Magick
associated with Yule: celebration,
childbirth, daring, divination, generosity, harmony,
health of a child, joy, merriment, reincarnation,
love, overcoming fear, physical endeavor, peace,
turning point, and wonder.
Altar
decorations: candles, chalice or cup,
cinnamon sticks, evergreen boughs and/or tree, gifts,
hearth fire symbol, holly, lights, mistletoe, nuts,
pine cones, poinsettias, robins and cardinals,
sparkling crystals, sun symbol, wreath, Yule log.
Colors:
black, gold, green, orange, red, silver, and
white.
Foods:
brandy, bread pudding, caraway rolls, cider,
dried fruit, eggnog, fruitcake, gingerbread,
mincemeat pie, mulled wine, nuts, roasted meats, rum,
and wassail .
Herbs
/ Incense / Oils: apple, bay, bayberry,
blessed thistle, cedar, cinnamon, evergreen, ginger,
holly, juniper, laurel, mistletoe, myrrh, oak, pine,
poinsettia, rosemary, saffron, sage, valerian, and
wintergreen
Stones:
bloodstone, cat’s eye, diamond,
emerald, garnet, ruby.
HISTORY
OF YULE
The holiday of Christmas has always
been more Pagan than Christian, with it's
associations of Nordic divination, Celtic fertility
rites, and Roman Mithraism.
Ultimately, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle
of the year. It is the Winter Solstice that is being
celebrated, seed-time of the year, the longest night
and shortest day. It is the birthday of the new Sun
King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose
to call him. On this darkest of nights, the Goddess
becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth.
And it makes perfect poetic sense that on the longest
night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls',
there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire,
the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.
That is why Pagans have as much right to claim this
holiday as Christians. Perhaps even more so, as the
Christians were rather late in laying claim to it,
and tried more than once to reject it. There had been
a tradition in the West that Mary bore the child
Jesus on the twenty-fifth day, but no one could seem
to decide on the month. Finally, in 320 C.E., the
Catholic Fathers in Rome decided to make it December,
in an effort to co-opt the Mithraic celebration of
the Romans and the Yule celebrations of the Celts and
Saxons.
Long before the world had heard of Jesus, Pagans had
been observing the season by bringing in the Yule
log, wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains
of last year's log. Riddles were posed and answered,
magic and rituals were practiced, wild boars were
sacrificed and consumed along with large quantities
of liquor, corn dollies were carried from house to
house while carolling, fertility rites were practiced
(girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were
subject to a bit more than a kiss), and divinations
were cast for the coming Spring. Many of these Pagan
customs, in an appropriately watered-down form, have
entered the mainstream of Christian celebration,
though most celebrants do not realize (or do not
mention it, if they do) their origins.
WITCHES
AND YULE
For modern Witches, Yule (from the
Anglo-Saxon 'Yula', meaning 'wheel' of the year) is
usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice,
which may vary by a few days, though it usually
occurs on or around June 21st (Southern Hemisphere).
It is a Lesser Sabbat in the modern Pagan calendar,
one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very
important one. Yule is a solar festival - and
accordingly is celebrated by fire and the use of the
Yule log. The colours of the season, red and green,
are originally of Pagan descent. The Yule log is
burned and a portion of it is kept to be used in
lighting next year's log. The saved piece is kept
throughout the year to protect the home. Bayberry
candles are also burned to ensure wealth and
happiness throughout the following year. The reindeer
stag is also a reminder of the horned God - many
traditional Christmas decorations have some type of
Pagan significance.
