Today is the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule. This is the shortest day and longest night of the year. At this time of the year, the sun is closer to the horizon, giving out the least amount of daylight. But starting tomorrow, the days will get longer, until the Summer Solstice on June 21, when the days will start getting shorter again.
Solstice is from the Latin meaning "stands still". For six days around the Winter Solstice, the sun appears to stand still on the horizon. Our ancestors must have wondered if the sun would actually return. The return of the light after the longest night of the year must have seemed miraculous, which is how Winter Solstice festivities were started. To this day, people all over the world celebrate the Winter Solstice as a time of rebirth and a new beginning as we transition from the dark days of Winter to the light of Spring.
Wiccans celebrate Yule as the rebirth of the God, who has been in the underworld during the dark time of the year. The God is reborn as a magical Child of Light, who represents hope and rebirth embodied. Some Pagan traditions celebrate Yule with the reenactment of the battle between the Holly King and the Oak King. The Holly King defeated the Oak King at the Summer Solstice and ruled over the dark half of the year, but at Yule the aging Holly King (the darkness of the old year) is defeated by the young Oak King (the light of the new year). The Greenman also symbolizes the transition of the death of winter to the birth of new life in the spring.
Yule decorations include Yule trees (which were a Pagan custom long before Christmas started). The evergreen symbolizes the continuity of life and the hopes for protection and prosperity in the new year. Brightly colored decorations symbolize the sun, the moon, and the stars, and also the souls of those who have died in the previous year.A Yule log is traditionally burned on the evening of the Winter Solstice each year. The burning Yule log symbolizes the blazing forth of new light as the old year dies. A piece of the log is saved to use as kindling for the next year's Yule log, showing the continuity of the endless cycle. The ashes can also be saved and used for protective magick.
The evergreen wreath symbolizes the ever-turning wheel, the endless circle of life. The word Yule is from the Scandinavian word "Jul" which means "wheel". So many of the decorations we see at this time of the year are powerful reminders of the turning of the Wheel of the Year and the unending circle of life.
As we enter the light half of the year, take time to give thanks for all that you have, and to give to those who are alone or in need. Whether you celebrate Yule, Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, this season is a time for hope, for healing, and for planning for the year ahead.
Have a Blessed Yule!!!
