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Holidays are times of remembrance, and food bears memory.

(An anthropologist friend of mine once quipped, “You tell me what you eat at Christmas, and I'll tell you where your people come from.”)

So twelve will get you thirteen that your quintessential Thanksgiving food is your mother's stuffing, right?

Turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie: these are much of a muchness, variations on a theme.

But stuffings, now...stuffings vary, and that's why for this holiday the real thing is always the way that mom used to make it. If you're hosting a Fourth of July potluck, expect everyone to bring potato salad. If you're hosting a Thanksgiving potluck, expect everyone to bring their mother's stuffing.

I gave up stuffing—and gravy—when I became vegetarian at 18. It took me decades to realize—well, duh—that both are actually really good food and that, no, you don't need meat to make either. (I will personally pit my brown onion-mushroom gravy against your turkey gravy any day of the lunar month. Any day.)

A few years back, my family actually had four kinds of stuffing on the Thanksgiving table.

My sister's, in the bird itself, was like mom always made hers (and her mother before her, hers, if memory serves: just how far back do these things go, one wonders): a dryish bread stuffing with celery, onion, paprika, a little sage.

(Chost like beck in Old Contry.)

Mine was the vegetarian iteration of ditto—technically, this would be a dressing rather than a stuffing, but let's lay that to the side for now—though I also throw in an apple for a schmeck sweetness, and a handful of nuts for crunch. Hey, I'm a foodie; I can't help it.

My brother-in-law brought his mother's stuffing: bread, but with sausage and cranberries. And cousin Deb brought her mom's: also bread, but soft and gloopy: minimal vegetables, but sticks and sticks of butter. Yuck, both of them: way, way too rich.

And that's not even to mention cornbread stuffings, rice, wild rice, kasha, matza, potato...you name it.

Me, I've always felt ambivalent about Thanksgiving. Personally, I despise the Pilgrims, and everything that they stood for. (Believe me, the feeling was mutual: they didn't have much patience for our kind, either.) We've already had our Witches' Thanksgiving back at the Equinox, anyway.

Hi there!

Just recorded and published a new episode for my Say It With Tarot Podcast: Tarot and the Gratitude Game.

I adore cranberries—here at Witch Central (North), they're a wintertime staple—but most standard cranberry preparations involve truly toxic amounts of refined sugar. Fruit-sweetening seems a smart (to say nothing of aesthetically-preferable) alternative.

To palates accustomed to commercial cranberry sauces, the fruit-sweetened variety can at first seem overwhelmingly tart. (Unsurprisingly, witches value tartness, both behavioral and gustatory.) If you find that this is true for you, just up the proportion of grapes to cranberries.

Old Warlock's Fruit-Sweetened Cran-Grape Sauce

12 oz. (1 bag) fresh cranberries

1 generous bunch table grapes (red, white, or purple)

apple cider

pinch salt

Pick over the cranberries and wash them. Wash the grapes and stem them.

We went out the door, wrapped in coats and scarves, with our paper lanterns lit. The streets were dark, but ahead of us, we could make out the shadows of other children and their parents, their faces softly illuminated by their own lanterns hung on sticks. The lanterns swayed gently as we walked. We went up the street, up the long hill, through the little Bavarian town we were temporarily calling home. It was the eve of Martinstag, November 10, and our neighbors who lived in the flat below ours had invited us to come along.

It wasn't a solemn ritual. There was laughter and chatter, an air of excitement. On the main street, a crowd gathered on either side, the lanterns brightening the darkness. A parade advanced and thundered down the street, roaring with music, vehicles decorated like ships, horses, and other modes of travel. Costumed celebrants called out, "Halloo!" a traditional battle cry, and tossed out candy that we scrambled for and stuffed into sacks.

