Yule Blessings
Yay, it’s YULE, signifying Midwinter, the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice (Fri, 21 Jun 2024, 8:50 am) … and the start of the return of the warming Sun.
It’s interesting to note that Winter Solstice has been a time of importance since before recorded history. Many ancient civilizations – from Egypt to Europe to Mexico and Peru – have built monuments to align with this celestial event. Think Stonehenge in the UK.
Historically it was a time of feasting and celebration – especially as by this time, the wine and mead made from the previous harvests had finally fermented. Yule is thought to have originated with the Scandanavians, where, to encourage the return of the sun, they lit a Yule log, which in ancient tradition was an entire tree that burned in the hearth over twelve days while they feasted on boar and mead.
When not feasting, Yule was also a time of introspection and assessment, rest and renewal, and for cleaning out the old and welcoming the new.
And in recent Neopagan times, Yule is also when the Goddess (resting in her crone aspect) and the God (who has been slain), are born to re-start the cycle, as the infantile light.
For her Yule altar Irah has used the following crystals to symbolise:
Aromatics to symbolise:
Notes from 'The Ultimate Guide To The Witch's Wheel of the Year' by Anjou Kirenan
