Yule & Solstice Links

Happy Solstice & Blessed Yule

A List of Yule & Solstice Links

On Solstice night, the winter comes
Stalking through the antlered trees,
Riding on the frozen wind.
With hoof and horn, this longest night
Brings round once more
The ancient, endless joust:
Light and Dark contest for power,
And Light, this night, shall triumph

- Deirdre Pulgram Arthen (This Winter's Night)

These holidays occur between December 21st and 23rd). They are also known as: Nollaig; Yuletide, Alban Arthan; Juul; Jul; Jiuleis; Joulupukki; Children's Day; Dies Natalis Invicti Solis; Saturnalia; Mid-Winter; Brumalia; Sacaea; Festival of Kronos (Cronos); Dazh Boh; Chaomos; Inti Raymi; Dong Zhi; Soyal; Sada; Touji; Zagmuk; Sacaea (from Winter Solstice Festivals by Christina Aubin)

General Information - Yule & Solstice Links

Alban Arthan - Druidic Festival
The terms is Welsh for "light of winter"

A Brief History of Solstice Celebrations

Celebrating Druidic Yule at Tribe.net

Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Selena Fox

Exploring the Holiday Evergreen

Greetings & Lore for Yuletide - from the wonderful people at Myth*ing Links (this page is graphic rich)

I'm Pagan -- Can I Still Have A Holiday Tree?

Mean Geimridh (Moon gerry) AKA Druidic Yule

Midwinter's Eve by Mike Nichols

Mistletoe: Myths, Mysteries and Legends

Mother Wit for Yule

Nurturing Your Spirit: Questions to ask during the Winter Solstice Season

Pagan Yuletide Greenery

Plants of the Winter Solstice (w/ color photographs)

Sacred Plants of the Winter Solstice

Scandanavian Yule Celebrations

Solstice: Season of Light and Dark

Swedish Yule Goat AKA The Julbock AKA the Gavle goat

You Call It Christmas, We Call It Yule by Peg Aloi

Yule Elf or House Elf

Yule: The Longest Night of the Year (A great page with lots of links at About.com - complied by Patti Wigington)

Yule Origins, Lore, Legends and Customs

The Yule Tree

Yule & Solstice articles at The Witches Voice

Winter Solstice - detailed, multicultural overview at Wikipedia

Winter Solstice Websites: A List at Religious Tolerance.org

(See Also: Pagan Origins of Christmas Traditions below)

Yet More Links - Topics Listed Alphabetically

December is the twelfth and final month of the Gregorian calendar and the first month of winter. It derives it's name from the Latin word decem, meaning ten, as December was the tenth month of the oldest Roman calendar. The Latin name is derived from Decima, the middle Goddess of the Three Fates who personifies the present - from Daily Lore, December

Ancient Sites:

Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, USA

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Goseck Observatory - the German Stonehenge

Carnac, France

Maeshowe and the Winter Solstice

Nabta Playa, Africa

Orkney Standing Stones at Yule

Newgrange, Ireland - Live pictures will be available for the first time this year

Stonehenge at the Solstice (Flickr photos with notes about the winter solstice meet)

The Megalithic Portal

Winter Solstice: Ancient Sites (A comprehensive list)

Winter Solstice Page: Architecture, History & More

Astronomy & Weather Information for Yule & Solstice

Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

Astronomy and the Winter Solstice

Archaeoastronomy: The Seasons

Earth & Sky Website

Solstice Dates & Times

Stonehenge (archaeoastronomy)

The Solstice Project

The Sun in Time (slideshow from NASA)

Weather and the Winter Solstice - Youtube

Charity & Good Works

Gaia's Guardians

Pagan and Earthwise Groups Doing Charity work

Wanted: Citizen Scientists for the Backyard Bird Count

Cutting Holiday Costs

The Freecycle Network

Tips for a frugal & sensible Holiday Season

Crafts

Cinnamon Ornaments

Creating A Journal

Creating a Yule Log

Herbal Yule Trees, 12 Herb Sachet & Kissing Balls

How to Make Yule Logs, Yule Wreaths as well as Peanut Butter & Pine Cone Wreaths for the Birds

Scented Pine cones

Solstice Dream Pillow

Shadow Boxes - Make Your Own

Twelve Herb Yule Sachet

Yule Crafts

Craft Supplies:
Editors Note: Full Circle does not receive any gifts, donations of fees for listings on our site(s). Sia

Columbia Pine cones & botanicals
Our National Forest permit fees directly fund reforestation efforts.

