Witchcraft: The Eight Sabbats part 2 of 8

A description of the festival of Yule and the customs associated with it. You may recognise some of these customs from the Christian Christmas celebrations.
Music: "Hoof and Horn" and "Return,Return" by Kate West and the Hearth of Hecate.

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• yule
• winter
• solstice
• pagan
• wiccan
• witch
• witchcraft
• sabbats

[cannaryinacoalmine]

Solar worship? Ancient Druid fire rituals remind me of redneck Texas barbeque. Didn't the Vikings do this seasonal fire cerimony thing as well?

[barSLS]

yes they did , it's a common thing amongst the old religions of the worlds (ie the ones pre-christianity.)

[KernAshraven]

Thanks for that presentation.Love the songs aswell.What cd's are those on?

[barSLS]

They're on "Kate West and the Hearth of Hecate : Elements of Chants". you can get the cd from amzaon i think and i can't just remember the name of the other site.

[key2kingdom]

Sweet vids :o)

[InsideSusan]

GREAT JOB...What is the music in this video ?

[DyingInTheLight]

them and they mix them up.

[DyingInTheLight]

beliefs. That is because catholics and christians wanted Pagans to convert. What a better way than to adopt the traditions of the Ancients to get Pagans to convert. Tho' they were not as sucessful as they would of liked. There are many paths. Paganism, Druid, Wicca, and so on. For newbies before settling on one find a knowledgable person on the subject and ask them what each are about, because sadly a lot of people misrepresent what they follow because they aren't sure or have no one to guide...

[DyingInTheLight]

To learn and know. It took me 29 years to get me where I am in my knowledge. And most of it was handed down by my grandmother and other, older, wiser Pagans. A lot of what is in books today is neo new age that has NOTHING to do with the Old ways, the Origins. Gardner was not the founder of wicca but he did pupularize it in the 50's. Tho it was not called Paganism back then, this was all celebrated before Judiasm, Christianity and all other beliefs. Tho you will find a lot of it in many other....

[DyingInTheLight]

Again. Nice video, a lot of the info was off from the origins. Well put together. I know each person has their own way of celebrating and such. I'm not trying to be a fundie Pagan, saying that this is the only way to celebrate but there is a difference between personal celebration and sharing information. And the information must be proper and complete. And the information I typed is the proper information that was either unknown or whichever. Years of study and research get you the right info..

[DyingInTheLight]

Another example of such a song is the Old French carol "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In." the third verse contains the line, "Three pretty girls were in them in...." which clearly is a reference to the

return of the Triple Goddess after

her croneage and period of mourning.

[DyingInTheLight]

"Carols" are from an Old

French word meaning "joyous songs,"and were also the name of

round dances celebrating the

rebirth of the Frankish pagan g-ds. The English Christmas Carol

"Deck the Halls with Bought's of Holly" contains no Christian religion image. In this carol, we sing of decorating with holly, singing Yuletide carols, dancing ("merry measure"), and the telling of pagan myths ("Yuletide treasure").

[DyingInTheLight]

Sometimes the candles were all virgin white, or G-d red. Most often they were the Goddess'

triple-aspect colors of white, red, and black. The entire log was then decoratively covered with holly, mistletoe, and evergreens to represent the intertwinning of the G-d and Goddess who are reunited on this Sabbat.

[DyingInTheLight]

The logs, a phallic symbol, is usually cut from the G-d-related oak tree and carved into a small section which can be easily brought into a dwelling to be placed on a table or alter. Originally these logs, made of oak, were brought into homes with much dancing and ceremony before being lit in fireplaces. Later they became

smaller alter relics sporting three holes, one each to represent the Triple Goddess. These holes were bored into the top, and the log was "impregnated" with three candles.