Wesołych Świąt! Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!
Boldog Karácsonyt! Feliz Navidad!

And Mardylas came to Edinburgh, this is our first Xmas together :]

Here with Greyfriars Bobby

We All Come From The Goddess

We all come from the Goddess

And to Her we shall return

Like a drop of rain

Flowing to the ocean

I received these two Goddess pendants as a birthday gift.
The one with a black pentagram I feel like wearing now, during long nights with cold winds, during the reign of The Crone.
The one with a pearl lies on the altar for time being. When the right time comes I'll feel it. 

Winter Solstice

The Winter is rollig on and the darkness is enveloping us.

The Earth sleeps, preparing itself for its emergence in Springtime.

The people of the land shiver and cosy in with each other, standing against the biting cold.

The trees stand bare and seemingly lifeless across the land. But all is not dead. Nature stares this adversity on the eye and refuses to die The Winter chill only serves to make us want to dance together, to share body heat, to eat til we're bursting, drink til we're merry and laugh til our faces ache.
Nature lives on, the Holly has sprouted its precious berries, its ostentatious and, some might say lascivious, scarlet hue warming the monochromatic melancholy, reminding us that the Wild Man of the Woods still stalks the land, surveying his Kingdom.

And the Winter King wants us to enjoy the season.

We have reached the shortest day, the longest night. From here on in we lookforward to the coming of the Spring. The emergence of snowdrops and daffodils is just round the corner. Together we shall light the darkness!

Come celebrate the Winter Solstice with your brethren, revel in the turning of the tide.

This year's Winter King gave me a special personal blessing

And he has a birthday the same day as me :]

Flying lesson

Well, what are you waiting for?

Everyone stand by a broomstick.

Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up'!

Afer mounting your broom, kick off from the ground, hard.

Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly.

Flying lessons by Madame Hooch, Flying Instructor

Boobs

Mardylas works almost 24/7. This usually causes him headache and too much stress.

I got something, especially for him, to squeeze and fondle his stress away - stress boobs ;]

Believe me, he is much more relaxed now.

Yule Survey

I was tagged by  Jenandollie  in Yule Survey. I think this means I need to answer some questions. That was a good fun :D

 1. Have you started Yule shopping yet?
Oh yes, I usually start it early to avoid madness between shoppers ;]

2. Tell me about one of your special holiday traditions.
Christmas wafer - family members and friends break off a small piece of the wafer and give it to one another along with a blessing. Breaking off and exchanging part of wafer with someone is symbol of forgiveness between two people and is meant to remind participants of the importance of Christmas and family.

3. When do you put up your tree?
First or second weekend in december.

4. Are you a black Friday shopper?
Noooo, shopping drives me nuts in general

5. Do you travel at Yule or stay at home?
I usually travel home to Poland, to stay with my family. However this year I spend Yule in Edinburgh with Mardylas

6. What is your funniest Yule memory?
Few years ago, I convinced my family I'm not able to come home. On Yule eve I knocked  the door. Nobody was expecting me at all. That was a great time :)

7. What is your favourite Yule movie?
The most most favourite is “Love Actually”. I do like also “The Nightmare before Christmas”.

8. Do you do any Yule baking and which is your favourite treat?
I help and my favourite are gingerbread cookies yummy

9. Real or fake tree?
I dream to have a real tree. So far I end up each year with a fake one :/

10. What day does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Panic??? There's no panic ;]

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Yule eve?
Nope. All presents are wrapped and under the tree. I tell you more - on Yule eve I unwrap presents (polish tradition ;])

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Yule?
Decorating tree, cooking food, watching for the first star on Yule eve, enjoying time with family :)

13. What Yule craft do you like best?
Making Yule decorations.

14. Yule music, Yes or No and if yes what is your favourite peice?
Yes, and this is "All I want for Christmas..."

15. Do you plan to do finish all your shopping?
No way, there is always sth I forget i.e. candles, napkins ;]

Now is my turn for tagging:

Ordinary Witch

Shadowed Paths

Rantings of a Crazed Woman

Balls anyone?

 Get the balls and join us on the Domestic Witch yummiest collection
 Goat Cheese Olive Balls

250 grams of soft goat cheese
1/4 cup of finely chopped kalamata olives
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspooon of very finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons of freshly cracked mixed peppercorns for coating

In a small bowl, mash together the goat cheese, olives, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt and black pepper. Roll into 1 inch balls. Sprinkle with a bit of the mixed peppercorns, rolling the ball around on the palm of your hand to coat. Chill for 30 minutes. Serve with thin crackers or simply consume as is.
 

Santa did came this year ;]

I like december, mainly due to the amout of presents I get and celebrations.

Let's start then.

In my homeland - Poland, we celebrate Santa Claus Day on the 6th December. On that day Santa comes to visit you with his big sack full of presents or sometimes hide presents under your bed.

I faithfully continue this tradition even though I live in Scotland now ;]

This year I received my present via Owl Post.

I got a letter with love and Rubik cube! :D

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the "Magic Cube".

In a classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six faces is covered by 9 stickers, among six solid colours (traditionally white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow).

A pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be a solid colour.

I already mixed up the colours. Now I will spend centuries to solve it ;D

Scarabaeus & Bastet

Two monhts ago I visited Egypt. I wish I could stay longer there, so many things to discover, so many stories to hear. The story of our journey starts here Egypt Crusade 2009, the rest of the photos you can also find in my Photo Diary :]

During our many wanders I received a gift from a local shop - a small scarabaeus.

Scarab known also as kheper, and as the animal was associated with life and rebirth. Literally the word means "he who is coming into being". Khephir was a self-created god. The scarab lays its eggs in a ball of dung and rolls it to hide in a safe place. From this unlikely substance the Egyptians observed new life emerging, seemingly from the the earth. Hence he was a god of creation.

Early in Egyptian history the beetle also came to represent the soul rising from death.

Similarly, they believed that Khephri, in the form of a gigantic scarab, rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky, then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern horizon. Each morning Khephri would renew the sun so that it could give life to all the world. As a deity closely associated with resurrection, Khephir was believed to be swallowed by his mother, Nut each evening and passed through her body to be reborn each morning.

And as a cat lover, I admire the Goddess Bastet.

Bastet was the goddess of fire, cats, of the home and pregnant women. The Goddess was represented as a desert cat, or a woman with the head of a cat.

 According to one myth, she was the personification of the soul of Isis. She was also called the "Lady of the East".

Bastet seemed to have two sides to her personality, docile and aggressive. Her docile and gentle side was displayed in her duties as a protector of the home, and pregnant women. Her aggressive and vicious nature was exposed in the accounts of battles in which the pharaoh was said to have slaughtered the enemy as Bastet slaughtered her victims.

Goddess

It arrived today. Silver Goddess pendant.

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna

The chant is so calming and powerful