A Conclusion to 2012

Just recently, I took part in my second group ritual and this just brightened up my whole year! It's very hard to find a group of people who are willing to work together or work at all in these circles and even if you do find them, they don't necessarily have to be anywhere near you as is my case. Even though I may not be able to celebrate every Sabbath with these wonderful people, I can allow myself to meet up with them a few times a year.

I would like to share with you some photographs from this year's Yule celebration so you can see that it really was a wonderful ritual but also a great opportunity for bonding, getting to know each other better.

Out of respect for other peoples' privacy, I'm not going to name anyone or state where we were, but I just want you to get a general view of how things worked and what the atmosphere was like. No photos were taken during the ritual, but some were taken both before and after. :)

Of course, everyone got together beforehand. There weren't many of us, as you can see, but this was more than enough to make a great ritual happen! :D

Once we got to our destination, it was fun to get ourselves settled in. We had to cut up some wood, get water out of the well and much much more, so the division of labor was traditional: women in the kitchen and men in the forest xD But we did all get together around the well and have a few laughs. ^^

We couldn't have survived without food so here we are getting everything ready for the meal. Thanks to the chef who you can see on the picture. :D

We also had to get everything ready for the ritual so a beautiful altar was made out of natural materials (logs and such), we also made torches and set everything up. :D All the decoration was found in the forest but we had to bring the candles with us since those would have been a bit harder to make under the circumstances. :) But there was plenty food! There were some cakes especially for the ritual and other just for us to pig out on. We also got a loaf of bread for our ritual as a gift from a friend who, unfortunately, couldn't join us. 

Once it got dark, a horn was blown to mark the beginning of the ritual. This was the same horn which woke us at dawn. You can imagine how fun that was! xD

Of course, not everything went as well as planned. When we had to leave, the car got stuck in the mud so you can see the outcome of that situation in the photo above. But at least we all had fun. :D Especially those of us who weren't covered with mud all over by the end. :D

And for the end, two pictures for you to get the ambient in. :) It may all seem a bit gloomy but keep in mind that it was the winder solstice and that there wasn't much sunlight. It will only start to grow stronger and shine brighter from this day onward.

I have to emphasize that this year was also quite meaningful for Pagans in Croatia because there were many interview on this topic on TV, documentaries, newspaper articles, but also new forums and blogs (khm) and new organizations! The Pagan Circle of Croatia (in Croatian, Paganski krug Hrvatske) was formed, but its best if you read about it on this website because it is much better described there than I could ever manage. :) I believe that this organization will be a wonderful support to all Pagans in Croatia and that it will help us all unite or at least grow a little bit closer. :)

All in all, I hope you all had an equally nice time for you celebration and that you thought well about what you want to achieve in the oncoming year 2013. This year was transitional for many people. Some of them experienced bad, while other went through good changes, but the fact remains that all of them happened for a reason. Be thankful for any sort of change because, sooner or later, it will end up being exactly what you needed in that point of time. :) Give thanks for everything good that happened to you in 2012, forgive the people you are angry at, love with your whole heart and take a deep breath to help you enter the next year with a calm spirit.

I sincerely hope that the year 2013 will bring you many wonderful things (love, health, success, inspiration, friendship, happiness, etc.). As a gift, I bring you the new Pagan calendar for the year 2013, which was made by yours truly with a bit of help from the other members of PFI.

Download the calendar here

See you next year! :)
Yours, Witch's Cat