Yule

Yule is the ancient celebration of the Winter Solstice (which is derived from the Latin terms “sol” meaning sun and “sistere” meaning “to stand still”) and is derived from the Old English term “geol” meaning “December”. The term “geol” was used by the English and Anglo-Saxons before 900 C.E. and the term “Yule” was used from 1450 C.E. until the present day. The Sabbat of Yule is celebrated between December 20th and December 23rd and commemorates the shortest day and the longest night of the year and the rebirth of God since His departure into the Netherlands or the Underworld during the Autumnal Equinox. However, the date of Yule was moved from the above dates in the Julian calendar to December 25th to correspond with the date of Christmas and is one of the reasons that Yule and Christmas are often used interchangeably.

Yule predates Christianity and it is no surprise why the Christian Church chose the 25th of December as the birth of Jesus and the celebration of Christmas, which means the Mass of Christ. The reason that the Church chose this date as the birth of Jesus is because the pagans of Europe celebrated the rebirth of the sun and their God and to sway the pagans to the New Religion the Church chose the Winter Solstice as the birth of Jesus. However, historically the birth of Jesus would have taken place at the Vernal or Spring Equinox and not at the Winter Solstice.

There are many Yule traditions that have survived throughout the centuries that are even found in the celebration of Christmas. These traditions are the decorating of the Yule Tree (which normally was a fir or spruce tree), the burning of the Yule Log (started from a piece of the previous year’s Yule Log that was kept under the bed for protection), the hanging of holly branches, the giving of gifts (which were normally candles, to commemorate the rebirth of Light or the Sun and homemade dolls for the children), the hanging of boughs, the eating of pork, and merriment. However, there is one tradition that the Church never accepted and that was the hanging of mistletoe.