I AM THE FORCE

The Mother Night (Yule - the Midwinter Festival)
21st Wolfmoon/December

This celebrates the Winter solstice when the sun, having descended into dark, seems to be "re-born" and begins its ascent again. The end of one cycle, the beginning of a new. A night to honour rebirth and mothers, and to celebrate the hope and joy new birth brings. It is the first night of Yule (from the Old English hweol = wheel). Eleven more nights of festivity follow encapsulating the twelve months of the year. Within these twelve nights, the cosmic spirit of the multiverse seems especially close as end and beginning, death and rebirth, merge. At this time especially, the concentrated essence of the divine and earthly elements are held within the twelve nights. There are many customs surrounding this festive period and virtually all those still common today are based on Odinic practices: the Yule candles and Yule wheels (Yule logs), the evergreen decorations, the so-called "Christmas trees" (symbols of Yggdrasil), the feasting, exchange of gifts, and so on. A time for comradeship and hope. The Wheel has turned full circle: a new cycle begins.