Spin Your Circle Bright continues its series of ideas for your family nature table, season table, or pagan altar. Read on for December inspiration beyond the baubles and other Christmas / Yule decorations.
You could say that December is when most people in the West do what what a lot of pagans do throughout the year: put up decorations that reflect and celebrate the season. Nature-in-winter symbolism is brought indoors, be it through a real tree or an imitation. Holly, ivy, other greenery, snowy images, icicles, pine cones and winter birds all commonly feature in festive decor and stationary. Although many images that are not nature-based do too, these are the emblems that I lean towards; they reflect my spirituality and how I connect with this season.
Similarly, your decorations might represent what this season means to you, as well as incorporating a Christmas tree and other typical festive decorations. But how do we make our family nature table different — setting it apart as a space that is there, seasonally arranged and special, all year round? The same can go for your pagan altar, if you have one; you might like it to retain its sense of being a area of your home that is sacred. One that is used differently to other spaces. One that isn’t just a Christmassy display of candles and decorations.
Although, of course, you might like your altar to just blend into your home inconspicuously!
Colours for Yule altars, or nature tables.
What colours do you associate with winter? When making choices for a December, think apart what themes and images you connect to this month’s place in the year. It’s so easy for us to swallow this whole month into the festivals that come in it’s final week. In considering what reflects the season, it’s good to look outdoors for inspiration, or to close your eyes and notice the associations that come to you.
For example, Yule and Christmas often lean towards red and green a lot. This is said to be because of evergreen plants and the bright berries that stand out at this time when the flowers are over. I link these colours to Yule itself, partly because of the Holly King. It is also because, in celebrating the Sun’s rebirth, we celebrate life. In our winter landscapes, the still-colourful evergreens stand out against the apparent death of the rest of the plant kingdom. We celebrate life — and they are displaying it.
For me these colours are for my Winter Solstice celebrations. The colours of winter itself are the brown of the bare trees, the dark blue of the night sky that we see more of. I also include the white and glittery silver of the frost, snow, moon, and stars.
What to put on a December nature table
In Steiner-Waldorf kindergartens, it is usually seen as important to reflect the journey through the seasons. This is done through keeping some objects and colours from the previous month’s season table on the current one. Of course, nature doesn’t change season abruptly, so connecting one display to the next remains true to this.
For example, your December nature table might keep autumnal pine cones, or perhaps a vase of seed-heads. In our home, they are usually cleared aside before we set up our January nature table. (often, they form tinder for our Winter Solstice bonfire). Here’s some examples of the items you might like to introduce in December that you can enjoy through the remaining winter months, connecting them subtly:
- Frost and snow symbols. Give this some thought so that you reflect winter as it is where you live. For example, where I live, our winters usually see plenty of frost but not much snow. My children have loved many winter stories that centre around snow, and see it being used to represent winter so much that they feel somewhat cheated out of it! Consider what’s relevant to your locality. …….Perhaps your family could make some of these pretty lollipop stick snowflake / frostflakes, learning and observing their gorgeous geometry as well. Some of them could also be made with sticks found outside. Or you could try these cotton bud ideas!
- Crystals. These sparkles like the frost, snow and stars. They also come from within the Earth, reminding us that it is the underground world that is seeing activity now (composting, root growth etc). In Steiner-Waldorf pedagogy, the first week of Advent, (which will encompass early December), honours the rock and mineral kingdom. This kingdom includes crystals and stones. Clear quartz, smoky quartz and amethyst are lovely winter choices for sparkle and a bit of scrying.
- Seed-heads. Similarly, in Steiner-Waldorf traditions, Advent’s second week honours the plant kingdom. I love dried seed-heads as much as any living flower and, on a winter season display, they can remind us of both death and renewal.
- Tarot cards, or other divination tools. Whilst these are human-made objects, they remind us of winter’s affinity with — and invitation to engage with — introspection and insight.
- Candles. Light needs dark, and in the dark of winter many of us lean towards the soft but comforting light of candles, fairy lights and fire. Beeswax candles offer a particularly traditional feel, as well as various natural properties, and a beautiful scent.
Water The Earth is heavy, from rain and melting frost and maybe snow. The ground stays wet in many places. Snow and ice are, of course, themselves water. In Ayurvedic teaching, this is the “kapha” dosha’s time of year, kapha being comprised of the elements earth and water. You can place a.small bowl of water on your nature table. It will also sparkle and shimmer enchantingly..
- Bones. This suggestion may sound morbid, but perhaps that in itself is symbolic of the taboos that our culture has around death. On our December nature table, we have a small piece of animal bone that was found in the garden of the last house that we lived in. We know that the previous owner had a dog; the bone was probably left or buried there by him. As part of our season table in winter, it reminds us of this natural and necessary part of the life cycle.
- An offering. We generally have an offering on our nature table, usually a small piece of something that we have baked, like bread or cookies. It’s a token reminder of the cyclical, and reciprocal, process of giving back to the natural world as we have taken from it in order to have this food. The offering eventually gets added to the compost (or maybe eaten by the house elves!) Amidst all the prettiness that I love about winter, I remind myself of its harshness, too. It’s important to me that my kids and I think about who might be struggling, who might need help. Offerings are therefore particularly relevant to this season.
- Gnomes Did you wince with the image of an eerily-grinning gaudy garden gnome in your mind?! In fairy tales, gnomes are often caretakers within the underground or forest worlds. They work hard mining crystals, they hold friendships with animals and live in close connection with their environment and with the Earth element.
I guess they are quite Capricorn in nature, and Capricorn’s month begins in December. These cute twig gnomes are simple to make, whilst these similar ones look a little Santa-esque. If you have a knife suitable for whittling with, you could try a tutorial on Youtube like this one, whilst those with a bit of needle-felting experience might enjoy this project.
We also have a couple of little gnomes like these that are quick and simple to sew. I love their softness and Earthiness, and adding a little bell to the hood evokes a little extra magic: that tinkling and twinkling of dark, frosty, mysterious winter. Ours also leave children to imagine their own expressions on the gnome’s faces. I wonder what they will be feeling on your December nature table?
I hope that you found some inspiration for your December season table, or nature table, that reflect winter where you live and will your hearts as you journey through this month. Make sure you’re subscribed for more family nature table tips, seasonal journal prompts for adults, and other magical ideas for pagan family life. )O(
spin your circle bright 