YULE / YULETIDE
Sunset of the Winter Solstice ( approximately December 20th )
Now are Hárr’s sayings said in Hárr’s Hall, helpful to the sons of men, but of no help to etins’ sons!
Hail the one who speaks them; hail the one who knows them! Gain the one who gets them, hail those who hear them
Outline for Yuletide Sumble
A. Calling of the Folk & Seating The Valkyrie seats the guests. The Thule greets them all. B. Declaration of Sacred Time The Sumble-Drighten with introductions explanations and invocations. The Valkyrie then blesses the mead container in the names of the Dísir and Nornir. She then pours it into the drinking horn and hands it to the Sumble-Drighten. It is usual for a ritualized excahnge to take place between the sumble-drighten & the Valkyrie. C. Rounds D. Ending of Rounds The Sumble-Drighten announces the rounds closeds and guides us as we wend our way back to our stead, back to our time, encouraging us to go forth with mighty moods and great deeds. E. Libation of the Holy Mead. The Valkyrie pours the contents of the hlautbolli into the earth while saying, “From the gods, to the earth, to us… from us, to the earth, to the gods. A gift for a gift.” Incipiebant autem annum ab octavo Calendarum Januariarum die, ubi nunc natale Domini celebramus. Et ipsam noctem nunc nobis sacrosanctam, tunc gentili vocabulo Modranicht, id est, matrum noctem appellabant: ob causam et suspicamur ceremoniarum, quas in ea pervigiles agebant
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The first night of Yule
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Why is Yule so important?
Excerpted from an article by Godi Edred Wodanson
It is an end... and a beginning. Like life itself. The old year ends... the new year begins, and it is the official beginning of Winter. A time to take stock of the past, and plan for the future. Some feel that the 12 days of Yule can be viewed as microcosms of the previous 12 months, giving the practitioner a chance to review and meditate upon the current year that's about to end. In this way, the Tru man or woman can also use this time to lay plans for the coming year. Hence, the first day of the 12 days of Yule, gives us a chance to review January or "Snowmoon", of the current year, and also lay plans for the upcoming month. This proceeds through the 12 days of Yule and through the 12 months as well, in miniature, until the last of the 12 days of Yule, which is also the last day of the month of Yule and the last day of the year in question. A magical time to end the old things and begin anew!
This is the time of the Winter Solstice... An astronomical event that has been preceded by a period of lengthening nights and short, dark days. A time of deep darkness and cold. In fact, on the actual day of the Winter Solstice, there are few minutes of daylight than on any other day of the year. A very dark time for our ancestors, before electricity, TV, central heating, etc. A time of extreme cold and dim light - exactly the opposite of the Mid Summer Festival. However, on the day after the 21st (Winter Solstice), the daylight begins to lengthen, only by seconds at first, but now the Sun, the giver of life, is returning and it is a time for celebration! It is a testimony to our ancestors intelligence and awareness that they were able to pinpoint this particular occurrence, and realise the significance of this time of the year. You can't grow crops in the dark, shortened days of winter… you can't plant seeds in the frozen ground. All of this was cause for tremendous celebration when Winter's back was finally broken, and the warm, green days of Spring lay just ahead.
It was also a time for contact with those who had gone before. With the dead ancestors of the celebrant. Maybe its extreme length of darkness each night, maybe it's the cold, death-like grip of Winter. Maybe it's the fact that "death" reigns supreme at this time of year, as all the plant of summer have either died or become dormant. Whatever the reason, those who follow the old religion know, from personal experience, that it is a time of magic, and contact with the spirits of our ancestors and even the gods and goddesses themselves. It is a good time to cast the runes for the coming year. It is an end, like the end of life. And it is at this same time a beginning, like birth. A magical time!
This is the time of the Winter Solstice... An astronomical event that has been preceded by a period of lengthening nights and short, dark days. A time of deep darkness and cold. In fact, on the actual day of the Winter Solstice, there are few minutes of daylight than on any other day of the year. A very dark time for our ancestors, before electricity, TV, central heating, etc. A time of extreme cold and dim light - exactly the opposite of the Mid Summer Festival. However, on the day after the 21st (Winter Solstice), the daylight begins to lengthen, only by seconds at first, but now the Sun, the giver of life, is returning and it is a time for celebration! It is a testimony to our ancestors intelligence and awareness that they were able to pinpoint this particular occurrence, and realise the significance of this time of the year. You can't grow crops in the dark, shortened days of winter… you can't plant seeds in the frozen ground. All of this was cause for tremendous celebration when Winter's back was finally broken, and the warm, green days of Spring lay just ahead.
It was also a time for contact with those who had gone before. With the dead ancestors of the celebrant. Maybe its extreme length of darkness each night, maybe it's the cold, death-like grip of Winter. Maybe it's the fact that "death" reigns supreme at this time of year, as all the plant of summer have either died or become dormant. Whatever the reason, those who follow the old religion know, from personal experience, that it is a time of magic, and contact with the spirits of our ancestors and even the gods and goddesses themselves. It is a good time to cast the runes for the coming year. It is an end, like the end of life. And it is at this same time a beginning, like birth. A magical time!
A description of heathen Yule practices is provided (notes are Hollander's own):
It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to the heathen temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it, horses also; and all the blood from them was called hlaut [ sacrificial blood ], and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood; and hlautteinar, the sacrificial twigs [ aspergills ]. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over them. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat. [Hollander (2007:107).] The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the gods Njörðr and Freyr "for good harvests and for peace", and thirdly a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. These were called "minni [memorial toast]"
It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to the heathen temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it, horses also; and all the blood from them was called hlaut [ sacrificial blood ], and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood; and hlautteinar, the sacrificial twigs [ aspergills ]. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over them. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat. [Hollander (2007:107).] The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the gods Njörðr and Freyr "for good harvests and for peace", and thirdly a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. These were called "minni [memorial toast]"