0:01
Welcome to Demystify Magic with Molly and Madison.
I'm Molly, a former skeptic turned full time energy healer and teacher.
And I'm Madison, a born and raised witch running my family's crystal shop.
And we're here to explore all things woo through the lens of both science and spirituality, so that you can find the moments of magic in your everyday life and create an intentional spiritual practice.
0:20
So if that's what you're into, find a cozy spot, take a deep breath, and let's demystify some magic.
Howdy Doody friends, Howdy.
Doody and happy you'll.
You'll love what we have in store for you today because.
0:35
You'll maybe have heard it before.
And don't Soul's Dish finish it?
I can't.
I lost the plot.
0:52
What else is new?
What else is new anyways?
We're a year older, we're a year wiser, and we are bringing back the winter Solstice episode for you.
Y'all really liked when we did this for the fall equinox And we thought, you know, in the spirit of letting things be easy, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna give you this gift of the winter Solstice episode again.
1:14
Yeah, we're gonna take a little bit of a holiday break.
Yeah, holiday breather.
In the spirit of rest, we're doing a little replay and we hope you enjoy it and we love you very much.
Yeah, and if you want to support the show, we have merch at demystifymagic.com, or you can grab a Winter Solstice Spell candle from the Healing Hedge Witch.
1:36
Or you can come to the Winter Solstice Reiki ceremony on Friday and celebrate with us in person well through the Internet.
Or you could do all the above.
Yeah, or you could just sit back, listen and enjoy.
Your presence is present enough.
Here in Demystify Magic, we've got options.
1:54
Well, I hope you win.
Turn this up in your stereo.
OK, Grandma.
And I hope you don't slip on any solstice.
Grab your Yule goat, snuggle up and enjoy the show.
2:10
And enjoy.
Bye you'll tide.
Greetings everyone.
I am so excited for this episode.
You'll love it.
The look of sheer joy on Molly's face as I watched her make that decision to make that joke.
2:30
It was excellent.
If you haven't guessed it, we are talking about the winter solstice today.
So this is going to be a two-part episode.
This week you will get all of our favorite rituals, a little bit of back story on the winter solstice and you'll and then next week you will get a winter solstice reading from me and a meditation led by Molly.
2:52
It's my favorite kind of episode to record because half of it I just get to sit in meditation with my bestie.
So today is going to be a good day.
But first, Molly, what was your magic moment this week?
All right, I have the greatest magic moment.
3:08
You already know what it is so just like feign surprise, but for everyone else I there's a crystal shop near me that is like a warehouse it's called lavish earth.
If you are in southern Maine, you have to go.
They also do like IG sales on Instagram and whatever, but the warehouse is so fun because it's just like you get to walk around and look at crystals and they have like a huge sale shelf now that's like half off the whole bottom rack of the entire store.
3:34
So it's incredible.
I go once a year because you have to make an appointment to go.
I go once a year and I buy all of my Christmas presents for like my teachers and my mentors and my friends that are into crystals and myself usually.
And about a year ago, I saw Krista Mitchell was talking a lot about smoky allestrial quartz, and I felt really, really called to it, but I couldn't find it anywhere.
3:55
So get this, I walk into this crystal warehouse and the first crystal I see is a giant hunk of smoky allestrial quartz.
It's like, it's heavy.
It's like the size and weight of a candle pin bowling ball, it's that heavy.
4:12
Can confirm.
It's huge.
I've seen pictures of it.
It's huge and it's gorgeous.
It's gorgeous.
And so I see and it's from Maine, which is where I am.
So I was like, and I look at the tag, it says $165.
And I was like, that is so much less than what I was expecting it to be.
4:30
So I go to the owner and I was like, is this the only smoky oestral you have?
And she says yes.
And I say is this price correct?
And she says no, I'm so sorry.
I meant to put that on the sail rack.
It's 50% off.
And I was like, don't even bother because it's coming home with me.
4:49
And the crowd went wild.
I have never, I have never felt so happy to spend that much money on a rock in my entire life.
It's sitting on my desk right now next to my orange calcite dinosaurs and I'm just so obsessed with it.
5:04
I did a meditation with it last week where I put it on like my upper legs and laid down and it was the most grounding experience I think I've ever had with a crystal.
I am just, I'm so in love with it and it just felt like so serendipitous.
It was the only one.
It was from Maine.
It was half off.
5:20
It just, I love, I love crystals.
