How to Celebrate Yule Season as a Witch

The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. In the northern hemisphere, Yule is celebrated around December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, around June 21. As an Australian, it never feels like “Yule In June” – and so I much prefer to head over to New Orleans and celebrate this time of year in the Northern hemisphere.

Every year I like to write about Yule, and this article previously appeared on our other sister website Black Magic Witch. For Black Witch Coven, I want to share a little more information about how you can celebrate Yule without a lot of fuss because let’s face it, who has time during the end of December for 12 days of rituals!  I’ll also share another reason why you could celebrate during this time of year, with a little discussion about The Saturnalia festival.

So what’s in it for you? A chance to step away from all of the BS, the baby Jesus story, the marketing stuff, all of the stress, and just focus on you for a minute. It can be super lonely during major holidays if you are transitioning out of the old school traditions and onto a magical path. I’m hoping to inspire you into creating some new fabulous traditions for yourself, so you can include yourself in your family rituals, and other public events, knowing that you have your own personal reason for celebrating this time of year.

Yuletide Celebrations – The 12 Days of Yule

As you may know, not everybody who practices witchcraft or occultism is pagan. But for many of us here at Black Witch Coven, we are pagans as well as various types of magical people. It’s important to understand Yule is celebrated on December 21, however, some pagans enjoy celebrating a full 12 days of Yule during this time of year. Yuletide is traditionally celebrated over 12 days, from December 21st to January 1st. This time period is known as the “twelve days of Yule,” and each day has its own significance and rituals.

It has become a tradition within our group to use this time of year to celebrate every night of Yuletide, as it was traditionally. However, as many of us, here in the dark arts, we substitute the Pagan Deity for one we want to celebrate. More about that later in this article. But for now, everyone can feel comfortable celebrating with the traditional pagan 12 days of Yule.

1. December 21 – Mother’s Night: This day marks the beginning of Yule and is dedicated to Frigga, the mother of all. Honour her by lighting a white candle and uttering a small prayer or poem in her name.
2. December 22 – Winter Solstice: This is the shortest day of the year, and it is dedicated to the Sun King. Light a golden candle and spend the day outdoors, embracing nature in its harshest season.
3. December 23 – Feast of Vali: Vali is the Norse god of revenge and light. To honour Vali, light a pink candle and reflect on the trials and tribulations you have overcome in the past year.
4. December 24 – Yule Elves: This day is for the elves. Leave out an offering of milk and honey, and light a green candle to thank them for their help in the home and garden during the year.
5. December 25 – Festival of the Evergreens: This day is dedicated to honouring trees and nature. Hang decorations on a tree in your yard or create a natural wreath for your home.
6. December 26 – Feast of Epona: This day is dedicated to the horse goddess Epona. Celebrate by taking a horse ride or simply lighting a purple candle in her honour.
7. December 27 – Feast of Freya: Freya is the Norse goddess of love and beauty. Honour her by lighting a blue candle and performing a self-love ritual or creating a beauty potion.
8. December 28 – Feast of Thor: Thor is the protector of humanity. Light a red candle and take some time to reflect on what you need protection from in your life.
9. December 29 – Feast of Odin: Odin is the chief of the gods. Light a white candle and think about what wisdom you have gained over the past year.
10. December 30 – Festival of the Wren: The wren is a symbol of the old year. Make a bird feeder and place it outside to honour these tiny creatures.
11. December 31 – New Year’s Eve: This is the time to let go of the old and welcome the new. Create your resolutions for the new year and perform a ritual to release old, negative energy.
12. January 1 – Twelfth Night: This is the final night of Yule. Light a silver candle to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one. Enjoy a feast with friends and family to celebrate the new beginnings that the year will bring.

A Little History of Yule

So, if you’re new to pagan holidays, and you want to research what this is all about, (as you should), here is a little history Yule.

Around this time of year, and before Christ was born <eye-roll>, there were two major pre-Christian festivals that roughly coincide with Christmas: the Roman Bacchanalia, or Saturnalia, and the Yule Feast of the Norse countries. So let me share a few concepts from each of these festivals.

“We put lights on our entrances and porches and on the roofs of our garages to scare away the darkness. We celebrate THE RENAISSANCE OF LIGHT on the longest night of the year. The winter solstice is a time to gather, for love, peace, goodwill and, more importantly, for FORGIVENESS. In this austere and cold season, we use branches and foliage to symbolize life; bright colors, images of rich harvests and mountains of gifts to ward off hardship or fear of it “

——–   Cerridwen Iris Shea

Northern Yule Feast

Symbolically speaking and in accordance with Neopagan traditions, Yule represents the rebirth of God after his death in Samhain and it is the first seasonal ritual of the Wheel of the year.

