The Longest Night of Winter: Fire Ceremony for Yule

December is named for the Roman goddess Decima, one of the three fates. The word Yule comes from the Germanic jol, which means midwinter, which is celebrated on the shortest day of the year. The old tradition was to have a vigil all night at a bonfire to make sure the sun did indeed rise again. This primeval custom evolved to become a storytelling evening, and while it may well to be too cold to sit outside in snow and sleet, it is important for your community to congregate around a blazing hearth fire, feasting and talking deep into the night, to truly know each other, impart wisdom, and speak to hopes and dreams. Greet the new sun with stronger connections and a shared vision for the coming solar year. 

What you need:

• Candles in the following colors: red, yellow, green, blue, white, and black
• Herbs: tobacco, rosemary, lavender, cedar, sage, and rose petals
• Incense: copal, myrrh, frankincense, or any resin-based incense
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 chocolate bar per person
• Bells, rattles, drums, and other noisemakers
• A firepot, fireplace, or other safe place for an outdoor fire
• Paper for written intentions

The candle colors represent the six directions: north, south, east, west, up, and down (or sky and earth). They also represent the different peoples of the world.

Gather your friends together at dusk on the shortest day of the year and ask them to bring a colored candle (assign each of them a color), a noisemaker, and an open mind. Ask them also to write out what they want to purge from their life and bring the paper into the circle. The Solstice Fire Ceremony serves to bring positive new influences into our lives and to dispel what no longer serves for good. This “letting go” can be anything. For me, one year ago, it was cancer, and this year, it was too much clutter. For you, it could be an unhealthy relationship, a job that makes you miserable, or a cramped apartment.

Yuletide Soul Tribe Ritual

How are you celebrating the holiday of Yule with your soul tribe? 

Here is an excellent way to closen the bonds of your circle and kindle sparks of positive change at the coming new year. In a safe place outdoors, build a bonfire and create an altar to the east of it. Place a small cauldron with a candle in it on the altar, and surround it with mistletoe, ivy, and holly. Participants should also wear crowns woven from these evergreens. If it is too cold or snowy where you live, you can gather indoors and form a semicircle around the fireplace, or around the altar.

Begin the ritual by holding hands around the fire. Hum softly, gradually building the hum to a shout. This shout represents the cries of the Goddess giving birth once again to the sun, and to the new year. The ritual leader says:

All bow to the East! Hail to the newborn Sun, and to the Great Goddess who has brought him forth!

Everyone bows to honor the Sun God and the Mother Goddess. The ritual leader chants:

Brigid,

Diana,

Morgan,

Cerridwen,

Heaven’s Queen,

By the light of this moon

In this dark night,

Teach us the mystery of rebirth.

The ritual leader lights the candle in the cauldron while everyone else remains perfectly still. Now is the time when the Goddess will reveal herself privately to each participant. If you are outdoors, listen and look carefully for a sign. Traditional omens are a sudden wind, shooting stars, the screeching of an owl, and the appearance of a deer. Even if you are indoors by the fire, the Goddess will still make herself known in your heart. When the time feels right, the ritual leader says:

Queen of the Stars,

Queen of the Moon,

Queen of the Earth,

Bringer of Fire,

The Great Mother gives birth to this new year

And we are her witnesses.

Everyone shouts:

Blessed be!

Pass the lit cauldron to each participant so they can speak a blessing for the new year and the new sun. Place the cauldron with the candle back on the altar. The ritual leader closes the ritual with this final expression of gratitude to the Goddess:

Blessed be to the Mother Goddess

Thank you for the sun that gives us life

Without beginning and without end

Everlasting in Eternity.

This ritual is now done!

A toast to the new sun should take place with hot cider or mead, and warm festive foods.