Merry Yule

tonight we will celebrate !! i will try to take a photo of the "yule log" we have made for our community ritual here @ our home tonight .. its alittle different from the traditional yule logs used

may everyone have a wonderful season ( all tradtitions and all ways you celebrate )

peace to your familys and love through the new year


Mach


Yule: the Winter Solstice, Yuletide (Teutonic),

Around Dec. 21

This Sabbat represents the rebirth of light. Here, on the longest night of the year, the Goddess gives birth to the Sun God and hope for new light is reborn.
Yule is a time of awakening to new goals and leaving old regrets behind. Yule coincides closely with the Christian Christmas celebration. Christmas was once a movable feast celebrated many different times during the year. The choice of December 25 was made by the Pope Julius I in the fourth century AD because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one.
The Christian tradition of a Christmas tree has its origins in the Pagan Yule celebration. Pagan families would bring a live tree into the home so the wood spirits would have a place to keep warm during the cold winter months. Bells were hung in the limbs so you could tell when a spirit was present.
Food and treats were hung on the branches for the spirits to eat and a five-pointed star, the pentagram, symbol of the five elements, was placed atop the tree.
The colors of the season, red and green, also are of Pagan origin, as is the custom of exchanging gifts.
A solar festival, The reindeer stag is also a reminder of the Horned God. You will find that many traditional Christmas decorations have some type of Pagan ancestry or significance that can be added to your Yule holiday. Yule is celebrated by fire and the use of a Yule log. Many enjoy the practice of lighting the Yule Log. If you choose to burn one, select a proper log of oak or pine (never Elder). Carve or chalk upon it a figure of the Sun (a rayed disc) or the Horned God (a horned circle). Set it alight in the fireplace at dusk, on Yule. This is a graphic representation of the rebirth of the God within the sacred fire of the Mother Goddess. As the log burns, visualize the Sun shining within it and think of the coming warmer days. Traditionally, a portion of the Yule Log is saved to be used in lighting next year's log. This piece is kept throughout the year to protect the home.






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[Edited 12/22/04 5:59am]
[Edited 12/22/04 6:52am]

I used to regularly celebrate the solstice by going out and staying out till dawn for the longest night of the year.

These days I always have to work in the morning, so can't do that anymore. And so does everyone else I know.

Blessed be.

blessed be

Is this really the longest night of the year?

Does that mean I'll start seeing more sunlight?

I'm sooooo sick of short days.

belssed be to all too

the pics turned out nice...i'll try to work on getting some posted today


peace

Mach

Our Yule Log celebration last night



13 candles honoring the past 13 moons ( the past yr )



the center votive repersents the sun and the crab is in honor of the full moon in cancer the 26th of dec


peace ya'll

Merry Yule, Blessed be

great pics mach!

AsianBomb777 said:

Yes, that is why we celebrate! It's the rebirth of the sun.

Here is a cool link: http://www.starcraftsob.c...lore.shtml

Winter Solstice as Birth of the Sun/Son

Celebrations and ritual based on the return of the Light, often depicted as the birth of a Divine Child after the longest night, derive from many cultures and ancient times. Many pre-Christian cultures had tales of Gods and heroes whose births to a Mother Goddess bear striking similarities to the later story of the birth of Jesus. Pagan celebrations in this season of the return of the Light were so popular and pervasive that the growing Catholic hierarchy of Rome, in the 4th century AD finally decided on December 25 as the birthday of Jesus, in the attempt to Christianize the Roman rites of Mithra, the Saturnalia and the Yule celebrations of the Celts and Saxons. (Saturnalia was a festival to Saturn, ruler of Capricorn. Saturn is the Roman name for the earlier Greek Kronos, God of Time.) Because the Pagan origins of Christmas were so well known, acceptance throughout the world took many centuries. Even in the 17th century New England Puritans tried unsuccessful to get this "Pagan" holiday banned! Unless the gospels are wrong, it is highly unlikely that Jesus actually was born in December. For one thing, shepherds and their flocks would not have been out in the fields at midwinter. But no matter, the symbolism of Winter Solstice is so completely fitting, that the December 25 "birthday" prevailed. Whether one celebrates the birth of the Son of Mary, or the birth of the newborn Sun to the Mother Goddess, or the return of new Light in any other tradition, the core meaning is much the same. With the passing away of the longest day of darkness followed by the birth of the Child of Light come joy, hope and the promise of new life, a new beginning

Yule Customs -- Old and New

Yule can be a very special celebration shared with family and friends of varied spiritual paths, for so many of the Pagan folk customs of old have become the secular customs of this season, and as such, are familiar and comfortable for all faiths to share. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly" is a very old and perennially popular Yule tune that clearly refers to the death of the old solar year and the birth of the new. Its phrase "See the blazing Yule before us" suggests the tradition of burning the Yule Log. Holly is wonderful for decorating, with its dark green leaves and bright red berries that stay fresh looking throughout the season. To hang the holly over doorways or windows, according to one old folk custom, wards against any evil spirits who dared to try and enter, lest they be snagged on its sharp, prickly leaves.



Holly is a favorite of mine for decorating my Yule Log, along with a sprig or two of fir tree, and a bright red ribbon. A lot of white birch grows near my home, and the holly makes a wonderful contrast. The photo shows this year's log, with a gold candle on top for the newborn Sun King. We burn the Yule Log during the evening Winter Solstice ritual each year, kindled with a piece of last year's log that we saved for the purpose. The tradition of burning a Yule Log symbolizes the blazing forth of new light as the old year dies. To save a piece to kindle the next shows the continuity of the endless cycle. Save the ash from your Yule fire, too, for it can be used for protective magick. The custom of the Yule Log is very old, perhaps the oldest of all. Some say it can be traced all the way back to the Roman Saturnalia, or even back to ancient Egypt.

Copyright © 2002 Maria Kay Simms

ella731 said:

thanx

Beautiful pics! Thanks for sharing them Was the crab alive?

applekisses said:

no NO silly not a live crabby glass w/ real shell

Mach said:

It didn't move from the spot you put it on...so I thought it might not be real.

Mach said:

Sounds rude!

althom said:

rude? wtf


you are SO not right

even for a robot

Mach said:

althom said:

sorry

that last comment was rude

i just dont get you ...


perhaps i need robot understanding lesons

Mach said:

I forgive you because you're sexy!

althom said:

i am ???




thanx


and you're

ummmm

hard and shinny

Mach said:

Blessed be Mach

to you for writing on my thread before, I will remember the offer.

Teacher said:

offer always stands

Very cool Mach-love the pictures as well.

Thanks for not asking folks to post pictures of their Yule logs.

subhuman09 said:

that may have been NOT so pretty

Mach said:

Don't encourage them.