Advent Tour 2009

I am pleased to be participating in yet another Virtual Advent Tour, and seeing as today is the 21st of December, I would like to share a little about the winter solstice with you, along with some photos of my solstice celebrations yesterday (i.e. snowy woodland frolics!).

The winter solstice is both an astronomical and cultural event. In its astronomical meaning, the solstice occurs when the tilt of the earth's axis is furthest away from the sun, thus for people in the higher latitudes, this is observed as the shortest day of the year. The seasonal significance of this is that from this day on each year, the days begin to lengthen, and light returns to the world. It is this that has been celebrated each year for millenia, with the first records of the festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples in the 4th century, though it will likely have originated much earlier.

Yule was traditionally celebrated with feasting, drinking and general merriment, as pagans rejoiced in the banishing of the winter months. Other traditions that have since been incorporated into the winter festivals of many other cultures and religions include decorating homes with evergreens, yule logs (of the wood or chocolate varieties!), singing and christmas carols (known as wassailing) and the giving of gifts.

Yule is still celebrated around the world, by pagans, and others alike, with the festival undertaking many changes with other cultures and religions taking on facets, but all include a celebration of light. As today is unfortunately a work day, I celebrated Yule yesterday with a long walk through woodlands and past the frozen lake of the Blickling estate which was beautifully covered in snow. On Christmas eve I will be joining my family for a few days feasting, followed by my last historical excursion of the year, Hampton Court, assuming I can make it there in the snow!

So here is wishing you all a very festive Yule, Christmas and New Year, and any other traditions you may be celebrating. May the light return swiftly for us all.

Blog Advent Tour 2008

Welcome to your next stop on the great Blog Advent Tour 2008 as organised by the ingenious Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Reading Adventures!

I thought I would share a little something about my build-up to the winter holidays this year. I live in Norwich, a mediaeval city on the east coast of the UK. The city is not very large, but famous for its 11th century Cathedral and Castle, old markets, fairs, street theatre, crafts, infamous Colmans mustard and of course for our most famous resident...the great Stephen Fry! I have only been living here for two and a half years, but love the history and culture the city has to offer, and this is the first time that I have been here during the build-up to Christmas.


Every year the city hosts numerous festive events and I have had the pleasure of attending both the Mediaeval Fayres over the past two weekends, one at the Dragon Hall and the other in the cloisters of the Cathedral. Both were transformed by the presence of stallholders in traditional costumes selling mediaeval style wares, such as pottery, woodwork, games and jewellery. Minstrels, jugglers, fire eaters and storytellers graced the halls, passages and cloisters, with the smell of hog roast and mulled wine permeating the brisk winter air. I was particularly taken by the traditional ash longbows, but I did not have enough silver coin and had to be pleased enough with a beautiful old flowerpress, antique wooden jewellery box and mediaeval dice game in a small leather pouch. Here is a little taste of the Historic Christmas Fayre in the Cathedral.

And the final highlights to my mediaeval winter celebrations..a trip to the theatre to see a lovely performance of Charles Way's play Merlin and the Cave of Dreams and a visit to the somewhat drafty Cathedral to see the fabulous group the Mediaeval Baebes play their best performance yet (in my humble opinion), with the audience sipping mulled wine in an effort to stop shivering. I was even graced with my favourite song (which brought more than one tear to my eye) and the lovely ladies signed a copy of their new album for me. Drums, flutes, strings and beautiful lyrics sung in mediaeval latin, english and welsh in a stunning mediaeval setting. I do not know how I am going to top this next year!


A very Merry Yule/Christmas/Hanukah (etc etc delete as appropriate) to you all! Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to visit the other blogs on today's advent blog tour:

Laclau from Conversaciones de cafe
Kriss from The Swim Mom
Morgan from Insert Clever Name Here

And there are plenty more fabulous sites to visit from tomorrow:

20 December
Jessica from The Bluestockings Society
Naida from The Bookworm
BookClover
BookThingo

21 December
Rhinoa from Rhinoa's Ramblings
Melissa from Remember to Breathe
The Bluestocking Guide
Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies

22 December
Think Pink Dana
My Friend Amy
Nicole from Linus's Blanket
Susan from Reading, Raving and Ranting by a Historical Fiction Writer

23 December
Jane from Janezilfeandtimes
Memory from Stella Matutina
Debbie from Friday Friends Book Blog
Cari from Book Scoops

24 December
Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings
Sheri at Semicolon
Kailana's Written World