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Merry meet all,

Winter Solstice is almost here! Today I am going to write about Yule lore. So grab that mocha and get yourself all cozy. Here we go.

The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. It occurs around December 20 to December 23. The Winter Solstice is celebrated now in the Northern Hemisphere. 

The dark half of the year relinquishes the light half of the year. But also now the sun rises a little higher in the sky each passing day. The sun’s rebirth is celebrated. Our ancestors celebrated the longest night of the year, the rebirth of the Oak King, the giver of life that warms the frozen earth. From this time on, the sky stays brighter a little longer. 

Bonfires were lit in the fields and crops and trees were “wassailed” with toasts of spiced cider. People decorated their homes with evergreen boughs and lit candles on the trees (don’t try that at home!). Gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges were offered to loved ones. The apples and oranges symbolized the sun. The evergreen boughs were loved for their symbolism of immortality, never dying. They represented the eternal aspect of the Divine. Our ancestors loved holly, ivy and mistletoe for good fortune. 

Yule logs were decorated, coated in cider or ale and flour, and brought into the home. The Yule logs were burned on the night of the Winter Solstice then smolder for twelve days. The Yule log was a part of a previous log that was saved for this ceremonial purpose. It must never have been bought. The most popular wood was Ash. Ash is the wood of the Teutons, a bringer of light. I can see why Ash was favored. 

The deities of Yule are the newly born gods, Triple Goddesses, the Oak King, and Mother Goddesses. Dagda and Brighid are honored at this time. 

The symbols of Yule are Yule log, or small Yule log with 3 candles, evergreen boughs or wreaths, holly, mistletoe hung in doorways, gold pillar candles, baskets of clove studded fruit, a simmering pot of wassail, poinsettias, and  Christmas cactus. 

The Herbs of Yule are bayberry, blessed thistle, evergreen, frankincense holly, laurel, mistletoe, oak, pine, sage, yellow cedar.

Foods of Yule:

Cookies and caraway cakes soaked in cider, fruits, nuts, pork dishes, turkey, eggnog, ginger tea, spiced cider, wassail, or lamb’s wool (ale, sugar, nutmeg, roasted apples).

Incense of Yule:

Pine, cedar, bayberry, cinnamon.

Colors of Yule:

Red, green, gold, white, silver, yellow, orange.

Stones of Yule:

Rubies, bloodstones, garnets, emeralds, diamonds.

Activities of Yule:

Caroling, wassailing the trees, burning the Yule log, decorating the Yule tree, exchanging of presents, kissing under the mistletoe, honoring Kriss Kringle the Germanic Pagan God of Yule

Spellworkings of Yule:

Peace, harmony, love, and increased happiness.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Blessings, Spiderwitch