Despite our twenty-first century lives being largely removed from or disconnected from nature, I’ve noticed that the cadence of daily life is often tied to the seasons. What I love about the framework of the Celtic calendar or the Wheel of the Year is its gentle rhythm – eight festival days spaced evenly throughout the year at the solstices, equinoxes, and the cross-quarter days in between. Every six weeks, the Wheel offers a little celebration, a moment to pause, notice, and honor the world around us. Yule, the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere, is coming up next week on December 21st. Here’s a little background on the holiday and some gentle ways to mark this moment of the year with your friends and family.

Background: 

Yule traditionally marks the halfway point of the winter season. After the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the days again begin to grow longer, signaling new beginnings. Like many winter celebrations, Yule is a celebration of light. The traditional holiday season can be hectic and stressful for families. Slowing down to acknowledge the Winter Solstice can offer a path toward a more peaceful time together in the midst of the chaos. Yule is centered more on nature and the natural rhythms of the year than our modern holiday traditions, which is why I was drawn toward it in the first place.

I think of Yule as a time of reflection. A time where we can consider the year that is coming to a close and decide to let go of what no longer serves and prepare our minds and bodies for the year to come. This cold, dark period of the year encourages us to not only spend more time at home, in rest, but also to become more reflective about our lives. 

There’s this delicious juxtaposition between living through the depth of the winter’s darkness balanced with the knowledge and the hope that the light and warmth will soon return. As the turning point of The Big Dark, I think Yule is the perfect time to build community with a small gathering to focus our thoughts on the way that the light will soon return and consider what else we may be ready for. With our minds on the “rebirth” of the sun, we can also focus on renewal, change, and new beginnings in our own lives.

The origin of the word Yule is still debated among linguists, but many trace it to Iul, the Old English word for “wheel.” This etymology beautifully ties the season to the Celtic Wheel of the Year, where Yule marks the time of stillness and dormancy that makes way for new growth in spring. It is a reminder of the year’s circular rhythm and the deep interconnectedness of all things. In keeping with this symbolism, we hang wreaths or string dried orange slices—bright tokens that honor the turning of the wheel from darkness toward light.

Activity: 

To celebrate Yule with your friends and family, you can….

The Yule Vibe: Decorate your space with candles (especially gold or yellow to symbolize the returning sun). Adorn your home with natural elements like holly or mahonia, cedar or fir boughs (there is usually a lot of windfall this time of year!), or snow berries symbolizing renewal and life through the winter. Put on a simmer pot of fresh cranberries, orange slices, sprigs of pine or rosemary, thinly sliced apple, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and star anise to leave on the stove for several hours to infuse your space with a festive aroma. 

Burn a Yule Log: Traditionally, a large log of wood is burned in the fireplace, representing the return of the sun’s warmth and bringing good luck to the home. You can decorate your log with wax or markers, writing down the gifts you’re grateful for this past year or lay out your wishes for the one to come. You could even mark your log with the things you release from the past year and watch them burn to ash. You can invite friends over to a fire pit in your backyard or even organize a campfire pit in a local park.

Yule is a celebration of Light!  Use candles in various colors and add fairy lights or holiday lights to your space. Dress in sparkling outfits that reflect light for your celebration and add (biodegradable) glitter to your hair or beard!

Enjoy a Yuletide Feast: Have a potluck of traditional winter dishes like hearty stews, spiced nuts, dried fruits, and homemade baked goods. 

Journal prompts: As Yule marks this time of stillness and dormancy that makes way for new growth in spring, in what ways can you prioritize rest this winter? Are there any habits or projects that have run their course and are ready to be composted so that that energy can be devoted to generating new life? 

Yule Craft: Make Decorative Stars from Paper Bags! Using this tutorial from Manda at the Merrythought. https://themerrythought.com/diy/diy-paper-bag-stars/

Materials: Paper lunch bags, glue (any glue will work: Elmer’s, hot glue, glue stick), scissors, hole punch, string or fishing line.

For a video tutorial, watch here: DIY Paper Bag Stars

1. Count out the number of bags you’ll need. For standard size lunch bags you’ll need to use 7-9 bags, I like to use 8 or 9, just for a slightly more bunched look. For the smaller size paper bags, you’ll need to use 12-14.
2. Add glue to the back of each bag, along the bottom and up the center.
3. Stack another bag on top (facing the same direction), press in place and continue adding glue and bags. 
4. Once you have all the bags glued together, cut the tops of the bags off, forming a point or whatever shape you want. (If you’re using a lot of bags, they can be hard to cut through, so I recommend making two stacks of glued bags, cutting as desired, then gluing the two cut stacks together.)
5. Open the bags to make sure the ends meet, add more bags if needed.
6. Cut small triangles or other shapes into sides of bags to create designs if desired.
7. Once the bag is cut as desired, add more glue to one side. Open bags and hold sides together for a minute to let glue dry.
8. Using the hole punch, make a hole in one of the bags, loop the string through, and tie off.