Reindeer Games

Advent of the Sun Altar: Winter Solstice, Fifth Candle

[Background info about this series of posts found here]

The Winter Solstice arrives today at dawn, following the longest night of the year which started at sundown yesterday. The Sun has been reborn and the shortest day of the year commences! From today forward, sunlight will increase each day as darkness recedes. This Solstice was a moment of great significance and celebration to our ancestors, and to modern pagans honouring the Old Ways.

Night of long darkness.

Candles burn.

Songs call the light:

"Return, touch our hearts"

--Antonia Matthew

Today the centre candle is lit to conclude the 5-week-long ritual of waiting. My centre candle is a slim, hand-dipped beeswax taper which I made probably around 20 years ago at a witchy crafting circle. The beeswax had been gathered from a hollow forest tree which wild bees had turned into their hive. I never lit the candle until now because I knew it would not take long to be consumed. I was saving it for a special occasion, and I guess this is it!

Thank you for joining me over the past 5 weeks of conducting this ritual. I hope you found some meaning in it as well. The Winter Solstice marks the start of the pagan festival of Yule and so here are my Yuletide wishes for you all --

[Photos #1 and #2 © Debra She Who Seeks, 2025;

the memes are courtesy of the internet]

Holiday Hijinks

And now, a carol for all you gay boys out there!

And straight women too, I guess.

We lesbians will just sit this one out.

Will the REAL Birthday Boy Please Stand Up?

No, I don't mean THIS Birthday Boy . . . 

I mean WHICH VERSION

of THIS Birthday Boy . . . 

The MAGA Jesus version?

Or the Prince of Peace?

HOW is there even any

DOUBT about this?

Margaret Atwood, St David's Welsh Society Christmas Concert, and Paper Bag Snowflakes

Margaret Atwood

Venerated Canadian author Margaret Atwood was in Edmonton last weekend for a live interview event attended by a large audience, of which I was one. She was in fine form, witty, insightful, and trenchant. She had much to say about our Maple MAGA Alberta government's recent misguided (and ultimately retracted) attempt to ban The Handmaid's Tale from school libraries. Atwood also read from her just-published Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts about her time living in Edmonton in the early 1970s. The crowd adored her and hung on every word. And of course, I fangirled right along with everyone else!

St David's Welsh Society Christmas Concert

Last weekend I went as well to a Christmas concert at a local church. There was a small Welsh Male Choir singing various songs (a couple in Welsh) and an audience singalong of favourite carols. However, the real draw for me was a recorder and harp duo! They played a selection of Welsh traditional tunes, all of which were quite lovely. You know how much I enjoy well-played recorder music and how rare it is to hear a live performance!

Paper Bag Snowflakes

I also indulged in a bit of crafting this week and made two paper bag snowflakes. I just liked the look of them on the instructional website (found here), they didn't seem all that difficult to make, and I had a bunch of paper lunch bags kicking around in my cupboard, so what the hell, why not?

Here they are side by side on the loveseat. If I make some more next December, I'll buy smaller white paper bags at Michael's or somewhere so they will be easier to hang and display.

Today's Post Is By The Grinch Or Maybe HRH The Cat, I Don't Know