There was a full moon on the Winter Solstice, an unusual event and not occurring in my lifetime again, so, very special to me.
As my ancestors before me, I celebrate the Solstice, marking the longest night of the year and with the promise of all that lies ahead…
The ritual of fire and feast, music and drink, gathering of family and friends are all important aspects of the Winter Solstice.
The youngest member of my little tribe was here, forming a focal point for us all as we gathered to celebrate.
She is displaying a love for the natural world in her wish to be carried around outside and shown the many aspects of the woodland sanctuary, engaging with me as I show her the trees and birds.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the gathering disappears off to their own homes and further adventures of Yule and I am, once more, alone with Jack, birdsong and the increasing energy of the Otherworld all in and around the cottage.
I venture out to collect a few necessities from town and on my way home am enchanted to pull over the car and embrace the quickening evening.
Dragon’s Breath as is known, moves silently over the fields.
The evening before Christmas Eve is preparing for a quiet slumber in the way in which only happens at this time of year.
Mist is rolling in across the lough.
In the rush that is corporate Christmas, most people have not the time to stop and take in this ethereal beauty…I find myself alone in the blue twilight of an Irish evening in late December.
The days that follow a gathering are eerily silent.
The sheer contrast of it all!
I am reminded of my solitude.
This is a physical solitude, I remind myself, for I am immersed in many lives at Bealtaine Cottage.
Like the time of year, a reminder that days of quickening light lie ahead, when the light and sounds of Spring will make the quiet evenings something to look forward to.
And so I make my way home, immersed in the silence of the land itself, at one with this ancient land, my home.
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As the days grow shorter and the evenings longer there is a quietness in the gardens and around the cottage that is rather haunting. 
Much of what I do now is centred around preparing for the Midwinter Feast and the continuing festivities of Yule.
Family and friends will be arriving from as far away as Canada.
A house has been rented for the days that are in it, for Bealtaine Cottage is small!
Baking is underway in the kitchen, making full use of the hot oven in the even hotter Stanley stove that is burning constant to keep the cottage warm. 
Cakes and bread are then being moved to the freezer in the barn and will be ready to assuage the hunger of visitors and guests alike. 
The cake stand has been dusted off for the festivities.
I am transforming the Lodge into a big dining room, moving beds and other furniture out and a huge extending dining table in. 
This was brought over from the tunnel where it had been in use for years as a potting table, but a good clean down and polish, followed by the adornment of a starched table cloth, has lent the old table an air of noble gentility. 
Candlelight will soften the decrepitness of the piece and even add a touch of shabby chic! 
In the event it isn’t really about grandeur or showing off, but about coming together to celebrate…something we have almost forgotten how to do. 
The remembering that less is more…that a pot of well made soup and home baked bread is unique to that day and all who partake of the feast. 
It is not about shop bought, ready-made food, or flashy decorations that will still be intact in the landfill when you are long gone from this sacred Earth. 
My little bathroom has had a coat of paint applied and a polish-up!
Remembering the importance of gathering and celebrating…this is real civilisation!
In Ireland, because of its close association with the goddess Brigit, it became Saint Brigid’s Day.
Yuletide continues to be marked at Bealtaine Cottage through to it’s end on the first day of January. A time of great hope and lifting of one’s head towards the ascending sun.
