Winter Solstice Traditions & Yule Celebrations
As we reach the longest night of the year, it’s time to celebrate the gradual return of the sun (even though the reawakening of Mother Earth is still months away). Wondering about how your ancestors celebrated winter solstice? Let’s look at how they did it in the coldest parts of Northern Europe a thousand or more years ago. Plus lots of things to try!
The story is filled with festive gatherings of family and friends; veneration of gods, nature, and ancestors; and, of course, a little magic.
Let’s explore the rich history of Winter Solstice celebrations and magical spells to infuse your 12 days of Yule with wonder and warmth.
Want to skip directly to the 3 Yule Spells You Can Do At Home? Scroll to the bottom of this post.
Almost all of today’s Christmas traditions predate Christianity. Bringing evergreen trees and branches into our homes and decorating them? It’s Yule. Mistletoe? Yule. Walking through town, singing merry songs of good cheer? Yes, it’s Yule again. Feasting and revelry? Yes, it’s all about Yule, the most wonderful time of the year.
All of these are magical folk traditions performed near the time of the new year with the purpose of repelling darkness and evil during this darkest time of year, and welcoming back the sun, light, and abundance.
Ancient Winter Solstice Traditions
Winter Solstice Vigil
Some believe that Druids and followers of other pre-Christian religions stayed awake all night on winter solstice to celebrate the return of the sun at dawn the next day. A few adventurous pagans keep this vigil even now. (Fellow former Roman Catholics, I wonder: Could this be the origin of Roman Catholic Midnight Mass?)
Yule Log
The Yule log, a symbol of the sun's return, is a focal point in many winter solstice traditions.
A large log, often oak or pine, is chosen and decorated with symbols of prosperity and protection. Families then gather to light the log, invoking blessings for the coming year.
Silent wishes may also be made while family members watch the Yule log burn.
In ancient times, the flaming log was large so that it burned as bright as daylight within the home (and provided warmth, too).
Some traditions retain a piece of the Yule log to kindle the next year's fire, ensuring continuity and connection to the cycle of nature. It may be stored under a bed to protect the home and bring blessings to the people within.
Feasting and Wassailing
Winter solstice was a time of feasting and celebration. It was the one time during winter when people ate to satiation, before becoming more frugal with food to be sure they wouldn’t starve by the end of winter.
The 12 days of Viking Yule (from Dec. 21 to Jan. 1 in the modern calendar) didn’t always last 12 days. The feasting continued only until the food and drinks ran out. Food for the feast featured animals sacrificed to the gods at the beginning of the Yule period. (Nothing went to waste.)
As part of the feasting and merriment, and, as a magical strengthening of orchard trees (in hopes they would bear abundant fruit in the new year) there was the tradition of wassailing.
The word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase waes hael, meaning good health.
Wassailing involves a procession through the orchards, toasting the health of the trees to ensure a fruitful harvest in the coming year.
Everyone gathered around the trees, singing songs and raising toasts to the spirits of the land.
The wassail recipe included ingredients such as: mulled ale (ale, heated and flavored with roasted apples, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar) plus eggs and clotted cream. It sounds like the unlikely mash-up of mulled wine and egg nog. It was served from huge communal bowls, made of wood, silver, or pewter.
Evergreen Decorations
Evergreens were seen as the strongest and most powerful because they remained green after all of the other trees became dormant for winter.
Bringing the outdoors inside, evergreen decorations symbolize that nature lives, even in the harshest of winters.
Trees were ornamented with lucky symbols for a prosperous and healthy year to come, as gifts to the spirits of the trees. Among other plants venerated at Yule, mistletoe was believed to possess mystical properties, promoting love and protection – and a symbol of strength and power, as it grows on the strongest and tallest northern tree, the oak.
Candle Magic
Lighting candles during winter solstice represents the triumph of light over darkness.
