Mother’s Night
Published December 22nd, 2004 in Personal. . . was on Monday. It’s the first of the thirteen nights of Yule, which is what my family celebrates. To quote Our Troth, a tome of articles written by Asatruar,
Of all the high feasts of our forebears, Yule is by far the highest, the holiest, and the most fraught with might. During the thirteen nights of Yule, all the worlds meet in the Middle-Garth: the god/esses and the dead walk freely, trolls and alfs come into the homes of humans, and those folk who are closest to the Otherworld may leave their human selves altogether to become the riders of the Wild Hunt or oskorei (Ásgarð-Ride), werewolves, or the embodiments of various of the wights that wander the earth at Yule-tide. But Yule is also the time of the greatest feasting and joy, because it is at Yule that the whole clan, living and dead, gathers as one, sure in the knowledge that even as the Sun rises every year from her greatest darkness, so there will ever be rebirth for us as well. It is not by chance that Yule has preserved the most Heathen customs of any feast: the promise of the Yule log and the ever-green tree also stood as the promise that our folk-ways should live through the long dark winter and rise bright again.
Mother’s Night focuses on home and hearth, a time to spend with not only your family but the spirits of your ancestors and the wights who abide in the home and care for the people there. (My wife refuses to call the wights or idises anything but ‘critters.’ LOL!)
Aside from errands earlier in the day, we puttered about the apartment. Did some cleaning, whipped up a wonderful dinner, and ate by candle light. We usually don’t have ’sit down’ meals at our house, so it was very special. We talked about absent family, alive and not, and dished two small plates as offerings to our critters and ancestors.
Afterward, we roamed the building we call home to look at door decorations. Our management company holds a contest every year. First prize is $300 off next month’s rent. Some of the apartments go all out. Last year, there was Christmas at Bag End, the entire door (and surrounding walls) decorated to look like a hobbit dwelling. This year, the same folks turned out a castle theme, complete with a drawbridge over a small moat, two turrets, and a sword sticking out of a stone. (Immediately across from them, and just as expansive, is the Nightmare Before Christmas.)
The wife and I brainstormed a theme. It’s top secret, though. With proper forethought and planning, we might catch ourselves a rent break in 2006!
We then returned home to spend time together until bed. It was a nice, mellow night. Holiday or not, we’re thinking aboout repeating it soon.
