Solmonath: Cake Month

Full Moon ♌️

Snow Moon amongst our fig tree.

And just like that, February arrives! With longer sunrises and sunsets, the trees are budding and the catkins are now becoming “fluffy”, the snow drops are still abundant and the daffodil stalks are growing: spring is coming!

^sol-mōnaþ “Soll-Monath”, according to Gale R. Owen in her book ‘Rites and Religions of the Anglo-Saxons’ takes its name from Bede’s account of it being called “Cake Month”. Owen then goes on to explain that there is evidence in Scandinavia of cakes being made in the form of the gods, or at least animals sacred to them:

“It is quite possible that the pagan Anglo-Saxons baked birds, boars or horses in honour of their gods….”

I’m going to hypothesise that if this was the case, then either it’s because people saw this time of year as a time of the world waking up, what with shoots growing and the frost melting- that this could be a way of encouraging that thaw to happen quicker by baking cakes in the shape of their gods to appease them…..

Or, it was a way of keeping people fed, especially if the winter food stocks were dwindling and making cake was a way of using what was left.

Either way, it reminds me of an ancient culinary tradition here in the United Kingdom that still continues to this day…. Pancake Day.

It doesn’t involve making cakes in the shape of animals or the gods, but it was recorded as early as the 1400’s and takes place on Shrove Tuesday. This in turn takes its name from “Shrive” or “Shriven” practiced by the Anglo-Saxon Christians as an act of absolving themselves of sin via confession. Shrove Tuesday takes place 47 days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent, normally observed by fasting. It’s thought that Pancake Day came from using up the ingredients of eggs, milk and flour so they don’t go off during Lent, this being a way of not only using the ingredients up but to provide a last meal as people took up their fast.

Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day usually fall at some point in February or March, this year it takes place on Tuesday 21st February. Nowadays it’s more of a treat than an act of ritual starvation, traditionally flavoured with sugar and lemon juice, although people often use jam, Nutella, bananas, ice cream…. the possibilities are endless!

Pancakes aren’t just used with sweets, when growing up, my parents would have them savoury with hash (stew) or even curry or chilli on them, then have more pancakes with sweet stuff on. According to my wife, this sounds like a perverse act…. Like most of my “Northern ways”.

One thing that Solmonath does remind me of is the ritual marking of Imbolc with a Druidic cake…. Allow me to explain:

Imbolc is the Irish quarter day that marks the beginning of spring and ending of winter. Taking place on the 1st February, it honours St Brigid with links to the goddess of the same name and was celebrated in Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. As for the Modern Pagan version, it normally falls on either the 1st or 2nd of February and is marked by Modern Pagans and Modern Druids. Back when the Druid Grove of the Corieltauvi were able to meet up for seasonal ceremonies, one of the Druids, Simon (RIP, brother) not only honoured his Anglo-Saxon ancestors (a trail I currently find myself on), but at every Imbolc he would always bring a cake he personally baked. This wasn’t for us to eat, he made this to feed the birds. He would offer it to the gods on our altar, invite us to break it up and scatter it to the ground so the birds can find it. Back then I just took it as his own personal thing and that it was a wonderful offering. Now, I see what he was doing: honouring Solmonath, his ancestors and the gods by giving his cake not in the shape of birds, but to the birds, it was his way of giving back.

Returning to our either/or in regards to why the cakes were made in the first place, perhaps both my earlier hypotheses were wrong, perhaps the cakes weren’t made to appease the gods and if they weren’t used to feed people…. Perhaps they were meant to be left and given to the creatures of the wild.

I have no idea if Pancake Day came from Solmonath, but I do rather like the possibility that the making of cakes at one of the leanest times of the year is something that is intrinsic to the British culture and despite its origins, might not be a custom linked, but a custom shared from one age to another.

Whatever this month means for you, your country and your ancestors, I wish you a bright and nourishing spring dawning.

Locksley /|\

Midsummer Special: Fairy Lore

2nd Waning Crescent ♈️ (23rd night)

The Summer Solstice and Midsummer have been linked to what we call fairy lore for generations. In fact, in the traditions of Yorkshire and beyond here in the British and Irish Isles, the time around both summer and winter solstices were seen as magical times. As they are again.

Perhaps these are left over echoes of practices from our Stone-Age ancestors, or maybe they came about in respect for spirits of the land; or most likely evolved out of rituals for which the original purposes have now been lost in time.

When picking the strawberries from our plant in the garden, I remembered something I had read describing a Yorkshire custom whilst fruit picking: that folk would cast the first fruits picked over their shoulder as an offering to spirits. Although the author, Liz Linahan, writes this of blackberries (bramble berries), specifically, it being the solstice yesterday (21st June) I decided to honour this belief. The first strawberry picked was thrown over my shoulder with a little dedication to the Spirits of the Land. I popped it back into the pot for the insects to claim.

Not a bad bounty that!

Linahan also wrote of other beliefs from my Yorkshire kin that I hadn’t heard of before, such as the belief that the spirits of the dead were thought to become fairies and that sometimes they would reside in flowers! Linahan writes of the associated flowers as being the fox glove and the broad bean, even writing that people believed accidents were more frequent to happen during the broad-bean flowering time!

Foxgloves, definitely NOT broad beans!

