The Winter Solstice is coming in a week today, and for Heathens in the Southern Hemisphere, that means we have Yule/Geol coming up. I sorta wanted to share what that generally means for us, and what it likely meant for the ancestors back in those pagan forests millennia ago. Geol is a very liminal time, where the barriers between the worlds weaken, where the wights and ancestors and gods are most apparent amongst the living. It was a time to celebrate that things are going to soon start getting warmer, the days longer, the nights shorter, and life can once again thrive. It varies who we call to on these days, but personally, and what I have seen from others, we give offerings to Woden, the one who crosses these boundaries seamlessly, and the one who farries the dead between here to Hel. We give offerings also to the wights we live with as thanks for keeping us safe and warm, as this is where they are most likely to take it! We also specifically give offerings to the elves and dwarves, which traditionally were malicious spirits so that they would pass us over.
Heathen celebrations are very dependent on the environment around them. And so Geol takes on different specific meanings depending on where we live, and may call on other gods as well. Here on Noongar Boodja, Geol coincides with Makuru, the season of rain and cold. Heathens here recognise this by giving offerings to Thunor, the god of rain, the common people, among other things (we also do give offerings to the traditional custodians of the Country we live on, as a way of recognising that we are not of this land, but from somewhere else, and that this land which we stand on was stolen from them- and so offerings are a way of condolences for the bad ancestors' wrong doings and atrocities, and a way of bridging gaps).
The night before Geol is Mothers' Night. Where we give thanks to the mothers! Our own, our ancestral mothers (known as the Modru, and are symbolic of cultural identity, community, religion, and the likes, and are the representations of the wyrd and the ripples through it), and ofc the primordial Modorur, the mother of the gods Woden, Willa, and Weoh, who brought down the Eotanns, conquered the Dwolma (the primordial void that existed before everything, and surrounds the worlds), created the worlds and humans, and gifted them with life, appetite, inspiration, desire, thought, action, and reverence.
Geol, alongside Midsummer, features the fire watch! Where we leave our hearths burning all night, and we watch til sunrise as a sign of devotion, and is normally a time of bonding among people in the Hearth cult (cult in the historic religious sense, not the modern sense sjdlnbvlfsj). It is hella chill and leads to just nice cozy times <33
I don't have much planned for it. I don't have anyone around me who celebrates (while there are neo-pagan groups around here, few are in the same vein as Fyrnsida and Asatru), but my fiance happily partakes in it! I am undecided between a kangaroo stew, or my ma's chicken chicken/spinach pasta bake! But I guess we'll have to see! My physical health has taking a downturn this year following some stuff, and it is harder to stand and do things for long periods of time ToT but regardless! Only our best can be expected, and nothing more! So long as we try, that is what matters. No ancestor, god, nor wight would spite us for putting in our heart if it comes out imperfect.
For everyone! I wish you happy Geol time! And for those in the Northern Hemisphere, a happy Midsummer! Keep safe, keep strong, and never let the bastards keep you down!