Good Yule Day #10: For Mother Holda

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"Holda, the good protectress." Credit: Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (1845-1921), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This will be a "greatest hits" sort of post as I'm running on empty today, and I'm still learning about this fascinating goddess myself. Today, I honor Mother Holda, a Germanic goddess of winter, spinning (as in thread), housekeeping, and the work that needs to be done heading into the new year. She's beloved of witches, crones, and a protectress of women. She's associated with Perchta and in this aspect, she knows who's been naughty or nice at Christmastime.

Some resources I found helpful:

I'm barely touching on her lore here. She has many aspects from benign to terrifying. She appears in some lore as a protectress of children. Or she is accompanied by the souls of dead children on her Wild Hunt during the winter. The resources above go into this dichotomy more. For me this Yule night, besides a warm drink, I'll offer her those things I'm getting done before the beginning of the new year. From all I've read, she doesn't like laziness, so I wouldn't offer anything that I don't believe I can complete.

Good Yule to you and Hail Holda!

© Trish Deneen

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