The Holly King "The holly and the ivy, when they were both full grown, "Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown." The figure of the Holly King is a type of Green Man, the British vegetation god. In some mythologies of the changing seasons, the year is divided in half and is ruled alternately by the Holly King and his twin brother the Oak King. Echoes of their battles at midsummer and midwinter are found throughout British folklore, as in the mummer plays of St. George and in the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Yule is the Sabbat that falls at the low point of the Wheel of the Year. It is one of the 4 lesser Sabbats and is the first day of winter. Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year. It is from this point that the days begin slowly to become longer and longer. The sun is at its most southeastern point over the Tropic of Capricorn in the Northern Hemisphere and has no apparent northward or southward motion. In the time of ancient tribes this was a time of celebration for it meant the turning point of winter and the eventual return of spring. Yule is the time when we honor the Goddess for giving birth to the sun once more. It is the time when the Oak King is victorious over the Holly King. The Holly King represents death and darkness that has ruled since Summer Solstice and the Oak King represents rebirth and life. The waning sun is overtaken by the waxing sun, thus the days become long after the victory of the Oak King.

In the story of the Goddess and the God that is reflected in the solar year, we celebrate the birth of the God as Oak King to the Mother aspect of the Goddess on Winter Solstice (or Yule, approximately December 21st). Because the God is also associated with the Oak tree, the moon falling closest to the Winter Solstice is often called The Oak Moon and is the first moon of the year. As we celebrate the new year, many of us think of the elderly "old year" being replaced by the child "new year." The dualistic God experiences the Holly King dying of old age (the old year passing) even as the Oak King is reborn (the new year arriving). This reminds us once again of the sacred cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Rather than focusing on the cold winter months behind us (or those still ahead), we celebrate life at Yule and take comfort that though the God may die during each turning of the Wheel of the Year. The Sun-God will be born again at each Yule, reminding us that death is only a doorway, and that the life/death/rebirth cycle continues unbroken.
 
Yule is a time when we do rituals and celebrate the increasing daylight to review and to see the world through the eyes of a child. During Yule we may send out healing for the Earth Mother and harmony for mankind. During Yule we see the wisdom of past experience begin to glimmer. The experiences we yielded over the harvest season of the times gone past begin to be reborn as wisdom, new light to guide us further down the paths we have chosen. It is customary for Witches to decorate the Yule tree and adorn the home with holly, ivy and pine. It is time when Father Winter, a white bearded chap dressed in red, fur trimmed robes arrives bearing gifts. This is the eve when the Yule log from the previous year is burned in the fire. This is also a time for Pagans to gather with family and friends to exchange gifts and celebrate the season. Pagans also are generous at this time, remembering those who are less fortunate than we. Non-perishable food drives are held, clothing is donated to shelters, etc.
 
Traditionally it's not considered one of the more important of the Wiccan holidays, but it gained more prominence during the spread of the Roman Empire. The Romans brought with them their festival of Saturnalia - a twelve-day festival that marked the ending of one year and the beginning of another. Saturnalia was a gigantic faire and festival of the home. Riotous merry-making took place and the halls of houses were decked with boughs of laurel and evergreen trees. Lamps were kept burning to ward off the spirits of darkness. Roman masters feasted with slaves, who were given the freedom to do and say what they liked (the medieval custom of all the inhabitants of the manor, including servants and lords alike, sitting down together for a great Christmas feast came from this tradition). A Mock King was appointed to take charge of the revels (The Lord of Misrule of medieval Christmas festivities has his origin here).

In pagan Scandinavia the winter festival was the yula (or juul) which meant "wheel" (Wheel of the Year). Great yule logs were burned, and people drank mead around the bonfires listening to minstrel-poets singing ancient legends. It was believed that the yule log had the magical effect of helping the sun to shine more brightly.

Mistletoe, which was sacred because it mysteriously grew on the most sacred tree, the oak, was ceremoniously cut and a spray given to each family, to be hung in the doorways as good luck. The Celtic Druids also regarded mistletoe as sacred. Druid priests cut it from the tree on which it grew with a golden sickle and handed it to the people, calling it All-Heal. To hang it over a doorway or in a room was to offer goodwill to visitors. Kissing under the mistletoe was a pledge of friendship. Mistletoe is still forbidden in most Christian churches because of its Pagan associations, but it has continued to have a special place in home celebrations.
 
Alban Arthuan is one of the ancient Druidic fire festivals. Taking place on December 21st-22nd (due to the methods Druids use to measure a day) Alban Arthuan coincides with the Winter Solstice. Translated, it means "The Light of Arthur," in reference to the Arthurian legend that states King Arthur was born on the Winter Solstice. It is also known as Yule, derived from the Anglo-Saxon, "Yula" or "Wheel of the Year" and marked the celebration of both the shortest day of the year and re-birth of the sun. Alban Arthuan was also believed to be a time of increased fertility.