Yule is expected to last for twelve days which represents the twelve months of the year. Many Asatru also calibrates each day of the 12 days of Yule as an expression of each of the months of the year. Such as Yulmonath which coincides with December. It is the month of Yule, St Lucy Day, St Nick Day and the Winter Solstice.

Some say that the 12 days of Christmas began in ancient Egypt. It is said the twelve-day celebration may have been designed to honour the zodiacal wheel. Something else to consider!

The Roman god Saturn (agricultural god)

“The Saturnalia” festival began around the 17th of December and lasted for a week. “Starting off as a one-day holiday the Saturnalia eventually expanded to cover a week by the Late Republic. Augustus reduced the festivities to a more modest three days, but his successor Caligula increased it to five days, and it seems that, in practice, ordinary people celebrated for the full seven days anyway, despite the official decrees.” [1]

It is told, schools were closed, no criminals were punished, slaves were allowed to swap places with their masters, and one was elected king for the duration of the festival. The wealthy distributed gifts to the poor.

“One peculiarity of the Saturnalia was not merely the relaxing but reversal of ordinary roles and social conventions, whereby, for example, masters would wear the freed-slave felt hat (pilleus) and wait on their slaves (or at least eat together in the same room) who were permitted to do as they wished and even display a touch of insolence.” [1]

So let’s get creative if we are to introduce this into our end of year festivities. If you are a mum or a dad, why not make it a family tradition that the kids now are responsible for serving the adults! While the kids may not be able to do some of the heavy cooking, they certainly can be responsible for setting the table, perhaps preparing the food and vegetables alongside the adults, and then cleaning up afterwards. It should be seen as a ritual of gratitude for all the effort the parents go through during the year.

I’m sure you’re laughing out loud right now, but it’s a nice thought.

How did Christianity get pulled into Yule?

Back before Christ, when most of us were pagan and celebrated the turning of the wheel, a.k.a. the seasons, we celebrated each season in a very specific way. EG. In Norway, on the night of the winter solstice, it was common to hoist a giant log onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Norsemen believed that the sun was a giant wheel of fire that rolled away from the earth and then began rolling back again on the winter solstice.

As Christianity spread through Europe, the tradition became part of Christmas Eve festivities. The father or master of the house would sprinkle the log with libations of mead, oil, or salt. Once the log was burned in the hearth, the ashes were scattered about the house to protect the family within from hostile spirits. This could be another idea for you to try when celebrating with your family.

Who was Santa Claus?

Once again it depends on who is telling the story of the origin of Santa Claus. In some legends, Odin bestowed gifts at Yuletide upon his people, riding a magical flying horse across the sky. This legend may have combined with that of St. Nicholas to create the modern Santa Claus. Father Christmas as a jolly old man with a white beard was indeed thought to be based on St Nicholas, who can be traced back to Asia Minor in about 350 AD (around the time Pope Julius was fixing the date of Jesus’s birth).

Christmas roots come from the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, which was a pagan festival that was celebrated from December 17-25 each year. There are many stories from around the world as to where the roots come from, but like with all historical records, the real truth is in the eyes of the storyteller.

The Role of Krampus and Christmas

While Yule is a key celebration in the pagan calendar, it’s worth noting the importance of other figures and festivities that occur during this period. Krampus, a creature from Alpine folklore, serves as a stark contrast to the jolliness of Saint Nicholas. Known as the Christmas devil, Krampus deals with the naughty children while Saint Nicholas rewards the good. This might seem a bit grim, but the figure of Krampus serves as a reminder of the balance between light and dark, a key concept in pagan beliefs.

While Krampus may not be a traditional figure in pagan beliefs, the idea of acknowledging both light and dark energies during this time is an important aspect of celebrating Yule. It’s a reminder to embrace all aspects of ourselves, even those that may seem dark or negative.

You may find this interesting: Satanic Holidays

Celebration Ideas

During this time, nature is asleep so that is why it is a perfect time to meditate, recollect and make plans for the new year. Here are some other ideas that I enjoy with my Coven, and my family during this time. You may be surprised how simple these suggestions are, and that is because we are all very busy this time of year. Still with simple daily rituals you can feel super magical.

Set up a tree & decorate your home

As for Christmas, it’s more than a commercial holiday. Its roots are entwined with pagan traditions. The Christmas tree, for instance, has its origins in pagan Yule celebrations where evergreen boughs were brought inside homes to symbolize life in the dead of winter. Recognizing the shared traditions and symbols between Christmas and Yule helps to enhance the spiritual depth of Yule celebrations, making it a more inclusive and holistic experience.

