Yule: The Dance of Light and Dark

This episode delves into the rich traditions and historical significance of Yule, exploring its role as a precursor to many modern holiday customs. From the symbols of evergreens to the ancient battle of the Oak and Holy Kings, listeners discover the essence of Yule as a celebration of light emerging from darkness.

• Exploring the significance of Yule and its roots in ancient pagan traditions 
• Discussion on the symbolism of evergreens and their meanings during Yule 
• The role of fire and candlelight as representations of returning warmth 
• Understanding the tradition and symbolism of the Yule log 
• How fruits like apples and oranges represent abundance and potential 
• The sun wheel as a reminder of the cycles of life and rebirth 
• The connections between Yule and contemporary Christmas customs 
• Invitation for listener feedback and future topics for discussion

Sources:
https://www.thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com/blog/how-to-celebrate-yule-rituals-traditions-and-the-magic-of-the-winter-solstice

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yule-festival

https://www.history.com/news/viking-yule-holiday-winter

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Witching Hour Chronicles. I'm your host, christine. We've made it to Episode 5. Yay, how exciting. I have really been enjoying doing this new show. It's definitely a learning experience, but I'm having a ton of fun and I hope you are all enjoying these episodes, these episodes, this episode.

Speaker 1: 0:24

I am going to talk about Yule scenes, how it's the holidays, the end of December's coming up. I wanted to give everyone a little bit of a lesson in what people celebrated before. Christianity and Christmas was a thing, so I'm going to start there. Yule is celebrated during the winter, solstice being the longest night and the shortest day of the year. It's pretty much a rebirth of the sun. For many, like pagans, yule is a celebration of the return of the sun, the rebirth of light and the turning of the wheel of the year. It's a time to gather around with loved ones in celebration of the returning sun. People will decorate their houses with candles evergreens. Evergreens happen to be a symbol of eternal life, so they're put in the home as celebration to that. So here's one kind of myth that goes along and this is how it was described in a lot of the articles a myth of what Yule is.

Speaker 1: 1:43

A myth of what Yule is. It's described as a festival, a lot like the phoenix. It rises from the ashes and during this time there's a little bit of a battle between the Oak King and the Holy King. So the Oak King during the darker days, the colder days, is okay. The Oak King actually represents the light half of the year. The Holy King represents the dark. So during the solstice they come together twice a year because there's the summer solstice and the winter solstice. During the winter solstice, the Oak King actually takes control and that's when the light cycle begins, and that's when the light cycle begins. And, of course, during the summer solstice, the Holy King is the one who takes control and the days start getting shorter. So basically, it's a rivalry back and forth between the two gods. Um, but during the winter solstice, the sun is reborn and the Oak King takes control. Uh, the wheel of the year starts to turn, the days start growing longer, the sun becomes stronger and warmer and the world starts to thaw. Um, so that's, that's that little what is celebrated during Yule. Um, I'm sorry, I try not to say um. I had one person tell me try not to say um. And now I catch myself doing it all the time and it really makes me mad anyways. So that's one thing to remember during Yule is remember the tug of war between the dark and the light, life, life, death, warmth and the cold.