Gorgeous, gorgeous.
There's nothing quite like a like long term manifestation coming to fruition and then the the realization and the acknowledgement of like, oh, it had to be this piece and it had to be today.
5:37
Like all of the reasons that it couldn't have happened before that moment.
It's just the best, most affirming feeling.
So good, so good.
I'm so happy.
What was your magic moment?
My magic moment is that I can finally tell you all that we're opening another store, Spellcrafter, our newest sister store to the healing Hedge witch coming to Saint Pete, Florida in 2024.
6:05
Yay.
If you'd like to follow along, there's not much to be found, but you can follow us at shop Spellcrafter on Instagram.
If you've heard me talking, pretty much ever since this most recent eclipse season, that's when it really like all kind of started.
Everything kind of blew open for my mom and I of what the future of this thing that we've got going on is.
6:23
I can't even describe how excited I am.
I'm so excited the.
Healing Hedge, which is spookier, edgier, slightly witchier little sister.
I can't wait it's coming to Saint Pete so excited we'll have an online launch.
Hopefully my tentative my goal date is January 16th to have a whole new line of candles and oils ready to go out into the world.
6:48
I might regret saying that out loud.
It's.
Happening now.
But now we finally, I told myself that I would wait to say something on the podcast until we had an address and we have an address.
We are signing the lease this week.
And hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, if all goes according to plan, opening in person February 24th, 2024, which feels simultaneously like a million light years away and also like it's happening tomorrow and I'm going to barf.
7:16
I can't wait, I can't wait.
I'm so excited.
It is I often my mom will yell at me for using this description again, but I make the comparison that the healing hedge, which is like my mom barfed all over it, like it's, it's my mom's essence and it makes me so happy and I love it.
7:36
And you know, it is so beloved in the community and that sparked so much joy.
And there's now an opportunity in a slightly different location for me to barf all over something.
My mom also told me she made the comparison.
It's like, because it's going to be very similar, but also very different.
7:53
And the nuance, if you're not in the space, if you're not in the metaphysical community, might be harder to explain it.
So she was trying to explain it to our new landlord, and she goes, the only way I really know how to say it is that I don't have any tattoos and my daughter does.
And that's the difference in the two stores.
8:11
Yeah, that's right.
So if you want the healing hedge which covered in tattoos, follow shop Spellcrafter on Instagram.
Oh my God, I'm so excited.
And that's my magic moment.
OK?
Oh my God, I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Even saying it out loud now.
It's like real.
Now we really have to do it.
8:27
It's real, it's real.
I know I've been waiting for this day.
This has been the thing that Madison has been like, I can't, I can't share this, but I'm so excited about it for like months.
Yeah, I've been racking my brain for magic moments for weeks now because they've all been connected to Spellcrafter and I've been like, I can't.
8:44
Like I what do I do?
What do I say?
I can't even think about anything else other than this really exciting project.
But that's part of why I'm saying something so early when I don't have a whole lot to share, especially like on socials.
It's literally like it looks like a bot account right now.
I'm hopefully going to pull it together and have something on there by the time you are listening to this, but I have to say it out loud because I need somebody to know about it so I actually get my ass in gear.
9:08
It's happening.
I can't wait.
It's happening all right.
Wait, before we dive in, we have some winter solstice specials for you.
Speaking of the healing hedge witch, if you want to support Madison's shop and support the the growth of her new store, you can shop her Winter Solstice candle.
9:28
I can't wait for mine to come in.
That is LinkedIn the show notes.
You can use the code magic for 20% stop your first order.
And if you want to relax, rejuvenate, align with the winter season, you can join me for the Winter Solstice Reiki ceremony.
9:44
The link for that is in the show notes.
It will be on the winter solstice.
But if you can't join us, if you'll have access to the replay for 30 days.
And my goal for the 60 minutes is to help you find the deepest relaxation you have ever experienced and then leave feeling like you can just take on winter, like clear the winter blahs out completely.
10:03
So if you want to support us and support yourself this winter, both of those links will be down below in the show notes.
Yeah, so on that note, let's go ahead and get started.
Dive deep into the winter solstice.
Let's do it.
I actually did a little bit a decent amount of research for this because I know that the winter solstice and Yule has a lot of cultural background that I didn't know a ton about.
10:28
I know a little bit about.
I know a little bit about a lot.
If you listen to this podcast, you'll know.
