🎄🎁Yule Altar & Decorations🎄🎁 (Patreon)

Let’s discuss how to create a Yule altar and decorations you could use! If you are celebrating Litha in the Southern Hemisphere, make sure you type in “Litha” when you search for posts to see all of the Patreon articles about that sabbat! How do you decorate for Yule and Litha? Here are some wonderful articles by Patti Wigington of Learn Religions.

Yule is the time of year when Pagans around the world celebrate the Winter Solstice. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, this will be on or around December 21, but if you're below the Equator, your Yule celebration will fall in June. This Sabbat is considered the longest night of the year, and following Yule, the sun begins its long journey back to earth. Try some or even all of these ideas — obviously, space may be a limiting factor for some, but use what calls to you most.

Colors of the Season

Winter is here, and even if the snow hasn't fallen yet, there's a definite chill in the air. Use cold colors to decorate your altar, such as blues and silvers and whites. Also find ways to include the reds, whites and greens of the season. Evergreen boughs never go out of style, so add some dark greens as well.

In modern Pagan magical practice, red is often associated with passion and sexuality. However, for some people, red indicates prosperity. In chakra work, red is connected with the root chakra, located at the base of the spine. Holistic Healing Expert Phylameana Iila Desy says, "This chakra is the grounding force that allows us to connect to the earth energies and empower our beings."

If you're using white on your altar at Yule, consider incorporating it into rituals that focus on purification, or your own spiritual development. Hang white snowflakes and stars around your home as a way of keeping the spiritual environment clean. Add plump white pillows filled with herbs to your couch, to create a quiet, sacred space for your meditation. Since winter solstice is the season of the sun, gold is often associated with solar power and energy. If your tradition honors the return of the sun, why not hang some gold suns around your house as a tribute? Use a gold candle to represent the sun on your altar.

Cover your altar with a cloth in a cool color, and then add candles in a variety of different wintery shades. Use candles in silvers and golds — and sparkle is always good too!

Symbols of Winter

Yule is a Sabbat that reflects the return of the sun, so add solar symbols to your altar. Gold discs, yellow candles, anything bright and shiny can represent the sun. Some people even get a large pillar candle, inscribe it with solar symbols, and designate it as their sun candle. You can also add evergreen boughs, sprigs of holly, pinecones, a Yule log, and even Santa Claus. Consider antlers or reindeer, along with other symbols of fertility.

Try incorporating sacred plants associated with the winter solstice as well. Evergreen boughs like pines, fir, juniper and cedar are all part of the evergreen family, and they’re typically associated with themes of protection and prosperity, as well as that of a continuation of life and renewal. Hang a sprig of holly in your house to ensure good luck and safety to your family. Wear it as a charm, or make holly water (which you probably read as holy water!) by soaking leaves overnight in spring water under a full moon. Use birch branches to craft your own besom for magical workings, and in spells and rituals related to enchantments, renewal, purification, fresh starts and new beginnings.

Candles and Lights

Yule is a celebration of light, so why not bring the light back into your home during the season of the long nights? Candles galore can be placed on tabletops, hang strands of twinkly lights from your ceilings and walls, and if you've got access to a tabletop brazier, get a little blaze going! If you're lucky enough to have a sunny morning, pull the curtains open wide and let the natural light shine in.

Work a bit of candle magic into your celebrations, and dress candles with symbols that represent family, joy, tranquility, and peace to you. Decorate a pretty jar with cinnamon sticks to make a Yule candleholder, and place it where it will remind you of the fiery scents of the season.

Suns and Solar Symbols

Since Yule is the longest night of the year, it's also the sabbat on which the sun begins making its return back to the earth. Hang suns and solar symbols all over your house. These don't have to be fancy—you can craft simple ones with yarn, fabric, chenille stems, or even paper. Scavenge the craft stores for metal sun ornaments, or if you're really ambitious, make a few sunwheels to hang around your house. If you've decided to set up a holiday tree for your Yule festivities, adorn it with bright yellow and orange suns as a reminder of the real reason for the season!

Pinecones, Greenery and Wreaths

Saturnalia, which fell in mid-December, was a time to honor the god Saturn, and so Roman homes and hearths were decorated with boughs of greenery–vines, ivy, and the like. The ancient Egyptians didn't have evergreen trees, but they had palms—and the palm tree was the symbol of resurrection and rebirth. They often brought the fronds into their homes during the time of the winter solstice. The Celts and Nordic societies were big fans of mistletoe. Bring holly and ivy indoors, gather up pine cones and boughs, and enjoy not just the sight but the scents of greenery during Yule.

Yule Logs

Nowadays, when we hear about the Yule log, most people think of a deliciously rich chocolate dessert. But the Yule log has its origins in the cold winters of Norway, on the night of the winter solstice, where it was common to hoist a giant log onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Norsemen believed that the sun was a giant wheel of fire which rolled away from the earth, and then began rolling back again on the winter solstice. Craft a Yule log to display in a place of honor in your home, before burning it on the eve of the sabbat. If you're a fan of kitchen witchcraft, make a delicious chocolate one and chow down after you've eaten your Yule dinner.

Fruits, Nuts and Berries

Winter is a time in which many of us stock up on fruits, nuts and berries. After all, for our ancestors, these were things which could be gathered in advance and preserved, to be set aside for the long winter. Depending on where you live, there are some fruits which become more readily available during the season of the winter solstice. Fill pretty bowls and baskets with clementines and oranges, pears and bright red apples, nuts and dried berries. Tie on a ribbon or some seasonal fabric, place them around your home, and you've got a seasonal decoration that you can snack on!

