A Brief History of Yule

First Day of Yuletide

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you are looking forward to the next twelve days as I am. Honestly, it’s something that I had debated for a while with myself on if I would celebrate Yule this year. The traditions circling this holiday have been adapted to other religions over the centuries like a yule tree and the reason that citrus is involved in a winter holiday. But let’s start from the beginning.

When does Yule begin?

Yule begins every year on December 21 which is the Winter Solstice and last for the next twelve days. The holiday ends on January 1 of the new year. The season is one of rebirth and renewal, where all the old growth dies and is brought back to the earth to be reborn in the new year when spring begins.

During the twelve days of the holiday during its height, crops were harvested to make meal, trees were decorated with pinecones/foliage/candles, and gifts were exchanged with loved ones. Sound familiar?

In truth, the holiday that is widely known as Christmas was taken from Yule. From the decorating of the tree to exchanging of gifts. These things were co-opted from the holiday to help make the transition of religions easier. So to any Christians reading this, #sorrynotsorry. A lot of your holiday that you love so much is stolen from other religions.

But this is nothing new as well. A great many scholars believe that Yule has a lot of roots with the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. This was a week-long holiday that ancient Romans celebrated around the solstice. This celebration honored Saturn who was the god of agricultural bounty. How did the celebrate it? By giving gifts and having grand feasts.

How do you celebrate Yule?

The answer to this question varies depending upon the practitioner. Some people still celebrate Christmas with their families if they didn’t grown up in a Yule practicing household and then they have little rituals at home that they perform for themselves to celebrate the holiday. Others may choose to celebrate it only on one day.

As for me, I’m starting to learn and just try to find what works best for me. If I last the twelve days, then we’ll be doing the twelve days of Yuletide every year though there’s not much I can do without trying to reinvent the wheel. So if I only do one massive post, get used to it.

What is included in celebrations?

Well just as with Christmas, there is usually a tree. Some may prefer real, but for me, I have no choice but to have a faux tree. Gotta love my only confirmed allergy of the Tennessee Evergreens. The holiday colors of Christmas? Those colors were associated with Yule prior to Christmas. Feasting, making garland yourself, and everything else can be part of the celebration. You can choose how deep you dive into the practices.

I personally am trying to do what is within my abilities and mental capacity to do. The research in has been a little overwhelming to say the least and trying to figure out what suits my practice best.

But together we’re going to walk through it all and figure it out together!

Blessed Yuletide,