And I realized that I don't know a ton about the history of the winter solstice.
So I went on over to britannica.com and I got myself an education.
Nice.
So I'm very excited to share my findings with you.
10:44
I literally texted Molly before we started recording and I was like, I need you to do absolutely no research on the winter solstice because there is something that I am so excited to share with you that I cannot have you stumbling upon by accident.
Perfect.
And I'm going to talk about the winter season through the lens of traditional Chinese medicine and five element theory, which has nothing to do with Yule.
11:03
So I did not do any research on that.
All my research has been on the meridians in the body and the yin Yang of energy, so I'm excited.
Yeah, you want to go first, Molly?
It seems like you want me to go first.
I can also go first.
I don't care.
11:19
No, it it seems like you want to keep this cliffhanger until the very end.
Do listeners have to listen to the whole episode?
I want to end on this thing that I found.
I'll be honest, it's really good.
I'll go first, I'll go first, I'll go first, I'll go first.
So if you haven't listened to our Summer Solstice or Autumn Equinox episodes, I'm going to give you a little background about traditional Chinese medicine.
11:40
So this is the energetic map that is used in acupuncture, acupressure, Chinese herbalism.
It's been used for a very, very, very long time.
And the basic essence of it is that our physical bodies and our emotional states are a microcosm reflected in the macrocosm of our world.
12:02
So essentially what that means is when we are in harmony with nature and what's happening around us, we experience more harmony in our body, mind, and soul.
So the idea is to look at the themes that are happening in nature and then align the way that we move through our life with those themes and cycles.
12:22
So winter is this very pivotal shift.
We're shifting from this energy of summer, which was very young, which is more of like an active external hot fiery energy, fast moving energy, very energized kind of energy.
12:39
And winter is the most yin season.
So that is the more receptive, more introspective, more cool.
It's very much connected to the element of water.
So it's very adaptable.
It's very can be kind of emotional, can be kind of dark, very much like turned inward in the sense of slowing down, finding rest, finding quiet.
13:02
And so the winter solstice, we see this reflected in what's happening on the solstice, which it's the shortest day, so the least amount of young and the longest night, the most amount of yin.
And so it really marks this inward turn, right?
If we think about what's happening in nature, the animals are hibernating, right?
13:21
They're storing up for the winter.
They're conserving their energy.
And that's very much what winter is asking us to do.
So you might find that if you have been go, go, go, go, go all summer and then trying to maintain that momentum through the fall, and now you've hit sort of a brick wall and your motivation has dropped or you feel kind of blah.
13:41
It's because the energy is asking you to make a shift.
It's asking you to put down the go, go, go and turn inward and rest and conserve that energy.
Really this time of like reflection and replenishment is the themes here.
I love when we do these episodes because it is so fun and interesting to see the ways that we're just going to talk about the same thing through different lenses.
14:03
Yeah, like as soon as you start talking, I'm like, yeah, that's what I have written down.
It's amazing.
So in traditional Chinese medicine, the different seasons are connected to different meridians in the body, and meridians are like rivers of energy that support the functions of our organs.
14:22
So they're named after our organs.
But when I talk about like the bladder Meridian, I'm not talking about like your physical bladder.
I'm talking more about the function of the bladder, OK.
So in winter, we're connected to that energy is connected to the meridians of the bladder and the kidney.
14:40
So the bladder is like a storehouse of emotions.
If we think about what we do when we use our bladder is we store up and then we release, right?
And the same thing with our emotions.
So you might find that when you're feeling sort of out of alignment with the season, this might show up as your emotions are really held in.
15:03
I've been doing a lot of these full body energy readings that I talked about a couple weeks ago, and there's a theme that comes up in almost every single one of them.
And it's this theme of not allowing yourself to feel or express your emotions.
And a lot of times this creates tension in the back and the bladder Meridian.
15:22
Again, this storehouse of emotion runs along the back of the spine, on either side of the spine, down the back of the legs.
So you might notice if you're not expressing your emotions, you're out of alignment with the winter energy or you're avoiding your emotions.
You might have back pain, stiffness in your back.
15:40
At the same time, it's also connected with the Meridian of the kidney.
And the kidney in traditional Chinese medicine is the storehouse for our life force or our chi.
And so you might notice if you are out of alignment with the season, your kidney chi is not as strong.
Then you have less willpower, less ambition.
15:57
You feel kind of blah.
