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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in yule

Happy Yule from all of Us at the ATC!

Thank you for the expression of Deity that you represent, and for all the many things you do to make this world a kinder, happier place. 

Here is our gift to you.

Click here to download your free gift. https://www.atcwicca.org/yule-gift 

Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
December 2019 Heathen and Asatru Holidays

Moveable feasts in this time period include Krampuslauf, which is the weekend closest to Dec. 15th before Yule (Urglaawe.) Midwinterhoorn Blazen in the province of Overijssel Beginning of Advent until the Sunday following Epiphany (Netherlands.) Although Luciadagen is fixed on Dec. 13 elsewhere, it is 1 week before winter solstice among the Swedish minority in Finland.

5
Sinterklaas (Holland),
Sinterklaas Avond (Netherlands)

6
Samichlaus Abend (Switzerland),
Neklosdag (Luxembourg)

9
Day of Egill Skallagrimson (American Asatru, American Odinist)

13
Luciadagen (Norway),
Lusinatta (Sweden) 

14
Krampuslauf begins (Urglaawe)

15
Krampuslauf ends (Urglaawe)

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Mother Night (alternate date) (American Asatru),
Ærre-Geól begins (Theod),
Julfest begins (German), Juleaften (Denmark)   

21
Yule (American Asatru, Theod),
Beginning of 12 Days of Yule (American Asatru, England),
High Feast of Yule (American Asatru),
Yuul begins (Urglaawe),
Yol (Icelandic Asatru),
Juledag (Denmark),
Midvinterblot (Swedish Forn Sed)

22 Mōdraniht (American Asatru)

31
Twelfth Night (American Asatru, England, Urglaawe),
Berchtaslaaf (Urglaawe),
Silvesterabend (Switzerland),
Nytarsaften (Denmark) 



Image: closeup of the word "jol" (Yule) spelled out in Elder Futhark runes in pie crust on an apple pie, pie made by Erin Lale, photo by Erin Lale.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Happy Christmas!

so this is Christmas / and what have you done
another year over / a new one just begun

Christmas Eve was always a favorite of mine when I was a kid.  We’d eat sloppy joes, go to church, open presents, enjoy hot chocolate from the machine at the gas station, and look at holiday lights.  (Yes, we opened presents on Christmas Eve.  Santa brings presents for you to open on Christmas Day, duh!)  One of my family’s favorite memories is when I came home from my first semester of college.  My mom was in nursing school at the time and busy working at the hospital that night.  I borrowed the old station wagon and took my sisters and their friends out to look at lights.  We might have listed to John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” 1,000,000 times that evening.  My sisters still tease me about my annoying obsession with this Christmas song (but I won’t let them forget how they mixed up the sugar and salt for the cookies that year.)

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    I know it's an unusual interpretation but I think of a Nightmare Before Christmas as a Thanksgiving movie. The Santa Clause with
  • Trivia at the Crossroads
    Trivia at the Crossroads says #
    Hahah, I LOVE the idea of A Nightmare Before Christmas as a Thanksgiving movie - it's a great compromise. Also, I ADORE Rare Expo

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Long Nights Moon

Call it Cold, call it the Long Nights Moon. It is here tomorrow, and if it’s not too cloudy where you are, you should get outdoors to try and appreciate it. This is because it will appear larger than normal, due to its proximity to earth. Referred to as the Cold Moon by Native American Indian cultures, this was due to its proximity to the Winter Solstice, marking the longer nights and the colder section of the year. Here are some notions to mark the occasion and keep the Solstice celebration going all weekend long!

Build a bonfire or make a firepit fire to moon gaze under. You may even catch a meteor shower this year, if you’re far away from the city lights. Toast marshmallows and make homemade Moon Pie cookies, putting the melty goodness between two small graham cracker-style cookies (see recipe below). This is always an ideal time of year for quiet reflection. Choose the scrying method of your choice (I prefer a detailed tarot read that I can note in my Book of Shadows) and meditate on what the signs have to tell you as guides for the coming year. Consider your immediate past, present, and future: are you focusing your energies on being your best self? Imagine how you can better align any areas of your life that are out of whack. Your relationships will suffer if not all is right with you. Plan a “me time” date with yourself once a week throughout the month of January and stick to it. This can be both a time of letting go and replacing the dark with more positive energies and activities in your life.

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Last modified on

Posted by on in Signs & Portents
The Darkest Night of the Year

Merry Yule! Yule, also known as Yuletide or Jól, is one of the ways in which the Winter Solstice (Midwinter) is celebrated throughout the world. Corresponding closely (though not precisely) to the date of Christmas, Yule has been celebrated by German cultures for centuries and become blended with Christmas traditions along the way. Of course, down south today is actually Litha, the Summer Solstice.

As we always do for these public occasions of festivity we’ve gathered all our related content here for you to enjoy. We hope you have a happy holiday!

—Aryós Héngwis

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Serious Big Magic

Shit.

Something has gone seriously wrong.

Haven't you noticed? The days just keep getting shorter and shorter.

Every day the Sun goes farther and farther South.

Every day its highest point in the sky gets lower and lower.

If this keeps going, soon it won't rise at all.

It just keeps getting colder and colder. We keep getting more and more snow.

If this keeps up, we're all going to freeze in the dark, if we don't run out of food first.

If we don't do something soon, we're all gonna die.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Yule: A Compendium

Over the years, I've posted quite a bit about my Atheopagan Yule traditions. I thought I'd pull links to them together here for easy reference.

Yule, overlapping so heavily with the Christian/secular holiday of Christmas, is a time when many of our Pagan traditions are widespread, and with many old threads of lore and practice layered over one another. Whether your household goes all out, with a tree and gifts and parties and the Holly King in his guise as Saint Nicholas, or simply lights candles to call back the light into the world, it is a time of both hope and fear, a time for reflection on what has gone before, a time for thinking about new projects and initiatives.

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