Yule and the Winter Solstice | From Stonehenge to Santa
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- čas přidán 19. 12. 2023
- Part of a series on the Wheel of the Year, this video focuses on the Winter Solstice, Yule and the pagan origins of the Christmas Holiday.
My name is Story Crow, I'm a storyteller, folklorist and mythologist. To support my work, do consider being a right Christmas delight and following me on the ye olde Patreon:
patreon.com/TheStoryCrow?utm_...
Or if you want a subversive Christmas gift to troll your loved ones, get your 'Yule Man and Rudy' festive mugs, cards and wotnot here:
www.redbubble.com/i/mug/Carbo...
In this video we will look at the ancient megalithic monuments marking the solstices, such as Stonehenge, Avebury Stonehenge and New Grange.
The Mythos of rebirth of the sun and related history, myth and folklore in Germanic and Celtic traditions, Druidry, Roman Saturnalia, medieval Christianity, folklore of the Holly King, mummers, guising, Father Christmas and Santa Claus.
Yuletide blessings 🦌 xox
Edit. A few folks have asked my about the book on my table; Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Its still in print, but quite pricey. Worth it in my opinion, its great.
Heres an affiliate link:
amzn.to/3v9kJd9
Babe wake up, new story crow video just dropped
This is the cutest comment in the world 🙏😊
The old ways never will be forgotten the old gods are getting strong again. Happy Yule 🇬🇧👍
Good Yule right back atchya! ✨🦌❄️🎄🍄
So glad I found this channel, top 10 underrated corners of youtube for sure
I like being in a corner of CZcams, rather than in the lobby, or something. Thanks for the kind words my friend, glad you found this alcove 🙏🦌✨
I 100% agree! This channel is brilliant, and I always recommend it to people.
Ave to all Blessed are the cunning folk, hail to the ancestors and honour to him and her. Good luck to all fellow witches for your future endeavours. Thank you Crow for telling your stories the dead are proud of you keep up your work.
Thank you friend 🙏✨💀🌲🌳❄️
Sorry about the audio guys, there's drunken Yule goblins in my microphone.
For those mycologically orientated, see my 'Yule Man and Rudy' festive mugs, cards and wotnot:
www.redbubble.com/i/mug/Carbon-Neutral-Yule-Man-and-Rudy-Funny-Christmas-by-Oliver-Lavery/93763968.9Q0AD
And to follow me on the ye olde Patreon see here:
patreon.com/TheStoryCrow?utm_...
Finally, A few folks have asked my about the book on my table; ‘Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain’ - Its still in print, but quite pricey. Worth it in my opinion, its great.
Heres an affiliate link:
amzn.to/3v9kJd9
Good Yule my merry badgers!
While I'm a more modern person I so appreciate the roots of the old ways! It's great to see the old ways live! Ancient & sacred! Merry Winter Solstice to you Sir! From Burlington, Vermont USA
Merry midwinter from Wiltshire, GB! ✨🦌❄️🎄
Happy Solstice/Yule/Christmas to everyone! Thank you Crow for such an amazing video! Sláinte! ♥
Sláinte! 🍄🎄✨🦌❄️
Your channel is beautiful. Thanks again.
Cheers 😊
I'm Canadian but I watch a lot of media from the UK and I always wondered what y'all meant when you said "geezer" bc I knew that it meant old man or sometimes just man, but I knew I was missing something 😅 I heard it in the context I knew I wasn't grasping on Love Island for the first time and I kept thinking "none of these guys are old men, I feel like they're saying more than 'he's a guy,' there has to be a double meaning" but I couldn't figure out what it was. I couldn't find it via Google research, I'm not great w context clues/social norms + felt embarrassed asking for some reason. "Strange fellah" makes SO much sense w how it was used in that context. Thanks!
Ha! I love that. Thanks for writing 🙏✨❄️
Interesting that you mention playing tricks on others at this time of year, which harkens the image of Loki tricking Hod into shooting Baldr with an arrow dipped in mistletoe.
It does doesn’t it 🤔
Reminds me a little of krampusnacht
Yay!!! 😊 love the way you share these. Blessed Yule and winter solstice ❄️
Same to you, and thanks 🍄🎄✨🔥🍻
Bring back the tradition of Solstice/Christmas/etc door to door freestyle rap battles with horse skulled strangers.
This. A thousand times this.
I appreciate that you deliver high quality content and thorough research while keeping the presentation style simple, casual and entertaining. Congratulations for doing what you love and doing it well! 🥰
I appreciate that comment. Thanks 🙏
I was just thinking of how I could use a story from the Story Crow, and here's a new video! Wassail!
WASSAIL! 🍻✨🍻🔥🍞🍺
Wow, I really enjoyed your rambling!! And the cards are super cool... Remind me a lot of a artist I met years ago, him traveling through northern Spain (Catalunya)...
