Although Samhain is my favourite sabbath, Yule comes in second for sure. Having said that the Winter Solstice is my very favourite solstice out of all the solstices and equinoxes. The Winter Solstice comes every year on December 21st and it is the shortest day of the year. Both equal parts day and night, from now on the days will start to get longer and longer as we move towards the Summer Solstice. I know most people have issues with the darkness that comes with winter. I am not one of those people. I absolutely love when the days start to get shorter and shorter leading up to the Winter Solstice. I LOVE THE DARKNESS!!! I can totally understand why people don’t, with seasonal depression, the lack of vitamin D and feeling low energy. I notice it more now since I became a mom but for the most part I thrive when it’s dark and I love the way the light hits this time of year. Its so different and moody I live for this! But for you light lovers, and I have to quote Ariana Grande here but “the light is coming to get back everything the darkness stole” so never fret and fear, now is the time to celebrate the return of the light. Which is basically what Yule and Christmas are all about. And every other holiday that is around this time as well. Like Samhain and Halloween, Christmas has very pagan roots that are traced back to Pagan holiday of Yule and like Litha landing on the Summer Solstice, Yule lands on the Winter Solstice. What the religious holidays during December, Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza all share in common is the same thing that really comes down to what we celebrate today on the Winter Solstice. The return and celebration of light or the sun. This is the most important part of Yule and the thing to remember when celebrating Christmas. If you are religious and celebrate for Christian reasons you need to understand that even if Jesus was a person (and this statement is not to offend anyone at all) there has been much evidence that he was actually born in the summer. The birth that we celebrate in December is that of the sun returning to bring light and life back to that that has been dead from the darkness. And don’t get me wrong, you can believe whatever you want to believe, I was raised Roman Catholic and know all about the religious origins of the Christmas holiday. I find it funny though how Pagans and Wiccans are persecuted for spewing nonsense however when their “religion” is more so science based and backed up than anything. Just a little food for thought and in no way am I trying to offend anyone. Please believe what you want to believe, but this little post is just to, no pun intended, shed some light on the origins of where Christmas came from.

Back to Yule now. It is important to talk about both the Winter Solstice and Yule because just as Yule is the origins for Christmas, the Winter Solstice is the origins for Yule. People have been celebrating the Winter Solstice for a millennia and all over the globe. This can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and even beyond this. But Yule was celebrated in Germanic (think Norse people) countries. Originally meant to celebrate the Norse god Odin and a time of the “wild hunt”. It was a week long festival where feasting, drinking, bonfires and sacrificing animals typically took place. The Yule-tide celebration also has roots in the ancient Roman observance of Saturnalia. Saturnalia was the feast of the god Saturn. The Roman Saturnalia was a carnival like festival with participants taking part in carnal as well as carnivorous pleasures. Alcohol became a huge factor of this celebration so much so that it became synonymous with debauchery and lewd behaviour. But many of our traditions that we honour and celebrate today are from the Norse holiday of Yule. Some say that their influence was stronger than the Romans and eventually is what lead to the Christian holiday we now know today as Christmas. Christmas trees and wreaths, Yule tide logs, the colours of red, white and green, spiced or mulled wine for toasting “wassailing,” mistletoe and holly. And many Christmas songs that are absolute classics make reference to Yule or to traditions such as wassailing and figgy pudding. The one thing that they all have in common however is the return of the Sun. Which ironically when you put a nice story line on it we end up with the “Son of God.” Again I am in no way trying to change anyone’s minds on what Christmas means to them or convert them to believing something new I am just trying to bring awareness to where a lot of Christianity’s tales came from which is Paganism.

The Yule Log as we know now is a beautiful little cake in the shape of a an actual tree log, but it used to be that people would take an actual log and decorate it. It is one of the oldest traditions that dates back to Norse origins.

Here are 8 ways you can celebrate Yule/Winter Solstice which are likely already things you do to celebrate Christmas:

1) Decorate a Yule or Christmas tree

2) Bake cookies and cakes, or your very own Yule log

3) Donate food, toys and clothes

4) Host or attend a Yule (Christmas) family or friend dinner

5) Watch Holiday movies with your family

6) Drink hot chocolate or mulled wine (wassail)

7) Light red, white and green candles

8) Have a bonfire and/or enjoy some Yule lights

I will be celebrating tonight very simply by lighting some candles, watching some movies with my boys and drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace. I will also be wrapping some of our Christmas presents. Tomorrow we will be celebrating with family at Jesse’s sisters place by exchanging gifts and enjoying a home cooked supper. I very much look forward to it. This entire month I have been celebrating in my own way, taking the boys to see Christmas lights, baking and enjoying this cozy time of darkness. We will likely go for a walk later on too to observe the sun going down nice and early. Either way find some time to honour the true reason for all of this, which is as simply as the sun returning back to give us more light from this point forward. Happy Yule and happy Solstice friends!