Celebrating A Scottish Christmas with Willa Blair

Would You Like to Celebrate a Scottish Christmas?

While Christmas, or Yule as it was once called, is celebrated in modern Scotland with many of the same trimmings as in America, it’s a more subdued affair.  Christmas was banned in Scotland in the mid-16th century because it was seen as a Catholic holiday by the Protestant Reformation.  That ban lasted nearly 400 years, until the 1950s. 

During that bleak time, a few old traditions survived, most derived from ancient midwinter celebrations.  Candles in windows were once meant to light the way to warmth and safety for travelers out in harsh winter weather.  Now candles are everywhere, from windows to Christmas tree branches, though we’ve modernized that fire hazard into strings of LED lights.  

The yule log was borrowed from the early Norse invaders to light the longest night of the year and provide an omen, good or bad, of the coming year in its ashes.  Scots also believed that the fire burning all night kept spirits and sprites from coming down the chimney and entering the house to do mischief.  No wonder Santa Claus didn’t visit. 

How things have changed!  We’re more likely to eat a yule log than light one on fire.  There are many versions of yule log cakes, from the simple jelly roll to gorgeously decorated holiday cakes.

          

So if Scots didn’t celebrate Christmas, what did they do?  Scotland has a long history of trade with France due to the Auld Alliance, and the term for Scotland’s New Year celebration, Hogmanay, is believed to have been derived from a French phrase for Christmas. Gifts were given for Hogmanay rather than Christmas, and special feasts celebrated it.  On New Year’s Eve, houses were cleaned to clear away the old year.  Candles lit the way for the First Footer, a tradition that survives today.  The first person to enter the house after midnight on New Year’s Eve/Day, preferably a tall, dark-haired, male bearing a gift of food, fuel, or whisky, brings good luck to the house and those within it.  The preference for dark hair may come from the time when light hair was associated with Norse invaders.

Yule logs, outdoor bonfires, and other fire ceremonies may have fallen out of favor, but the modern equivalent - fireworks - are a big part of New Year’s Eve celebrations all over the world. 

Nowadays, Scots celebrate Christmas, Hogmanay, Boxing Day, all the way through Twelfth Night.  So if you want to celebrate the holidays in Scotland, be prepared to stay a while.  If you just want to celebrate like a Scot, stock up on food and single malts, light some candles - or the LED equivalent, invite your friends, and enjoy! Merry Christmas, and have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Cheers!
Willa

HIGHLAND HEALER  available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, B&N, iBook and others

Highland Seer available NOW on Amazon 

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It's Over. Whew!

I did it! I can't believe it! 

Here's a reminder for myself and a tip for next year's NaNoWriMo participants: If you use OpenOffice to write your manuscript, your word count will not match the validation word count. My word count had a difference of almost 4,000 words!

So what did I win?

1. An AWESOME sense of accomplishment. 2013 was far from productive in the writing sense. I wrote more words in November than I had in the whole year. By finishing NaNoWriMo, I proved to myself that writing 2,000, or even 5,000, words in one night is possible when you enjoy your story.

2. An AWESOME 'Winner' t-shirt. Well, okay, I didn't actually win the shirt, but it only cost me $16.67 (hehe--get it? That's the number of words per day needed to win NaNoWriMo.) I will wear it proudly.

3. An AWESOME first draft to work with after New Year's Eve. I'm actually looking forward to the editing process on this novel. I may change my views on that after the third round of revisions, but for now, I'm excited.

and last but not least...

4. An AWESOME certificate. I wonder if the certificate will help when I start looking for an agent. Probably not, but it's okay--I love it!

Right now you're thinking: That's a whole lot of AWESOME for one little blog post. Yes. Yes, it is.

Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday is Thanksgiving. It's also Make Your Own Head Day. Feel free to combine those two holidays any way you see fit, and if you're feeling particularly artistic, by all means take photos and send them to me.

Right now, I'm neck deep in the first draft of my new novel, Halcyon Dream, and frantically trying to get to 50,000 words or more by midnight on Saturday. I'm fairly confident I'll make it to the finish line this year. When the first draft is complete, I'll print the whole mess out and then put it away until January. When I look at it with fresh eyes, I'm sure I'll shake my head quite often, wondering what the heck I was thinking when I wrote it. For now, I just want to get done so that I can enjoy the Christmas season. By enjoy, I mean pulling my hair out every time I think of all the things I need to do. In any case, I'm not there yet.

I've been thinking about what's in store for this blog in 2014. As soon as I figure it all out, I'll let you all know.

The Four for Friday feature was fun, but I'd like to do something new next year.
The Fun Facts feature needs a new theme for 2014. I think I have an idea, but we'll see.

Coming up with fun and interesting posts can be difficult during the best of times, but I find I sometimes devote more time to the research for a post than I do to my manuscripts. The most writing I accomplished in 2013 was my 50,000 NaNoWriMo words. I've noticed a number of blogger/writers with the same concern. I may cut down on the frequency of my posts so that I can be more productive with my writing in 2014.

I'm interested in how you all cope with blogging and writing, especially if you work a full-time job.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm thankful for each and every one of you, and to wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day.

Four For Friday--Sheila Deeth

Four For Friday is a weekly feature where guest authors choose one of their own characters to complete four sentences. 

Don't forget: you need to click on the Rafflecopter tabs or else your entries won't count! 

