Tag: yule

Light is Everlasting ~ A Poem

Yule of 2017, my sister, who we’ll tentatively call Rainbow Skylark, made a poem for Apollo. She presented this poem to him during a Yule ritual we did together. She wrote this when she was 12 years old. I think this poem is so beautiful and really wanted to share it with you all.

Light is Everlasting

You’re my Light

You spread your heat to keep me toasty

Heat, circles through my body

 

Humans, you give us warmth

Around the Earth you orbit

Sprinkles of light shine everywhere

 

Your touch in the sky

It gives me power to keep going

You are all that passes through me

 

I see the break of day

It connects us

Your heart facing mine

 

Together we bring courage

Separate at a time now put together as a full

Light, is everlasting

 

That is all for today’s post. I hope you enjoyed. I am thinking about making a section for poems and maybe even art dedications on the blog if anyone has any poems or art they want to email me at wiccans_arent_wicked@hotmail.com. Credit will obviously be given for any submissions. My sister reads my blog so if you have any comments (only pleasant ones please) about her poem or any other thoughts or questions leave them down in the comments below. Make sure you follow me here and on twitter to get notifications when I post and when I upload videos to youtube. Until next time, Blessed Be!

Wheel of the Year: Yule

Hi everyone! Today we are going to talk about Yule since it is coming on Friday! So Yule is on the winter solstice which is December 21st. Some people celebrate it over a few days (Dec.21-Dec.23). It is the most North point on the wheel of the year. It is the darkest day of the year and represents the brightening of the days to come. Today we are celebrating the goddess giving birth to the sun god again.

On this day there are lots of ways to celebrate. A lot of these celebrations are very similar to those of Christmas. If you want to know why I suggest you check out my blog post about the history of yule. So some things you can do is burn the yule log to increase the light of the season; put up mistletoe; have holly and evergreen decorations to symbolize the promise of the return of life and springtime; and put up a yule tree with silver and white decorations to represent the goddess and god, or red and gold to symbolize the sun god specifically. You can also do gift giving and other traditional holiday fun.

Don’t forget, along with all these seasonal activities you can still go for a nature walk to see what is happening in the world, do a ritual for the deities around yule and winter, do some divination, or do some magick.

Some gods you can celebrate on Yule are: Baldur (Norse), Dionysus (Greek), Hodr (Norse), Holly king (Celtic), Horus (Egyptian), Mithras (Roman), Odin (Norse), Saturn (Roman), and Apollo (Greek).

Some goddesses you can celebrate on Yule are: Alcyone (Greek), Ameratasu (Japanese), Bona Dea (Roman), Cailleach Bheur (Celtic), Demeter (Greek), Frau Holle (Norse), Frigga (Norse), La Betana (Italian), and Spider Woman (Hopi).

I hope you all have a very blessed Yule! What are your plans for the sabbat? Let me know in the comments along with any other thoughts or questions you have. Also, make sure to follow me here and on twitter to get notifications when I post and when I upload videos to youtube. Until next time, Blessed Be!

Real or Fake Yule tree?

So, today I thought it would be fun if we looked at a question I asked the Wiccan community last year and what answers I was given. Last year was my first yule really. We were in a pretty big place so we decided to get a real tree. Being the weird little witch that I am, I was laying underneath my tree, just hanging out and admiring how beautiful it was. While I was doing this I started thinking to myself, is having a real tree against Wiccan beliefs? Am I supporting the destruction of our forests? So I went to the internet and asked.

So firstly the majority of people said that having a real tree was not against our beliefs and rather could be more in line with our beliefs than fake trees. The reasons people gave for this varied. One person pointed out that the material fake trees are made from is actually detrimental to our earth. The material does not break down and therefore just adds more garbage to our landfills. Another person mentioned that most real trees are farmed so when you think of it that way you aren’t actually contributing to deforestation. Someone else (this is my favourite response) actually said that when you bring the yule tree inside you are actually bringing the sprites of nature inside to keep them warm throughout the cold winter. I personally think that is a beautiful thought process to have.

A few other responses were people actually giving me advice on how to make the most out of my yule tree. So a common comment was people suggesting to buy a tree that has it roots/root ball attached and keep it in your house in a pot. When the holidays are over you can bring it outside and plant it in your yard. This way no trees have to die at all. You can also take the pine needles from your tree and save them for spells, rituals, or anything else you’d use pine needles for. You can also cut up the tree and use it for a bonfire outside.

What I personally did last year with my tree was I cut a good chunk of the log off and this year I am going to take my yule log and make a candle stand out of it. You can also take this log and burn it for a ritual. I also left my tree outside all winter on my back deck as a place for any critters to relax.

At the end of the day though your beliefs are your beliefs and you must to whatever corresponds with them. Not only that but sometimes we aren’t always blessed to have the space for a real tree. This year I am living in a much smaller home and only have room for my little 4.5 foot fake tree. And that’s okay too.

Thanks for reading today’s post. Do you have a real or a fake yule tree this year? Let me know in the comments along with any other thought or questions you have. Make sure you follow me here and on twitter to get notifications on when I post here and upload videos to youtube. Until next time, Merry Meet and Blessed Be!

The History behind Yule

In about a week or so I am going to be making my usual post about the upcoming sabbat but I thought it might be fun if today we actually talk about the history of Yule.

So back in the day, before Christmas even existed, we had Yule and it’s variances (Saturnalia). It was quite festive. Lots of drinking and parties. A lot of the traditions we have today existed then. For example, the yule tree, bonfires, feasts, etc.  However, when Christianity started forming the Christians weren’t too fond of our Yule.

There were certain people within the ranks (if you will) of Christianity who had the job of converting pagans, and the like, to Christianity using whatever forces they deemed necessary. It got to the point that you had to either pick Christianity or death.

One method the Christians used (other than murder) to convert the pagans is they took their yule traditions, made them a little less rowdy and called them Christmas traditions. Not only that, but they took their celebrations and gave them similar backgrounds (Christmas and Yule are both about the birth of god), and made the days relatively close to each other. For example, Yule starts on December 21st (the winter solstice) and they put Christmas on the 25th (even though that isn’t when Jesus was born).

So more and more pagans were either choosing Christianity, dying, or keeping their faith in secret. I feel this is why it is important to honour the pagans of the past during our sabbats because they did not have the freedom of religion we so luckily have today.

Sorry today’s post is a bit short but I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. What are some of your favourite Yule traditions? If you let me know in the comments maybe I can add them to the Yule sabbat post I make later this month. Also, make sure you follow me here and on twitter so you get notifications on when I post and upload youtube videos. Until next time, Merry Meet and Blessed Be!