Yule is the celebration of the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year. It typically happens on or around December 21. Modern pagans consider Yule a sabot and major holy day.
On Yule, we celebrate the end of dark times both physically and metaphorically.
Yule is the shortest day of the year and the end of darkening days. During the Winter Solstice, we celebrate the “rebirth of the sun” which will continue to shine more each day until Litha or the Summer Solstice.
Yule has been celebrated for thousands of years by people all over the world. Many cultures celebrated these short days by lighting bonfires, burning candles, and bringing evergreen trees into their homes (Sound familiar).
Yule is a family favorite in our house. As a pagan family, it also gives us a unique holiday to celebrate in a festive season that embraces many different religious traditions.
Ancient Traditions
Oak King
In British mythology, the Oak King and the Holly King battle it out and the Oak King wins! The Oak King governs over the light half of the year.
Germanic and Norse cultures have celebrated Yule for thousands of years. You can imagine how thankful those people who lived in the far north would be to see the days lengthen each year. We have written documentation of Yule going back to the 4th Century.
Odin
The Norse God Odin was the chief of the Nordic Gods and was also referred to as Jolnir (master of Yule). He rode an eight-legged horse whose name was Sleipnir and legend states they took many wild rides together.
Together with lesser gods and ghosts, they made a wild hunt ride on the solstice gathering the souls of the deceased. This evolved into the children leaving hay and grains for the god’s horses and the gods leaving the children treats.
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Saturnalia
Saturnalia was celebrated by the ancient Romans to honor the God Saturn. Traditionally celebrated on December 17 it was later expanded to be a weeklong holiday. Roman people celebrated with banquets, dancing, and gift-giving.
During Saturnalia, slaves were considered “freemen” and did not have to attend to their masters. Masters served the slaves and attended to their needs.
Read our article on Saturnalia
Traditions
In traditional times the dark season was a time of sitting around the fire doing chores that were put off during the regular farming season. Women would have done mending, making clothes, or new curtains for the home. Men would fix farm tools, repair the furniture, or remodel the home.
Today we don’t have such gender-specific roles however, we can truly embrace the darkness by expanding our knowledge or making things for the home.
How Can We Celebrate Yule Today?
Take Up a New Craft or Hobby
For many of us in the USA Yule is a cold wintery time. I like to take the time to do crafts during this time. This year I have been working on kitting with the hopes of knitting a nice warm hat, scarf, and mitten set.
Choose any craft or hobby that expresses your creativity, and you are interested in. Children love to make things and decorate. Allow them to choose a new hobby or craft to do during the season. (Some ideas are below)
Storytelling
During the dark times, it was natural for parents to take turns reading aloud or storytelling for their families. If the family had an instrument evening may have been spent making music or singing together.
Music
My sons and I love the instrumental music of Manheim Steamroller. They have a lot of Celtic and traditional instruments.
A fun way to incorporate music is to ring in the solstice with bells. Each family member should have a bell or set of bells. Jingle bells and small brass bells work well. Or bells designed to be instruments. Explain to young people that it is a tradition to ring out the old and ring in the new.
To add a spiritual element, ring your bells in the four cardinal directions – North, East, South, West. Then ring the bells in the directions of the center which are upward for the cosmos, downward unto the earth, and into the center of the circle for unity. In the end, each person speaks a wish for the planet and rings their bell three times.
Giving and Receiving
Yule was a time for sharing with others in your community. Traditionally during dark times, people had to work together and share resources for survival.
For my family, we like to focus on sharing with people who are marginalized in today’s society.
Teaching our children to be caring and thoughtful of others is important. One thing that we do during this time of year is to give blankets, gloves and warm socks to homeless shelters. You can call local homeless shelters and ask them what they are in need of.
Another way is to pick a child’s name from a community service organization that helps low-income people during the holidays. We like the ones that give the child’s name and things that they like along with clothing sizes etc. It makes it much more personal when you can say let’s go shop for Achak or Alona.
We often choose a child from our home tribal community. However, getting in touch with your local school and their family resources department would be a good place to start.
Rebirth
During Yule, we think about rebirth. Yule is a time of new beginnings. Think about what kind of person you are and what kind of person you hope to be.
During your circle time older children and teens can address one behavior they want to leave behind and one behavior they want to do during the New Year.
Photo by Lester Hine
Yule Tree
Bring a living tree into your home. The rebirth we celebrate is ongoing and alive which is why we traditionally use an evergreen tree. Search for a sustainable living tree that can be planted outside at a later date.
You can also find evergreens which do well as houseplants.
If a living tree is not practical for where you live buy a cut tree and some greenery directly from a farmer.
