FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - ALLELIEWEZIEL OBSERVANCE
October 21, 2015
Bristol, PA: This year, Distelfink Sippschaft will hold its Allelieweziel (“goal of all love”) observance on Sunday, October 25, 2015, at the organization’s Hof grounds in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, at 1:00 PM. The observance will take place one week prior to the beginning of the actual Allelieweziel holiday dates, which begin at sundown on October 30 and run through sundown on November 11. The early observance is intended to allow members to be present at their homes on Halloween.
Allelieweziel represents the transition from the light half (Brechthelft) of the spiritual year to the dark half (Dunkelheft). The holy days begin with the goddess Holle's departure from the soil onto the Wild Hunt (or Furious Host). Allelieweziel is the death phase of the life-death-rebirth cycle, which is affirmed by the honoring of the god Holler, who is closely associated with death, on November 11 on the holiday of Ewicher Yeeger.
As Holle sets off upon the Wild Hunt, She is followed by an entourage of the lands spirits and the souls of the recently departed. Throughout the dark half of the year, Holle hunts for stray souls. As She finds them, they join the Furious Host until She brings them to her figurative mill to "grind" them into their next life.
Another aspect to the holiday is the recognition of the contributions and sacrifices that males make for the good of the community. Traditionally, as winter set in, culling of herds, particularly males, helped to provide food for humans and conserve resources for the remaining herd. This recognition is underscored by the burning of the Butzemann, or activated scarecrow, by the end of the first day of Allelieweziel. The Butzemann is the “father” of this year’s crops and is now released from his duties. Prior to the burning, though, he is to be shown seeds or cuttings of plants to help ensue that we will nurture his descendants. Then, as he is burned, he is to be taking with him all of the things that we wanted to banish from our spiritual lives, particularly things that were on our list of resolutions at the New Year. The pyre is to bring about the extinction of those negative aspects of our lives along with any gifts to the deities. As we watch him burn, we honor his work and reflect upon the year gone by.
The time between Allelieweziel and Yule is considered to be the darkest time: the time between death and rebirth. It is not a time to fear, but instead a time to recognize the need for change within the universe. The end of one thing is a beginning of something new.
The duty of each individual being, whether human, animal, or plant, is to strive to leave the world a better place for our descendants (and us in our next life!) than it was when we came into it. This is the goal of all love. This is Allelieweziel.
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