I am a solitary, ecletic neopagan witch. The information I share with you here is gathered and distilled from books, articles, other webpages, other Pagans, other witches, meditations, visionary journeys, and listening to my inner voice. I am not a...
Yule, or Winter Solstice has been celebrated by peoples since the dawn of time, and still is. The diversity of celebrations is as diverse as the peoples. Depending on the climate, Midwinter's Day was often a welcome harbinger of good things to come. A time to celebrate that "we've survived the winter this far, we'll make it through". To most country people, Pagans (for that is what the word originally meant), it was a time of resting indoors, of darkness. You rose in the dark to give the animals their morning feed, and finished the day with an evening feed in the dark. You rose to hunt, to check and bait traps, early and in the dark.
Many people used this time to do handiwork. To braid bridles, weave rugs and cloth, carve, paint and create beautiful and useful things, both for themselves, and to give away as gifts. Mystics would use this time, the time of turning within, to concentrate on their studies, to meditate and go on spirit journeys. Traveling within when they could not travel without. A time to digest and winnow the wisdom from their fair weather gatherings.
Many books have been written about these winter celebrations. My favorite is "When Santa was a Shaman" by Tony Van Renterghem. He does an understandable and clear tracing of the origins of the figure we now think of as Santa Claus as well as the origins of the Christmas tree, from back when it was the Yule log. This is an article, not a book, so I will not go into great depth in the space I have.
For once, I must admit, not without a rueful chuckle, that the Fundamentalist Christians are quite correct that nearly every common custom we practice around Christmas today were originally the Pagan customs celebrated for Yule, Winter Solstice, or Midwinter Feast. Even the story of the birth of a God at this time of year, a Sun or Son God who brings warmth and strength back to the earth as he slowly grows through the remainder of the winter, nurtured at the breast of the Goddess Mary (whose name originated from the same roots as Mere, Mare – female horses, and bodies of water, both very common embodiments of the Pagan Goddess). The closest story to that of the Christian Bible is the story of Mithras, a Sun God worshipped by the warriors of Rome. A patriarchal, and very secretive cult. Mithras is born at Midwinter.
So, as Pagans, what and how do we celebrate? I suggest you follow your own conscience and desires. The sharing of gifts is a very worthy tradition, as is family gatherings, and good food warm from a kitchen full of blessings and abundance. The Yule log, in tradition, was often specially chosen months before the celebration and anointed with rich oils before being ritually set aflame in the family fireplace to signify and welcome the return of the Sun God. If you do not have a fireplace, or a ritually anointed log, I believe that bright red and sunny yellow candles would certainly please the spirits just as much. The house is decorated with evergreen. If you use fresh, real evergreen the smell is intoxicating. Imagine how it must have helped if the house was closed up, smoky, and full of people and animals. The evergreen reminds us that as cold and dark as it is at Midwinter - the life of the earth and growing things is still there, and will return.
Many people suffer deeply from psychic and mental wounds at this time of year. When everyone else is preparing for a family gathering, many people are alone. Some families are very cruel and abusive. My own was. My mother shunned her own family, so there was no gathering. Often, because my stepfather had a severe and chronic respiratory disease, Christmas was spent in a hospital waiting room, alone, being told he would soon die. (He eventually did die in December)
Until I married my first husband, I had no real idea what a true Christmas might be like. His Catholic family went all out and saw to it that I learned. The center of the family was his mother, and when she died, the family fell apart. My husband, always abusive, became even more so, and again, holidays were a time to dread and to hide the guns as he became morose, drunken, and suicidal.
After I left that marriage, I celebrated no Midwinter holiday at all. I usually spent the day quite alone, curled up someplace warm with a good book and hot chocolate, and was quite pleased with it that way. No one could harm me if I was alone. Being alone was a blessed relief from endless abuse.
I tell you these things not so you can feel sorry for me, but so those of you who have always had a wonderful and full family life can realize that this is not true for all people. And so that those who suffer as I often do, know you are not alone. The holidays are not a terribly happy time for everyone. They are the time of the most suicides, when despair and loneliness well up to unbearable levels.
You probably know someone who will be alone this year. Reach out and invite them and make them welcome. Surround them with love and laughter and warmth. There could be no greater gift.
My second husband and I spend the day together, eating a home cooked feast of all our favorites. I love to bake, and so I bake wonderful goodies that we share with friends, giving them away during the week leading up to the holiday, saving our favorites to pig out on. We light a candle and chant a ritual, greeting the arrival of the Sun God. Then curl up to indulge in a full day of our favorite movies and games. We buy our cats and dogs little toys and treats as gifts, and we play with our fur family. It is our own tradition, and it brings us warmth and joy.
May you find a Yule tradition to fill you with happiness.
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