Yule

Yule is usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21st. It is a Lesser Sabbat in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. It is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year being the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth. The God's birth is symbolized by the return of the Sun, as from Yule onwards the Sun's power is no longer in decline, but begins to return towards it's height at the Summer Solstice. Symbolically the God grows along with the Sun, growing as the Sun gains in power, staying above the horizon longer and warming the planet more each day.

This time of year is also the Christian Christmas celebrated on the 25th December (yes there is a Pagan relevance to this!). But why the 25th? It is clear that the New Testament does not provide the slightest indication of the date on which Christ was born. Early Christian tradition preserved no knowledge of one, and different writers made different guesses, most preferring dates in the spring. The first absolutely certain record which places it on 25th December is the calendar of Philocalus, produced in 354CE. The reason for the choice of this date was stated by a Christian writer, the Scriptor Syrus, in the late fourth century CE:

It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took pat. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should b solemnised on that day.

The pagan feast which Christians replaced was not, however, itself much older. It had apparently been decreed only in 274CE, by the emperor Aurelian as major holy day of a new syncretic state cult with the sun as its official chief deity. The imperial reform built on a much older Syrian cult of the Unconquered Sun which had spread across the western Roman empire in the second and third centuries CE.

So what about the word Yule? In the eleventh century Danish rule over England resulted in the introduction of the colloquial Scandinavian term for Christmas, 'Yule', which provided an alternative name for it among the English. It became popular with them in the next century, and in the thirteenth is first recorded in Scotland, where it had become standard in vernacular speech by the end of the Middle Ages. In Old Norse it is jol, in Swedish jul and in Danish jull. The derivation of the name has baffled linguists; it is possibly related to the Gothic heul or Anglo-Saxon hweal, signifying a wheel, or to the root-word which yielded the English expression 'jolly'. Nothing certain is known and there is equal doubt over whether it was originally attached to a midwinter festival which preceded the Christian one.

One tradition that originated in the UK, (though later spread across Europe) and was practiced in Ancient times was that of the Yule Log, a branch of Ash or Oak that was cut, decorated with evergreens and pine cones, and then burnt in the hearth to symbolize the returning Sun.

The Yule log is lit on Christmas Eve and kept burning through the 12 nights of Christmas until Twelfth Night. A portion of the Log is then to ne kept to light the following years Yule Log, allowing for warmth to stay for the whole year within the household. Some say that the Yule Log had to light at the first attempt, otherwise ill luck would haunt the home for that year! The twelve nights are symbolic of the Celt's belief that, for twelve days at the end of December, the sun stood still (which is why the days grew shorter and shorter). If they could keep Yule logs burning bright for those twelve days, then the sun would be persuaded to move again, and make the days grow longer. If a Yule log went out, then there would be terrible luck.

In England, it was considered unlucky for the Yule log to be bought, and had to be acquired using other means, as long as no money changed hands. Often it was given as a gift by landowners, and sometimes decorated with evergreens. In Cornwall a figure of a man was sometimes chalked on the surface of the log, mock or block. In Provence, where it was called the tréfoire, carols were sung invoking blessings upon the women that they might bear children and upon the crops, herds and flocks that they might also increase.

In some parts of the Scottish Highlands, a variation of the Yule log was observed, here a figure of and old woman, the Cailleach Nollaich, was carved from a withered tree stump. At dusk, the figure was brought into the house and laid upon the burning peat of the house fire. The family would gather round the hearth and watch the figure consumed into ashes, the rest of the evening was spent in games and merriment. The figure, represented, not fertility and life but of the evils of winter and death, the figure had to be totally consumed if misfortune and death were to be averted in the coming year.

Another tradition still used today is that of the Christmas tree, originating in Germany and Scandinavia. Pagans have always decorated with whatever greenery they could find growing at this time of the year. The German Martin Luther is credited with being the first person to decorate his tree with candles, after seeing how beautiful the stars were one night, and wanting to show his children, though nowadays much safer Fairy Lights are often used.

Fire festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, held on the winter's Solstice can be found throughout the ancient world. The Roman festival of Saturnalia was held on the winter solstice, boughs of evergreen trees and bushes would decorate the house, gifts where exchanged and normal business was suspended. The Persian Mithraists held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras, and celebrated it as a victory of light over darkness. In Sweden, December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining One, and was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around the 21st, bonfires were lit to honour Odin and Thor.

There are many plants connected, in Pagan Lore, with this time of year, the most obvious being holly and ivy. Birch is another tree sometimes associated with Yule, or the Winter Solstice, the time when the year's wheel of the seasons turns. It is the traditional wood for the twiggy part of the witch's broom as well. In magical lore the wood is said to bring about purification and to be able to drive out demons.

Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe were important plants of the season, all symbolizing fertility and everlasting life. Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic Druids, who cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the moon, and believed it to be an aphrodisiac.

Mistletoe, from the Old English misteltãn, is a parasitic plant that grows on various trees, particularly the apple tree, it is held in great veneration when found on Oak trees. The winter solstice, called 'Alban Arthan' by the Druids, was according to Bardic Tradition, the time when the Chief Druid would cut the sacred mistletoe from the Oak. The mistletoe is cut using a golden sickle on the sixth day of the moon. It is often associated with thunder, and regarded as a protection against fire and lighting. In Scandinavian mythology, Balder the Beautiful was killed from an arrow made of mistletoe and wielded by the blind god Hoder. Shakespeare, in Titus Andronicus II calls it 'the baleful mistletoe'.

It is interesting to note that mistletoe was excluded from church decorations, probably due to its connection with the Druids and pagan and magickal associations. This ancient ban on mistletoe is still widely observed.