Yule is celebrated by Pagans to mark winter. Festivities are spread throughout the whole season, but the Sabbat itself is held on winter solstice, when night is the longest and day the shortest of the year.
This is a time for retreat, to follow nature and embrace rest. Pagans turn inwards to reflect on, evaluate and celebrate the past year. It is a time to make merry and create joy and warmth as we welcome the return of the sun.
The date of Yule changes according to the Gregorian calendar and in 2024 it falls on Saturday, 21st December at 9.21am GMT when daylight will last 7 hours, 49 minutes and 42 seconds.
If you would like to incorporate some Yule and solstice celebrations into your own annual traditions, here are a few very simple ways you can party like a Pagan!
SCENTS
The simple yet effective method of seasonally scenting your home is a great way to envelop yourself in Yuletide atmosphere. The aroma of simmering mulled wine, scent of pine needles as you walk past a tree, the spiced cinnamon we sprinkle over every baked good and hot drink at this time of year - all of these scents are very powerful in invoking feelings of the season, right? So grab a candle, wax melt or loose incense and cosy down under a blanket with a cuppa and a good book!
Personal scent recommendations:
- My very own Rituals Revived ‘Apothecary’ soy candles and melts which are fragranced with cinnamon and base notes of tonka. This is a very decadent and sumptuous candle, perfect for the season.
Buy your Apothecary candles and melts HERE
- Orange and clementine essential oils.
- Frankincense loose resin.
- The smell of pine leaves from natural decorations.
NATURAL DECORATIONS
Bringing greenery into your home is a wonderful way to mark this Sabbat. Crafting beautiful natural foliage decorations allows us to bring the outdoors inside as a reminder that this cold, dark period will end and a new cycle will soon begin.
Wreaths and swags - Tie together bundles of holly, pine, fir, teasels, ivy, juniper, sloe and mistletoe into hanging garlands or wreaths to string up with a pretty bow.
Dried fruit - My absolute favourite Yule decorations to make are dried orange slices! They look amazing hung on a tree just like a bauble, or stacked into piles atop each other, punctuated with pieces of cinnamon and star anise. Plus, the house smells amazing as they bake.
Slice an orange thinly, set the pieces apart on a piece of baking parchment and heat on the lowest possible oven setting until they are crisp and dry. You can also string them up to dry above a hearth fire if you have a little longer to wait.
Pine cones
Plain and simple, go for a walk in the woods to collect fallen pine cones. I display them in decorative antique bowls and jars - adding a few drops of seasonal essential oil for a kick of festive fragrance. They also look wonderful burning in a roaring fireplace and are mesmerising as they spit and crackle.
A Yule log
One of the oldest and most loved Pagan traditions of Yule is the Yule log. A specially chosen log that is decorated and burned at solstice. Historically it was a full tree or gigantic log - being fed into the hearth fire bit by bit for 12 days, but… this is unrealistic for most modern living rooms!
I burn my Yule log at sunset on the darkest night to symbolise light and warmth returning. Logs can be burned in a stove, outside in a fire pit, or symbolically left as a display with candles surrounding it (or sunk into it if you are handy with a drill!). Traditionally, ashes from a Yule log are kept to help fertilise crops in spring and any larger pieces of wood remaining are saved for luck, to light the next year’s log.
FEASTING
Enjoying food is a must at Yule, it warms our bellies when it is cold outside and is a great way to connect back with the earth’s bounty at a time when most vegetable patches lay dormant.
- Make hearty stews, soups and casseroles using root vegetables and dried herbs.
- Be reminded of the warmer months by slathering jams, preserves and chutneys on slices of homemade bread and scones - the strawberry patches will once again burst to life!
- Indulge in treats like mulled wine, gingerbread, mincemeat, fruit cake - perfect for parties and gatherings as friends and loved ones gather together for festivities.
RITUAL
Witches and Pagans are very much connected to the cycles of nature and many of us find the slowness of Yule to be a particularly beautiful time - symbolically speaking. To me, it's an opportunity to think carefully about what I’ve learned this year and what things will take priority in my life going forward. I tend to find that during this wonderful ‘slow’ pocket of time in late December, there is more time to carry out elaborate ritual and spellcrafting sessions.
Ritual recommendations:
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Journaling (always!) Write a list of things you are going to let go of before beginning this next seasonal cycle. Then why not have a burning ceremony? Burn your list on your yule log or over a festive candle, symbolically cutting ties with limiting thoughts, fears and toxic behaviours.
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Solstice sunrise. Watch the sun rise, celebrate and welcome his return!
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Decorate an altar or sacred space.
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Gather a coven! Celebrate, decorate, feast and spellcraft with others.
Do any of the activities listed in this ‘Traditions of Yule’ journal entry. They are all rituals if carried out with intention. So go forth and bake, feast, decorate or cosy up!
Much love,
Hayley
Xx