- Yule (also called Jul, jól or joulu) is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic...
- While not directly related to the winter solstice, Kwanzaa shares the themes of community, celebration, and reflection that are prevalent in Yule.
- For a slightly higher octane Yule, as well as doing the above activities you can add these to your plans. Make a Yule Log: a wooden one rather than an edible one!
- All the above form the crust of the Yule celebration. But, as stated earlier, it is even more symbolic in that it helped our ancestors to determine times and seasons.
- Yule is a pagan holiday that goes back thousands of years and was celebrated by the Germanic peoples of Germany and Scandinavia.
- For example, in the Midlands of England it was forbidden to bring any ivy and holly into the home before Yule Eve, as it was considered bad luck to do that.
- The Celts burned a Yule Log as well, though they believed that the sun stood still for 12 days and began moving again on the winter solstice.
- It is generally agreed that Yule celebrations began as a Norse festival called jol, although assessments of the purpose and traditions vary.
- We can easily find the basis of the Christmas feast in the Yule and Saturnalia, pagan and Roman winter festivals celebrated since ancient times.
- It is said that on the night of Yule, the Mother Goddess gave birth to a child – the Sun God – who dies on the night of Samhain and returns to life on this holiday.