Wassail!
"Here’s to thee, old apple-tree, Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow! And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!" (old Devonshire Wassailing song.
Hello everyone and welcome to 2023.
We’re a little late with this newsletter, not only because of Christmas celebrations, but also because we’ve just completed the edits for the book that we are bringing out with Granta this autumn. We’re really excited to share this with you later this year.
In the meantime, if you’ve ever wanted to write about nature both Kiera Chapman and Lulah Ellender have workshops coming up in the next few weeks. You can find details and links at the end of this post.
This weekend was spent wassailing here in the Sheffield contingent of the Noticing Nature team.
With an imminent move, a previously potted juvenile apple tree crying out for a forever home in which to root down, and a lot of winter cutbacks on the allotment, we couldn’t think of a more perfect time to invoke some of the ancient fire and fruit tree based traditions that are associated with the period between the Gregorian and Julian calendar’s epiphany -- the end of Christmas celebrations.
Just after lunch on Sunday the 8th of January, we set off from our home with a pink wheelbarrow full of old dining chairs and a Tom Putt apple tree, recanted from its pot on our patio into a gift bag. We two humans and one dog, made our eccentric way along the high street and out of our suburb that sits on the edge of the Peak District, towards our allotment that looks down over the Rivelin Valley.
Our shambolic procession was fitting for the festival afoot. At this point in the year, where Christmas has come to an end in the Gregorian calendar but winter festivities still linger in the cultural memory there is a tradition of wassailing that pays homage to the past year and wishes good will to the fruit bearing trees for the next.
Twilight blushed the horizon the whole afternoon as we lugged wood and piled some on the bonfire pile and readied the other for new life. It took a long time to get the fire going in the damp, cold air but it caught as dusk fell and friends joined us to plant the apple tree and wish it “wassail!”
The term "wassail" is an old Norse toast, offered to the trees at this point in the year. It comes from "ves heill", roughly translated as "be healthy", and is thought to have been introduced by Danish-speaking inhabitants of England. In re-enactments of the old tradition groups of eccentrically dressed people cavort through streets towards local fruit trees to revel in honour of the tree spirits. At the centre of this festivity is the “wassail cup”, a drink shared by everyone that is used to toast the health of the trees in the coming year.
The warmth of the toast is thought to act like a flower, brightly blooming to attract pollinators, and fecundity in the warmer months that wait for us at this moment in the year. Though the festival generally takes place on Twelfth Night, or Epiphany (January 5th) , its pre-Christian roots mean that this period is stretched so that wassailing occurs at will between the Gregorian calendar’s Epiphany and the Julian calendar’s ‘Old Twelvey’, on the 17th of January
So, what's the relationship between the Christian celebration of Epiphany and the pre-Christian traditions that wassailing is associated with?
Christianity did not arrive fully formed, but rather evolved amongst the pagan traditions of the Levant and Egypt. Between the 1st and the 4th centuries CE in the multi-cultural city of Alexandria, ‘Aeon’, a youthful iteration of Kronos was a widely worshipped divinity. Aeon’s festival was celebrated on the 5th/6th of January, the mythical day in which he was born to the virgin goddess Kore (also known as Persephone). Whilst Christianity brought new ideas, there has been a long standing tendency for festival days to align with previous pagan dates, perhaps partly because of the physical, and material significance of these days. We see this in an except from Epiphanius of Salamis (c.315–403CE) who wrote that:
“… Christ was born on the sixth day of January after thirteen days of the winter solstice and of the increase of the light and day. This day the Greeks, I mean the Idolaters, celebrate on the twenty-fifth day of December, a feast called Saturnalia among the Romans, Kronia among the Egyptians, and Kikellia among the Alexandrians. For on the twenty-fifth day of December the division takes place which is the solstice, and the day begins to lengthen its light, receiving an increase, and there are thirteen days of it up to the sixth day of January, until the day of the birth of Christ”
Another thing these religious stories and myths converge on is tales of death and resurrection of the messianic godhead (i.e. an anticipated figure who has the power to change the world) who is born around the winter solstice. We don’t know the origins of the timings of these these festivals for sure, but it is curious that they tend to work with the natural calendar of days lengthening and shortening, and the anticipation of future harvests in the still of winter.
