Our very own Nathascha Heijen compiled this article on wassailing in 2011, little did she know she would become so entwined with it through Beltane!
To your health!
In January, people in England gather in fruit orchards to bless the trees in a ritual called a 'Wassail'. This comes from 'waes hael' and means something like: 'to your health'. You could also easily see “wees heil” in it, which stems from Germanic languages and means “be whole”.
Wassailing is an echo of rituals from older times in which, after the last harvest in late autumn, a sacred drink was poured onto the fields to bless them for the coming spring and to ward off evil spirits. The deeper motivation is to be assured of a good yield for the next harvest year.
That is still the driving force in more modern times, but the timing of this blessing has been moved from late autumn to January. The Wassail ritual was usually held on the Twelfth Night. The most traditional preferred date is January 17th because this date is the “old 12th night” of Christmas (according to the pre-Gregorian calendar). On the Gregorian calendar it is January 5th or 6th
Awake, nature, awake!
Holding a Wassail in the orchard and on or near fields is the first fertility ritual of the new year and it usually takes place before Imbolc. The Wassail ritual was intended to inspire the saps to flow again in the trees and the land. An awakening of nature! At contemporary Wassailing, fruit trees are helped to come out of hibernation by waking them up with noise. The health blessing or health drink must ensure a good harvest!
The bee colonies play an important role in a good fruit harvest and therfore, in the oldest known Wassail rituals, the bees were also blessed. I propose that we indeed involve them again in our rituals. Bees are a very important link in our existence. And in these times where bees are at risk, a toast to their health wouldn’t do us any harm.
Wassail folklore
Wassailing mainly takes place in apple and pear cider producing regions in England, but in other countries too, the blessing of trees (and animals) can be found in their folklore. In Belgium and the Netherlands, horses are blessed, as well as fields and tools. And how about tractor blessings! Yes, these exist too.
A traditional Wassail ritual often consists of the following basic elements:
For the blessing, a bowl specifically dedicated to this task was used, often made of Sycamore wood because it has no flavor of its own. Later, a ceramic, earthenware or porcelain bowl was used. The bowl has a handle on each side similar to the Scottish friends cup called a “quaich”. The Wassail bowl would only be used for the purpose of the Wassail ritual.
Just before evening fell, the brew for the healing drink was prepared. This was often an alcoholic drink that is very similar to what we know as Mulled Wine or Christmas Wine. And indeed, these are ‘descendants’ from old Wassail recipes! Apple or pear cider was also widely used as a healing drink. The brew was poured into the Wassail bowl which was then ceremonially carried to the orchard.
There are different types of performances of this ceremony, depending on region, culture and type of activity. Usually people took sticks, drums, pots and pans, or anything else that could make a lot of noise, to the orchard.
The ceremony took place at the oldest and most valued tree. It was serenaded by a chant, a song, a blessing or a speech - praising the tree for its abundant fruit in previous years and asked if it could surpass it!
Each participant took a cup of the brew and stood under the tree and recite a verse to the tree, like this:
Health to you, good apple tree
Feel good enough to have bags full, hats full
to carry baskets full and even carts full
Then the tree trunk (and the branches that were within reach) were drummed on with sticks to start the process of awakening and attracting the sap along the trunk to the branches. This was accompanied by the noise of rattling pots and pans or drums and even guns! The noise is the 'alarm clock' that helps the tree wake up and it also helps to scare away the 'evil spirits' that can affect the tree's health. Our New Year's fireworks originally served a similar function.
In some areas, people bowed reverently to the tree during the blessing.
The last bit of drink from the Wassail bowl was distributed around the tree or shared ceremonially by passing the bowl around.
Other forms of the Wassail ritual
Noise
In Bohemia, a similar ritual was held around Easter. This involved visiting trees to ask them to bloom (or else they would be punished for it). The next day, when the church bells rang, the farmers went to the trees to rattle them and make as much noise as possible so that they would produce more fruit.
Influenced by the Christian church, people in Poland shot guns at bushes, trees and fields on New Year's Eve to drive away the 'witches'. Sometimes people tied straw around the trunks of fruit trees to protect them from harm. The witches are a more modern version of the spirits or energies from the 'Otherworld' that, according to superstition, can cross the threshold into our reality during the 12 days of Christmas/Yule to join in the celebration. The noise magic intended to chase all these entities back to their own place. That is why this ritual often took place on the last day of the 12 days of Christmas/Yule.
Sometimes men in Devon returning from the orchard had to solve a riddle before they were allowed to cross the threshold of the house. Perhaps a symbolic act with which they wanted to keep out the energies of the Otherworld (or evil spirits).
Fireworks
An interesting variation on the ceremony: men stand in a circle around a fire and recite a mantra "Auld Ci-der" three times. With each of the three syllables they bowed towards the fire (three times three). The first two notes were sung in normal tone, but the last one was given a deep booming effect like that of a didgeridoo. This gave this chant a hypnotic effect, comparable to a shamanic trance intended to contact the spirit of the apple or pear tree.
Sometimes a King and Queen (the one who found a bean in his or her cake) were chosen to lead a torchlight procession from orchard to orchard. The Queen then placed the bread in the apple tree and poured cider over the roots.
Other ancient symbolism: lighting 12 small fires and 1 large fire.
In January, hawthorn branches were lit and people then walked around the fields where they would be sown or around the place where seeds were stored. The fire is symbolic of the return of the sun and the lengthening of the days.
A crown was made from blackthorn branches that was baked in the oven. And then burned to ashes in the cornfield. These ashes were scattered over the fields.
In Normandy, France, torches were lit and thrown at the trunks of fruit trees. Small fires were lit by a virgin (most fertile) under the branches of the fruit trees.
In Switzerland, groups of boys carried lit torches and made a lot of noise to scare away hostile tree spirits.
Libation (giving)
A libation of cider or beer was poured onto the fields.
In some parts of England it was believed that the robin was the incarnation of a tree and therefore the robin was also offered a libation or sacrifice. A variation on this is that a child, often a boy, was placed among the branches who then accepted a piece of cake or bread dipped in apple cider in the robin's name. A symbolic play for the tree spirit receiving gifts.
Pieces of bread or cake were buried in fields.
The Ox Horn Dance dates back to prehistoric times when six dancers dressed as oxes danced around the tree and stamped their feet on the ground to awaken the spirits of the animals and the earth for spring.
Whatever ritual or ceremony, the first fertility ritual of the new year is in any case a welcome distraction on the austere and dark winter days. And in these times when we are reconnecting with the Earth, these types of celebrations are a great start to the new harvest year!
