More Christmas Tree Comments
Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.
In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.
Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.
Citrine, like bloodstone, is a powerful, uplifting healing stone. This stone helps with health in general, bringing the chakras into alignment. Specifically, it heals the muscles, heart, stomach and kidneys and will prevent blood problems. I have heard that this stone can heal gangrene as well. Besides health, this stone brings upliftment for the soul and battles depression, sorrow, grief, weakness, obesity, and guilt. Citrine will also purify any area in which it is placed. Keep a nice piece wherever you perform your rituals. Laying a strand of citrine along the spine or around the neck will help bring the chakras and the body back into balance.
More Christmas Tree Comments
Alexandrite is a centering stone. Use this stone for stress or in other situations requiring you to be calm. This stone will allow you to become centered and balanced and will bring together the important aspects of your life. For healing, use this stone for the brain and central nervous system. It can also help when in a rut for it provides higher self-esteem and gives a feeling of purpose. In conjunction, it will help you achieve your goals.
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Day 6: A Sunset Prayer for Yule
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A Sunset Prayer for Yule Set aside some time to meditate upon the meaning of this time of year, and what it signifies for you and your life.
the sun has set, and darkness fallen. The trees are bare, the earth asleep, and the skies are cold and black. Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night, embracing the darkness that enfolds us. We welcome the night and all that it holds, as the light of the stars shines down.
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Make those long winter nights a little more refreshing with some freshly blended incense. Put together a batch of Winter Nights Yule Incense, and burn it during rituals, or just to make your home smell comforting in the cold of winter.
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Many readers will already be familiar with the tale of the Snow Maiden. It come to us from Old Russia, a land of sparkling forests and frozen palaces. The tale begins, as do so many folktales the world over, with an old childless couple. They are poor and devoutly religious (poverty and piety being de riguer for old childless couples in folktales). While cutting wood in the forest, they take a break to build a snegourochka, a little girl made of snowballs. Lo and behold, the snegourochka comes to life, and she is everything the old couple ever dreamed of in a daughter. She is pretty, respectful and well dressed in fancy boots, cloak and diamond tiara. She helps out around the house and conveniently for her elderly parents, she’s bypassed the diaper stage.
The storyteller would have us believe that this Snow Maiden is a gift from God, a reward for the old couple’s unwavering faith. Given the outcome of the story, however, the exercise seems cruel and pointless in God’s part. For Snegourochka is not a child of flesh but of snow. In some versions of the story, she crumples at the first sign of spring. In others, she lasts until Midsummer, only to be vaporized by the St. John’s Day fires. A few writers hint at the possibility that, like Frosty, she’ll be back again someday, but this is a modern gloss. When the girl is gone, she’s gone and the old couple is left with nothing but a soggy patch of forest floor.
No doubt it was a witch and not an angel hiding behind one of the snowclad fir trees in the forest that day–perhaps Baba Yaga or one of those pesky German witches flown over from the west. “Be careful what you wish for, “ she might have cackled to herself as she worked her magick over the doomed little snegourochka.
Excerpt from:
The Snow People Linda Raedisch Lllewellyn’s 2012 Witches’ Companion An Almanac for Everyday Living
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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