Yule is the longest night of the year.  It is also, according to the old Anglo-Saxon calendar, Mid-Winter.  The old Anglo-Saxon calendar did not have four seasons, only two:  summer and winter.  We call the Summer Solstice Mid-Summer for the same reason.  Yule is the exact opposite of Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year.   

On this cold and dark longest night of the year, the God of Light is born.  Gods of Light go by many names:  Osiris (Egyptian), Lugh (Celtic), Mithra (Persian) or Mirtha (Rome).  He held a large cult in Rome and is the origin of the word mirth which is usually associated with Yule and Christmas.  Then there is Baldor (Norse), the Germanic sacrificed Sun God who was born on winter solstice.  Christmas is actually based on the Mirtha myth.  According to legend, Mirtha was born on December 25^th.  Since Mirtha held such a large cult following in Rome, when Rome was converting to Christianity they merged a very popular pagan God and the birth of Jesus in order to win over the old religion to the new.  Church counsel decided in 353 AD to assign December 25^th   as Jesus Christ’s birthday for this very reason.  If there is any doubt about it, then we should consider this:  centuries after Jesus Christ walked the earth, there was a letter written by Pope Gregory the Great explaining this strategy in detail to Saint Mellitus.  Succinctly what was said was:  to convert the pagans in England, it is best to let them have the structure and form of their old religion while replacing their God with the one true God Jesus Christ.  This information can be found in English historian Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum.  Being born of a virgin mother and then being scarified is a very popular theme for many pagan Gods of Light and precedes Christianity by millennia.  You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see this quite plainly.  Just a study into ancient religions will reveal amazing amounts of coinciding events between Christian holidays and the old religion.  Let’s take a look at this:  December 25th is the birthday of nearly every pagan Sun God.  The birth of the Sun God Mirtha was on December 25th.  In Egypt the Sun God Osiris was born December 25th.  In the Syrian religion the Sun God Adonis was born December 25th.  In the Mithraic religions they celebrated the "Birthday of the Invincible Sun" on December 25th.  In Rome, they celebrated the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun" on December 25th.  Also Nimrod’s birthday’s was on December 25th!  No one really knows the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, and there is speculation that his actual birth was either in spring or November.

Festivities of Yule

Bringing in a tree and decorating it came from the old Germanic pagans.  Lighting the tree came from the Roman Saturnalia, the feast of the God Saturn.  It lasted a week and began on December 17^th in ancient Rome.  The Romans would put candles on laurel trees during this celebration.  Also gift giving came from Saturnalia’s gifts of lucky fruit which would be bestowed by family and friends to one another.  The Yule ham, brought to us by a Scandinavian tradition, was a sacrifice to the God Frye.  We Wiccans like to celebrate by telling the story of the Oak King and Holly King.  Every six months on Litha (Summer Solstice), and then six months later Yule (Winter Solstice), the Oak and Holly Kings battle one another for dominance.  On Yule the old Holly King and the young Oak King battle.  The old Holly King is then defeated by the young Oak King who then reigns for six months until Summer Solstice.  On Litha the old Oak King is now approached by the revived and youthful young Holly King.  They battle until the young Holly King wins and reigns for the next six months until Yule.  This battle is eternal with the Holly King winning at Litha and the Oak King winning at Yule.  What does this all mean?  The Oak King who is the victor at Yule represents planting and work.  His bird is the robin for he represents spring and the days growing longer.  The Holly King who is the victor in battle at Litha represents the harvest and rest.  His bird is the wren, and he represents the days growing shorter.  Each one is good and needed for a happy healthy life.  The fear that the Holly King would rule forever and the Oak King would not win was a deep concern to European pagans.  If that were the case, no work would mean no harvest and no food for their family.  So on December 26^th, Saint Stephan’s Day, there was something called a wren hunt.  This custom is still alive in some parts of Europe today.  All the young men in the community would go out and hunt, find and kill a wren.  The victor would then bring back the wren to the village and everyone would celebrate the victory. 

We modern day pagans also like to feast and celebrate by giving gifts, showing love and comradeship with one another.  For the Light is born!  Our Goddess has given birth to the Sun God who will keep the continuation of life on this planet going.  That’s what Yule is really all about.  The Light is born, our crops will grow, and in turn we give thanks to the Great Mother for giving birth to our God.  We give thanks by bestowing gifts upon one another.  Our great Sun God will then come into his prime and be the God of the forests, represented by a stag.  This is where the original idea for Santa’s reindeer came from.  At his prime he will mate at Ostara (Spring Equinox), with the Maiden form of our Great Mother.  Nine months later he will be born on Yule from his own seed.  But before that, the God of the forest will turn into the God of the underworld at Mabon (Autumnal Equinox), and go into the underworld where he will grow strong again and get ready to be born at Yule.   So this is the cycle that leads us to his birth.

Activities to do at Yule

Prosperity spells and healing spells are the most effective this time of year.  It is a perfect time for candle Magick.  Scents associated with Yule:  frankincense and myrrh, pine which represents the God of the forest, bayberry, a wonderful scent that blesses the home with wealth and happiness, rosemary, to bring in rejuvenation, good heath and joy.   Plants and herbs for Yule:  birch logs when burned bring peace, healing, protection and happiness into the home, oak for luck, protection and growth, Mistletoe was used by the Druids this time of year to bring protection, good health, healing and blessings into the home.  Elder, do not burn it, it’s the wood of the white Goddess, but use the wood in decorations or make a wand from it.  Elder is the wood of the Yule season and brings good tidings and great blessing into the home.  Holly is used to increase love, and to protect and dispel negativity.  Juniper, a wonderful plant and scent, used to bring blessings and benevolence into the home.  Bay used at Saturnalia, brings in wealth, protection and good health.

The colors of Yule are:  red, for the blood of the Great Mother who has given birth, green, the color of the God of the forest, gold, the color of the Sun God, silver, the color of the moon and the Great Mother, blue, the color of peace, water, the Great Mother and winter, white the color the moon, the Great Mother and winter.

In closing, celebrate the light by lighting candles, putting up strings of lights and bright and shiny things. Celebrate love by giving and showing love to others.  Celebrate life by giving thanks for your life and all the good things in it, and last but not least, be generous and forgiving to show gratitude for the light of life.

Have a wonderful and blessed Yule season.  May The Blessings of Our Great Mother and Sun God be bestowed upon you and yours.

HAPPY YULE!