| Yule December 21st |
| Yule is celebrated on the Winter Solstice, around December 21st or 22nd. This is the shortest day of the year and from now on the days will start to grow longer. For Pagans, this is the sabbat when celebrate the re-birth of the Sun God. This is a beautiful time of year. Snow has fallen and people are settling down for the long winter months. In days past, there was little work to be done. The people spent their time planning for next years harvest, playing games, telling stories, cooking and spending time with their families. There was little they could do outside, especially in Europe with the cold temperatures and wet snow. This is a time of rest and relaxation, and in many cultures, parties and celebrations. One of the earliest mentions of a winter celebration can be found in Egypt about four thousand years ago. This was a twelve day celebration honoring the sun God Horus. The Babylonians also had a celebration, but instead of honoring Horus, their God was called Marduk, the God of creation and the Sun. The festival was called Zagmuk and began five days before the Winter Solstice and lasted for twelve days (there is evidence that says this festival may actually been held in the summer, however, a lot of evidence shows that is was probably held in winter). They celebrated the first birth - that of Marduk, born from Tiamat, the Mother Goddess. The height of the festival came a few days after the Solstice when the people were assured the Sun would continue to rise and the days grow longer. Festivals to Sun and Creator Gods can be found in many cultures, and Roman was no exception. Saturnalia, the celebration honoring Saturn was a popular one. These people of the sun-worshipping religion called Mithraism (a rival to Christianity) held an annual festival on December 9th. Mithra was a Persian God, once called Mitra, who’s worship spread to Greece and Rome. Saturn was one of their most important Gods to the Romans, teaching them peace, agriculture, equality and life. At this one time Saturn defeated Jupiter, the God if success, and was honored for a short time. The Romans decorated their homes with Laurel and Evergreens, lamps and candles, and built bonfires in honor of Saturn. There were feasts, gift giving, parties and general cheeriness among the people. The festival would end when Jupiter again defeated Saturn and people went back to their normal lives. The people to the North, the Saxons, Celts and other Germanic tribes had their own festivals too. While the Celts celebrated the end of the old agricultural year and the beginning of the new at Samhain, the Saxons celebrated the old of the solar year at Yule. The origins of the word ‘Yule’ could have come from a few different places. I have heard it comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Yula’ meaning ‘wheel’, the Wheel of the Year, the Old Norse word "iul," meaning wheel, or the Scandinavians who used the word (Juul) to define the Winter Solstice, or even the Old English word for ‘jolly’. While the Celts celebrated the end of the old agricultural year and the beginning of the new at Samhain, the Saxons celebrated the old of the solar year at Yule. This was the time to honor the Norse God Frey. The Saxons celebrated a festival called Modranect near the solstice when the new year began and when Frey could have been born. It means “the night of the mother’ or “mothers night” and was a celebration of the return of light. When Christianity started to sweep through Europe, great efforts were made to convert the people. This didn’t happen over night, but one thing the Christians did was have their own festivals and celebrations in hopes that the people would celebrate them, and in effect, convert to Christianity. The popular theory in Neo-Paganism is that the Christians saw that the Pagans all had their own kind of winter festival and instead of fighting against them, they just took their festivals and made new ones. Many cultures in Europe celebrated the return of a Sun-God, but with Christianity they celebrated the birth of a Son-God, modeled after the Persian God Mithra but called Jesus, the savior who would bring peace, hope and new life to the people. Sounds like what the pagans thought about their Sun Gods, eh? They even made the date in the winter, December 25th (the old date for the Winter Solstice, which was decided in the fourth Century AD) around the Solstice like other pagan’s popular festivals. It’s a known fact that Jesus was not born in winter, but summer or spring when the shepherds were out. Christians had always been concerned with the death and resurrection of Jesus, but not his birth, so this was a great opportunity to borrow older customs, and maybe, just maybe the pagans would convert if they say how similar the New Religion was to the Old. Back then festivals and celebrations were spread all around not only Europe, but the world. For a religion still trying to write its doctrine and