Yule is a celebration of the return of the light. For those of us north of the equator, festivities begin on the longest night of the year, December 21st, and ends on January 1st. While modern life can make it difficult to continuously celebrate for 12 days, many witches still find great spiritual significance in celebrating longer, brighter days.
Yule is a time to reflect on the seasonal change as a reflection of our own growth and transformation, honor eternal life cycles, venerate and commune with ancestors, and bask in the brilliance and warmth symbolized by the returning sun.
Yule Folklore
Yule comes from the Saxon word géohol and the Old Norse word for jól, the hunting season that follows the harvest. Originally Yule feasts lasted three days of the Winter Solstice, marking the start of a new year.
First accounts of Yule festivities were described in Germanic countries and involved purification of the altar and temple with the sanctified blood of animal sacrifices. Once the temple was "washed" in blood, the merrymaking began with food, drink, and bonfires. This was also a sacred time to make business agreements, pledges, and oaths, a nod to contemporary New Year's resolutions.
We rejoice at Yule because the light is overcoming the dark. It is said two brothers, the Oak King who rules from Midwinter to Midsummer, and the Holly King who rules from Midsummer to Midwinter, come together again in their eternal battle. The Holly Kind represents the death and darkness that has governed since Samhain. The Oak king is a symbol of rebirth and renewal.
At Yule, the Holly King is thwarted by the Oak King, allowing the sun to return and days to be longer until the brothers' battle is reignited during Litha, when the outcome is reversed. Yule is also associated with the lore of the Great Goddess giving birth to the Sun Child. Harkening to Holly King's myth, it is with this birth that hope is renewed, and light is reborn.
Many of the colors, symbols, herbs, plants, and scents associated with contemporary Christmas are derived from Yule observances. When dressing your ritual space, ancestor altar, or even your dinner table, consider using candles, chalice, figures, and ornaments that are red, green, gold, white, and silver. These colors represent the wintery tones, evergreen sprays, sacred holly berries, and some say the root chakra, symbolic of the fertility and abundance of the Mother's womb. For similar reasons, crystals such as emerald, ruby, garnet, bloodstone, and spirit quartz can play an influential role in your rituals and spells. Symbols that are special to Yule celebrations are evergreen trees, associated with the eternal vitality and growth, the yule log, as a bringer of light, holly, as a symbol of fertility and rebirth, the sun, wreaths, and spinning wheels, representing the wheel of the year and its everlasting nature. Plants such as ivy, evergreens, mistletoe, and poinsettia symbolize eternal life, fertility, and prosperity.
Mothers Night Folklore
Observed on the eve of Yule, Mother’s Night celebrates the life-giving force that fosters incubation and solace during the winter and gives birth to the sun child. The celebration is rooted in the Saxon feast day of Modraniht Mother’s Night or Mutternacht Night of Mothers. Traditionally, goddesses, originating matriarchs, female ancestors, and the women of the family are honored. Historically, goddesses such as Cailleach, Frigg, Freyja, Skadi, and Holda were honored as Disir, ancestral mothers who protected and blessed the lands and harvests, home, and family. Many Disir played a special role in supporting women during childbirth and sustaining the motherline. However, modern observances pay homage to a diverse array of female deities. While upholding the foundations of the festival may be important to your practice, this is not viewed as a closed practice by most and is a beautiful way to show the women in your life, family, friends, caretakers, ancestors, and patron deities how much their presence has meant to you during the past year.
Spells for growth, fertility, creativity, purification, protection, and prosperity are supported on this night. According to tradition, it is advisable to complete all ritual washes, sweeps, cleansings, and labors before sun fall in preparation for magickal workings and reverential observances. Whether residing in the world of spirit or walking with you physically, offerings of food, drink, or messages of gratitude are usually very well received. You can cast a sacred circle around family and friends and offer songs and prayers to deities and share cherished memories about the departed beloved women in the family. With the circle cast, you may wish to turn off all the lights, honoring the darkness, and give each gatherer a candle to light the yule log in honor of the Great Mother who gives birth to the light!
The Twelfth Night
The twelve days of Yule begin on Mother's Night, the eve of Yule. from December 20th and ends on December 31st, in the Northern Hemisphere, coinciding with New Year’s Eve. Similarly, Twelfth Night was often a time of raucous celebrations and bountiful feasts Traditionally, this was the last day for burning the candles on the Yule Log, or the Yule Log itself. A piece of coal or candle was preserved to light next year's candles or log. A King Cake was also part of the festivities, similar to those enjoyed during Mardi Gras, anointing the evening's king and queen. Rooted in the custom of visiting fields and orchards to sing to spirits and trees, petitioning for a bountiful harvest in the coming year, wassailing is a long-standing Twelfth Night tradition. The ritual is derived from wassail, a greeting and wish embodying the spirit of health, good fortune, and prosperity, and the name of the spiced ale served to well-wishing visitors on the Twelfth Night.
The Twelfth Night is a time for peaceful endings and new beginnings. It is a time of compassion and warmth where forgiveness for the self and others is a little easier to come by. Making rituals for forgiveness and harmony an excellent way to conclude the twelve days of Yule. Twelfth Night is the time to be a bit fanciful, embracing grand visions for the future! It is an auspicious moment for taking oaths, setting intentions, or making wishes. It is a celebration of growth and fertility. Casting spells for spiritual development, wealth, or enriching relationships are timely. Finally, Twelfth Night is a time to be grateful! Making offerings to the gods and goddesses, lighting candles for your ancestors, breaking bread, and sipping wassail with your near and dear, whatever your rituals, gratitude is its own type of magick!