I love the part about the door of the worlds being open from shaulin to solstice... makes sense and acompanies the way I have been feeling, about my loved ones on the other side. Thank you 💓 🤗
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 🙏❄️🍄🌲✨
My Grandma has pics of the stones bein trucked in and set up with cranes at the new Stonehenge site. It is Awesome that there are people tryin to share knowledge of the old ways, and give examples of who we were, for generations to come
Very cool. Thanks for the words 🙏✨
Brilliant my friend…
Appreciated!
If the audio is bothering you, please know the captions are enabled. Go to settings and turn them on. 😎
Thank you 👍
Just discovered this wonderful channel in the last week or so, the content really resonates with me, binged watched lots of the previous episodes, particularly enjoyed the tree and plant lore. Great channel which I'll be recomending to all my friends. Can't wait for some new content - keep up the excellent work Story Crow, its really appreciated!
Really appreciate the comment, and the shares too. More plant lore to come. Cheers mate 🙏✨👍🌳🌲
This was wonderful thank you. I live in Germany and miss England a lot, this gives me a little piece of home and warmth. Love your renditions and excellent storytelling, so so happy I found your channel. Would love to see you team up with Damh the Bard, he’s brilliant as well ✨
You know I almost used Damh’s ‘Midwinters Day’ as the theme tune for this video, but I don’t know him and don’t have the rights to it. Great song though. In fact I’m going to put it on 😊
Happy Chaos..I like that😄Winter Solstice Blessings & God Jul!♥️🎄🥃
Goooooood Yule 🙏🦌✨🍄
Absolutely wonderful! A perfect thing to watch in a quiet few minutes on Christmas day with a cup of tea. Thank you! Happy solstice, merry Christmas, blessed Yule, and I wish you all the best things in the new year ahead!
So glad you like it, wishing you the very best for next year too 😊🙏✨
Again, thank you for the marvellous vedio. Merry Yule from Taiwan!🎉❤
Oooh. Hello you over in Taiwan 🇹🇼
Thanks for watching and good Yule 😊🎄❄️
I made some apple cider mead and have everything ready for a big family/friends feast! Cheers to you and yours!
Sounds bloody delicious. Wassail to you! 🍻
You have great content! I'm so grateful to have found your channel, and your insights into the old ways in a relaxed way. It really is a pleasure to hear you telling stories from memory and with heart. The Yew tree video was amazing, as all your videos are. Ever thought about doing a video on Celtic Dragons? Keep up the amazing work and reconnecting us to our ancestral roots. Thank you, stay lit!
Celtic dragons. Hmmm. Noted. Thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps a little down the line. Thank you for finding this channel and welcome 🙏✨
Happy Yule, Happy Solstice!! I've got a pretty yule spiral made of cedar boughs and berries to admire, and mulled cider beside a bonfire for tonight's merriment!! So happy to see one of your videos today, thank you! ❄🌞
Hope you had a nice night! I’m tired 😂
Also, mmmm, love mulled cider, how delightful
Solstice greetings to you all from sunny South Africa 😊🌹🇿🇦
Ahhh, my bro is out there now, looking very pink! Happy solstice to you guys on the other hemisphere. Hope you have a nice braii 🔥 🥩
Persian is also an Indo-European language, and their pre-Islamic winter solstice holiday is called "Yalda" and means rebirth.
Of course. Thanks for sharing that.
It made me smile, to see this video on offer the first thing I opened YT this morning. I always find your videos so evocative, exactly what is needed to put me in the right headspace. A Blessed and Merry Yule to you and yours!
Ahh, thank you for taking the time to write that, it really does mean a lot. Hope you’ve found a nice peaceful headspace ✨❄️🙏
That drink by there looks very familiar…
Much love to you mate, every videos a treasure!
Thanks!
Thank-you ! So articulate and artfully presented. Merry Yule!
Good Yule! ❄️🍄🦌✨🎄
May I just say….? You are lovely 🎄🇦🇺❤️
Oh stop 💁♂️☺️😂
You’re awesome! Thank you for all your effort!
Why thank you 😊✨🙏
Good Jul! Thank you for your videos. They def helped make my 2023 better.
Really pleased to hear that. You’ve been a joy in the comments 🙏✨🦌
Here’s to an even better 2024. Good Yule!🎄🎄🎄
Just found your channel. Thank you so much for this interesting video. So glad I found you, Winter Solstice blessings to you and yours 🌼
I’m so pleased, welcome, and happy solstice and good Yule times! 🍻🌞🎄🐐
Nadolig Llawen, Alban Arthan, Saturnalia I chi gyd.
yr un peth i ti fy ffrind
🏴❄️✨🦌🌳🌲🎄
10:09 wassail is actually borrowed from Old Norse, vas hail.
