We returned last night from Yule at FireHeart. I had a very good time. We arrived on Thursday night as we didn't want to spend 8 hours driving and just get there in time for the ritual on Friday. Ronn was welcoming and hospitable as always. He really is a very warm host. TJ was also there early. It was a delight to see him and introduce him to Tom. We spent the evening until about 2 am talking about a variety of topics. The next morning Tom and I got up leisurely, after lovemaking, and started up the conversation again. After a bit TJ suggested that he treat us to brunch. So off we went. Breakfast was good and the conversation was lively. That is one of the things that I enjoy about TJ in particular but Ronn as well.
After breakfast we stopped by to see the house Ronn is trying to sell. It is a lovely house, plenty of room even a finished room in the basement, good looking, in good shape with a large fenced in backyard, trees and a tree house. It is quite a deal. It has been appraised for $240,000 but he is selling it for 199,000. It would be wonderful if a nice Pagan family would buy it.
After we got back and spent more time conversing. (Are you seeing a theme here?) Ronn needed to go out shopping to pick up some last minute things so we all piled into his car and went off with him to keep him company and continue our conversing.
People began to arrive late afternoon. It was great to see everyone and to introduce Tom to them all. Everyone seemed quite pleased to meet him. Candy promised to send people to find him if he took off to hide somewhere. Tom came back right away pointing out that if she wanted him to return then overwhelming him with people was not a good idea. So she promptly revised it to she would ration out the people she sent to look for him. But as it turned out he never quite needed to go off and be a hermit for a while. The potluck was the usual wonderful varied Pagan Potluck. M. and J. arrived later than expected. I passed on the passionate kisses that F. had asked me to :)
And the Yule ritual that followed had Jim and Candy as Priest and Priestess. We entered the living room and were greeted by Kevin. He anointed our foreheads with an oil with an interesting smell, due to one of Candy's many talents, I believe. Maggi was singing a Yule carol as we gathered and sat in a rough circle. She has a very sweet voice. The quarters were called and I passed a hug to cast the circle with the love of this our family and clan. The Gods were invoked and Candy talked to us about fire and its birth at this time. Candles were passed out and we lit them to represent our own energy and the fire within. Maggi told us a story and we sang several Yule carols as a group. During the watersharing people spoke of things that they had experienced since Samhain.
After the ritual we had the gift exchange. We drew numbers to determine the order of choosing. Then one by one people chose a present and opened it, or took a gift that someone else had already opened. When that happened the person now giftless chose another one to open. However, stealing a gift from another person didn't really accomplish anything because we knew that at the end the gifts would be shifted some random number in one of the directions. Ronn asked the group to settle on a number, which then was reduced to a single digit. This was the number of people the gifts would shift too. He also had the group choose a number and even meant gifts passed to the left and odd to the right. This way the last person to choose a gift wasn't stuck with whatever was left and no one would be too upset as they knew that they would not end up with the one they opened - unless, of course, they traded with someone. Tom got a Poly Parrot mobile that he has to put together yet. I got a battery operated hot fork (really you stick it in the meat and it shows the internal temperature.) It looks useful.
Having been up late again we got up slowly. There was a potluck brunch and people began to drift back for it. We spent the morning conversing again. Ronn and I started talking about a family corporation and how to set it up. He seems to have some very good ideas about protecting assets and how to work it all out. It was very encouraging. We left later than I had planned. The trip home seemed longer to me as it was dark and rainy during my shift. But it was basically uneventful and we arrived home safely.
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind