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THE LONGEST NIGHT: A WINTER SOLSTICE MASTERCLASS
Ancient Northern Traditions • Sacred Light • Deep Time Mysteries
Join me for a rare 2.5-hour immersive masterclass exploring the Winter Solstice through the wisdom of ancient Northern cultures—Celtic, Norse, Germanic, Druidic, and even the luminous mysticism of the early Gnostics. As the Sun stands still on the horizon, we step into the same threshold our ancestors knew: the turning point where darkness becomes fertile, symbolic, and full of promise.
We’ll journey deep into the solstice alignments of the great passage tombs—Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth—and explore how these stone “light temples” shaped Celtic ritual. We will walk the frost-rimmed forests of Yule with the Norse, learning from the Poetic Edda and the sagas how oaths, prophecy, and sacred fire were woven into winter nights. And through the Gnostic texts, we’ll explore the ancient belief that a spark of solar light lives within each of us, waiting to be rekindled.
The masterclass weaves scholarship with soulful practice: readings from primary sources, archaeological insights, video material, and guided rituals for grounding, illumination, and renewal. You’ll learn practical techniques for engaging with the landscape during the solstice—sunrise watching, sacred wells, tree allies, and local midwinter signs.
Step into the longest night with knowledge, enchantment, and ancestral memory. Let the old stories—and the returning light—guide you.
Masterclass topics include:
I. Celtic & Druidic Midwinter Traditions
Topics
Solstice alignments at Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth
Druidic plant rites (mistletoe, oak, evergreen)
Fire ceremonies and hilltop watchfulness
Ogham & tree lore at midwinter
Primary Sources
Metrical Dindshenchas (Brú na Bóinne lore)
Lebor Gabála Érenn (Tuatha Dé Danann, otherworldly mounds)
Annals of the Four Masters (kings & burial mounds)
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XVI.249 (mistletoe rite)
Secondary / Academic
O’Kelly, M. – Newgrange: Archaeology, Art & Legend
Eogan, G. – Knowth and the Passage Tombs of Brú na Bóinne
Hutton, Ronald – The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles
II. Norse & Germanic Yule
Topics
The Wild Hunt & liminality
Yule oaths and feasting rites
Evergreens, boar, and sunwheel symbolism
The Twelve Nights of Yule
Primary Sources
Poetic Edda (esp. “Völuspá,” “Hávamál”)
Heimskringla (Snorri Sturluson)
Hákonar Saga Góða (Yule drinking rituals)
Secondary / Academic
Price & Mortimer – The Viking Way
Sundqvist – An Arena for Higher Powers
Simek – Dictionary of Northern Mythology
III. Gnostic & Late Antique Solstice Mysticism
Topics
Birth/rebirth of divine light within
Light descent and return (cosmic cycle)
Winter as inner initiation
Primary Sources
Pistis Sophia
Gospel of Thomas (Logion 24, “light within”)
Corpus Hermeticum I: Poimandres
Secondary / Academic
Elaine Pagels – The Gnostic Gospels
April DeConick – Voices of the Mystics
Roelof van den Broek – Gnostic Religion in Antiquity
IV. Cross-Cultural Winter Themes
Topics
Darkness as transformation
Sovereignty rites & kingship renewal
Sacred sites as “light technology”
Comparative Notes / References
Indigenous Indo-European solar rites (Eliade, Patterns of Initiation)
Ritual theory: Turner (Ritual Process) on liminality
V. Experiential Practice & Ritual
Topics
Candle rite inspired by Yule + Brú na Bóinne
Oath ritual (Norse)
Ogham or Rune winter divination
Landscape alignment practice: sunrise, wells, trees
Practices drawn ethically from reconstructed ritual theory, archaeology, ethnography, and textual evidence—not “closed” living traditions.
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This Masterclass also includes extra reading handouts and links, a digital PDF class summary booklet and your attendance certificate. Don't miss it!
BOOK TODAY! Price 75 euro (subscribed Patreon members discount price 55 euro).
(Recorded for those who cannot attend on the day but who purchase a ticket in advance, and who will get all the materials too. Treat yourself to my Patreon today to access this unique Masterclass at the discounted price!)