Happy Yule!

In honor of the solstice and the celebration of the returning of the light with the birth of a new sun. I have decided to dedicate this week to showcasing some rituals used for the upcoming celebration of Yule.

Now as previously mentioned this is the date that had been chose to celebrate the birth of Christ in Catholicism. But this time of year is sacred to many people including the Jewish for their festival of lights otherwise known as Hanuka, there is also Kwanzaa and I’m sure others that I am not aware of.

Anyway I thought I’d take a moment to showcase some of the traditions for this time of year and put down a common ritual that us Wiccan’s use.

Date: December 21st

Houses are decorated with evergreen wreaths, holly and ivy. These plants symbols death, and protect against the winter spirits that might want to do one wrong. Well also representing rebirth and

Kindle lights are lite to represent the sun, turn them off to enjoy the night and relight them to show the rebirth of the sun. Or you let them burn until dawn, it should be red, green or blue and, if you can, decorated in Holly.

Yule log (should be grown or gifted, unlucky to buy), a log that is doused in ale, sprinkled in flour and lit with pieces of previous Yule logs. This represents the rebirth of the sun. (You can see the pattern here.) 

Yule Log

Simple Ritual
This a simple ritual you can do with others after eating together.

First cover a table (or your altar) with candles, but make sure that a sun candle is placed above the rest of riser as we celebrating it’s rebirth. And don’t worry they don’t have to match. Then turn off all the lights but don’t light the candles just yet. 

Go ahead and cast your circle if you wish to.

Facing the candles say something such as:
The wheel of the year has turned once more,
and the nights have grown longer and colder.
Tonight, the darkness begins to retreat,
and light begins its return once again.
As the wheel continues to spin,
the sun returns to us once more.

Lighting the sun candle continue with the words such as:

Sun Candle 

Even in the darkest hours,
even in the longest nights,
the spark of life lingered on.
Laying dormant, waiting, ready to return
when the time was right.
The darkness will leave us now,
as the sun begins its journey home.

Then beginning with the candle closest to the sun candle say as you light the rest:
As the wheel turns, light returns.
The light of the sun has returned to us,
bringing life and warmth with it.
The shadows will vanish, and life will continue.
We are blessed by the light of the sun.

Then take a moment to think about what this means to you and those you care for, if your not too full from eating enjoy some treats in the candle light. You can turn the lights back on anytime after the ceremony is complete. When you extinguish the candles go from the outside, in so the sun candle is the last one.

This is of course just a snippet of the day, and certainly not the only ways to do things. Below are some of the website I used to compose this entry which have a little more information then I do, please check them out (especially the recipes).

And with that Happy Yule and enjoy your holiday no matter what it is. 

Blessed Be.
Dani.


Traditions & Recipes
In depth History + Recipes
13 Ways to Celebrate Yule
Celebrating Yule