Monday 6 December 2010

21 Days of Yule day 6: The Holly King and The Oak King

Last Year was my first year on Youtube, and I got into the ful swong of things by sharing about Yule, with several videos giving lots of details and also sharing some crafts. One of my favorites was (ans still is) my 
Oak King and Holly King I made

Now there are many stories about the origins of the legends of the Oak King and Holly King, and I had a great discussion on one of the videos, but had to take it down to error in editing and lost all the info Annika and I were sharing. The legend of the Oak King and Holly King(Patty from Pagan.about.com's take on the story) is most certainly Wiccan in nature (get in "nature,"oh I crack myself up). Solstice is seen by many as the night of the great battle between the brothers, it willl soon become the Oak King's domain again, as he rules from Yule to Midsummer, where they meet up and once again do battle, but the Holly King wins and rules until Midwinter.
If you noticed the picture I used for the blog party, it's last years altar, with both the Holly, Oak Kings and Santa. here I will add the videos of painting them. 
Funny story before we go, my Mom signed herself up to help her church out at a garage sale they were having last year, unfortunetly for her she double booked.O_o (I still think that story is a little hooey) Anywhoo, I got talked into going for her, when I got there it was almost over and they didn't need me so I went walking around the room to see what was there, boy did they have a lot of stuff, some I kept telling myself I should get I need it, but I would walk on. "Remember Aisha you promised to live simply, no buying something you don't absolutely need right this second". I came up on a box filled with wooden toys, and pulled some out to have a looksee, and saw these cut out wooden frames, that made me immediately think Santa.
 Of course, I snapped up three, that's the number that popped into my head had, no idea what i would do with the other two and went looking for a price, No one knew what the price was,. the guy who had control of the table swears he didn't even Know (goosebumps just remembering) those where there, unfortuneltly I only had a fifty and they didn't have change for it, but I knew they were mine and I made and offer, I had a dime, "10 cents for the lot??" As you can see they went for it. And now on with the show: 
Holly King with baby Oak King
Ohh the pictures that I used were from Bing.com/images, also the Oak King came with a knot in the wood that declared that wood as his, (it went thru on both sides), and each piece of wood seemed to know exactly what they were meant form even before I drew the first line. These woods were perfect, so many years of practicing and finally I now have representations of the Gods that I love, see you don't have to buy them all at once (wink wink newbies) they find you. The faces seemed to appear as I drew them, and the Oak King;s wand was already drawn in for me. (These pieces knew what they were no?)
small knot in the Oak King's head



and here is show number two, 


I hope you enjoyed the view of mine my loves, have you created any of your own Yule Kings or any Yule altar pieces? Please show me, can't well you tell me all about it. I would love to hear all about them. 
Blessed Be
Aisha

6 comments:

  1. ~these are wonderful creations you have made...my wheels are turning now for a holday project ahead with my littles...warm wishes and brightest blessings~

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  2. Thank you faerwillow, good luck with the kiddies and the decorating stuff.BB

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  3. Oh your oak and Holly kings are so beautiful! People must stop posting such wonderful crafts! I want to make them now... But where will I find the time! Alas alas :)
    I love the Holly and Oak kings they remind me of the seasons but also seem to be festive and full of wonder and love. So often the craft is goddess driven and the Kings seem, for me, to bring some balance back into things masculine and feminine :)
    Blessings and enjoy your three cloaked men.

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  4. There are so many beautiful paintings and pictures of the Holly and Oak Kings but I do not see them anywhere in person, to buy. They are gorgeous figures and so festive for our holiday. Yours are just perfect! It is really hard to find decorations that represent, so you have really given a great idea.

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  5. @FS thank you so much, yes they do bring a balance to the craft for me, sometimes we do concentrate a lot on the Goddess, and can get out of wack that way, they are good reminders of how everything works, nothing dies, it simply becomes something else, a greater part of the whole.
    BB

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  6. @Cynthia, yes i searched for years, and no matter what i found it just didn't do it for me, so i was happy to have these pop-up and become what i needed. Thank you
    BB

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