Ellen Evert Hopman - Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year

Thanks are due to Andrew Theitic for his memories of an Italian Christmas and La Befana, and to Dr. Jane Sibley for advice on Norse matters. Thanks are also due to Lauren A. Mills for her helpful comments on the stories. My gratitude goes to Sharynne MacLeod NicMhacha for advice on Gaelic wording and to Tara Tine, Irish witch and YouTuber, for correcting my fledgling Irish. And a special thanks to Seann Mac Aoidh, who helped me sort the Old Irish from the Modern Irish. Any mistakes are my own. Much appreciation goes to Lauren A. Mills for the gorgeous illustrations, and my eternal gratitude to Jane Yolen for the inspiring foreword.

Once Around the Sun is a delightful family treasure. Cultures throughout the world have used storytelling as a way to pass on knowledge, and this books stories and poems alone make it worth owning. Yet, its recipes and activities add another dimension that makes this book an invaluable resource for parents wanting to share ancient cultures and beliefs with their children. Young ones are sure to love activities such as making a magic wand and writing secret rune messages with invisible ink. I would highly recommend this fun and informative book for any family that wishes to explore the seasonal stories and celebrations.

ROBIN CORAK, AUTHOR OF PERSEPHONE: PRACTICING THE ART OF PERSONAL POWER

Ellen Evert Hopman has written a book that will delight children, families, and those who are looking for traditions to explore and stories to share as they celebrate the holidays. I especially love the tales that beg to be read aloud and, as with all good folk stories, add depth and ancient wisdom with the telling. Recipes and special crafts to make with children meaningfully connect folk customs with the seasonal changes. Once Around the Sun is a book not only enjoyed with the first reading but also when it is picked up and read again and again with each turn of the seasonal wheel.

LAURA WILDMAN-HANLON, AUTHOR OF WHATS YOUR WICCA IQ?, WICCAN MEDITATIONS, AND CELEBRATING THE PAGAN SOUL

For all of us, children and adults, who love fairy and folk stories, these nine tales told by Ellen Evert Hopman carry us to the roots of ancient lore. Earth, sky, and the waters are embodied in Gods and Goddesses with power to bring feast or famine, health or disease, tragedy or happiness, depending on their actionsand the hard work, gratitude, and faithfulness of humans. Alongside the stories are embedded recipes, games, and verse. This book is a treasure trove for curious children and their grown-ups, who wish to bring the rich spirits of the natural world to life.

PATRICIA LEE LEWIS, AUTHOR OF A KIND OF YELLOW

Once Around the Sun is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature written for children and their parents. Hopman uses the structure of wheel of the year to explore the meanings and celebrations of each season through a selection of stories from a variety of countries and traditions. With its beautiful illustrations from artist Lauren A. Mills, this book is sure to be enjoyed by children of all ages.

FIONA TINKER, AUTHOR OF STORIES FOR THE SONGS OF THE YEAR AND CONTRIBUTOR TO POOKA PAGES MAGAZINE FOR PAGAN KIDS

Now we can all share the glory of seasonal celebration with our children and grandchildren, so they can sweep out the old year with La Befana, make runes like a Viking, knead soda bread for Imbolg, and drink the herbal teas of the season. All the traditional stories, songs, and celebrations take the family through the year with joy and blessing.

CAITLN MATTHEWS, COAUTHOR OF THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAIL AND AUTHOR OF THE ART OF CELTIC SEERSHIP

From the Cailleach to La Befana, this skillful storytellerthis blessed shanachieweaves a splendid wreath to revel in the seasons of the rolling year. Beautiful illustrations, recipes, and an inspiring foreword by Jane Yolen envelop this tender reminder of the importance of myth and story in making us healthy, happy human beings. A must-have for your bedside reading stack!

H. BYRON BALLARD, AUTHOR OF SEASONS OF A MAGICAL LIFE AND ROOTS, BRANCHES, AND SPIRITS

The traditions, rituals, and stories of the eight celebrations of the wheel of light are full of beautiful energystories that bring to life the spirits of the Earth, spirits that many may call fantasy, but I know differently. Once Around the Sun brings to life that which comes from beyond our senses with the traditions and rituals of reaching out and giving back to the spirits and fairies with food and other gifts.

NICHOLAS E. BRINK, PH.D., AUTHOR OF BALDRS MAGIC

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

STORIES THAT BRING THE SUN UP

Jane Yolen

I n these dark days, ringed with disease, disasters, disinterest, and disinformation, author Ellen Evert Hopman reminds us: What withers away into blackness will be born again once the Sun rises.

To prove this, she hands us a canticle of nine Old European folktales to mark the festival seasons. Here we have the past informing the present. These stories are in touch with both old and new traditions, and she makes the most of every single one.

Hopman is not just handing us fairy-tale wisdom, not just telling stories borne on gossamer wings. Rather, she has given us the deep murmurations and incantations of the worldof hope, belief, faith, love.

I, too, have spent a long lifetime poking into the past, learning the tales about the little folk and big folk, soaking up the old stories and ballads. I have come under their spell many times. It is both a tangle and a wide walkway, both a maze and an amazement, filled with myth, magic, mayhem. And the sunrise.

Hopmans stories in this book come from Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Italy, Germany. Theres a tale from the Anglo-Saxons (the early English) and even an American version of an Orkney (Scottish) one. And if that were all she showcased here, I would still feel the blessed-be of the Goddess worshippers.

But Hopman has not stopped there. Additionally, she has given us guidespronunciations, histories, explanations. There are, as well, some old recipes to accompany various storiesfrom a full tea to a nettle soup to bannocks, bilberry pie, and gingerbread loaf. There are lovely projects for children to make, each one special to the holiday storya magic wand, a magic broom, dolls, games, rag trees, Easter egg dye, Maypoles, and more.

And all this is accompanied by information about the sacredness and magic of nature, herbal remedies, the making and reading of runes...

In other words, this book is a cornucopia of medicines, magics, and marvels of our world. There are stories here for adults and children, projects for all ages, new (old) words to learn, new (old) ideas to explore.

To top it all off, one of the finest living American fairy-tale illustratorsartist Lauren Millshas done the paintings throughout. I have known her work for years, and she always surprises and delights.