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(This is excerpted from my forthcoming book: Rethinking the holidays: A simple guide to making traditional Heathen holy days make sense for you)
From the Latin adventus, meaning “coming,” this is the Christian build-up to Christmas–a time of preparation and waiting. However, given all the Pagan traditions the Catholic Church has borrowed, I don’t see why we can’t borrow this one. For me, the portion of the year from Samhain through Yule is so important that it feels appropriate to emphasize it even more by including more devotional and celebratory days, and these days are linked with local folklore traditions, which are becoming increasingly important in my own practice. It’s important to remember, too, that many of these days were superimposed upon even older Pagan/Heathen observances—or at least, I believe so, judging by the Pagan symbolism that survives in their customary celebrations and lore. Many of the saints were superimposed over the images, customs and personalities of Pagan deities, too!
Not all of the Catholic advent days are appropriate or significant for me, of course. But among the days I mark with at least some type of observance this year are the following:
St. Martin’s Day – November 11th
This was the first slaughter feast after harvest, and thus could be regarded as the “official” beginning of winter. Farmers finished their work for the year and left an offering of bread, cheese, wool and flax for “St Martin,” who could be seen riding on a white horse through the sky on the eve of this day.
St. Barbara’s Day – December 4th
St. Barbara is a rather obscure Christian martyr who was locked up and persecuted by her father for her faith. Her day is associated with foretelling prosperity and luck in love, and I set it aside as a time to honor Gunnlod.
St. Nicholas’ Day – December 6th
Sometimes associated with Odin, sometimes with various other Pagan Gods (most notably Poseidon, in Greece), St. Nicholas (a fore-runner of Santa Claus) has many attributes in common with Odin: both have beards, carry a staff (in Odin’s case, a spear), and ride on a white horse. St. Nicholas has a black servant named Zwarte Piete (Black Peter), while Odin has two black ravens. On the eve of St. Nicolas’ Day in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the fireplace for St. Nicholas’ (Odin’s) horse, and He would replace the horse food with gifts of candy. This evolved over time into the modern Christmas custom of hanging stockings to be filled.
St. Lucy’s Day – December 13th
Lussinata, or Lussi Night, was in the unreformed Julian calendar the longest night of the year. The Lussi, a female demon, was believed to ride through the air on this night with her followers, the Lussiferda. I see in this an obvious parallel with Frau Holle and Her own version of the Wild Hunt, which is believed to be made up on the souls of unbaptized children (although I doubt baptism had anything to do with it; probably any children who died in childhood were eligible). Between Lussi Night and Yule proper, trolls, evil spirits and the dead were thought to be especially active. It was especially dangerous to be out on Lussi Night itself, which was also known as the Perchtennacht (blackest night).
In Scandinavia, St. Lucy’s day is still celebrated, and one girl in each town is elected to represent Lucia, and is dressed in white with a red sash and a crown of lit candles (another probably echo of Frau Holle). She leads a procession of other women dressed in white and carrying candles, a symbolic lighting the way against the darkness of this night.
St. Thomas Day – December 21st
The astronomical Winter Solstice, and start of the traditional “smudging nights,” during which the home is purified with smoke and herbs to drive away unfriendly spirits. A very good day to honor Thor, as warder of the Gods.
Yule – December 21st or 22nd through New Year’s Day
For me this is both the peak of the festival year and the height of my spiritual year, a time for intense work with Odin, the dead (which in my case is not just limited to the human dead) and the Wild Hunt. This is the season when (in Scandinavian tradition) the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, and the Gods, the dead, and other denizens of the other worlds walk among us with the greatest ease. The holiday begins on the eve of the Solstice with Modranect, or Mother’s Night, when the mothers of the Gods as well as the mothers of one’s own line are traditionally honored and Their blessings on the household are sought for the coming year. In our household, the emphasis is on the mothers of the Aesir clan, but especially Frigga, Gunnlod, and Bestla, Odin’s mother who in my own UPG I equate (more or less) with Frau Holda.
For the remainder of the Twelve Nights of Yule, my focus is on family, both living and dead, as well as on those among the Gods I count as Family. It’s a time for feasting, toasting, boasting of accomplishments and making plans for the coming year, and enjoying quiet time at home with loved ones. All of the Gods are honored and gifted, but chiefly Odin, whose role as Wild Huntsman is at its height during these “raw nights”—considered by our spiritual ancestors to be the most dangerous nights of the entire year. We smudge the entire house on these nights, and also spend a lot of time in solitary trance work, communing with the dead, and with Odin and the Hunt. We consider it especially important to include the land wights in our gifting as well during this (in most climates) fallow time of year, and of course we never forget our house wight. If you like to brew, this is a good time to start mead for Midsummer.
