Yule 2017

It was Yule last Thursday (21st Dec). As I said in my Yule Celebrations Ideas post, I had a chocolate Yule log. It was from Sainsbury's this year and was nicer than it was the last time I had it. Last year's was from Asda. Here's a picture:

Yule Celebration ideas

For Samhain last year I started a series of posts of sabbat celebration ideas. I thought I'd done one for Yule but it seems I haven't! Never mind, since Yule is coming up on Thursday (21st Dec) I'll do one this year. :) In 2016 I included some information about the origins of  Father Christmas in my Yule post. You can read that here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/12/yule-2016-origins-of-father-christmas.html

Yule aka the Winter Solstice or Midwinter comes during the "dark time" of the year but it's also a turning point, because after the shortest day and longest night on Yule itself, the days gradually get longer and lighter again. (We won't see much of a difference for a few weeks though). Solstice literally means "Sun stands still". It's about the rebirth of light and is a fire festival. Its counterpoint is Litha aka the Summer Solstice or Midsummer and if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, your Litha is coming up. In that case you might like this post on Litha celebration ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/06/baking-no-yeast-dinner-rolls-and.html

Getting Ready for Winter

We're now moving out of autumn and into winter. Although winter doesn't "officially" begin until Yule/the Winter Solstice around 22nd December (it's the 21st this year) the seasons do run together and it's starting to feel more wintry. It's definitely gone colder, especially at night and some parts of the UK have had snow. (None in Sussex yet!). It was 9 degrees Celsius (48F) here today and at the end of the week and next weekend it's supposed to drop to 1 and 0 degrees at night. It gets a bit confusing though because 1st December is thought of as "meteorological winter" while around 21st Dec is called "astronomical winter". You can read more here: https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/is-december-1-the-first-day-of-winter/

Update 3/12/21: New link here: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/1529625/when-is-first-day-winter-met-office-evg