My best Christmas gifts!

I wasn’t planning on blogging today but when I read Chloe’s post: “What Were Your Best ChristmasGifts?”

I was inspired to pull two cards to answer the following questions for myself. I used the Druidcraft Tarot since it is my “Christmas deck” for this year. I have been enjoying it so much; just looking at the pictures, discovering new details, pulling a card now and then and being amazed by its wisdom and evocative nature all over again.

So let’s dive in:

What is the best gift I gave this Christmas? – Ace of Swords

From the depth of my sometime murky unconscious  emerged one thought crystal clear: this Christmas is a brand new experience: a once in a life time Christmas. No need to stain it with regrets and/or high expectations of Christmases  past. This relaxed mindset allowed me to step into this year’s Christmas with my family and really enjoy it. My eldest daughter and her boyfriend and my husband all came to visit us and we had a very good and peaceful day. I was able to divide my energy with ease and even keep some for  myself.

What is the best gift I received this Christmas? – Three of Swords

All  the merriment and cheerfulness were like a healing balm for the lingering sadness which is always, one way or another, asking for attention during this season. But this year I felt no need to harden my heart so I could protect myself from feeling too much. No this year I felt like I could be truly be myself and that was a wonderful Christmas gift.

What were your gifts this year?

Happy Holidays!

With this beautiful picture by Vladimire Kireev I want to wish you all a very Blessed Yuletide and a Merry Christmas. I want to thank you for your ongoing support and lovely comments on my blog. Especially during these darker days of winter it is so magical to realize that our circle of friends extends across the whole world. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you.

Hugs Ellen

Eight of Cups - My Christmas talisman

It is the day after Christmas and I feel good. Christmas is for me, as it is probable for many of you a Holiday which can bring out a lot of mixed feelings and expectations. Because of that, I thought it would be wise to have some sort of an anchor or talisman to hold on too.  A kind of lifesaver so to speak. And  as a representation of this I choose the Eight of cups from the Druidcraft Tarot. In this card I see myself wearing a protective indigo cloak, holding a rod of perseverance and climbing up towards a breathing space. I am leaving my loved ones for a moment behind with their filled cups and enough to eat and I am off to my refuge. Most likely my little room upstairs, or even an unnecessary visit to the toilet. When a physical  retreat isn't an option there is always that safe place in my mind. A  little nook  with my comfy chair near a softly burning hearth where I can knit or just sit and be quiet, watching the flames and listening to the crackle of the fire. Breathing in, breathing out and I am there…. Just for a minute or two.....

Christmas went well, my husband was happy and we were happy for him. Later on in the evening we have watched  a  movie together and that was day one. This morning I went to visit my husband on my own which was new because he always visits us twice with Christmas. But this year we wanted to try to make a change which I thought would benefit us all. (And it did!)

And now I am blogging in a quiet peaceful room where everyone is doing their own thing and it is good and I love it J

Baking our Traditional Christmas bread: “Kerststol”

Every year the day before Christmas my youngest daughter M. and me are baking a Christmas bread. I’ve baked it myself for about 25 years now and as soon as she  was able to assist me she has done so until she could bake it herself. We still do it together though as a tradition.

After the final shopping has been done we weigh the ingredients and mix them all together.  

  It is a very rich bread with raisins, walnuts and almonds. At the moment it is rising in the oven (about 35˚C) for about an hour and a halve.

Originally this bread is a pagan midwinter sacrifice for the Germanic Gods to ensure the people of the returning sun and the fertility of the land and the animals. It used to be only made of white flour since that was more difficult to get than whole wheat flour.  Nowadays it is just yummy but I like to  be aware of what it once really was meant for.

As always something went wrong. The bread baking machine didn’t do what is was expected to do and we had to switch to another mixer. So everything lasted longer

And now at a quarter past four our “Kerststol” is finally where it’s supposed to be: in the oven!

After an a lot of excitement we finally have our Christmas bread ready for tomorrow. It smells delicious!

Merry Christmas!