Winter Solstice or 'Yule' + the Origins of Christmas

Welcoming the Light back Home.

We’ve lost the art of Ritual + Rites of Passage in this modern world. So here’s a new one for you… and the great news is… if you celebrate Christmas, you’ve already been doing a lot of it.

The Winter Solstice has always been a day that represents light and magic for me since I can remember. This is the day each year when my Mother would place candles in the windows. The rest of the home had been decorated since the early days of December, but she waited until Winter Solstice to put the finishing touch on her Southern Victorian Home- the window candles.

When I was little she told me it was so the Reindeer could see our house from the sky. And as I grew older I learned it was just something her Mother had always done on December 21st, but there was no clear reason as to why - just tradition.

And that’s how many of these little bits and pieces of ritual fell into my hands. From my sweet oblivious, just going through the motions, always hard at work, busy, overly hospitable and giving to everyone but herself, Southern comfort Mama. Through no fault of her own, she just never really had the time or the privilege to wonder or question… she just joyfully did the thing.

Native American on one side + Norwegian on the other - I come from cultures steeped in tradition + rituals and yet there are a few examples of where the remnants of it sadly went to die in my family. But for the sake of keeping this post to the point, we’ll stick to candles in the window + Winter Solstice.

As I grew older I was drawn to anything symbolic or esoteric in nature, the mystical magical unseen world, and cycles of nature… and Christmas was always a goldmine for all of these things. Magic was always in the air this time of year.

So it didn’t take long before these little bits and pieces of different rituals I gathered from my Mother + Grandmother started to take hold in my consciousness. I began to intuitively put meaning behind them and make them my own.

And as I’ve learned the history, origins + meanings behind all these little things, it turns out my intuition was spot on. I have my Mother to thank for that afterall :)

So here we go…. December 21st, the Winter Solstice, or ‘Yule.’

Mmmm… my second favorite day of the year. First favorite is my birthday, March 21st - the Spring Equinox. But December 21st holds a close second in my heart. The longest night of the year… and it marks the beginning of the return of the Sun as the days begin to slowly grow longer each day. Which is one of the things the candles in the windows represent - calling back the return of the light, of the Sun + warmth to the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth.

Fun Fact: Today your Shadow will be the longest and the Sun will set 1 minute later than the day before each day until Summer Solstice.

All around the World - in every culture there are Winter Solstice Celebrations based solely on welcoming the Sun back.

However, I am going to focus on what is known as the Yule, as I celebrate the cycles of Nature throughout the year- known as the “Wheel of the Year",” and this one is the midwinter cycle. (Oh…And, Surprise ! My birthday the Spring Equinox is called OSTARA, which is why I named my jewelry line that as it represents Rebirth.) Check my jewelry line out Here