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| Photo from Celtic Queens |
“
The
Goddess gives birth to a son, the God, at Yule (circa December 21). This is in
no way an adaptation of Christianity. The Winter Solstice has long been viewed
as a time of divine births. Mithras was said to have been born at this time.
The Christians simply adopted it for their
[original emphasis] use in 273 C.E. (Common Era).
Yule is a time of the
greatest darkness and is the shortest day of the year. Earlier peoples noticed
such phenomena and supplicated the forces of nature to lengthen the days and
shorten the nights. Wiccans sometimes celebrate Yule just before the dawn, then
watch the Sun rise as a fitting finale to their efforts.
Since the God is also
the Sun, this marks the point of the year when the Sun is reborn as well. Thus,
the Wicca light fires or candles to welcome the Sun’s returning light. The
Goddess, slumbering through the winter of Her labor, rests after Her delivery.
Yule is the remnant of early rituals celebrated to hurry the end of winter and
the bounty of spring, when food was once again readily available. To contemporary
Wiccans it is a reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth, a comforting
thought in these days of unrest.
”
-
from “Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner” by Scott Cunningham
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