Traditions are the solutions to a problem you forgot. But there is a REASON for everything our Ancestors did. There is a significance to every act and aspect of our Traditions.

The reason we begin Yule on the Winter Solstice is because once the Solstice occurs, the darkest part of the year is over, and that is cause to celebrate! We light up our Hearths, and we place things about, but when you discuss the meaning and significance with each of these, that is how traditions are maintained instead of half reminisced as “things Grandma used to do…”, by keeping each facet alive and valid with each generation.

In my home, the structure of our Yule celebrations are on the first night of Yule we have Mother’s Night. We Honor Frigga, the Matrons and female heads of household, the women in our lives who make a house a HOME. The first gift of Yule is given to Matron of the Hearth. With the Feast, even if it is a humble affair, is blessed by invoking Frigga. Making this day in sincere ways about the woman who guides those in attendance is what the focus is. Share stories of a memory with your mother, or grandmother, or aunt, or any significant female in your life. How anyone achieves that is up to them and how you make your celebrations unique and organic, flourishing for generations.

The second night of Yule we Honor Odin, the Wild Hunt, and the Hearth itself. Honoring the Hearth by acknowledging that if there is trouble to be found or faced, let it be in the darkness of the Utgard, far afield and distant from Hearth. It is to Honor those who have chosen to walk in the company of Odin and be willing to face things seen and unseen. Hail Odin before your Feast or evening meal this day and share stories of harrowing adventures that you and other family members have engaged in. A gift to the father of the house selected by the youngest person in attendance is a fun tradition to foster generational bonding.

The third night of Yule for us is to celebrate the Virtue of Courage. For your meal blessing, call upon whichever of the Aesir you find most fully the personification of Courage. We call upon Thor. Tell your favorite tale of Thor from the Lore, and share stories of what you or one of your family has done that exemplifies Courage to you. Remind the youth of your Hearth that they come from a line to remember and revere. This is a good night to play games of an extroverted nature, like Pictionary, or charades, or any type of interactive game you choose. But the theme is stand up and stand out with Courage.

The fourth night of Yule for us is to recognize the Virtue of Truth. To share stories of when we came to know a Great Truth. Or when we or someone we know embodied the Virtue of Truth. Reading and sharing books is a fine tradition to maintain for this day. When the meal blessings come, call upon whomever you choose that is synonymous with Truth in your heart. For me, that is Forseti, Aesir of undisputed judgements.

The fifth day of Yule we take time to reflect on Honor. What it means to have Honor, to BE Honorable. We share stories of times we or someone we respect carried themselves well and represented all who knew them with distinction and pride. Share tales from our lore that make you want to be more upright and regal. For the Feast or gathering  meal held on this day, you call upon who you see embodies Honor as we have chosen Modi and Magni, as they Honor their father’s legacy by wielding Mjolnir in their father’s stead after Ragnarok.

The sixth day of Yule is when we examine the Virtue of Loyalty. Dedication to Folk and the benefits we reap are what we discuss and what tales from our Lore are on this theme. We share stories of our own acts of Loyalty and brotherhood, reminisce about bonds of loyalty and when they were first formed. This Feast is dedicated to the bonded couples of Odin and Frigga, Thor and Sif, Baldur and Nanna, Bragi and Idunna, Ullr and Skadi, Aegir and Ran.

The seventh day of Yule we ponder The Virtue of Discipline. How we demonstrate it, examples of when we have grown better in an area lacking discipline, family or friends of one’s Folk who embody the qualities of Discipline. Playing games like Jenga, chess, or putting together puzzles are all appropriately themed to this day’s Virtue. Making cookies or a cake or pie for a fresh out of the oven treat is a wonderful gift for everyone in attendance. When we bless this day’s feast, it is in the name of Tyr, the One Handed.

The eight day of Yule we focus on the Virtue of Hospitality. This is a perfect day to invite someone over who may have been unable to make it for whatever reasons to any previous gatherings. Tell tales of warm welcomes and happy reunions. Drinking hot cocoa and making s’mores, making calls to distant relations you wish you could be near to is what this day is for. The Feast we enjoy this day is blessed in the name of Bragi, who stands at the doors of Valhalla to welcome those who enter.

The ninth day of Yule is when we focus on Industriousness. We share stories of the hardest working relative we know, the ones who don’t stop or give up when it is hard. Tonight is when that tricky recipe is finally tackled, for better or worse. Tonight is when we make any Oaths of Dedication. On the ninth night of Yule Feasts, we call upon Odin to bless and dine with us.

The tenth day of Yule we recognize the Virtue of Perseverance. We talk of times we completed something, saw it through. Graduations, anniversaries hallmarks of time spent towards a set purpose and the attainment of goals due to that. When we Feast on this night, we bless our food in the name of Heimdall, the Watcher who guards the Bifrost, looking and listening with dedication and perseverance.

The eleventh day of Yule we celebrate the Virtue of Self-reliance. We share moments of independence, when we were able to do something on our own, or took charge and made the winning call. For this Feast we bless it in the name of Baldur who becomes able to sit upon the Hlidskjalf in Odin’s stead.

On Twelfth Night we celebrate the Folk and recognize the culmination of yet another year. Sharing favorite memories of the past year and goals for the coming year are what this night is for. Oaths are especially potent on this night and should be made with reverence and caution. All our remaining presents are opened and Folksongs are sung and traditions are discussed. As a Southerner, I eat black eyed peas at New Years. We call upon the Norns to bless our final Feast of the Year and ask for good fortune in the coming year as they are the weavers of men’s lives.

These are the Yule Traditions of my Hearth. They may mirror yours, diverge drastically, or perhaps inspire some to start new traditions that can now be maintained in the years to come. What you do becomes a part of your Folkways, be mindful of what you do and why. Allow yourself to be joyous and take part in things both greater than yourself and simultaneously implicitly dependent on your contribution to it.

Hail the Folk!