When it comes to holidays in the winter season, the most well-known tend to be Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Some holidays have been generally forgotten in modern society because they were celebrated mostly by ancient people, or those considered to be pagan. Those who celebrate this holiday do not follow the Abrahamic religions around today, but were instead mostly polytheistic. One of these holidays is Yule, a celebration of the winter solstice. In modern times, Yule is still celebrated by those who practice Wicca, the use of magics and rituals in present times.  Senior Alanna Bell has done research on the more pagan holidays around the world.

Yule goes back to early Germanic peoples (tribal folk around the time of Vikings), who would celebrate this holiday on the darkest and shortest day of the year. 

“The goddess gives birth to her son, the god. The god is representative of the sun as well.” said Bell. “Yule is meant to be perceived as the rebirth of the sun,” 

Each year when the god is “born again,”so is the sun.  When the sun is at its most prevalent temperatures in the summer, it’s heat gradually decreases until the winter is over, and spring begins anew. With the start of spring, the temperature begins to warm up more and more until the summer solstice, the middle of the summer and longest day of the year. 

One way to celebrate Yule is by creating a Yule tree, which you can plant or cut. This aspect is fairly similar to the Christmas tradition of the Christmas tree, as both trees are decorated. Only, Yule trees are decorated a little differently. Yule tree decorations can range from popcorn to cinnamon sticks to crystals. 

If you have heard of Yule, odds are that you have heard of the Yule log. The Yule Log is one of the most commonplace things when talking about the holiday and also another way in which Yule is celebrated. The burning of the Yule Log physically represents the rebirth of the sun, as the god is reborn from the fires of the log. Yule logs are oak or pine by tradition, and they are decorated by carving a figure of the god into it.

Traditional Yule foods include nuts, fruits, cakes, and pork. Hibiscus tea and wassail are some Yule beverages. Whether you are celebrating for the same reasons as when Yule was first celebrated, or just making some decorations and changing things up for the holidays, Yule can be a fun and different holiday to celebrate.