system of beliefs, it was only normal and rational to look to other practices for ideas. Today Winter celebrations are still celebrated, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Yule and among the most popular in the United States. Pagans today keep that old tradition alive with the celebration of Yule. A popular myth to re-enact is that of the Oak and Holy King. The Holly king rules from Midsummer to Yule and at Yule, he is defeated by the Oak king. It can also be seen as the night that the Sun God is reborn from the Goddess, bringing life and fertility to the land. While these two are enemies, neither could exist without the other. One is the dark half of the year and the other the light. They balance each other out. Pagans decorate their altar with evergreens - holly, mistletoe (which was sacred to the Druids and collected with a gold sickle at both the winter and summer solstices), cedar, ivy, pine and juniper - and light candles and bonfires to encourage the return of the sun. Evergreens adorned homes and were sacred because in the cold winter months, when every other plant was dormant, evergreens were still green and very much alive. Holly produced berries, one of the few plants that did. We also rise early in the morning to greet the sun, for the days will once again grow longer until the Summer Solstice, when they will grow short again. This is a time of contemplation and relaxation. The busy days of summer are over and we find ourselves slowing down and looking inwards. it’s a time of new beginnings, a time to shed our old habits and better ourselves. Pagans light Yule logs and decorate evergreen trees, just as the ancient people did. The Yule Log symbolized the God of fertility and life itself. It also symbolized the death of darkness and the warmth of the sun. It was brought into the home, decorated with greenery, sang over and kept lit until the new year. The ashes were kept until spring when they were scattered in the fields to ensure fertility of the crops. Sometimes part of the Yule log was kept to re-light the fire at the next Yule celebration or kept in the house as a charm for protection. Many Pagans today do not have a fire place, so an alternative can be used. You can find a log, drill holes in the top and stick candles in it to symbolize the burning of the log itself. The custom of decorating evergreen trees can be traced back to the Roman Priests who, during Saturnalia, would ceremonially cut down a pine tree and bring it back to the Goddesses temple. The tree symbolizes the fertility god, the God who brings life. The Germanic peoples decorated trees with fruits, cookies, nuts and flowers possibly to honor the tree spirits and welcome new life in the winter time. It Britain, flowers and seasonal fruits were used to decorate trees for many of the festivals, so it was in the winter as well. The most popular Solstice celebrations were those surrounding feasts and parties. Modern Pagans hold large feasts with traditional foods, like sweets, wine, fruits, and poultry. In Europe during the cold months, people mostly stayed indoors. There was little contact with people other than your family. It was a hard time for these peoples, who survived on dried meat and other foods harvested in the fall. Having a celebration in the heart of winter was an excuse for feasting and getting together with friends and family. One traditional dish is roast pig, or boar, which symbolizes the Goddess. In Scandinavia a boar was even sacrificed, echoing a far reminder of human sacrifices that were sometimes performed in the far past. Wassail is a popular drink of Yule as well. It is an Anglo-Saxon term 'waes hael' (be whole or hale). It means drinking to ones good health. People would get together, sings songs and hold up a large bowl of Wassail for everyone to drink from. In other places a jug of an alcoholic cider was brought to the orchards and sprinkle the trees with it to bring fertility to the orchard come spring. Singing and dancing were other popular activities that people participated in. Carols were originally ring dances accompanied by singing. People would go from house to house singing songs to bring good luck. Yule is a time of inspiration. Its a time to set aside anxieties of the past and celebrate life returning to the earth. Sings songs, bake traditional foods, make crafts, watch the sun rise, light candles and pray to the God and Goddess. Its a time for use to come together and celebrate our differences and have fun. In this cold, wet time of year, celebrate the warmth returning and enjoy the good things in life. And most of all, have a great New Year! Sources The Magickal Year: A Pagan Perspective on the Natural World by Diana Ferguson Ancient Ways: reclaiming Pagan Traditions by Pauline Campanelli Yule, A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison You Call it Christmas, We call it Yule by Peg Aloi |
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