NMR ISSUE 34

An Urban Wicca
Astrological Forecast 34
Behind Closed Doors
Dagger Moth, Walrus
Editorial 34
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Hail the Season, Merry Meet
Letters 34
Magickian
News from the Front
She Changes:
The Banishing
The Extended Pagan Holiday Season
The Magical Flute
The Seven Faces of the Soul Part II

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An Urban Wicca: Yule

By Alex Miller-Mignone

Yule is the ancient term for the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The Sun has reached its nadir in the southern sky and is poised to begin the return journey north. A Fire Festival commemorating the victory of Light over Darkness, Yule is the birth of the New Year in many Pagan traditions, and thus corresponds to the New Moon Phase of the calendar year.

Yule is an old Anglo-Saxon word for Wheel, and the round wreaths of green with which we deck the halls at this time are reminders of the turning Wheel of the Year, which has again come full circle to be reborn. Holly was the traditional evergreen of choice for these wreaths, though fir or even grapevine is commonly used today, with accents of holly. The Holly King is the Death aspect of the God, as the Oak King is the aspect of His rebirth, and holly itself was the sacred representative of the Lord and Lady, since the plant comes in male and female varieties, and both are needed to propagate.

Another plant sacred to this time of year is the mistletoe. It was a special emblem of the Sun's power for the ancient Druids, who cut it ritually for both Solstices. Mistletoe is a parasite of the oak tree, and never grows on the ground. When cut it was collected in long white cloths so that it should not touch the earth and lose its magickal powers; mistletoe used today should remain hung in the air which is its natural home. The small white berries were emblematic of drops of semen from the Lord of the Forest, and in its fruited form mistletoe was a powerful symbol of fertility.

Many solar gods and heroes were supposed to have been born at this time, including Egyptian Horus, Roman Mithras, Norse Balder, Celtic Bel and of course Jesus. More than likely the Christian usurpation of this festival for the birth of their savior stems from a desire to win over the Roman Legionaries, whose devotion to Mithras was legendary. All the old pagan festivals were in some way co-opted by the new religion, Saints replacing gods and goddesses and churches built atop the old shrines.

But the God has had his revenge: The secular Santa has far outstripped the Christian images in the popular culture. And in the image of jolly St. Nick with his sleigh and eight reindeer can be seen a reflection of the God in his aspect as Wise Old Man of the dying year, guiding his Sun Chariot with its eight solar sabbats.

Currier and Ives images notwithstanding, Yule in the urban setting is not usually a time for snow and sleigh rides. Often there has not yet been a killing frost in our sheltered garden, and hardier herbs such as thyme, rosemary, sage and winter savory still thrive in pots on the protected porch. The trees are bare, and the cold grows stronger, but any snow you see is likely to come from a bag or aerosol can, though sometimes we are favored with an inch or two of slushy matter which quickly melts away.

The weather outside may be less than frightful, but the Need Fire burns delightfully anyway; and mulled cider and roasted chestnuts are the perfect aperitif before the feast to come. The preparation for this day has lasted weeks, and it seems only fair that we extend the celebration as well; so in our home we begin the season with a commemoration of the Sun's conjunction with the Galactic Center, usually about December 18th—just a few days before the Winter Solstice, which usually falls about the 22nd. The time of the Sun's return to the Center is a good one to realign ourselves with Cosmic Consciousness, and to affirm that we are all on the Path that was laid out for us before Time.

Weeks have been spent gathering the appropriate trimmings from landscape and store. Several local parks have yielded a wide variety of natural ornaments, fallen pinecones of several varieties, sweet gum and sycamore pods with their strange unearthly shapes, and sprigs of dead wild roses with dark red rose hips. Some of these will be left in their natural state; others spray painted gold or silver and allied with silk or dried flowers to create festive ornaments for table or tree. Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus have been selected, their bright tones of red and fuchsia adding brilliance to the deep greens of ivy, pine and fir, and the delicate yellow and green of variegated holly.

We gave up decorating the traditional evergreen tree several years ago, and had formerly used a huge potted hibiscus for this purpose; but it has died and its replacement is not yet sturdy enough to be of much practical use in this regard. For the past few years we have selected a grouping of large hardwood branches as our tree of choice, painting them white and silver, edging the tips with glitter or artificial snow. This gives a very pleasant wintry look to the scene, and beautifully highlights our collection of glass ornaments.

Friends come by often during these days, and the Solstice Feast is a special sit-down banquet for eight. It commonly features roast turkey with bread filling and all the trimmings—candied carrots, brussels sprouts with bacon, dried corn and peas in cream. It has become a tradition to serve a special cheesecake for dessert, one of my own creations, featuring a ginger snap cookie crumb crust with a cream cheese filling flavored with amaretto and hazelnut, and dotted with butterscotch chips—an instant favorite. Of course there are also the more traditional cookies and fudge to sample, as well as a tempting array of homemade candies and a special batch of pink and green colored peppermint bark made with white chocolate.

We light the Need Fire in the yard at sunset, which comes early this time of year, and keep it blazing till all hours, a signal of our celebration of this crucial turning point of the Wheel of the Year.