The Shortest Day of the Year

Today is Yule – the Winter Solstice.  I’m a pagan (if you didn’t already figure that out), so this is the major holiday we celebrate at our house this time of year. We celebrate Christmas also – although I view it at a secular holiday (no offense intended); it’s a time for us to spend with our children and extended family and enjoy watching our kids be kids. But Yule is our time for spiritual celebration. (photo credit: crimsonvalleylandscaping.com)

Despite all the garbage I had to deal with growing up, I have great memories of Christmas. And I’m enjoying sharing these with my children and watching our family create traditions and memories of our own.  Every year around this time, my husband questions why we celebrate Christmas at all (at least in our house – there’s no way we could escape it at our parents’ houses). His best question is this: if we make the distinction of having a Yule Tree, instead of a Christmas Tree (which we do, because Yule is where the tradition of decorating evergreen trees came from, and we’re Pagan) then why do we put presents under it on Christmas morning?  I don’t have a good answer for that one. Yet. My oldest son believes in Santa Claus (we’ve never actively encouraged this, but we don’t discourage it, either) so I suppose I could argue that Santa puts presents under the nearest green tree, regardless of your faith. Maybe I’ll run that one by him tonight.

Regardless, tonight we will be celebrating Yule with a festive dinner and a ritual after we put our youngest son to bed (he’s 2, and not the most patient, as to be expected). Although I’ve been a Pagan (more specifically, a Witch) for over 20 years I didn’t start buckling down and really getting serious about my spiritual practice until we had our first child. And as he’s grown, so too has my understanding of my faith and my practice, and my development of household rituals and practices.

Yule is one that I’m still working on. But we’ve had one tradition  for several years now, which is to read a poem after the meal and before turning out the lights to reflect on the season and the day.  In the spirit of the season and the Yule Party (see below) I’m gifting the beautiful poem we read every year.  I hope it will find a few new sets of eyes, and perhaps someone will take it and make it part of their own winter festivities.

The Shortest Day, Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

A blessed Yule to you all from myself and my family here at Withywindle Nature.