Category: Yule – Winter Solstice

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Dec 31st – The 12th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Dec 31th – Spiritually & Physically cleanse of the House, Thorr & Sif, Divination Spread of the New Year

The twelfth day of Yule we celebrate the final day of the year.

On this day we honor Thor and Sif. Thor and Sif will aid you in blessing your house for protection and driving out the last of the Yule Spirits. We cleanse our home spiritually and physically. It’s the last chance in our current year to do a reading for the New Year.

THOR

Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of mankind, hallowing, and fertility. Sif is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth, wheat, fertility, and family.

Tonight, you will be honoring Thor and Sif, as well as blessing your house for protection and driving out the last of the wandering Yule spirits who are still between the worlds. It was traditional to end the Yule festivities by “chasing the Yule out”.

SIF

In familial and social matters, Sif is an ally to those who would seek to foster peace between disputing parties and can be called upon as an agent of frith (‘peace’) and hospitality, and the marriage and oath bonds which bind together families and peoples. She is usually a gentle Goddess, but do not mistake that gentleness for weakness; She is, after all, the bride of thunder, and sometimes a very strongly worded talking-to, or a firm guiding hand, is what is necessary to keep the often-complicated relationships within families and groups running smoothly.

Honoring Thor

There are countless ways to honor the thunder god. Prayer, libations, blots, living your life honorably and bravely, going outside and planting an oak tree. The standard stuff! Really any way that you want to would be a good way, just so long as it is honorable. Leaving on your altar Thor’s hammer figures, model goats (ideally pulling a cart), weapons, shield, metal lightning-bolts, rainwater, garlic, leek, onion, hawthorn, houseleek, tormentil, oak.

Honoring Sif

The best offering for Sif’s frithful aspect is faithful action and striving to cultivate the discernment to see what that may be in different circumstances. Bringing one’s best self to Her worship is always valued. Rumormongering and slander are contraindicated for a successful long-term relationship with Her.

Spiritually & Physically Cleansing of the House

Today, spiritually and physically cleanse your house. One way to accomplish this is to burn herbs which were traditionally associated with driving away evil energies (namely Mugwort and Juniper in the northern traditions) and fumigate the house, starting from the back of the house and working your way to the front and out the front door. Fire and iron were also believed to drive away malicious spirits, and one could carry fire or iron through the house with prayers for Thor’s aid. Take the ashes you saved from your Yule log and sprinkle them across the doorways for protection.

Divination Spread of the New Year

It’s New Year’s Eve! Final day to practice magic in this year before we move on to the new one. The best practice is a large grand reading for the New Year. No matter your style of reading there are a lot of research and help online. Traditional practice was Runes, and the most common reading was selecting a rune for each month. There are a lot of card spreads for seering into the coming year.

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Dec 30th – The 11th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 3 Minutes

Dec 30th – Good luck into the coming Year

Good luck into the coming Year, Idunn and Bragi, Wassail

The eleventh day of Yule is for Idunn and Bragi. We honor this couple with singing, cheer, and baking. A festive activity that honors Idunn and Bragi is Wassailing. Pick a fruit tree, and wassail the fruit, then sing to the fruit tree. These activities will bring good luck, and cheer into your home.

IDUNN

In Norse mythology, Idunn is the goddess of spring or rejuvenation and the wife of Bragi, the god of poetry. She was the keeper of the magic apples of immortality, which the gods must eat to preserve their youth. She is gentle and pleasant to be around. If invited into your life she brings hope and youth. Her presence encouraged positive energy.

BRAGI

In Norse mythology, Bragi is the god of poetry. He is associated with the skalds, the talented poets and musicians of Viking Age culture. He is the husband of Idunn. Long-bearded Bragi is a Winter god of leisure and entertainment when the work of the harvest season was over, and folks settled into the long months of cold and snow. In the less active months of Winter, a skald would be a great asset to any longhouse! Storytellers, poets, and singers always held a place of honor in cultures that maintained an oral tradition.

Honoring Idunn & Bragi

Honor Bragi by leaving musical instruments of any kind; well-written, impassioned books, music scores; the words to good poetry and songs; Herb Bennet and Purslane on your altar. If you play instruments, this is the perfect time to play for your house, your guest, and for Bragi. As a storyteller of old, he will appreciate storytelling!