Other Signs of the Season

There's no limit to the number of things you can put on your Yule altar, as long as you've got the space. Consider some of these items as part of your Sabbat decor:

• Fruit and nuts: add bowls of winter nuts, like walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts, or fresh fruit such as oranges and apples, to your altar
• Mistletoe, which symbolizes fertility and abundance, is often associated with the winter holidays around the world
• Snowflakes, icicles, or even a bowl of snow can come in handy for wintertime magic
• Candy canes: although they're typically associated with the Christmas holiday, candy canes can be utilized in magic as a way to direct energy
• Bells are often included in Pagan practice as a way of driving away evil spirits, but you can also use them as a method of bringing harmony to a magical space
• Sun wheels and other solar symbols are a great way to establish your connection to the sun as it begins its long journey back to the earth

What Can I Hang on My Yule Tree?

ust because you’re not celebrating the Christian holidays doesn’t mean you can’t have a holiday tree – lots of Pagans do, and it’s perfectly fine if you want to. However, one thing you may notice is that many seasonal ornaments are rooted in the traditions of Christianity — angels, baby Jesus, wise men, that sort of thing. If you follow a nature-based religious system, there’s no reason you can’t have things on your tree that celebrate your own beliefs as well. Here are eight great ideas for things to hang on your holiday tree — whatever you decide to call it.

Yule Ornaments

If you're hanging up ornaments for Yule, why not make some of them magical? Use basic craft supplies to create magical and seasonally appropriate ornaments for your Yule tree. Salt dough is one of the easiest things in the world to make, and you can create just about anything from it. Use it with cookie cutters to make your own Sabbat ornaments.

Try making a batch of cinnamon spell ornaments as a fun and magical holiday project. Cinnamon smells good and it tastes delicious… but what else is it good for? Cinnamon has been used in a variety of ways for thousands of years. The Romans burned it in funeral ceremonies, believing that the aroma was sacred and pleasing to the gods. On each ornament, use a toothpick or small paring knife to inscribe a symbol of your intent.

If you want to keep an earth-friendly theme to your Yule decorating, one way to do so is to use the elements found in nature as part of your decor. This is a project that you may have made before if you have a Girl Scout — simple things such as seeds, acorns, feathers, and other found items are easy to make into ornaments and other decorations.

Use chenille stems in your favorite color to create pipecleaner pentacle ornaments. They're easy, and your kids can do it once you show them how to bend the stems. You'll need three pipe cleaners, or chenille stems, for each pentacle.

Finally, consider using glass or plastic fillable ornaments to create spells that literally hang on your tree! You can create one for just about any magical purpose — consider making one for each family member, to bring blessings and abundance to you all year long.

Herbal Sachets

Herbal sachets are a great way to use up bits of scrap fabric, and they have the added bonus of making your home smell amazing! A sachet is simply a cloth pouch or bag stuffed with aromatic blends of herbs, flowers, or other goodies. Use one of the sacred plants associated with the Yule season, such as mistletoe, holly, or evergreen boughs to make a herbal sachet.

Suns and Solar Symbols

The winter solstice is all about the return of the sun, so why not decorate your holiday tree with solar symbols? Kids can make simple paper ones out of colored paper plates and construction paper, or you can buy wooden discs from the local craft store and paint them bright yellows and oranges. You can even make them with salt dough or modeling clay!

Lots of Lights!

Many cultures have winter festivals that are in fact celebrations of light. In addition to Christmas, there's Hanukkah with its brightly lit menorahs, Kwanzaa candles, and any number of other holidays. The Pagan holiday called Yule takes place on the day of the winter solstice, around December 21. As a festival of the Sun, the most important part of any Yule celebration is light -- candles, bonfires, and lights around your house.

Magical Items

Who hangs magical tools on their tree? Anyone who wants to, that's who! Decorate your tree with Tarot cards strung on ribbons, herb bundles, crystals on a string, bells, even magical poppets!

Fertility Symbols

Although most Neopagans today don't associate Yule with fertility, in early pre-Christian societies there was definitely a fertility connection at the winter solstice. Fertility rites were performed underneath mistletoe, and the idea of wassailing actually came from a pre-Christian European practice. Hang things like antlers, cups, and eggs on your tree if you're feeling a need for fertility symbolism, or pay tribute to the fertility deities who normally don't get honored until Beltane.

God's Eyes

God's eyes are one of the easiest crafts you can make, and they're versatile because you can create them in any color. At Yule, you can make them in reds, golds, whites and greens. Try using cinnamon sticks instead of craft sticks, to bring the scent of the season into your home.

Natural Items

Natural items make a great decoration for a tree - go out in the woods on a crisp winter day, and gather things like twigs, feathers, pine cones, acorns, bark, berries, and other found items to hang on your tree. Use the extras to make a tree topper out of nature's gifts.

Sources:

https://pixabay.com/photos/christmas-advent-cinnamon-2918569/

https://www.learnreligions.com/things-to-hang-on-holiday-tree-2563022

https://www.learnreligions.com/easy-yule-decorations-2562950

Wigington, Patti. "Setting Up Your Yule Altar." Learn Religions, Aug. 28, 2020, learnreligions.com/setting-up-a-yule-altar-2562996.