Birch (Beith) - Lady of the Woods

Birch (Beith) - Lady of the Woods

Birch (Beith) is the 1st tree of the ogham - celtic tree calendar, 24th December - 20th January - also known as the Lady of the Woods, and seen as a portal to the Otherworld. 

Ruling planet - Venus

Abilities - Healing.  New starts and beginnings.  Mysteries of the young Goddess. 

Deities - Frigga, Frya, Arianrhod, Eostre

Elements - Air and water

Medicinal properties - birch is good for treating skin conditions, and as an insect repellent.   It can be used to prevent stones in the kidneys and bladder.    The sap is a natural shampoo, and an infusion of young leaves is used for treating dysentery and urinary infections.  Birch bark is a is a diuretic, antiseptic and a tonic, it contains an anaesthetic which cause nerve endings to lose sensation, making it a great pain reliever.

Magical properties - It is the most fairy like of all our trees, especially when moonlit....and as it is white it was seen as pure, so birch was used to ward off evil spirits, banish fears and build courage.  It is also associated with beauty and tolerance.  A birch besom broom is traditionally used to brush out the old year, the morning after the Winter Solstice.  Babies baskets were often made out of birch, to keep evil spirits away from the helpless babes.  It is the traditional Yule log and Beltane fires were often started using birch twigs, it was also used as a living maypole.  In Wales it was customary for a man to give the woman he loved a garland made of birch, if she felt the same, she would give him a similar garland.

Moon - Waning Crescent 4%

Yoga - Tadasana, Surya Naramaskara,  Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, Baddhakonasana & Matsyendrasana.

Card Message -Nine of Pentacles (sensation/the senses, body)
Receiving an unearned income. No longer needing to work for a living.  Luxuries, hobbies and pleasures.  You may be keen to succeed - both materially and spiritually.  Affirming your values.  Enjoying the benefits of a successful and full life on your own.  A productive, active and settled life, in which you are self assured and spiritually aware.

24th December - The celtic tree month of Beith begins/ Christmas Eve

Gratitude - Nature

Solstice

Solstice

Winter Solstice is particularly significant in solar festivals, in the northern hemisphere, it usually falls on the 21/22 of December.  It marks the shortest day and the longest night, after which daylight hours increase, symbolically it was seen as the rebirth of the sun....the Great Mother, Queen of Heavens gives birth to the Son of Light.  The Winter Solstice falls within the astroligal sign of Capricorn and is seen as the 'door of the gods'.  It is one of two times of year when the Holly King and Oak King do battle, the other being on Summer Solstice.....at this time of year it is the Oak King who will win and wear the crown until they meet again in the summer.

'The Oak King, the Lord of the Greenwood and golden twin of the waxing year, rules from Midwinter to Midsummer. At Midwinter, he goes to battle with his twin, the Holly King, for the favor of the Goddess. He slays the Holly King, who goes to rest in Caer Arianrhod until they do battle again at Midsummer. The Oak King and Holly King are mortal enemies at Midsummer and Midwinter, but they are two sides of a whole. Neither could exist without the other.

Two themes run throughout the Oak King and Holly King saga. The first, of course, is the two great yearly battles between the two. The second is the sacrificial mating, death, and resurrection of each in his season. At Beltane, the peak of the Oak King's reign, he sacrificially mates with the Great Mother, dies in her embrace, and is resurrected. This is an enactment of the natural fertility theme of the season, and is not uncommon in other mythologies: Osiris, Tammuz, Dionysus, Balder, and Jesus are only a few other gods who die and are resurrected. (The Holly King on the other hand, mates, dies and is resurrected at Lammas.) This aspect of the Oak King and Holly King is not widely discussed, but is an important element in their roles as fertility gods.'


from
http://www.earthwitchery.com/oak-king.html

The winter thus far has given us the time to pause and reflect, to plan projects and ideas for the future, we can now imbue these with the increasing solar energy.  It is a time to come out of hibernation and reconnect with friends and family, to celebrate the return of the the sun.

In 274CE the emperor Aurelian sought to unite the Roman Empire around the cult of the Sol Invictus (unconquered sun - the Persian god of light Mithras) and fixes the date on the 25th December.  Sixty years later the Christian church used the date to commemorate the birth of Christ, as the new prince of light.


Moon - Waning Crescent 24%

Yoga - The Gate Sequence, Surya Namaskara

Card Message - Seven of Swords
New ideas challenge old assumptions and great progress is made.  Using intellect, wit or charm to gain an advantage or recover something that has been lost, but care must be taken not to start believing the 'ends justify the means'.  Strategic planning or research.  Espionage, deceit or escape.

21st December - Winter Solstice
Hanukkah - is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals.

Gratitude - Inspiration

We are not doing Christmas anymore :)

This year it really doesn't feel like Christmas..........OK, if I go to the shops it does, for everywhere is decorated with tinsel, adverts for gifts where ever you look and Christmas music played from every possible speaker and I'm sure that every TV advert is christmassy too  - so business as usual!!! 

This year though, it really doesn't feel like Christmas!!!!

My love of Christmas has been on the wane for a long time now and some years we have spoken about not doing it, but celebrating the  Midwinter Feast instead, but we've always ended up going with the same routine of  'christmas' again though, really more for our boys and/or other family members.

This year I don't really want to do Christmas cards,  theres no real gifts to buy for anyone and our children are all past the age of advent calendars, stockings etc, so who are we doing it for and why??

I guess you feel you ought to do it - like a responsibility, conforming to the norm!  In light of watching some eye opening programmes just recently, it seems even more ludicrious to carry on regardless.
What will my parents say?  They'll raise their eyebrows and say that I always like to be different and then my mum will perhaps plead with me that it won't be the same if I don't put a tree up. 
Well shes right, it isn't the same anymore and hasn't been for a while. 
Don't get me wrong though, I do like the festive spirit, spending time with family and friends and also the change in the seasons.

I'm not christian, but then I don't really class myself as pagan, wiccan or anything else.  I do observe the old ways, the knowledge and the appointed festivals, but I do it loosely. 
So this year and from now on we'll be celebrating and placing more awareness on Yule and Midwinter Festivities. 
We'll still do some gifts and nice food, but it won't be a big money draining affair  and
we'll still have some decorations, though it will be more of the greenery and none of the glitz......and no tree!

Now that I've made the decision, its a huge weight off my mind! 

Moon - Waxing Crescent 40%

Yoga - Earth Gratitude Sequence, Mountain, Stretchy Cat, Warriors 1, 2 & 3, Dolphin, Prayer Twist

Card Message - The Sun
You are free to express the radiant essence of your being. Joy and creation flow from you like the rays of the sun.

On this day - Today is the festival of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea and rebirth.