Moveable feasts in this time period include the Feast of Ullr, which is a heathenization of the USA holiday Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of November each year. The modern secular holiday Wolfenoot also takes place in November. It has been adopted by many heathens and pagans. Last year, 2018, was the first time Wolfenoot was celebrated, and it occurred on the same day as the USA's Thanksgiving, which gave it a boost among those seeking an alternative holiday to celebrate on that day. That also happened to be a full moon, which gave Wolfenoot a boost among those who already howl at the full moon. But Wolfenoot is a fixed date holiday, always on the 23rd of November, not a moveable feast like Thanksgiving.

October
1
Month of possible date of Disablot begins (Icelandic Asatru)

6
Oktoberfest ends (Munich, Germany)

8
Day of Erik the Red (American Asatru, American Odinist)

9
Leif Erikson Day (American Odinist), World Odin Prayer Day (Odinist)

12
Day of Leif Erikson and Freydis Eriksdottir (American Asatru)

14
Winter Nights (alternate date) (American Asatru)

28
Day of Erik the Red (alternate date) (American Asatru)

29
Winterfyllith begins (American Asatru)

30
 Winter Nights (American Asatru),
Alf-blessing (American Asatru),
Freyr-blessing (American Asatru),
Allelieweziel begins (Urglaawe)

November
1
Winter Entdeckung (Germany)

2
Winterfyllith ends (American Asatru)

9
Day of Queen Sigrid (American Asatru, American Odinist)

10
Allelieweziel ends (Urglaawe)

11
Einherjar’s Day (Universalist American Asatru),
Hollersege (Urglaawe),
Ewicher Yeeger Sege (Urglaawe),
Marten Gas (Norway) 

21
Alfablot (Asatru)

23

With the onset of autumn marks the beginning of the holiday season. For people estranged from their biological kin, this can be a difficult time of the year; however, planning ahead can lessen the dread or denial you may feel and turn your sprint through the annual holiday corridor into a meaningful stroll filled with love. Planning ahead is critical to do this, though. Feeling condemned because your former family is no longer in your life and, therefore, neither should joyful holiday celebrations, is not true. Celebration is a human right and how, when, and with whom you do so is entirely up to you--an aggressive family doesn't get to decide that for you. Ever.

Realizing with the onset of cooler temperatures and the calendar that has been turned to November that again this year, and probably forever, you will not be spending Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or New Year's celebrations with people who were once your family can pierce you to the quick. This is especially true for folks who believed that grieving for their lost family was over and that it was all water under the bridge now--that you've worked on your recovery and done deep healing so that the worst part of the shock is over. Then, a picture of a turkey with smiling relatives around it makes your heart flutter...the first snow makes your chest ache, and the smell of certain foods cooking reminds you of old memories, real or imagined, from times of childhood when needs were not met, emotional or physical. Ruminating on your losses, wondering, once again, how the situation with your family came to be, and considering, futilely, how another outcome could have been possible, swirls in your mind. This is tiring and can keep you up at night, even put a dark cloud over the bright autumnal skies that are there for you to enjoy.

I stand rooted here on the earth and offer my gratitude.
I turn to the East and offer gratitude for the air I breathe.
I turn to the South and offer gratitude for the fire of my spirit.
I turn to the West and offer gratitude for river, lake, stream, and ocean.
I turn to the North and offer gratitude for stone, tree, and bone.
I touch the earth and offer gratitude for this land I call home.
I reach towards the sky and offer gratitude for sun and stars.
I place my hand on my heart and breathe deep,
offering gratitude for all that I am and all that I have
and for the many blessings of my life.

Thank you.

You are enough.

Our updated Gratitude Ritual Kit is available for you here.

And, our Winter Magic class has begun and is free too!

I spent some time with the new Three Cauldrons layout that is included in the ritual kit and my results were so perfect. I DO need freedom, hearth-tending, and making sacred/blessing as the core components of keeping my cauldrons tended. I actually laughed aloud when I saw the Wand show up in my “Contribution” cauldron.

The Three Cauldrons are those of Vitality, Connection, and Contribution.