And apparently first attested reference to wassailing was from Shakespeare!
Possibly in the North of England, but probably not down here in the West Country, as the Danes never got this far. Here it’s probably from saxon derived Old English wes hal. Both derive from old German either way so 🤷♂️
Ahh Shakespeare. Always shining a light on history. Think his is the first mention of Herne the Hunter too, though he had likely been around a lot longer in folklore.
From a Pagan Celt love your stuff as always ... Have a happy Solstice to you ... keep doing what your doing :) Shame you did not get or where in Ireland for Newgrange... ... perhaps next year.. my country welcomes you :) IN Kerry Ireland there is the Wren Boys wearing straw hats gatecrashing parties etc. etc.. where they collect dead wren birds still a thing in Dingle...
Happy solstice to you too Iain, I’m desperate to visit New Grange. On my next hop over the water. Thanks for writing, always naive to see you pop up in the comments. 🙏✨🌳
I’ve heard about the wren boys. So many distinct but related traditions in these islands, it fascinates me…
Love that book underneath the bottle. One of my favs! Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain.
It’s great isn’t it. 👍😊
And quite expensive these days 😬
amzn.to/3v9kJd9
The spirits are walking to spain.
What they did in life… echoes in eternity. 🇬🇧 🍻 🇪🇸
Have you considered the Old Norse deity Ullr (he's the archer on skis/hunter of winter) as a potential source for the name of the holiday Yule? He lives in Ydalir (Yew Dale). Any connection between Yule celebrations and to mythology associated with Yew wood? I admit my knowledge of the Ogham script is scant (getting better with your contributions, thank you kind sir), but it's my understanding that Yew is associated with longevity/immortality on account of its long life span. What say you? Do tell, Story Crow...do tell.
Well I certainly enjoyed following those interesting connections.
It seems logical too, as you present them.
Can't wait for the Story Crows response! 😊
Well, I’ll be honest it’s not an etymology I’ve heard, but I’m not an etymologist 😂 to me it makes sense. Got the winter connection for sure. And sometimes there’s strange synchronicities with words and naming that etymology alone doesn’t explain. Like the Sun / Son that I talk of in the video. Or the way peoples surnames often seem to weirdly fit their profession. Don’t know why that just popped into my head 🤔
Yew wise - yeah, spot on. Yew is one of the ‘immortal’ trees too. I imagine it’s less used indoors compared to the other evergreens because of its tendency to shed its very poisonous needles. You don’t want that in your Yule pudding! I’ve done a video on the Yule, and it’s associations with death - rebirth - ancestors - knowledge etc. it’s here
czcams.com/video/dmx2drD7g-Y/video.htmlsi=0OpQDBmvELyGz8Hx
Thanks for watching, and sharing your insights here 🙏🌲❄️
So good
Cheers 🙏✨
Fabulous rambling 😊 You mention Plum Pudding, aka Figgy Pudding, does your wonderful book tell why the pudding has these names when it doesn’t contain any plum, or fig?😂
Thank you 🙏 it probably does somewhere 😂 not such a fan myself 😬
I'm very curious about the obsession with people saying "um". Even when I was in the service and using radios all the time in situations where every second counts, it never occurred to me to care. It's a pleasant vocal pause, indicating the speaker isn't done speaking, and more words are coming. Or am I wrong?
Excellent video as always! I commented before, but I love discovering new quirks about the stuff you have and where you put it! (Now I sound like I'm casing the joint! Fear not, I'm in Alaska and can't leave at least until may!)
Ah, well maybe I should worry les about it. Thanks 🙏☺️
I like your channel and i love learning much from you. Only wish I could hear you better. 😁
Working on it! 😅
Captions are enabled. Try them, under settings. You're welcome 😎
I like your place, but Charlie Brown wants his tree back!😄
😂
This is great. I have to admit that clicking sound drove me crazy though
Sorry about that 😅
Thank you
You're welcome 😊❄️🌞🔥
Really enjoyed watching love the rustic room. There is a part of the brain called the claustram which is supposed to have a link to Santa Claus, also a sacred oil called The Christ oil, very intriguing, is the Xmas story just symbolic?
Haha. Thanks. My house is a Christmas mess. 😅🎄🍄
YAY
Love your videos man, love to find out more about local folk tales ( north england) and recommended text?
Well, the one on my table has local folklore from all over Britain, with maps. Such a great folklorist’s resource! It’s called Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Its still in print, but quite pricey. Worth it in my opinion, its great.
Heres an affiliate link:
amzn.to/3v9kJd9
And thanks for the kind words 👍🎄🍄🍻
@@TheStoryCrow cheers maybe ask for it for my birthday, coming soonish. Merry Christmas/ Yule time 🎄
Happy First Day of Winter to all the Fine Folk.
