Mythology for Children

   Anne S.

The Great Mother and the Holly King
A Winter Solstice Story

"Last Harvest as the Winter Approaches"

The Wheel turns and Autumn draws to a close.
The brilliant leaves have dried and fallen in great drifts.
All the animals prepare for the long cold winter, hiding food in their burrows.
The people hurry to collect the last harvest from the fields before the storms arrive.
And the Great Mother Earth closes her eyes and falls asleep, shrouding herself in a soft blanket of snow.
The Holly King reigns over a land of winter.

"The Darkest Night Falls"

The Sun-Father begins to shrink, vanishing often behind the gathering clouds, and many storms come.
Lord of Night, the Holly King rules alone, his Queen slumbering beneath his white blankets.
The days grow shorter and the Sun-Father weaker.
It gets cold and the people stay indoors eating warm soups and playing games.
The Darkest Night comes - when the Sun-Father has turned his face away and the people pray and sing to him, calling him back from the darkness.
They gather around large bonfires, and tell stories about the sun, beneath the silvery starlight.
The Holly King listens as they ask the Great Mother to wake from her sleep, to remember them.

"The Great Mother and The Holly King"

She hears them.
Drawn by their voices, the drumming of their feet as they dance about their fires, the music of the horns and pipes, the Great Mother sleep-walks through the forest.
She seeks the Holly King, so they might celebrate the birth of their child, the sun.
And as the Great Mother passes by, the trees begin to grow leaves and flowers waken in the earth and start to stretch upwards.

"Birth of the Sun-Father"

The Sun-Father is born anew.
The people sing songs in honour of the Sun-Father's birthday and celebrate.
He sleeps within his mother's arms, and doesn't stir as she places him in a tall oak tree.
The tree stretches and reaches up to the sky, carrying the Sun-Father high above the earth
There the Sun-Father, King of the Oaks, slowly grows to manhood.

"The Great Mother Awakens"

The warmth of the sun touches the frozen earth and wakens her fully, and the Great Mother releases the plants from their slumber.
Rejoicing, the people prepare for the coming spring.
Soon they will run barefoot through the fields again and plant their crops.
And the King of the Oaks will rule the earth once more.

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