5 Easy Yule Decorations

Candles and Lights

Yule is a celebration of light, so why not bring the light back into your home during the season of the long nights? Candles galore can be placed on tabletops, hang strands of twinkly lights from your ceilings and walls, and if you've got access to a tabletop brazier, get a little blaze going! If you're lucky enough to have a sunny morning, pull the curtains open wide and let the natural light shine in.

Work a bit of candle magic into your celebrations, and dress candles with symbols that represent family, joy, tranquility, and peace to you. Decorate a pretty jar with cinnamon sticks to make a Yule candleholder, and place it where it will remind you of the fiery scents of the season. 

Suns and Solar Symbols

Since Yule is the longest night of the year, it's also the sabbat on which the sun begins making its return back to the earth. Hang suns and solar symbols all over your house. These don't have to be fancy—you can craft simple ones with yarn, fabric, chenille stems, or even paper. Scavenge the craft stores for metal sun ornaments, or if you're really ambitious, make a few sunwheels to hang around your house. If you've decided to set up a holiday tree for your Yule festivities, adorn it with bright yellow and orange suns as a reminder of the real reason for the season!

Pine Cones, Greenery, and Wreaths

Saturnalia, which fell in mid-December, was a time to honor the god Saturn, and so Roman homes and hearths were decorated with boughs of greenery–vines, ivy, and the like. The ancient Egyptians didn't have evergreen trees, but they had palms—and the palm tree was the symbol of resurrection and rebirth. They often brought the fronds into their homes during the time of the winter solstice. The Celts and Nordic societies were big fans of mistletoe. Bring holly and ivy indoors, gather up pine cones and boughs, and enjoy not just the sight but the scents of greenery during Yule.

Yule Logs

Nowadays, when we hear about the Yule log, most people think of a deliciously rich chocolate dessert. But the Yule log has its origins in the cold winters of Norway, on the night of the winter solstice, where it was common to hoist a giant log onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Norsemen believed that the sun was a giant wheel of fire which rolled away from the earth, and then began rolling back again on the winter solstice. Craft a Yule log to display in a place of honor in your home, before burning it on the eve of the sabbat. If you're a fan of kitchen witchcraft, make a delicious chocolate one and chow down after you've eaten your Yule dinner.

Fruits, Nuts, and Berries

Winter is a time in which many of us stock up on fruits, nuts and berries. After all, for our ancestors, these were things which could be gathered in advance and preserved, to be set aside for the long winter. Depending on where you live, there are some fruits which become more readily available during the season of the winter solstice. Fill pretty bowls and baskets with clementines and oranges, pears and bright red apples, nuts and dried berries. Tie on a ribbon or some seasonal fabric, place them around your home, and you've got a seasonal decoration that you can snack on!