Folk customs:
Yule falls approximately on the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day and longest night of the year. After the solstice, the days begin to grow longer until they reach their longest point at the Summer Solstice in June. Thus, at Yule we celebrate the promise of the return of summer at the time when winter is at its darkest and the winter storms are at their fiercest and most deadly. The name of the festival is most likely from a root word meaning “wheel,” perhaps referring to the turning of the seasons. The holiday traditionally encompasses thirteen days, usually counted from the night before the solstice (which falls on December 21st this year–2005), to the thirteenth night (later called “Twelfth Night”). Bede (in De Temporum Ratione) called the night before the solstice “Mother Night,” and it is thought this night was devoted to honoring the Disir, female ancestral spirits. Modern Heathens often choose to celebrate Mother Night on the night before the solstice and Twelfth Night on December 31st, to coincide with New Year’s Eve.
Yule is both the holiest festival of the Germanic year and the greatest and most widely celebrated folk festival, a time for feasting, drinking and fellowship. Frith between everyone—Gods and mortals, living and dead—is strictly maintained. The holy feast is the central focus of Yule celebrations, and it is traditionally considered important for every household to host the most elaborate feast it can afford. Family and friends are welcomed into the home to share in the bounty, along with Gods and ancestors. Offerings are left for the house wights who have aided and protected the home throughout the year, as well as for the otherworldly wights (trolls, alfs, spirits of the undead) who are out and about at this time of year. If possible, the Yule feast should include traditional foods such as mutton or leg of lamb, goose, pork, and beef, special Yule breads, porridge, apples, sweets and nuts. In ancient Heathen times, the holiest oaths of the year were sworn upon the sacrificial Yule boar as it was led around the hall before being taken off to be slaughtered for the feast. Sumbels held during all the days of Yule are considered especially powerful, being sworn before all the Gods and ancestors at the time when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, but those sworn on Mother Night, the solstice itself, and Twelfth Night are especially holy and binding. Yule ale, which is brewed to be stronger than other ales, is considered holy and should be used for this occasion if it is available.
Traditionally, all mundane work (especially anything connected with the textile arts) stops on Mother Night and does not resume until after Twelfth Night. This is because during Yule the focus is supposed to be on family, frith, and honoring the wights of the season rather than on worldly pursuits. Also, Wyrd is especially active at this time of year, oaths are being heard and accepted by the Gods and the ancestors and becoming part of orlog, and any mundane weaving might potentially interfere with the weaving of the great fabric of Wyrd.
Other Yule customs include:
- Wassailing: An English custom from Heathen times, in which a drink called wassail is made from ale, wine, and/or cider with fruits and spices added, and is poured out as an offering to apple trees to ensure their continued fruitfulness.
- Gift-giving: This custom originated in Heathen times. Small gifts (especially spiritually relevant ones) can be exchanged on every day of Yule.
- Decorating with evergreens: The evergreen tree, which keeps its greenery throughout the year, is a symbol of life thriving even in the depths of winter, as well as a representation of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. (Many Heathens consider Yggdrasil to be best represented by a yew tree, but it is not advisable to bring a yew tree or its branches inside the house if you have small children or pets, as all parts of the tree except its berries are poisonous!) The custom of having a Yule tree inside the house originated in Germany, and the custom of decorating it probably originated in the ancient practice of tying offerings to tree branches. Boughs of evergreen, holly and ivy are also traditionally used to decorate the house. In modern times, a wreath is sometimes used as an oath ring on Mother Night, and burned at the Twelfth Night blot.
- Yule log: Traditionally, a large, garlanded log was brought into the house on Mother Night and set ablaze, with hopes that it would burn for all Twelve Nights of Yule. This was to help Sunna make it through the longest night of the year, as well as to keep dangerous wights out of the house. In modern times, people without a fireplace can use a large candle as a substitute for the Yule log, or a series of candles can be lit in succession and allowed to burn for at least part of every day of Yule.
Further ideas:
Yule is a time of death and darkness, when trolls, ghosts and other dangerous wights roam freely, but it is also the time to celebrate the return of the waxing Sun and Her promise of renewed life and light. It is a festival of darkness and light, death and growth, remembrance of the dead and anticipation of new life, all in one. It is the coldest time of year, when physical activities—especially outdoor ones—are difficult and possibly even life-threatening. Animals go into hibernation, and likewise for humans the emphasis is on drawing within, on staying within the home and welcoming family and friends in, while taking precautions to keep out potentially harmful intruders. Mundane work is set aside and time is spent in fellowship with family, friends, the beloved dead, and the Gods. It is a time to be aware of the dead, honor them, and tell their stories—old family tales and chilling ghost stories alike—and to meditate on the intertwined nature of life and death that characterizes the holiday. It is an ideal time for introspection and taking stock of the year that has passed, as well as making plans and setting goals for the year ahead. What has died a necessary death and now needs to be abandoned or given a proper burial? What can be reborn? What should be nurtured for further growth, and what new seeds can be planted in the spring? These questions should be considered carefully in the taking of Yule oaths. The days of Yule are the most powerful for setting wyrd and making magic, as well as for interacting with Gods, other wights, and the dead. Yule marks the border between one year and the next, although its days not considered truly part of either year; it is a liminal time, a time that is separate from the usual mundane happenings and from mundane time itself. The worlds draw closer together, the veil between them weakens and thins, and beings of the other worlds walk freely in our own. Odin leads His Wild Hunt forth from Valhalla to ride the winter winds, to bestow gifts on the deserving and punishments on the wicked, and to bless the dormant fields with fertility in the coming year. Freyr leads forth the inhabitants of Alfheim to visit human households and bestow blessings or curses as deserved, and Thor also rides out in his goat-drawn wain to battle Jotnar (who many Heathens believe are active during this season in the form of winter storms) and drink and feast with the folk. The honored ancestors and beloved dead are closest to us and easiest to contact at this time of year than at any other, as well.
