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Light up your house on Solstice Night to remember that the light
will return. Use candles, twinkle lights
and light a Yule log if you
have a fireplace.
Send Yule cards. Make your own (kids love this) or buy them. You
can
find Christmas cards that are patently Pagan featuring holly
wreaths, Yule logs, partridges, etc. Pagan and Pagan-friendly
folks
will be delighted to receive them. The rest won't know the
difference.
String popcorn and cranberry garlands
for your Yule tree. After
Twelfth Day or whenever you take down the Yule tree, hang them
outside on trees and bushes
for birds and small wildlife to share.
Make a Yule log. A fireplace without a Yule log on Solstice Night is
a wasted
fireplace.
Tell stories. Gather friends and family around the fire and tell the
story of The Oak King and the Holly
King.
Decorate your home. Decorate a tree the day before Yule and leave it
up at least until Twelfth Night. Make
your own decorations and let
the kids pitch in. Make a tree topper for your Yule tree. Make
wreaths to decorate your
door and home. Decorate your house and tree
with cones, golden apples from the craft store, images of the Sun,
Moon
and Stars, Triple Goddess motifs, images representing the four
quarters, images representing the wheel of the year, garlands
and
anything that reminds you of the season. Use lots of red, green and
gold. If at all possible, bring in a small
live potted tree on Yule
eve instead of using a cut tree. If you use a cut tree, find out
about proper disposal. Many
communities accept cleaned Christmas and
Yule trees to mulch and use in parks and other community areas.
Build
a Yule altar in a place where the family gathers often. Place
it on a coffee table or dinner table and decorate it with
red, green
and gold candles, pine cones, symbols of the Sun and the Triple
Goddess. Include a miniature Yule log and
other hand-made
decorations.
Have a Yule Feast. It is customary to feast on Solstice eve after
sundown.
Have
a Yule ritual. Remember that this is a religious celebration,
not a secular holiday. Write a ritual if you know how. If
you don't,
modify a borrowed ritual and promise yourself that you will write
your own next year.
Stand Vigil.
On Solstice night, after the Yule feast and ritual are
done and the little ones are in bed, plan to stand vigil to await
the Dawn. Get together with other Pagans or Pagan-friendly friends
and family. Serve wassail. Talk about the meaning
of Yule. If you're
in a baking mood, start a batch of Yule Bread for breakfast. Bake a
yellow cake or yellow cupcakes
to celebrate the Sun's birthday.
Welcome the Dawn. Wake up the kids and go outside before dawn.
Meditate on the
coming light and say a Solstice Blessing. If you
have little ones, stick a yellow birthday candle on a round yellow
cake
and sing Happy Birthday to the Sun as he rises. Celebrate the
Sun's birth with a breakfast of yellow foods. Serve orange
juice,
pancakes, corn muffins, Yule Bread, fried eggs, corn flakes and any
sun-dried foods such as raisins and prunes.
Use bright yellow
napkins and set yellow flowers on the table. Cut out place mats from
yellow construction paper and
have the kids decorate them.
Go outside and let the sun shine on your face.
Write an essay or make an entry
in your Book of Shadows. Next year
when you again celebrate Yule, you will have reminders to yourself
of things to
try out, what worked, what didn't and suggestions for
next year. If you have children, ask them to write a short essay
on
their Yule celebration and to draw pictures.
~Author Unknown
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