Decorating for Yule

Yes, yes.. to some I know this post is late. Winter Solstice and Yule were on December 21st, so why so late? Well, there's a simple answer to that. Not only did we have friends in from out of town and gatherings at our house, but in our home, Yule isn't celebrated just one day a year. The kickoff, of course is on Winter Solstice. But in an effort to extend the good cheer and drastically reduce the stress, we tend to celebrate Yule until the end of January. We exchange our main gifts on Solstice, but are sure to spread out little gifts throughout the month, to keep our budget sane and keep the giving spirit active. What could perk up a crappy day better than a thoughtful, well timed gift? So when I decorate for Yule, I usually do so with the intention of keeping those decorations up and lit for well over a month. So my decorations always must be as practical as possible, and something that wouldn't seem tacky or out of place past the traditional holiday. We typical use a lot of greenery and natural seasonal objects to decorate for this reason. 

The first thing one usually does is put up their Yule or holiday tree, if they have one. I'm a bit of a tree hugger, so I'm majorly against having a live tree, unless it's potted and intended to be planted in the spring. I know that I'm of the majority in this subject, even among Pagans. If you do choose to use a live tree, please dispose of it responsibly, preferably in a compost. Needless to say, I choose to use an artificial tree. Instead of the usual ornaments and decorations that include Santa and such, I prefer to use more natural objects. For example, I decorate with birds, spider balls, bundles of sticks, acorns, etc. I also like recycling objects to use as ornaments, like old spoons bent to hang on a branch. There's also some random ornaments on my tree as well, most of which we had collected over the years and old ceramic ones made and painted by my mom. Hubby isn't fond of the idea of a star on top of the tree, so instead of a star, I use a big bow.

After the Yule tree is set up, I typically begin collecting things for my Yule altar. I love having a sacred space in the heart of our home. This year, I went outside to our backyard to one of our evergreen trees and took clippings from some of the lower branches. I always make sure to first ask permission and then thank the tree for letting me take the trimmings. It's never a bad idea to practice a healthy respect for nature, especially the Earth's lungs, even if your practice isn't nature based. I also took a couple thin, bare branches to craft my pentagram wreath and create an arrangement with some of the evergreen trimmings. 

Whenever setting up a sacred space, I like to have all the elements represented. You can represent Earth with rocks, crystals, salt, trimmings, etc. Fire is usually represented with candles and Air is usually represented with incense. Representing water is rather self explanatory, but if you have cats like mine who like to knock everything over to get to a water source (even if their water dish is filled to the brim), it might be a good idea to only bring the water to the altar when you use it. It's entirely up to you how you set up your altar. Some paths have outlines for appropriate placements of each item. You can use an outline if you like, but I usually just do whatever feels right and uncluttered. It's MY sacred space, after all.

The last major thing I like to do is have a nice pentagram wreath on my front door to greet guests. It's not as loud as having a giant sign in the yard that says "LOOK! A PAGAN LIVES HERE!", but it's enough to represent the home they are coming into. 

All the rest is just details. I put up a cute snowman on the door to greet guests during our gatherings after the door was closed. I took him down after the gatherings, mostly because tape refuses to stick to smooth wood for longer than a 24 hour period, it seems. 

The best part is to see it all lit up. After the Solstice celebration came to an end, I got to light all my candles and incense, turn off the lights and simply enjoy the quiet and the company. 

So how did you decorate this year? I'd love to hear from ya! Come check out the Gypsy Constellation Facebook page and share some pics from your holiday celebrations. You can find it HERE.

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see ya soon!