Yule Season - what and how to celebrate it?

Samhain was the time connected with the darker side of the year, and as its time is slowly passing by, we get closer and closer to the Yule season. With today's class, you will learn what is Yule (celebrated tomorrow) and how to properly celebrate it, together with some myths and traditions.

As you noticed already, then Yulendar was having very important and Yule related topics. Today we will organize it all.

What is Yule?

Yule is the second of the wheel of the year celebrations, as you already know the new year happens on Samhain, and its first celebration. What is the wheel of the year you can read here: https://www.shiningstarserver.com/post/how-to-work-with-wheel-of-the-year-do-i-really-have-to

and more about Samhain can be found here: https://www.shiningstarserver.com/post/the-darkest-day-of-the-year-rising-the-dark-influence-during-samhain-rituals

Yule happens always on 22nd December, and it's the opposite celebration to the Litha celebrated on the 21st June. Both are solstices, Litha being summer one and Yule - winter one. Your next question is probably, what is a solstice? National Geographic website explains it as:

A solstice is an event in which a planet's poles are most extremely inclined toward or away from the star it orbits. ... On our planet, solstices are defined by solar declination—the latitude of the Earth where the sun is directly overhead at noon

The shortest way to explain it would be, that Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, while the Winter one is the longest night of the year, and right now we are about to approach night

The stories of the Yule.

The Yule itself is happening in the darker side of the year, and it's the time when the Goddess is already in the underworld. She is resting and so is the whole earth.

This is why Yule is a time of rest and happiness...Snow and cold already covered everything and only the evergreen trees are staying, shining with their green colour under the white cloak of snow. The temperatures are cold, and ice is showing its white and blue colours, peaking from the covers of snow. The golden colour of prosperity and abundance of the grains, now collected and hidden in our homes. All of that colours bring connection with the yule itself.

However, there are multiple myths about Yule, usually coming from the Nordic legends and traditions. One of them is

Yulbock

Yulbock is a Scandinavian being, called also Yule Goat. The little white goat is connected with goats pulling Thor's chariot, yet its symbolism appears to be even more complicated and deeper. It connects with harvest, happiness and new life. Usually, it's made of straws. It gives its own blessings towards people by helping to give them gifts and assures us, that soon the darker side of the year will end. Right now we are slowly reaching the lighter side of the year and life will begin anew. It's still a popular tradition in Germanic countries.

This time we reach Icelandic mythology and meet with:

Jólakötturinn and Yule Lads

They are 13 ogres, which lives with their mother Gryla. They also have a pet named Jólakötturinn or Yule Cat. The Ogress is very unfriendly as she usually feeds upon naughty children's flesh. For catching them, she sends on Yule evening their cat, to catch the children which didn't wear new clothes, or didn't receive them. The kids are stolen to the Ogres cave and boiled on the cauldron to eat. The Yule Lads are the sons of the Gryla and, for 13 nights visit the city searching for naughty children. If the children were obedient, they will leave their shoes on the windows still and receive a small present or a potato if they were naughty. They are also having their own fun with their favourite little mischiefs, which are also their names. Such as Candle-Stealer, Sausage-Swiper, or Spoon-Licker. They aren't harmful, just a little mischievous.

And now we reach the last myth about Yule for this post - hot and burning Greece this time.

Kallikantzaroi

These are little demons residing in the underworld nearby the three holding the connection with the earth and the underworld.

They can be free only for 12 days of Yule and must be back in January.

They seem to enjoy the little mischief's too, but mostly steal newborns to turn them into one of their kind. They are ways to prevent than and protect them from them. They don't like straw and garlic and enjoy counting holes, but can't go over 3 so they keep starting over and over again.

They can appear only in the evening and don't like light, They appear humanoid, with goat legs and little red horns. Unlike the other two myths, they don't bring presents, but sometimes cause mischief towards naughty children.

After reading about Yule related myths I believe you can understand some traditions a little better. But let's speak yet about the symbolisms of Yule and its meaning.

Symbolic Meaning of the Yule

As you have already noticed, Yule is a specific time. We are surrounded by snow and ice, but yet the evergreen trees bring us hope. The hope of new life, and the hope of hot summer days. During the Yule when Darkness surrounds us, and the king's again fights, the light is coming back to us.

After this night the Light will rise and life will come back to the Earth. This is the time when Goddess is resting, but during the next festival, she will come back, so we are over half of the way of cold winter times. We celebrate because life is almost here. We spent some more of our supplies because soon we will be able to replenish them. This is why specific food have also specific meanings.

Yule logs and evergreen trees were also decorated (doesn't remind you that about something?). We used nuts, as they aren't destroyed easily and are easy to collect. They were also bringing good luck and positive energy. Apples - long-staying fresh and red colour bringing the sexual energy and fertility. The candles, to celebrate the soon coming backlight and another fruit.

The colours also had meaning, but we mentioned them before.

And the last part of today's post :

The most popular Yule traditions

There are several traditions connected with the Yule. As typical for any celebrations, you might cleanse your space, and ask your Goddess and God for the blessing for this season. The most include the symbolic things - candles, fruits, nuts, and evergreen trees. Below you will be able to find the most typical decorations and traditions.

Yule Wreaths

The wreaths are symbolic of the wheel of the year turning over. It brings us to hope to see that soon things will change, as every year the same circle happens. They are made from evergreen branches, often decorated with holly leaves and berries or mistletoe. Can also be decorated with pines, acorns and cashews, fruits etc. Usually, they are guarding also the entrance to our house or altars.

The next tradition which is also very popular is:

Yule log

The log itself is connected with returning of the sun. It is collected, decorated and thrown into the fire. Depending on the place it can come from oak, cherry or birch. Collect the log and decorate it, making it the centre of the celebration and at the end of the being throw it into the fire. Similar to a wreath, it can be decorated with everything I mentioned above.

And the last tradition for this post:

Yulbock figure

We already know that the Yulbock is goat bringing for your presents. Its figure is made from straws and often have a red cord surrounding it. It's not decorated with anything else. It's a very simple decoration, yet very powerful.

Thank you for joining that class! That would be everything from me. Most of this information has been from my own knowledge, some were taken from BBC.co.uk