Showing posts with label Yule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yule. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Yuletide Verbots and Completing Projects
Yule starts at sunset tonight.
Recommended practice is, prior to sunset, to open projects that you wish to work on and to complete before sunset on December 31 (the start of Twelfth Night and Berchta's feast day). Currently-open projects should be completed by Twelfth Night or abandoned completely and restarted in the New Year. Ongoing projects can identify a goal of a phase completion or a stopping point. New projects should be delayed until the New Year once Yule begins; focus instead on completion of that which is still in process.
Historically the oldest references were to spinning and weaving but Pennsylvania German oral tradition also extends it also to smithing, canning, and carpentry. Urglaawe examines the mindset behind the need to complete open tasks and the Verbot on starting projects during Yule, and we apply the concept to all aspects of our lives wherever it is practical and possible.
Job requirements may make some of this difficult or impossible to avoid, but the mindfulness applied to figuring out appropriate areas in your life to recognize the need for completion does matter.
Berchta and the lesser-known Berchtold are deities associated with the end of something or the completion of a cycle prior the the restart. There are many considerations that go along with the mindfulness: responsibility, deprivation, organization, preparation, and being willing to abandon partially-completed work if procrastination is a problem.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Urglaawe Yuul Cards
The Troth's Merchandising Team has created Yuul cards with Deitsch verbiage geared toward the Urglaawe community! Check out their Zazzle store for those cards and more products!
Over time, we will increase the options of this type of useful item for the Urglaawe community.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Plan Your Yuletide Meals Now!
While no meal rules cross all denominations of Heathenry or even all kindreds or individuals within a given denomination, this describes Distelfink's Yuletide meal practices.
In
Urglaawe, "days" begin at sundown on the preceding night. Thus, Yule actually begins at sundown on Friday, December 20 and ends at sundown on Wednesday, January 1.
Friday, December 20: The meal Urglaawer eat at this time
consists of goose, which is sacred to the goddess Holle. In Urglaawe, She is
among the principle deities, and this meal is religiously important due to
Yule's association with Her.
Because Yule is twelve days long, though, this particular meal can be
done at anytime throughout the Yuletide.
Tuesday, December
31: Zwelfdi Nacht, or Twelfth Night, starts at sundown. This is the Berchtaslaaf,
or the Progression of Berchta. Berchta has a commanded meal on December 31 that
consists of any sort of fish (herring is most typical) and gruel, dumplings, or
oatmeal (Grimm's Teutonic Mythology
vol. 1 p. 273). One may consume other food in addition to the
Berchta's ordered feast, if they give portions of their food up as offerings.
Wednesday, January
1: New Year's Day is also Zwelfder Daag, or Twelfth Day, and is the Feast of Frey. Pennsylvania
German tradition and Urglaawe rule is the consumption of pork and sauerkraut on
that day. Both pork and sauerkraut are sacred to the god Frey and represent
blessings and bounty in the New Year.
Macht's immer besser!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Lessons of der Belsnickel
It is now mid-December, and the Yuletide is coming upon us quickly. The first observance in the Deitscherei that is directly related to the Yuletide is the coming of der Belsnickel.
Typically, Belsnickel is viewed through the post-conversion lens of St. Nicholas, much like Santa Claus is. The translation of the name itself, "fur Nick" or "Nicholas in furs," reflects that image. However, is St. Nicholas really the character from whom either Belsnickel or Santa Claus comes?
The case against St. Nicholas is fairly simple. There is no reindeer in Anatolia; the North Pole, Elves, Yuletide, and the sleigh ride through the skies with "Mrs. Claus" (a.k.a. Holle) with all sorts of other spirits present (read: Wild Hunt), and numerous other references give the major clues to the true origin of both entities.As has been pointed out on other Heathen, including Urglaawe, sites, an argument can be made that the Heathen origins of Belsnickel/Krampus and Santa Claus reflect two aspects of the same deity (Wudan, Wodan, Wotan, Odin).
The classic features of der Belsnickel are still visible in some areas of the Deitscherei today, but, in most places, they have shaped him into a more innocuous figure than in prior generations. Typically, Belsnickel appeared anytime in mid-December (not just at the Church-appointed St. Nicholas Day, the date of which may be part of the reason that St. Nicholas was chosen as the saint to diminish the god). He would arrive, looking haggard, dirty, frightening, and dressed in pelts. Whether he had horns or not seemed to depend on locality; those that I remember did not, but plenty of other people in the region relate the presence of horns.
Belsnickel would ask arcane riddles, many of which actually had a simple answer. He actually allowed a fair amount of time for an answer. In fact, I remember him encouraging children to work together in order to solve certain riddles. However, each child was ultimately responsible to provide an answer for the riddles on his or her own. If the child answered incorrectly, or not at all, he or she had to vie for a horse chestnut against other children who did to answer correctly. There was always one less horse chestnut than there were children. As the children were trying to grab a chestnut, Belsnickel would take swats at their hands with a switch. Whichever child ended up with no horse chestnut took a whack on the butt from the switch.
The other children had proven their worthiness in "battle" by winning a horse chestnut and were prepared for Santa Claus' gifts, and while the whack on the butt was certainly terrifying for the victim, it also resulted in the complete exoneration of the child from any wrongdoing, including not being able to answer the riddle. I suspect, however, that in the distant past, that the representation of the whipping had more negative implications.
