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You guys have got to love this one. It’s probably my favorite holiday tune… And this video is cute too.
One of my favorites…
SUNSET PRAYER (A Sunset Prayer for Yule)
by Patti Wigington About.com
“The longest night has come once more,
the sun has set, and darkness fallen.
The trees are bare, the earth asleep,
and the skies are cold and black.
Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night,
embracing the darkness that enfolds us.
We welcome the night and all that it holds,
as the light of the stars shines down.”
BLESSED YULE/WINTER SOLSTICE to all my Brothers & Sisters who celebrate and honor this date.
As some of my readers know, I honor Yule/Winter Solstice in my spirituality. I was raised a Catholic, and thanks to them, Mary, Mother of God, brought the Goddess archetypes into my life, heralding in first the practice of Wicca, then Witchcraft. I am a Pagan for the most part, celebrating with multiple god(dess)-types. In other words, I am polytheistic. (I hope this doesn’t chase off any readers…it doesn’t change who I was before you read this.)
I also recognize Christmas for what it means to others in the world and the myths and lore behind it as well. But honestly, for myself, I celebrate it from the commercial perspective with my family as it is tradition among my siblings, parents and myself. But for my own spiritual purposes, I celebrate Yule. I still celebrate with my family, having dinner and opening gifts, and I have spent a lonely Christmas Eve at a Catholic mass communing with Mary. I believe in all religions and every spirituality. May you honor what you honor, celebrate what you celebrate, pray to whom you pray…Do as ye will, an’ it harm none. Blessed Be.
For anyone interested in learning more…
Please visit http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm for info on Winter Solstice – Yule Lore
OR..DailyWicca for information on Yule Lore and Yule’s origins.
http://dailywicca.com/2011/11/19/yule-lore-2/
YULE/WINTER SOLSTICE RECIPES:
RETURNING-SUN SPICED BREAD
(creator unknown)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup poppyseeds
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup raisins, plain or golden
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup Karo golden corn syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tbs. milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. mixed spices**
**Equal parts of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Sift the flour, soda, and baking powder into a non-metal bowl. Add the mixed spice and ginger. Next add the brown sugar and raisins. Mix. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and the syrup over a low heat, then pour liquid into the well in the middle of the flour mixture. Add the beaten egg and the milk, and mix very well. Pour into a well greased 2-lb loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes. This bread can be made the night before as it improves with age. Makes 8-10 servings.
***
HOT SPICED WASSAIL (non-alcoholic)
(by Akasha Wicca.com)
4 cups cranberry juice
6 cinnamon sticks
5 cups apple cider
1 orange, studded with whole cloves
1 cup water
1 apple, cored and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix juice, cider, and water in large saucepan or crock pot. Add cinnamon sticks, clove studded orange, and apple slices. Simmer mixture for 4 hours. Serve hot. Makes 12 servings.
***
ANISE TUILES
(from http://www.catanna.com/yulerecipes.htm)
Yields: About 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Work Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour plus 5 to 7 minutes baking time per batch
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick), melted
3/4 teaspoon anise extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease large cookie sheet. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat egg whites, confectioners’ sugar, and flour until blended and smooth. Beat in melted butter, anise extract, and salt.
2. Drop 1 heaping teaspoon mixture onto cookie sheet. Repeat to make 3 more cookies, about 3 inches apart. With small spatula, spread each cookie to a 3-inch round. (Do not place more than 4 on cookie sheet because, after baking, cookies must be shaped quickly before hardening.)
3. Bake cookies 5 to 7 minutes until edges are golden. With pancake turner, quickly remove 1 cookie to wire rack. With hands, gently shape warm cookie to flute edges. Repeat with remaining cookies on cookie sheet. If cookies become too hard to shape, return cookie sheet to oven to soften cookies slightly. Repeat with remaining batter. (Batter will become slightly thicker upon standing.) Store in tightly covered container.
Each cookie: About 40 calories, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 2 g total fat (1 g saturated), 6 mg cholesterol, 45 mg sodium.
-magickal associations:
-anise – love (it’s also used to flavor wedding cakes!)
-eggs – healing, protection, fertility
-sugar – love
-butter – spirituality
1982 – Is that the year Hershey’s invented the big Kiss? I do not know. But I will admit that Hershey IS my favorite chocolate bar – American or otherwise.
Hershey’s is another company that has put out some of the best commercials over the years. Who can ever forget the tagline “Hershey’s – The great American chocolate bar.” Can those of you over 40 hear that tune in your head? It gave me a tingling feeling inside and it still does. It brings me back to my childhood imaginings of what America was. A warm and strong place where no one could touch me. Throw in a Coke and a Clydesdale and my world was all right; untouchable.
My mom was not too keen on me eating candies. But my dad on the other hand… 😉 Every time I was visiting with him in Chicago and he went grocery shopping on Sundays, he bought me a Hershey’s chocolate bar. Sometimes we went shopping together, sometimes he went alone, but I could always expect that bar of chocolate. I still eat Hershey’s today. I’ll never forget that memory and the connection I felt between us over a chocolate bar. I miss my dad…Happy holidays in the Summerlands.