The Christian holiday was not always celebrated on December 25th. For the first three hundred years of the current era, there was no festivity of the birth of Jesus. Some churches celebrated Jesus' birthday in the spring time and some celebrated it on January 6 (Epiphany). Early in the fourth century, the Roman church decreed that December 25 would henceforth be recognized as the birthday of Christ. The Eastern churches refused to accept Christmas until 375 C.E., and the churches in Jerusalem rejected the December 25 date until the seventh century.

There are still some Eastern Rite churches that continue to celebrate the Epiphany date. In the third century various dates, from December to April, were celebrated by Christians as Christmas. January 6 was the most favored day because it was thought to be Jesus' baptismal day (in the Greek Orthodox Church this continues to be the day to celebrate Christmas). Around 350, December 25 was adopted in Rome and gradually almost the entire Christian Church agreed to that date, which coincided with Winter Solstice, the Yule and the Saturnalia. The merry side of Saturnalia was adopted to the observance of Christmas. By 1100 Christmas was the peak celebration of the year for all of Europe. During the 16th century, under the influence of the Reformation, many of the old customs were suppressed and the Church forbade processions, colorful ceremonies, and plays. In 1647 in England, Parliament passed a law abolishing Christmas altogether. When Charles II came to the throne, many of the customs were revived, but the feasting and merrymaking were now more worldly than religious.

Hanukkah is tied to both the lunar and solar calendars. It begins on the 25th of Kislev, three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice. It commemorates an historic event -- the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks and the rededication of the temple at Jerusalem. But the form of this celebration, a Festival of Lights (with candles at the heart of the ritual), makes Hanukkah wonderfully compatible with other celebrations at this time of year. As a symbolic celebration of growing light and as a commemoration of spiritual rebirth, it also seems closely related to other observances.

Each Pagan belief has slightly different Traditions concerning the celebration of the Sabbats that the symbolism each date holds, but there are some broad generalizations that can be made. Traditionally, much as the Goddess is associated with the moon, the God is associated with the sun. Our Esbats (rituals focused on the phases of the moon) honor the journey of the Goddess through her individual phases, much as our Sabbats honor the journey of the God through the solar year. Although the Sabbats are primarily the story of the God, we are reminded that all life is born from the Goddess's womb. Although she is in her aspect of Mother through much of the solar story, she is a threefold Goddess and we see her in her Maiden aspect as well.

Yule is also known as Midwinter, Finn's Day, Alban Arthuan, Yuletide Festival of Sol, Saturnalia (Rome), Great Day of the Cauldron, Christmas (Christian), Festival of Growth

SYMBOLS OF THE SEASON
Celebrations vary from tradition to tradition, but there are some similarities that most people will probably recognize.

• Dark red or Bayberry candles are used to decorate the home and ensure wealth and happiness for the coming year. Many Witches will place the candles as a centerpiece on their dining table and allow it to burn until it extinguishes by itself. A set of candles can also be placed on the mantle and lit at the beginning of the Yule ceremony.

• The season includes the cutting of the Yule tree, decorating the home with a holy wreath (natures red and green bush) and decorating special cookies for celebrating the sweet joys of the year past and the sweetness for the year to come.

• Finally, the season includes the reindeer stag to represent the horned God, the Wiccan God of death and the final chapter of the year.

Yule Log and Yule Fire
 From Christmas Customs and Traditions - Their History and Significance, by Clement A. Miles
A Yule log, or fire, has for centuries traditionally been burned in Germany, England, Russia, the Slavic countries, and Siberia. Traditionally, part of the remaining charred log, or the ashes are then kept, and used throughout the year for protection against disease in the family or among livestock, to protect the home against lightning, and to make crops fertile. In Siberia, elaborate log rites probably harken back to ancestor worship ritual. Some examples of these traditions, kept as recently as early this century but now being forgotten, are mentioned here:

• In Rural France, the Yule log is brought in by the whole family, while singing carols about fertility of women, goats, lambs, abundance of corn, flour and wine. The youngest child anoints the log with wine before burning. The charcoal is kept all year for remedy of various ills, put under the bed to protect from illness and lightning.
  

• In Italy, ashes protect against hail. In Germany, against fire and ill luck, and protects fruit trees from insects.
  

