My Yuletide

I know, I know, it's been a tough couple of weeks. It's hard to feel festive given the state of UK politics and the wider world. And I will be doing a blog about witchy activism soon!

But in the meantime, I thought it would be nice to share my own Yuletide traditions to help you feel more in tune with the season.

If you do want to do something positive right now, you can buy a Christmas dinner for a homeless person in Newcastle for just £4.99: https://neoffers.co.uk/products/north-east-homeless-christmas-newcastle

This year's Yule altar.

My Yuletide is based on Germanic paganism – a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Norse traditions - but has to be worked around agnostic loved ones. This is a lot easier than if they were fully Christian, but still requires some scheduling and compromise!

First, a little bit about Germanic Yule traditions. The Anglo-Saxons named December Ærra Geola (Before Yule) and January Æfterra Geola (After Yule). It's thought that all Germanic Yule celebrations centred around 'midwinter'- commonly accepted as the winter solstice, although there is some debate on this. Many Germanic pagans celebrate Yule for 12 days from the evening of the solstice – supposedly the root of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I've ended up adopting this method, simply as it makes sense and makes the solstice the focus.

In wider Germanic tradition, it is said that the Wild Hunt roam the skies during Yuletide, with Odin as their leader. Odin has many names including jólfaðr (Old Norse for 'Yule father') and jólnir ('the Yule one'). This has lead to speculation that the idea of Father Christmas came from Odin in his Yule aspect. 

Odin is one of my patron deities (the other being Freya), so I'll be honouring him a lot at Yuletide through offerings and meditation.

Asgårdsreien (The Wild Hunt of Odin), (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo

The Christmas tree and Yule log are also thought to have their roots in Germanic traditions. The Germanic peoples worshipped trees (as did many other ancient cultures), and the act of bringing evergreen boughs into the home may have stemmed from their practices. The traditional Yule log was an actual log which was specially selected and burnt on the hearth. Nowadays we're much more likely to see the chocolate variant, which I happen to be a big fan of!

Yule is primarily a time of time of feasting and celebrating, featuring sacred animals such as the Yule Goat and Yule Boar. A giant straw Yule Goat is erected in the Swedish city of Gävle every year (although it usually gets burned down soon after). It's commonly thought that the Yule Goat is linked to Thor, whose chariot is pulled by two goats; however, the symbolism of the goat can be traced back to common Indo-European beliefs. Some antique Christmas cards actually feature Father Christmas riding a goat – perhaps a nod to the Wild Hunt? 

'Old Christmas riding a Goat' by Robert Seymour, 1836.
Note the wassail bowl.

In Nordic tradition, the last bundle of straw from the harvest was saved for Yuletide celebrations and was named the Yule Goat – this is why modern Yule Goat ornaments are made from straw bound with red ribbon. They're a common sight on Nordic Christmas trees, and can sometimes be found here in the UK. 

A traditional Nordic Yule Goat ornament.

The boar is linked to both Freya and Freyr, deities of fertility and virility – but its symbolism is just as ancient. Today we most commonly see the Yule Boar in the traditional Christmas ham. 

Little is known about specific Anglo-Saxon Yule practices, but Bede states that they celebrated Mōdraniht, or 'Night of the Mothers', on what we now know as Christmas Eve. This was a celebration of female ancestral spirits – the dísir in Old Norse or Matronae to the Romans. On this night, I honour female deities, ancestors and departed relatives (including my own mother). I usually light a candle in the evening, make an offering, and meditate quietly on all the feminine influences that have helped me in my life.

It can be hard to fit my Mōdraniht celebration around Christmas Eve plans with my partner/Dad, so I will sometimes do it earlier that day. But even after being a pagan and a witch for over ten years now, there's still something magical and liminal about Christmas Eve – that feeling of shifting from a regular day into a special event as night draws in. I'm glad I can retain that in Mōdraniht. Indeed that's why I choose not to celebrate it the night before the solstice, as many heathens do.

After my witchy business, I usually enjoy a sedate Mōdraniht/Christmas Eve of curling up in my pyjamas with my cats, a mug of hot chocolate and the Nightmare Before Christmas special edition DVD. :)

I also like to engage with a traditional English custom called 'wassailing' as part of my own Yule traditions; the word 'wassail' comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wæs þu hæl, meaning "be thou hale” or “be in good health”. The custom involves a drink, also known as 'wassail', a warm spiced cider. In the days before carolling, groups of people would go door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts. In the Middle Ages, wassailing was a form of charitable giving between feudal lords and their peasants, distinct from begging. But this tradition had a dark side; if the homeowner refused to give gifts, the wassailers could curse them or wreck their home. We can see a survival of this is the traditional English carol 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' ('we won't go until we've got some, so bring some out here'...).

Another form of wassailing took place in areas that were known for cider production (i.e. Devon and Somerset). In order to ensure a good harvest, a procession led by a Wassail King and Queen would venture into the orchard. A piece of bread was soaked in the wassail drink, then the Queen was lifted into the boughs to place the toast among the branches as an offering. The procession would sing to awaken the trees and scare away evil spirits. This practice still survives in Southern England! 

A modern wassail, organised by the Thatchers cider company.

I tend to perform a personal wassailing by making my own wassail – which is really very easy, you just gently heat some good cider with some sliced oranges and a pack of mulled wine spices for about an hour – and offering this as a libation to the trees in my garden. I usually do this on the last day of Yuletide (so the twelfth day after the solstice); traditionally wassailing was done on the Christian Twelfth Night.

This solstice I plan to go to the beach and greet the dawn, which I don't often get a chance to do. It's usually fairly easy for me to take some time for myself on this day, as everyone else isn't doing much until the 24th and 25th! However I do also attend a celebration with a local pagan group around that date; it's very affirming to meet up with fellow Pagans for such an event, especially when those immediately around you aren't especially religious. It also absolves my guilt somewhat if I do end up being busy on the actual day...

On Christmas Day I tend to give a silent thanks in the morning to the gods and ancestors, then spend the day celebrating and gift-giving with family. Feasting and drinking together is a very Germanic thing to do after all! As mentioned, I've usually done all my witchy celebrating on or around the solstice anyway, though I'm always thankful of my blessings while enjoying the festive period. If I get the chance I will put a mead offering on my altar.

When I'm not busy socialising (!) I find these dark days to be a good time for resting and turning inward (especially when stuffed full of food). I used to be saddled with uni work all Christmas and now finally have a job with sensible holidays, so I make the most of the downtime! I find that my body naturally slows down in winter anyway, though I still love to go for walks in the snow. Sadly we don't get much of it here on the coast. I also tend to make gingerbread, handmade decorations and wintery artworks as I enjoy my time off work.

Most of all, for me Yule is a time to be thankful of the blessings which have brought us through the dark nights; a time to cherish our loved ones and take stock of what we desire in the New Year as the light returns. It's been a hard year for many of us, and I personally will be using this Yuletide as a reminder of what really matters while being mindful of the challenges the coming year brings.

I hope that this post has been informative and that you all have a blessed Yule, full of light and happiness. See you in 2020!