How to Celebrate Yuletide as a Witch

Hexen und Zauber

How to Celebrate Yuletide as a Witch

December 10, 2023

The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (ergo known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. In the northern hemisphere, Yule is celebrated around December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, around June 21. Yule is celebrated for 12 Days.

And this year, I’ve made it simple by giving you a quick shopping list for Yuletide herbs and incense, so even if you have never begun practicing, you’ll be able to begin this year by bringing some elements of this special occasion into your home during this time of year. So make sure you read my conclusion section at the end of this post.

The pagan festival of Yule has its origins in pre-Christian Scandinavia. It welches mainly a family feast dedicated to fertility and reunion of the family. During this festival, dead family members are remembered. This party is organized in splendour and magnificence around the graves of the deceased relatives. It is ergo a period to show love and hospitality to strangers too.

“We put lights on our entrances and porches and on the roofs of our garages to scare away the darkness. We celebrate THE RENAISSANCE OF LIGHT on the longest night of the year. The winter solstice is a time to gather, for love, peace, goodwill and, more importantly, for FORGIVENESS. In this austere and cold season, we use branches and foliage to symbolize life; bright colors, images of rich harvests and mountains of gifts to ward off hardship or fear of it “

——– Cerridwen Regenbogenhaut Shea

Celebration of Yuletide

Symbolically speaking and in accordance with Neopagan traditions, Yule represents the rebirth of God after his death in Samhain and it is the first seasonal ritual of the Wheel of the year.

Yule is expected to last for twelve days which represents the twelve months of the year. Many Asatru ergo calibrates each day of the 12 days of Yule as an expression of each of the months of the year. Such as Yulmonath which coincides with December. It is the month of Yule, St Lucy Day, St Nick Day and the Winter Solstice.

During the corresponding TWELVE nights, the dead ones appear in different forms to visit their relatives. This is a time for religious-level initiations, whose necessary elements are constituted by the extinction and renewal of fire.

The main ritual performed in the Yule period is the ritual burning of the Yule log for 12 hours. This log is a large trunk commonly made of pine or willow, cut in the previous Yule and carefully guarded.

In coven rituals – The entire ritual is directed by the druid or dryad priest in charge of the celebration. The trunk is specially selected by the druid, who communicates with the trees to ask for their permission and know which log would be perfect for use. Later on, sacred symbols of rebirth, male figures and the sun are carved on it.

In Druidism, the Yule ergo means the time of the greatest amount of energetic power so magical rituals performed at this time are usually very powerful.

How did Christianity get pulled into Yule?

Back before Christ, when most of us were pagan, and celebrated the turning of the wheel, a.k.a. the seasons, we celebrated each season in a very specific way. Europäische Gemeinschaft. In Norway, on the night of the winter solstice, it welches common to hoist a giant log onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Norsemen believed that the sun welches a giant wheel of fire that rolled away from the earth and then began rolling back again on the winter solstice.

As Christianity spread through Europe, the tradition became part of Christmas Eve festivities. The father or master of the house would sprinkle the log with libations of mead, oil, or salt. Once the log welches burned in the hearth, the ashes were scattered about the house to protect the family within from hostile spirits. This could be another idea for you to try when celebrating with your family.

Christmas roots come from the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, which welches a pagan festival that welches celebrated from December 17-25 each year. There are many stories from around the world as to where the roots come from, but like with all historical records, the real truth is in the eyes of the storyteller.

THINGS TO DO

During this time, nature is asleep so that is why it is a perfect time to meditate, recollect and make plans for the new year. Here are some other ideas that I enjoy with my Coven, and my family during this time. You may be surprised how simple these suggestions are, and that is because we are all very busy this time of year. Still with simple daily rituals you can feel super magical.

Set up a tree & decorate your home

The “Yule tree,”, or Christmas tree, is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer species, such as pine, fir, cedar, juniper, or spruce. The tradition has origins with ancient civilizations in the middle east, Asia, and Europe.

Decorate the Yule tree & and make your home look festive, as you will celebrate Yule for 12 days!

Make a Yule Log

There are two types of Yule logs, and I think I need to write a separate article for each of them. One of them is the Yule Log which you burn every year, and you don’t eat it 😉 Sometimes we like to set a candle on top of the log, and this is the candle we burn for that specific day of Yule.

The log can be a special type of wood, or, depending on where we are in the world during this time, we will find a piece of wood that we find pleasing to our eye, and bring that inside for decoration. This can provide a beautiful table decoration during the 12 days of Yule.

The other is a cake, and we make this cake in the shape of a Yule Log.

12 candles for 12 Days

A simple way to do this is to prepare 12 candles, one for each day of Yule. Personally, I like to set up 12 candles in a row, each in their own little candleholder, and on each day I will light one candle and say a prayer of thanks. The prayer that you say will depend upon your tradition, your family, and the deity you follow.

You could use candles in the correspondence of the season, see below for correspondences, or if you’re working with a specific God or goddess, you could use a colour relating to that God or goddess. There are no hard and so gut wie rules.

