🌄Solstice stillness🌄
...and my recipe for Festive Florentines🎄
Dear you,
Welcome to the eighth and final free edition of Moontime Musings for 2024.
As the Wheel of the Year turns once again, this edition is open to everyone, with seven more in the archives for this year so far. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive all editions by clicking the button below and share this edition with a friend. Thank you.
How are you doing in these last few days before the longest night of the year? I hope you’re finding some moments to sink back into your animal body and find pockets for rest and Wintering. Since I last wrote to you in November, I’ve been nurturing my beautiful community who are journeying with me as part of Rituals for Rest, as well settling into a slower rhythm punctuated by baking Festive Florentines (recipe below) and creating water colours inspired by the Celtic Tree calendar. This brought so much joy, that I wanted to share them with you. Click the button below to download your copy for 2025 (released tomorrow) and feel free to share the link.
With the Winter Solstice almost upon us, the full Cold Moon slowly waning and the third and final Mercury Rx of the year completed; here’s what else is coming up for the month ahead:
21 December: beginning of Yule
21 December: Winter Solstice at 09:21 GMT - start of astronomical Winter
22 December: Sun moves into Capricorn
23 December: Ursids Meteor Shower peaks
25 December: Christmas Day
30 December: New Wolf Moon 22:27 GMT
1 January: New Year’s Day
3-4 January: Quadrantids Meteor Shower peaks
5 January: Twelfth Night/Wassail
6 January: Nollaig na mBan/Women’s Christmas (Christian Irish)
13 January: Plough Monday
13 January: Full Wolf Moon in Cancer 22:27 GMT
🌳Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
By now I’m sure you’ve already decorated your house with holly, ivy and evergreens in the form of a tree, wreath or perhaps in the creation of a Yule Altar (I’d love to see your creations - please tag @foxfirelearning on social media). But I wanted to mention another tree that I’m paying attention to this month. This is Silver Birch (Betula pendula) and she is the tree of the month from 24th December - 20th January, according to the Celtic Tree Calendar. If you’d like to learn about the tree for each month throughout 2025, you can download a copy of my Celtic Tree Calendar here.
🍎Wassail!
I often find looking beyond 31 December a bit jarring when we’re moving through the liminal time betwixt and between the Winter Solstice and the end of the solar year. Yet I wanted to write to you about a tradition to look out for on the first or second weekend in January which often coincides with Twelfth Night. You may well have heard of the 12 days of Christmas, and perhaps even of Twelfth night - the time 12 days after Christmas (or Boxing Day depending on which custom you follow) when decorations are taken down.
Another tradition on this Twelfth and final day of Yule is the Wassail. Wassailing has seen a bit of a revival over the past decade as folk look to old rituals and traditions to rekindle a connection with nature and find respite from digital excess.
Wassail rituals vary from region to region, but here are some consistencies (according to the National Trust):
A wassail usually starts with all the revellers gathering for a procession down to the orchard – possibly led by a wassail King or Queen.
Once gathered around the oldest tree, pieces of toast are placed in its branches to entice robins, believed to the guardians of the orchard.
Cider is poured around the roots of the tree, while pots and pans are clattered to ward off any evil spirits and wake the trees from their winter slumber.
The crowd will also serenade the tree with chants and traditional songs, often followed by Morris dancing.
No wassail would be complete without tasting the wassail drink, which is usually a local ale or cider blended with honey and spices.
Let me know if you attend a Wassail in early January - I’d love to hear your stories @foxfirelearning on Socials.
🎂Florentines
Finally, I wanted to finish by sharing a Yuletide recipe that I love to create every year. It’s so simple and can easily be adapted for different dietary needs - I even made some the other week which were vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free! And they were still delicious (!). Here’s what you’ll need to make 10:
Ingredients:
50g maple syrup (can use golden syrup)
50g light brown sugar
50g vegan butter or coconut oil
50g flour (any kind)
30g pistachios (chopped)
30g flaked almonds
30 dried cranberries
zest of 1 orange
1tsp of festive spices (e.g. cinnamon/ginger)
150g dark chocolate (melted)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180*C (160*C fan) and grease and line a large baking tray.
Melt together syrup, sugar and butter/oil in a saucepan.
Once bubbling take off the heat and fold in the rest of the ingredients apart from the chocolate.
Scoop dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto your baking tray and gently press down, leaving plenty of room in between (they will spread a lot!).
Bake for 10-12 mins or until edges start to brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Melt chocolate in microwave or bain marie.
Spread melted chocolate over flat side of your Florentines and make a wavy pattern with a fork.
That’s all from me for this eighth and final free edition of 2024. Please consider sharing this newsletter with anyone who you think would like it. Your reciprocity is greatly appreciated 🙏
The next edition comes out in the week of the the next Full (Wolf) Moon on 13 January 2025 and full access will be for paid subscribers only. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than the price of a good coffee each month (£3.50) or £35 a year.
Thank you so much and Yuletide blessings.
Love,
Charly x