Ecology:

Environmentally Friendly Gifts

How to Have a Green Christmas (this goes for Yule, too)

Humor:

The Night Before Yule, Nordic Style (humor)

Incense and Oils

How to Make Incense from scratch

Incense Making: An Overview

Making Winter Incense - recipes

Winter Nights Incense- recipes

Winter Solstice Incense, Oil & Potpourri recipes from Tribe.net

Multicultural Information - Winter Customs Around the World

Dieties of the Winter Solstice

Greetings & Lore for Yuletide - from the wonderful people at Myth*ing Links. This is a great interfaith page - highly recommended)

Shamanic and Nordic Goddesses

Hogmanay—Then and Now

Protecting Native American Medicine Wheels & Other Sacred Sites

Welcome to Winterval

Winter Customs Around the World

Winter Solstice - detailed, multicultural overview at Wikipedia

Winter Solstice Celebrations at Religious Tolerance.com

Winter Solstice Festivals

Winter Solstice: The Gift Givers (Multi-cultural overview)

Music, Chants & Carols
Editor's Note: Carols originally were association with dancing. The very word 'carol,' traceable to ancient Greek drama, once meant to dance in a ring. But since the frivolity of dance was frowned upon by the medieval church as carols developed, the old connection faded, though not completely. (From the liner notes for A Victorian Christmas, courtesy of Gourd Music)

Boars Head Carol

Meaning behind the verses in The Holly and the Ivy

Pagan Chant Library

Pagan Yule Carol Collection: Pagan words for the traditional carols & new songs for the community.

Revels, Inc - These are called The Christmas Revels but they incorporate older music, costumes and instruments and celebrate the solstice. Pagans and other non-Christians will feel quite at home.

Serpentine Music Productions - Pagan Music Catalog

This Winter's Night (CD) by MotherTongue

Yule Carols (Adapted)

Wassailing: A list of Songs & Chants

Myth & Folklore:

New Grange: Empowering the Salmon of Wisdom

Solar Folklore

News & Information - a Pagan Perspective:

The Wild Hunt Blog

Wren's Nest News at The Witches Voice

Pagan Family Links:

Coloring Books & Word Searches (free downloads)

Family Friendly Yule information from Mystical Cauldron with recipes and easy crafts: 2007, 2006 and 2005

Winter Solstice Activities & Trivia for Kids

Winter - Teacher Resources

Yule Coloring Pages

Pagan Origins of Christmas Traditions

Ancient Egyptian/Christian Holy Families (with notes about the Christmas Tree/Tree of Life)
As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes " Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church...The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt" (about 200 CE)

History of Christmas (Christes Maesse) from the Catholic Encyclopedia

History of Christmas Carols

How Britain Invented Christmas

In This Sign - A wonderful article on the stag and other sacred emblems of Old Europe by Ellin Anderson

It Was Yule Before Christmas

Lapp of Gods - A Visit to the Land of Santa Claus

Nordic Yule & Christmas Traditions (from the Nordic Receipe Archive)

Yule: A Finish website notes that "The Swedish, Norwegian and Danish word for Christmas, jul, the Estonian jõul and the Finnish joulu all have their origin in the old Viking word hjul, meaning sun disk." In the pre-Christian Nordic countries, it was a custom to celebrate the "return of the light" in time of the winter solstice in December, which marked the beginning of longer days...the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Danes and the Icelanders — celebrated the coming of the sun by sacrificing for their gods, eating and drinking well, playing games, burning bonfires and exchanging gifts during a three-day feast.