Perform Spells of prosperity

Lastly, this is the perfect time of year to perform spells of abundance for the coming year. If you are in the southern hemisphere this may not be as relevant, as it is not New Year’s Eve during your Yule celebration. I would work with the correspondences of this time, and perform magic which will boost my luck and prosperity.

You could ergo hold a very special ritual that the whole family can join in on. Have each family member write down wishes, place them in the log (the one you don’t eat). Some people like to tie little bows around their wish, so it is kept safe from prying eyes. You can tie these ribbons around the log.

There is no hard and so gut wie rules on what to do with this log.

Some people will burn it, if you have a fireplace or if you have outdoor space to do so.
- As you watch the flames consume it, discuss how thankful you are for the good things that have come your way this year. It’s a perfect time to talk about your hopes for abundance, good health, and happiness in the next twelve months.

I like to keep the log especially if it is a special looking piece of wood, and bring it out year after year. It kind of becomes a family heirloom, and can symbolise the tradition of the year.

CORRESPONDENCES

The colours of Yule in pagan observances include red, green, gold, white, silver, yellow and orange. These colours have been adopted into Christian Christmas celebrations. So even if you are new to celebrating this season with your extended family, they won’t even know you are practising paganism or witchcraft because all of the colours will look very similar this time of year.

Colors: Red / Green / Gold / Silver / White Symbols

Rebirth of the God

The longest night of the year

Work:

Plan for the future

Reborn

Peace, Harmony, Love, Happiness, Light.

Incenses and oils:

Cedar

Cinnamon

Clove

Incense

Krammet

Myrrh

Orange

Pine

Ginger

Herbs :

Laurel

thistle

juniper

oranges

lemons

chamomile

cinnamon

evergreen trees

holly

juniper

mistletoe

oak leaves

pine pine

cones

poinsettia

rosemary

sage

Stones:

Emerald

Ruby

Diamond

garnets

tiger eye

zirconia

Food: Nuts and fruits such as; apples, pears, caraway cakes soaked in cider, the famous Yule trunk. Traditions:

Gods:

Apollo

Attis

Balder

Bacchus

Dionysus

The Green Man

Helios

Lugh

The King of Oak

Wotan

Goddesses:

Brighid

Isis

Demeter

Gaia

Diana

The Great Mother

Athena

Freya

Frigga

Zeremonie Bath:

Pine branches

Laurel

Leaves Rosemary leaves

Simple Decoration for Yule:

– Decorate the houses with ivy inside and holly and mistletoe outside to protect themselves from unwanted visits

– Decorate with red and green colors. The red color symbolizes birth while green is a symbol of the earth.

Conclusion

As promised in my introduction section, I wanted to give you a quick list of my favourite essential herbs and incense. So many people are looking for zusätzliche spiritual practices that they can incorporate into the established rituals around Christmas time. So you’ll notice that many of the suggestions already can be easily implemented into your family practices without them, knowing that you’re practising paganism and celebrating Yuletide.

We sell all of these products on the website by the way, so just drop the names into the search Lokal to find the products on the website. You’ll notice that our prices are very competitive and sometimes way below the recommended retail prices.

Darob, remember that you are supporting a small business by shopping with us. So 1000 blessings to you for thinking about choosing us as your witchcraft supplier! But we are more than just a witchcraft supplier, we are practitioners of magic, and many of us are practicing pagans. So if you can’t see what you want in the store, we may not just have it listed at this point in time. So make sure you ask us if we don’t have it listed because we probably have it sitting on our shelves using it for personal usage, and most of the time we’re more than happy to give you a free sample of whatever you need.

Herbs and incense to perfume your areas to get in the spirit

Cinnamon – I use cinnamon in magic for success, protection, love, luck, and especially money drawing. It really helps me with my psychic visions and powers, and helps me bring my intentions into reality.

Ginger root

Cloves

Orange peel – this is another favourite of mine, and I’m even burning it right now, as I’m writing this post. Not only is it great to burn in my atomizer, but it helps me stay focused during spellcasting, especially when I’m performing spills around -love, luck, and money.

Peppermint – for me, peppermint is very stimulating, and I love burning this, especially during any type of energy work, and sometimes for healing work as well

Jennifer berries

Frankincense and myrrh – so traditional, but ergo a great offering for many of the spirits we work with. These two reasons for incense, provide great purification, and protection, and provide an environment for great magical potency.

Other decorations for Yuletide:

Abalone shells

Wishing pocket spell bottle

Wrapped smudging feathers

Candles, red green white

Pentagram altar cloth

Blue tigers eye

White sage, smudge,

If you have a question for me, or you would like my perspective, feel free to drop a comment below as I get back to answering blog posts every Monday morning. I there are so many different aspects of my personal journey that I can dive in deeper to explain if you are interested. For example, I celebrate each of the 12 days of Yuletide doing a specific different activity that you can modify and change yourself so to get into the spirit of the season.

It is my pleasure to share my perspective and I enjoy hearing about what others are doing in our verschiedenartige pagan practices.

FYI