Yule 2007
by Steven & Mark

Props:
Candelabrum with large candle 
(inscribed with the Pine Ogham Ailm and a Picture of the Pine in Green )
20-30 square white candles
Grand Chair for Winter King
2 pieces of black cloth for Veils
Cauldron / Brazier
Red Wax + Green Wax or candle
Knives for carving

Ritual Prep: 
Group to earlier make candles to carve their dreams into, and press red wax into them to make symbols / pictures clearer.

In the South West Corner of the Temple (where there is room), a chair is covered with white cloths and the Winter King seated upon it. The corner is veiled and he is hidden behind 2 pieces of black cloth that hide him from the view of the participants. This cloth can be parted to sit either side of the King’s Chair. Also there is a candelabra with a single large candle sitting beside the chair; this will be lit by the HP at the appropriate time.

In the Centre of the Circle Stands a Vessel (Cauldron / Brazier), not yet lit.

All are standing with their unlit candles in darkness around the circle as the Circle is cast.  The only points of light are the candles that sparkle in the quarters and on the altar.

Creation of Sacred Space
Circle cast
Quarters are called.
Central Invokation.

HP: We stand at the shortest day of the year, when our world falls silent and the trees are bare and skeletal. To our ancestors, the long cold night of Midwinter must have been daunting and terrifying, and filled with the uncertainty of whether the village had enough food to last the winter, or whether the sun and its warmth would ever return. Our Ancestors held the return of the sun as a Dream, as a wish for the future.

HP: Journey with me as we part the veils of our reality, and our time, and spiral into another realm.

HP leads a spiral procession to the centre of the circle. Participants circle three times before they are lead into the spiral. They hold aloft their unlit candles and chant “Three times around, three times about, a world within, a world without”. When they reach the centre of the circle the HP asks all the participants to sit and hold their candles, focusing on slow, deep breathing exercises as he moves to the end of the spiral at the edge of the circle.

HP: Feel the shape that you carved into your candle. See the sigil in your mind, your dream for the future, the dream you wish to nourish. Focus that dream into the candle before you, so candle and dream, candle and sigil become one. Keep that dream in your mind, as I tell you of another solstice dream, a dream from long ago, yet layered with your own dreams made real this night.

HP: Close your eyes.

HP: I would tell tell you a tale of a land that lies outside of time and space... a land far away, yet only an indrawn breath from where we sit. A land of dreams, that lies beyond the place where three hazels grow, at the meeting of long roads, at the ford of a stream. 

It is the moment before the dawn. A fresh coat of snow blankets a thicket of bare branched trees, and lies cold and crisp upon the ground. Darkness still shrouds the land, but the light of the waning moon and the glow of pre-dawn cast an eerie, silverish glow upon the silent landscape.

But the moment of tranquil silence is broken abruptly, as a woman, heavy with child, comes running through the trees.  She wears a thin dress of purple and blue, not suitable for these conditions. Her bare feet sink beneath the surface of the crisp snow, as she dodges her way through the thicket. Her flaming red hair streams behind her. It matches the fire in her heart yet Her cheeks are stained with tears. It appears that she is she running away, but running away from what, or from whom?

In the Distance, a voice is heard, a voice like a Strong winter’s breeze, low and constant and male.

WK: WE CAN LIVE HERE TOGETHER IN THIS MY KINGDOM

HP: The crashing of a large object through the trees can be heard beneath the desperate plea in the man's voice.

WK: DO NOT HAVE THIS CHILD, THIS LAND IS OURS TO RULE TOGETHER, JUST THE TWO OF US!

HP:  With hardly a backward glance to acknowledge the voice, the woman runs onward.

HP: The tall antlers of a great white buck break through the trees. The buck is harnessed to a gleaming white sleigh driven by a gaunt-looking man with grey threading his long dark hair. He is cloaked in white furs with a crown of holly upon his brow. Silver buckles on cloak and harness glint in the pre-dawn light. The man drives the sleigh recklessly through the trees, as he attempts follow the woman. The buck strains in the harness,  his mighty antlers ducking beneath the low, snow-covered branches.  But still the chase continues, the woman weaving between the trees, slower on foot, but able to dodge the obstacles of tree and root. As she runs she gestures with her hands, her lips moving in silent incantation. Wherever the driver of the sleigh might find a clear path, an unseen tree suddenly blocks his way. The woman runs onwards, branches scratching her arms, her skin tinged blue by the cold, but she is beginning to tire, her breath comes in ragged gasps, her spells no longer blocking every path. The man  urges the buck onwards as he sees the woman beginning to slow. He knows it is only a matter of time before he catches up with her, but he must catch her before the Son is born.

WK: Yah onward, Yah

HP:  The silver glow of the forest is gradually shading to gold, illuminating a splash of green amongst the grey and white landscape. The woman abruptly changes direction and heads for the green place.

