I rewrote the famous poem The Night before Christmas and made the machinima film
The Night Before Christmas Or Yuletide or Such....
to reinstate Odin and the ancient Norse traditions in place of the later arrival of Father Christmas.
The Ancient season of Yule which includes The Midwinter Solstice (the shortest day of the Year, 21st December) is a Sacred time of reflection and celebration. Many different cultures from the Nordic Vikings and Celtic Druids, the ancient Egyptians and Hopi Indians have ritualized this time to promote Spiritual Unity, Peace and Joy.
According to the heathen Norse traditions, Yule lasts from Winter Solstice until the heathen New Year at the 12th of January - more than three weeks in total.
Yuletide Dates:
December 21, 22, 23
December 24 Mother's night, (Modraniht (Anglo-Saxon)
December 24 -- January 6 = The 12 Sacred nights/'Time between the Years'
The 13 Sacred Days & 12 Sacred Nights
The Magickal season of deepest darkness starts in the Celtic tradition at Samhain, slightly earlier in the Nordic tradition.
During this supernatural time of Yuletide we may walk between the worlds.
Now that the veil between the worlds is thin, all sorts of Otherworldly beings including the dead roam the earth, we may even encounter elves or trolls and also Gods and Goddesses.
The Twelve Sacred Nights of Yule start with Mother's Night (December 24th) and are considered the 'Time Between the Years', the difference of days between the lunar year and the solar year.
As the old would end with Winter Solstice the New Year would only start at the end of the Rauhnaechte (January 6th).
During this time Odin rides the storm winds with his army of the dead, both in the Wild Hunt and also leading them to their afterlife new, most importantly the ensuing storms in their wake stir the fertility of the earth for the New Year...
Odin appears to be 'blind' in one eye which he sacrificed at the Well of Wisdom for Understanding, with this eye he sees the underworld and afterlife...
The tradition of bringing sprigs of Holly and Ivy into the home pays homage to the masculine and feminine elements.
Both of these powerfully magickal plants are evergreen, a reminder in itself that the earth never dies, but merely sleeps during the winter months.
More about Yuletide Here
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule)
Many thanks to All who took part;
As Odin, FreeSky Republic
(Mage Lord hair and Santa Claus beard c/oAlice Klinger)
As Black Eckhardt, Yani Jowisz,
As Sigurd the Viking, Cisko Vandeverre,
The Viking People;
Anthonie Ragu ,Arwen Ohare,Dawn Breur,Natascha Randt,Radar Hawklord,Sienna Panthar,Scarlettt Underwood,Tetris Nexen
The Viking Spirits;
Anthonie Ragu ,Arwen Ohare,Dawn Breur,Natascha Randt,Radar Hawklord,Sienna Panthar,Scarlettt Underwood
Grateful thanks to Ryann McMasters + Sienna Panthar for use of Vingolf at Nordhaven,
And to Twirlin Merlin of TMS Designs for providing Santa Sleigh and Reindeer Team.
Also many thanks to;
Thoij Kozlov of Kozlov Forge for donated weapons
Mirja Mills of Emo-tions for donated costumes
NightShade Fugu of NightShade Designs for donated props.
Original soundtrack created with use of
Royalty Free Music via Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com;
Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ )
Dark Dance
Lone Harvest
Himalayan Atmosphere
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Copyright Free Music Edited from Internet Archive Radio broadcast recording of,
Homebrewed Book Of Pagan Carols;
http://www.archive.org/details/HomebrewedBookOfPaganCarols_Yule_Side1
Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1 License
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/ )
Additional sounds and effects via Freesound
http://www.freesound.org/index.php
Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1 License
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/ )
Made using Frapps, Mixcraft 5, Serif MoviePlus X3 on Windows XP.
Conceived, Directed and Produced by Celestial Elf 2010.