Speaker 1: 4:10

So some of the symbols and things that people do during Yule. I'm going to give you each of those and briefly say why people do this and briefly say why people do this. So evergreens like holly, ivy, mistletoe these are a symbol of eternal life and protection. Evergreens are considered the plant of the world because, while everything else is dying off in the cold and freezing, they still live. They live through the cold. They live through all of that Ivy, holly, mistletoe, pine they all have one thing in common they don't die very easily either. So that's why these are all symbols of eternal life and protection. The Celts thought this was so impressive that they decided evergreens must be magical, symbolizing eternal life. Holly, with its shiny leaves and berries, was believed to ward off evil spirits. Mistletoe was hung up in homes to offer protection, which I don't know how. People decided that they had to kiss under the mistletoe Didn't say anything about that. It just says when people started hanging mistletoe it was to offer protection to the home. Interesting, that is very interesting.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Let's see Candles and fire. This is the symbol of light's return. Candles and fires the flames represent something far more significant than just making the house warm and cozy. It represents the sun and its return. Let's see the Yule log. I know a lot of people have heard of it, but a lot of people don't necessarily know the exact meaning of it. So in ancient times families would drag in the biggest, sturdiest log they can find, preferably oak, place it in the fireplace and light it. The bigger the log, the longer the burn, and the longer the burn, the more protection, the more luck, the more prosperity for the household. For the upcoming new year. Things like offerings that they would, things that they would offer Spices, wine, bread would be thrown into the flames, an offering For more encouragement For the sun's return.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Let's see Apples and oranges. This is also To represent the sun. Let's see Apples and oranges, especially when Studded with cloves, have long been used in Yule celebration to symbolize abundance and promise of the sun's return. They would be hung from the tree or they would be placed on an altar. On an altar they were to serve as a reminder that even in the depths of winter, the seeds of future growth are preparing to sprout. Let's see Now onto the sun wheel, the circle of life and light. The sun wheel, an ancient symbol that looks like a wreath or maybe a pastry in the shape of a wreath, represents the turning wheel of the year and rebirth of the sun at Yule. It's made from woven branches, sometimes metal. It's made from woven branches, sometimes metal. Sometimes they're burned as offerings to ensure the sun's strength in the coming year. Nowadays you still see wreaths made, but they are hung on doors, windows, mantles, but they are basically reminders of nature, life, death and rebirth. Let's see what else.

Speaker 1: 9:19

So here's another interesting little fact is these kind of winter festivals were common in Greece, rome, the British Isles, much everywhere. Every culture has their own different celebration, but it's all very similar in its meaning and the things that they would do. So when Christianity started popping up, they had a hard time converting pagans to switch over to Christianity. They didn't want to give up their old holidays, so Christian churches were actually built on old pagan worship sites. The symbols that were used were incorporated into symbols of Christianity and within a few centuries the Christians had everyone worshiping a new holiday, celebrated on December 25th, although now people have like researchers, a lot of them actually believe that Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25th and it was more likely he was born around April. But I believe that they just kept it there so that because, I mean, these people were already celebrating at that time of year, so they just it was their way of converting people over to Christianity is the easiest way I can describe that. But that's pretty much where you get Christmas trees from. That's where you get wreaths from mistletoe. That's where you get a lot of the things that revolve around Christmas actually come from that.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Um, I thought this episode was going to be a lot longer. I thought I had a lot more information. I guess I read through it too fast. Again, I will try to slow down next time. Let's see. I will try to stop saying um, I know some of you are probably laughing at me right now, but follow me on Facebook, instagram, tiktok. Once I hit a thousand TikTok followers, I can start doing lives. I was thinking about, you know, doing a live while recording an episode. But my only problem is I this is take five. I've started recording and stopped five different times, so I don't know how well that's going to work with just myself. Maybe, if I have a guest one of these days, we can do a live once I hit a thousand followers, though. So, yeah, follow me on social media, follow me on Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts, give me a rating, give me a review. Those definitely help me get more listeners. Let's see If you have a topic you would like me to cover on an episode, send me an email, message me on Facebook.

Speaker 1: 13:03

Just let me know what you'd like to hear. I do have a friend. I mentioned it last episode I'm going to record with a friend. We're going to talk about dreams and the spiritual side of dreams and dream interpretation kind of thing. That episode will definitely be longer than 15 minutes. It's just a lot easier to talk to someone else than myself. Like I've repeated in other episodes, I do have a co-worker who wants me to talk about astrological signs like your sun sign, moon sign, rising sign and what all that means. So I'm going to definitely do that for an episode, but if you have anything or any haunted locations you would like me to talk about, definitely let me know. But other than that, that is all I have for tonight. Let me know what you think of this episode. I definitely want to hear feedback, so send me messages and good night.