Welcome back, friends, to the time of the Winter Solstice. Perhaps because it is the darkest time of year, perhaps because the Northlands become so cold, we find a richness of traditions, rituals, and legends from this season to keep our hearts bright and warm.
Growing up on the sunny side of the Alps, on the gentle slopes that would run down into the fertile valleys of northern Italy, I listened to the fairytales and lore of a people who had lived in those craggy mountains for thousands of years.