You can find a list of tree farmers at Pickyourownchristmastree.org
Decorate your tree with orange and lemon slices to represent the sun and solar energy. Cinnamon sticks represent abundance and protection. Orb and star-shaped decorations represent the solar system with the planets and stars.
The colors of Yule are red, green, and gold.
Another traditional decoration is strands of popcorn and cranberries strung together.
Wreath
Celebrate Yule by making a wreath.
Make a wreath to symbolize the circle of life and connect with nature.
Decorate a Yule Tree for Wildlife
One way to connect with nature is to decorate a tree outside for the wildlife. This can be a tree in your yard, one you create if you are treeless, or one in a nearby park.
Traditionally cultures would thank wild animals for providing them with food. Today we thank them for the beauty and function they bring to our world.
For younger children, The Night Tree by Eve Bunting is a good book to go along with this activity – albeit it does use the term “Christmas”.
Thank the birds for their beauty and songs.
Thank the earthworms for tilling the soil and making it better.
Thank an opossum for eating ticks and cleaning the ecosystem.
Decorations for the tree can include:
String popcorn and cranberry strands using a tapestry needle and thin weight yarn
Cover pinecones in peanut butter and seeds
Hang orange and apple slices by running some pretty yarn through them and hanging
Place whole corn (sprinkle small amounts at a time so as not to cause belly aches), carrots, and apples on the ground for non-flyers.
Never use metal wire or metal hooks when hanging on a wildlife yule tree. These are dangerous to animals.
Use thick pieces of yarn or raffia to hang ornaments. Remember you will need to go out every couple of days and gather up the yarn that has fallen. Discarded yarn can get caught around an animal’s feet.
Make a circle around the tree after you decorate. Thank the wildlife for their contributions to the planet and your lives. Honor the sacrifices they have made to the human race and acknowledge that you respect them. Have children say something positive about wildlife or what their favorite animal is.
Make a commitment to doing something that helps wildlife this year.
Yule Feast
Traditionally roasted vegetables, dried fruit, game meats. Eat by candlelight.
A fun tradition is to bake a cake to symbolize birth and rebirth. Put on one candle for each person. Then they each get to light a candle make a wish. Traditionally everyone blows out together, however, in the wake of Covid, you may want to remove the candle from the cake and each person blow out their candle away from the food.
Yule Altar
If you are new to making an alter space, then Read our Beginners Guide to Alters
Some great things to add to your Yule Altar
Red, green, gold candles and cloth
Write on a candle your goal and burn the candle
Pine, cedar, frankincense is good scents for the holiday.
Fire
Firepit
Write wishes on a bay leaf and throw them in a firepit. Remember to always use fire safely especially with young children around.
Play some solstice music and dance around the fire.
Picture by Lucas Ludwig
Light and Dark
Appreciate the light by turning off all the lights to make the home dark. Alternately you could go outside with flashlights off. Spend three minutes in silence thinking about the importance of the lights and the sun. Then one by one family members turn on a light or flashlight and tell something they are thankful for.
Family can sing we wish you a merry solstice to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
How does the sun provide for us? How does the sun keep us alive? Parents can provide a guided meditation on the light.
Honor the Traditions
Witches Balls
Witches balls, or watch ball, are glass or plastic balls that you hang in the window. The balls are filled with protective herbs and painted to look sparkly. The sparkles reflect light and scare away the bad things of the dark.
Traditionally they were used in Western Europe to ward off evil spirits. They were popular with sailors on the high seas and the tradition was brought with early settlers. Ironically, they were used at one time to scare away witches. Today, we as witches and/or pagans use them to keep us safe in the home.
Witches’ balls repel wandering ill spirits and offer protection for the home. They make a great project for children who are fearful about going to bed or are afraid of the dark.
Steps to making a witch’s ball
Purchase a glass or plastic ball ornament – big box stores and craft stores sell these
Place protective herbs inside the ball. Some good choices are cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, and dried lavender.
Cut up some gold, green or red garland and place it into the jar. This will help reflect bad energy away.
Paint the outside of the ball with gold or silver paint. I think glitter paint is great for this activity.
Hang the ball in a window.
Yoga
Sun salutations can be done to the sun any day but take on new meaning for the solstice.
Take Away
Choose some activities to do and enjoy celebrating this festive season. By establishing pagan holidays in our home we not only honor our ancestors but establish meaningful traditions of our own.
Author, Katherine Fox, is our editor and principal writer. She is currently raising a pagan husband and three children. They love getting outside and exploring the natural world. Katherine’s heritage is Native American (Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho) and Irish and she writes about family fun pagan activities, Native American and Celtic traditions.
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