The Festival of Frau Holle decks the halls from her Feast Day 25 Dec to the 5-6th of January. An ancient German goddess, Frau Holle predates the Norse pantheon and has a complex mythology.
She's known by many names including Holla, Holda, Holde, Hulda, Old Mother Frost; and Perchta or Bercht in the south. In the north, Frau Holle is cognate with the Elderberry Mother or Holundermutter.
Among her many aspects Frau Holle is the patron of spinning and weaving. Her southern sister manifestation Perchta taught humans to spin flax into linen. Frau Holle and Perchta are considered the same person. As noted by scholars Holle's mythology dwindles in the south where Perchta's picks up.
A goddess of Light, Frau Holle lives in the clouds. She's also a patron of trees and nature spirits. Perchta lives in a well, which leads to her realm.
Kind and generous to those who are courteous and work hard, Holle and Perchta can punish those who haven't done their allotted spinning, or who spin during the feast days, which is forbidden.
Proper protocol earns a silver coin or two under the pillow. Offenders get their insides ripped out and their bodies stuffed with straw ... according to lore.
Perchta and Holle have different feast days, with Holle's falling on December 25 and Perchta's on January 5-6. They're reflections of each other framing the days. Specifically Frau Holle rules the time of den Zwölften (the Twelve), which has been replaced with the 12 days of Christmas.
The twelve days start on the 25, Holle's original Feast Day, and end on 5 Jan, which is a Feast Day of Perchta. It's also the "Twelfth Night" of Shakespeare. As a goddess of both dark and light Frau Holle can also be associated with Solstice.
Some of today's neo-pagans celebrate Frau Holle's feast from the Solstice Dec 20-21 to the New Year Jan 1. Other celebrations occurring over Solstice and Dec 25 include the Feast of Sun God Mithras, Greek Brumalia and Saturnalia.
The Dongzhi Festival takes place in China and indigenous solstice festival Soyal in the southern United States. Bonfires help the Sun warm the Earth and the smoke blesses people and animals who walk through it.
Some people mark the Solstice a few days after the event when the difference in the days is noticeable. Pre-Christian Romans celebrate Dec 25 as the Day of the Unconquered Sun. In 354 AD, the Romans invent Christmas.
Solstice honors the return of light, hope, optimism, coming of spring, reawakening of the Earth. For some it means sowing of crops. For others it's time to chase away the Undead who stalk the long nights.
Like many other Yuletide Festivals, the Feast of Frau Holle is a celebration of light. It's marked with candles, bonfires, singing, dancing and general revelry.
White, blue and silver are the colors of Frau Holle. She's associated with snow and snowflakes, and has the qualities of a White Lady in folklore.
She's also an example of opposites in harmony, as Frau Holle has both light and dark aspects. As the Dark Grandmother she receives the spirits of children who die in infancy. She sends them to a place of light. A candle can be lit for remembrance.
General Yule celebrations already include plenty of coniferous greenery, so the spirit of nature enters the home. Apples are a symbol of Frau Holle. Apple Strudel and apple decorations make her happy.
She's also associated with the elderberry tree. Domestic harmony sends good vibes. She's a Goddess of Women, an overall Domestic deity and a sky warrior.
In her warrior aspect Frau Holle is a Lady of Light. A powerful goddess, she's later associated with witches and witchcraft in attempts to undermine her influence. Up until modern times witches and witchcraft are synonymous with evil, with no concept of "good witches" as today.
Tales of Frau Holle riding around on a spindle leading hordes of women on diabolical revels echo the stories of the Dionysian mysteries, in which women were said to leave their husbands and families to get drunk and party in the hills.
In Deutschland it's Hexennacht or Witches' Night, aka Walpurgis Night. The witches party up on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains.
Frau Holle has been equated with Roman Goddess Diana and Norse Frigg, especially in overlapping regions. In the Lora Ley novella The Wild Hunt, the three goddesses join in leadership before the forces of chaos triumph.
(Of course Lora and Wolf end up in the midst of it all. Meanwhile, vegan Norwegian Brook Horse Skoldt gets a summons from home.)
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READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series
READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries