Yule

Second to Samhain, Yule is my favourite Sabbat.
The Winter Solstice is nearly upon us, falling on the 21st of December, this Sabbat is here as a time of celebration to remind us that there is life returning after the darkness of winter.
Yule marks the shortest day of the year, and the longest night; the opposite side of the wheel to the Summer Solstice.

The word Yule, and the general festivities, relate back to Germanic paganism, with the first recorded use of the name Yuletide being found in 1475. In it's earliest form the term yule, or yuletide, was significant to a 12 day festival in the month of December, or sometimes just a referral term for the month itself.

As with most of Witch tradition, the true origins and rites are rather jumbled - but the general belief is that the days of Yule, are a celebratory festival during the Winter festival, rejoicing in the rebirth of the SUN, and/or the Great Horned God.

In simple terms, you are thanking the gods/goddess that you have survived a long hard winter, and are joyful that the sun is being reborn. The longest night is behind you, and their is hope.

The Oak King rules from midwinter to midsummer - the period of increasing light.
At this time of year, the Oak King defeats his brother, the Holly King, and regains control of the seasons.

For December Witches and pagans take evergreen trees indoors, to encourage woodland spirits to reside within, and stay warm and safe.

The evergreen tree was sacred to the Celts, because it did not die! Its boughs became a symbol of the eternal divine. Your gods and nature have not abandoned you, when all the greenery around you cannot penetrate the hard earth. Bringing full trees into your house is a more recent tradition, but it held the same basic priniciple. This tree would live the winter, and so would you, and when the sun returned to the earth, you would replant the tree back to nature. 

This is one example of many where Christianity twisted and distorted the pagan holidays to suit themselves - thus was born the Christmas tree. When Christianity was coming into power, they tried to place their own holidays at the time of pagan rites, that people already knew and recognised. This made the transition easier for people at this time of change.

Mistletoe is another ancient tradition. - Druids revered the oak tree, and the mistletoe that grew from it. During the winter when all other signs of nature had vanished, the green twigs of mistletoe and their white berries, were seen as a sign of eternal fertility.
They travelled far, and climbed high for this mistletoe to clear couples of infertility.
Often hung over their doorways, over the years we have developed the tradition of kissing beneath it.
So...don't kiss too passionately, now you know the supposed effects ;)

 Yule Logs - Originally not a scrummy, chocolate cake at all!
Can you believe?!
The Yule log was just that, a log. Harvested with your own hands, and placed in the fireplace. The log would be decorated, for the season, and then put in the fire as the main kindling, at winters end. The fire here, representing the newborn sun.
Nowadays, what with fireplaces being hard to come by. Many witches, use their yule log as a base for three candles. The candles still represent the coming sun, it's a lot safer. and you can reuse the same log year and year again.

Holly And Ivy -  A sprig of holly near the door is said to invite nature sprites. It is a deterant for evil beings, and a welcome to positive entities.
It is also a symbol of remembrance for the historic battle of the Holly and the Ivy; the one mentioned above, where the Oak King regains power over the seasons.

So...Christmas is probably more witchy than you thought.

Here are some correspondences for magical workings over the sabbat;

Colours

Gold

Green

Red
White

Animals

Stag
Reindeer

Bears

Deers

Owls

Snow Geese

Food

Gingerbread
Cinnamon

Mulled Wine
Spiced Meats

Herbs & Plants

Holly
Ivy

Poinsettias
Pine
Mistlestoe

Magic Working

Yule Log

World Peace Spells

Healing Work

Love Spells

Wreath Making

Kitchen Magic

Merry Yuletide!
Blessed Be!