Stay at home time…

I always enjoy the calm long days of January, waiting for around about the 12th when I can tell the light is gaining once again. The rebirth energy of the winter Solstice lingers, with its promise of warmer days ahead.

On the 7th is Distaff Day, the end of the 12 days of Christmas when women returned to their household duties especially spinning. Before the era of mass production, you had to spin to clothe your family and keep them warm. These days we often celebrate this day as a time to get together, spin yarns, enjoy the company and skills of our talented textile community.

Plough Monday falls on the first Monday after Epiphany when the men would return to the fields to work. They often dressed a plough with flowers and boughs was blessed to ask for bounty later in the year. The corn dolly made from the last sheaf to be cut was buried at this time. Quite often tricks were played on both these days on the opposite sex. Such as setting fire to flax to be spun and the women drenching men in buckets of water.

Immediately next there is Wassailing to look forward to. This has experienced a glorious revival and there may be an event near you which you can attend. Who wouldn’t want to bring some fun and laughter brought to your orchard with singing, dancing, hanging toast soaked in cider in the boughs as an offering and making as much noise as possible by banging pots, drums or anything else noisy.

Mari Lwyd (mari lwid) also takes place in South Wales in January. A terrifying ghostly horse head with streamers for a mane, mounted atop a tall pole parades through the streets accompanied by a rowdy crowd. There is a battle of rhymes that goes back and forth between followers and homeowners as the group asks for beer and entry in a cross between mumming and morris dancing.

I like to get out and walk early on frosty days, when the sun is just up. The play of light through the bare branches and the pockets of frost dusted stems fill me with wonder at natures sparking spectacle and hope for spring to come.

This is the month to nourish your soul so grab a blanket, hot drink, light a wax melt (maybe make some) and enjoy staying inside, crafting, reading, writing or drawing. Planning projects in a special notebook or perhaps Pinterest these days.

Whether you know it or not, you are crafting your path daily, through all the information you come across, assessing what is meaningful to you. Keep your eyes open for clues in nature and patterns, synchronicity in particular. Now is a perfect time to practice day dreaming to allow rest and growth.

January’s full moon is known as the wolf moon for the Celts this is the cold or quiet moon.