Yule - Winter Solstice

 

The History of Wales

Celtic Festivals.

Yule - Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere occurs on either December the 21st or 22nd. It is the shortest day and longest night of the year when the sun's daily maximum elevation in the sky is the lowest.

The midwinter festival of Yule appears first in the 4th century Gothic language of the Germanic peoples and was later absorbed into the Christian festival of Christmas. The term 'Yule log' is one of a number of terms used to refer to a Christmas custom, and in Welsh it is called a boncyff Nadolig.

It is speculated that the Celtic Druids observed the winter solstice, as it marks the shortest day and the rebirth of the Sun, when the hours of daylight increase, until the Summer Solstice. It is thought that the Druids would gather by the oldest mistletoe-clad oak, from which the Chief Druid would remove the mistletoe with his golden sickle, to be caught by the other Druids standing below with an open sheet, making sure none of it touched the ground. The early Christian church, in fact, banned the use of mistletoe because of its association with Druids.

In the recent Welsh Druidic tradition the Winter solstice festival is known as Alban Arthan. The name derives from the writings of Iolo Morganwg, the 19th-century radical poet and is observed in a manner that commemorates the death of the Holly King, identified with the wren bird (symbolizing the old year and the shortened sun). At the hands of his son and successor, the Oak King (the new year and the new sun begins to grow).