The Holly King

(and details on my next class)

In the folklore of the British Isles, winter belongs to the Holly King and summer to the Oak King. Some traditions have the Holly King losing his crown to the Oak King on the winter solstice, because that’s when the sun begins to regain the sky; the Oak King then loses his crown to the Holly King on the summer solstice. But I prefer the traditions that give the Holly King reign over the winter, only losing his crown to the Oak King on the spring equinox, and regaining it on the autumn equinox. For me, those sharp evergreen leaves and bright red berries belong to the cold and the dark, lighting our days with colour and resilience.

Holly branch with berries and snow. Alas, mine doesn’t have berries, and we haven’t had snow (yet).

We have two kinds of holly in our back garden: variegated leaf holly in the form of a small hedge of bushes, and the traditional dark green in a tree that’s growing by the shed at our back fence. Neither produced berries this year, which I learned is due to either harsh pruning or youth or both. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can manage them better and get berries in the future. I know the birds would appreciate them.

Variegated-leaf holly. I didn’t know the leaves came in different colors!

But the truth is, though we have very short days right now in southern Scotland (sunrise at 8:34 and sunset at 3:38 today), the winter has been mild. The birdbath only froze a couple of nights, and the grass is still green. It’s windy (about a third of the time, the wind gusts up into the 40s mph), but I can still go out for walks. According to locals, we have gotten a good bit of snow here in past years. I can only hope!

Though the folklore suggests the Holly King and the Oak King fight for the crown twice a year, I prefer to think they hand it over to each other, one ready to rest and gather strength, the other prepared to lead us back to nature as the wheel of the year turns towards or away from our favourite seasons.

p.s. My next online, asynchronous class is on Learning—in school, from mentors, from family, for hobbies, for fun. Poetry & short creative nonfiction. As a reminder, I work with writers who have published books and those who haven’t, folks with pieces out in well-known magazines and those just exploring writing for themselves. We even manage to create community without ever interacting face to face. CLICK HERE for more information and to sign up.

p.p.s. One of the poets I’ve worked with in these classes and individually has her first book of poetry out! Check out Victoria Melekian’s collection of poems, The Accidental Courage of Our Lives. It’s beautiful and authentic and you’ll be glad you read it!