There are so many activities you can do throughout the month of December. I love this time of year. I spent over 5 years in the desert and now that I am somewhere that has seasons and actually drops below 70 degrees, I am even more excited to celebrate! How exciting is that?! I won’t get a white Christmas here because I was told the last snow we had was 4 years ago and it was gone by the time work let out. Despite my lack of snowmen, there are a plethora of other activities I can participate in; crafts and feasts and gatherings just to name a few.
Sunset Gathering: On the eve of the Winter Solstice, gather with friends and family and watch the sun set for the last time under the rulership of the Holly King. Then invite everyone home and light the Yule log. Sit everyone down around the fire and let people tell their hopes and dreams for the following year. You can also make a hot punch with plenty of spices and apples, and even alcohol, then drink together from a communal cup- traditionally called the wassail bowl. Your gathering may wish to spread their good cheer and visit your neighbors with gifts of food, to share the festivities of Yuletide in this very traditional way.
In El Salvador, children celebrate the season by playing with firecrackers and sparklers.
Sunrise Gathering: Just the opposite, Wiccans sometimes celebrate Yule just before dawn, then watch the sun rise as a fitting finale to their efforts
Wassailing: Wassailing is an English folk custom. The term refers to the practice of singing to trees in apple orchards in cider producing regions of England and other fruit and nut bearing tress. Oftentimes, an alcoholic cider is drunk while this is being done and is shared with the trees as well. By pouring some of the alcoholic cider on the roots of the orchard trees, it was thought to keep the trees fertile and reproducing year after year.
Yule Log: I’m sure everyone has heard of this one by now! Especially with it becoming more popular as a cake in these modern times. The Yule log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun god but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas tree is Nimrod redivivus- the slain god come to life again. The Yule log symbolizes the revival of the sun and celebration of our Sun King. Communities of old gathered around the Yule log to celebrate the birth of the son of the Goddess, Mabon, the Star child; this son would become the Sun God representing the return of light, and within a few days the nights would begin to shorten. When we light the candles, we embrace our hopes that winter’s end is near as we ask for blessings upon our homes and loved ones.
Yule is the Scandinavian sex and fertility god. The log is a phallic symbol and is lit on fire for 12 days. On each of these nights a human or animal sacrifice is offered in the fire. Wild, delirious reveling accompanied the daily sacrifices as drunken participants strived to make contact with spirits. This is where the 12 days of Christmas comes from.
The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the solstice festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder’s land, or given as a gift. It must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused in cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze by a piece of last years log (held onto for just this purpose). It is often the center of the celebration. All light and power is extinguished just before midnight. They would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out. Another version is 12 hours.
The Yule log was traditionally cut from oak, because of its connections with the Oak King of summer. It burns slowly and with great heat, redolent of the sun. Upon acquiring your piece of wood of 18”, preferably oak, drill 3 holes in the top of the log. Then wedge 3 red candles into these holes in the log. Decorate the log with holly, ivy, and mistletoe, pinecones, pine needles, dried berries such as cranberries, ivy, feathers, cinnamon sticks, festive ribbon, and finally light the 3 candles to welcome the rebirth of the Sun King. When the season’s festivities come to an end, keep you log to use for next year’s Winter Solstice.
Different types of wood are associated with various magical and spiritual properties; logs from different types of trees might be burned to get a variety of effects. Aspen is the wood of choice for spiritual understanding, while the mighty oak is symbolic of strength and wisdom and is the wood of choice. A family hoping for a year of prosperity might burn a log of pine, while a couple hoping to be blessed with fertility would drag a bough of birth to their hearth. Ash is also a traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the sun, ash brings light into the hearth at the solstice.
Nowadays, the Yule log is generally a cake. Red candles area a traditional accompaniment to the Yule cake, representing the hearth flames. These were eventually integrated into the decoration of the Christmas tree, which in turn have become the tree lights known today.
Yule/ Saturnalia Tree: The Yule log was later replaced by the Yule tree but instead of burning it, candles were lit on it. The tree is the symbol of life and the cosmos (The World Tree), lights are the light over darkness, fruit decorations are bringing in what we want/ wishes of fertility, and the tree is made sanctuary to the “little people.” The modern “Christmas tree” originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians. An old Babylonian fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz. Among the Druids, the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians, it was the palm, and in Rome, it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia.
Christianity does not tolerate the Yule tree despite having a “Christmas tree” per Jeremiah 10:2-4 which states “Thus said the Lord, learn not the ways of the heathen, and do not be struck with terror even at the signs of the heavens because the heathens are struck with terror at them. For the customs of the people are just an exaltation, vain and worthless; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the craftsman, with the axe and chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold to beautify it; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”
The early Christians discouraged the use of evergreen decorations in Christian homes because their display had long been associated with heathen festivals. The Christ-mass tree is the solar serpent tree damned in Genesis 3. The solar serpent is represented in reliefs from ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and India. Ribbon draped around the tree looked too much like the solar serpent (enlightenment serpent) coiled around the Bodhi tree. The star which we believe is placed on top of the Christ-mass tree is not a star but a sun burst representing the sun god which represented his worship. The sun burst is not new and can be seen everywhere sun worship is practiced.
Some of the first records of Christmas trees appear in the 15th century. Since then, they have become common in homes and public places. Some families even have 2, one in the garden, one in the house. People put all types of decorations on the trees, including lights, balls, tinsel, and popcorn.
Yule Goat: The goat, a symbol of Thor, became a symbol of Yule and a customary sacrifice. This is perhaps referring to the myth in which Thor could slaughter his goats and then revive them the day after with a blow from his hammer; a symbol of resurrection.
The Yule goat or Julbock is a pagan Yule symbol most often represented by a straw figurine of a goat, traditionally made from the last grain of the harvest, bundled in red ribbons and kept as a token of hope for the New Year.
The Thor-based Yule Goat symbolism may have also persisted in Germanic lore. Krampus is another goat character who goes around with Santa punishing bad children.
Yule Wreath: Holly and mistletoe were used in fertility rites to ensure the coming of spring. Red holly berries represent the life blood of the female, while white mistletoe berries represent drops of male semen. The Yule’s holly wreath also referred to the wheel of the year as Yule means ‘wheel.’ Cypress and laurel wreaths decked the halls of the city of Rome lending their scents to the pre-Saturnalia frenzy. Only with this one, I urge you to be VERY careful if you have pets!
Most of the plants decorating and associated with Yule/ winter holidays are very toxic to animals and lots of animals get very sick around this time of year due to ingesting them. All of the holly plant is toxic to animals and children who tend to put them (especially the berries) in their mouth. Mistletoe can cause severe G.I issues in children and is very poisonous to animals. Many dogs die every year from ingesting it. Poinsettias are a very lovely plant that you can find in abundance around this time of year but, while not toxic to humans (you would need to eat a LOT of the leaves to have an affect), it IS highly toxic to dogs and cats. And finally, the Christmas rose, which, when eaten, causes burning sensations in the mouth and throat, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, depression, and a slow heartbeat.
What will your family be doing this Yuletide season?
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
