Yule Traditions - The Holly & Oak Kings - The Robin & the Wren.

[@Vyrij_Music]

was bery interesting😊

[@LazyIRanch]

Thank you for this gift! I enjoyed this so much, the beautiful images and lovely music blend to make this magical. I live off-grid on a mountain, but I live in desert terrain. It's beautiful in its own ways. I'm amazed by the variety of traditional medicinal plants grow wild up here. I love those wreaths! I bet they smell wonderful!

[@joolzwebbA1]

Hi! Thank you for your lovely comment, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your home sounds amazing, I have no experience of deserts (I think the heat would melt me!) but I know there is great wildlife to be found. Nature provides wherever we be, if we let her thrive. Happy Yule to you, and have a great new year 🌳🌲😊

[@tretower57]

Enjoyed your video. Beautiful! One tip: When you pan with the camera, do it slowly and methodically rather than swinging back and forth. Cheers and Happy New Year!

[@thewagonwitch]

Hi. I know, I'm still bad at the 'swinging around' thing at the moment!....I'm really trying to train myself to do things slowly, but sometimes I forget 🙄 My phone is also not well suited for some filming I think... but mostly it's operator error. I realise it's a bit of a dizzying experience to watch! i hope I will gradually improve with time and experience. Appreciate the advice, and thank you for watching.😊

[@tretower57]

@ very understandable to forget when you’re caught up in the moment sharing all that beauty that surrounds you! Cheers and Happy New Year! (almost)

[@amyjames6118]

Wonderful! Merry blummin' everything to you!

[@thewagonwitch]

@amyjames6118 😁 thanks Amy. Have a goodun, whatever you're doing.

[@kriskabin]

Happy Yule to you & pup. Great video! 🎄

[@thewagonwitch]

@@kriskabin Cheers Kriskabin!. glad you like it. Pup and me are having a great Yule so far, thank you 😊🐕 Hope all is well for you too.

[@Cynthia.B]

This is a very beautiful film! I love the graphics and music, and you have a pleasant voice, as well. Cute dog in the forest! Hope you're having a wonderful Winter season so far. ❄️🌲🕯️🌲❄️ (I just hope that no one hurts the little wrens anymore. I was so sad to hear of that tradition. They are such cute birds! 🤎)

[@thewagonwitch]

Hi Cynthia. I'm glad you enjoyed it. We have been having a lovely time so far, thank you. It will be a great many years since anyone will have harmed a wren for the purpose of Wren Day I think - it would be illegal now anyway I imagine. They use a symbolic or artificial bird now I believe. I love the little wren too, I have a regular visitor by the wagon, Sooooo loud for such a tiny bird too! Enjoy the rest of the festive season. 🌲

[@Cynthia.B]

@@thewagonwitch Oh, thank you!! That is good to know. ☺️ We have wrens here where I live in California, too. They have beautiful songs. 🤎

[@thewagonwitch]

@@Cynthia.B ooooh California! is it nice and warm there? It's very foggy and damp here at the moment (but we're promised some snow at new year so, fingers crossed, i love some snow!

[@Cynthia.B]

@thewagonwitch Yes, it is warm here (southern California)! Lately, it's been around 70°F on average, which is about 21°C? So, it feels more like Spring. We had a good amount of rain the last 5 years or so, but it seems like this Winter will be a dry one. I can't complain, but I honestly love cold and rainy weather, too. We got a bit of snow one day in January 2011. That was fun! 🤍 I hope you get just the right amount! ❄️

[@thewagonwitch]

@@Cynthia.B ooooh.... 70F.... delicious! I do love this time of year, but the persistent damp at the moment gets in the bones a little! Enjoy your lovely warmness!!

[@mikereynolds6837]

New to your channel very informative all the best to you

[@thewagonwitch]

Thanks and welcome😊

[@PaulHOWE-e5l]

Belated solstice greeting,I always learn something new from your videos ,but much from this one,it's a shame the to main solstice days are not bank holidays here.but our pagan past seems to be subject to a cultural blackout. Wishing you and your family a healthy new year.

[@thewagonwitch]

Hey Paul. Bright Solstice Blessings to you too. I'm glad you enjoyed the vid and gained something from it. Hopefully the rise in interest in our pagan past these days is illuminating the blackout a little, though it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction sometimes, as with many things! Hope you have a joyous New Year. 🌟

[@Foxiepawstotti]

I always thought mistletoe was a parasite of apple trees. Its very, very rare for mistletoe to grow on oak and perhaps because of this, druids revered it.

[@thewagonwitch]

You are quite right, mistletoe is usually a parasite on apple trees, or other fruit trees, including hawthorn - which is why it would be very special if found on an oak. I have never seen it growing on an oak but it does happen apparently. Thanks for watching 😊

[@differous01]

The sun stands still (sol-stice) for several days and (without telescopes) it takes a minimum of three days to discern its motion, so while it may have happened on the 21st (if they'd had our calendar) celebrations would be delayed to the 25th, when that motion could be confirmed.

[@thewagonwitch]

@differous01 hi, and thanks for your comment, good point. I appreciate that the Solstices would have originally been calculated by a different system to that used today. I should perhaps have made the point in the video that the date (around 21st) we recognise today is according to the modern Gregorian calendar and the availability of more precise technology. I'll bear that in mind for future reference. Thank you for watching, much appreciated. 😊

[@differous01]

@@thewagonwitch I think we take our calendars and telescopes for granted: without them we can only establish solstices AFTER the event, and the first new moon after that (if that had marked our new year) would vary between 1 to 30 days. The custom of the Twelfth Night of Elizabethan times seems like a compromise between holding a 1 (too short) and 30 day festival (too long: the Holly King's rubies will have fallen from his crown by then).

[@ravenswoods177]

Would the vikings cut down a tree for Yule log or would they collect a fallen tree?

[@thewagonwitch]

I think a freshly cut tree would not burn well, so I imagine they would select a tree for the purpose and cut it well before needed, so it is well seasoned. Or perhaps find a dead, or standing dead tree to use. Thanks for watching😊

[@ajrwilde14]

Kings. Plurals do not require apostrophes.

[@thewagonwitch]

​@ajrwilde14 ah, thank you for that, my mistake, i have corrected it. Kind regards.