You kind of hit a wall around 2:00 and the sun goes down and you just kind of feel like, I can't do it.
I'm just going to take a nap for the rest of the day.
That's this kidney chi not being as strong as it could be because that's where your willpower and your ambition really lives.
16:14
So if you don't have enough resources there, then you're going to feel that drop in your motivation, especially as it gets darker.
That's so interesting.
That's exactly what I'm also noticing.
Like in my circles, like in my personal life, every time I've talked to a friend, that's the exact experience that they've described to me is it starts to get dark earlier than I want it to and all energy leaves my body.
16:42
I went over to a friend's house the other night and got there at like 7, ate dinner, watched a movie.
It was like 9:00.
And I looked at her and I was like, I have to go home right now.
I love you so much.
I want to sit and talk to you all night long, but I must be in bed by 9:30 or I don't know, Like I just can't function right.
17:05
And it's like an immediate, it's an immediate shift in energy where it just all leaves.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's one of the reasons why I love doing these solstice ceremonies because you know, you know me, I always preach like 2 minutes of your practice a day can help you come into alignment.
17:21
But when we have a shift in the energy around us, it can be really helpful to create a very distinct space to come back into alignment, right?
So in the ceremony, we're going to be turning inward, really reflecting on our like year so far, what we want to create, but also spending a lot of time resting and replenishing.
17:45
So a lot of us, we don't know how to slow down.
And that becomes very, very apparent this time of year because we want to do more and everything around us is asking us to do more, right?
Like that's the whole holiday season is like, how can you do more?
How can you spend more?
How can you, you know, travel more, whatever.
18:03
And so for a lot of us, slowing down and actually doing something that rests us physically, emotionally, energetically is foreign.
And that's really why I love practices like Reiki because it helps to teach you how to actually rest.
18:19
And ultimately, like, it can be uncomfortable for some of us, right?
Especially if you've been storing those emotions, not feeling them, right?
It can kind of be like you're driving 70 mph on the highway and you slam on the brakes.
All the shit from the back seat comes forward.
And so Reiki gives us this opportunity to parse through what's coming forward and also createspace for it to release.
18:40
I have a very selfish question that will relate to probably not very many of us, but I am travelling to the Southern hemisphere right after the winter solstice.
How does that like going to where they're having their summer solstice?
18:59
What is that energetic shift like?
Do you know, like what is that?
I just had the realization of that.
I'm going to literally an opposite energetic.
Yeah.
Situation essentially.
It's gonna be weird.
I can't wait to report back on.
It I know, please, I've never, I've never known anyone to have that experience.
19:16
If you are in the southern half of the world, fortunately we do have a summer solstice episode so you can just listen to those.
Yes, yes, one day we'll have a whole backlog.
We really have.
We only have spring left, right?
Yeah.
Oh, that's exciting.
We'll have a complete a complete cycle for you.
19:33
Yeah.
But I've been thinking about as you're talking like how I feel like I, we always have this realization where if I'm like, oh, I am really out of, I'm out of whack with the season.
I'm not in line, I'm not aligned with the season right now.
And so I feel like it'll either be I'll slide right in, I'll be like, Oh yeah, this is great.
19:50
I'm back in my summer, my summer element, because I feel this need to go, go, go or it's going to be a huge shift of feeling all wonky and out of whack.
Yeah.
And I also want to validate that if you are listening and you feel out of alignment with the season, that's very normal right now because we're in this moment of shift.
20:07
We're going to transition the summer solstice marks.
One transition coming to the close and the next one coming to an open.
So we're shifting from the young to the yin.
And then as soon as we hit the solstice, then we're shifting from the yin back to the young.
So that's why we feel out of alignment is because of because we're in a transition.
20:26
And that's why doing a, some sort of ritual to come into alignment on the winter solstice or around the winter solstice can help so much.
Because then it's like you're, it's almost like, you know, when you're, this is a weird analogy, but you know when you're playing basketball and you go to like turn.
20:48
Do I look like I play basketball?
OK.
You know when you're playing Mario Kart and you go to turn and you want to do like a 180 turn, but you just keep sliding, right?
But you realize when you come to a full stop, you can turn much more smoothly?
21:04
That's the vibe of the Solstice.
The pivot, The pivot for basketball to Mario Kart was really funny.
It's like we have to slow down so that we can readjust for this new transition.
21:21
Uh huh, who as my as my old retail job back in the day when I was in school put it slow down to speed up.
