They were winter witchcraft, woven through the daily lives of those who knew that magic and survival were the same thread. Every evergreen bough and every flickering candle. Every circle of holly and ivy. Every meal shared in frost. Every bell rung at dusk. All carried the belief that the sun would return if the people tended the work with steady hands. December is the threshold month, the deep inhale before the Solstice breathes light back into the world.