The season of Yule is filled with fragrances and flavors! The smell of pine or the taste of a spicy confection inspires in me memories of this magickal time of year.
And despite the name of the holiday of Christmas that falls at this time near the winter solstice, the customs of this season that many consider to be symbolic of Christianity are actually some of the most “pagan rooted” of any season. I’m not going to go into the history of pagan symbols of Yule since that could fill a book. What I would like to reflect on is one of our family Yuletide favorites, the gingerbread folk.
I love these tasty little guys so much that my magickal kitchen gets taken over once a year by gingerbread decor!
Ok, I have more gingerbread pictures of my kitchen, but you get the idea! I’m obsessed.
So how might these spicy cookie kids be considered pagan? Well, first of all, consider the ingredients. Ginger is good for passion, cinnamon love and prosperity, and nutmeg for protection. Every one of the spices in these cookies is related to fiery energy and warmth. What is it we are welcoming back at Yule? Why, it’s the light of the sun, of course! Can’t get much warmer or fiery than old Sol!
So why make these cookies in the shape of people? There may be various reasons for this. Effigies have long been a pagan custom. Think of the corn dollies made during the harvest which are sacrificed to the bonfires the next year. In the case of the gingerbread folk, by eating one a person might be taking into their body a quality such as that fire energy of passion, energy or protection so valued at the darkest, coldest time of year. One old spell suggests that if a woman can get a man to eat one of her gingerbread cookies, the man will fall in love with her. I imagine this could work for both sexes. Worth a try, no!?
There are certainly other spicy cookies and cakes baked at this time of year. The baking of spicy German lebkuchen is an ancient custom, and though the etymology of the name is uncertain it could translate as “life cake”. There’s your tie in with the life giving sun. I also love the custom of wassailing with spiced cider. I hope people still go out into the apple orchards and sing to the trees, wishing them health and a bountiful harvest in the coming year. Now if singing and toasting to a tree isn’t pagan, then I don’t know what is! I plan to sing to and toast my apple trees. I’m beyond caring what the neighbors think.
Consider the story of the Gingerbread Boy: A couple wants a child, mixes some spicy sweet ingredients into a dough and forms it into the shape of a boy, bakes him in the oven, and out pops a live boy who immediately (and magickally, I might add) runs out the door. Go ahead and make all the comparisons you like about the magick of procreation, time in the womb (a bun in the oven) and the trials of parenthood! My favorite version of the story is retold in this version by Jan Brett:
Some years I bake plain gingerbread folks. Maybe just add some cinnamon candies or raisins or nuts.
Other years I get fancier with the decorations.
Lol – Be creative! Make your gingerbread boy or girl reflect your personality. Offer one of these spicy cookies to someone you are sweet on and see what happens when you focus your intention.
Need a recipe to bake some of your own gingerbread folk? There’s a great one in this new vegan holiday cookbook: Vegan Christmas Cookies and Cocoa
As we welcome back the return of the light and the rebirth of the sun and its yearly cycle, may your year ahead be filled with all good things! And so it is!
Yuletide Blessings,
SARINA
The Magickal Cottage 