Yule To Go - preliminaries...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Nov 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

tarotbear	30 Nov 2001
At Samhain we rushed through a round robin ritual to a degree of success. I have been asked if we are going to have a 'Yule To Go' one- so let's do some thinking here and do the actual ritual in a separate posting so that we do not clutter it up with sidebars and whatnot. Yule is the time of darkness leading to December 21, the shortest day of the year- after which the days will become longer. The darkness triumphs, yet gives way to the light. The sun is reborn, giving life and hope and the promise of summer. Various traditons celebrate various concepts such as the Holly King, the darkness destroying the light, The Goddess giving birth to the Sun. This can get pretty diverse even if it all leads to the same end. Any ideas - Discuss them here. Hopeful plan to start ritual is Wed Dec 5th. Also- last year we had a separate thread of 'Pagan Carols' and other seasonal postings- are we going to do that again this year? I hope so!

tarotbear	30 Nov 2001
OH- the structure for the ritual will be - Cast the circle by quarters. Invoke the goddess and god. Discuss what the season represents to various members of the fourm. Create a central ritual with creating darkness, then restoring light.( That means we light the Yule Log!) Partaking of cakes & ale. Thanking the goddess & god. Dismissing the quarters. Opening the circle. I served as ringmaster/HP on the Samhain one. Would someone else like to run this one instead? :) We will also be seeking a HP/HPS for Imbolc/Candlemas on Feb 2, 2002.

cj	30 Nov 2001
Tarotbear, I obviously can't participate, but I do have to tell you (and everyone else) that I love the celebrations. The Samhain was very moving.. cj

Kiama	30 Nov 2001
I'm definitely up for this one, and can't wait to get it all started... And I vote in favour of Pagan carols... Well, I think the ritual outline sonds wonderful so far, but have no ideas to contribute. (Sorry for being so useless! I'm not a very experienced person when it comes to ritual....) Kiama

cayacia	30 Nov 2001
so...you guys are going to explain Yule? That would make me a happy person! ;D I'm sure if I asked my "teacher" he wouldn't have much to tell me really. I would be really interested in knowing what it was all about, since I've led a sheltered christian household life :p

cj	30 Nov 2001
Quote: cayacia (01 Dec, 2001 10:22): so...you guys are going to explain Yule? That would make me a happy person! ;D I'm sure if I asked my "teacher" he wouldn't have much to tell me really. I would be really interested in knowing what it was all about, since I've led a sheltered christian household life :p Tarotbear, Do you mind doing "Wicca 101 part 3". Cayacia isn't the only sheltered christian. cj

jade	30 Nov 2001
this is wht my friend does for yule with her children and how she explains it. i think she does a beautiful job! ~~~~~ "We celebrate it as the birthday of the sun- it falls around Dec. 22, on the winter solstice- the birthday of the sun because it is the longest night, and shortest day of the year and then when the sun is "born" that morning the days gradually become longer once again and the nights shorter. So this has all sorts of symbolic meaning-all of us have taken a journey to the underworld and things have gotten dark for us, and then we emerge into the light, and isn't that a time for celebration?! The goddess is giving birth to her sun. here is a quote from Celebrate the Earth: "Winter Solstice marks a point of dramatic natural change on Earth. This is simultaneously a time of balance and change. From this point on the sun rises earlier and earlier, each time adding a little more of his light and warmth to the cold and silent days of winter. On Yule we honor the Goddess, Mother Earth, for giving birth within her womb during the darkest time of the year from Samhain to Yule, so does she create the light at Winter Solstice." I love Yule! The celebration starts on the sunset of the solstice and ends on the sunset of the next day.... It is such a happy, joyous holiday, a celebration of light. We celebrate it by letting the kids sleep in their clothes, and we will get up early before sunrise, and go to the natural rec park for the sunrise. I am going to bring hot chocolate to keep us toasty (major coffee for me! ) and we make a big deal about how the sun is rising and being born (night before we read the story). And when it does we jump around and holler and celebrate. Before we leave, we will be stringing a tree with a string of dried berries, pine cones dipped in peanut butter and rolled in birdseed and popcorn,ect. for the wildlife. If we or the kids are having one of those "off" days, we will simply go into the backyard to witness the birth, and string a tree there for the wildlife. But its really special to go someplace wild and trek in the early morning snow! When we come back we walk into a darkened house- in the table as the centerpiece is a big candle (I have rubbed with eo, ect) and pine cones or whatever I decorate around it) and we are all quiet and we light the candle, and this symbolizes the birth of the sun too. I just say something simple as I light it, like "and the goddess gives birth to her son, the sun, and we feel his light all around our hearts today." We make a big breakfast of banana nut pancakes or waffles with yellow food coloring (tumeric) to symbolize big suns. During the day, we keep it pretty mellow- I think if you have to many planned activities you can feel pressure. But things to do as a family for options are making yule cookies, when kids are older you can do all sorts of designs like make a cookie rune set or what have you. Make a snowman in front of a window and make it with edible things for the birds. This year, Indio is really into birthdays so I will be baking a cake with a candle, and we will sing happy birthday to the sun- that is a real way he can understand the holiday right now I think. Paper snowflakes, homemade yule tree decorations... At night a special dinner, and we exchange one present with the only requirement is that it is homemade. I think this year I might make Indio a tape of his favorite songs, and Ben a book with pictures I take of all his favorite things/people. I love the idea in Celebrating the Great Mother about building a sacred cave with the kids! What a great book! When the kids are older I want to do stuff like put on a small play about the birth of the sun, and other ideas.....gotta run, kids! Shawna"