Mushrooms and Flying Reindeer - Don't try this at home

The Origins of Santa Claus

The Stag and Earth Mother: Pagan Beliefs in Ancient Britain

Recipes

A Winter Solstice Feast - Soup, pesto, and more

A Yule & Solstice Feast

Chili and corn bread for Solstice

Chinese recipes for celebrating Dongzhir

Fruitcake & Mulled Cider

Indian recipes for celebrating Deepavali

Lutefisk - Traditional Nordic Yule dish

Nordic Receipe Archive

Norweigen flatbread

Solar Cookies, Solstice Stew & Pumpkin Bread

Solstice Cookies

Vegan Recipes for Yule

Mulled Cider II

Wintertime Wassial

Yule Food from Scandanavia

Yule Log Cake

Yule Log Cake - Decorating Same - Video at Youtube

Yule Log - Spicy

Yule Logs - Various Kinds

Rituals & Ceremony:

Building An Altar

Cleansing Ritual

Interfaith Yule Ritual & Other Ideas (at Tribe.net)

Yule Log Ceremony

Yule Wreath ritual

Surviving the Holidays

Dealing with Loss - Rememberance Gifts

Getting Through Christmas With Your Non-Pagan Family

Help for Stress during the holidays

Seasonal Depression

Start a Healthy New Holiday Food Tradition

Support Group that welcomes Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and others

Surviving family gatherings

Too Much Of A Good Thing?: Spending & Hording In the Pagan Community

Travel

Sunpath Sacred Site Tours

Winter Solstice at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Winter Solstice Temples Tour - Malta

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From: A Celtic Solstice

My research on Celtic Solstice rituals has provided me with illumination and guidance as to why my life seemed in limbo. Ancient Winter Solstice festivals consisted of four rituals:

1. Rites of mortification, austerity. This is the natural cycle we are in at this time of the year. The sun is in stasis. Sol = "sun," and stice = "still." There is a suspended animation that happens at the end of one cycle (death of the old), before the New Year (birth of the new sun/son) begins. This explains my feeling of limbo, but what is its purpose?

2. Rites of purgation: expelling bad moral or physical habits. Fasts, abstinence; getting rid of the old so the new can flow in. Then, having surrendered to austerity for the purpose of purification (preparing for the new ) we move on to:

3. The rites of invigoration, rejuvenation of energies. Ancients did this through ritual combat (much like stage combat of today); battles between death and life, old and new, winter and spring. And last but not least:

4. The rites of jubilation: comes from an overwhelming sense of relief that death has been beaten and the continuance of life has begun.

I believe that my world was turned upside down recently because it is only within the fertile ground of chaos that creation, renewal, and transformation can happen. I feel that I am on the verge of letting go of old ways that no longer serve me so that I may loose the chains that have held my heart in bondage. I am on the precipice, about to cross the threshold into that portal which is my own heart. I am about to discover a new world, abundant with possibility, as generations of fathers and mothers before me had done. Their journey was physical. Mine is spiritual.

As I shed my old skin and reinvent myself and my life, I also have a sense of advancing my ancestors' legacy: to bring freedom of thought and new ways of being into the present moment; to create my life as the highest form of art, and to share all of this with others in the interest of Unity.

- by Kathryn Preston

The blessings of the season to you and yours,

Sia

Off the Shelf: Books for the Holidays

When Santa Was A Shaman: The Ancient Origins of Santa Claus and the Christmas Tree by Tony Van Renterghem

Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison

The Solstice Evergreen:The History, Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree by Sheryl Ann Karas

Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth's Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony by Richard Heinberg.

Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson & Simplify Your Christmas: 100 Ways to Reduce Your Stress and Recapture the Joy of the Holidays by Elaine St. James (These are good books people of all faiths)

DVD's

I strongly recommend Rick Steve's wonderful European Christmas DVD
This lovely, tolerant man includes a great deal of information about the old, Pagan ways of celebrating the holiday and you'll see scenic wonder and lovely old world rituals here that you won't see anywhere else.

Related Articles:

A Celtic Solstice by Kathryn Preston

A Solstice Carol: When PC Means Plain Courtesy

Yule Market in Oslo

Art: Reindeer People by Susan Seddon Boulet






Sia

Updated 12/31/08

Updated 12/13/08

12/20 & 12/21/07 more links added

12/19/07 Content Stolen: The person who stole all these links today has since removed them from her page, albeit in a snarky and unapologetic manner. Let us hope that she has now read the information I sent to her on copyright and the web, and will now create her own content, rather than taking the content created by others without their permission.

Page Updated: 12/01/07