Welcome Summer and Christmas Tidings

It’s that time of year again, the countdown to Christmas begins in earnest and many homes including my own are beginning their annual decking of halls (bi-annual in my case as we also celebrate Yule in the southern hemisphere’s midwinter). I’m looking forward to bringing you joyously Christmas-themed episodes every Thursday of this month including:

• Episode 25 (Dec 5) - A Very Aussie Christmas

• Episode 26 (Dec 12) - The History of Santa’s Elves: The nice and the not so nice

• Episode 27 (Dec 19) - The Origins of Santa and His Reindeer

There are many more subscribers to the Wheel & Cross podcast since I started the second annual cycle of this publication on 1 June, exploring European winter traditions through Australia’s winter months. Many of these traditions are woven into the fabric of Australian Christmas traditions despite their seasonal dislocation and I would love to share them with you once more in supplemental editions for Christmastide. I’m sure my readers/listeners in the northern hemisphere will appreciate more seasonally appropriate articles too. The supplemental editions are scheduled every Monday until Christmas and will contain links and descriptions to two or three previous episodes about winter, Christmas and Yule, starting tomorrow Monday, 2 December.

I hope you will all join me in celebrating the joys that the Christmas season can bring but if it does feel overwhelming and your anxiety is starting to rise, Beth Kempton has a lovely podcast, The Calm Christmas Podcast that might help you find space to breathe and relax into the season.