Building Mother Winter's House

Instead of the usual, generic gingerbread house, consider building a gingerbread house as an offering, thinking of all the gifts of the Goddess you are grateful for and choosing candy and decorations to represent them. The house then becomes a symbol of the abundant wonders we've received from the Mother--and the empty space inside can symbolize the unknown gifts we hope for in the future.

Here is Sophie and her brother's version this year. :)

A great story to read along with making this house is Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root.

In it Grandmother Winter lives all alone with her snow white flock of geese. When she shakes out her downy masterpiece, the flakes begin to fall, sending nature's creatures scurrying for cover. A beautiful book about the nature's seasons.

Here is a lovely version of the story of Mother Winter and the Goddess Holle.

Mother Holle is an old pagan Goddess. She was associated with the darkest nights of winter. She rode on the winter winds, bringing purification to the land. This winter purification caused the land to bear good harvest and brought abundance to the people. Frau Holle name means "Beneficent One." She was the protector of the hearth and was gifted at spinning of flax. Her sacred objects were the distaff, flax, coal, the goose and a feathered quilt. The distaff, a tool of spinners, was used to keep the flax in place before it was spun into wool. Wise women used many times the distaff as a magic wand to create good blessings.

The sacred time of the Old Goddess Holle was winter, when it was time to honor ancestral roots. She could be found in the forest, grottoes, fountains and crossroads. She brought her blessings to the newborn and to the dead that were leaving this world. She flew across the skies at Winter Solstice nights with her spiritual host who rode brooms and carried the harvest sickle, shaped like the crescent moon.

But she also appeared as the Virgin on the holidays of Saint Lucia when young girls dressed in white with a crown of evergreens and candles balanced on their heads. They served sweet breads to their family and neighbors, bringing the light on the shortest days of the year.
The Goddess Holle was known to initiate young women into the mysteries of womanhood. She brought blessings to those who proved themselves from their acts of compassion, generosity and forgiveness.

Grimm’s fairytale connects Mother Holle with the old woman who lives in the forest with her flock of geese. She is associated with Mother Goose and Goosefoot Bertha. When she shook her goose feather quilt, the snow would fly. An old proverb says, “The Old woman is feathering her geese” when the snow falls.

Mother Holle brought blessings to the fields of flax and the Spinner. Goddess Holles' power of Spinning is symbolic for the creation of matter. She weaves the atoms of light that have awakened our Consciousness in this human form. We can also be weavers of light by thinking positive thoughts and using our prayer power to create the life of our dreams.

The Mother Holle is considered a Black Goddess. She teaches us the way of trimming our lives of unwanted habits or belief systems that no longer serve our growth, just as the winter wind releases the leaves of autumn from the trees. Her voice can be gentle when we listen to her closely. But when we ignore the gentle voice of the Dark Goddess, she comes as a strong winter storm into our life experience. Her violent storms remove the dead wood from a tree or the dead wood in our life. Mother Holle is an ancient memory. We can still feel her presence in the coldness of the winter winds on a dark Solstice Night.