Winter Magic 2011 ~ celebrating the winter solstice

Winter Magic is the Blue Mountains winter solstice celebration, we celebrate the middle of winter with a festival of dress-up, drumming, food, parade, bands and many more events. Its wonderfully Pagan and a delightful way to celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year.

The 2011 celebration was no exception, the weather was perfect, winter sunshine poured down, the wind was minimal and the enthusiasm was high, here are my some of my photos from the day.

Winter Magic in Katoomba 2010

Mid-winter revels in the Blue Mountains would not be the same without the fabulous, spectacular, dress-up spectacle of Winter Magic!

The gods and goddess of Yule blessed us this year with bright sunshine and blue skies, though the wind gave us a serious chill factor to contend with, but nothing that rugging up warmly didn't solve.

My 1880's Saloon Girl outfit worked perfectly, though I was more SteamPunk than authentic, the lime green leg warmers are definitely NOT period and my Scottish 'Laird' looked extremely smart.

My beanie was hand made by me as part of the inaugural PinkFest/Winter Magic Queer Beanie Festival 2010 and it was a WINNER in the Recycle, Reclaim, Reuse category - very chuffed indeed. A separate post is in order for the competition and the marvellous beanies that everyone entered.

Our day was hectic, breakfast with friends, then off to pick-up a Sydney arrival, then to watch another perform with the BlueMUGS, our very own Ukulele band, then the fabulous parade:

The best thing about Winter Magic is that it is a local event and we all participate, we all dress up and join in the fun, families, people of all ages and walks of life, celebrating the darkest time of the year and encouraging the sun's return!

May this Yule bring you peace, harmony, love, and increased happiness.

Winter Solstice: celebrate with feasting, peace and charity

The depth of winter is here!

In the Blue Mountains, the chill winds blow rain and sleet while the frost chills us to the core. We are rugged up in our winter woollies and the days get shorter and shorter, heading to the shortest day, Winter Solstice, the 22nd June.

 Solstice means ....

Standing-still-sun


but... while Winter Solstice marks the darkest time of the year, it heralds the return of the warmth of the sun.

From now on, the days get longer and we can encourage the return of the sun and the light with the fun of the Yule festival, which includes lots of feasting, pleasures and games around the warmth of the fire and don't forget the kisses under the mistletoe!

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown ...

Evergreen trees are sacred to the Goddess and in Australia we are blessed with beautiful evergreens, acacias, gums, angopheras, turpentines, wollemi pines, bring the Goddess into your house with a branch or two of the Australian bush (not from a national park though!).

peace, love and goodwill to all ...

Most importantly, Yule has always been a time of peace and charity so bring this into your celebrations as well. Donate to your favorite charity and ask yourself what you can do to create peace in a world full of war. Join Amnesty perhaps or GreenPeace? Remember, 'from little things big things grow'!

... Happy Winter Solstice 

and merry Yule all!