Yule: Celebrating the return of the light at winter solstice
by Rev. Valera "Doe Eyes" Childers
During this season most pagans feel a quiet knowing. We see the world celebrating with lit trees, wreaths and virgin births, knowing that few have any idea where these symbols came from, and what the origins of this holiday really are. They have no idea that these traditions were, and still are, all over the world, the way pagans celebrate Midwinter.
This is the time in the Wheel of the Year when the God, who gave his life willingly at Samhain, is reborn to a virgin Goddess. Yule, the longest night of the year, is when we celebrate the Sun God’s return and the days begin to grow longer. We celebrate that he will bring warmth, which will help the crops grow. When we see people with their lights all over their homes, little do they know that it is a form of sympathetic magick. We are luring back the waning sun so that we will have fertility in the coming year. In some countries people still leave their lights on in the house for this purpose and to honor the Virgin Goddess, who gave him life.
What do we know about the term “virgin?” In pagan beliefs it has nothing to do with the hymen. It is a word that has been misrepresented and mistranslated by the early church, who so twisted it’s meaning, that they succeeded in making people forget that it had nothing to do with sex. A Virgin was a priestess in the Mediterranean temples during Rome’s pagan period. She was a woman entirely unto herself. She was unmarried, not bound by church law and needed no one else to complete her. She was, unto herself, complete. So when the Goddess, who is complete, gives birth to the God, she is a Virgin Goddess. It brings to mind another story of a God who was born of a Virgin Goddess at this time of the year, doesn’t it?
The importance of Yule in ancient cultures is obvious. After the coldest days and darkest nights, the sun is finally returning to bring prosperity to the Earth and her people. For the Norse and Roman, this was their New Year, the turning of the Wheel of the Year for them. In fact, the word “Yule” is an Old Norse word, which means “wheel.” For them, this Sabbat was called Hweolor-tid, or “turning time.”
The wreath is a symbol of the Wheel of the Year, the annual circle of life through the changing of the seasons, which has no beginning and no ending. Wreaths have been used symbolically for more than 4,000 years. Scandinavian pagans hung them on their doors and altars during this time, and that is how they came to be used in modern day. Even in Sweden today, young woman will wear a lit wreath on their heads.
So this season, when you are out visiting those not of the pagan persuasion, you can look around their house, see the symbols, and know that paganism was never lost, just adapted.
Valera is an owner and a Priestess of The Village Witch. To learn more about her click here.