The night of the winter solstice is the longest night of the year. Darkness triumphs over light. The breath of nature is suspended. Everything awaits in the cauldron, The Dark King transforms into the infant light. We await the dawn not far away when the Great Mother gives life to the Child Sun, which brings with it hope and the promise of summer.
We call the Sun from the womb of the night. Our Blessed Woman carries him in her young womb, the womb that gave life to all things. It’s time for gestation and recollection.
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Honoring and celebrating Yule
Since it is a solar festival, it is celebrated in red. Yule is the time to let go of our fears, our doubts, worn-out ideas and unfinished projects, anything in our life that keeps us away from new beginnings that will lead us to new growth.
It is time to let go of the past and walk towards the light. On this long night, we renew and give new life to our bodies and spirits. Right now, we plant the seeds of change.
Some extra white and green colors
Red, white, and green symbolize the blood of childbirth, new life, and growth.
Also read:
An Enchanting Prayer for Yule [5 Min Chant]
Here’s How to Prepare an Altar for Pagan Festivities (DIY Tips)
An Enchanting Prayer for Winter [5 Min Chant]
A practical use of these colors
Everything revolves around red symbols when it comes to Yule since the beginning of its tradition. During Yule, children were brought from house to house to give spiced apples and cloves and oranges full of tacks stuck in the peel, which they kept in baskets of pine branches along with wheat stalks covered with flour.
The oranges and apples represented the sun, the branches represented immortality and the wheat symbolized the harvest. Finally, the flour was the awareness of triumph, light, and life.
Mistletoe, butcher’s broom, and ivy were not only decorations for exteriors but also for interiors. A sprig of holly was kept all year round to ensure luck for the house and for those who lived there.
Bringing some plants home for some green
Yule is a celebration of death, transformation, and rebirth at the same time. The God dies and is reborn from the Goddess. The Goddess is life within death because even though she is now Queen of Frost and Darkness, she gives birth to God, her lover, who will fertilize her.
Just as the Earth sees the sun being reborn which will fertilize it with its rays. Even if other cold days are to come, we know that the Rebirth is now near. The sacred plant is mistletoe, a plant symbol of life as its berries are translucent and resemble male sperm. It was considered a plant descended from heaven, daughter of lightning and therefore of divine emanation.
Combined with the oak, the sacred tree of eternity, this plant represents eternity both as a symbol of regeneration but also of eternity.
Related:
An Enchanting Prayer for Fertility [5 Min Chant]
3 Powerful Deities for Fertility [& How to Ask for Their Favors]
My Favorite 4 White Magic Fertility Spells [Pregnancy Magick]
Decor the altar with some candles
You can use red, white, and green candles to decorate your altar to honor the cycle of life.
The fire and other red elements
As a festival of the Sun, Yule is celebrated through fire and the use of a log. A piece of the stump is saved and kept throughout the year to protect the house.
This ancient English tradition was made with an oak log that was cut, decorated with pine needles and pinecones, and then burned in the fireplace to symbolize the returning sun. A different type of Yule strain, certainly more useful for modern practitioners, is more common in the modern era and is often combined with red candles. Yule is the longest night of the year.
Even if it falls in the “darkest” moment of the year, it is a sacred and peaceful time. We analyze the activities we have carried out in the previous summer months and leave remorse behind. We direct our magical work towards new projects, focusing on balance, beauty, peace, and harmony. Let’s focus on family, ancestors, peace, and serenity.