In Scandinavian traditions, the Yule candle, often red or gold, was lit on solstice eve and burned throughout the night to drive away bad spirits. In modern northern countries, you can still see protective and cozy candles in windows to light the way for passers by and add some good cheer in a cold and snowy landscape.
7 Simple Ways to Celebrate the Yule Season Now
Banishing the bad and inviting the good. Give your home a good cleaning and donate things you haven’t used in years — things that have a dead-energy feeling to them. Create space for abundance, joy, and peace to enter your life in the new year.
Bring the magic of nature inside your home. Take a winter walk, and gather bits of nature that call out to you: pine cones, acorns, evergreen branches, stones . . . whichever natural friends and allies energetically ask you to take them home with you. This is a time to make friends with local nature and connect with the spirits of your place.
Make your home a cozy nest during the winter season. Candles in your windows (whether natural or battery-operated) bring a feeling of magic, warmth, and joy during this dark season. You can incorporate candle magic into your own celebrations by lighting candles with specific intentions, such as prosperity, love, or healing.
Divination for the new year. Try tarot reading (free how-to-read-tarot guide here), scrying, or rune casting to ask questions about the coming year. Set aside moments to let the stillness of the season guide you in envisioning your path ahead.
Easy homemade gifts. Make decorations using some of the bits of nature you collected on your winter walk, or make homemade gifts using natural products. It’s easy to make scented candles, bath bombs, skin creams, or infused oils and vinegars. Recipes for fun projects like these are everywhere. Do an online search and find some ideas – you’ll probably already have most of what you need right in your kitchen. And infuse your gifts with blessings and positive intentions for each person who will receive them.
Cultural history feast. Let your Yule feast include dishes that have a cultural or family-history connection for you and your guests. If you usually serve dishes that have a special meaning in your culture, find out the history of these recipes, and share the stories and memories you have of these food-based touchstones in your life.
Family storytelling night. If you’re part of a family, this is the perfect time to share stories about your ancestors, so younger family members can learn about anceestors they’ve never met. Gather around a fireplace or in a candle-lit room to talk about beloved (or infamous) members of your family. Encourage everyone to share stories of resilience, growth, and tragedies as well as joy and accomplishments.
3 Magical Spells for the 12 Days of Yule
Try these anytime during the Yule season (Dec. 21 through Jan. 1).
Remember that spellwork is always an addition to (and not a replacement for) professional medical help, and practical steps to improve your situation.
Winter Simmer Pot Recipe for Health, Wealth, and Happiness
After you’ve thoroughly cleaned your home and donated a few bags of clothes and household items you no longer use, it’s time to bring in the blessings. (You can do this just once, or every day during Yule. There are no rules. Every magical working during this season should bring pleasure and joy. If you love doing it, do it again, as long as it feels good.)
In a medium-sized saucepan, combine:
2 oranges, cut into slices
2 cinnamon sticks (or 2 tbsp of ground cinnamon)
1 tbsp of whole cloves (or 2 tsp of ground clove)
1 apple, cut into slices (optional)
a few sprigs of fresh pine (optional)
4-6 cups of water (or just fill the pan half way) and keep replenishing it as the water evaporates
place your saucepan over low heat until the scent fills your kitchen
This mixture will last for about a week when refrigerated, so you may need to make it just once for the entire Yule season. Reuse it by putting it back on the stove whenever you wish.
Want the scent to be stronger? Just add more of the ingredients.
Now, for the magical part:
Carry the steaming simmer pot throughout every room of your home, while speaking (or intending) all of the blessings that you’d like to come true for you in the new year.
The blessings will be magnified if you carry the simmering pot through your home on at least three days during Yule, but it will also work its magic even if you do it only once.
Pine Cone Talisman for Any Purpose You Choose
Do you have one specific outcome in mind that you want to bring into reality in the new year? Try this pine cone spell.
You’ll need:
a small pine cone
a tiny slip of paper (I like brown paper because it’s the same color as the pine cone, but any slip of paper will do)
wax from a candle (a birthday candle is ideal) or a glue gun
Find the right pine cone
Find a small pinecone (or maybe you already have one at home).
