Merry meet,
The solstice is on the horizon and December is speeding forward - the 12 Days/Nights of Yule have almost arrived! Here in the Spells8 Forum, we’ll be marking each one by highlighting the daily/nightly traditions with a Yuletide countdown.
But before we embark, I thought it may be helpful to take a look at Yule celebrations and how they can vary across traditions. Hopefully, this exploration can help you form your own seasonal celebrations in ways that are meaningful to you.
Ready to explore? Let’s go!
Yuletide Season
December brings a plethora of holidays, feasts, and celebrations - there’s a reason this is called the holiday season! In a way that brings everyone together across paths, most religious, spiritual, and cultural group can agree that this time of year is worth enjoying.
The term “Yule” dates back several centuries and may have derived from a variation of the Old English word ġēol / Old Norse word jól , while the English term “Yuletide” has been recorded as early as 1475. In the 20th Century, Wiccan Gerald Gardener set Yule as one of the eight Wiccan sabbats on the Wheel of the Year, instilling it as a holiday for numerous Neo-pagan practices.
But what is “Yule”? Like many terms that have survived over the centuries and been diversified, adopted, and adapted across traditions and time, Yule can mean a multitude of things depending on who you talk to. Today, Yule can accurately refer anything from the exact moment of the winter solstice, to a specific day on a calendar, to the entire Yuletide season. It is a celebration as wonderfully diverse as the people who honor it.
The Origins of the Twelve
One way to celebrate Yule is by enjoying the energies of the season across 12 days and nights. But if Yule is tied to the solstice, and the solstice is just one moment - why so many nights? (aside from the fact that people love a good long party 
)
Well, I did a lot of digging and found it difficult to pinpoint exactly when or where the idea of the 12 Nights originated. Some sources tie it to the ancient Roman Saturnalia festival, the Old Norse Wild Hunt, or other multi-day Midwinter feasts. When Christianity later absorbed local pagan traditions, one result was the 12 Nights of Christmas that begin on Christmas (December 25th). It is then interesting to see how modern versions of the 12 Nights of Yule sometimes draw inspiration from the 12 Nights of Christmas, in what could be considered a re-adopting of traditions.
Odin’s Hunt by August Malmström, pre-1900s, shared in The Legend of the Wild Hunt in European Mythology
Marking the Calendar
So when are the Twelve Nights of Yule? That’s another good question, and, once again, the answer will vary depending on who you ask!
Most modern celebrations of Yule are tied to the winter solstice. But the solstice fell earlier in December in some ancient calendars (around December 13) and is a shifting holiday in our modern Gregorian calendar, making it challenging to set specific annual dates for both the solstice and related events. Some pagans base their Yule celebrations on historical occurrences or feasts, but again, this can be challenging to plan as historical festivals may be only vaguely recorded or have dates that don’t align with modern calendars.
The majority of modern Neo-pagan calendars seem to begin the 12 Nights on either the 20th or 21st of December. This aligns the 12 Days to end alongside the year (ending December 31) or finishing as the New Year begins (ending January 1st). Some pagans lock in dates and celebrate them the same way every year while others allow the 12 Nights to shift to match the date of the winter solstice.
This year, the winter solstice falls on December 21st, so I have started the 12 Nights countdown on the 20th to align with the majority of Yule calendars I could find.
What Do the Nights Mean?
We’re witches - we love finding hidden meanings and drawing on the power of correspondences! Those who enjoy associations will feel right at home with the various themes of Yule explored over the 12 Days. Because regardless of when a calendar starts and finishes the celebrations, most calendars assign a special theme to each day in the series.
The themes are usually tied to the tradition of that Yule calendar. Norse traditions associate the 12 days with Norse gods while Neo-pagan practices often associate the days with virtues or ideals. Other interpretations take inspiration from history to create modern interpretations of ancient holidays, or design entirely new traditions to honor.
The following calendar draws on a mixture of historical festivals, honored deities, and modern virtues with the hope of giving everyone choices in how they’d like to recognize each day.
The 2025 Infinite Roots Twelve Days of Yule Calendar
The following calendar has been aligned to suit the Gregorian year 2025 Yuletide season. It draws inspiration from Norse, Germanic, Roman, Greek, Celtic, and Neo-Pagan Yule calendars and references known or estimated dates of traditional pagan feasts and festivals that occurred. There will be a post in the forum each day to talk about the daily theme with more information about related historical feasts, sources for additional reading, and potential ways to celebrate.
That being said, I think it’s important to honor Yule’s long history as a diverse celebration, so please feel free to use or adapt this calendar to suit your unique practice. Make this Yule your own!
THE TWELVE NIGHTS OF YULE - 2025:
Please note that posts will become available each morning (EST)
- Intro and History of the Twelve Nights
- Mother’s Night and The Longest Night (Dec 20)
- The Winter Solstice and The Wild Hunt (Dec 21)
- Day of Light & Reflections, Sacred to Ancestors (Dec 22)
- Day of Family, Sacred to All-Father Odin (Dec 23)
- Day of Gifts & Miracles, Jolabokaflod, Night of Animals Talking (Dec 24)
- Day of Hearth & Home, Sol Invictus, Rauhnächte Begins, Sacred to Frigg (Dec 25)
- Day of Cleansing (Dec 26)
- Day of Snow, Sacred to Deities of Winter, Skadi & Ullr (Dec 27)
- Day of Preparation & Wishes (Dec 28)
- Day of Community (Dec 29)
- Day of Mischief, Sacred to Tricksters (Dec 30)
- Day of Oaths, Revelry, and Wassailing (Dec 31)
Wishing you a bright and blessed Yule!
Sources: 12 Days of Yule - Spells8, 12 Days of Yule Planner - The Practitioner’s Handbook, 12 Days of Yule - Witchy Whims, The Twelve Days of Yule - Wyrd Designs, Saturnalia: Meaning, Festival & Christmas - History, Yule: Etymology - Wikipedia, The 12 Days of Yule - Pagan Grimoire
it’s black coffee with cinnamon and ginger 
so yummy 
I’ve been dipping in my tea!
I hope the coming New Year will be kinder to you and your loved ones!
