Yule: A Festival of Light
Many cultures and faiths have winter celebrations that are really festivals of light.
We don’t have to look far to find them.
In our own time, we have Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa. All of them feature brightly lit candles, holiday decorations, family gatherings, and gift exchanges, in an atmosphere of celebration and gratitude for the blessings of the year.
Celebrations of light and the return of the sun stretch back into antiquity. Over four thousand years ago, the Egyptians celebrated the daily rising of Horus – god of the Sun. He was the child of Isis, Queen of the Immortals, and a Moon goddess. The Greeks and Romans also held winter festivals. The Roman Saturnalia was a weeklong party held around the time of the winter solstice, with feasting, sacrifices, and gifts – and privileges for slaves that they enjoyed at no other time of the year.
Our ancestors in the Northern hemisphere clearly recognized their dependence on the sun for survival. For those living in Northern climes, Winter Solstice (usually celebrated around December 21st in that part of the world) had enormous significance. Many living in rural communities would not survive the “famine months” of January – April. All but the wealthy and hardy would be sorely tested. The young, old, weak, sick and poor would simply starve to death.
At Winter Solstice, most of the community’s livestock would be slaughtered, since there wouldn’t be enough fodder to feed them through winter. The midwinter celebration that followed the culling would be a rare opportunity for people to feast on fresh meat, wine and ale, before grim winter set in.
In the midst of these Winter Solstice festivities, there was a single, great, sustaining hope. Though ice and snow still reigned, the ancients knew that, contrary to what their senses told them, a great cosmic turning had just taken place.
Winter Solstice occurs on the longest night of the year. It marks the great spin of the cosmic wheel from the old to the new, from winter toward spring, and renewed life. From this night forward, darkness and bitter cold would slowly but surely yield to longer days, sunshine, fertility and regeneration. Spring would come again!
In the Pagan tradition, this time of turning at Winter Solstice was, and is, called Yule. The name derives from the legends of the great Norse goddess, Frigga, who sits at her spinning wheel weaving the fates of men. The word “Yule” comes from the Norse word, “Jul”, meaning wheel.
On Solstice Night, our Northern ancestors eagerly awaited the rebirth of the Sun or Oak King from the belly of the Goddess. Throughout fall and early winter, she had carried the seeds of his re-generation in her womb. Now, she gave birth to him again. At this sacred time, the aging Holly King or Horned God, whose mission was to provide meat and game to the community during the leaner months following harvest, would lay down his life for the people. He fought with and was defeated by the newly resurrected Oak King or Green Man.
The Oak King/Green Man would then rule with the Goddess over retreating winter. He would preside with her over the green resurrection of Earth in spring and summer. After Harvest, he in turn would lay down his life to the revived Holly King/Horned God. The Horned God would once again take up his responsibility for provision, using his hunting skills. And so the wheel of life would turn in its endless cycle.
Yuletide celebrations have always been focused on light and fire. The birth, or rebirth, of the God of Light (Oak King/Green Man) is celebrated with candles and the burning of a Yule log. Other practices that mirror the Christmas traditions we’re familiar with are the bringing of fir trees, branches, holly, mistletoe, and ivy into our homes. These symbolize that the green of spring and summer will return as the sun strengthens and days lengthen. Wreaths, symbolizing Frigga’s wheel of fate, are woven. Red, green, white and gold are Yule colors that we have transferred to Christmas. The exchange of gifts, the decoration of our homes, the preparation of special foods, and the performance of special songs and rituals have also become part of both traditions.
Yuletide celebrations at Winter Solstice certainly predate Christianity. The Venerable Bede, (circa 672-735 AD) a Benedictine monk, theologian and scholar from the Northumbrian monastery of St. Peter, and author of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, is known as the “Father of English History.” He tells us that missionaries sent to convert the Germanic peoples of northern Europe, were advised to associate Christian themes with local pagan holidays to make their conversion to Christianity easier.
Because of this, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth was intentionally associated with the birth of the Sun King around the time of Winter Solstice. For years, Christmas was celebrated at varying times during the year. However, in the fourth century AD, Pope Julius 1 established December 25 as the official date of Christ’s birth. From that time forward, Pagan traditions and customs gradually became part of the Christian tradition.
Churches were built upon the sites of Pagan shrines. And practices such as the decoration of Christmas trees, the use of holly, mistletoe, fir branches and ivy as adornments, the preparation of special foods, exchange of gifts, and singing of carols, have become inextricably linked with mainstream culture, both secular and sacred.
Yule has brought great gifts to the world, as well as to Christianity. The celebration of the passing of the dark half of the year to the light is an affirmation of hope. The belief in the birth, death and resurrection of a transcendent, sacrificial savior, who brings life and wholeness to his people, is a message of love. The practice of hospitality and joy despite the certainty of upcoming periods of testing and trial is deeply human.
And divine.
Images and article copyrighted by Anne Baird/Goddess Cards.