PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com

How Do You Say "Yule" in French?

Here in Paganistan, it's been a foggy Yule.

Oh, we've seen the Sun's beautiful face a few times, starting with sunrise on Midwinter's Day. Seeing that pure golden light shining from the faces of those around me as we sang the Sun up out of the Mississippi Valley was one of the great good moments of my Yule so far.

But looking back years from now, it's as the Yule of the Fogs that I'll remember this one.

Brume they call it: dense, thick fog, ghostly, shrouding. Mysterious, hazardous to drive in: brume.

Every word's a story.

It's a Norman French word originally, brume.

In Modern French, it still means a fog or mist, both literally and figuratively, but the adjectival form brumal means (as it does in Fancy English) “wintry.”

And—as they say—thereby hangs a tale.

The French got the word from the Romans, but Latin bruma means, not “fog”, but—you guessed it—“winter solstice."

It would appear to be a contraction of the (unattested) *brevima, itself a condensed form of brevissima, “shortest”: an apt name for the shortest day of days.

In the later days of the Roman Imperium, Brumalia was the name given to the Winter Solstice festival celebrated throughout the eastern empire.

Vives annos, the Romans would wish one another at Brumalia: “Live for years.”

How do you say “Yule” in French?

 Now is the time to go inward, and I myself am welcoming it tenfold. It has truly been a whirlwind of a year, and allowing ourselves the time to reflect and regroup has begun. Stock up on your candles and light them. Slow down the pace and take the time to just be. Planning how you want the coming year to unfold and considering what has worked and not worked in the past–all seem to be in order.

Balance and Burnout

 Traditionally of course, this is always the time of the season for much socializing, merriment, and activity. Although it’s often fun and easy to get caught up in the flow of this, balance should be considered. We should recognize the times that we feel suddenly overwhelmed and are on the brink of burning out. At those moments, it’s really key to step back out of the spotlight and let others have their turn. Retreat, regroup, recharge. Hey! I think I’m going to make that my motto through the end of this year, as it comes to a close.

So here's the thing. I'm feeling a million different thoughts and emotions right now, and I'd really like to let them go and let them flow. This is the time of year for that sort of thing, right? Here it goes. I long for peace. On earth and in my life. In all my relations and dealings with people. I know this isn't always possible. Some folks want to remain combative no matter what, at all costs. It costs a lot if you hold on to that and carry it around with you. It just shouldn't be that hard to maintain peaceful relations with your fellow human beings on a daily basis. The struggle is real, you know? I realize all too well that there are several motivating factors that have led to this peaceful possibility being more difficult at this point and time. I can still wish, and hope, and strive to be peaceful and project that, regardless. I choose to do that.

I long for people to be kinder and gentler with each other. Stop fighting, stop competing, stop backstabbing, stop the negativity, already! There's way too much of it out there, but that doesn't mean we all have to jump on the cray-cray train. Live and let live, I say. When I say that, I mean let me be me, too. If I give you respect, I have every right to expect it in turn. You can take the high road, but it's also high time to stand up for ourselves when someone crosses a line. Let's speak our truths in a strong and intelligent way.

Solstice blessings to you!

Today is the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere. In the Tribe, this is a day of two layers of precious mythos, both centered around the concept of birth.

I'm currently reading The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas by John Matthews (with contributions from Caitlín Matthews). In fact, it's one of Caitlín's contributions that inspired this spread.

On this eve of Midwinter, I'm feeling a deepening and quieting in my soul, and Caitlín's short poem "Sun Still; Sun Return" (shared in the book) felt like the perfect jumping off point for a contemplative Tarot spread--especially for those wanting to move through sorrow and into the light of joy on the longest night of the year:

The days and weeks leading up to the height of the winter holidays are both exciting and sacred to people from many different spiritual traditions. Christians have Advent, for example; Norse Pagans have Sunwait. Liturgical seasons leading up to a sacred day are far older than either of these traditions, and they have an important function: encouraging us to focus not just on the upcoming "special day" but on the way the year hinges around it.

And the Winter Solstice appears to have been the "central peg" on which the sacred calendar turned across much of early Eurasia, with the Sun Goddess as the driving force behind the year. Check out Patricia Monaghan's excellent book O Mother Sun! for some great research about this subject.

Many of us are bracing before the big blizzard that's due to hit, across the northern Rockies, northern Plains, and Great Lakes area of the Midwest in a matter of 24 hours or so. Not only will there be dangerous snowy conditions, but there will also be strong gusts of wind, and icy, bitter cold. There could be power outages, so folks are advised to hunker down and stock up on food, water, and batteries for their flashlights. The storm is predicted to be at its worst Thursday evening into Friday morning, when many businesses will likely be shut down. At times, it's somewhat disconcerting to realize how addicted we are to electric power and just how helpless we are without it. Even most gas stoves, and water heaters require it to function. If you're not lucky enough to have a fireplace in your home, your only option may be many layers of clothing and blankets to bundle up in and keep warm.

Be Mindful

It seems all the more appropriate then that the Winter Solstice falls today before all of this is supposed to take place. If we're fortunate, it won't quite as fearsome as they're predicting. But I believe it does urge us all to be especially mindful about our activities today as we prepare and slow down and take time to consider how we spend our time and do so with purpose, if possible. Rather than run around willy-nilly like panicked little stress balls, it would do us better to slow down and be selective. Figure out what needs our absolute attention today, and what can transpire naturally while we're snowbound. Run the errands that need to be and decide what can wait. Stop being obsessed with the to-do list and being ahead of the game and become practical and considerate. Because the latest wave of COVID/flu/and RSV, along now with this latest serious potential storm has and could possibly force many of us to be flexible with our holiday plans—we should do just that and let Mother Nature run her course.