Monday, October 22

Winter Party

There is evidence that people often threw a party during the change from summer to winter to mark the end of the harvest and give thanks to higher powers. Modern Heathens call it Winter Nights, and we use it as a day to celebrate our Dísir, the female ancestors who watch over and protect us. As an extension of the Dísir, some practitioners also give thanks to Frejya, the Lady of the Dís, and some to her twin brother Freyr, the Lord of the Harvest. 3
This link to the Disir, the spirits of our ancestors, gives us some similarity to Samhain (Halloween), the more well known Pagan holiday. But while Samhain has more to do with a general thinning of the veil between this world and the next, Winter Nights is a day to celebrate the good things our Disir have done for us and to honor their contributions to our living family. There are many ways to honor the Disir, but the basic one is to name your ancestry as far back as you can then pour a libation and share a bit of food in a special dish. For Heathens, that recitation of names is a way of showing respect and assuring our kin that though they have died, they won’t be forgotten.
  This little creature was created after reading about the Winter Nights celebration and I appreciated the inspiration.  For more views of my little creatured check me out at GothB4play or at mystic2awesome at Etsy.com