Honor Idunn by leaving apples (real or made of semiprecious stones or carved); potted plants, herbs, and flowers; apple blossoms, fruits, and fruit blossoms; gardening tools, a drinking horn on your altar. It’s difficult to honor Idunn in her traditional way as she’s a goddess of Spring. Baking anything with apples in it is a good way to honor what Idunn offers us.

Wassailing

The word Wassail is ultimately derived from the Anglo-Saxon greeting “wes þú hál” meaning “be you hale”. It’s a hot mulled drink that was traditionally drunk on 12th night but was also drank throughout the 12 days of Yule in England. The ritual of Wassailing was held to pray for a good apple harvest, in which the town would encircle the largest apple tree, sing a traditional song, and place pieces of toast soaked in wassail in the branches for the birds (and the spirits).

Today, make wassail in honor of Iðunn. If you have a fruit-bearing tree at your home, you can wassail your own tree and pray for its fruitfulness in the next year. If you don’t own a fruit-bearing tree, you can either find such a tree in a park or in the wild or find a friend who would like their tree to be wassailed. Offer the tree and the spirits (and the birds!) pieces of toast dipped in wassail, left in the tree’s branches.

Here’s a good wassailing recipe: Wassail with Apple Cider and Sweet Spices – Nourished Kitchen

Good luck into the coming Year

It’s getting very close to the end of the year. Performing the ritual of wassailing would create good luck into the new year. There are several ways to invite good luck into your home in the coming year:

  • A small elephant ornament, elephant-shaped cushion, or pottery object brings good luck, protection, wealth, and wisdom as this animal is a sign of good luck, understanding, and loyalty.
  • Fish are lucky and symbolize good health, prosperity, happiness, wealth, and power. If you have an aquarium, do some work with it today, change out the plants, and give it a fresh start for the fresh year.
  • Using crystals such as rose quartz, bloodstone, turquoise, smoky quartz, and others brings love, happiness, prosperity, good luck, relieves stress, improves creativity, and provides peace of the mind and soul.
  • Plant and herbs with rounded leaves close to the entrance create peace and balance. Putting Irish moss under a doormat brings good fortune and wealth. Similarly, keeping 4 leaf clovers and hanging aloe Vera is very lucky.
  • A Tortoise represents longevity and has the power to spread positive energy. Tortoise animals control the energy in an individual’s life. If you place a tortoise or a turtle in the backyard of your workplace or home will result in a huge availability of energy.
  • Hanging wind chimes at the entrance pulls prosperity and good luck. Hanging it on the place of eating, sleeping, studying, or working prevents positive energy so never do this.

Just remember you do not want to enter the New Year with clutter in your home, mind, heart, or soul. Decluttering is very important today and tomorrow.

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Dec 29th – The 10th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Dec 29th – Looking into the New Year, Enjoying Nature, Freyja

Looking into the New Year, Enjoying Nature, Freyja

The tenth day of Yule is about looking in the New Year, enjoying the seasonal landscape, and honoring Freyja. This evening Freyja will aid you in your divination. Traditional Bleigiessen style is used, but you can do a reading in any style you are comfortable with. This is also the time that the landscape has really changed to winter. Take a walk, and build a snowperson!

FREYJA

In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seidr (‘seer’). She lives in Folkvangr (‘Field of the People’), rides a carriage drawn by cats, and is connected not just with love and lust but also with wealth, and magic, as well as hand-picking half of all fallen warriors on battlefields to go into Odin’s hall of Valhalla – the other half being selected by Odin himself.

Looking into the New Year

Today we will honor Freyja in her aspect as seidkona (‘magic woman’) as we ask for guidance regarding the coming year. Call upon Freyja to aid you in divination for the New Year. Any style of divination is acceptable, it must be the way of divination that’s most comfortable to you. Runes, tarot, Lenormand, scrying, to name a few styles.

In Germany, some families divine their fortune by using Bleigiessen (lead pouring). Small bits of lead or tin are melted and then dropped into water. The form created by the metal is examined to determine the future. Candles can also be used, pouring candle wax into water and then interpreting shapes in the wax.

