POSTED UNDER Earth, Summer, Water, AND MORE

Anglo - Saxon Winter Wisdom

December 05, 2011 by Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Color of the day:  White
Incense of the day:  Narcissus
 
In many ancient European traditions, winter was the proper time to gather inside for the recitation of sacred tales, poems, legends, and lore. Some were intended to make the listener think about the sacred images and ideas encoded within them.
Here is an example of a gnomic poem from Anglo - Saxon tradition which talks about the meaning of winter:

It is for frost to freeze
For fire to consume wood
For the earth to grow
For the ice to make a bridge
And for the water to bear a
covering
Wondrously to shut in
The seeds of the earth

The gods alone unbind the
getters of frost
The winter sea is unquiet
The warm season returns
Summer is brilliantly hot
The sea is unquiet

The somber path of the dead
is longest secret
It is for holly to be in the fire
For the possessions of a dead
man
To be divided up
Glory is the best reward.
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