The First Day of Yule

A peaceful Solstice and a joyous Yule to those who celebrate.

Also Happy Christmas, Channukah, Kwanza, Saturnalia, or whatever else your personal traditions might have you celebrate instead. May the season bring you what you need.

I was raised with a Christmas tradition, mostly British from my Mother’s family with a little bit of Scandinavian influence from my Dad. But in the decades since leaving home to find my own way in the world, I’ve come to hate what North American culture has done to Christmas (more on that another day). We’ve deliberately adopted the idea of Yule as a compromise, making the entire holiday period about family and friends instead of mass consumption and spending money we don’t have.

To vastly oversimplify, Yule is where the 12 Days of Christmas comes from. Beginning on the Solstice (which is today, beginning at 04:20 EST) and lasting 12 days/nights (which means the last day of Yule is New Year’s Day, at least this year). Germanic Pagan in origin, so it takes in both sides of my family tree (although one side not completely, even to the best of my knowledge). And a large chunk of my wife’s.

We haven’t adopted all the standard “pagan” Yule traditions, just the parts we like, so the decorations have trended more towards the idea of bringing a bit of nature into your home and the traditions we’re forging or more making sure we’ve got the most important parts of solstice holidays in general and reminding ourselves of times when the turning of the seasons were much more important to existence and survival.

What are the important parts? It’s all about family, friends, and togetherness. So there are special foods and drinks and playlists, extra movie and board game nights, and a lot of just general hanging out together. Participation is not required, though if you’re in the house when dinner is served, I do have the expectation that you sit down to eat it with us.

Speaking of eating special foods, I still have some shopping and menu prep to do.

Be well, everyone. Through the season and beyond.