So, it’s time to think about Yule. As many of you will probably know, Yule is the name for the modern Pagan celebration of the winter solstice, which in the northern hemisphere is tomorrow. In the southern hemisphere, tomorrow is the summer solstice, and Pagans there will be celebrating Litha instead.
But since I’m in the northern hemisphere, I shall be talking about Yule. Being a midwinter festival with elements gained from various other traditions of varying ages (no, Wicca is not an unbroken secret religion passed down during centuries of Christian persecution, and so Wiccan-style Yule celebrations are not exactly as our ancestors did them), Yule exhibits the standard features of such events — an emphasis on the return of light, and the birth of a divine being of some sort.
The most well-known such divine being traditionally born at this time of year is of course Jesus Christ, who gets the well-known festival ‘Christmas’, which happens slightly later than Yule. A modern English celebration of Christmas has many elements borrowed from other midwinter festivals though — Saturnalia, celebrated by the ancient Romans to honour the God Saturn, is one of them.
The actual story of Yule varies depending on who you talk to, but the general place of Yule in the Wheel of the Year is at the start of the year. It is important to note that the year ends at Samhain, nearly two months earlier, making the start of winter something of an in-between sort of affair. At Samhain, the God (which God varies by which tradition is telling the story) descends into the underworld, and winter takes a grip on the world — so, effectively, God dies. At Yule, God is reborn of the Goddess, and he begins to bring light and warmth back to the world, since in modern Paganism, the God is the God of the sun (among other things).
There are, however, many variants of the story of the year, and many ways to approach the mythology which surrounds it. Another story divides the year into two halves. One is ruled by the Oak King, the other by the Holly King — both of them aspects of the God. At Yule, the Holly King (who rules the waning year, from Litha to Yule) is slain by the Oak King (who rules the waxing year) and light and warmth may return to the world — until their peak at Litha, when the Holly King returns and slays the Oak King.
And at the noon of the Solstice I’ll give up my crown
To the light and the mighty Oak King
Spiral Castle: Noon of the Solstice
Marking Yule as a Sabbat, then, requires the fairly predictable input of warmth and light. These are best provided by fire — bonfires, candles, the fire in the hearth. The Yule log is an old tradition, kindled each year from the remnants of the previous year’s log, and large enough to burn for the entire festival. It’s still often seen today, but mostly shifted along a few days and burned at Christmas.
The decoration of homes with evergreen, and the decoration of evergreen trees, is also symbolic of Yule, as we mark reaching the deepest part of winter (or at least the darkest part — we all know it’s likely to be colder in January) it is only natural to turn to the trees which retain their green leaves even in the depths of darkness, and to honour them. After the story of the Holly King above, the use of holly should be obvious. This is when the Holly King is in his full force, and also when the holly bears its fruit.
Food for Yule is what you might expect of a midwinter feast — potatoes, fats, cured meats, root vegetables, fresh meat killed specially for the festival. Sounds like a standard Christmas dinner, doesn’t it? That’s because it is, more or less — although one wouldn’t, strictly speaking, be daubing one’s turkey with cranberry sauce. Christmas pudding also represents the food of the season — dried fruits, flour, suet, spices… all warm, rich, filling and available at that time of year before the advent of modern food preservation techniques.
On the religious side, the God and Goddess will typically be honoured with a ritual, the altar decorated with holly and ivy and other evergreen foliage. Mulled wine or hot cider is an absolutely essential part of this ritual, particularly if it’s held outside.