How you'll Yule

Hi everyone, I've been hiding out the last couple months while I figured out some of my own issues. (Talk about a frightening ride) but now I'm ready to get back to work on my web ventures. I'm trying to collect as many personal Sabbat traditions as I can in order to emphasize how personal Wicca/Paganism is. If anyone has a story or family tradition they would be willing to share please let me know. I can be reached here or via email at AmethystSunshine@wiccanessentials.com. While the website is (currently) called Wiccan Essentials, I would like to collect traditions from other pagan paths as well, so please feel free to forward my contact info on to any of your friends that would be willing to share as well. Thank you and Blessed Be. ~Amethyst

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Permalink Reply by Amber Rose Potter on November 9, 2009 at 1:02am: For me, Yule symbolizes the peak of darkness, not in any negative sense, but in a spiritual manner. To "see" beyond normal human perception is to be blind in the light (in the dark). Our existence is constantly bombarded by cause and effect; the limitations of space and time, the wave functions of material existence. For me, Yule is the time for a release from the material world. A time to appreciate the depths of the spirit.

Yule is centered around meditation: Spending time in the crisp air, numbing my senses, sharpening my concentration. I watch the stars, feel the Earth beneath me spinning its way through the cosmos, and I lose myself in a place that pays no consequence to the material world.

I deeply appreciate structured ritual practice, and I do occasionally incorporate ritual into my Yule practices, but I tend to reserve the majority of these for the spring and summer months. I associate the spring and summer months with the body and the soul, whose constituents are of material essence. Fall and winter, for me, are primarily concerned with the mind and the spirit.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Silver Dove on November 9, 2009 at 2:18am: to blend my families christian beliefs with my own, i plan to put up a "christmas/yule tree" although i plan to incorporate witch balls, and other paganistic ornaments, with my families ornaments. i will be making a lot of our ornaments from wood, making woodburned designs. this is leading up to my sabbat celebration, which i will share with my kiddos, where we open what gifts we have and have our own little party, with sparkling cider and christmas cookies. on christmas eve we attend my husbands church, and sing carols and hymns. on christmas we visit my family and i make dinner for everyone, as my mother is handicapped, but her house is large enough to host the holiday. mostly i celebrate in my own little wiccan way in the middle of the night. i find i am much more connected to my goddess at night, so thats when i choose to practice. depending on the weather i may practice indoors, because i find it is difficult to stay focused when im shivering and it can get cold up here lol. but basically i try to blend my husbands beliefs with my own, and find a middle ground; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brecia Veonne Bloom on November 9, 2009 at 3:06am: Well, I have a funny family tradition to share....
My father's very proud of his Norse heritage, and when me and my closest sister were very young, he invented a fun Santa-substitute for us; Snori, the Solstice Troll. Every winter solstice, we would find a big burlap sack on the front step, with a rolled-up piece of parchment stuck in the twine at the top of it. The parchment was always written upon in runish-looking, silver-inked letters, and usually said something along the lines of 'Here's your stuff. If you open it before Christmas morn, I have permission from your father to take you both back to my cave for supper.' We always looked forward to winter solstice; we loved reading the letter, and hauling the burlap sack to the tree, guessing what we each got from Snori that particular year...... If I ever have kids (and that's a big if) I will pass on the legacy of Snori to my own children....
Blessed Be; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brecia Veonne Bloom on November 9, 2009 at 10:31pm: Thanks Nathan, I thought so!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amber Rose Potter on November 9, 2009 at 10:19pm: I love this thread! I really enjoy reading about everyone's traditions and I look forward to learning more as we approach Yule. I have not done a Christmas tree in a couple years, but now I have been inspired to put one up this year. Thanks to all for sharing. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amethyst Sunshine on November 10, 2009 at 1:28am: These are absolutely fabulous, thank you so much for sharing your traditions. It just occurred to me that I had a minor mental moment when I posted this last night, please let me know how you would like me to credit you for your traditions (i.e. by name, anonymously or any other way.); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alan on November 10, 2009 at 3:04am: I like to serve mulled cider and cinnamon cookies on Yule, and sacrifice baby formula and a baby toy for the newborn God. I don't really have any thing else in particular, although if this past Samhain is an indication, I'll be starting new traditions. My 4 year old INSISTED on a Samhain ritual to honor her grandparents dog and her pet fish, both of which died during the previous year, and my cat from a few years back (I am amazed she remembers him).
I suspect she'll likewise demand a Yule ritual.

I'll also be looking for a Yule party in the Madison area (hint hint).; ▶ Reply to This