Yule: what Midwinter means to me

Yule fire: what Midwinter means to me

Yule’s drawing near. While I don’t follow a specific religious path – wondering why? You can read all about it here– I do celebrate midwinter big time! Since nature and her rhythms are very important to my craft, it’s only a matter of course. Plus, my family and I love a good party.

Yule: our midwinter is a time to go within

For us it’s a time to first go within and later to celebrate. On the former: we remember the year that has passed, let go of what needs to be released so we can focus on the year to come. Because it’s a time of remembrance, it’s also a time to rekindle fond memories of dearly departed and of good times had by all. But we also remember that we’re still here.

On the latter: we celebrate that there will be yet another year to live life to the fullest. In the deep of winter we realise the days will now get longer and the nights shorter. That the wheel of time has once again turned and we’re moving towards a new spring, even though we still have a lot of cold months ahead of us.

Come on baby, light my (new) fire

Because light and life are such an important part of this celebration for us, fire is always a big element in our festivities. We use the old fire to burn all that we want to release. We then extinguish the old fire and spend the longest night without any form of heating. After the longest night, we build a roaring new fire and the celebrations begin.

This is only a small part of the goings on in our house during midwinter, but it’s an important one and I wanted to share it with you. What traditions do you uphold in this time of the year? I’d love to hear…

 

P.S. still looking for a nice yule present? How about a membership to the Hagetisse website… loads of information on plants, remedies, healing and magic. Check it out here…