Yule

[Hazel]

Where i am it's now the 21st of November which means soon it'll be Yule (20th-23rd December) and i really want a way to celebrate it but because my parent's our Christian in our house we celebrate Christmas and I've never had the opportunity to do anything for Yule and i really want to do something this year but don't know what.

I'd be really grateful for any advice/tips that could be given
Thank you in Advance, Hazel

[WhiteWarrior]

Um. Here in Norway we celebrate Yule - we call it Jul - and have been doing it since about 1-2000 years before a viking king decided to christen the population at swordpoint. Jul is today as what it was 3000 years ago, a celebration of still being alive at the coldest and darkest days of the year, with a feast with family and friends, of good food and good drink and a few gifts of necessities to the kids - gloves, caps and so on. The gods would get a toast, perhaps even a minor sacrifice of blood at the altar if they felt that way, and people would put a small bowl of porridge or a small cup of beer behind the barn for the little people. Dragging a small tree into the house is a much newer tradition, as is the Coca Cola advertisement santa and the re-runs of old tv programs with santas in them. Christianity didnt replace Yule with Xmas. They did with Yule as they did with many of the other pagan holidays - they claimed it had been theirs in the first place.

So as you celebrate 'xmas' with your parent this year, smile and whisper 'I hope you are enjoying Yule too!' And feel free to leave some porridge for the little people behind the barn. That's what we still do too.

[Jenny Crow]

I like WhiteWarrior's suggestions........as well those Yule log cakes are a nice touch. The Winter Solstice is the time when the Sun is reborn - from that day on (December 20 - 21) the sun gets a little closer to earth each and the days get a couple of minutes longer every day. You could light a candle to honour this rebirth.

[norseman]

I ignore the christian dates and keep to the old festival dates at a local henge which is about 5500 years-old. Sometimes I use my local cathedral which was built over a pagan holy place.

[EbonyDoe]

There's no reason you can't do both. Celebrate Yule however you see fit in private, then enjoy Xmas with your family since at its base it's a time to be with family and friends. (Personally I <3 Xmas dinner at grandmas lol)