P R Reddall argues for marking Yule precisely on the Winter Solstice as it provides a clear and natural connection to ancestral traditions, the Sun’s significance, and the cycles of nature, offering a spiritual anchor amidst modern confusion.
Amongst mythological scholars, there has been some debate on the exact timing of Yule, which is observed by Odinists and others who follow a Heathen or European Pagan belief system.
I would like to make a case of simplicity and logic in order to attempt to resolve this issue.
In recent times, our folk have been bewildered with misinformation, which has left many of us swept along as if in a turbulent river. A metaphorical solid rock is needed to cling on to — that rock being a belief system which is natural, mythological, folkish, rooted in our ancestral past yet applicable in the modern world.
When it comes to festivals, celebrations and blotar (Odinic ritual), what is needed is certainty.
Regarding Yule, I strongly believe that it should be marked precisely by the Winter Solstice. My reasons for this are as follows: the Solstice offers a clear date and time; it is the longest night and we may regard this as pending Baldur’s return; the Sun is highly important, offering light, warmth and energy with which to grow crops — thus the high and low points of the Sun are surely to have been observed by our ancestors, and holding Solstice blots connects the modern Odinist to our ancestors and to the natural world.
Pagan belief systems see divinity in all things; this is in opposition to the eastern monotheist religions. And while all things are honoured including the moon, the stars and planets, the trees and animals, one may utilise an element of ‘Unverified Personal Gnosis’ to determine whether our northern forebears would place great importance on the high and low point of Sunna.
As a final note regarding ‘Unverified Personal Gnosis’, this should definitely not be dismissed. At one level, we all have that deep inner voice which emits the whisperings of ancestral memories. Yet ‘UPG’ must be considered from the spiritual level of the individual. A genuine Shaman or Gothi (Odinic priest) would surely have many wise words compared to the imbecile or drunk.
It is, of course, up to the reader to navigate him or herself through this illusory Modern World, and find a spiritual rock to hold on to.
