Yule

The underlying energies of Yule

The earth has been withdrawn inside herself. Winter brings the hardships of cold and shortness of daylight. Very little outer growth has happened, but deep within the earth, roots have been growing, bringing stability and nutrients to the plants and the trees. New buds are slowly forming on the trees and bushes and deeply buried bulbs are beginning to send up their first hardy shoots. All of nature has slowed down, waiting for the energy to change and for warmth to return.

Due to the restraints of winter, we too have slowed down and have been conserving energy. We have spent time withdrawn within ourselves. The time between Samhain and Yule is the dark time of winter and allows us to enter into dreamtime. As the outer world is darkened by shorter days and cloudy weather, the inner realms can expand. This has been a great opportunity for us to experience this world within, to get in touch with our dreams and to make inner journeys for wisdom and understanding. It has been a time to assimilate our experiences and an incubation period for our own personal seeds, plans and ideas. Now with the return of the active outward energy that the sun brings, all of this can slowly begin to manifest.

This is the suns birthday and a celebration of its rebirth. Life will become active again from now on. Being part of this cycle means that we too are reborn at this time. We bring the wisdom of our inner journeys out into the world, to grow with the increasing light from the sun. It is a time for birthing our visions and naming the dreams that we have been incubating so that we can assist their manifestation consciously into our lives. This is a time to celebrate the active principle whose positive qualities of intellectual and rational thought, determination and assertiveness bring independence and purpose into our lives.

Yule marks the longest night of the year -- the triumph of the dark half of the year. Night and darkness have reached their apex and the Wheel turns to restore balance. The dawn heralds the return of the sun, bringer of light, warmth, and growth. In the days following Yule, the sun’s power grows steadily, encroaching upon the night, pushing back the darkness.

The darkness of this longest night holds many lessons. One of the most powerful is the awareness that hope and light spring forth from deepest darkness. Here, indeed, is the message “that the darkest hour comes just before the dawn”. As we wait quietly in the darkness, we honor the stillness and the mystery of the night, and light candles or a Yule log to summon the sun’s return. In the summoning of the sun, we work in partnership with Nature to preserve balance. Similarly, when faced with difficult challenges in our lives, we are partners with the Universe in manifesting hope out of despair.

The Yule tree (recognized in modern times as the “Christmas tree”) is an ancient symbol of life, fertility and vitality. Even in the dead of Winter, the Yule tree is evergreen ... a reminder of the life-force of Nature. Trees are brought into the house and decked with lights to celebrate Life and the returning of light after the darkest night.

Yule is also a celebration of dawning potentiality. As darkness gives way to light, the Earth lies sleeping. To us, the Earth appears dead, dormant, but deep within her soil lies the slumbering seed awaiting the power of the newborn sun to activate its growth. At Yule, we look within ourselves for the sleeping seeds, and identify the situations, blessings, activities we would like to germinate and grow in the coming year. We honor the need for the regenerative stillness, the rest before the energetic growth of springtime. Yule is a time of transformation and rebirth. Rituals and personal healing work centered around rebirthing are customary at this time.