15 December
Namnsdag Gottfrid
(create peace)

Winter Poem III
Peace is ours to make

14 December
Namnsdag Sten, Stig
(stone, path)

Winter Firs
We are now on the path to the unknown, first step on the ladder from everywhere.

In Nordic myth, as well as many others, the Milky Way is known as the ” ladder to heaven”. The Sun passes through the Galactic […]

13 December
Lucia day
Namnsdag Lucia

Tree Women in Winter
The oldest daughter wears a crown of candles and early in the morning sings an invitation for the light to return. Sweets are offered.

Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar this holiday was celebrated on the day before solstice, the longest night of the year also known […]

12 December
Namnsdag Alexander
(one lesson of the spirit)

Light into Dark ~ Dark into Light

:

We step onto the bridge of Ullr, set our intentions for the new cycle. The past is closed away, winter’s seeds are planted for the […]

11 December
Namnsdag Daniel, Dans
(dance - the stonecircles were known by some as stone dances)

Winter Poem IV

We join at the sacred circle of healing; Circle of Hel. Tomorrow we begin the journey across the bridge.

10 December
Namnsdag Malin
(to grind, become authentic)

Drifts

Ilmarinen, great smith,
placed into his forge

the tips of white-swan feathers,

the milk of greatest virtue,

a single grain of barley,

the finest wool of lambkins

He blew upon his bellows
looked into his forge and saw a glorious crossbow forming
it sang with promises of great ability to kill in battle.
But Ilmarinen […]

9 December Namnsdag Ann, Anna
(the scent of the divine, a feeling of wonder)

New moon, a door opens

Mountain Breath
we long for a new beginning or is it the ancient one?

morning
new
I can see
smell
feel
a new morning

One step
another
day
day and night
week
month
year

Years
tens
hundreds
thousands

that’s how I grow out of this earth
to the earth

I

and those like me

Valkeapaa

8 December Namnsdag Vera
(sojourn- a moment to pause in comfort)

Grandfather visits my backdoor. He is a wise relative of the hudra-folk.
These are the last days of the old cycle. We honor our kindred, review our lessons, reflect. For a moment longer we pause, look inward. Soon we will step onto the bridge, then we will […]

7 December Namnsdag Angelika
(Sweet fragrance that enters the living body)

Winter Poem VII
Multiple meanings can be found. Another day of honoring a kindred.
Angelica is a plant which grows on the tundra. It is an important food source.
step by step
smell of green grass, the first grass
blue heather
Angelica
wood sorrel
upland waters
towards the sky
Valkeapaa

Today the Sun rides over the […]

6 December Namnsdag Nikolaus
Ni-ko-laus (no-cow -useless)
We are in the sacred days of Ullr. Today we honor our kindred, the female reindeer. In a culture with some 150 words for snow and an equally large number for reindeer there is no useless cow. Reindeer allowed the Northwind people to survive 10,000 years in harsh environment.
Is it […]