Okay, I can't get in the room at the moment. So I will post this here and get it in the room later on.

BONDS... Bonds... bonds... don't fight over all the goodies. Around the table in the School house were bowls and pottery filled with the sighs, scents and needs of the season. There were bina beads, spices, pieces of needle tree, greenery from Hunjer and berries from all points in the realm.

THIS project hinges on the idea that from the old is born the light of the new. So you will see old and dented tankards... *cough cough* I have no idea where some of these came from. ((Most came from me throwing them at Donar over the years)) Each girl is to take a tankard, you will see that inga has already helped to stay the wick of dipped verr wool and poured the bottom pour to stay the wick. After this, is purest white, whale fat, rendered to make a wax. ONE, only one pour each into the tankards. This is the last that would burn so it is the old wax over top of the new, this should be burned the night of Jul to come. Then comes the pink pour, one ladle of the pink too, as it should be burned to represent the final setting of the moons of this year, and a thank you for the blood that was both shed, and not shed to have saved us. The next to be added is the lighter purple beez wax, this should be for the night of the Great Hunt and how it has sustained us some times through the days and nights in the winter. The last is the darkest purple coloring, the first to be burned as as it is setting, make sure to add to it for your Jarls and Mistress the Spices, berries and baubles fit for each one.

Once you finish please take a basket home with you as well. In it you will find the needed items to make a small jul alter. An iconic part of the winter solstice is the yule altar. The purpose of the altar is to honor the return of the sun, so one of the most important items is a candle that symbolizes the sun�ideally a golden-, silver-, or yellow-hued candle. Fill the altar with symbols of winter like pinecones, evergreen boughs of fir and cedar, and wreaths, and you can even add a yule log as a finishing touch. Make sure to cleanse the altar with sage or sweetgrass. This will ensure that once you light your Jul candle and the swept out fire from your homes, the new light of a new year will pour in abundance and joy to your lives. The sweeping out of the old ashes and cleaning the fire place is just doing that. Cleaning out the old, the trouble, the problems of this year and making way for a better year to come.

Building a wreath using winter evergreens like pine, fir, juniper, and cedar is a classic way to honor the season. Evergreens are associated with protection and prosperity, making them popular choices for celebrating the end of the year and the beginning of winter.

With permission, once everything is made ready, face the candles, and say:

The wheel of the year has turned once more,
and the nights have grown longer and colder.
Tonight, the darkness begins to retreat,
and light begins its return once again.
As the wheel continues to spin,
the sun returns to us once more.
Light the sun candle, and say:

Even in the darkest hours,
even in the longest nights,
the spark of life lingered on.
Laying dormant, waiting, ready to return
when the time was right.
The darkness will leave us now,
as the sun begins its journey home.
Beginning with the candles closest to the sun candle, and working your way outward, light each of the other candles. As you light each one, say:

As the wheel turns, light returns.
The light of the sun has returned to us,
bringing life and warmth with it.
The shadows will vanish, and life will continue.
We are blessed by the light of the sun.

Take a moment to think about what the return of the Moons and the Sun mean to you. Then befitting a proper and beautiful bond, bathe yourself in the light of the moon and candles and chastely make ready to sleep for the night. (( I don't want to know what else you do!! Unless... no... no... no. No confessionals here))

The last thing each of you should find in your baskets is a pair of woven scuffs for your feet. I knit them myself, Odin help me, I think they should fit each one of you. Now help each other with making of the candles.

As you can see, I have placed in my own candle for the year, an un-blooded Rune for learning, a sprinkling of Cho as I love it so. Some fruit peals and herbs and spice for life and then ever greens so I stay as young as a tree that never dies.

Harta! Help your sisters along with this project and thank you for your service here in the Isles.

(12/17/22 : 20:17:33) [PIC]

helga{TBx}
Thor�fs Skald
Isle Trainer
Isle of Scagnar

==on Thorarin's farm steading==
says to ALL: The missive had arrived earlier this morning. Sitting comfortably at the kitchen table, I read it slowly Gorean style....reading the lines from left to right and then right to left. I was happy that I had learned to read since becoming his. It was funny that as a free person I was illiterate and it took a collar to get me educated.

�� (12/17/22 : 20:22:21) [PIC]

helga{TBx}
Thor�fs Skald
Isle Trainer
Isle of Scagnar

==on Thorarin's farm steading==
says to ALL: Reading it once, then twice I knew what it was I had to do and I smiled thinking about it. Mistress Ri was always ingenious with her tasks. Later, I would visit the schoolhouse and begin working on it. For now however there was much to do at the steading. The missive was slipped away to be pulled out later when the time was right.

(12/17/22 : 20:17:33) [PIC]

helga{TBx}
Thor�fs Skald
Isle Trainer
Isle of Scagnar

==on Thorarin's farm steading==
says to ALL: The missive had arrived earlier this morning. Sitting comfortably at the kitchen table, I read it slowly Gorean style....reading the lines from left to right and then right to left. I was happy that I had learned to read since becoming his. It was funny that as a free person I was illiterate and it took a collar to get me educated.

�� (12/17/22 : 20:22:21) [PIC]

helga{TBx}
Thor�fs Skald
Isle Trainer
Isle of Scagnar

==on Thorarin's farm steading==
says to ALL: Reading it once, then twice I knew what it was I had to do and I smiled thinking about it. Mistress Ri was always ingenious with her tasks. Later, I would visit the schoolhouse and begin working on it. For now however there was much to do at the steading. The missive was slipped away to be pulled out later when the time was right.