Yep, I'm still on Mario Kart.
That's my recommendation is whatever ritual helps you slow down.
21:37
So I I bought a Yule Oracle deck, which we're actually going to talk about two episodes from now.
We're going to talk about our favorite Oracle in tarot decks and how you can choose one for yourself.
So spoiler alert, cliffhanger, but I bought a Yule Tarot deck and I pulled a card during a reading last week and I just had this like big epiphany that I had to share on the podcast because I just feel like it's going to resonate with someone.
22:06
I even wrote it down because I was so I just had to share it.
So it's a candle magic card and the card itself says finger the spine and caress thy lips, light the spell spilling from your grip.
And what I wrote down was this, your brain is trained to see the negative, especially right now as we transition Into Darkness with the solstice, it can be difficult to see anything but dark, negative, stress, bad grief, etcetera.
22:32
But there is always a flicker of light.
It may be as small as a candle flame, but it's there.
And just like a candle flame can light many more Wicks around it, bringing in more light.
When you focus on that light, it begins to expand into your awareness.
So TuneIn, what's one thing that's going right right now?
22:50
And if you want to practice connecting with the light that's all around you and releasing the stress this time of year, that's that's going to be the main theme of the ceremony.
So we'd love to see you there.
Also, I'm going to do my quick plug for the ceremony.
We always reach a point, I can never make it on the day and we always reach a point where I'm all stressed out and Molly's done with me and he's done with hearing about it.
23:11
And she says please just do this.
And she sends me the link to the replay, and I do it.
And I say, OK, Molly, you were right.
I feel much better with much chagrin.
And that's my advertisement for your, for your ceremonies.
23:26
They've had such a positive impact on me.
And they're always exactly what I need, even when I don't think it's what I need.
Sometimes you start talking, I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
I know.
And then by the end of it, I'm crying like a little baby, so.
Yeah, and if you are someone who can't make it live and you're worried about the replay, I do the replays myself.
23:45
That's one of the selfish reasons why I do these ceremonies and have replays is so that I can do them.
They're just as effective as replay.
And of course, if you have any questions about them or if you're not sure if it's the right fit for you, just send me Adm over on Instagram.
We can chat about it.
There's no pressure here.
24:00
But do want to make sure you are aware that it is a thing and it's probably the most economical way that you can receive a full Reiki session for yourself.
And you have it for 30 days.
So you could do a full Reiki session for yourself every goddamn day.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
24:17
What a deal.
All right, tell me about Yule.
I'm on the edge of my seat.
OK, so I'm going to try really hard to not speed through what I have written down in my notes to get to my fun cute thing that I found.
So.
But as we know, the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year like you talked about, and you're going to see a lot of similar themes in Yule.
24:37
Something that I think is so interesting is that this is the only other than like Halloween is really connected to Sawin.
This is the one holiday that is like really connected to a Christian practice.
I guess Halloween isn't a Christian practice but like.
24:52
Yeah, yeah, like a mainstream holiday.
All of the mainstream holidays.
But I think it's most interesting because it's become an equivocal.
Yule has become a synonym for Christmas to a lot of people and in a lot of cultures.
And you'll see a lot of overlap in how people celebrate Yule versus how people celebrate Christmas.
25:13
And that is for a lot of reasons.
I mean, like, we're all kind of celebrating the same thing.
If you didn't know, it's most likely that Jesus was born in the summertime and we celebrate in the winter.
I don't know why is the truth.
I don't know a ton about Christmas in the same way.
25:28
Like, you know, I just know all of it culturally.
I celebrate Christmas.
I have always celebrated.
Christmas.
So like a big jolly man with a red suit who gets scared by M&M's every year on the TV.
Does he?
I don't what.
Wow, this is where our generational cap is showing.
25:44
Scared by M&M's you?
Haven't seen that commercial.
They've been playing it for like 30 years.
The M&M's come down and they turn around the corner and Santa's under the tree and he and they go, he's real.
And then Santa goes, they're real.
And Santa Feints, please, if you're listening to this and you know what I'm talking about, slide into our DMS because Madison's looking at me like I have 10 heads.
26:07
No Faint is a two-part commercial where Red and Yellow walk around the house and find Santa when they both suddenly realize each exist and Red and Santa faint.
What year is it from?
Does it say?
The first one was aired December 2nd, 1996.
Yeah, OK.
