The Longest Night of the Year

Last updated on: December 21, 2025 at 6:48 pm by Raven Wood

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The Longest Night of the Year 2025-12-21T18:48:12+00:00 Raven Wood

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It was twenty-seven years ago today, on a bitterly cold Winter Solstice night, that I watched the paramedics roll my father out the front room door. He had lost his battle with cancer, and all I could think of was them taking him out into that cold dark night, I wanted to grab a blanket for him… Tis odd how the mind works at times like these.

So to help myself through this I went out to the woods, I walked about in that bone-chilling woods, and thought about how I could make sure he was warm. He was always buying warm coats, hats, and scarves for me, telling me, “You gotta keep warm.” And throughout my walk, it came to me. I began gathering pine branches. I got my sled and walked along the edge of the woods, gathering more branches and adding them to the sled. When I returned I started a fire, heated a warm spiced brew, and wired together a pine branch blanket in the silence of that long dark night.

So now every year on the Winter Solstice the very first thing I do is to go out to the woods and gather pine branches to make my father his pine blanket and take it to his grave. Pine’s magickal properties center on protection, purification, strength, and enduring life… and that’s what it’s about for me.
Thoughts of a wood witch. �❄️

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About Raven Wood

Raven is a traditional witch of Celtic and Germanic roots who is an herbalist, hedge crafter, poisonous plant grower, and planetary alchemist practicing woodland folk magick for over 20 years in her woods of the mid-western United States. She is the owner of "Deep Within the Hollow" a shop of Tarot readings, incense, oils, poppets, and poisons. As well as "Raven's Hedge," a green witch shop of herbal body care, seasonal forest teas, and woodland fare. She has a website “Within a Witches Wood” where you will find her blogs, shop updates, herbal lore, and other writings. Her first book is in the works. You can read more about the author here. You can read more about the author here. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/witchofthewoodwithravenwood/ You can read more about the author here.

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