Foxgloves themselves are said to be worn by foxes as a charm around their necks to protect against being hunted. Though the foxglove is toxic to our touch, it has been prescribed for treatment of the heart since at least the Romano-Celtic times.

We do get a lot of foxes in our garden, but they seem more interested in sitting in the sun than trying to put their paws around the flowers to make necklaces….

Fox cub getting comfy…. Can’t water the garden (including the foxgloves) now can I!?

I’m not one for believing in fairies, but I do believe every place has their own spirit. I also believe in showing respect and gratitude, and last night’s private celebration of Midsummer saw me grateful and thankful for everything and everyone I have.

Sources:

Liz Lanahan, More Pit Ghosts, Padfeet and Poltergeists, The King’s England Press, Rotherham, 1996.

Terriwindling.com

All photos by Locksley2010.

Wassail!

New Moon ♒️

I’d like to begin with saying “Thank You!” Last month saw my follower count hit the 200 mark! Thank you all for being amazing and for your support, it really means a lot. 😁

There’s a certain melancholy to the month of January: The Christmas lights have been taken down just after New Year’s and even though the midwinter solstice has been and gone, the shift from the longest night into the shorter ones is gradual. And for some, January can be a depressing time: It’s still dark, winter’s cold really starts setting in and there are monsters in the dark.

Figurative monsters, of course. However, it was an outing to Sherwood Forest, here in Nottinghamshire, that Devi, myself and Devi’s brother, Majic went monster hunting…..

Sherwood Forest held its own wassailing walk from the visitor centre to the Major Oak- where legend has it Robin Hood himself would hide (even though the Major Oak is only about 500 or so years old, having grown after Robin Hood’s time!). This was on Sunday 16th January, the day before the old Twelfth Night which was the traditional time for wassailing.

We joined the throng of about 200 people watching some local Morris dancers doing their merry thing at the visitors centre and we followed the Sheriff of Nottingham (Boo! Hiss!) and someone dressed as the Green Man along the path to the Major Oak. There were adults, children and dogs everywhere and most were carrying pots and pans to scare away the evil spirits in the wood….. in the shape of some amazing looking Krampus!

Go on… gizza kiss!

Krampuses? Krampusi? Either way there was definitely more than one. And when we came upon them, we had to scare them away with a cacophony of pots and pans, rattling, drumming, calling and hollering and clapping.

Various Krampus

Once we’d all arrived at the Major Oak, we were met by the barrier preventing us from getting close to the great tree itself. The Major Oak has suffered from hordes of tourists in the past and is in danger of falling apart, even with the heavier boughs being held up by metal support beams! It was this barrier that also stood between us and the various krampus now approaching the crowd until we made noise and then they ran away (even being chased by their own dogs!).

Beautiful!

The Sheriff of Nottingham declared it was time for the wassail to begin!

The Sheriff of Nottingham explaining how it all works…..

Wassailing is an ancient practice that goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. It comes from the Olde Englishe Waes-Hael! (Be well, or Good Health) which was said when toasting one individual to another. The response to this would be Drink-Hael! (Drink well, or Drink to your health). This would be followed by the participants drinking ale, wine or spiced cider from a large bowl called a ‘Wassailing Bowl’ in a toast of health to each other.

I apologise for mixing present and past tense in regards for wassailing, it is a custom that died out in parts of England yet carried on in others.

Interestingly, wassailing wasn’t just a blessing for people, but also for trees! Traditionally performed on fruit trees, usually apple and pear trees in order to encourage yield: for more cider and perry, respectively!

And so, the Sheriff began the wassail with a speech to which we all had to shout out “Wassail! Drink-Hael!” then he blessed the Major Oak with a traditional rhyme:

“Oak tree, oak tree we all come to wassail thee,
Bear this year and next year to bloom and blow,
Hat fulls, cap fulls, three cornered sacks fills…”

Which he then left open for us to chant back verse for verse….. but was met with the crowd giving a pause then “Yeah!” and “Wassail!” As mentioned previously, this was usually performed to fruit trees, but this particular ceremony was seen as speaking for the whole of Sherwood Forest.

The Major Oak, in all its glory!

From the front.

A man wearing medieval clothing and a mask carried a ladle full of warm cider and poured this onto the roots of the oak and did this again a second time. The various Krampus were invited back for their applause and the crowd were invited to take a slice of toast from one bowl and dip it in the wassailing bowl, which we could either eat, or give to a tree of our choice. I gave mine to a young tree, possibly ash.

Even though the Krampus has nothing to do with wassailing or English folk-lore, it did give a face to the “evil spirits” being chased away at the noise making part of the ceremony. Turns out the noise is also to encourage the awakening of the sleeping tree spirits too.

Does wassailing work? I honestly don’t know, what I do know is that I have been to two Druid ceremonies that used wassailing on one apple tree and a sickly Rowan on the other…. Both had positive results. I might have to try this on our plum tree in the garden to find out!

Wassailing is more prevalent in the south-west of the country, but since being in Nottingham I have been to at least two wassailing ceremonies here, this being the third and another in Leicestershire.

From toasting each other, to visiting and blessing the biggest tree in the fruit orchards and even to Christmas carols, there are so many regional variations. Apparently this was the second year Sherwood Forest have wassailed their most infamous tree. We were very glad to have been part of it and as the nights grow shorter, no matter how subtle, it was a day that goes to show that being outdoors really helps drive away the monsters…. Whatever they may be.