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Dec. 11th, 2012 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreI wrote up this big long post about how I was feeling kinda growly about being surrounded by Christmas and how that makes me feel tired and cranky but by dint of writing the post, I started to feel better. Because now I am thinking about Yule instead.
You guys, Yule is my favorite religious* holiday. Which is pretty great because it is the most important heathen holiday. 8) So now I am going to tell you about some of the things I love about Yule.
- I love Mothernight, which is the first night of Yule. Heathen holidays start at sundown the night before, so I celebrate Mothernight on the evening of the 20th. It's for remembering your disir (basically, your female ancestors, though that's not entirely accurate) and All-Mother Frigga, and her 12 handmaidens. Next to Loki, Frigga is the deity I talk to the most, so Mothernight is pretty important to me.
- Yule is also a time when I try to honor Mother Holda, who blesses the industrious. She's heavily associated with spinning and in some places, it was traditional to have all your spinning done by Yule, in order to receive Holda's blessing. I don't spin, but I do crochet and knit, so I try to have all of my current projects done before Mothernight. (I didn't manage it last year, but I think I'll be able to this year.) I like this because it's both a reason to work hard and get things finished and a reason to remember that I get to rest when I need to.
- I like the solstice morning. I don't stay up all night (though some year, I'd like to try it), but I get up before sunrise and make a cup of tea or something else hot and I go outside to watch the sunrise. I usually say a few things to greet the sun or sing a song, and I make a toast. (We are big on toasts, heathens.) And it's important. Literally, of course, there is not a giant wolf chasing the goddess Sunna across the sky. But mythologically, metaphorically? There is some bad shit out there, and some bad shit happened this year and the sun rising symbolically means that we got through it, one more time. The night is long and dark, but the sun rises. Life chose us again this year. We are not lost.
- So, party time! Yule is sacred to Freyr and Freyja, who are party gods. They are gods of life and love and frith and wealth, so I get to celebrate them by eating as much as I want and having a good time. One of the things I like about heathenry is its attitude toward wealth. Which is, basically, wealth is good. Greed is bad. Of course you want to have nice things but when you have nice things, you should share them. (Not sharing turns you into a dragon, which is generally to be avoided.) I like that heathenry is charitable without being ascetic.
- It's hard to know whether presents at Yule are traditional or not, but presents are awesome, so who cares? I love giving presents to people I care about and I'm lucky enough to be able to. I like being able to share that luck.
- I like that Yule is so long. It's twelve whole days long, this long space between the old year and the new when we get to rest and relax and regroup for the year that's coming. It's a good space to make plans and figure out how to do better. I keep thinking that, one year, I'm going to take the whole twelve days off from work, but I haven't done that yet. I've got the first six days off this year, though, so that's awesome.
- I like that, if I start the count from December 21st, Yule ends on January 1st. That's not particularly important, but I find it pleasing. 8)
- Yule is always the time that I feel closest to the gods. Which makes sense - the gods are called "Yule-beings", after all. It is, for me, the holiest time of year: the darkest, the brightest, the most profound, the most full of simple pleasures and good things.
So. Yule is pretty great. I'm looking forward to it.
*Modifier added because of Halloween, which does has some religious aspects for me and I usually celebrate Winternights concurrently, but is not in itself a religious holiday.
You guys, Yule is my favorite religious* holiday. Which is pretty great because it is the most important heathen holiday. 8) So now I am going to tell you about some of the things I love about Yule.
- I love Mothernight, which is the first night of Yule. Heathen holidays start at sundown the night before, so I celebrate Mothernight on the evening of the 20th. It's for remembering your disir (basically, your female ancestors, though that's not entirely accurate) and All-Mother Frigga, and her 12 handmaidens. Next to Loki, Frigga is the deity I talk to the most, so Mothernight is pretty important to me.
- Yule is also a time when I try to honor Mother Holda, who blesses the industrious. She's heavily associated with spinning and in some places, it was traditional to have all your spinning done by Yule, in order to receive Holda's blessing. I don't spin, but I do crochet and knit, so I try to have all of my current projects done before Mothernight. (I didn't manage it last year, but I think I'll be able to this year.) I like this because it's both a reason to work hard and get things finished and a reason to remember that I get to rest when I need to.
- I like the solstice morning. I don't stay up all night (though some year, I'd like to try it), but I get up before sunrise and make a cup of tea or something else hot and I go outside to watch the sunrise. I usually say a few things to greet the sun or sing a song, and I make a toast. (We are big on toasts, heathens.) And it's important. Literally, of course, there is not a giant wolf chasing the goddess Sunna across the sky. But mythologically, metaphorically? There is some bad shit out there, and some bad shit happened this year and the sun rising symbolically means that we got through it, one more time. The night is long and dark, but the sun rises. Life chose us again this year. We are not lost.
- So, party time! Yule is sacred to Freyr and Freyja, who are party gods. They are gods of life and love and frith and wealth, so I get to celebrate them by eating as much as I want and having a good time. One of the things I like about heathenry is its attitude toward wealth. Which is, basically, wealth is good. Greed is bad. Of course you want to have nice things but when you have nice things, you should share them. (Not sharing turns you into a dragon, which is generally to be avoided.) I like that heathenry is charitable without being ascetic.
- It's hard to know whether presents at Yule are traditional or not, but presents are awesome, so who cares? I love giving presents to people I care about and I'm lucky enough to be able to. I like being able to share that luck.
- I like that Yule is so long. It's twelve whole days long, this long space between the old year and the new when we get to rest and relax and regroup for the year that's coming. It's a good space to make plans and figure out how to do better. I keep thinking that, one year, I'm going to take the whole twelve days off from work, but I haven't done that yet. I've got the first six days off this year, though, so that's awesome.
- I like that, if I start the count from December 21st, Yule ends on January 1st. That's not particularly important, but I find it pleasing. 8)
- Yule is always the time that I feel closest to the gods. Which makes sense - the gods are called "Yule-beings", after all. It is, for me, the holiest time of year: the darkest, the brightest, the most profound, the most full of simple pleasures and good things.
So. Yule is pretty great. I'm looking forward to it.
*Modifier added because of Halloween, which does has some religious aspects for me and I usually celebrate Winternights concurrently, but is not in itself a religious holiday.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-12 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-12 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-13 06:18 am (UTC)Still, a very lovely heathenry.