Winter Finding

By Shade McCurdy, RFU Lawspeaker

The growing season is drawing to a close, and there are signs that winter is on its way. Have you noticed them?

Vetrnætr, or “Winter Nights,” is the official start of the winter half of the year according to our ancient Heathen customs. It is a great celebratory feast and a time for offering blóts. We will talk about this holiday in greater detail when it occurs next month. For now, we will examine a more timely observance with the coming tide in mind.

For our agrarian ancestors, the Winter Nights festivities were preceded by some very necessary final work around the homestead. Cattle and other livestock were brought in from their summer pastures to provide more helping hands for the harvest that’s already well underway, which could eventually include the culling of the animals themselves.

Again, there would be signs foretelling the changing of the seasons. We might recognize these signs and “find winter,” so to speak. These signs vary from region to region, but some of them might include:
• Leaves begin to change color or fall to the ground.
• Onion and corn husks thicken.
• Migratory birds fly south.
• Crickets can be found inside the house.
• Slaughtered animals have more fat.
• Cows have thicker hair on their necks.
• Squirrels can be seen gathering nuts.
• The first frost.
• The first snowfall.

This is also a common time to practice some weather lore. Look for signs that might indicate a harsher winter:
• Rings around the sun and moon.
• Frequent fog in August and September.
• Woodpeckers sharing a tree.
• Cut open persimmon seeds and examine the shape inside. A fork means a mild winter, a spoon means lots of snow, a knife means “cutting” cold.

A standardized observance for a Winter Finding falls on the Autumnal Equinox—Old Norse “Haustjafndægur,” Old English “Hærfestlice emniht”—when the night and day are of equal length, soon to favor the nights. For one reason, it is the same for every climate. For another, in the lunisolar calendar, it marks the point in the year where the next new moon will wax into the full moon of Winter Nights.

If you’ve found winter, take some time to get your ducks in a row and greet the coming season with the accomplishments of summer at your back!

Happy Winter Finding!