Yule is a time of mixed emotions for pagans. All around us we see evidence of the Christmas celebration, A religious holiday not a part of our traditions, but one which we know takes its form and meaning from ancient pagan practices. Virgin births, decorated trees, festive lights, feasting, wreaths, bells, and fragrant fires, were- and still are- at the heart of pagan Midwinter observances.

When the Wheel of the year brings us to Yule, the God (who died at Samhain) is reborn of the virgin Goddess. The God is represented by the sun which returns after the darkest night of the year to again bring warmth and fertility to the land. The profusion of lights on houses and trees at Christmas is a modern version of the pagan custom of lighting candles and fires as acts of sympathetic magick to lure back the waning sun. Today it is still custom in Ireland and Norway to leave lights burning all through the house on Yule night to not only lure back the sun, but also to honor the Virgin Goddess who gives him birth.

Interestingly enough, the word virgin is one which was mistranslated and misrepresented by the early Church, enough to make even people today forget that the term had absolutely nothing to do with the hymen. The term virgin was first applied to the Priestesses in Mediterranean temples, particularly during the Romes pagan period. The term identified a woman who was a complete entity unto herself, who was not bound by secular law, had no husband, and was free to take all the lovers she chose. She needed nothing else and no one else for completeness. In other words she was said to be intact- a virgin. Paganism remembers the old meaning of the word, when the Goddess, a complete and whole being unto herself, gives birth to her son, who will be her lover at the spring Sabbats and also Father of his next Yule incarnation.

Yule has been the most widely celebrated of all the Sabbats because its customs and lore have so deeply invaded popular cultures and the mainstream religions, and virtually every culture in the northern hemisphere in some way once acknowledged the return of the sun at its weakest point. Some anthropologists, such as E.W. Budge, believe Yule was first celebrated as a religious festival 12,000 years ago, and some claim it dates many millennia earlier.

Yules importance was obvious to early human civilizations. As the nights grew darker and longer, and the days colder and shorter, it was imperative that the sun be lured back to the Earth. Though most cultures understood astronomy long before we give them credit, and knew the sun was where it always had been, they still felt moved to celebrate the old rites which were symbolic rather than factual to them. The festival was important because it kept them in tune with the cycle of the seasons, marked the New Year, allowed them a time to gather with friends and family, and to worship their deitys in joy and thanksgiving.

Yule was a Sabbat of primary importance in the Norse and Roman traditions, and it is from these cultures that many of our Yule customs originate. For both of these civilizations, this is the time of the New Year, when the Goddess turned the Wheel of the Year to its beginning point once again. In fact, Yule is an Old Norse word which literally means wheel, and the Sabbat was often referred to as Hweolor-tid, the turning time.

In Norse tradition, Yule is a twelve nightlong celebration, a concept which probably came from the pagan Near East where it eventually became incorporated into Christian myths. The first Eve of Yule (the night before the Solstice) is called Mother Night, and is a night when Norse pagans sit up and await the rising and rebirth of their sun Goddess, Freya. It is also a night for spirit contact and celebration with ones ancestors in much the same manner as the Celts observe Samhain. The Norse Goddess, Holde, guardian of the spirit world, opens her doors at Yule to all sincere seekers. The final night of observance, called the Twelfth Night, became for awhile sort of a ninth Sabbat on the Norse pagan calendar.

In ancient Egypt, the Winter Solstice was not only a time to celebrate the rebirth of their God, Ra, but to commemorate the creation of the universe as well. In Egyptian mythology it is taught that in the beginning there was nothing but Nun, a primordial black sea of chaos often likened to the womb of the Mother Goddess. From this ocean of unrest Ra was born, and he in turn gave birth to the other deities. After this great exertion he cried the dark tears given to him by Nun, and each tear became the many men and women of Egypt. In sun-parched North Africa, December marked the beginning of the short rainy season. If it rained on the eve of the solstice, it was considered to be a special blessing from Ra whose tears were once again bringing life to Egypt on his night of rebirth.

The Sabbat of Midsummer-The Summer Solstice, June 20 or 21

SUMMER SOLSTICE (Midsummer, Litha) is the longest day of the year. It is a time to celebrate vitality, creativity, vigor, health and abundance. All over the world, people gather to honor and acknowledge this time of Light and Energy and to connect with this Solar tide of abundance, health and the beginnings of the fruits of their labors.

One of the customs associated with the Summer Solstice is the blessing of animals: pets, familiars, work animals and animals which will be slaughtered in the Fall for Winter food. The blessing focuses on the animals health, growth, vitality and fertility. You may want to bless and charge with energy your pets or familiar to strengthen your bond with them at the Summer Solstice.

Now is also the time when the herbs, both wild and cultivated, are reaching their greatest potency. You will want to gather them before they begin to seed, so that you may dry them to use in your rituals and in the medicines that you begin to make in late summer and early Fall. Collect herbs for which you will use flowers and leaves as the Moon waxes (gets larger); roots are gathered during the Waning Moon. As you gather them, thank each one and cut it cleanly a few inches above the ground for the herbs with which you will use the flowers and leaves. For the roots that you gather, pull gently from the earth, collecting only about a third of the plants so that they will grow abundantly again next spring.

Roses are particularly associated with the Summer Solstice and Midsummers Eve is especially potent for love magicks. You may want to make a rose petal infusion to add to wine, or strew your bed with rose petals before retiring to help you dream of your soul-mate.

Standing stones and stone circles are also symbolic of the Summer Solstice. The dolmen, or standing stone, reminds us of the virility of male energy and of the Sun which in magick and psychology is representative of the male. Stone circles symbolize the ever rolling Wheel of the Year and cycles of the Sun, the natural laws of the universe and the womb of the Earth. If you can find one naturally occurring, perform your Solstice celebrations within it, or leave food and herb offerings within it for our wild-land sisters and brothers. You can also create your own stone circle by placing 8 larger stones at each of the spokes of the Wheel of the Year, equidistance apart, and filling in the spaces between with smaller stones for a circle you can use year round.

Another custom at the Summer Solstice is the practice of tossing wishes and offerings into wells and springs. For a wish or offering of thanks, hold a special stone, feather or sprig of herb in your hands as you focus and meditate on your desire. Pour the desire or gratitude into the stone, feather or sprig and when you have filled it, toss it with power and intention into the well or spring.

The Summer Solstice is the time of the marriage of the Sun and the Moon, which is one of the reasons that the month of June has become the traditional month of marriage and union. One of the symbols for the power of the Sun is fire; for the Moon is water. To enact their union you may choose to create a SunWheel out of weavings of thin, dried branches or braided, dried herbs. You may then (CAREFULLY) ignite your SunWheel and roll it a short distance into running water or drop it carefully into a pool of water to unite the energies.