The “Yule tree,”, or Christmas tree, is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer species, such as pine, fir, cedar, juniper, or spruce. The tradition has origins with ancient civilizations in the middle east, Asia, and Europe.

Decorate the Yule tree & and make your home look festive, as you will celebrate Yule for 12 days!

Don’t forget to decorate your home. You could start at the front door and place a wreath. The circular shape of a wreath symbolizes life everlasting, the never-ending cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Make a Yule Log

There are two types of Yule logs, and I think I need to write a separate article for each of them. One of them is the Yule Log which you burn every year, and you don’t eat it 😉 The other is a cake, and we make this cake in the shape of a Yule Log. This is the recipe we used last year, and the year before that. It was a simple cake to make and everyone loved it.

To the Celts the Yule Log was symbolic of the Oak King and was adorned with evergreens symbolic of the Holly King. The main ritual for many is the ritual burning of the Yule log for 12 hours. Like everything, nothing is set in stone, and you may like to change this burning of the Yule Log for 12 hours, and change it for burning a candle on top of the log for 12 days.

The log can be a special type of wood, or, depending on where we are in the world during this time, we will find a piece of wood that we find pleasing to our eye, and bring that inside for decoration. This can provide a beautiful table decoration during the 12 days of Yule. Sometimes we like to set a candle on top of the log, and this is the candle we burn for that specific day of Yule.

In coven rituals – The entire ritual is directed by the priestess or priest in charge of the celebration. The trunk is specially selected by the ritual leader, (or someone who communicates with the trees to ask for their permission and know which log would be perfect for use).

The plum pudding

Personally, I cannot stand plum pudding. It tastes disgusting. But I do like taking a slice and here is why. You can use the plum pudding, as a source of divination. And even if your family do not believe in the stuff we believe in, it can be really fun to see if something unique is in your slice of pudding.

The person who makes the pudding, is really creating a magical Desert. In the desert, they may place a trinket, and say something like “….. each of the trinkets will manifest its benefits to the recipient within the coming year, so be it.” As you drop each curio into the pudding, you would state the goal of that trinket (curio).

Ideas: A Ring (The ring stood for marriage); A Coin (the coin for wealth); A Button (the button and the thimble were symbols of the eternal bachelor or spinster) etc. If one of these items turned up in your serving of pudding it foretold your personal status during the coming year.

Savannah began this custom/tradition after living in New Orleans, where they have the annual king cake festival.

“A miniature plastic baby, which symbolizes baby Jesus, is placed inside of each cake to signify the Epiphany. The person who gets the slice that contains the baby is known as the king. They are charged with the responsibility of bringing a king cake to the next event.”

 This year my home is the communal meeting place, so we will not be having plum pie. I will be making a blackberry pie. I’ve also decided to add into the pie a pentagram. From this moment forward, the person who receives the slice of pie containing the pentagram will be known as the seasonal king or queen, and will be charged with the responsibility of holding the annual event! Nobody knows this as yet, and I guess they will find out when they read this blog post.

So It Is Done!

12 candles for 12 Days

A simple way to do this is to prepare 12 candles, one for each day of Yule. Personally, I like to set up 12 candles in a row, each in their own little candleholder, and on each day I will light one candle and say a prayer of thanks. The prayer that you say will depend upon your tradition, your family, and the deity you follow.

You could use candles in the correspondence of the season, see below for correspondences, or if you’re working with a specific God or goddess, you could use a colour relating to that God or goddess. There are no hard and fast rules.

Perform Spells of prosperity 

Lastly, this is the perfect time of year to perform spells of abundance for the coming year. If you are in the southern hemisphere this may not be as relevant, as it is not New Year’s Eve during your Yule celebration. I would work with the correspondences of this time, and perform magic which will boost my luck and prosperity.

You could also hold a very special ritual that the whole family can join in on. Have each family member write down wishes, place them in the log (the one you don’t eat). Some people like to tie little bows around their wish, so it is kept safe from prying eyes. You can tie these ribbons around the log.

There is no hard and fast rules on what to do with this log.

• Some people will burn it, if you have a fireplace or if you have outdoor space to do so.
  •  As you watch the flames consume it, discuss how thankful you are for the good things that have come your way this year. It’s a perfect time to talk about your hopes for abundance, good health, and happiness in the next twelve months.
• I like to keep the log especially if it is a special looking piece of wood, and bring it out year after year. It kind of becomes a family heirloom, and can symbolise the tradition of the year.

In Druidism, Yule also means the time of the greatest amount of energetic power so magical rituals performed at this time are usually very powerful.

