Yule

Yule is a solar festival, and its precise date varies every year. It usually falls between the 20th and 23rd of December, more often than not it falls on the 21st.

At this time of the year (At least in the northern hemisphere) the earth is still and the Goddess has cast her winter cloak over the land. It is a time where early agricultural societies would have to make decisions about the coming days, do they have enough food for them and their beasts? Would some Animals need to be slaughtered? Any Animals who were killed would be salted and preserved as food for the winter.

The people would celebrate the return of the God / the Sun on his way to full strength at Litha(Mid Summer). They would look forward to the coming days of abundance promised by the goddess where food would be plentiful and the struggles of winter would be over.

As we learn at Samhain, death is part of life, and Yule is an important time for families to get together and party because not everyone will see the coming spring

Related Christian day - 25th December, Christmas Day.

Edited 20 December 2024