Ask the pinecone if she will help grow your dream into being.
If you feel she says yes, do the working below.
If no, you can choose additional pine cones until you feel that one says yes.
Make your wish and assemble your talisman
On your tiny piece of paper, write your wish in as few words as possible. (Some examples: “I am well loved,” “I am completely healthy,” “I always have more $ than I need.”)
Roll the slip of paper toward you into a tight coil, drip a bit of wax on the end, and push your petition paper into one of the spaces in the pinecone, near the stem.
Hold the pinecone between your two hands and bring it close to your mouth.
Speak into it, explaining, in a little more depth, what you want to happen in your life throughout the new year.
Place your pine cone in a sunny window or place it at the base of a favorite pine tree in nature.
If you keep your pine cone indoors, you can burn it in a summer solstice fire on June 20 in the new year.
Winter Solstice Candle Ritual for Total Happiness
For this spell, oranges represent the power and beauty of the sun (which gives life and blessings to all of us). Cinnamon and sugar speed up the results of the spell as well as bring all kinds of sweetness and positive energy into our lives.
You’ll need:
4 round orange slices coated with cinnamon sugar (equal parts ground cinnamon and sugar)
4 white tea-light candles
a pen (to carve your intentions into the candles)
essential oils such as citrus, orange, pine, or cinnamon (optional)
paper and the same pen you used above (to write down messages you receive while the candles are burning)
Confide your wishes to the Sun
On a sunny day (if possible), cut four thin orange slices (about ¼” thick). Coat each slice with cinnamon sugar.
While cutting the orange and coating the slices, talk to the spirits of the orange and Sun,, asking them to bring you health, happiness, and prosperity every day during the new year.
Bringing the heat
Preheat your oven to 175°F.
Place your orange slices on a baking sheet (lining it with parchment paper, if you happen to have some).
Bake for 3 to 4 hours, flipping the slices every hour, so they don’t burn).
Remove the dried slices, and you’re ready for your spellwork.
Preparing your candles (you can do this while the oranges are baking)
Using your pen, carve a word or symbol into each of your four tea-light candles (for example, $$$ for money, hearts for love, sun symbol for health, or any symbol that has meaning to you).
If you are using an essential oil, place a drop of your oil on your ring finger and spread the oil on the surface of each candle in a clockwise motion.
Winter solstice candle ritual
Prepare a clean place to do your candle-burning ritual. If you have a designated altar, that’s perfect. If not, choose a place that won’t be tampered with by family members or pets. Be sure it’s a place where you can sit down in front of the spell craft that you’ll be putting together in the next steps.
On a white plate (or any light-colored plate), place an orange slice at the 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock positions.
On top of each orange slice, place one of your tea-light candles.
The space in the center of your plate is empty and it represents the unmanifested source that will bring all of your requested blessings into being.
Get comfortable, sitting in front of your assembled spell. Make sure you are warm and have something to drink, if you need it. Ideally, you would sit with your candles until they burn out. (With tea-light candles that could take 1-3 hours, so if that's too long for you, no worries.)
Light the candles, starting at 12 o’clock in a clockwise direction, and gaze at them as you slow down your breathing and become very relaxed. Try to just be there with no thoughts for at least a few minutes.
If you feel some insights automatically speaking to you, write them down (but don't try to analyze them or figure out where they came from). They may be some helpful guidance on how you can receive what you wished for.
Extinguish the candles (if they haven't gone out yet). You can finish burning them later in the day, or the next day, when you have time, or you can dispose of the orange slices and leftover wax now. You can eat the orange slices (symbolically eating the Sun and bringing it inside you, or you can dispose of the orange slices in nature, as an offering to a favorite tree. Remains of the candles should be taken outside to the garbage bin. Don’t dispose of your plate: Just give it a good washing in hot water.
If your spell succeeded, you should receive a sign within three days, and feel some small positive movement toward your wish or goal within seven days.
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