Yule

Yule (EWE-elle, YOU-ull) takes place December 20^th-December 23rd

         Also known as the Winter Solstice, Yuletide, Yule Time, The Longest Night, Festival of Saturn/Saturnalia, Solstice Night, Yule is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day.

        This is the time when the Goddess gives birth to the Divine Sun child who shall be both child and eventually lover and father of the next child in the cycle.

        On this night, our ancestors celebrated the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth. Many of the customs and traditions of Yule are now celebrated as Christmas traditions. So this time of the year tends to be one of the easiest (besides Samhain/Halloween) for Witches to celebrate without trouble.

Songs: Deck the Halls, Here we come A-Wassailing, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire), 12 Days of Christmas, The Holly and the Ivy, Jingle Bells, I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In, Lady Greensleeves, Carol of the Bells (I know this some of these aren’t exactly Yule, but they have Yule symbols within them).  

Activities: Feasting, Making plans for the upcoming year, Caroling, Burning the Yule Log, Wassailing the Trees, Decorating the Yule Tree, Exchanging Presents, Kissing under the Mistletoe, Light candles in the house to welcome the new light, Volunteer/Donate, Meditate, Fill Bird feeders, Ringing Bells, Bonfires, Engage in a Fertility Ritual under the Mistletoe, Reenact the Fight between the Holly King and the Oak King, Make a Bûche de Noël (traditional French cake shaped like a Yule Log), Storytelling, Pathworking, Roasting Chestnuts, Make a German Christmas Cake and divine the symbols hidden inside, Make an Outdoor Yule Tree for the wildlife (Decorate a live tree with strings of popcorn, pine cones with peanut butter and seeds, apples, and cut out shapes in bread and let them go stale, then string them up).

Foods: Cookies, Nuts, Pork, Fruits, Turkey, Ginger Tea, Spiced Cider, Wassail, Eggnog, Beans, Roasted Chestnuts, Apples, Pickles, Venison, Roast Foul, Ale, Red Cabbage, Potato Pancakes.

Crafts: Making Candles, Make a Yule Log Candle Holder (drill 3 holes into a log and display a red, green, and white candle. Decorate with Holly), Baking Cookies, Making Evergreen Wreaths with pine cones and fruit, Make Pine cone ornaments, Cross Stitching, Make/Bake gifts for loved ones.
Colors: Red, Green, Gold, White, Silver, Yellow.

Symbols: Wreaths, Evergreen Boughs, Yule Log, Mistletoe, Holly, Evergreen Trees, Bells, Cross, Apples, Ice, Baby, Fire, Snow, Grain, Sun, Pine Cones.

Stones: Ruby, Emerald, Bloodstone, Garnet, Diamond.

Herbs: Evergreen, Bayberry, Ivy, Sage, Oak, Pine, Frankincense Holly, Mistletoe, Laurel, Yellow Cedar, Blessed Thistle.
Incense: Pine, Cedar, Cinnamon, Bayberry. 

Gods: All Newborn Gods, Sun Gods, The Green Man, The Oak King, Apollo, Mabon, Lugh, Ra, Odin, The Horned One, The Divine Child, Mithras, Sol.

Goddesses:  Mother Goddesses, Triple Goddesses, Brighid, Diana, Demeter, Isis, Gaea, The Great Mother, Tonantzin, Holda, Bona Dea, Ops, Lucina, Befana.