Yule Ritual 2004

By Margaret Haught

Since ancient times the winter solstice has been viewed as the rebirth of the Sun God. Also known as Lord of the woods, the Oak king, the Staged homed god of the forest. To honor him we have incorporated certain traditions. Such as the christmas tree to symbolize his celebration, and of course the yule log, which symbolizes hope for the return of the sun. The wreath symbolizes the year/wheel and many more symbols that have also been incorporated into many other religious holidays that are around the same time. The god that has died at Samhain is now reborn.

Altar
green altar cloth
red and green candle
a potted tree
incense
salt
athame
ice water
bell

On this the longest night of the year we celebrate the coming of the new light. A time to renew our personal goals and attempt life changing magick.

Cast circle
Every one deosil while chanting: x3
- - -
To the goddess and the horn god
we bless, consecrate, and charge this circle

East: light green candle, ring bell and say:
Spirits of the east we conjure you
come into this circle and stay till we're through
we invite you, come forth, share our fun.
Everyone: Blessed be!

South: light red candle, hold up athame and say:
I conjure you now o'spirit of fire, spirit of sun, of love and desire. illuminate our magick
until it has ceased.
We invite you , come forth, share our fun.
Everyone: Blessed be!

West: light blue candle, holding bowl of ice water and say:
Water spirits of the cold winter chill, of ice and of sleet and of snow on the hills,
Flow with us now till the magick has ceased.
We invite you, come forth, share our fun.
Everyone: Blessed be!

North: light yellow candle holding incense/acorns and say:
O spirit of earth we arouse you from sleep, for you hold our roots in your womb warm
and deep. Bring our circle your richness till the magick has ceased.
We invite you, come forth, share our fun.
Everyone: Blessed be!

HPS: light the godlgoddess candles and say:
On this night we welcome the maiden and oak king. Please join us in this celebration
tonight.
Farewell darkness you've served us well.
You've brought peace and calmness with your spell. You've helped us regroup and
regenerate too.
And for those reasons we honor you. The time has come though to say good-bye
Everyone: farewell darkness! Go now! Fly!

Cakes and Ale ceremony
Good goddess Ops, of wheat and grain we thank you for the knowledge gained. To grow
the wheat that made this bread. The golden grain that keeps us fed.

Each person is to tear their slice in half just before eating say:
As bread is made from golden grain, the sun shall grow in strength again.

The other half should be torn into pieces and placed aside to be scattered out side for
birds and other small animals when scattering you may say:
We give you back unto the earth, with joy and laughter, love and mirth. We do this now
in Ops great name, to honor her- hear our refrain!

Light Yule log while chanting:
Good-bye old king -- hello new
With this log we honor you.
The old reign's gone - the new has begun
We welcome now the new born sun.

When the flames begin to dance we can write our wishes on paper and toss them into the
fire. We can also save some of the Yule log to boost our Magick in the coming year.

We thank you maiden and oak king for joining us this night in our celebrations. We bid
you farewell.stay if you will go if you must.
Everyone: blessed be!

In the east, south, west, and the north say:
We thank you for coming and attending our rite. As you travel back home please
encourage the light to grow and be strong and warm this home we call earth.
We bid you farewell in love, laughter and mirth