Pagan Sabbats: Yule
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Celebrating the Rebirth of the Sun God
Yule, also called the Winter Solstice, comes halfway around the Wheel of the Year from Litha, the Summer Solstice.
This is the shortest day of the year. The Sun God is at His weakest. The pregnant Goddess reaches Her time, and at Yule she gives birth to the God once more.
This is Yule, the 1st Pagan Sabbat in the Wheel of the Year.
Traditional Yule
Those who celebrate Christmas will recognise many traditional Pagan Yule ways of celebrating. We decorate the home with boughs of holly and ivy. Signs of the presence of the God and birth even in the depths of winter. Colours of green and gold celebrate the return of the Sun God once more to the world.
We burn candles and if we have room, bonfires, as this is a solar festival, brought to the British Isles by the Saxons long ago. The bonfires were once used as a bit of sympathetic magic, trying to lure the Sun back to the earth again. The days have slowly become shorter and shorter. This night, the dark holds sway. "Look!" say the people. "See how brightly our fire burns." Three or four days later, they can tell that once more the days are getting longer, and the people celebrate and rejoice that the Sun has returned once again.
Bringing in the Yule Log
Yule Ritual
22 December 1999 Full Moon
Altar Set-upAs usual, except South candle is not lit
Only candle lit should be the Source candle
One small candle for each person around the edge of the altar.
The Circle is created.
HPS:
We gather tonight to await new light. In ancient times it is said that a maiden prepared to become a mother, to bring forth a special Son who would bring in a new age. On the night, the Maiden, who is also Mother and Crone, prepares to welcome the Sun, the light of a new year. Let us now prepare ourselves to welcome the new light within.
HP extinguishes source candle
HPS:
Once again the wheel has turned full circle. It is Winter Solstice - night of the longest darkness, as the Sun awaits in the shadows. We meet to call him back, Return, O Lord of Light! Be reborn this night, as the great wheel of life must ever turn.
As we wait in darkness, we are surrounded by the great Celestial Sphere, where we may look upon the faces of the Mighty Ones and see in them a reflection of our own eternal souls. I now do call upon their energies to shine within us as I proclaim this to be a circle of power, truth, love, and light reborn.
HPS lights the Source candle
HPS:
I call the God. Return from the shadows, O Lord of Light. The wheel has turned. We call you back to warm us, to charge the seeds of spring within us, within the hearts of all.
HP lights the God candle from the source candle
HP:
I hear you, Lady. I greet you with joy and with the first light of new possibilities that were only dreams when last we met to turn the wheel.
HPS lights the Goddess candle from the source candle
HPS:
I greet you Lord with joy and with the rays of hope for a new beginning in the future to come.
HP:
Come to me. I bring you new light.
HPS:
As tonight a Sun is reborn, as darkness gives way to light, so should we now let go of all fears, all doubts, all outworn ideas, all projects finished - anything in our lives that holds us away from the new beginnings that will lead to new growth. As you light your candle, let go of the past, walk with the light, and be as the Sun reborn.
HPS directs each person present to pick up the white candle on the altar and move clockwise around the circle. As each passes the HP, he lights the candle from the God candle.
During this time the HPS lights the South candle from the source candle.
People set their candles around the edge of the altar once all have returned to their place.
Now is the time for feasting and celebrating.
Once completed, the circle is closed using the usual method.
Yuletide Traditions
The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas
Amazon Price: $9.51 (as of 06/03/2012)
Winter Solstice
Learn More About Yule and the Winter Solstice
- Yule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas
- BBC - Religion & Ethics - Winter Solstice
- The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world.
- Christmas, Yule and the Winter Solstice | Mysterious Britain & Ireland
- The 25th of December is associated with the birth of Christ and the celebration of the nativity, but it is also an amalgamation of pagan festivals and traditions dating back before the birth of Christ.
- Winter Solstice - Newgrange Ireland
- Newgrange - Winter Solstice sunrise. The passage and chamber inside
the ancient mound at Newgrange are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise. A shaft of sunlight penetrates
the passage to light up the chamber
The Oak King and the Holly King
The Oak King and the Holly King each rule for half the year. They fight for the favour of the Goddess and over who will continue to rule over the coming months. The defeated King dies, but is not truly dead. He waits and rests until the Wheel of the Year turns and the Solstice comes round once again.The Oak King rules from the Winter Solstice until the Summer Solstice.
The Holly King rules from the Summer Solstice until the Winter Solstice.
The Winter King
Other Squidoo Lensmasters have written about Yule
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let me know you came round
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mihgasper
Dec 18, 2011 @ 6:14 am | delete
- Haven't heard about Yule before. Thanks for making me little more educated!
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grannysage Oct 4, 2011 @ 10:46 pm | delete
- I came to get some ideas for a Yule lens. I notice there aren't many lenses for Yule but lots and lots for Christmas. So I felt it was time for me to add my thoughts. Bring Back the Light by Enchantress is one of my favorite songs for celebrating the Winter Solstice.
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SofiaMann
Dec 20, 2010 @ 6:10 pm | delete
- Good topic for a lens. Well done.
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AddaptAbilities Oct 27, 2009 @ 3:52 am | delete
- Good information. Thanks for representing Pagans on Squidoo.
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spirituality Oct 16, 2009 @ 3:08 am | delete
- :) great lens.
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The Sabbats
by NanLT
NanLT has been writing at Squidoo since January 2009 and in that time has established herself as an authority on such diverse topics as home cooking and... more »
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Songs for the Winter Solstice
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