Wudan, as der Belsnickel, is the shady Seeker, who rewards wisdsom and punishes ignorance. He also presents the dark side of life and teaches us to use our intelligence and skill to deal with it. Wudan, as Santa Claus, reveals His Wish-Granter aspect. Here he projects the joys of life, the concept of generosity, and the social gains to be made through gift exchange. These aspects represent a balance and an understanding of life in a variety of contexts that can help a community face the dangers of life while also recognizing and actualizing love, joy, etc.
The intense hyper-marketing of Santa Claus and the marginalization of Belsnickel remove an opportunity for life lessons to be taught at a young age. The Consumer Culture Christmas has created a bubble around children in an attempt to shield them from the realities of life. Everything has to be "perfect," and the dark side of real life is allowed only in the context of video games, where violence is simultaneously bred and undone by restarting the game. This bubble, ultimately, does the children a disservice.
Our children see acts of violence everywhere, especially in their games. The answer in those games to solving and avoiding violent issues, however, is always more violence. Using ones wit or coming together as a community for mutual benefit is, as far as I know, generally absent from computer games. On the one hand, we have a bubble shielding children from outside violence. On the other hand, we have the violence -- and a skewed way of responding to challenges -- taking a special, invitation-only place within the home.
Our ancestors were often much wiser than we think. Fairy tales and replications of deity actions often served as lessons for the children in how to deal with real life. These are lessons that are projected by Belsnickel, or the Krampus, today.
Typically, Belsnickel is viewed through the post-conversion lens of St. Nicholas, much like Santa Claus is. The translation of the name itself, "fur Nick" or "Nicholas in furs," reflects that image. However, is St. Nicholas really the character from whom either Belsnickel or Santa Claus comes?
The case against St. Nicholas is fairly simple. There is no reindeer in Anatolia; the North Pole, Elves, Yuletide, and the sleigh ride through the skies with "Mrs. Claus" (a.k.a. Holle) with all sorts of other spirits present (read: Wild Hunt), and numerous other references give the major clues to the true origin of both entities.As has been pointed out on other Heathen, including Urglaawe, sites, an argument can be made that the Heathen origins of Belsnickel/Krampus and Santa Claus reflect two aspects of the same deity (Wudan, Wodan, Wotan, Odin).
The classic features of der Belsnickel are still visible in some areas of the Deitscherei today, but, in most places, they have shaped him into a more innocuous figure than in prior generations. Typically, Belsnickel appeared anytime in mid-December (not just at the Church-appointed St. Nicholas Day, the date of which may be part of the reason that St. Nicholas was chosen as the saint to diminish the god). He would arrive, looking haggard, dirty, frightening, and dressed in pelts. Whether he had horns or not seemed to depend on locality; those that I remember did not, but plenty of other people in the region relate the presence of horns.
Belsnickel would ask arcane riddles, many of which actually had a simple answer. He actually allowed a fair amount of time for an answer. In fact, I remember him encouraging children to work together in order to solve certain riddles. However, each child was ultimately responsible to provide an answer for the riddles on his or her own. If the child answered incorrectly, or not at all, he or she had to vie for a horse chestnut against other children who did to answer correctly. There was always one less horse chestnut than there were children. As the children were trying to grab a chestnut, Belsnickel would take swats at their hands with a switch. Whichever child ended up with no horse chestnut took a whack on the butt from the switch.
The other children had proven their worthiness in "battle" by winning a horse chestnut and were prepared for Santa Claus' gifts, and while the whack on the butt was certainly terrifying for the victim, it also resulted in the complete exoneration of the child from any wrongdoing, including not being able to answer the riddle. I suspect, however, that in the distant past, that the representation of the whipping had more negative implications.
Wudan, as der Belsnickel, is the shady Seeker, who rewards wisdsom and punishes ignorance. He also presents the dark side of life and teaches us to use our intelligence and skill to deal with it. Wudan, as Santa Claus, reveals His Wish-Granter aspect. Here he projects the joys of life, the concept of generosity, and the social gains to be made through gift exchange. These aspects represent a balance and an understanding of life in a variety of contexts that can help a community face the dangers of life while also recognizing and actualizing love, joy, etc.
The intense hyper-marketing of Santa Claus and the marginalization of Belsnickel remove an opportunity for life lessons to be taught at a young age. The Consumer Culture Christmas has created a bubble around children in an attempt to shield them from the realities of life. Everything has to be "perfect," and the dark side of real life is allowed only in the context of video games, where violence is simultaneously bred and undone by restarting the game. This bubble, ultimately, does the children a disservice.
Our children see acts of violence everywhere, especially in their games. The answer in those games to solving and avoiding violent issues, however, is always more violence. Using ones wit or coming together as a community for mutual benefit is, as far as I know, generally absent from computer games. On the one hand, we have a bubble shielding children from outside violence. On the other hand, we have the violence -- and a skewed way of responding to challenges -- taking a special, invitation-only place within the home.
Our ancestors were often much wiser than we think. Fairy tales and replications of deity actions often served as lessons for the children in how to deal with real life. These are lessons that are projected by Belsnickel, or the Krampus, today.
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