Wednesday, December 20, 2006
YULE
Yule is one more cog in the "Wheel of the Year." In fact, it means "wheel." It is also called Winter Solstice. Yule is the longest night of the year and the point when the days slowly begin to lengthen again. In Pagan theology and myth, Yule marks the rebirth of the Sun, the promise that light and warmth will return after the cold months.
It is a fact that the Christian church chose this time of year, only a few days later, for the birth of their God's Son, to replace the birth of the Pagan Sun God. Yule is sacred to all infant Sun/Som Gods - Horus, Apollo, Bel, Baldur, Yeshuah, Sol - as well as the Horned God as Winter King. It can also be sacred to Goddesses such as Lucina, Arinna, Amaterasu, Bast.
Our quiet time of reflection after the New Year (Samhain), following the harvest, comes to a close. We are reminded of the coming spring and thoughts turn once again to gardening and the new Spring of Life. We start looking through the seed catalogs even though there are months of cold winter left, for the new born Sun will grow in strength, lengthen the days, and bring warm
Spring once again.
This Newborn Sun is the Great Mother's gift to the world, and this is reflected in our gifts to friends and family. Giving is a statement of faith in the abundance to come and in the love that survives the coldest of winters.
It is a fact that the Christian church chose this time of year, only a few days later, for the birth of their God's Son, to replace the birth of the Pagan Sun God. Yule is sacred to all infant Sun/Som Gods - Horus, Apollo, Bel, Baldur, Yeshuah, Sol - as well as the Horned God as Winter King. It can also be sacred to Goddesses such as Lucina, Arinna, Amaterasu, Bast.
Our quiet time of reflection after the New Year (Samhain), following the harvest, comes to a close. We are reminded of the coming spring and thoughts turn once again to gardening and the new Spring of Life. We start looking through the seed catalogs even though there are months of cold winter left, for the new born Sun will grow in strength, lengthen the days, and bring warm
Spring once again.
This Newborn Sun is the Great Mother's gift to the world, and this is reflected in our gifts to friends and family. Giving is a statement of faith in the abundance to come and in the love that survives the coldest of winters.
