5 Cosy and Warming Wassail Rituals To Try
Spiced drinks and warming apple cakes for all!
Hello,
I hope you are all enjoying a cosy and sleepy January. (If you need permission to do less this month, take a look here).
As this is still a time of deep winter hibernation I don’t think there should be any pressure to do anything much this month. Hopefully Winter naps, hibernation rituals, reading and relaxing are featuring heavily on your to-do list.
But if you do feel like tiptoeing out of hibernation for an hour or two this weekend, and getting a bit of fresh air, the Pagan calendar has just the thing for that. A Wassail.
What’s a Wassail? I hear you ask. Well, it’s a pleasingly ancient ritual of blessing fruit trees in the depths of Midwinter, in the hope of ensuring a good harvest in the coming year.
It involves singing and dancing, to ‘wake up’ the spirits of the apple trees, toasting the year ahead and drinking plenty of hot, spiced cider.
And you can go back into hibernation once it’s all over.
Like the sound of it?
In this newsletter we’ll unravel the ancient origins of Wassailing, learn a few traditions to follow and end with some delicious drink and cake recipes.
What are the origins of the Wassail?
The January Wassail is an Old Anglo Saxon tradition of blessing the fruit trees in cider-producing areas of England, in the hope of ensuring a good harvest in the coming year. The name Wassail is believed to derive from the Old Norse toast ‘ves heill’ which corresponds to the Old English waes hael, meaning “be well”.
It is traditionally celebrated on Twelfth Night which falls on January the 5th / 6th as the culmination of twelve days of Midwinter festivities.
Typically an orchard-blessing Wassail celebration involved a procession to the nearest orchard where villagers would sing to the apple trees, sometimes recite poetry, dance and generally make lots of noise around the trees to banish any mischievous spirits.
Everyone would then raise a toast with a cup of local cider, some of which could be poured around the roots of the tree for further good luck, or even used to soak bread which was then tied to the branches of the trees.
Eventually the phrase Wassail came to also refer to the drink itself and Wassail bowls carved from wood would be used specifically for toasting and drinking on this day.
I want to Wassail! How do I do it?
Wassailing is enjoying a bit of a resurgence right now, so there are several community Wassail events taking place in the UK right through January if you fancy joining in with a group (links below).
You can also create your own, low-key Wassail at home if that appeals more to you. Below are a few suggestions of where to start.
1. Make spiced drinks
The central element to the Wassail is the hot spiced cider or apple juice that is shared, sipped and poured over the roots of apple trees. I’ve put a recipe below, but it’s a bit like mulled wine - everyone will have their own way of making it, and it can be added to and embellished to suit any size of gathering.
2. Make apple cakes
With a festival dedicated to apples it seems only fitting to make a spiced apple cake to accompany the mulled cider. I’m not sure this is strictly traditional, but I don’t need much of an excuse to include a cake recipe. Scroll down for recipes.
3. Wake up your local trees
Once you’ve got your food and drink sorted it’s time to venture out and wake up your local fruit trees. If you’ve got an apple tree in your garden this will be a very simple process. If not it might take a little more planning, as it’s generally not advised to walk into someone’s garden and start singing to their apple trees without warning.
If you’d like to join a community Wassail, this is the most comprehensive list I’ve managed to find for the UK. If you know of any others please let me know in the Comments!
4. Plant an Apple tree
I’ve always wanted an apple tree in my garden and this year I’m planting one around the time of the Wassail because I like the symbolism of doing so. (And also because I didn’t get around to doing it in November when I meant to.) Luckily January is still right in the middle of bare-root planting season which means it’ll have a head start on growth once Spring arrives.
If you want to plant a tree too, perhaps consider planting a local or heritage variety as these often get overlooked. I’m planting a Christmas Pippin because I absolutely love the name and it also has a good story behind it.
5. Raise a toast to Summer
At the heart of a Wassail is the knowledge that Spring and Summer are on their way and with them, hopefully, warm sunshine, new blossom and plenty of fruit. All in due course.
Celebrating the apple tree in winter is a way of acknowledging that everything is part of a cycle and, for those that need it most, this is a way of reminding ourselves that Spring and Summer are never too far away. Let’s all raise a toast to that.
Wassail recipes
Feel free to adapt and embellish the recipes below to suit.
Wassail drinks
Wassail cup (alcoholic) by Sainsbury’s magazine
Wassail punch (non-alcoholic) by Tastes of History
Wassail cakes
In my opinion, every month is made better with cake, and in the spirit of celebrating the apple tree, here are a few recipes for warming, spiced apple treats. These recipes are taken from my Apple Season newsletter published back in September.
Apple Dessert Cake by Mary Berry. “serve with coffee in the morning as one would a Danish pastry… warm, dusted with icing sugar.”
Cinnamon Apple Muffins by Add a pinch. “once the muffins have cooled slightly…dip the tops of the muffins into the slightly warm brown butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.”
Apple and Pear Tart by delicious magazine. This looks really delicious and also fairly simple to make. They also have an Apple Frangipane Tart recipe if you’re feeling more adventurous.
Easy Cinnamon Baked Apples by Minimalist Baker.
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you have a fantastic Wassail.
Now it’s over to you to share your Wassail rituals and traditions in the Comments. I’m really interested to know if anyone else celebrates it (or would like to) and if so what your rituals and traditions look like?
I’ll see you next month for a February edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be diving into early Spring rituals, Imbolc festivities and some delicious seasonal cakes and breads. I’ll add a sprinkling of weird and wonderful folklore for you too. Look forward to seeing you there.
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Have a great weekend,
Vicky xx
I’ll be out there singing to my fig tree this weekend 🌞
Love the sound of this. That may be my weekend planned. And we have an apple tree!