Mistletide Joy

by Kris Hughes

Here are some tips for bringing sparkle and joy into your homes this Mistletide, all the ideas are either extremely cheap to produce or use recycled materials, some cost nothing at all. All these ideas are taken from Kris and Ian’s house!

PLANT MATERIALS: Try and use Herbaceous plants if possible, if you think ahead harvest some Hops during late Autumn these will dry wonderfully in a warm place, such as an airing cupboard, simply tie some bright dried or fresh rowan, white beam or holly berries to them. Try not to use wire to tie anything to any garland, they are difficult to get off, and some are coated with strange and harmful substances, use natural twine, string or Hessian. Sedum is also attractive and dries well, as to Hydrangea heads and teasel. Be careful when harvesting from Conifers some people can be allergic to the volatile oils, use gloves if you can. Always cut using sharp sacateurs, with one cut avoiding any unnecessary damage.

CREATING GARLANDS AND WREATHS couldn’t be easier : For wreaths slowly bend willow twigs into a circle, ready for decoration, I use some moss that we scrape from the lawn, rather than killing it off completely which most people tend to do, harvest it and dry it, comes in handy during Mistletide! If you prefer not to use Willow, then harvest plenty of Rose Bay Willow Herb at late Autumn, although they are still available now, they will probably have grown brittle, they are best collected just on the turn and formed into wreaths, you can also dip them into some hot water to make them pliable and then form them into wreaths, decorate and hang.
To decorate your wreaths, use natural products preferably those that have naturally come to the end of their life, and have either dropped from their host or are ready to do so. Harvest different fungi which are nearly finished and dry them on a radiator or near the hearth, use for decoration. Berries from the Sorbus family dry excellently as do acorns, hawthorn berries and sloes.

Turn your wreaths into a magical creation by creating it with your family and children, make some holly leaves out of natural air drying clay and imbue with magical transformative energy, such as inspiration, utilise chants or carols whilst creating them, place them on the wreath and hang it on the door as part of the ritual, the clay if left unvarnished will return to the elements in by the time the season is over. Respect the fruits, berries and plants you have used in its creation, always work with the plant life you have used, honouring them and the gift of colour they provide your home.

For natural garlands using coniferous greenery, take only a little greenery from each conifer tree at a time, and ask first. Tie the greenery using natural twine or thin string onto a length of thin rope, usually 9-12 feet is sufficient fro most mantles. Start in the middle and work first to the left, then to the right, this will ensure an even spread of green running in the same direction, thick end to thin end all the way across, then the same in the opposite direction, this creates a space in the middle, use this space to tie a large ribbon onto that will hang gracefully from the centre of the garland. Next take four oranges of any variety and slice, dry the slices on a radiator or in a warm oven, when completely dry, tie two small pieces of cinnamon between two slices of orange and hang with red ribbon onto your freshly made garland. Alternatively, hang 1 orange, then 1 cinnamon stick intermittently along the length of your garland. Decorate the garland with anything you like.

Make SHORTBREAD BISCUITS using organic materials in the shapes of suns, stars or holly bake well and decorate with icing sugar, hang these on any greenery and eat them during your Yule ritual. Or make the same shapes out of salt dough by mixing the following ingredients:

4 cups organic flour
1 cup salt
1-1.5 cups of hot tap water
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.

Mix salt and flour, gradually add water, and knead, if too wet add more flour. Cut or form into festive shapes and bake in a warm oven until brown and very hard. Paint with water based soluble paints. This dough will keep well if varnished and can be cut into any shape or form, I have dozens of salt dough decorations that we use each year. These needn’t be exclusively for decoration; they can be glued onto stiff card to make unique Yule cards.

OTHER MISTLETIDE IDEAS: During late summer and early autumn, gather branches such as oak, rowan etc and stand in half a cup of glycerine into which you add half a cup of boiling water, the plants will take up the glycerine and turn into a leathery consistency and will keep forever.

Use a dead branch for an alternative Yule tree and decorate as you like with lights and home made treasures. We always rescue a potted tree from a sustainable source and plant her out after the festivities.

Make your own YULE INCENSE by combining the following:
3 parts Frankincense
1 part Myrrh
_ part Pine Resin
1 part ground cinnamon
1 par crushed Juniper berries
Some mistletoe
A few drops orange oil, or juice and zest of half an orange
A few drops pine oil.

These can be given as Mistletide gifts, and can also be turned into a VAPOUR OIL by steeping the entire ingredients in a little organic vegetable oil and steeping for 24 hours in a slow cooker, the resulting strained liquid will smell wonderfully festive

These combined with home made wines or brandies make unique, cheap and environmentally friendly gifts. We normally steep various fruits for two months in some brandy and brown sugar and bottle them as gifts, only your imagination will restrict the combinations available.

REMEMBER THE ANIMALS AND BIRDS whilst you feast on wonderful delights, on Solstice morning: We take a load of popcorn and or cranberries strung onto degradable string into the woods and decorate the bushes for the wildlife to feast upon. Please remember to return to the woods about two to three days later and remove the string. Make the birds a treat on Mistletide day by melting two pots of organic peanut butter (or microwave for 3 minutes until runny) and then mix in 1-2 pounds of birdseed, allow to set and cut into slices for hanging. Your garden will be inundated!!

Don’t think of DECORATING your home as a chore, turn it all into a ritual to honour the coming sun and his light, honouring in turn the gift of darkness that Samhain provided. Cleanse your home by mixing Lemon Verbena oil, or steeped Lemon Verbena tea into some cider vinegar and use to damp dust and refresh everywhere. Throw a cotton wool ball soaked in cinnamon and orange oil into your vacuum cleaner bag for a natural air freshener.

And on the day itself, or on both Solstice day and Mistletide day (Christmas Day), honour the gods and goddesses, and the coming sun, light fires and sing carols in their honour (changing the words of carols into Pagan ones is quite a lot of fun), and honour the other deities on the 25th, Mithras, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus and Jesus Christ.

Mistletide does not need to be expensive and is simple to celebrate as the old people did, we merely need to alter our perspectives and see it for what it really is, a time of hope.

To you all a very Happy Mistletide and Nadolig Llawen!!
Kris Hughes