season 2, episode 9 - the shortest day

it's almost yule! we're taking a break from our regular interview schedule and will be back to normal post-holidays. in lieu of an interview this week, we're sharing a favourite winter solstice story. please enjoy this reading of "the shortest day" by susan cooper, read by your host, ash alberg.

each season we read a new book about witchcraft practices around the world with the #snortandcacklebookclub, with a book review by ash and the occasional guest helping us close out the season. this season's #snortandcacklebookclub read is "orishas, goddesses, and voodoo queens" by lilith dorsey.

take the fibre witch quiz at ashalberg.com/quiz. follow us on instagram @snortandcackle and be sure to subscribe via your favourite podcasting app so you don't miss an episode!

seasons 1-3 of snort & cackle are generously supported by the manitoba arts council.

transcript

ash alberg: [Upbeat music plays.] Hello, and welcome to the Snort and Cackle podcast. I'm your host, Ash Alberg. I'm a queer fibre witch and hedgewitch. And each week I interview a fellow boss witch to discuss how everyday magic helps them make their life and the wider world, a better place. 

Expect serious discussions about intersections of privilege and oppression, big C versus small C capitalism, rituals, sustainability, astrology, ancestral work, and a whole lot of snorts and cackles. Each season, we read a new book about witchcraft practices around the world with the #SnortAndCackleBookClub with a book review by me and the occasional guest helping us close out the season. Our book this season is Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens by Lilith Dorsey. 

Whether you're an aspiring boss witch looking to start your knitwear design business, a plant witch looking to play more with your local naturally dyed color palette or a knit witch wondering just what the hell is a natural yarn and how do you use it in your favorite patterns, we've got the solution for you.

Take the free fiber witch quiz at ashalberg.com/quiz and find out which self-paced online program will help you take your dreams into reality. Visit ashalberg.com/quiz [upbeat music fades out] and then join fellow fiber witches in the Creative Coven Community at ashalberg.com/creative-coven-community for 24/7 access to Ash’s favorite resources, monthly zoom knit nights, and more. [End of intro.]  

Hello, and welcome to this slightly abnormal episode of Snort and Cackle. We are heading towards Yule, which is my personal favorite time of year. And the one sabbat that I make a point of always recognizing. I can be slightly lazy slash forgetful with most of the others but Yule is the one time of year that I do make a point of acknowledging it. 

And because I live in the north where Yule means that we are celebrating the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year and welcoming back in the light as we move into the next portion of the year, it is a time for hibernation and retreating inward and spending time with family and loved ones.

And I'm going to be doing that. And so we're going to have a bit of a break from our usual interview episodes over Yule season. And then we will be back past Yule season with our regular interview episodes as we close out this second season of Snort and Cackle. And I'm going to be reading to you a Yule story this week, and then next week you will get to hear some Yule traditions from other voices as some other witches share their own favorite home traditions for Yule. 

And if you have a personal tradition in your own household that you love celebrating during Yule, I encourage you to share that with us over at Snort and Cackle on Instagram, love hearing from you. And in the meantime, I am going to read to you The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper.

And I highly recommend getting the picture book version of this poem. It's really stunning. And Carson Ellis is the illustrator of the picture book, but the poem itself was first written by Susan long before they put it into book form. And it's been recited by many folks in different types of art forms over the years.

And so I'm going to read it out to you. And it's a little shorty and it's cute. And I hope that as you're heading into Yule season that you are able to take a bit of a rest and a respite for yourself as well, and that you and your family and loved ones are healthy and enjoying time spent together either virtually or hopefully in person, if you're able to, and that your family be it chosen family and/or blood family is doing well this season. 

So here we go. The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper. 

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us—listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,

This Shortest Day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And now so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome, Yule!

[Upbeat music plays.] You can find full episode recordings and transcripts at snortandcackle.com. Just click on podcast in the main menu. Follow Snort and Cackle on Instagram @snortandcackle and join our seasonal book club with @SnortandCackleBookClub. Don't forget to subscribe and review the podcast by your favorite podcasting platform.

Editing provided by Noah Gilroy, recording and mixing by Ash Alberg, music by Yesable.