Yule - the other Pagan New Year
I’m a little surprised that it took until December for someone to point out a new year that I had missed, but I’m glad at least to have had this note on instagram. Pagans, it turns out, vary in their observance of New Years - so though I marked Samhain as the beginning of the Wheel of the Year, it turns out Yule - December 22nd - is an alternative consideration. It is also noted as the beginning of the Runic Calendar.
A knowledgeable* source says “Some witches and traditions hold that Yule should be counted as the Witch's New Year as it is the time when the Sun in reborn again, and begins another cycle of increased light on Earth. It is the time when the God is born as the New Born Sun, and the Goddess hibernates, much as the earth hibernates.”
Variously I’ve seen the Yuletide season described as beginning on Dec 21 with Mother Night, and ending on Twelfth Night which is 31st December, and concedes with teh Gregorian New Year. Others have 22nd as teh beginning of the New Year, as the sun is reborn. So definitive my research is not. What does look nice is the recipe for Yule Wassail. Here is one, with some traditional old English songs to go along with it. https://www.thoughtco.com/go-a-wassailing-for-yule-2562973
Either or any of the ways,