Offerings for Freyja

Make sure to give an offering to Freyja to thank her for her assistance. She is fond of champagne, strawberries, chocolate, amber incense, and flowers. Any act of love is an offering to Freyja, as is strong feminine energy and independence. She enjoys honey and flowers meaning a strong flower tea sweetened by honey is a nice drink to leave her on the altar.

Enjoying Nature

Depending on where you live this task is completed differently. The change of fall to winter is complete, and now you may have snow. Winter Solstice happened a while ago but it’s not generally until this time of December that the PNW starts seeing a real winter landscape. Maybe a few days before or a few after. Go out, if it’s safe, and take a nice walk in the changed world. Bundle up and enjoy a fire, inside or outside.

If it’s safe to go out, time to make some winter fun. Snowball fights, snowpersons, snow angels. Collect some fresh clean snow up in a jar, the first Yule snow will melt but the water will be perfect for magic.

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Dec 28th – The 9th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Introduction

Begin Tiding up for the New Year, Njordr and Nerthus

The ninth day of Yule is for Njordr and Nerthus. On this day we celebrate the time before the New Year. We honor Njordr and his kindness. We honor Nerthus by giving back to the earth. The home, heart, mind, and soul need to be tidied up before the New Year. Finally, we will make plum pudding to enjoy with friends and family, with a little surprise inside.

NJORDR

In Norse mythology, Njordr is a god among the Vanir. Njordr, father of the deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed sister, is associated with the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility. Some consider the mysterious German goddess Nerthus to be his female twin/counterpart. Njord is often content enjoying whatever the other Gods are being offered, and he’s also often happy to share his offerings with any other deity.

NERTHUS

In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. A goddess of the earth, promoting peace and prosperity wherever her image was taken. Nerthus and Njord form a divine pair, much like the other two Vanir deities whose names are almost identical to each other, Freyr and Freya.

Honoring Njordr & Nerthus

Today you honor Njordr and ask that this Yule season and into the new year you would be blessed with his kindness and prosperity. Best to leave an offering of mead for him, if you have no mead and strong barley tea as wheat is a perfect offering. A very good way to honor Nerthus is to pay attention to how you honor the earth.

Historically, Nerthus’s offerings were often thrown into bogs, so giving your offering into a body of water would be particularly meaningful. Bogs are hard to find. Nerthus’s offerings of food and drink are cooked or soaked grain pottage, root vegetables, fresh produce, bread, wild-gathered herbs, beef, pork, dark rich stout – the sort of “beer that drinks like a meal”. Leaving fresh produce near water as offerings for Nerthus also feeds the fauna and enriches the earth.

Tidying up for the New Year

We are coming to the end of this year and should start next year with as empty a plate as possible. Today is the day to wrap up the end-of-the-year projects. Check your bills, clean out your closets, and donate those items you don’t need. Set up the new year’s calendar with all the coming important events. We need to create new space for items in the new year to exist. If you’ve been wanting to change up your space, best to do it now!

Plum Pudding

For your desert tonight, make a plum pudding. Bless a silver coin in the name of Njordr and the Nerthus and hide it in the pudding before cooking it (eat carefully!). The person to find the coin receives a blessing of wealth for the next year and should keep it as a good luck charm. Make sure to set aside some pudding as an offering to Njordr and Nerthus as well.

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Dec 27th – The 8th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 3 Minutes

Introduction

Protecting outside the Home, offerings to flora and fauna

The eighth day of Yule is honoring Skadi and Ullr. It’s the time to enjoy the true folds of winter. The days only get colder and if you haven’t seen snow yet, it’s coming. Beware of ice, and the coming deep freeze. We are leaving out yule treats for the wildlife and winterizing our plants, also protecting our homes outwardly, while making remedies for possible ailments.

Ullr

Skadi & Ullr

In Norse mythology, Skadi is a jötunn and goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains.

Ullr is a god associated with archery, the winter wilderness, and linked with snowshoes, hunting, combat, and vows.

Both gods are associated with the wilds of the forest, and therefore today’s offering is also an offering to the wild birds, animals, and spirits of the woods.