26:23
All right.
The first commercial's latest airing November 22nd, 2023.
I just saw it yesterday.
I just don't watch TV.
Yeah, I know.
This is our generational gap that that was released before you were born.
That's wild.
OK anyways.
Anyways, what were we talking?
About back to you all.
26:43
Oh, we are having a time today.
OK, You'll notice a lot of overlap in things that are commonly found in Yule celebrations and things that are found commonly found in Christmas celebrations.
That's because they kind of combined in a lot of cultures around like the 9th century.
27:02
That's when, according to britannica.com, Yule became a word for Christmas.
And in some cultures where, you know, monarchies converted to Christianity and then forced Christmas upon their people, said, you know, now we celebrate Christmas.
27:18
We're a Christian place.
A lot of old Yule celebrations became a part of Christmas traditions.
And so that's where a lot of that overlap can kind of come from.
But since it's the shortest day of the year, it's the celebration of, you know, every day after that, it's slowly getting longer.
27:36
It's the return of the sun, the light is coming back in.
And so you're going to see a lot of themes of like light and fire.
That's where you know if you've heard of a Yule log, If you've ever seen a Yule log cake that comes from back 1000 or so years ago when there was just a huge ass log that would stay lit through the entire Yule Winter Solstice celebration.
27:59
It's interesting too because like so, my stepdad is Jewish, so we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, and it's interesting that Yule has to do with fire and light, and then Hanukkah also is a celebration of fire and light.
Oh, I didn't even think about that.
28:15
You're so right.
Yeah, yeah, it's interesting.
It's like all the same theme, just packaged differently.
And if you even think of like a Christmas tree, like the lighting of the tree, that's like a huge deal.
Yeah, yeah.
If you like, there's in my in Tarpon, where I live, they do a lighting of the Christmas tree every year.
28:30
They do it at the Rockefeller tree.
You know, it's like a signal of the start of the season, right?
Yeah, Yeah.
And then it is often also celebrated with a large feast.
I think what I love so much too about Yule from the perspective of the people that I meet in the store, is that it's a really easy holiday to celebrate personally and privately amongst religious family members.
28:56
There's so much crossover that if you are incorporating the Wheel of the year into your spiritual practice, you probably already have a lot of these things.
If you have Christmas dinner, you're also celebrating you all.
And it doesn't have to feel.
29:13
I know when I first started acknowledging the wheel of the year, it felt really clunky.
And I think a lot of that is because it feels so old and so ancient, even though like it's kind of this mishmash of all of these other things.
Like, you know, it hasn't always existed in this perfect round way.
It's an incorporation of a lot of different things that come from different places that make up this one cycle.
29:34
And it feels like it doesn't quite make sense in my life sometimes or it used to because of that.
And so I think Ula's a really great place to start because it is a natural transition.
There's not a huge change.
It's something that like, I feel like even outside of, you know, if I, if I didn't celebrate Christmas, if I had never celebrated Christmas before, I would still feel like I had some common ground with people who did.
30:01
And it's just, you know, in the, in the essence, in the effort of like what we say to incorporate small things into what already exists.
It's very easy to bring Yule into Christmas.
I really do see Christmas as like a cultural holiday.
That's at least how my family participates in it.
30:16
We celebrate Christmas because we always have.
And it's never really been religious, even for like my not witchy family members.
Like, yeah, same.
We never went to church on Christmas.
Like it's just never been that sort of thing.
And so that's where that feels for me.
30:32
If Christmas feels like a symbol of religious trauma to you, that is obviously a very different situation.
And I say burn your Yule log, fuck your Christmas tree, Do whatever makes you happy.
You know, take just the take the witchiest parts and make your witchiest Yule.
And release all of the religious, All of it, Yeah.
30:52
But if you're someone who's trying to, I don't know a better way to say this other than like, retain some form of normalcy.
Like combine the two worlds.
Yes, if you're looking to combine those two worlds, yeah, Yule is a really great way to do that because it, it really is just a celebration of nature, the cycle that we are all experiencing.
31:13
I love it too, because it feels like it really does just honor that what you were talking about, the natural energetic cycle in a way that commercial holidays do not right now.
And that feels like a really radical act to reject the the need to do, do, do, do, do, do.
31:32
Yeah.
A little bit of a cliffhanger.
A lot of this is going to come up in my reading that I'm going to share next week.
I did it before we started recording and it's a common theme.