This week's post is by Sheila Deeth from her novel, Bethlehem's Baby

I’m called David, which is pretty cool ‘cause there was a great king called David once, not like that Herod the Great guy my granddad keeps complaining about. King David, he was the sort of king that knew stuff and did stuff and won great battles and all that, and people wrote about him and still sing songs. And he was a shepherd, just like me. So I’m proud to be a David, and one day I think I might grow up to be a king.

1. The thing I’m most thankful for is my dad, ‘cause lots of my friends haven’t got dads. The Roman soldiers killed ‘em when that evil King Herod told them to, just ‘cause they didn’t think he should be king. And he shouldn’t really be king ‘cause he’s not even one of us. He’s a… Idu… Idiot… I dunno; my granddad could tell you though. He knows that sort of thing.
2. The best part of a Chanukah meal is remembering how we kicked out the Greeks. Granddad says it was our finest hour. He says we’re going to kick out the Romans one day too and that’ll be our even finester hour. Me, I’m going to be a famous warrior and help and then they’ll let me into the Temple so they can crown me king.
3. I wish the people in my family were more like kings and royalty though. I know it’s cool to be a shepherd like King David, but King David wasn’t just a shepherd was he? He got to live in a palace and all I get is a tent full of brothers and sisters and my granddad bossing us about.
4. Temperatures are getting cooler; that means we have to keep the fires burning at night. And Granddad, he just complains and complains and complains. He says his cloak’s not warm enough and the fire makes too much noise and we kids keep disturbing him. But honestly, it’s Granddad keeps disturbing us, except… That’s not Granddad. The whole sky looks like it’s on fire and it sounds like somebody’s singing. I got to go and see!

You can find more of the Five-Minute Bible StoryTM Series on the publisher’s website: http://capearagopress.com/Five-Minute.html

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Fun Facts about Make Your Own Head Day

This year, Thanksgiving falls on November 28th. Everyone else's blog is talking about turkeys, pumpkin pie, pilgrims and tryptophan-induced naps. 

That's all fine and good, but another holiday falls on the same day. Have you ever heard of Make Your Own Head Day? Neither had I, but you, my dear friends, will be glad I've done some research and enlightened you about this fun holiday. 

Now, you can amaze your friends and family at the dinner table with your vast knowledge!

Who created Make Your Own Head Day? I'm not really sure.

It could have been in 2007 when this Minnesota State graduate, who was immortalized in 50 pounds of butter, had her 15 minutes of fame on David Letterman. You can read about it here

In any case, Make your own head day is a day to make a likeness of your own head in any creative medium you choose. 

You could draw your head with crayons, markers, pencils, or paint. 

You could sculpt your head using clay, Play-doh, tin foil, Rice Krispies, Legos, styrofoam, or even plant matter. Let your imagination fly!

Or since this year, the holiday falls on Thanksgiving, you could be more traditional and use butter. 

Display your head on your dining room table and have your guests use the butter on their biscuits. You may want to take a photo of your buttery creation before everyone digs in, though.

Come to think of it, feel free to send me photos of your work. No matter what medium you use. If I get enough entries, I will run a contest. The photos will be posted in December, and you can all vote on your favorite. The winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card! You can use it to buy books, art supplies, and believe it or not, BUTTER! 

Send your entries to my e-mail: dee stan 62 @ g mail dot com 

(It's written that way to confuse the bots. Leave out the spaces and replace the word 'dot' with a dot.)

Four For Friday--Kim Curley

Four For Friday is a weekly feature where guest authors choose one of their own characters to complete four sentences. 

Don't forget: you need to click on the Rafflecopter tabs or else your entries won't count! 

This week's post is by Kim Curley. 

Her character, Erin is from "Faith" a short story that appears in Earth's End

Erin grew up near Charlottesville, Virginia. A homeschooled child, Erin excelled in all of her classes and tested highly in sciences. While her father, Glen Hunter, spent his waking hours at the Leander McCormick Observatory studying astronomy, Erin focused on genetics and the study of DNA. Although she never officially obtained a degree, Erin is a geneticist. Since the upheaval of the earth, Erin has diligently shared her science skills with the remaining survivors, called Lemurians to insure a healthy, and safe, future for mankind.

1. The thing I’m most thankful for is my new, extended family! They have been a joy and inspiration to me through the most difficult time in my life. Besides losing both parents, and the near destruction of the earth, we had many dark days. But, the Lemurian’s gave me focus in what I need to do today, and they reminded me to keep faith and hope alive for a better tomorrow.

2. The best part about the Thanksgiving meal is the harvest, which is year ‘round now! My favorite food is the strawberries. They’re as big as your hands and oh, so, sweet!

3. I wish the people in my family were more… I don’t wish for my family to be anything more than what and who they are. I love them dearly! They’ve given me courage through diversity, and unconditional love at all times.

4. Temperatures are getting a bit cooler, that means harvesting and gathering seeds from plants to continue propagation. Although it sounds like all we do is work, this is down time for us. This is an opportunity to relax a bit in the evenings, visiting with family and friends, both near and far. 

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My NaNoWriMo Word Count May Not Increase Tonight.

Seventeen years ago on 11/12, at 1:00pm, on an island in the Caribbean, with 30 mph winds, during a storm that lasted 10 days, I married my best friend. 

He's the man of my dreams, who supports me in everything I do, (especially when I'm glued to my keyboard, writing and blogging) and I don't know what I would do without him. 

We've weathered some storms through the years, much like on our wedding day, but through it all, we knew we were right for each other.

Isn't it wonderful when you know you've found your soul mate?

Happy Anniversary to us.