BLOOD AND SPICEBUSH
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Links >
      • Appalachian Ethnobotany
  • Classes
    • Online Classes
    • Past Classes
    • Hedgecraft: The Witches Year
  • Blog
  • Jewelry
  • Tattooing
  • Books

Blog

The Time Between: Appalachian Winter Lore

12/24/2022

1 Comment

 
Winter is here in Appalachia. Solstice has come and gone, and the New Year looms just ahead. There is much beautiful solstice lore and tradition from around the world, but what about the time that comes next? Sone of the things I love most about my home in Appalachia are the esoteric traditions that have persisted despite the march of time and the homogenization of culture. 

The Twelve Days of Christmas have always fascinated me as a child, for in my family we did not recognize these, and the time between Christmas and Epiphany on January 6th felt like a sort of lost time. A time between. In Appalachia there is a tradition of weather prediction done during the 12 days of Christmas starting on December 25th and ending on January 6th. They are known as the Ruling days and I am so interested to learn more about this strange and beautiful divination.

Esoterically the midwinter and solstice period of Yule and the Twelve Days is known as 'the in-between time' or 'the time between time'. The Sun appears to stand still in the sky while the old year is dying and the new year is awaiting its birth. It is a strange and magickal time, still seen in secular society's tales of 'Christmas Magic' and 'miracles'. I believe these are persisting folk memories of the ancient past when midwinter was a magickal and unearthly time where divinations were performed and people drew together and inward.

Picture

While many divinations at this time of year were focused on matters of love and relations, weather predictions were also done extensively. One of the most interesting things done in Winter is called observing the “Ruling Days”. These are the twelve days of Christmas, or December 25th till January 6th. The weather observed on these twelve days can be used to determine the weather of the approaching year’s twelve months. 

December 25th predicts the weather of January, December 26th predicts February and so on until you get to January 6th. Write down the weather each day during the Ruling days and see what is to come for each of the corresponding months. Was it correct? You may be surprised. 

Rains during the Ruling Days foretells a wet year, and a windy Christmas Day means the trees will bear much fruit. Any thunder during these days brings much snow the rest of Winter. If it snows on Christmas night, the crops will do well. A clear, bright sun on Christmas day foretells a peaceful year and plenty. On Christmas Day, if ice hangs on the willow tree, the clover will be ready for harvest at Easter time. Christmas day weather can also predict the weather of holidays to come. For example, snow on Christmas, Easter green; green on Christmas, Easter white.

From one of my favorite blogs, Blind Pig and Acorn, 

“And some of these predictions are in rhyme, the better to remember them: “If Christmas on a Sunday be, a windy winter we will see.”  “As the hours of sun on Christmas Day, as many frosts will be in the month of May.”

Picture

The months preceding the Winter can also be observed to divine the winter’s prognosis. There will be as many snows the following Winter as there are rains in August. The sky and the moon can tell you as well, ”Clear moon, frost soon.” The origin of this practice is not entirely known, but it is most likely based on Indigenous weather prediction practices that settlers adopted and augmented with their own cultural beliefs upon arriving in Appalachia. 

Have you ever heard older folks talk about the Ruling days?
1 Comment
Hailey Garcia
3/22/2025 11:13:49 am

EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET YOUR HERPES CURE/MEDICINE ORDER FROM DR. ODUNGA HERBAL REMEDIES

My name is Hailey Garcia and I am from New Jersey. My herpes virus turned to war after 2 years of living with it. I have tried different medical procedures to cure my herpes but to no avail. Most people think herpes is only a minor skin irritation of which herpes has long term effects on health and passes through the bloodstream and can be easily contracted through sexual intercourse. I knew I had herpes from the first day I started feeling itchy in my pubic area and the pain was very unbearable. I couldn't stand it anymore. After 2 years of trying other means to get rid of it, I had to contact Doctor Odunga to help me with a permanent cure. I saw his email and whats-app number from a testimony I read online from a lady who was also helped by him in curing infertility problems, I had faith and contacted him. He assured me of his work and I ordered his herbal medicine. Within 5 days, I didn't feel any pain anymore and within 2 weeks, my skin was all cleared and smooth. I am very grateful to you sir and I write this testimony as others have done to bring those having faith to you sir. If you have herpes or other similar disease and you want it cured, kindly contact Doctor Odunga, Whats-App (wa.me/+2348167159012) OR Email [email protected]

Reply



Leave a Reply.

      Subscribe for Newsletter

    Subscribe
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2025
    April 2024
    December 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    To support me in my research and work, please consider donating. Every dollar helps!
Contact me
​
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Links >
      • Appalachian Ethnobotany
  • Classes
    • Online Classes
    • Past Classes
    • Hedgecraft: The Witches Year
  • Blog
  • Jewelry
  • Tattooing
  • Books