Wednesday, December 24, 2014

YOUR LIFE A-Z: YULE


OUR YULE TRADITION-YULE TREE
YULE

It seems that no one does YULE better than the Celtic people, even though YULE roots are deep in all of Europe.  YULE is celebrated between December 20 and 23, depending on the Gregorian calendar.  We know that date as Winter Solstice.  YULE is really a season of celebration in the middle of the darkness that has deep roots in many rituals.  Think about it.  When it is dark and cold outside and each day has been getting shorter and shorter with the darkness getting longer and longer, what better thing to do than party?  A party to celebrate the turning point, knowing that from this date forward the day will begin to get longer again.  The Celt’s made everything rich in tradition and ritual on this longest night of the year, forged with community bon fires, wassailing (singing and alcohol) and children were sent door to door delivering clove spiked apples and oranges.   The apples and oranges were placed in evergreen lined baskets decorated with flour coated wheat stalks. The apples and oranges represented the sun, the evergreen lined baskets represented the strength of life, and the flour- dusted wheat represented the harvest and miracle of life.  The druids went deep into the forest to harvest mistletoe, a symbol of the divine.  A sprig of holy was placed at the door all year long inviting blessings.  On YULE night the YULE log was lit as thanks to the sun for beginning to return the light.  Every part of the YULE season and day were soaked in symbolic ritual.  Do not let your YULE season pass by you as commercialized chaos, reclaim and redeem the energy of the symbol and celebrate boldly.

No comments:

Post a Comment