How to Celebrate Holiday?

Most folks have heard of bonfires as part of solstice celebrations, in the Northern Tradition we also have folk traditions concerning the yule log. The yule log is a special log set afire on Mothers Night and continued to be burnt till the end of the season of Yule. This originates from a pre-Christian practice of bringing light on the darkest and longest of nights.  In a modern homes that do not contain wood buring fire places, a candle lit yule log is crafted with a candle to be lit each night of the 12 nights. 

The 12 Nights of Yule:

1. MOTHER’S NIGHT – THE EVENING START OF YULE

Perhaps being influenced by an old Anglo-Saxon celebration that called Módraniht, Mothers Night is an evening that honors our Disir. The Disir are often portrayed as being one's guardian spirits over a particular person or group. They are the ancestral mothers, and other female spirits (including deities) that oversee, influence, and protect the family, clan, or tribe. Rarely do they demand offerings, but like all beings in the norse cosmose, hospitality and thanks are always apreciated. Cook a meal from a family recipe, perhaps a dish crafted and passed down to you by your grand mother or great-grandmother. Light a candle and invite your Disir to your table using a prayer, vardlokkr, or hail such as this.

" Tonight we honor our Mothers, who thought joy and suffeing endured so thatir children , and their children's children might not just survive but thrive. 

I call to our mothers, the life bringers who have guided us from darkenss onto the paths our ancestors ahve traveled, and now the pather we wlak on."

Mother’s Night is the perfect time to honor not only the disir,but the various mother Goddesses as well: Freya, Frigg, Sigyn, Nanna, etc. Invite Frigg, the All Mother, to the feast, for she is the mother of all kind.

"All-Mother Frigg I hail you, and thank you. for your immeasurable blessings, your guidance and wisdom. you see all things, even if I ay not know them. May your counsel follow me into the year ahead and be the compass from which I navigate. Feast and be marry."

2. WINTER SOLSTICE

The winter solstice lends itself well as a night to honor the Gods and Goddesses attached to astronomical aspects of time-keeping: Sunna, Mani, Sinthgunt, Nott, Dagr, Mundilfari, etc.  There is an Icelandic Tradition called Jólabókaflóð (yule book flood) practiced by our Kindred as a day where family members unwrap a new book and pajama set then spend the evening indoors reading our new stories.

The Winter Solstice is also the date of the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a chase led by Odin, accompanied by a horde of hounds and men, hurtling through the night sky. Their passing marked by a tumultuous racket of pounding hooves, howling dogs and raging winds. Odin, in his guise of a wind-god, rushes through the skies astride his eight-legged steed, Sleipnir.

As it is thought that the souls of the dead are wafted away on the winds of a strong storm, Odin is regarded as the leader of all disembodied spirits - the gatherer of the dead both recent and recently called upon during Vetrnaetr, to go home to their halls in the afterlife. In this role he is known as the Wild Huntsman. 

Odin, followed by the ghosts of the dead, will roam the skies on the solstice, accompanied by furious winds, lightning and thunder. This hunt lasts for up to 3 nights, leading to the final night being on Christmas Eve. Odin is connected to the santa clause traditions in modern day due to the fact that as the Wild Hunt travels over our homes, he blesses the families sleeping inside with prosperity and other gifts.

3-11. THE VIRTUES

Days 3 through 11 are left up to the interpretation and choice of each family. We will discuss one of the 9 virtues that guide our lives as a Norse Pagan. Typically the celebration each night contains one or more of the following:

• a night dedicated to the Vanir nature gods.

• a night dedicated to the Norns, the weavers of fate.

• have a night focusing on deities Thor & Sif, Gerd & Freyr, Freya who are connected with the bounty and fertility of the land.

• a night focusing on Njord, Ran, Aegir and their 9 daughters. All of whom are the deities of the waters.

• a night for deities of the winter like Skadi, Ullr, and Frau Holle.

• a night dedicated to the Healing Gods and Goddesses such as Eir and Aurboda.

• a night honoring the alfar and male ancestors

• a night for the household's primary deities (if applicable).

Christmas Eve, December 25th, would be perfect as a night for Wild Hunt deities tied to the Santa Claus Mythos: Odin, Thor, and the Germanic Goddess of snow Frau Holle.