So many things happening as the seasons shift.
We have the Winter Solstice and Capricorn season starting on December 21st and we have Yule kicking the season off on December 21st with the lighting of the yule log on ‘Mother’s Night’ which is actually December 20th.
The story of Mother's Night can be found across various cultures, though the Germanic and Norse folklore are well known around this marked celebration. Jenn Campus, the author of ‘A Guide to Celebrating the 12 Days of Yule’, writes thoroughly around the traditions and practices, as well as providing recipes and activities in her e-book.
“The celebration of Mother’s Night taps into the deep-rooted acknowledgment of the power of our maternal lineages. Across various cultures, the matriarchal line holds a reservoir of wisdom, strength, and resilience. The Mothers we are talking about when we speak of Mother’s Night are our healthy and vibrant female ancestors who have transitioned into the halls of their mothers before them and, therefore, speak and act with the authority of the lineage as a whole.”, states Campus.
I thought I’d write this blog post about Yule and Mother’s Night as keeping up with my ‘New Traditions’ series that I started at the Spring Equinox. So, the following will be highlighting some ‘new’ traditions that I’ll share for holiday inspiration.
This celebratory night begins Yule by honoring our wise women ancestors who have come before. It is so similar to the way Christianity honors Mother Mary during this season, except I personally feel a greater connection to the Mother’s Night practice because I am honoring mostly women who I’ve known and some that I have only imagined knowing within my family.
There is folklore around the woman who carried the sun during this time, as if to say she was pregnant with the sun. Depending on the culture her name changes, in Norse culture it is Frigga, in Egyptian it is Isis, in Grecian culture her name is Leta and so it goes for other cultures continued. Many cultures share this idea of a woman/goddess who gives birth to the sun ‘son’ at this time during the Winter Solstice.
The connection to the time of year December 20th -21st is the longest/darkest night of the year and from that point forward moving towards the Spring Equinox the sun will make its journey back to us. We celebrate and honor the sun by lighting a yule log, traditionally the log burns until morning and the way it burns determines how the winter season will go for you and your family. There are more resources I will link at the end of the blog.
In Norse folklore there are faerie folk called ‘disir’, translating to lady. To please these faerie folk you leave extra treats on your Yule altar (the one you created for your maternal line) so that their mischief is kept at bay.
For me, I created this year’s yule log at a workshop and the log itself has three candles inserted in it. Instead of burning the log on December 21st, I will be lighting the candles on Mother’s Night and replacing them (if needed) until February 1st when I will then burn the yule log in the fire pit ending the yuletide season.
Aside from baking and braiding bracelets, two symbolic activities mentioned in Jenn Campus’ book, (both very typical and enjoyable pass-time activities of winter) all connecting us to our mothers through the joining of the past, present and future and giving us time to express our creativity, she mentions another way to honor our mothers and women folk ancestors. The activity is called the ‘Maternal Memory Jar’.
The activity asks you to “write down a memory, lesson, or piece of wisdom you associate with your mother, grandmother, or any maternal figure in your life. This could be something as simple as a recipe, a saying, a song, or a detailed memory”.
You can decorate the jar in anyway to honor your maternal lineage using anything that reflects your connection to your ancestry. You can refer back to the jar any time after today when you feel you need some maternal advice or nurturance.
This is a new tradition for me and I can’t wait to instate it this Mother’s Night.
The winter solstice is a time of inner reflection and a time of growth that happens under the surface. Beginning the season with a foundational, reflective few activities sets us up for a long winter of creative pursuits that are only being shared and explored in the confines of the home amongst family, if that even. If you feel more called to just work with oneself and not let even the act of your creations, be observed, tis the season.
The 20th to the 31st will certainly be a time to connect to nature and source, a time for gratitude and reflection and a time to share and be alone. Nurturing sacred cozy memories with my daughter and family will be high on the priority list as well as nurturing my own creations during this season.
As for me, this winter season will likely be a mix of classic Christmas and ‘new’ old Yuletide traditions. The importance is embodying the connection to the ‘reason for the season’, not trying to do it a particular way.
I plan to spend my time in nature creating winter crafts suitable for a 2-year-old! Pine cone bird-feeders, reindeer food and watercolor snowflakes just to name a few. I, myself am excited for sound baths, reading, writing and crafting up new communities come new year. I am looking into digital art as well because that has been striking my fancy as of late. Any recommendations on iPads and digital drawing send them my way!
As we create I’ll share what I can.
In my opinion, what traditions are created from and for are preservation of ‘what is’, which is such a Capricorn theme. If a tradition, new or old, is going to last within a family legacy it needs to stand the test of time (again so Capricornian) and the way I’d measure that is by looking at the wisdom within the story, in this case of Yule and the Winter Solstice, the story of the sun’s return. I’d then ask how can this wisdom be embodied in a way that meets you and your predecessors where you + they are? If the traditions can be innovated and kept up with the changing times and carried forth, forward they will roll.
What Yule and celebrating the solstice and the equinoxes stands for is the sacred connection to the earth and the ebbs and flows of the land and how that reflects inside of us and within our communities. That is a story with a strong foundation in ‘what is’. These are stories that carry weight because they can be seen and felt not only in the land but within humanity and other beings a like.
Happy Yule + Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all.
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Nicole
Clickable Resources
Podcasts: Magick & Alchemy episodes- 7 (Winter Solstice), 8 (Yule), 46 (Winter Magick), 120 (The Underworld in Winter)
Books: ‘A Guide to Celebrating the 12 Days of Yule’ by Jenn Campus. (This is only available as an e-book download)
There are many other resources available on Yule and Winter Solstice, happy sourcing!
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