Skaldi

Offerings to Flora & Fauna

A fun activity to give back to nature is to make an edible garland for the birds and other backyard critters, unseen and seen. This activity uses popcorn, cranberries, and other safe for wildlife edibles. Another fun craft is spreading peanut butter on pinecones and covering them in birdseed as edible ornaments. It can be a great time to walk through winter’s landscape and find a Yule Tree in nature to decorate with your edible garland and ornaments. Make sure not to leave anything that could be harmful to animals or isn’t biodegradable, as such an offering wouldn’t be well received by Skadi or Ullr.

Protecting the Home (Outside)

Finish cleaning up the outside of your home, buttoning up the hatches if you will. Winterize the house outwardly as possible. Make a mixture of herbs and ash, blessing it with protection and goodwill. Go out and walk your property’s edge sprinkling the mixture, landing down a line of safety around your home. Draw runes under your outdoor welcome mats, and bless the wreath on your front door. Hang mistletoe and mint swags around the outside of the house.

Warding for Winter

Disclaimer: I’m not a health care provider, trained herbalist, nor homeopath. I’m just a person who has used and researched these integrated therapies for close to two decades and I use them on myself and have had excellent results. Please read the safety precautions of each herb before ingesting or consulting a health care provider.

Cold & Flu Remedies

  • Teas – A hot drink made by infusing the dried crushed leaves of the tea plant in boiling water.
  • Tincture – A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in alcohol.
  • Tonic  – A medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigor or well-being.
  • Herbal Glycerite – Glycerites are herbal mixtures that use vegetable glycerin to extract the active constituents and flavor from an herb.
    • Cool Down Glycerite – A Fever Remedy: How to Make an Herbal Glycerite, Plus a Fever Remedy – Rustic Farm Life
  • Herbal Syrup – A syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, boiled down with herbs, fruits, spices. Could made with different sugars, even honey.
    • Elderberry Syrup: How to Make Elderberry Syrup (Potent Cold + Flu Remedy) (wellnessmama.com)
  • Bone Broth – Bone broth, sometimes called stock, is a liquid made from boiling animal bones and connective tissue. Chefs use stock as a base for soups, sauces, and gravies. Some people drink it on their own.
    People have been making bone broth since the beginning of humankind. Anthropologists think people drank liquid infused with bones and other animal parts as early as prehistoric times.
    • Health benefits of bone broth include:
      • Weight Management
        • Broth and broth-based soups can help you feel full despite their low-calorie content, making it an excellent choice for people following a weight loss diet plan.
      • Better Hydration
        • The high-water content in bone broth helps you stay hydrated. Water makes up 70 percent of the body and impacts virtually every bodily function.
      • Improved Sleep
        • Bone broth contains small amounts of the amino acid glycine, which may promote relaxation and deeper, more restorative sleep.
      • Nutrition
        • Bone broth is easy to make and a flavorful part of many complex, delicious recipes. It’s also a great way to use otherwise inedible animal bones and tissues.
    • Here’s a good recipe: How to Make Bone Broth: Instant Pot, Crockpot & Stove | Wholefully
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Dec 26th – The 7th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Introduction

Hospitality, Greeting the Depth of Winter, Kari and his kin

The seventh day of Yule is saying hello to Winter! This day we greet Kari and his kin as winter settles in. It’s one of the last good nights for gathering before the weather becomes too difficult to travel. Tonight’s meal will be lamb stew and leaf bread. Finish up your winter preparations, put away things outside that won’t stand the cold, bring in the animals and plants that can’t survive the freeze. Get out the hats, gloves, scarves, and boots!

KARI & HIS KIN

Kari is the old Norse God of the North Wind. In Norse mythology, he is the oldest son of Mistblindi, an ancient frost-giant also named Fornjotr. He is a powerful spirit of wind and snow and frost, of blizzards and storms. His two brothers were Logi, an ancient fire God, and Aegir the Lord of the Sea. All of Kari’s children are named after beings of winter.