On Mothers Night the worship of the ancestral mothers, the Disir and Matronae, plays a central role, with the woman of the house usually leading the festivities. Freyja as Vanadis, and Frigga as “Dis” of the Aesir (alongside, in our kindred, Bestla and Gunnlod), are also often honored by modern Heathens at this time. On this night, offerings are also made to the house ghost in thanks for its help in maintaining the household throughout the previous year.
The solstice itself is the most important day of Yule; with the onset of winter, the veils separating realities are thinnest, the dead and otherworldly beings are most free to wander the earth, and humans are closer to the spirit world than at any other time of year. For me, Yule night is primarily Odin’s, as this is the night when the Wild Hunt is most active. His heiti Jolnir and Julfather specifically tie him to this holiday, but so do a lot of His own attributes, including His keen interest in seeing into wyrd and manipulating it, His dual nature as a God of life and death, and His passion for delving into the secrets of the past and of the soul itself in search of wisdom. Most of all, of course, Odin is the shaman of the Gods, the one who wanders between the worlds and between realities at will, and Yule is the most liminal time of year, a time when other unearthly wights are free to do the same.
Freyr is also especially honored at Yule, the Yule boar on which oaths are sworn being sacred to Him as a representation of His own golden boar, Gullinbursti. While the winter storms rage outside, Freyr offers the hope of new life, nurtured deep within and waiting to burst forth like a seed buried in the frozen earth. As mound-lord, Freyr also has a deep connection with the ancestral dead, particularly those who remain earthbound to guard and advise their families.
New Year’s Eve – December 31st
Twelfth Night begins the New Year and is a night of heavy orlog, when the patterns that will influence wyrd throughout the next year are laid. Sumbel oaths made at midnight on Twelfth Night are very powerful and very holy.
Thorriblot – January 2nd
January 2nd is the traditional end of the “raw nights”—the dangerous time surrounding the Solstice, when the veil is thinnest and spirits at their most active. I think it may also be a good time to observe Thorriblot, even though it’s usually celebrated later in the month. Thorriblot is a rather odd holiday which in modern times many people have reworked into a festival for Thor, but which in Scandinavia was actually in honor of Thorri, a winter spirit, most likely one of the Jotnar. The whole idea of the festival seems to have been (especially in Iceland) the eating of disgusting foods, washed down by copious amounts of liquor, in celebration of having made survived the winter up to that point. This seems a very appropriate addendum to New Year’s Day.
Three Kings’ Day/Befana’s Day – January 6th
In Austria and some parts of Germany, this day is also known as Perchtag, or Perchta’s Day, in honor of Frau Holle or Perchta. Manifestations of Frau Holle in Her various forms are often reported seen on this day. In Lower Saxony, She is a grey-haired lady with long teeth who leaves New Years’s gifts for industrious spinners and punishes lazy ones. In Hesse and Thuringia, She is a beautiful woman in white with long shining hair who ploughs Her fields with the help of Her “Heimchen” (the unbaptized dead children). In one story, a traveler who helped repair Her plough was rewarded by three wood shavings, which had turned into gold when he got home.
La Befana, the Christmas witch of Italian folklore, is believed to be a survival of the Roman Goddess Strina, an old woman who arrives riding a broomstick and wearing a black shawl. On the even of January 6th she brings candy (traditionally figs, dates and honey) to all the good children of Italy, and leaves ashes, coal and garlic for all the bad children. As she is an impeccable housekeeper, she will often sweep the floor while she is there, too. The family often leaves her a glass of wine and a small plate of food. Although this is an Italian tradition, I see some correspondences with Frau Holle here.
Candlemas – February 2nd
The official end of the Yule season. See Charming of the Plough, below. (Sorry, you’ll have to buy the book to read more!)
- Valgrind
Posted in holidays, my path, odin, the Aesir, the Hunt, the Vanir, woden, writing, yule
itchy
THE REGRETSY ALCHEMY FUND
accomplished
