My Yule Altar

Well, I've been a little busy this Yule season, with making sure my son has something from Santa under the tree, I managed to get my altar set up for the Sabbat. I'm going to be busy this weekend, I have a group ritual I am attending on Saturday evening. It is my first group ritual in a very long time & I'm looking forward to going. I'll be posting about it for you all. I'm also going to be wrapping gifts...I've been putting it off too long.

On this upcoming Wednesday, I will be heading off to my family's for the holidays. As you all know, I am still in the "closet" about my spirituality, so I know that I will be going to church on Christmas Eve with them. I will do as I did last year & see the Pagan symbolism in the decorations in the church, in the Christmas hymns & in the nativity. I know it's really the Goddess giving birth the to Sun King. While I'm away at the family's, I will not be posting any blogs.

I've been inspired today, it snowed last night. In addition to setting up my altar, I made a pomander to place on the altar, as well as I made a Sun Wheel out of my son's popsicle sticks & painted it gold. I made my own homemade simmering Yule pot-pourri. All I did for that was use orange peel (dried in the oven at 200F for 2 hrs), cloves, juniper berries, cinnamon & lavender. I did cheat, I didn't have any cinnamon sticks on hand, so I used ground cinnamon. I placed all the ingredients (except the dried orange peel) into a bowl and crushed them together with the handle of a screwdriver. A very good substitute if you don't have a mortar & pestle. I placed water in a pot on the stove on low heat and plaed the pot-pourri in a small collander (ok, I don't have a double broiler, either) to simmer over the water. My place just smells divine!!!