In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice will happen on December 21st, marking the season of Yule. It is the shortest day of the year, while also marking the slow return of longer days. Winter begins, but also heralds the hope of spring.

At Stonehenge, Neolithic builders shaped the standing stones to frame the winter and summer solstices. On the winter solstice, the sun sets southwest of the stone circle.

The Winter Solstice also ushers in the pagan season of Yule which directly follows Samhain. Once again, fire is an important element of the festival, this time to denote the sun’s return. Yule logs were burned to symbolize heat and the returning sun. Of course, the massive fire brought actual heat as well during the cold nights.

According to legend, Yuletide is a celebration of the Holly King’s victory over the Oak King. The two kings engage in a constant struggle related to seasonal cycles. The Oak King of summer gives way to the Holly King of winter until the cycle shifts again.

Yuletide celebrations begin with the Yule Log, a full tree that was brought inside the house. It could be fed into the fireplace and burned from the bottom with the tree extending into the room. As the fire burned, the tree was pushed further into the hearth. Alternatively, the tree could be cut into 12 sections for the 12 days of celebration.

As to the feasting, excavations at Durrington Walls, a Neolithic village near Stonehenge, offer some interesting suggestions. Archeologists have uncovered 38,000 pig and cattle bones, the remains of about 1000 animals. It appears they were slaughtered at about the age of 9 months, so they would have been born in the spring. Animal sacrifices are thought to have been part of the celebrations.

Celts thought that the sun stood still for 12 days during the Solstice. During this time the earth is, in fact, tilted at its furthest point from the sun, which is why the sun is at its lowest point in the sky.

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Illustrations & A Few Sources

Stonehenge at Dawn Winter Solstice by Mike Peel; Wheel of the Year by Imbolc.cerddwr; Yule Log Being Brought into Hever Castle by Robert Alexander Hillingford; Position & Timing of Solstice. “Winter Solstice & Stonehenge” English Heritage. Catherine Boeckmann. “The Story Behind Yule & the Yuletide Season.” Farmers’ Almanac. Oct. 22, 2024.

The post YULE: A CELEBRATION OF WINTER SOLSTICE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice marks the longest night and shortest day. The day which marks the sun’s rebirth, and customs to bring light into darkness.

The Celts believed that the sun would stand still for twelve days. To ward off the darkness, they lit an enormous Yule Log, most often oak. While the log burned the Celts feasted. Each spark represented piglets or calves that would bring prosperity in the spring.

Celts also decorated evergreen trees by hanging candles on their boughs. The lights and ornaments represented the sun, moon, stars, and souls of those who died during the previous year.

Druid priests utilized two plants for ritual and medicinal purposes. Mistletoe was used as an anecdote to poison, a fertility talisman, and guarded wearers from witchcraft. Celts thought holly, with its ability to survive the winter, also provided protection.

Wassail was a favorite Yuletide beverage. The word wassail comes from two Anglo-Saxon words: Waes Hael, a combination of a greeting and a toast. Now, it’s a holiday drink made popular by wassailing songs. To hear Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Wassail Song based on the Gloucesershire Wassail, follow the link.

But what is Wassail?

I offer two recipes. See if you can guess which one I’d make.

Option 1:
The wassail bubbling in the picture is a mixture of 7 pints of brown ale, 1 bottle of dry sherry, a cinnamon stick, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and lemon slices.

Option 2:
Jenny at the Nourished Kitchen offers a more fulsome recipe for traditional wassail. The addition of egg helps the liver cope with all the alcohol.

To start: Scoop out the cores of four small apples. Fill each apple with a tablespoon of unrefined cane sugar, and put them on a baking sheet. Stud an orange with 13 cloves and add it to the baking sheet. Bake the fruit at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile: Pour 2 quarts of hard apple cider and half a cup of brandy into a heavy bottomed stock pot. Warm the mixture and whisk in 1 tablesppon of powdered ginger and 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Do not boil. (Oops – too late)

Make a spice bag: Put 6 allspice berries and 2 cinnamon sticks into a small square of buttered muslin. Float this in the wassail as it warms.

It’s time for the eggs: Separate 6 large eggs. Beat egg yolks. In a  separate bowl, whip egg whites. Fold yolks into whites. Pour half a cup of wassail into the egg mix. Take the spice muslin square out of the wassail pot. Pour in the egg mixture. Combine.

Finally: Pour entire mixture into a very large punchbowl. Float the apples and orange (remember them?) in the wassail.

Although Option 2 sounds amazing, I recognize I’m not a patient cook. Yep, I’ll go with Option 1.

Acknowledgements:

Featured Image: English Holly, Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Zoe Mintz. Winter Solstice 2014. Dec. 19, 2014. Here.

The Ancients: Tree of Life. Here.

The post WASSAIL & WINTER SOLSTICE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.