• In England, you might not allow the Yule fire to go out during the whole 12 days of Christmas, or to give out a light if asked by a neighbor, or even to throw the ashes away for fear of bad luck. In parts of England and Scandinavia, a large Yule candle takes the place of the log. If it goes out before Christmas day, it portends death in the household. In Norway, objects put in its light are blessed.

The Yule log also is a form of sympathetic magic, with its rule of "as above, so below" means that to have a blazing fire on earth would encourage the sun to grow stronger. Therefore, the Winter Solstice is a "fire festival," with bonfires and Yule logs being lit to "help" the sun grow stronger between Yule and Midsummer. It also served a more practical purpose of warming up the home during a cold night in which many people stayed awake for much longer than they usually did.

Yule Tree
The evergreen forever stays green and represents to Pagans birth/death/rebirth. Even though deciduous trees, bushes and crops died or hibernated for the winter, the evergreen trees remain green - symbolizing life. To the Ancient Ones, the evergreens seemed to have magickal powers that enabled them to withstand the rigors of winter. The first decorating of an evergreen tree began with the heathen Greeks and their worship of their God Adonia, who allegedly was brought back to life by the serpent Aessulapius after having been slain. ("Should Christians Celebrate Christmas" www.sovereigngrace.net.should.htm ) Hand-made ornaments were made to decorate the tree, symbolizing the various stellar objects which were (and still are) of significance to Pagans - the sun, the moon and stars. Pagans also hung gifts on the tree as offerings to the various Pagan Gods and Goddesses.
 
President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) arranged to have the first Christmas tree in the White House during the mid 1850's. President Calvin Coolidege (188501933) started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923.

Not having evergreen trees, Egyptians considered the palm tree to symbolize resurrection. They decorated their homes with its branches during the winter solstice. An alternative to the indoor Yule tree is one that stays outside. Select a favorite outside evergreen and decorate it for your wildlife friends. Hang pine cones covered in peanut butter and dipped in bird seeds, whole grain gingerbread cookies, suet, and tiny white lights. Another choice to avoid cutting a live tree is to trim a large branch from an evergreen. Place it on a table in a holder and decorate as you would a whole tree. This may be especially appropriate because it is believed that this is how the Yule tree tradition started.

Santa Claus
Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman God), Cronos (Greek God, also known as Father Time), The Holly King (Celtic God of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian God), Thor (Norse sky God who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandanavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse); Frey (Norse fertility God) and Bafana (Italian female figure who was ever searching for the Divine Child and in her search gave presents to all the children). He is known to Pagans as the Horned One and is represented by the stag or reindeer.

The legend of Santa Claus entering the house through the chimney, and the hanging of socks and stockings by the fireplace, relates to the ancient superstitions around hearth spirits. The Chinese and others would traditionally sweep and scour the house in preparation for the visit by the hearth spirit. Dressed in a pointed red cap and red jacket, this fire god traveled from the heavens above, visiting homes to distribute favors or punishments.

Sacred Plants
Mistletoe is an old Celtic symbol of regeneration and eternal life. The Romans valued it as a symbol of peace and this eventually led to its usage as one of the common symbols of Christmas. Kissing under mistletoe was a Roman custom, due to its' being regarded as a symbol of fertility. Gods/Goddesses: Oak Spirit, Frigger and Balder Holly symbolizes protection and good luck and is used in wreaths. It symbolizes the Holly King and the wood spirits. Gods/ Goddesses: Holly King, Old Nick, Saturn, Bacchus, Wood Spirits. Ivy symbolizes fidelity, protection, healing, marriage, victory, honor and good luck. It is found in crowns, wreaths and garlands. Gods/Goddesses: Dionysius, Bacchus, Great Goddess. Wheat symbolizes sustenance, abundance, fertility and good luck. It is used in cookies, cakes, breads. Gods/Goddesses: Earth Goddesses, Saturn, Goat Spirit, Fairy Folk. Evergreen symbolizes continuity of life, protection and prosperity. Gods/Goddesses: Green Goddesses and Gods, Hertha, Dionysius, Woodland Spirits.

Sacred Tree
The Oak symbolizes abundance, fertility, longevity, protection, spiritual awareness while remaining fully rooted in the Earth plane. Its wood is used for staves and wands, use any parts for protection charms which bring healing. Acorns bring fertility and abundance. Plant in the dark of the moon to bring financial prosperity. Caution: Parts of the tree contain the compounds known as tannic acid. Tannic Acid in this form is toxic to humans. Oak bark tea can be bought over the counter. Otherwise, if you intend to use this particular herb, make sure that you do a complete study on how to use it. The Yew represents the last day of the solar year and death.

The Silver Fir represents Winter Solstice Day and birth. The Birch represents the month following Winter Solstice and beginnings.