Befitting to the season…
I think this one’s from Christmas 1980! I loved Coca-cola holiday commercials. I have to admit, they’ve made some of the best over the years. This one brings back so many memories for me of quiet country Christmases and my step-father, Louis, trying to convince me that cows talked on Christmas Eve night around midnight.
It was the first Christmas I spent in Texas. I was in a new home, a new school, and I was more than a bit shy. Homesick, not really. Shy, yes. I had more warmth and security in my home with my mom and step-father than I ever had anywhere else and this commercial brings me back home to the early 80s when there was no cares in the world for me. Or so I remember it.
Back in those days, before Pepsi started burning up the market, a Coca-cola meant a Saturday or a holiday, a dinner out, or a special treat at a friend’s house. It’s something my mother didn’t buy to keep at home, but I loved it none-the-less.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!… Introducing “Throwback Thursday” here on my blog! Throwback Thursdays are a way for me to share a little more of myself with my blog readers on a more personal level. I hope you’ll not be shy; join me and share any stories you may have on the subjects I post.
I thought today was as good a day as any to introduce Throwback Thursday. Why? Because I am thankful for the memories. I am thankful for all I got to see and experience in my lifetime thus far and I am so looking forward to more. So here goes!
Well, it’s no secret I was born in 1969. I graduated high school in 1987, and I have two older siblings. My sister, who is about 10 years older than I, and my brother who is 4+ years older. Their tastes in music, movies, trends, clothing and food preferences did influence me to some extent, I know, as did Chicago. I am very much a child of the 70s & 80s, that’s for sure. But I also spent many years away from the big city, and away from my siblings, growing up in rural Texas. I’ve found that my parents’ and my step-father’s tastes in various things also play a part of who I am today. When I post a throwback from my life, there’s sure to be a memory connected.
Please feel free to leave comments on my posts and share your own stories as well.
So on each Throwback Thursday, I’ll be posting some old favorite of mine, or something that totally belongs to my adolescent years. The blogs will come from music, TV, movies, fashion, fads, food, drinks, and so forth. Hence, forthcoming are my memories.
Let’s start with something that many people remember, or have seen somewhere before…maybe on cable TV or on the Internet, or maybe like me, you spent time watching this show. Let’s face it, they can film as many re-creations of it as they like, but there will never…ever…ever be another Crockett & Tubbs as they were played by Don Johnson & Philip Michael Thomas on the hit show, Miami Vice (1984-1990). They were a big part of my teen years and I loved Don Johnson more than life itself. Me and a friend of mine had Miami Vice parties where we drank Boone’s Farm Tickle Pink and ate junk food while watching the show. Miami Vice and its cast are forever in my heart. Thanks for memories.
Find out more about Miami Vice here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Vice
Here’s wishing all my blog readers, fans, supporters, family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember to thank the spirits of the food you consume on Thanksgiving – whether it be of animal or plant. Without them, we would not survive.
Let’s look back; take note. We should be thankful for not only the good things that have happened to us since last Thanksgiving, but also be reflective and mindful of the lessons left behind by the not-so-nice experiences we were met with.
We all have to endure things, circumstances, situations, that we do not like; that are hard on us and those we love. The only thing we can do is grin and bear it. The truth is, we all have a story and we should try to be more tolerant of one another. If you have a problem, someone else probably has one worse or more traumatic. As humans, it seems we’ve lost our empathy; our sympathy. We are fast becoming a cold nation, one of emotional deadbeats. But we have to rise above these urges to not care. We must! For the sake of our home, our planet and everything else upon it.
My Thanksgiving wish is for people to stop killing each other in the streets for no apparent reason. This is ridiculous behavior and does not make us “big men.” It’s simple to shoot down unarmed people for no reason. Let’s pray for the safety, health and well being of our young, and for humane treatment of animals. May we wake up soon and realize that we must work to protect our planet. We should not sit back and think “I don’t have to worry about global warming or “fracking” (fill in the blank with any earth-destroying topic), I’ll be dead before we see the sad outcome.” Really? That’s what I thought back in 1989. I’ve seen it already.
When I light my Thanksgiving candle, I will entreat to my gods, and the spirit of the Earth, for the children so they may hold steadfast against crack, meth, cocaine, and little pills with odd names…among other things. May they stand tall against bullies who hate themselves really, and not those they tease and pick on. I mean…my grandmother once said, “The way a woman keeps her house is how she keeps her soul.” What she meant is that how a woman tends to her physical home and her home life is reflective of her soul. This goes for bullies too. How they are treating another is a mirrored image of their damaged soul. We should contemplate peace so that all children will have no need to hate…and that what ever is being said or done to them to cause them to mistreat another child for a no good reason will be resolved.
Light a candle with me and impose your wishes on the universe. But, I hope those wishes be not for yourself, but for another. And if you do not pray to any god, then please keep pleasant thoughts about the world on this Thanksgiving day so that positive energy may encircle the globe.
Have a blessed & genuine Thanksgiving, my friends.
Exploring the World of Writing
Fantasy Author
Finding Hope Through Hardship
“All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
whispering life from the future
WANDA PARYLA 
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