Yule Activities

Yule Activities

 

Sing pagan solstice carols. Appropriate ones are: Deck the Halls, the Holy and the Ivy, Joy to the World, Tannenbaum, Wassailing Song, Green Growth the Holly. And there are others that can be slightly altered to fit Yule.

 

Decorate the Solstice or Yule tree. Decorate pine cones with glue and glitter as symbols of the faeries and place them in the Yule tree. Hang little bells on the Yule tree to call the spirits and faeries and purify your space. Decorate with items symbolizing what you want in the new year. Hang gold, yellow and red balls to symbolize the God and the Sun.

 

Light an enclosed candle, and let it burn through the night.

 

Stay up until sunrise to welcome the strengthening Sun.

 

Make a wreath decorated with pine cones.

 

String popcorn and cranberries and hang them on an outdoor tree for birds.

 

Glue the caps onto acorns and attach a red string to hang on the Yule tree.

 

For prosperity, burn ash wood.

 

Symbolically act out the struggle between the Holly King (an older man) and the Oak King (a younger man).

 

Yule blessings: wreath on the door, mistletoe indoors, food and clothing donations, sunflower seeds outside for birds, ring the bell to greet the Solstice Morn, and perform magick for a peaceful planet.

 

Gather up Yule greens after 12th night and save. At Imbolc, burn the greens to banish winter and usher in spring.

 

Consecrate the Yule tree — asperge with salted water, pass smoke of incense through the branches, and walk around the tree with a lighted candle saying:
By fire and water, air and earth,
I consecrate this tree of rebirth.

 

Make wassail: 2 cups cranberry juice, 1/4 cup grenadine, 1 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup rum (optional). (taken from Green Witchcraft by Moura)

 

Make classic eggnog.