Hi Readers,
Tomorrow is the Winter solstice which marks the beginning of the winter season at least in the Northern Hemisphere. For the southern hemisphere you will be celebrating the start of summer. What ever you are celebrating I hope you enjoy it and you have a great time. Yule is another name associated with this day as well which for many people it is a celebration of the return of light as this day is known as the longest night. From what I have read in books and online Yule is associated with feasting, decorating a Yule tree, and decorating the yule log which will be burned. I have also read of people saving a portion of the log until the next year. Yule has other associations such as lighting candles to symbolize the returning light. Of course, the rituals and celebrations may depend on the tradition, path, and practice. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out stuff within books and on YouTube. Several people associate Yule without the New Year instead of Samhain. For me, I can see both sides to this as Yule falls around the time closer to start of the calendar year.
For me, I also see the dark as part of the celebration. I think it is important to celebrate the dark as it is the longest night. I think the darkness has an energy of its own. Darkness allows us to go within and through doing so we can learn about ourselves in addition to the world around us from a different perspective.
Further, I thought I would share my altar. During this time of year, I normally use lots of candles but this I decided to use crystals instead, but I do have a candle inside the cauldron. Further, I feel that fire can be illustrated in different ways in addition to what symbols it will look like on someone’s altar. I chose a white cloth represent winter and purification, red and green to represent the time of year in addition to what is happening within nature. Although this time of year is not about water, I chose seashells to represent it because when I think of water I think of the sea. Further, I chose a red piece of carnelian to further represent fire. I also placed a small citrine point to represent the Sun.
I choose to watch the Sunrise as part of my celebration as it signifies the transition between seasons for in addition to celebrating the return of the light as well. Lastly, although I can not see every aspect of the sun rising, I can still appreciate it through my other sense and what I do see with the vision I have. For example, as the Sun rises, I see the changes from the darkness of night to gradual increase in life. In turn, this indicates the changes within nature which will gradually occur as the days lengthen in light, and the rebirth that occurs in the spring.
I wish you all a happy and blessed Yule/Solstice!!
Many Blessings!!