This being the 17 of January and the day Twelfth Night was celebrated under the old calendar in England, the good pagan/heathen/Celtic custom (among others) of Wassailing the Apple trees was in order. To borrow freely from the great British Life and Culture of the Woodlands Junior School in UK http://projectbritain.com/, "Apple tree wassailing is a ceremony which involves drinking to the health of the apple trees" and to ask the Lord of the Orchard (my conjecture from the GreenMan's perspective) to help with a bountiful harvest.
Not to mention a great excuse to have a wee nip or two to keep warm in the days before central heating!
Go visit the Woodlands Junior School site...there is a great deal of delightful information and a great way to honor our ancestral past.
Cheers!
Duncan
Completely off topic but I'd love to use your image of the ying/yang tree here in an upcoming seminar. If I could get permission to use it it would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeletePlease email me at exceptional.kids@ameritech.net
Thank you,
Tara