The Winter Solstice and Yuletide

With the winter solstice just two days away I think it is time we released a multitude of blog posts to help our fellow witches and spiritualists prepare for the grand occasion. So we have prepared three blog posts for you. The first is this one, and here we will discuss the more general details of the holiday, the history, and how you can celebrate it. The second is on the Christmas tree otherwise known to our people as the Yule Tree. The final is for my fellow lunar witches and discusses what we can do on a day that is meant to honor the sun.

So let us begin with Yule. You may see this word tossed around alot by modern practitioners to refer to the festival of the winter solstice, but why this particular word? Well if we look in our dictionaries we often see that Yule is the ancient term for christmas or feast of Jesus Christ. Now this answer is very Christianized and does not do the ancient holiday justice. Before Modern English created new words for yol or geōl, there was the old Norse jól. The holiday is often called the midwinter holiday and lasts for 12 nights. However, this is where our sources start to diverge. Many tie the ancient celebration of burning the Yule log to the celts who would carve the Cailleach into their logs as a symbol that the cold, dark, and harsh winter would soon be replaced by the warm, nourishing, and bright summer. Some sources say that this burning would last 12 days. Regardless of which sources are right and which are wrong, we are still sure of two things: the ancient “pagan” cultures would celebrate the winter solstice as a holiday and that this ancient Holiday was “adopted” by Christians to create Christmas. Afterall, don’t we all already know that Jesus was in fact not born on the 25th of December?

Ancient Traditions:

Different societies marked the occasion of Yule in different ways, and from this we have a multitude of Ancient Traditions.

1. Honoring the Sun - The winter solstice is the day of the longest darkness before finally the sun starts to rise again. It is the turning point that told the ancient peoples that spring would soon be near and they would be able to plant their foods and hunt once more in order to nourish themselves. The beauties of winter were nothing in comparison to murderous cold and the diminishing supply of nourishment. This celebration of the sun was not only attached to the physical world but also to the religious beliefs of ancient peoples. On the winter solstice many would leave offerings to their sun gods. In Norse traditions we see the celebration of Baldr and the prayers to Frigg. Women would often call upon Frigg during this time to bless them with fertility as she has given birth to the God of light and joy.

2. Adorning the Evergreen - I have seen so many different claims of who were the ancient people responsible for adorning the evergreens, so I would say that it is arguably possible that many different pagan traditions involved the decorating of evergreens during this time. Instead I am going to focus on why they were decorated, which seems to remain pretty stagnant.

3. Gift Giving - The tradition of gift giving has always been taught to me as starting with three wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus, but one quick google search can turn that knowledge around in a second. Gift giving goes back centuries and is tied to many different traditions.

4. The Yule Log - I mentioned the carving of the Yule log previously, but I’m Irish and Scottish so I’m happy to bring it back up. The Celtic carving of Cailleach into the log was then adorned with liquors such as whiskey and ale. Perhaps some juniper berries and pieces of the juniper tree were thrown with the log into the fire as it burned.

What Can You Do Today:

1. Decorating Your Yule Tree - Decorating a Christmas or Yule tree is a tradition that you can definitely keep up in your new traditions. The lights on your tree represent the coming of the sun and the warmth. Older traditions incorporated the decorating of their Yule trees and evergreens with other pieces of nature such as pinecones and berries. If you have a fake tree incorporating these extra pieces of nature is a must to connect to the roots of the holiday. The incorporation of colors that are linked to the ancient holiday is not necessary, but can definitely be thrown in there (the colors green, red, white, and gold.) If you really want to add some magick to your tree you can use color magick to pick out your decorations and even hang some spell jars as ornaments.

2. Reconnecting with Nature - The winter solstice has always marked a time in which people were disconnected from the natural world, and hid in their homes to escape the cold. Plants did not grow, animals were in hibernation, and wood was used only for the fires to warm the homes. Although we do not need to hide in our homes the entire winter we do tend to disconnect ourselves from our usual nature walks and excursions. Because this occasion is seen as a sign of the returning spring it gives us a yearly sign that we need to reconnect to the earth. How you do that is completely up to you.

3. Yule Spell Jars - Yule spell jars are full of the herbs, items, and colors of the holiday. We have peppermints, pieces of the evergreen, pinecones, cinnamon. Maybe even add some marshmallows or cocoa beans to add a more modern take on winter time. Just like all magickal items they each have their own energies. Pick the energies you want most and put those items into your jar. For a tutorial on Yule spell jars check out this TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdj4qG6x/

4. Manifesting - Just like every astral event, the solstice is a great time for manifestation. It’s the end of the year, it’s the start of winter break for some. Take the day’s energy and it out it towards your dream future. Something to build and work towards. Imagine it, write it, manifest if you will.

5. Self-Care Day - For many practitioners the capitalistic society many of us are stuck working in pushes our energy to the brink. We may feel drained before we get the chance to think about our crafts and spiritual paths. So what do you do if you just don’t think you can put in all the effort for Yule. That’s ok. You do not need to force yourself. Take this Yule time as a day for self-care and bringing warmth and joy upon yourself. Meditate, take a long bath, nap, sleep in, or just cozy up and watch a Christmas movie.

6. Celebrating with non-witch or non-pagan Friends - Something I am doing this year since I’ve officially swung out of my broom closet, is celebrate Yule with some of my non-practicing friends. I made Yule Jars to hand out, I’m gonna order some pizza, and we’re probably all just gonna relax. However, around us will be signs of my holiday and symbols that I know my true friends will happily give me the opportunity to teach them about.