Offerings to Kari & his kin

Make a feast of lamb stew and laufabrauð (leaf bread). Making leaf bread is an Icelandic Christmas tradition, and its snowflake-like designs make it an appropriate offering to Kári and the spirits of winter. Making and designing the bread is a fun family activity, and best done in a group. Before having your dinner, leave some of the stew and leaf bread outside as an offering to Kári and his family, maybe adding a little chilled vodka or peppermint schnapps, a strong steeping of peppermint tea works too.

Here’s a Lamb Stew: Lamb Stew (Irish Stew) – Spend With Pennies

And the Leaf Bread: Leaf Bread (Laufabrauð) (saveur.com)

Hospitality

It’s becoming colder as the Northern Wind pulls in a deeper winter. The change in weather will lead to harder traveling conditions. This is a good time to invite your friends over for dinner and gifts before it’s too difficult to travel. It’s important to make time for those in your life that you don’t see all the time, even if they can’t come to see you, send them a letter and give thanks.

Greeting Winter

It’s time to prepare for the depth of winter. It’s only going to stay colder now even if the day grows longer. Snow is a possibility depending on your location, or a definite event. If you haven’t gotten out your scarves, hats, and boots, do so now. Think about the things inside and out that need to happen for the upcoming freeze. Leave out peppermint treats!

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Dec 25th – The 6th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Introduction

Protecting the Home, Letting in Hope, Balder and Nanna

The sixth day of Yule is about cleansing the home and remembering to let the light back in. We celebrate the sun in the form of Balder & Nanna, the resurrecting son, and the devoted wife. This is a great day for home protection, adorning the doorways with the Yule Log Ash in runic symbolism. Creating Witch Baubles and Bells for the windows and doorways, garlands of dried orange and apple slices, allspice, and star anise. Light candles throughout the day, cherish the light of the flame, let it fill you with the hope of the warmer sunny days to come.

BALDER & NANNA

Balder, Odin’s dying and resurrecting son, and his wife Nanna should be honored. Balder is the Norse god of almost all that is good. He is associated with everything that is beautiful and joyous in the world. Nanna is a goddess associated with joy, peace, and the moon as well as Balder’s wife. Balder is honored as a deity that embodies the life-force of the sun which “dies” at the beginning of winter and is reborn with the coming of summer.

According to Snorri Sturluson, Balder was killed by a dart of mistletoe which Loki tricked Balder’s blind brother Hodr into throwing at him. It was the only thing in creation which had not been asked to swear an oath never to harm Balder. Mistletoe is a plant associated with Balder, as well as being a plant that is thought to have solar associations.

Honoring Balder & Nanna

Light candles in your house in honor of Balder and Nanna, requesting them to fill your home with light and hope. Bless springs of mistletoe with prayers of happiness and protection for the home, and decorate them with ribbons, glitter, or whatever strikes your fancy. Hang the mistletoe in your home to ward away ill-wishing spirits and bring good luck.

Protecting the Home

This day is to renew your protections, inside the home. Create Protection Baubles to hang on the Yule Tree and around the house. Glass or plastic baubles work great, fill them with Yule such as cinnamon sticks, pine, dried orange, apple, etc. Hang up witch bells on the doors entering and exiting your home. Anytime a person comes or goes, the bells will ring and cleanse the door from ill-wishing spirits. This is the time when people will use some Yule Log Ash to scribe runes of protection on the doorways.

Letting in Hope

Lighting candles throughout your home is as much an honoring for Balder and Nanna as it is for reminding our souls of hope. It’s important to cherish this small fire that is a part of the Sun that rises stronger and lasts longer each passing day now. Decorating your candles, safely, with herbs and spices, oils, or carvings is best.

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Dec 24th – The 5th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 3 Minutes

Introduction

The Wild Hunt, Odin and Frau Holda & Stockings

The fifth day of Yule is the night of the Wild Hunt. This day in the light of the sun we will make hearty food and run our errands before the sun says goodnight. It’s best not to travel after dark this day, lest you be mistaken for a wandering Yule Spirit and taken away by Frau Holda and Odin in the Wild Hunt. Tonight, you should hang your stockings with care, filling them with goods and treats.

