The Wheel of the Year: Yule / The Winter Solstice
In the pagan Wheel of the Year, Yule is the Sabbat that celebrates the rebirth of the light and marks the return of the sun. It is typically celebrated on the Winter Solstice, and occasionally honoured through the 12 days of Yuletide and, for some, right through January.
To many ancient peoples including the Celts, Yule symbolised the rebirth of the Sun God or the Horned God by the Great Goddess. And, as the turning point of the season, it was the literal start of the gradual renewal of nature’s fertility and bounty marking the waxing half of the Wheel’s cycle. While the God, the Sun is still weak in his infancy and the Goddess, Mother Earth, having just given birth must rest from her labour, Yule brought hope of the returning light.
The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. Our ancient ancestors acknowledged the reduced light, warmth and energy we receive from the sun by celebrating rituals over Yule mostly centred around fire and fertility to help the Sun regain its energy and Nature to preserve its fertility and keep themselves connected to a sense of spiritual light as they awaited the rebirth of the sun.
To celebrate, give thanks and appease the nature spirits, candles were lit and an ash or oak log was burned - symbolising keeping the flame of hope and light alive amidst the darkest, longest night of the year. It was believed that the longer the Yule log burned, the faster the sun would come to warm the earth. Mistletoe, linked to fertility in Norse culture, was brought in the house for health and protection (likely where the kissing under the mistletoe came from). Wreaths of ivy (seen as symbolic of the feminine) and holly (as symbolic of the masculine) were hung - both of which can grow in the dark and the shadows and were also powerful symbols of protection and of eternal life amidst the darkness. The wreath is a symbol of the Wheel of the Year ever changing, never-ending. Evergreen trees/boughs of fir and pine were also brought in - their evergreen nature symbolic of immortality, continuation of life and sacred to the Goddess. Other plants such as the Winter cherry tree that blooms around the winter solstice symbolising renewal and rebirth even during the harshness of winter.
Along with these rituals, many traditions hold certain celebratory winter days in common:
The Winter Solstice
One night (or more) to honour the ancestors - often one night for Mothers and one for Fathers
One night (or more) to honour kinship, community and feasting)
One night (or more) to honour supernatural beings
One night for divination and oath making for the year ahead
For our ancient ancestors living in tune with and acknowledging the seasons wasn’t just about ritual and formality. Nature - and by extension - the Great Mother Goddess of the Earth - controlled the earth’s seasons and its agriculture, in other words - where their next meal came from. The sun withdrawing to its weakest ebb, the long nights, the darkest period of the year still signals in many of us an ancient primordial fear our ancestors were none too familiar with - that the sun won’t return quickly enough, ergo, neither would their food supply. They couldn’t just pop down to Tesco’s to get any food they liked year round so celebrating with feasts and honouring nature’s bounty, their community and the gods/supernaturals - who they relied on as providers of their bounty - were vitally important to ensure their survival.
Even today many in the West suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder - the lack of access to natural sunlight can disrupt the body's rhythms, hormones and brain chemistry enough to operate like an actual depression. Add to this that in modern Western culture we typically don’t slow down over winter - powering ahead with artificial lights and a continuous supply of anything we want, virtually anytime we want it, we have forgotten how to honour or sync with the rest of nature as it winds down/hibernates over this time. The fertile void that allows new life to germinate under the surface before re-bursting into life in spring. This void is a special portal to allow us deep and essential rest, recuperation and renewal and is an incredible opportunity to work with Nature’s still season to re-gather energy and potency before we leap forward again in action.
Yule urges us to seek our own internal light and remember that seasons of darkness and hardship are always eventually succeeded by seasons of joy and ease. Even if your external circumstances seem too difficult to overcome at times, rekindle the knowledge that nothing can dim the eternal flame within your spirit.
- Wild Woman Oracle, Cheyenne Zarate
THE GODDESSES OF YULE
In selecting the Goddesses of Yule/Winter Solstice to do my deep-dive posts on, I would have instinctively gone for Wintery Goddesses such as Yuki Onna, Japanese Goddess of Winter & Stillness or Skadi, Norse Goddess of Winter, the Mountain and the Wilderness or one of the many Crone Goddesses such as Cailleach Bheur, the goddess of the winter months, balance, cycles and rebirth.
However, on my research into Yule I discovered in Casting the Circle, A Women’s Book of Ritual by Diane Stein that Yule wasn’t originally about celebrating the return of the Light/ Sun/ The Son as was developed by later Wiccan practice (and of course Christianity) with the birth of a male child, but the ‘rebirth’ in the story was originally celebrating the rebirth of the Goddess. Archeologist Patricia Monaghan reports that many Moon Goddesses such as Hathor in Egypt, were originally sun Goddesses, and that the idea of a sun god and the concept of the interchangeability of Sun/Son is a late one in most cultures.
Stein suggests the Sun Goddesses of Yule include: Amaterasu (Japan), Igaehindvo (Native America), Persephone or Kore (Greece), Perchta or Bertha (Germany), Rhiannon (Wales), Coatlique (South America), Befana (Italy), Grianne (Ireland), Unelanuhi (Native America), Isis (Egypt), Tonantzin (Mexico), Akewa (Argentina), Arinna (Anatolia), Sun Woman (Australia), Sunne (Scandinavia) and Lucia (Sweden) amongst others.
