Yule Never Guess What’s On My Mind

I used to really dislike Yule and anything else associated with the season. This wasn’t always the case, though. When I was a little girl, my grandmother would require me and my siblings to attend the 11pm service on Christmas Eve. The service would end at midnight and all parishioners would sing in the midnight hour with “Silent Night” while holding lit candles. It was a beautiful service.

Many years later, I attended an Episcopal mass on Christmas Eve. Entranced by the greenery and smell of lit candles, I could easily feel the “magic” of Christmas even if I didn’t believe in the biblical story behind it. I loved observing and being a part of the energy that parishioners put into the service. At that time, I was a solitary Wiccan and had no Yule practice of my own.

Experiencing Yule/Winter Solstice for the first time as a Traditional Wiccan in a coven was eye-opening. I don’t think I was prepared for the beauty of my first real Yule ritual because I was so mired down with the disgust of modern secular practices surrounding Christmastide. But I will never forget the magic of that first Yule as an initiate. The details of the ritual matter less than the feeling of the ritual. One lone light source, whose rays penetrate the thick of night. One ray of hope surrounded by so much despair. A single moment of strength in a sea of fragility. And, hey, all that greenery could still be present.

The Strength of a Single Source

Yule calls us down into the dark where we wait with bated breath just before a spark reveals itself. We await the coming darkness that follows the excitement of the holidays and new year. We must hold tight to the promise of new life through the bleakest months of the Northern Hemisphere. This Solstice lends us the spark that reminds us of eventual comfort and warmth. Yule is Mercy and Grace but also a warning of what is to come. The hardest months are yet ahead, it says, but so are the months that can be the most transformative.

I charge you to lock away the spirit of the Solstice in your heart. May it serve as a source of comfort in your darkest moments. Know that the Light is returning and can be applied like a salve to the most wounded parts of ourselves. Wounds are temporary if they are addressed, so don’t let your wounds fester this yuletide season. And if you’re unable to care for your own wounds then know there are people out there ready to help and to heal.

I now find a beauty in Yuletide that I attribute to Gardnerian Wicca, its beauty and magic, as well as my coven. They are the ones who make Yule especially magical and healing. They once decorated my house for Yule because I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I still hate glitter, though, so don’t bring that shit into my house. Blessed Yule!

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