Goddess Blessings on Yule Eve

I stayed home yesterday.....it's rare for me not to go into the workshop every day. Even my so-called 'days off' find me popping in for one thing or another. I decided I was absolutely NOT working yesterday! I slept in until 9 and spent the day reading and eating junk food. Bliss! I was dreading the evening when I'd have to leave the warmth and comfort of home to venture out into the snow and ice and drive 30 minutes to Manchester for a last round of gift shopping.

We made it to and from Manchester with little incident and were carefully making our way down the last back road home to the village of Henbury where we live. I saw a sudden flash of white from the pastures on our right and it flew right into the road in front of us. We had to stop very quickly and I realized it was a tiny owl so I jumped out of the car to make sure it wasn't injured.

As I squatted down in the slushy road there in front of the car, a Little Owl about the size of my hand blinked up at me. We stared at one another for a moment and I barely breathed from the beauty of this creature. After a long moment he flew off and I got back into the car. My insides were all excited and jittery like a combination of some huge spiritual fulfillment and the excitement of Christmas gifts to a child.

Tears sprang to my eyes and as we drove the rest of the way home I basked in the feeling that I had just been blessed by the Goddess. I have always held an affinity with owls, I think of the owl as my animal totem and familiar.....but this was my first one on one experience with an owl in the wild. It's something I will remember all my life.

Yule Blessings to you and yours and may your holidays be filled with warmth, magic, peace and the love of family and friends.

I leave you with this old Celtic Yule Blessing:

The food is put away for the winter,
the crops are set aside to feed us,
the cattle are come down from their fields,
and the sheep are in from the pasture.
...The land is cold, the sea is stormy, the sky is gray.
The nights are dark, but we have our family,
kin and clan around the hearth,
staying warm in the midst of darkness,
our spirit and love a flame
a beacon burning brightly
in the night.