The Wild Hunt, Odin, and Frau Holda & Stockings

ODIN

Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about Odin, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and depicts him as the husband of the goddess Frigg. He’s considered the King of the Norse Gods. During Yule, Odin was said to have led a hunting party (The Wild Hunt) in the sky that ended on Christmas Eve. On this night his is Wadon, or the Yule Being.

The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is the ghostly parade of spirits who would ride wildly throughout the night and snatch up any travelers wandering crossed their path. From the time of Samhain to now the veil between our worlds has thinned. The spirits and other entities have come to wander our living world more frequently. The Wild Hunt gathers them back up and takes them back across the veil as it strengthens with the coming New Year. It’s suggested to no travel this evening and be mistaken for a wandering Yule Spirit.

Offering to Odin and the Wild Hunt

The tradition of leaving out cookies and milk probably comes from the tradition of offering goods and drink to Odin and his kin as they ride across the world in the Wild Hunt. It’s best to leave out carrots, apples, and straw for the steeds, and hearty drinks for the hunters and such. For Odin himself, leave out a Pipe with tobacco, mead, good dry red wine, whiskey or other hard liquor. Best to stay inside, snuggle up, enjoy good food, and great companionship.

FRAU HOLDA

Frau Holda was also regarded as the leader of the hunt, as well as being a Germanic goddess who ruled over the productivity of the household, winter, spinning, and magic. She was said to travel as an old woman in a wagon, flanked by a procession of children’s dead souls, on the Wild Hunt. She passed over homes and blessed the hearths that had Yule Log ash, with good tidings for the coming year.

Honoring Frau Holda

On this day try making a hearty stew, with root veg and wholegrain bread is a good way to honor Frau Holda as she is the Lady of the House. Geese are sacred to Holda, some say she is the source of the storybook character Mother Goose. For this reason, telling stories it a great way to show respect to Frau Holda. Any household activities such as cooking, cleaning, spinning, etc should be done in Frau Holda’s honor today to the best of your ability. It was said that Frau Holda would punish the lazy and reward the productive.

A hearty stew such as: Beef Stew with Root Vegetables Recipe | Ree Drummond | Food Network

Stockings

There’s no Yule tradition for stockings, but they are a fun and wonderful tradition in the holiday times. The tradition of stockings is not tied to any religion so each religion can have their own stockings activities. During Yule hang up your stockings and give gifts to one another. It would be fun to make up a stocking for the deities you work with, gifting them herbs or candles.

Legend has it that one night Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the man’s chimney knowing that he would never accept the gift willingly. The gold slipped into a stocking that was hanging to dry over the fireplace. And thus, the man could now afford gifts for his oldest daughter and the legend of Santa, and the Christmas stocking was born!

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Dec 23rd – The 4th Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Introduction

Loki & Sigyn, Counting the Blessings

The fourth day of Yule is celebrating the Blessings of the year. This day we honor Loki and Sigyn, the Lord of Misrule and his Loyal Queen. We will have a Silly Feast with everyone is animal disguise, wearing the animal that has attributes they wish to strengthen in the coming year. We will set up the Yule Tree and make “Wish Ornaments” to decorate the branches. At the feast we’ll reminisce all the cherished and joyful moments of the past year.

LOKI AND SIGYN

In Norse mythology, Loki is a cunning trickster who had the ability to change his shape and sex, and Sigyn is his wife. Before Loki, Sigyn was a deity of victories and devotion. On this day we honor the Lord of Misrule and his loyal queen. Loki turned the world upside down and brings laughter and adaptability. Sigyn balances Loki’s chaos and offers victory over small battles.

HONORING LOKI AND SIGYN

This was a time when social rules were turned upside down, gifts were exchanged, and disguises were worn. Hold a Silly Feast with friends and family where everyone dresses in animal-themed disguises. At the feast exchange gifts and pick two people to be the Lord of Misrule and the Loyal Queen.

