Brightest blessings on the Solstice...

("The Holly King" by jpc-artworks.com)

"Yule is usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21st. It is a Lesser Sabbat in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. It is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year being the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth. The God's birth is symbolized by the return of the Sun, as from Yule onwards the Sun's power is no longer in decline, but begins to return towards it's height at the Summer Solstice. Symbolically the God grows along with the Sun, growing as the Sun gains in power, staying above the horizon longer and warming the planet more each day.

This time of year is also the Christian Christmas celebrated on the 25th December (yes there is a Pagan relevance to this!). But why the 25th? It is clear that the New Testament does not provide the slightest indication of the date on which Christ was born. Early Christian tradition preserved no knowledge of one, and different writers made different guesses, most preferring dates in the spring. The first absolutely certain record which places it on 25th December is the calendar of Philocalus, produced in 354CE. The reason for the choice of this date was stated by a Christian writer, the Scriptor Syrus, in the late fourth century CE:

It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took pat. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day."

Read the rest of this article, HERE.