The Altar & The Gods

If you’re like me, you love setting up a little altar for the season. I have so many ideas for the altar space, that I haven’t committed to how I will decorate my altar as yet. If you have any ideas I would love to hear your ideas for my own inspiration!

Firstly, Savannah will be back in Sydney during this time, and we will most probably dedicate a day to each of the Gods of the season. This does change from year to year, and I don’t know which gods we are working with this season. Each day, one person will be encouraged to speak on one of the Gods, and the significance of that God. We will say a prayer and light a candle. We are also encouraged to think about how we could benefit by working with this God.

In the left-hand path teachings, we are encouraged to look for opportunities for growth, and by asking the right questions and for the right blessings, we will grow towards enlightenment. Ultimately, we are asking the gods for wisdom, so we can unlock the blockages of our mind.

Once again, there is no specific rule on which God is for which day, and so it can be up to you to completely create your own 12 days of dedication. Every year, these gods are always honoured: Isis (Astaroth)& Ishtar; Bacchus; the green man (lots of different variations of who this is including Cernunnos, Harlequin, Holly King, and of course Santa Claus); Ra; Freya (if you prefer a female version of Santa Claus, then Freya is your goddess! Freya spent the twelve days after Solstice being transported in a sleigh, giving gifts to the nice and misery offerings to the naughty); Odin (remember, it was told Odin bestowed gifts at Yuletide, riding a magical flying horse across the sky – so when we talk about Santa Claus, we are actually referring to Odin!).

I really like the idea of dedicating my altar to Saturn. Saturn was described as a god of strength, power, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. I may also talk about Saturn and the benefits and wisdom of celebrating equality, especially during this time of acceptance.

I will come back and update this article with photos once I complete my altar set-up for this season.

You may find this interesting:

Celebrating Yule

Yule Spells & Rituals

What are some other rituals during this time?

• During the corresponding TWELVE nights, some say the dead ones appear in different forms to visit their relatives. Christmas Eve is traditionally a time for restless spirits to walk the earth, something old Ebeneezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol!
• This is a time for religious-level initiations

Correspondences

The colours of Yule in pagan observances include red, green, gold, white, silver, yellow and orange. These colours have been adopted into Christian Christmas celebrations. So even if you are new to celebrating this season with your extended family, they won’t even know you are practising paganism or witchcraft because all of the colours will look very similar this time of year.

Colors: Red / Green / Gold / Silver / White Symbols

• Rebirth of the God
• The longest night of the year

Work:

• Plan for the future
• Reborn
• Peace, Harmony, Love, Happiness, Light.

Incenses and oils:

• Cedar
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Frankincense
• Juniper
• Myrrh
• Orange
• Pine
• Ginger
• Peppermint (fav)

Herbs :

• Laurel
• thistle
• juniper
• oranges
• lemons
• chamomile
• cinnamon
• evergreen trees
• holly
• ivy
• juniper
• mistletoe**
• oak leaves
• pine pine
• cones
• poinsettia
• rosemary
• sage

Stones:

• Emerald
• Ruby
• Diamond
• garnets
• tiger eye
• zirconia

Food:   Nuts and fruits such as; apples, pears, caraway cakes soaked in cider, the famous Yule trunk. Traditions:

Gods: 

• Apollo
• Attis
• Balder
• Bacchus
• Dionysus
• The Green Man
• Helios
• Lugh
• The King of Oak
• Wotan
• Ra
• Sun
• Odin

Goddesses:

• Brighid
• Isis
• Ishtar
• Demeter
• Gaia
• Diana
• The Great Mother
• Athena
• Freya
• Frigga

  Ritual Bath:

• Pine branches
• Laurel
• Leaves Rosemary leaves

Simple Decoration for Yule:

• – Decorate the houses with ivy inside and holly and mistletoe outside to protect themselves from unwanted visits
• – Decorate with red and green colors. The red color symbolizes birth while green is a symbol of the earth.

Author: Lady Hannah

Reviewed by: Savannah & Edwin Dec 21, 2023

Sources

1. https://www.worldhistory.org/Saturnalia/
2. https://www .taste of home. com/ collection/ how -to-make-a-yule-log/view-all/
3. https://www.thoughtco.com/make-a-yule-log-2563006
4. http://www.circulodebrujas.com/sabats/yule/
5. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
6. https://blog.hellofresh.co.uk/christmas-baking/
7. http://www.souland  spiritmagazine. com/the-magic-of -yule-with-white-witch-patricia-weston/
8. https://www.elbloga lternativo. com/2010/12/18/yule- solsticio-de -invierno-la-noche-mas-larga-del-ano/