What January 6th Means For The Creative Crone
For many a years my family leaned into our Mediterranean heritage and celebrated La Befana and gathered round the table with some good Lasagna on Jan. 6. This date is the 12th day of Yule. But in recent years, we’ve been leaning into our Germanic kindred traditions of Frau Holle day. As I talk with my fellow Witches during this time of year, I recognize not many Western Practitioners may know much about who this figure is. I thought I’d share a little bit about that and give you all a little Kitchen Witchery to perhaps play with yourself.
Frau Holle, much like her Italian counterpart, La Befana, is a holiday Witch. In some communities throughout the Alps range, you will see her accompanying the more demonic creatures during Krampusnacht . Her origin stems from the winter goddess Mother Perchta (sometimes written Berchta). She’s also known by the names Hulda or Holle. This last one is how I was introduced to her. All the cleaning that leads up to winter celebrations (e.g. Xmas) is necessary otherwise Frau Holle will think you lazy and not bless you with her light. Lore has it that she sneaks into your home at night like a grizzled Dolores Umbridge checking your baseboards for dust and such. If you don’t pass the white glove test, well…let’s just say the coal in your stockings might just be set afire.
She was around long before Xtianity came to Northern Europe. She’s associated with nature and fertility and as she is connected with cycles of death and rebirth, she is celebrated in winter. Those in charge of hearth and home, especially where women were concerned, had the closest relationship with her. She is said to be the goddess who looks after children who have passed on. In some lore, she is the one that prompts you to create a cozy nest during the coldest time of the year. The word Hygge and Hulda sound very close when you say them as a native Northern European might.
She is venerated during Twelfth night, as well as again in the beginning of Spring (Wonnenacht/Walpurgisnacht). She’s petitioned to help us get through the winter, and then thanked profusely once we’re on the other side of it. She is at the center of the lore around Women’s Christmas, as part of celebrating her, women gifted their sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and friends little small gifts on this day. Some of you may know it from the more Irish tradition of Little Christmas, where the men take on the household duties for the day and the ladies take over the pub (my kind of celebration!).
The Grimm brothers turned this goddess into Mother Hulda in one of their fairy tales. In their story she’s a magical being who tests two stepsisters, rewarding the kind and hardworking one with gold and prosperity while punishing the lazy and cruel one.They did include some of the mythological associations long connected with Frau Holle like shaking out the featherbed, which symbolizes snowfall and her ability to control the winter weather. They also included jumping into the well and golden apples and spinning. They represent the descent into the underworld, as well as industriousness and domestic skills.
I like Frau Holle Day, because it’s like a small pick-me-up after the come down of Winter Solstice and New Year’s celebrations. In the years when things have been hectic there’s still time to celebrate. It can allow you to celebrate with anyone you haven’t been able to catch up with during the Solstice proper. Also, any place that I can connect with Divine Feminine, I’m there. This patriarchal world can be weary. The 2024 Holidaze, for yours truly, have been peppered heavily with workload and illness for me. As Frau Holle day arrives, I’m finally feeling better.
Since I live so close to the ocean, my freezer is filled with good Pacific seafood directly procured right from the fishing families of my community. I’ll be making a version of Cioppino. Yes, yes, we’re back to that American-Italian influence from my old neighborhood and my other Mediterranean ancestors, as well as the Slavic lands line the Adriatic Sea. Of course our Nordic ancestors had the food of the North Sea. Therefore, this type of dish connects and honors them as well. Cioppino, which basically means “chip in, chip in!” is some Kitchen Witchery that is near and dear to my heart. I’m all about using up what you have and creating goodness from it, especially if you can add Magic, too. Frau Holle Day Sea Stew will use up many of the things in my freezer and larder.
Frau Holle Day Sea Stew as written here will focus on the water’s bounty near me – Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Dungeness Crab, Spot Prawns, butter clams, and the like. Feel free to add the things to this stew that are closest to you. When I lived in Louisiana, my version of this working included crawfish and catfish (oh, how I miss catfish!), because it was available. If you’re on the east coast you likely have blue crab or cod available. If you’re somewhere in the middle, our rivers and lakes give us lots to make up a Frau Holle Day Sea Stew. If you’re reading this from far away from North America, again, I’m sure you have seafood that is germane to your area that could be used. Local food is the yummiest and freshest, as well as holding its own most powerful energies, and thereby its magical properties. My counsel is to go for that. Find a local fishmonger and let them teach you and help you. They likely have a good source of fish stock which is key to this working.
Do also visit your local bakery and get some good crusty bread to go with this. You can get fancy and serve it in bread bowls. If you bake bread regularly, make a fresh loaf just for this. This recipe will serve about four people. Feel free to divide or multiple the ingredients to make more or less.
This observation is about entering into the deepest part of winter with a focus on enjoying even these harsh times. I also like to look at it as a reminder that a little bit of this and a little bit of that can make a whole meal – this isn’t just about food. Ask yourself in your own life what a little bit of (fill in the blank) and a little bit of (fill in the blank) could enhance your life? Where can you chip in a little extra to your life? What bit of talent, what bit of education, what bit of gumption can you add to the stew of your life and create something new and beautiful? Those are the thoughts to enter into while making this festive meal.
I set up a small altar to Frau Holle in the house – often on the dining room table or the kitchen windowsill – as I’m called. This often includes lighted candle(s) and incense. The candle color echoes the season for me, something white, or blue, or that wonderful PNW gray. As for the incense, it brings a lift. I opt for something that reminds me of sunnier days like lavender or tangerine, or as I’m called. Cedar is a well loved scent in this house, as is sandalwood, so over the years this Jan. 6th celebration has included those. Listen to your gut for which to choose. Understand the correspondences of each incense, and maybe what you may need as you begin 2025.
I may have a short meditation, focused on the energy that Frau Holle represents. Where can I bring in more feminine energy into my life? Where can I create a world where children thrive? Where can I make my hearth and home a sanctuary? Where can I make winter that much lighter, safer, and warmer? I allow the thoughts and any divine downloads to percolate and mull. You can journal if you want, but I tend to focus just on the energy in that moment and let that energy fill my kitchen as I get ready to create this lovely meal.
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