Yule

For information on Sir Henry Yule, please see Henry Yule.

Yule is the midwinter solstice Blót (celebration) in Asatru, the pagan practices of the Germanic peoples prior to the arrival of Christianity. Today, it is one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, of Neopaganism. In modern neopaganism, Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, circa June 21.

Connection to modern Christmas

Many of the symbols associated with the modern holiday of Christmas (such as the Yule log, Christmas trees, the eating of ham, holly, mistletoe, etc.) are apparently derived from traditional northern European Yule celebrations. It has been theorized that when the first missionaries began converting the Germanic peoples to Christianity, they found it easier to simply provide a Christian reinterpretation for popular feasts such as Yule and allow the celebrations themselves to go on largely unchanged, rather than trying to suppress them, although no conclusive documentation to this effect has come to light. Halloween and Easter are theorized to have been likewise assimilated from northern European pagan festivals.

Etymology

Of the contested origin of Jól, one likely connection is to Old Norse Hjól, 'wheel,' to identify the moment when the wheel of the year is at its lowpoint, ready to rise again. Other linguists suggest that the connection is fortuitous, and that Hjól has been inherited by Germanic and Scandinavian languages from a pre-Indo-European language level.

In the Scandinavian languages, Jul is the word for Christmas.

Traditional Yule

What is certain is that Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate Christianity. Though there are numerous references to Yule in the Icelandic sagas, there are few accounts of how Yule was actually celebrated, beyond the fact that it was a time for feasting. 'Yule-Joy', with dancing, continued through the Middle Ages in Iceland, but was frowned upon when the Reformation arrived. It is, however, known to have included the sacrifice of a pig for the god Frey, a tradition which survives in the Scandinavian Christmas ham.

Neopagan Yule

Today the holiday is, with Beltane and Samhain, one of the most popular among Neopagans. In some traditions, it commemorates the death of the Holly King (symbolizing the old year and the shortened sun) at the hands of his son and successor, the Oak King (the new year and the new sun that begins to grow). In other traditions, it is seen as the birthday of the new sun god.

A traditional ritual is a vigil from dusk to dawn, the longest night of the year, to make sure that the sun will rise again.

Among the sabbats, Yule is preceded by Samhain and followed by Imbolc.

See also: Wheel of the Year.

External Links

• Icelandic Yule (in English) (http://www.isholf.is/gardarj/yule1.htm)

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