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Origins and Celebrations of Yule
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Cheri Sicard Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth, by Dorothy Morrison, (2000, Llewellyn Publications)	Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth

Yule is the Pagan celebration also known as the Winter Solstice. Held on the longest day of the year, Yule commemorates the return of the Sun. Prior to the solstice the nights are at their shortest, but after the solstice, the days begin to grow in strength in the perpetual balance between light and darkness.

To most Pagans and Wiccans, the Sun represents the male aspect of Deity. His death and rebirth at the Winter Solstice is symbolic of the death of the old year and the birth of the new. Some traditions tell of this struggle in the legend of the battle between the Oak King (God of the Waxing Year) and the Holly King (God of the Waning Year). At Yule, the Oak King is defeated by the Holly King, hence this important botanical symbol of the season. At the summer solstice, the roles will be reversed. The New Year's icons of Father Time and Baby New Year are also thought to have their origins in this perpetual struggle.

The Yule Log was another important symbol of the holiday. While most people today associate the Yule Log with a cake served for dessert, the original Yule Log was actually made of wood. The log would be ceremoniously cut and carried to the house, decorated, and set ablaze -- although not allowed to burn completely. Each celebrant would then get a piece of the Yule log to take home to their own hearth, to symbolically offer wealth and protection throughout the coming year.

Norse Yuletide lasts from December 20th through December 31st or twelve nights. It's easy to see how Christmas carols like The Twelve Days of Christmas are filled with Pagan symbolism and traditions. The Norse word for Yule means wheel, signifying the circle of the year. Wreaths, another important holiday symbol, celebrate this never-ending circle of life without beginning or end.

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