She reaches a lone Pine Tree, needles frosted with snow. It stands guard before a grove of Holly trees, with berries red as blood, and as ripe as the woman herself. She stops and drops to the snow, awkwardly she crawls amongst the Holly trees, sheltered and hidden from the sight of her pursuer. She is exhausted and cannot go on, it is time to end the chase. It is time for the Sun to be born. The Queen lies back against the Holly and grips the branches, as she does her hands are pricked on the spiky leaves, causing small droplets of blood to form. As she positions herself closer against the Holly tree, she places her hands upon the snow, leaving a smear of crimson upon the white ground. She can hear the man calling for her, pleading with her not to give birth, but she also hears the gentle song of  Birds in the Holly trees surrounding and sheltering her. The birds, like herself, are seeking protection from the cold and sing to the woman below. Kindred spirits in Winter's embrace. To the East, the Sun rises and as the golden glow spreads out across the forest, the Child of Promise is born. As the birth-blood sinks into the snow and the child utters his first cry to the dawn, the sun’s brightness becomes almost too intense and a branch of the Pine tree bursts into brilliant flame, heralding the arrival of the Divine Child. 

Stage Direction: Here the Veils are pulled back and the Main Candle Lit from the Altar candles.

The shouted pleadings of the man seem to melt away before the chorus of the birds and the cries of the child. Born from darkness, chased by the King of Winter and birthed beneath the evergreens, the Child of Promise, the King of the Sun has entered the world once more. The Mother grasps her Child from the snow's cold embrace and holds him to her breast. The child continues to cry as dawn light spreads across the land. But mother and child are no longer hidden. The flaming Pine and the child's cries attract the King of Winter to the green shelter of his Queen. But as the King's sleigh halts before the blazing pine tree and he alights upon the snow, he feels the warmth of the newly-risen sun upon his face.  And by the sun’s bright radiance he is transformed. No longer the drawn, gaunt and seemingly cold - hearted King of the Winter, He has aged and changed. A king no longer in his prime, no longer as thin as the bare branches of the Winter forest, His form is now that of a plump gentle old man. Kindly of countenance with cheeks ruddy in the dawn breeze. He gives a sigh that echoes with longing for what could have been, yet holds within it acceptance tinged with unlooked for joy.

As he approaches the Holly grove he can see the Earth Queen, his bride and the Child at her breast. Passing the still flaming Pine branch, he realises that the Mother is only clad in her thin purple and blue shift, now stained with blood. He sees too that the newborn Child is exposed to the harsh elements of Winter. The child is not yet flaming with the full force of the Sun within. The last vestiges of the cold-hearted king fall away as the old man unclasps his thick fur cloak and settles it about the shoulders of the Mother and her new born Son. The blood upon the snow, now covered by the white furs of the King of Winter. No longer the pursuer, his role has changed with the dawn and his clothing that was hidden beneath the white cloak is the green of the holly and pine, the red of the blood and berry. He walks back to the pine tree and breaks off the flaming branch that marked the birth of His son. Brandishing it high in one hand, he grasps the bridle of Buck in the other and  brings the sleigh closer to mother and child. Gently He helps Her to climb onto the fur-covered seat and tucks the cloak around them, Mother and Child. He then climbs into the sleigh himself, standing with the reins in his hand. He motions for the buck to move on with a flick his wrist. The sleigh moves haltingly at first, the buck straining at the extra load, but the king waves the burning pine branch and lets out another cry of joy.

WK: HO HO HO!

HP: Spurred on by the shout, the buck leaps forward and sleigh moves smoothly across the snow, weaving between the trees. 

As the journey continues and the sun rides ever higher in the sky, the old king proclaims to the forest:

WK: THE SUN IS BORN TODAY, BORN ANEW TO THE QUEEN, MY BRIDE !

Solstice Child song is played or sung.

HP: Now we must leave this world and continue to our own, the light has been reborn and we will celebrate its birth.

When people open their eyes, they see a large man in green and red. 

WK: “Ho Ho Ho, you have journeyed to the realm outside of space and time, you are all its children. The Sun has been reborn. Now you sit before me as if you were my child, for you are all my children too, no matter your age. Come and whisper to me of your dreams for the year ahead, bring your candle with you for it is the manifestation of your dream.”

The WK calls each person in turn to the King and they whisper their dreams to him. He replies heartily with a comment like:

WK: A strong wish for the future. Ho Ho.
WK: A wish we all hope to be granted. Ho Ho.

As each person offers their dreams, the king lights their Candle from his own and they go to sit back in the spiral. 

HP is last to do so, and walks back around the spiral to sit at its head next to the Cauldron.

WK: Now I know your hopes and dreams, and with them I can spin the future.  I see a spiral path of light, Dreams burning in the Darkness, illuminated by the flame that heralded the birth of my son. Pass this taper along; pass its flame through your own, and onwards to the centre of the spiral.

Once the taper has made it to the HP he passes the flame through his own candle’s flame, and then stands.

HP: All our dreams combined to make the fire that sits on the end of this taper. All our dreams need to flourish is a little fuel. 

HP drops the taper into the Cauldron and this lights the metho inside the cauldron

WK: And as the sun returns, your dreams will continue to burn bright like this fire. Remember your dreams and if you feel them slipping away, light this candle, to remember and re-affirm your dreams for the future. Nurture your dreams as the Earth Queen nurtures the child of promise and both will grow strong this year.

The Winter King then stands from his chair and leaves the circle space wishing all a Happy Yule.

Cakes and Ale
Farewell Quarters
Close Circle.