What is Yule? Deprogramming Christmas.
Growing up in a Western Christian society I celebrated many holidays that I had no idea the origin of. The programming that organized religion puts on society strips away the customs and traditions of many cultures. This ultimately leads to the disappearance of cultures and the conforming to organized religion. In other words, the religion is making you more like them and not like who you truly are.
Many people are still blind to the programming of the organized religion and have no idea that they are celebrating traditions of ancestors and cultures that have nothing to do with that organized religion.
It's time for reprogramming. A few months ago I did a blog on Samhain which was the origin of Halloween. Today I am going to bring the tradition of Yule to the fire and hopefully help deprogram the religious Christmas tradition So what is Yule?
Let's look at how a Western source describes Yule:
Yule is one of the oldest winter solstice festivals, with origins among the ancient Norse thousands of years ago. It is a festival coinciding with the winter solstice. Originating in Scandinavia, the Pagan festival of Yule would later be changed into the Christian holiday of Christmas.
Yule celebrations began as the Norse festival of Jul, which consisted of themes of light, fire and feasting. Some think this festival may have been a Norse version of the Day of the Dead.
Bede, an English monk from the 8th century, was one of the first people to write about Yule. He would describe “ giuli” which is a period on the Pagan calendar used by Germanic groups such as the Norse. Giuli is a 2 month event that marked the time when sunlight began to increase again at the Winter Solstice.
Yule became a name for Christmas about the 9th century and in many languages it is still used to describe the holiday. Many of the Christmas traditions celebrated today originated from Yule.
Now let's look at the pagan definition of Yule.
Yule is a celebration of the sun, rebirth, renewal and the continuation of life. It connects you to nature and the seasons. It's a time to give thanks, let go of the past and look forward to what lies ahead.
It is the celebration of the Winter Solstice which marks the longest night of the year and therefore the return of the sun. Since this is ultimately a festival of the sun, light becomes an important element of Yule. Flickering candles, bonfires, twinkle lights, and the traditional lighting of a tree all represent the return of the sun.
Many of our traditional winter customs can be traced to the Norse people and the festival of Jol. Decorating with greenery, hanging ornaments in trees, caroling and gift giving were all customs that originated with the Germanic People celebrating Yule.
Seasonal plants are an important part of Yule. The setting up of an evergreen tree inside is an ancient tradition of bringing the outdoors inside. It would represent the tree of life or world tree. It was decorated with gifts that the people wanted to receive from their God's. Decorating the tree with tinsel can be traced to the pagan legend of the Yule spider and is representative of its web. Holly represents the old solar year as well as the Holly King. The Holly King may be the origin of Santa Claus. Holly was considered a sacred plant by the Druids and is a symbol of protection. Mistletoe stands for peacemaking and the end of discord. The Norsemen would lay down their arms if they met under a growth of Mistletoe.
The custom of the Yule log began in Ancient Scandinavia. They would take a huge log from an Ash tree and burn it to honor Thor. It would be brought into the great hall and burned during the feast. The long log would be partially placed in the fire and then continuously pushed in as it was burning. It could take up to 12 days to burn the entire log. Remnants of the log would be kept in a home to help prevent lightning strikes.
The colors of Yule are red representing the Holly King, Green representing the Oak king, White representing purity and hope of new light, Silver representing the moon, and Gold representing the sun.
So how did Yule become Christnas? Missionaries wanting to convert the Vikings to Christianity joined in the Yule celebrations and then tried to convince the Vikings that the true light they were celebrating was Christ, the perfect sacrifice. In the 10th Century a Norwegian King, Haakon, fell for the programming and became a believer in Christ. After the programming he proclaimed Yule to be a 3 day feast to celebrate the birth of Christ.
There are so many more traditions of Yule and various ways to celebrate it that have not made their way into this blog. I encourage you to research them.
Getting back to the customs and traditions of our Ancestors is one way I believe we can change society. If each person can get rid of the programming of their minds by the various entities trying to conform them, and embrace their ancestral culture we can make great strides to have a better system of living.
Before you celebrate something, participate in something and belong to something, make sure you know the origins. Many people will go out and celebrate Christmas and then condemn pagan practices. If they only knew what they were celebrating would they condemn themselves?
I encourage you to think for yourself. Not to follow man. Listen to your ancestors. Embrace your culture and live it.
Blessed Be!
By Michael Walters
The Ancestor's Fire
Writing the voices of the unheard
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