Indeed, as evidence of ancient pagan worship of a solar Goddess over Yuletide, this Swedish Goddess Lucia (who later became absorbed into the canon of Saints as Saint Lucia) is still celebrated in Sweden - like many Christian traditions, Saint Lucia’s Day has pagan roots. In the Julian calendar, the winter solstice was celebrated on December 13th, then believed to be the longest night of the year. The Yule period was presumed to be rife with danger. Particularly in northern Europe, people believed the long stretches of darkness and cold left households vulnerable to wandering souls. Lucia’s mission of “shedding light” — a Christian redemption metaphor - has led some to speculate a connection between the archetype of Girl-as-light-bringer and Juno Lucina, a Roman birth goddess who brought beings from the necessary darkness of the womb into harsher, more earthly lighting (1).
In Scandinavia this Lucia/Female Light-bringer seems to have taken on characteristics of the goddess Freya who was known as the Vanadis, or the shining bride of the gods. The lussikatter (Lucy cats) or the golden saffron rolls that are served at this time in Scandinavian countries are said to be the devil’s cats which Lucia subdued, and the cats were pictured at her feet. Cats were also associated with Freya and pulled her chariot. Indeed, Freya, ‘The Lightgiver’ (one of her names is Gefjon,” meaning “Giver” or “Allgiver) is the goddess of fertility and the sun and her special season was Yule when she dispensed wealth and plenty… (hmm a figure riding though the sky with a chariot dispensing wealth and gifts…sound familiar?) The traditional shape of the rolls is a crossed shape where the arms are rolled inward and in the curve are bright pieces of fruit or small candles in the form of a solar wheel. Lucia may also have some aspects of the Norse Sun-goddess Sunna, whose emblem is the fiery wheel (2).
Another tradition of celebrating the Great Mother Goddess that still survives in some places was the ancient tradition known as Mother’s Night or Mōdraniht in Old English which occurs on the eve of the Winter Solstice - Dec 20th - and officially marks the beginning of Yule. It was a time to honour and give thanks to our female ancestors and those nurturing deities who are believed to watch over our families and watch us in times of need. Mother’s Night is an appropriate time to honour a deity of nurturance, abundance and homey comforts such as Mother Mary, Demeter or Frigg.
All this to say that regardless of whether you celebrate Yule by honouring the Sun Goddesses, the Mother Goddesses, the Winter Goddesses (or all three!) or even if it still marks the return of the sun as the ‘Son’, it matters not. The point is to honour Yule in some way, to mark the turning of the season and the winter portal in whichever way you personally see fit and feel most connected to.
I’ll be honouring a mix of Sun and Winter Goddesses with three deep-dive posts on the three Goddesses of Yule as they’ve come through for me as most appropriate for the energies around the particular part of Yule:
Skuld (Norse Goddess of the Future and Destiny) on Wednesday 27th December
Rhiannon (Celtic Goddess of Rebirth & Fertility) - originally a sun Goddess who dragged the sun across the sky with her chariot later a moon Goddess) on Weds 3rd January
Yuki Onna (Japanese Goddess of Winter & Stillness) on Weds 10th January
Below are a few suggestions of some Yule rituals to help honour the season but I encourage you to use these as a jumping off point to create your own.
YULE RITUALS
The age-old tradition of bringing in and decorating up a Christmas tree likely originated from a pagan practice of bringing in evergreens and different plants brought into the house as symbolic of nature’s ongoing fertility. If you’re concerned about the sustainability of Christmas trees (or the size or mess!) then just bringing in a bough of an evergreen such as fir or pine can bring a wonderful freshness and also serve as a symbolic reminder of the continuation of life even amidst the darker season.
Craft a wreath as a symbol of the Wheel of the Year never-ending with protective evergreens such as holly, fir, pine and ivy. You could also tuck in mistletoe, winter berries, orange rounds, decorative tartan or red ribbons or anything else you find festive!
Bake a yule log and serve with some black or herbal tea served with orange wheels to symbolise the sun we’re wishing to return
Create a lovely self-care ritual with an aromatic herb sauna or steam bath (or even foot bath if you don’t have a bathtub!): add aromatic herbs such as eucalyptus, pine, birch, the evergreens, mugwort or rosemary to a pot (you can use essential oils of these if you can’t forage the plants themselves) making a strong tea with the clippings and then add to a hot bathtub and soak with the plants.
Burning any citrus essential oils such as orange, grapefruit and lemon in your oil-burner are stimulating to the senses, cleansing to the environment and can help to feel connected to the life force and vitality of the sun and therefore banish winter blues!
Create an altar to any of the Sun Goddesses mentioned above (or Gods!) you may feel personally or culturally connected to in honour of the returning of the sun. Decorate with holly and other evergreens etc. Light red, orange or yellow candles - symbolic of the sun.
Do a divination ritual - particularly towards the end of the 12 days of Yuletide which would take you up to the 31st December. You could call on Norse Goddess Skuld, the Goddess of the Future and Destiny to help you see into your future and ask what it would be beneficial for you to know and to focus on for the year ahead. It’s a good time to do a tarot ritual (or receive a Goddess tarot/oracle card reading) or simply pull some cards that embody the energy you want to tap into for the year ahead and put them on your altar for the month.
To ensure a cosy, restful and regenerative winter, create an altar to the Winter Goddesses such as Yuki Onna or Skadi or to the Crone season of the year by honouring Crone Goddess Cailleach as mentioned above - or any other Goddess you feel connected to or you feel would best support you through the long, dark winter with winter decorations and small cosy tokens and reminders to honour the wisdom of Winter and its opportunity for stillness, rest & reflection.
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING:
1) Diane Stein in Casting the Circle, Women’s Book of Ritual
2) https://www.ravishly.com/story-behind-st-lucia-day
The Wild Woman Oracle - Cheyenne Zarate
The Spirited Kitchen - Recipes & Rituals for the Wheel of the Year
The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary - Marysia Miernowska