Sat, 31 Dec 2005

Yuletide

12 nights ago we marked the Mother Night, the winter solstice, when Sunna fell to her lowest point on the horizon and the night was the longest of the year. Tonight we mark the Yule, the end of the twelfth night since the Mother Night, and the turning of the wheel of the year.

Why the 12th night? I honestly don't know: tradition has recorded this night as the New Year in many cultures. There are indications that in the Old North, Winternights (around October 12th - there's that number again!) was celebrated as the New Year, but Yule was kept as well. Twelve is a particularly interesting number for heathens: there are 12 gods and 12 goddesses listed by Snorri in the Prose Edda, and 24 runes in the Eldar Futhark.

Our goši and his wife are coming over this evening to celebrate with us: we'll talk until the wee hours, or at least until after midnight. So have a Glad Yule, and I'll put off posting again until next year. There are already several items in the queue ...

/Asatru | 1 writeback | permanent link

On 3/17/2006 13:36:12
Matt Sauers wrote

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