A Birthday Party for the Sun - Pooka Pages

[Pages:22]Yule 2017

A Birthday Party for the Sun !

Maybe you remember that at dinnertime during the summer it was still light out - but now when you eat it's dark. It's not that dinner's being served later. It's that, since Summer Solstice, the days have been getting shorter and the nights have been getting longer. But that's about to change! At Yule, the sun is "born" once more. It's his birthday and everyone celebrates! Starting with Yule, the baby sun gets a little bit stronger and stays in the sky a little bit longer each day.

In this Issue:

Storybook Chair - The Yule Without Snow Coloring Page by Liliane Grenier Elsie's Kitchen Elsie's Herb Garden Little Book of Shadows

A Letter from Scotland by Fiona Tinker Lullaby by Cia Williford

Sabbat Symbols by Momma Witch Carmen Coloring Page by Liliane Grenier WitchCrafts by Amber

Jimmy Meets Some Bullies - by Evelien Roos Wee Witchling's Read-Along

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The Yule Without Snow

Pooka stirred, rose and stretched 'til he was twice his normal length. He then quickly

washed his whiskers and gave the base of his tail a few licks before leaping onto the sill of the bedroom window.

"Elsie, wake up!" the cat sang out, happily. "It's going to be another beautiful day!" "Mmmm?" The little witch rolled over and cracked one eye open. From her pillow, she could see the upper halves of the forest trees and, above them, a clear blue sky. She frowned and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Pooka scampered about as Elsie washed her face and pulled a clean white pinafore apron over her long black dress. "Isn't it great?" he exclaimed. "I can go out and play again today!" Elsie nodded as she brushed the tangles out of her curly red hair. She settled her pointed black hat on her head, added a blue ribbon and said, "How about some breakfast first?" The cat continued his happy chatter all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. "This is the Perfect Winter!" he told her. "It's not all that cold and there's no stupid snow keeping me inside. I wish every winter was like this!" As Elsie stirred the bubbling pot of oatmeal, she disagreed, but kept the thought to herself. "No raisins in Mine!" Pooka reminded her. "Ooops," muttered the distracted witch at the stove. After breakfast, Pooka scampered out to the garden and Elsie followed. She noticed a few baby leaves on her rose bushes. Crouching next to the plants, she whispered: "Not yet! Winter will come and your new leaves will get frozen." The confused bushes pulled the leaves back into their stems. Nathan appeared at the garden gate dragging a slightly droopy pine tree behind him. "I brought your Yule tree. How 'bout this weather? I'm afraid, this was the best one I could find." "Let's get it inside with some water and see if it perks up," suggested Elsie. Pooka dashed over to the boy and asked eagerly: "After that, want to go sledding?" Nathan looked down at the cat. "How? There's no snow." Pooka looked puzzled. "We need snow to go sledding?" "Well, YEAH!" Nathan rolled his eyes and laughed. Pooka didn't like being laughed at. He also didn't like not being able to go sledding with his friend. Maybe just a little snow wouldn't be so bad? But then Pooka remembered that he didn't like snow.

As Elsie and Nathan pulled the Yule tree into the cottage, Thistle the fairy arrived and began darting around the garden. She fluttered over the areas where Elsie's bulbs were planted. "Poor babies," she crooned. "You need the frost in order to bloom. But don't worry, it's coming."

"Hey, Thistle," cried Pooka. "Let's go play "Chase the Fairy" on the pond!"

"We can't, you silly cat. The pond hasn't frozen."

"Oh." Pooka sat down and thought about this. He loved sliding and chasing Thistle across the frozen pond.

Maybe they could have a snowball fight? Oh, right. No snow. What could a kitty do for fun in a notreally-cold winter with no snow? There weren't any butterflies to chase. His catnip was nothing but a brown patch on the ground and no good for rolling in. He couldn't even go fishing with Nathan because it was still cold enough to make the fish all sluggish and sleepy. The little cat felt depressed. This was no fair!

That night, Elsie lit the Yule log on the hearth. The little pine tree glittered from a corner of the parlor and presents wrapped in bright paper were piled underneath. They had a special Yule feast and afterward, the witch brought out plates of gingerbread, cookies and a pitcher of warm, creamy eggnog.

Pooka tried to enjoy it all, but something was missing. It just didn't seem like Yule! Elsie set up their altar in front of the hearth and began lighting the incense and candles. "Edgar, will you put the Sun on top of the tree?" The crow took the shiny gold ornament in his beak, flew to the highest branch and placed it carefully in the place of honor. He then fluttered down and landed on Elsie's shoulder.

