In this article I'll show you how to decorate your altar for Yule. I'll go through the do's and some of the don'ts of it, as well as some possible concerns. Yuletide is on the Winter Equinox, i.e. December 21st. This is a bit different from Christmas on the 24th, has slightly different meaning to it, and as such your altar should have a different feel to it. The rebirth of your God, whichever you choose him to be, whoever speaks to you loudest, is not something small. Both Wiccans and Druids see Yule as a sacred holiday, and as such you need your altar spiffy.
GENERIC YULE ALTAR
This kind of altar would be for a non-specific culture; it's good if you are just starting out as a Pagan, whether it be Wiccan or Druidic or something else. It's also good for children.
Basically, this is winter. It's getting cold out, and yet there's a new god being born: So you want to welcome him with a nice altar. Put up symbols of the season. This could be a sleigh, a few paper snowflakes, or some paper mistletoe. Kids could make a paper chain to put around the altar - not near any candles!
A good idea if kids are making their own altar for Yule, or if this is to be a family altar - or, if you're in the dorms at a college and the rules don't allow candles - is the electric candles that are sold very cheaply in stores now. Put at least one of these on an altar, preferably red or green. If you're using this option in fact, you could give it a personal flair by making a decorative paper holder for it.
Another thing to put on your generic Yule altar is candy canes, and maybe a pentacle. That makes a very pretty altar, and is very non-specific, not dangerous.
CELTIC WICCAN YULETIDE ALTAR
For the Celtic Wiccan out there, this is the rebirth of Lugh, the sun god. It's also called "The Festival of Light." You want candles, candles, candles. Use the electric ones if the place where you live doesn't allow for other kinds, or if you feel that's wrong for your energy you could also put out candles that are unlit, something I used to do in college.
Colors for the Celtic festival are red and gold, silver, green, white and even blue, so put several of these on and around your altar. A decorative idea might be to use small colored scarfs and drape them around the altar, and in back of it - always being conscious of where the flame might be. You could also have construction paper in these colors around the altar, or make snowflakes in them and hang them from the ceiling around it.
Put bells and reindeer at the altar as well, representative of the Horned God who's about to appear at this time. You could "ring in the new god" with the bells, or just have one large one, either a real bell or one made of paper-mache.
Young Celtic Wiccans could have a good time with making paper snowflakes and paper mache bells, in particular. It could be a good alternative to the real ones for them, in fact, because I don't know a kid alive who doesn't like to make lots of noise!
As far as incense goes, if you can do it, great, though it isn't hugely necessary. My fiance is allergic to many herbs, so I have to be careful - I've found that cedar and eucalyptus are good incenses to burn at this time. In your case, you could use many other options including apple, pumpkin and rosemary. In addition, you might think of putting evergreen boughs at or around the altar.
DRUIDIC YULE ALTAR
I've put a generic solitary druidic altar here, for those druids who haven't decided or are dedicants. Basically you want to be thinking of things that will be used in your Yuletide rite. So you want a representative of each of the elements: a vessel of water, a candle or incense for Fire, a sword or athame for Air, and a stone for Earth. I personally use a pewter tree statue I got years ago to represent Earth. You could use a paper flame if there are youngsters around - they could help make it, or even draw one. Going out to collect the stone for your altar is something good for you and/or young ones, as well, because it helps bind your energy and theirs, makes it more personal.
The Sun is coming back; that should be a central theme in your altar. Remember to put out the representations for each Element, but remember the Sun. Another thing to think of is that the battle of the Oak and Holly Kings for ruling of the year happens at this time, and maybe that's something you want to incorporate.
But for the most basic of these, you only need three candles - they could be votives, tapers or tea lights - a representation of a tree, and some container of water from which to drink. This is nice and simple, and pretty well within the budget of anyone around.
CELTIC DRUIDIC YULE ALTAR
Candle, cauldron, holly, water. These should be on your altar in some form, because they're all a good way to incorporate the season into your Elements representatives. Remember that holly is poisonous, so if you've youngsters you could make paper holly. Little statues of men representing each of the fighters involved in the Battle of the Oak and Holly Kings - children could later on act out the battle with supervision, to help them understand it better - or conversely just a sprig of oak and one of holly, are good too.
For the Celts, the gods around this time of year are Brigit and the Dagda. (Lugh, the god who can do anything, is often thought of as an aspect of Dagda; I tend to pray to him). So, you should include in your altar a Brigit's Cross or a picture of a bee, both of whom are symbols of this goddess, as well as a picture of the Sun who is returning.
NORSE DRUIDIC YULE ALTAR
Norse Druids, on the other hand, should have a Harrow with nine candles (one for each of the Aesir), a horn and blessing bowl, a sprig and a Tree of Life (Yggdrasil - very important). If you don't have much room, you could buy a little tree statue or even just put a Tree of Life pendant on the altar. Also, since this is a great feast, you might think of putting bits of your feast on the sides of the altar. There is a Fire and a Well to be put below the Tree, but if you're in the space constraint and must use a small pendant or statue, you can change that to have a small Fire and Well representative of the real ones on either side of it.
For a simpler Norse Yule altar, you could just have candles representing each season: yellow (summer), red (autumn), white (winter), green (spring).
Whichever way you choose to celebrate Yuletide, remember the important thing is that it's a time of rebirth and renewal for all the traditions. The Winter Solstice is the first light of the year for many countries - think of the penguins of the Antarctic! Wherever you are in the world, your addition to its energy at every holiday makes you that more connected. So your Yule altar decorations are important to pay attention to.
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/ p/YuleAltarDecs.htm
http://hearthnhomewitchery.tripod.com/celebrations/y ule/yule.html
http://www.adf.org/rituals/celtic/yule/sol-yule-mjd. html
http://www.adf.org/rituals/celtic/yule/wsolstice.htm l
http://www.adf.org/rituals/norse/yule/nyule.html
http://druidry.org/obod/festivals/arthan.html
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