We gathered around the fire, which burnt the debris of the previous year’s harvest and raised a cup to “Wassail” not only the young apple tree, but to each other too. As we did so, I marvelled at the long the long histories of humans who have gathered in the darkest moments of the year to hope and to dream together, and how much the rhythm of the seasonal world gives shape and meaning to our lives.
Perhaps the drama of presents, anticipated, and opened can be understood as an allegory for the much anticipated return of life in the coming Spring. Warmer, longer days are in the post, and the light will steadily open along with buds and eggs over the coming weeks.
For now, enjoy this moment of peace where we give thanks for that which nourishes even in the depths of winter: friends, fire and “wassail”.
Noticing Nature
A Two hour zoom workshop. This interactive workshop will sharpen your senses, and to show you how to use easy research techniques to drive your writing to the next literary level.
Facilitator: Kiera Chapman
Saturday January 14th 2023
11am-1pm (UK time)
£17.00
For further details and to book your place, follow this link: Eventbrite
One Bursary Place available for a writer in receipt of benefits. Email: speltmagazine@gmail.com to enquire
FINDING FORM & STRUCTURE
A SIX-WEEK ONLINE COURSE TO SHAPE AND FINISH YOUR BOOK WITH LULAH ELLENDER
Many writers I’ve worked with have a great idea for a book but struggle to find the best way to tell the story. This course is designed to help you find an effective, engaging, compelling shape for your book. If you’ve been working on a narrative non-fiction book, memoir or biography and need help nailing the structure, or you need to inject some new energy into a project, sign up now.
We will work on the nitty-gritty aspects of structuring a narrative, playing with alternative forms, thinking about timelines and experimenting with different techniques to help get your book over the finishing line. Group size is capped at 10.
DATES: Sessions run every Thursday via Zoom from March 2nd- April 6th from 10-12.30am GMT. Recordings will be available.
6 x 2.5-hour workshops exploring different narrative frameworks and timelines, the 3-act structure in non-fiction, playing with form and space on the page, finding your ‘hook’, pace and flow, and how to keep the reader turning the page
Written feedback on a >3000 word piece of writing at the end of the course
Exclusive Facebook group
First chance to book on retreats at my cottage in France
£300*
* [Early bird price of £270 if you sign up before 1st Feb 2023]
BRINGING YOUR WRITING TO LIFE
A SIX-WEEK ONLINE COURSE TO HELP YOU GET STARTED WITH YOUR WRITING PROJECT WITH LULAH ELLENDER
If you’re embarking on a life writing or narrative non-fiction work, this course is designed for you. Using a range of texts, writing tasks and extended written pieces I’ll guide you through different ways to bring your life writing off the page and write a compelling narrative. We will explore some of the slippery, knotty aspects of life writing as well as developing skills to lift our words off the page and into a reader’s heart.
We will share work as a group and there will be time at the end of each session for you all to talk together. Group size is capped at 10 to ensure I can give everyone sufficient time and energy.
You’ll finish the course with a clear way forward for your work, writing tools you’ll use forever and hopefully some lasting friendships and ongoing support.
There are two options for this course. One runs from 3rd February-10th March 2023 with sessions every Friday at 10am GMT. The other runs from 2nd February to 9th March with sessions every Thursday evening at 6.30pm GMT. Please specify which option you’d like when signing up. Sessions will be recorded so you can catch up if you can’t make it.
6 x 2.5-hour workshops on: memory and imagination; objects and place; viewpoints (whose story are you telling?); researching; writing others (what are the ethical and practical considerations?); bringing it all together
Written feedback on a >3000 word piece of writing at the end of the course
Exclusive Facebook group
First chance to book on retreats at my cottage in France
£300*
* [Early bird price of £280 if you sign up before 1st Dec 2022]