tarotbear	01 Dec 2001
Wow- that sounds like a ritual in itself!

arizonagirl	02 Dec 2001
Can't wait to get this started!! There were some things in the Samhain thread that I would have incorporated into my celebration had it been done earlier. Already from Jade's post I'm getting ideas.

Major Tom	03 Dec 2001
Quote: arizonagirl (02 Dec, 2001 23:59): Can't wait to get this started!! There were some things in the Samhain thread that I would have incorporated into my celebration had it been done earlier. Already from Jade's post I'm getting ideas. I echo this. }> I'm up for the ritual. Even though I don't really know anything much about Yule - I'm positive I'll have something to contribute. }> My girlfriend and I both really enjoyed and benefited from our Samhain ritual and are both definitely looking forward to Yule.

New River	03 Dec 2001
Ahhhh, i am loving this. i have always had to do my rituals and celebrations alone. altho they are always nice and uplifting, it is great to have others to share these sacred holidays with. i have no contributions to make at this point, but love hearing others. love, light and hope, New River

tarotbear	05 Dec 2001
Put on your thinking caps, folks - we are going to start casting the circle by Friday, Dec 7th, or we will run out of time. Guess I'll be ringmaster for this one, too.

jade	05 Dec 2001
someone has to lead and i think that you will make a great one tarotbear. in light and love, jade :-)

arizonagirl	05 Dec 2001
[quote]New River (04 Dec, 2001 04:59): Ahhhh, i am loving this. i have always had to do my rituals and celebrations alone. altho they are always nice and uplifting, it is great to have others to share these sacred holidays with. As a solitaire, I agree! It's like a cyber coven.

MsPisces	05 Dec 2001
Having a cyber-ritual for Yule sounds like a great idea. I participated in a real time cyber Samhain ritual and it was wonderful. ~MsPisces

tiger lily	05 Dec 2001
I would participate if I had an idea what I´m supposed to do... I tried to find the samhain ritual to have a look but every time I click on the link it says "internal server error"... :(

tarotbear	06 Dec 2001
tigerlily- I think it was (creatively) titled 'Samhain to go'.