Long Live the Horned Gods!
All of em! 🐐🦌🐄
👍🏻
Your channel is a complete joy ❤ I gonna have a bloody good time, mulled cider at Solstice! It also starts my solar return season as a Capricorn 🌚🌞 It makes me curious if you are a DCW attendee
Thanks 🙏✨🦌
Oooooh. Mulled cider! Should have made some. I’ve had too much mead and given myself honey poisoning 😂
Not sure what that acronym means 🤔
@@TheStoryCrow it means Dance Camp Wales, not knowing the acronym means you probably don’t . Its your neck of the woods, well Carmarthenshire, it’s a Great camp 👍🌞
yippee!
Cool cool but crow pt. 3? Im emotionally invested lol
Haha. Ok, I was thinking of dropping another of them in January maybe… 🤔
unfortunately the clipping audio is hurting my ears. maybe i can try watching this later without headphones
Sorry 😅
The only time u mentioned the feminine aspect was Ivy & Crone...
Paganism is not about just Odin & masculine.
We have a Queen of Winter. The Veiled One of Wind & Wilderness. Cailleach.
If the sun is at its lowest point, night time is female ruled, it belongs to Nyx.
Astrologically, Capricorn is a feminine sign. 🌱🌳🍏💚
Hello! You are absolutely correct, I could of talked a lot more about aspects of the sacred feminine particular to this time of year. Noted for next time. Thank you 🙏❄️ 🐐
You mention Beira, the queen of winter and the Cailleach, I’ve told the the story of The Veiled One and the Bride and the changing seasons on CZcams before, if you’re interested:
czcams.com/video/dT_DWRnnq6w/video.htmlsi=AZgWn_58T0vO2cSM
I enjoyed this. You believe people survive death? I sure would love to know that they do. Thank you.
Well, I’m more discussing historical perspectives, but yes I’m fairly open to the notion that consciousness persists through the dying process in some way. Can’t know for sure either way I suppose
@@TheStoryCrow So kind of you to respond. I was hoping you had experienced proof of such things. You are right; we cannot know for sure. It's torture to me, but what can we do? You are a very fine storyteller.
Rudy is a sweet name, but female reindeer keep their antlers longer than the males and are slightly larger. So the companion may have been a female. The Scandinavian myth of the animal that brought back the Sun when it went south was a older, bigger female. Check out that story.
It’s sort of a wee joke because one of our farm dogs is called Rudy - she is in fact female - short for Gertrude.
But thanks for sharing. I’ll be dropping a female orientated Sami folk tale in the next few days 🍄☺️✨🦌
Thank you for the book! New subscriber. What is that book you have there on your workbench?
Hey! Welcome aboard, and thanks for the sub. A few folks have asked my about the book on the table; Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Its still in print, but quite pricey. Worth it in my opinion, its great.
Heres an affiliate link:
amzn.to/3v9kJd9
Good Yule!
really quite interesting stuff, even a couple of facts i'd not heard before.
had to switch it off after 8 mins because the weird ticking of your mic clashing into your button was REALLY annoying me.
Yeah, it was annoying me in the edit too 😅
Really lovely info and energy, alas there was a clicking in the background that was distracting.
Yup. Sorry about that 😅
Nonetheless, glad i found you. Stuff happens... but it did drive me a bit nuts @@TheStoryCrow 🤣
Hi Story Crow! I am interested in enhancing my education in Celtic religions. Could you please share where you went to school for this?
Hello! I was at Bristol University, but that was in comparative mythology and religion; a lot of the specifically Celtic studies stuff has come in the 15 years reading since 🤓
However, one of the best academics who was at my university is a guy called Ronald Hutton, who is an expert in pagan Britain, including the Celtic Iron Age. Check him out he is, in my opinion, the best in the field. He’s quite dry. Be warned. 😅
Here’s a book I bought recently.
amzn.to/3vefFnJ
Alternatively, for someone less academic and more pragmatic and accessible, try Caitlín and John Mathews. Some might find it a little new age, but I like it.
Here’s a good one based on Welsh Myth:
amzn.to/4auiEsm
Hope that helps start you off
Thank you so much!
@@SeaTozthe Matthews book titled "The Winter Solstice" will get you caught up on the lore surrounding this video's topic, in my opinion.
Good shout 👍
What is that clicking sound.
It’s me constantly tapping my mic because I’ve put it in a silly place. Sorry 😅🤷♂️
*****
✨🍄✨🦌✨❄️✨🎄✨
Respectfully speaking, your lord and savior is the textbook definition of insanity. Especially for the noisy gong and clanging cymbals of thoughts and prayers.
🕵️♂️🫥
Tounges and cheeks 😊