During the day, make an animal mask that represents an attribute you would like to have more of in the coming year. If not a mask, make an ornament representation of the animal to hang on the Yule Tree. Here are some examples of animals and their attributes:

  • Bear: Some associate bear with Thor, strength, power, might, connection to the earth
  • Wolf: Sacred to Odin and Loki, family, fierceness, loyalty, working together
  • Fox: Sacred to Loki (according to many modern worshippers), cunning, trickster, problem-solving
  • Mink: Playfulness, adaptability, quick thinking
  • Seal: Mysteries of the waters, joy, feminine magic, and shapeshifting (selkies)
  • Boar: Sacred to Freyja and Freyr, war, power, wealth
  • Horse: Cooperation, travel, adventure, support
  • Rabbit: Caution, fertility, swiftness, abundance
  • Cat: Sacred to Freyja, independence, silence, beauty, ferocity
  • Snake/Dragon: Secret knowledge, underworld mysteries, transformation
  • Deer: Freyr as sacrificial king, authority, defense, self-sacrifice
  • Raven: Odin’s messengers, magic, and communication, devours the dead and unneeded
  • Falcon: Sacred to Freyja and Frigg, spiritual messenger, travel, perception
  • Goat: Sacred to Thor, hearty, persistent, ambitious, lusty

Yule Tree

In preparation for the Silly Feast, set up the Yule Tree. It’s not customary to wait until today to get your tree, but today’s the day to put it out. Yule trees go way back in Pagan tradition, and generally were outdoor live trees that were decorated with hanging candles. The Yule tree lights and ornaments originally symbolized the sun, moon, and stars as they looked on the Tree of Life.

In modern times we use strings of lights instead of candles. If you want to use candles, please use fake candles on the tree. Safety first. As you place baubles and ornaments on the tree think about the things this year you are thankful for. Adorn the Yule Tree with each blessed item. This is a fun activity to do with others so you can each express your cherished moments from the year.

Counting the Blessings

A direct activity is making “Wish Ornaments” and placing them on the Yule Tree. Wish Ornaments are homemade ornaments with the symbols of hope, dreams, and success on them, emblazed with the spoken wish. They can also be written on paper folded up and set among the tree’s boughs or rolled up in ribbon tied to a branch. Salt dough is the easiest method for homemade ornaments.

For those who want a recipe: Our Favorite Salt Dough Recipe for Ornaments, Handprints, and Crafting (wholefully.com)

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Dec 22nd – The 3rd Day of Yule

Approx. Reading time: About 2 Minutes

Introduction

Father’s Night, the Alfar, Freyr and his boar

The third day of Yule celebrates Father’s Night. A time in which we honor the Alfar and Freyr with his boar. This time was best known for making oaths sworn on the Boar’s back, upheld by Freyr himself. This is also a good time to practice Hygge, taking some time to relax and enjoy the winter landscape building up. It’s impressive how nature shifts every season, go out and experience it.

Father’s Night

This evening is to honor the male spirits that protect us. Similar too Mother’s Night, on Father’s we honor the males in our lives, past or present that support and protect us. The term father is not only the male that makes up half your DNA, but also any male in your life that guides, protects, supports, and cares for you.

THE ALFAR

The Alfar are male ancestors and powerful nature spirits. To honor your male ancestors tonight, bring out their pictures and make them an altar just as you did on Mother’s Night. Creating space on your altar for the Alfar or adding to your Disir altar to bridge the male and female ancestors.

FREYR AND HIS BOAR (Gullinborsti)

The third day of Yule is also to honor Freyr, and his boar named Gullinborsti. Freyr is a god in Norse mythology, associated with sacral kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, and virility, with sunshine and fair weather, and with good harvest. He is the master of sworn oaths, and on this day of Yule he will oversee all oaths made and see them honored. In the past oaths were sworn on the bristles of Gullinborsti.

Feast of Swine

Swine for DINNER! This is the best night for a ham dinner. To honor Freyr and his sacred bar, in the old day’s oaths would have been made upon the boar. This is considered one of the origins of New Year’s resolutions. Over dinner is the perfect time to toast to the accomplishments of those around the table. Toast the victories of those present and share those things you want to accomplish so that you can help support one another in the days to come.

Hygge

After days of devoted work and lots of activity, on the third day of Yule, rest. Time to get the family together and snuggle in, making time to enjoy each other’s company and relax. Some activities could be watching holiday movies, listening to holiday music, taking naps, reading, working on crafts, and/or eating favorite snack food. In Dane they would call this activity Hygge!