And I think it's a message that everybody needs to hear right now.
Is REST is a radical act right now.
31:47
Yes, always.
But especially right now.
Always, but especially right now.
OK.
And then how I'm celebrating as someone who does really meld those two worlds this time of year.
If you're looking for an easy way to celebrate Christmas dinner, like I said, if that's something that your family does, we usually do ours on Christmas Eve.
32:10
Same.
Really cute, cute.
We'll be all we'll be together in spirit, having our Yule feast Yule.
Be in my heart, I.
Love it.
And then something that my mom and I always do, you know, whenever it gets, like whenever there's a hint of a chill in the air in Florida, you'll see everybody in the backyard with their fire pits.
32:37
And so it won't always be right around the winter solstice.
If you've ever been to Florida in December, you'll know that it fluctuates.
You know, like, one day it's a high of 95, and then the next day it's a high of 55.
So whenever we can, we'll light a fire.
We call it our Yule log.
Cute.
32:53
Have a big feast of.
Christmas dinner.
And then I will say it again.
Everybody loves my figurines.
It's time to put out the Christmas figurines.
Unfortunately, back in the 90s when my grandma was buying these figurines, there were no Yule figurines, or if they were, she was not buying them.
33:11
So we do our.
Best with our Christmas figurines.
I haven't taken them out yet I realized last night I was like telling someone about the.
Meeting someone new is so fun like getting to know new friends is such a good time.
Telling someone about the figurines for the first time if you're not familiar with the.
33:27
Figurines.
Oh yeah.
OK.
If you this is your first episode of Demystify Magic, I'm so sorry.
My grandma is a big Hallmark lady.
Quite literally at one point would work at the Hallmark store, and whatever was leftover in her paycheck would just go right, like, was exchanged for product.
33:47
Yeah.
And she recently did, like, a huge purge.
You know she's downsizing.
Christmas was her Super Bowl.
She loves a decorative theme.
It was.
There were multiple trees.
They were all decorated in one cohesive theme.
34:02
My boyfriend and I actually went over to her house earlier this week to help her decorate.
And it is a sport, like there are rules.
It is not just place the ornaments on the tree.
It is like you have to do it correctly.
And my boyfriend got a, he got an education and a decoration this past week.
34:21
Yeah, Yeah.
But.
Imagine.
Like, you know how people have the Christmas villages?
Oh yeah, yeah, they.
Have like the houses and the.
People, yes, imagine that sort of energy, but for every occasion you could think of that was these boxes of figurines that I went through a few months ago, I guess probably over a year ago now.
34:40
It's actually been several years.
I mean, a couple months ago.
And let me choose my favorites from when I was a kid and I decorate my altar with them now with the change of the season.
Yeah.
And so the biggest part of each, like season change for me is the changing of the figurines.
34:59
It's like when the next season has begun and I normally am very late to Christmas because Halloween is my favorite and I leave Halloween up through past Thanksgiving.
Yeah, yeah.
I think in general, the solstice is a good time to do a refresh of your altars, your offerings, your money bowls.
35:15
I also, as you were talking about what you do in Florida, I was thinking about witchy things that you can do if you're not in Florida.
And I'm looking outside and it's snowing right now here in.
Maine not.
Very much, but there is snow and I have seen people talk about I've never done this, this will be my first time doing it.
35:34
But you can collect the snow and then you have snow water that you can use for your spells.
Bestie, I was going to ask.
You if you could bring me some when you come down, I'm literally going to ask you just a little bottle of water, put it with your toiletries.
All right, fine.
35:49
I'll do my best.
It's OK, you don't.
I mean, you know.
If I have room in my plastic.
Ziploc baggie.
I will, yeah.
Otherwise.
I'll have to mail it to you.
Fill the rest.
Of the plastic baggie with snow.
Can you imagine?
36:05
TSA would be like, you can't even tell me that's a is that.
More than three ounces.
Though who's to say?
Who's to say?
That's a way to cheat the system.
It's happening.
It's happening.
OK.
OK, everyone, drum roll, please.
I need everyone to stop what they're doing.
36:21
Molly, you included.
And everyone, if you're driving, pull over.
I need everyone to collectively with me, open up their Google machine and type in Yule goat.
I'm sorry, Yule goat.
36:38
And then go to images.
Oh.
My God.
Uh huh.
Is it not the best thing you've ever seen?
Yes, it's huge.
What?