Kaz	06 Dec 2001
I really liked the ritual for Samhain here on the boards, I wish I could contribute to this one, but I have none whatsoever religious background. Which doesn't mean I don't have ideas about it though. Maybe I'll just give it a try and post some, if it's rubbish the moderator push DELETE button. Kaz

arizonagirl	06 Dec 2001
The "Samhain to go" ritual was in the chat section.

jade	06 Dec 2001
kaz, i would never delete a post of yours or anyones just because it's rubbish! LOL :D i only delete posts that are flaming (extremely rude) or double posts (made by error) so post your thoughts and you may be surprised at how wonderful they truly are!!!!! in light, the moderator

tiger lily	06 Dec 2001
Ok, I *finally* found the "Samhain to go" thread (thanks Tarotbear and Arizonagirl for helping me :-) ) and I think it´s awesome! So I´m here, ready for the Yule ritual. And I think it´s great that you´ll lead us on, Tarotbear, you did a phantastic job with the Samhain ritual (beware, this may become a regular job ;-) )

purplelady	06 Dec 2001
Jade, your friend's yule rituals sound like a heck of a lot of Fun! ! :) . My parents are jewish , and my (ex) husband's family was Very Christian. Then I found wicca. When December rolled around , I felt obligated to celebrate christmas , hannaka AND Yule! The kids expected Hannaka And Christmas ,menorrah candles, a Christmas tree, and gifts for both occasions. And god forbid I disappoint them or the grandparents! I'm tired just Thinking about it! Well , now the kids are older. I told them sorry , we're dropping hannaka :-D . They're All male and think I'm a wierdo for (ahem) "celebrating the moon" :) . Or the birth of the sun in this case.

tarotbear	08 Dec 2001
'Become a regular job' !!! :0 :0 :0 Unaccomstomed as I am to speaking in public (cough, cough, cough!!) :-0 I think the next holiday (Candlemass/Imbolc) might be better served by a female HPS running it.

tarotbear	10 Dec 2001
In the informal section ( after the invocation of the Goddess and God, I'm hoping people will SHARE things that have happened, explain the Holly King/Oak King story for the non-wiccans in the group, discuss things like when Jade talked about her friend and what she does with her children. Tell us about things that went wrong in a ritual! I went to a Yule celebration where no one brought a Yule Log! And it was part of the Ceremony! Once the invocation is made, I will let the informal part run for 4 or 5 days so that anyone can join in and discuss this season.

jade	12 Dec 2001
i just posted my experience, as i remember it, with the yule log in last year's ritual. if i wasn't supposed to post it yet, let me know and i'll delete it. in light, jade

tarotbear	15 Dec 2001
We are moving into the central core of the ritual. I actually had a scare- the 'Enchantress' CD I bought last week was missing and I wanted to include her song 'Bring back the light'. It turned up in the carrier I used to carry my camera and cards to a party in. Not sure where this ritual will go, but if anyone contributes, there should be added a growing number of candles, so that by the time we end the ritual the room is full of bright candlelight when we snack on the cakes and ale. Note for the non-pagani: Cakes and Ale is a term for the social part of the ritual still done within the magick circle. You do not have to eat cakes or drink ale!

MeeWah	15 Dec 2001
Jade: Your description of last year's Yule Log experience is very appealing! Thank you for sharing :)

tiger lily	16 Dec 2001
Quote: tarotbear (15 Dec, 2001 17:02): Not sure where this ritual will go, but if anyone contributes, there should be added a growing number of candles, so that by the time we end the ritual the room is full of bright candlelight when we snack on the cakes and ale. Hm... how about a gift-giving ceremony? When a woman gives birth, friends usually bring a small gift for the baby when they visit her - and Yule is about gifts anyway :-) This is the darkest time of the year, winter depression abounds ;-) and the birth of the light is a symbol of renewed hope and peace. So I was thinking, everyone could bring a gift to the newborn Sun-king in the form of a talent that he/she will use in the coming year to carry the light out into the world. As each candle is lit, each promise made, we can see the light´s growing strength. What do you think? And I like Jade´s Yule log ceremony. Perhaps we could combine the two (since everyone has a lit candle by then with hot wax to drop on the log)

jade	16 Dec 2001
what a great idea. why don't we put our wishes into the wax....outloud (as tigerlilly suggested) and then not blow out our candles until the end! jade

tiger lily	16 Dec 2001
Yep. First we give *of* ourselves, then we wish something *for* ourselves. Should be nice.

The Yule To Go - preliminaries... thread was originally posted on 30 Nov 2001 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.