The tree is up, there’s holly on the mantelpiece, and someone has lit a candle and settled in beside it with a mince pie and a glass of something festive. Congratulations. You’ve been practising old magic all month without realising.
On 21st December the Wheel of the Year turns to Yule, and a surprising amount of a British Christmas started right here.
The word comes from the Old English geol. In the early 700s the monk Bede noted that the Anglo-Saxons called December and January Giuli, and tied the name to the moment the Sun turns back and begins to grow. Britain has been saying “Yule” for well over a thousand years.
The original long weekend
King Alfred is said to have given his free men twelve days off at Yule in the late 800s. Twelve days, because that was how long the festival ran. Sound familiar? When Christmas arrived it kept the shape, and the Twelve Days of Christmas are what’s left of it.
The log that was a whole tree
Forget the chocolate roulade. The first Yule log was an entire tree, ideally ash, dragged home, decked with evergreens and lit with a sliver saved from last year’s log. It burned for the twelve days, and its ashes were thought to bring luck and protect the home. The idea was simple: keep a fire going in the dark and the Sun would take the hint.
Look around your living room
Holly and ivy hold their green when everything else gives up, which is why the early English brought them indoors, as a reminder that the Earth was only sleeping. The feasting and the candles come from the same midwinter table, and so do the carols, which grew out of going door to door singing for food and drink. Christmas moved into Yule’s house and rearranged the furniture.
What it means for you
Yule is the festival of the hearth. It’s about who you gather around the fire, and what you want to keep warm when the world outside is dark. You don’t need a tree trunk.
On the 20th December, bring something green indoors. A sprig of holly or ivy will do, or a snipped bit of fir from the tree. Light one candle. Then say out loud, to the room or just to yourself, who and what you’re keeping warm this winter. Be specific. A person, a habit, a dream you haven’t given up on.
When the candle burns low, save the last stub of wax. Next December, light it before anything else, just as the old Yule log was lit from the last. It’s a small thread joining one year to the next.
Yule was never meant to be one night. If one night is all you have, it counts. If you want to go the whole way, light a little flame each evening until the New Year.
Tomorrow evening the Sun stands still and the longest night begins. Tonight, get the fire going.
Light your WYLDE MOON candle, gather your people close, and let the old magic do its work.
Reconnect. Realign. Rediscover your WYLDE. 🌙