Do they burn it?
I see one that's on fire, they burn it.
36:58
Why do they burn it?
I believe they burn it.
It is in Sweden.
It's a Swedish tradition.
I'll be honest, I didn't do a ton of reading about what they do with the you'll go I I learned it existed and I got so excited that I just looked at pictures of it until it was time for us to start recording.
OK, so if we go to Wikipedia, the.
37:15
OK, so.
History The Yule Goat's origins go back to ancient Pagan festivals.
This event clearly marks the Sun's annual re entry into the astrological sign of Capricornis.
And a kid goat's sacrifice was made in honor of the Norse God Nijord, or Saturn, the God of agriculture.
37:33
I believe it's just, said Nord.
Is the Jay Silent?
I actually, you know what, I should not be given advice in that category?
The cornice.
Element in Capricorn's name refers to the Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty, with its promise of a bountiful harvest to come.
37:49
While the origins are unclear, a popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to the warship of the Norse God Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats.
Not going to try and pronounce their names.
It goes back to common Indo European beliefs.
38:05
The last sheaf of grain bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and save for the Yule celebrations called, among other things, Yule goat.
OK, now go down to the.
Modern Yule Goat The Yule goat in Nordic countries today is best known as a Christmas ornament.
38:22
This modern version of the Yule goat figure is a decorative goat made out of straw and bound with red ribbons.
A popular Christmas ornament often found under or on the Christmas tree.
Large versions of this ornament are frequently erected in towns and cities around Christmas time.
A tradition started with a goat that same I can't pronounce in the 1960 Wow.
38:43
And so.
It's another it's another instance of like 2 worlds colliding because now they see him as like he's now he's seen a Santa's friend.
If you scroll up on above the modern goat you'll see a drawing of him next to Santa Claus.
38:58
Oh my God.
If you want a deep dive, highly recommend going to this Wikipedia page.
I'm going to spend a significant amount of time here.
It's not that long if you want a deep dive.
So wow, I feel like I've seen this goat before.
39:16
This goat feels.
Familiar it does.
It does.
So anyways, that was my exciting find that I really was going to be upset if you stumbled upon by accident.
That is the.
GOAT of all Yule traditions.
Where did you see it on fire if you go into Google.
39:36
Images Scroll down.
Oh wow, do they light it?
Do they?
Or was this Why do they oh God, it's an article and why people keep.
Burning it down.
OK, so no, it is not it the I think that is not what's supposed to.
Oh, it's an act of arson.
39:51
It's an act of arson.
They you're not supposed to burn it.
Oh no, that's really sad.
I'm upset about this.
OK, I'm gonna read this just.
Verbatim from New York Magazine Why do people want to burn down the Gable goat?
Some people think it's tradition to burn it down, but it isn't.
I think it's more because of betting and playing and playing money.
40:08
Some guys have been drunk, they leave the restaurant in the night and they try to be famous in some bad way and they have burned it down.
So the meaning is not to burn it down.
The meaning is to have it over Christmas and New Year and then take it down and have it for the next year.
Half of the years that we have had the goat, it has been burned down and the other half we have taken it down as a whole goat and can save it for next year.
40:26
But every second year approximately it has been burned down.
Wow, that's dark.
Also I found a.
Pronunciation.
Oh, tell me.
Yavla.
Yavla goat.
Yavla Goat.
That was off the pronounced someone is saying.
Like it's written out in a different article.
40:43
Like the word yeah, VLEH is the phonetic spelling yavla.
OK.
Now we know.
I feel like we've learned a lot in this episode.
I know it was so.
Fun to do some noodling.
I know, I know, I can't wait.
For next week when you I want to hear your reading, I know I'm excited.
41:02
To share it with you.
And if you have any winter solstice traditions, please share them with us.
We love to hear from you guys and love to read what everyone is doing around the different solstices and equinoxes.
And if you want to join Molly's Winter Solstice ceremony or grab a Winter solstice candle, you can use the link in the show notes and don't.
41:22
Forget to subscribe to tune in to next week or you'll be sorry you missed it.
Hey, yo.
All right.
See you later, you guys.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to Demystify Magic with Molly and Madison.
If you want to learn more about us, you can find all our links in the show notes.
41:38
We'd love to know what you think of.
Today's episode, so drop us a review or give us a shout out on social media and don't forget to let us know your magical moment of the week.
OK?
Love you.
Bye.
