Yule is the Winter Solstice holiday for Witches. It falls on or about Dec. 23rd. It is often misunderstood to be a Christian holiday called 'Christmas.'
The Winter Solstice has been celebrated for millions of years all over the world, by nearly all ancient Pagan cultures and continues to be celebrated by modern Pagans.
Nearly all Christmas traditions are in fact older Pagan Yule traditions. Luckily, the older traditions were mostly unchanged in the transition. Yule trees were decorated during the yuletide season, to lure the 'life' back into the seemily dead Winter trees...Evergreens were decorated, since they were the only left 'alive,' so they were the ones decked, with fruit, flowers, and other 'spring-like' fertility symbols. This was a ancient spell to ask the 'life' of Nature to return to the sleeping winter world.
It was a season for family celebrations since the hunting, gathering and farming were on hold for the snowy weather. Thusly, the feasting, caroling, and gifting traditions came into being to celebrate this time of family togetherness.
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