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Officers
of Avalon |
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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Dispatches: Volume 1 No. 7 Yule/Alban Arthan/Mean Geimhridh/La
Ceimbroadh 2006 |
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Be glorious! |
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Coming Home O of A member Rev. Keith “Rhino” Veeder forwarded this e-mail from
MMUSK MAGIC Last week, while traveling to Chicago on
business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did
not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the
sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and
inquired if he was heading home. “No,” he responded. “Heading out,” I asked? “No. I'm escorting a soldier home.” “Going to pick him up?” “No. He is with me right now. He was
killed in Iraq I'm taking him home to his family.” The realization of what he had been
asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told
me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of
his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many
conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my hand, and
said, Thank you. Thank you for doing
what you do so my family and I can do what we do. Upon landing in Chicago the pilot
stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the
intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, I
would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of
the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a
fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your
seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and
receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign.” Without a sound, all went as requested. I
noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and
his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American. So
here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we
can live the way we do. |
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Dispatches: Official
Newsletter of Officers of Avalon |
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Yule, the Winter Solstice
(December 21), is a Lesser Sabbat in the Wiccan calendar, also known as Alban
Arthuan. The Winter Solstice is known
to the ADF as La Ceimbroadh, to ODOB as Alban Arthan (“the light of Arthur”),
to the RDNA as Yule and to the ODU as Mean Geimhridh. The word “Yule” first appeared in its
modern spelling in 1475 CE. Circa 1450
CE it was spelled “Yoole” and circa 1200 CE it appeared in The Ormulum as
“Yole”. Before 899 CE it appeared in
Old English as the word “Geol” or “Geola”.
The venerable Bede recorded it circa 726 CE in his history (written in
Anglian Old English) as “Giuli”. It
may have originated in Scandinavian countries, since their word for this
season is similar: “jul”. In old Icelandic it is “jol”. December 21 is also the Christian Feast of
Saint Thomas. As a matter of interest, the term "Christmas" cannot
be traced back as far as the term “Yule”.
It first appeared as “Cristmessa”, or “Christ's festival” around 1100
CE. Another Old English variation was
“Cristes Maesse”. The expression
“Christmas Eve” did not appear before 1300 CE (from “Cristenmesse Even”),
Christmastide appeared in 1626 and although decorated trees appeared in
England in the mid 1700s, the term “Christmas Tree” did not appear until
1835. |