The witch summoned the elements, then raised her arms and began their ritual:

Oh Goddess of Darkness and Winter so cold, Within your womb does Springtime unfold,

Without the dark, without the night Without the Balance, there is no Light...

Pooka was only half listening as he gazed out the parlor window. Suddenly, he leaped to his paws.

"Elsie, it's snowing!" he exclaimed. The little cat never thought he'd be so delighted to see those wet white flakes falling from the sky! He forgot all about hating the snow and, somehow, magically, it finally felt like Yule.

"Now I can go sledding with Nathan and have snow ball fights and play "Chase the Fairy" across the pond!"

"Yes, Pooka," his witch smiled, "but, do you mind if we finish the ritual first?"

As Elsie lit the candles around the parlor, Nathan asked, "Hey, Pooka, which burns longer - a green candle or a red candle?" Pooka thought and thought about this. Finally, he gave up. "I don't know," he said. Nathan laughed. "Neither. They both burn shorter!" Pooka groaned and Elsie giggled.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

by Emily Tinsman

Pooka has a new absolute favorite Yule cookie! These decadent cookies, rich with spices and chocolate, are perfect to make a few days before serving because their flavor deepens with time. Pooka's pretty sure they'll knock the socks right off your paws!

Cookie: 1 box gingerbread cookie mix 1 Tbs Sugar 1 Tbs Cocoa powder 3 Tbs Nesquik cocoa powder 5 Tbs Hershey's syrup 4 Tbs butter melted ? tsp ground nutmeg ? tsp ground ginger ? tsp ground clove ? tsp ground cinnamon 3 Tbs flour 1 Tbs water

Icing: 2 ? cubes Baking chocolate melted Apx. 1 cup Powdered sugar 2 Tbs Hershey's syrup 1 Tbs milk

Directions: Mix all dry ingredients in an electric cauldron (mixer) Add butter, water, and Hershey's syrup. It should look like cookie dough and form a giant ball while being mixed. Put in saran wrap and freeze until almost solid. Roll into balls (about golf ball size) and Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Melt the baking chocolate and pour the powdered sugar, milk, and syrup into it and stir. When the cookies have cooled, spread the icing on them and let them sit until the icing hardens.

Vegan Cheese Sauce

by Amanda and Tristan Storms

Yule parties and family get-togethers need food that everyone can enjoy. Six year old Tristan enjoys making this tasty "cheese dip" that even your non-vegan friends will like.

Cut 2 medium potatoes, 2 large carrots and a quarter of an onion into small uniform pieces. Put them in a pot with just enough water to cover them, add a pinch of salt (or 2 pinches if your fingers are really little) and simmer it on the stove until the veggies are soft.

Dump the veggies (along with the water they cooked in) into a blender along with 1/2 tsp. ground mustard, 1 tsp salt, a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of turmeric. Add nutritional yeast to taste - about 1/2 a cup. Whir it all up until it's nice and smooth.

Use it as a dip for bread or french fries, a topping for vegetables or a sauce for noodles. According to Tristan, it tastes great on just about everything!

Orange

"What?" you say. (You didn't actually snort, did you?) "An orange isn't an herb!" Well, think about it: Oranges are medicinal. They help heal your body. They're not only delicious eaten alone; they also are used as a flavoring ingredient when added to other foods. They're used in cosmetics and perfumes AND they are very magical. So, do they belong in our Herb Garden? Elsie thinks so and Pooka agrees. Let's start with the healing power of oranges. There are compounds in this fruit that work together and go way beyond the simple benefits of vitamin C in fighting viruses and infections. If you have a grownup in your family who's prone to getting kidney stones, then you know how painful that is. But eating just one orange a day will help to keep those nasty stones from forming. Oranges also help balance the levels of sugar in the blood, so they're really good if you know someone with diabetes. They help balance the good & bad cholesterol for grownups at risk for heart attack or strokes. They even bring up the good cholesterol levels which is something no doctor's pill can do yet. Did you know that simply having a glass of orange juice with your breakfast can help you lose weight? Whenever Elsie is called to help a new mother in the village, she tells them to drink orange peel tea. It's delicious and helps with all sorts of things including Mastitis (something that happens when a mommy's body makes too much milk and baby can't drink it all.) There's a whole bunch more healing stuff that oranges are good for like cancer, arthritis or building strong bones. If you're interested, you can have a grownup help you look them all up. But Pooka is bored now and wants to move on....

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