animals. She
explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and make traditional
foods and drinks such as Elizabethan gingerbread cookies and Wassail.
And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the
many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and
Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg,
Hibiscus, Bayberry, and many more. This guide offers practical and
magical ways to celebrate and honor the darkest days of the year.
An around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants
•
Explores in depth the medicinal and magical properties of the many
herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide
season
• Looks at the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa
Claus, as well as female gift bringers, holiday Spirits, and Yuletide
animals
• Shares crafts such as how to make a Yule Log, practices
such as Winter Solstice divinations, and recipes for traditional foods
and drinks
For millennia cultures have taken time out to honor the darkest days of the year with lights, foods, and festivities.
In
ancient Egypt, people decorated their homes with greenery at the
festival of the rebirth of the God Horus. The ancient Romans shared
gifts, especially candles, at the midwinter festival of Saturnalia. In
Scandinavian and Germanic cultures, the Yule Log was burned in the
hearth, fruit orchards were wassailed, and sheaves of wheat were
displayed to carry luck into the New Year. In Celtic cultures, mummers
and guisers went door to door, and European mistletoe (Viscum album) was gathered by Druids as a medicinal and magical aid.
Ellen
Evert Hopman shares folklore, recipes, rituals, and crafts to enliven
your Yuletide observance. She explores the origins of the Christmas tree
and Santa Claus as well as holiday Spirits and Yuletide animals. She
explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and make traditional
foods and drinks such as Elizabethan gingerbread cookies and Wassail.
And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the
many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and
Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg,
Hibiscus, Bayberry, and many more. This guide offers practical and
magical ways to celebrate and honor the darkest days of the year