Tonight is Lussi’s Night. In honor of the forthcoming lussevaka, the night long vigil, I decided to update my old blog entry on the Goddess. There’s so much more than what is mentioned in the graphic below (which is more fully explored, with far more information in the older blog post).
Yule is a magical time of year, and when we look to the various holiday traditions from Krampus and Saint Nicholas, to the celebration of Saint Lucia Night, we see the pre-Christian customs as remnants scattered across all of December. But I wanted to acknowledge Lussi (also known as Lusse, Lucy), as her feast day approaches. Unfortunately most information about her doesn’t appear in English, but primarily in folk traditions and their accounts from Norway and Sweden (and therefore, in those languages). Usually what we find in English relates more to the Christianized syncretization, and the church’s “Saint Lucia” story.
Some scholars have posited that the Christianized Saint Lucia and the customs tied to her celebration in modern times is most likely a syncretization of pre-Christian customs of Lussi (from areas of Norway and Sweden, and possibly other areas of influence from the Germanic tribes) with the Italian Christian martyr Saint Lucia. Folk traditions describe Lussi having a Wild-Hunt (oskorei) like horde called the Lussiferda.
In some regions of Sweden there would be the lussebrud (the Light Bride). Sometimes the lussebrud was merely a female dressed for the occasion, but sometimes this may be a male or female dressed up in straw as a bride, or the lussebrud may be a straw doll. The lussebrud may also be accompanied by the lussebock (Light buck). This is similar to other Wild Hunt figures in the Northern Tradition: Perchta & the Perchten, Saint Nicholas (possibly influenced from Odinic origins) and the Krampus. Like other Wild Hunt figures, she has ties to the reward/punishment folk traditions. Lussi or her horde would come down chimneys and steal misbehaving children. Lussi might destroy chimneys if certain tasks weren’t done before her night: spinning of thread or yarn was to be finished, cleaning finished, slaughtering for the year to get through the winter, and other such tasks. Symbolically, these were all tasks you’d need to help you survive a winter. If people hadn’t finished all their work, they feared Lussi would smash their chimneys.
The celebration of Lussi’s Night was meant to be culturally connected with the winter solstice, and that is what we see with the older Julian calendar. We can tell this from the clue we have of the celebration’s name from parts of Norway, where it was called ‘Lussia Langnatte’ (or Lussi’s Long Night). In Sweden it’s usually referred more simply as Lussinatta (Lussi’s Night). When a new calendar methodology was adopted, the Gregorian Calendar, we ended up with her celebration on December 13, and the astronomical solstice falling about a week later.
Today in Sweden, Lussinatt falls on the evening of December 12. There exists a multiplicity of folk traditions that can mark the celebrations. Some are secular, some are tied to the church. Previously as we near the modern era, you would have lussegubbar, or youth dressed up like Lussi and go carousing door to door in the countryside singing, in a tradition that seems reminiscent of caroling and wassailing traditions we see elsewhere. Today the songs are still sung especially the Sankta Lucia (which is believed to originate from an Italian folk song, rebranded with Swedish lyrics), but the processions are a bit less wild as they tend to wind their way through town from schools and churches, to nursing homes and hospitals. Today many towns will have an elected (or chosen by random lottery) Lucia who leads the procession (Luciatåg) wearing a candled wreath (known as a luciakrona, which was traditionally worn as a crown decorated with evergreen lingonberry branches), accompanied most usually by young girls as her handmaidens (tärnor) in evergreen wreath crowns and more recently young boys as star boys (stjärngossar) in pointed white hats holding gold stars. Everyone is all dressed in white holding candles. Sometimes they are also accompanied by gingerbread men (pepparkaksgubbar), or in some places they might dress as the local elves.
Traditionally the crowns were adorned with real candles and open flames. But in a move towards safety most places have shifted to using electric lighted versions of the candled wreath instead. In addition to the crowns there are also more candle-ladened items associated with the observance called Ljuskrona (ceiling mounted chandelier) or Ljustaken (table-top candelabara) usually, though some other names include: julstaken, julkrona, or jul tradet. Sometimes they were adorned with handcut and fringed paper decorations, different patterns were known to be prevalent in specific communities in Sweden. These Ljustaken are usually hidden until December 13, then brought out and decorated. It’s quite common for this to be a family activity. They would be part of the decorations in the home throughout the entirety of the yuletide until January 13, when they are put away again until next December.
The practice of Lussevaka – to stay awake through Lussinatt (the evening of December 12) to guard oneself and the household against evil, not only fits symbolically well with a solstice celebration of longest night, but also brings to mind the description from Bede that Mother’s Night was observed for the entire night as well. Today it’s not uncommon for their to be parties as part of the lussevaka observance, sometimes with people actually cooking and making the lussekatter rolls they’d eat in the morning. People may use the time to work on handcrafted projects. Some will drink and be merry with their peers. There are old references to folk traditions of writing Lussi’s name on doors and fences, or in other areas of having weapons at hand (or hanging them up) while you observed the vigil. In some areas you were meant to feast to keep you strong through the terrors of the night. It was a night where animals were said in some areas to be able to speak, telling Lussi what evil they may have witnessed. Livestock in some areas were given a treat of extra food, or a lussebit, meant to help them survive the evil that may lurk during the long night. There’s some folk customs that include women invoking Lussi for oracles on their future husbands.
“In Denmark, too, St. Lucia’s Eve is a time for seeing the future. Here is a prayer of Danish maids: “Sweet St. Lucy let me know: whose cloth I shall lay, whose bed I shall make, whose child I shall bear, whose darling I shall be, whose arms I shall sleep in.”
-Clement Miles (referencing Jacob Grimm)
This parallels somewhat to traditions we see in Lower Austria.
St. Lucia’s Eve is a time when special dbu from witchcraft is feared and must be averted by prayer amid incense. A procession is made through each house to cense every room. On this evening, too, girls are afraid to spin lest in the morning they should find their distaffs twisted, the threads broken, and the yarn in confusion. (We shall meet with like superstitions during the Twelve Nights.) At midnight the girls practise a strange ceremony: they go to a willow-bordered brook, cut the bark of a tree partly away, without detaching it, make with a knife a cross on the inner side of the cut bark, moisten it with water, and carefully close up the opening. On New Year’s Day the cutting is opened, and the future is augured from the marking found. The lads, on the other hand, look out at midnight for a mysterious light, the Luzieschein, the forms of which indicate coming events.
Clement Miles
The mention of cuts on the tree bark harkens to other customs across the Northern Tradition umbrella, including folktales of Woodwives, Moss People, the Buschgroßmuttter, even some other wild hunt Goddess figures (Walpurga, Berchta, Frau Holle) and trees explored in the folktale collections of Rochholz’s Drei Gaugöttinen: Walburg, Verena und Gertrud, and Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology. Winifred Hodge once theorized that the cross shape may have possibly been a nauthiz rune (ᚾ) in heathen antiquity.
Lower Austrian customs speak of a procession through the house. In other areas of Europe the eldest daughter in her role as light bringer might walk the property with her candle from house, through barn and stable, and around the boundaries of the farmstead to ward it from evil. One imagines in pre-Christian times this was probably accompanied by prayers of invocations to the Holy Powers for protection, the prayers and incense mentioned in the lower Austrian customs.
In Northern Europe, especially some of the most extreme latitudes there can be very, very little daylight indeed. Northern most areas of Sweden have around 2 hours of sunlight on the winter solstice. We know that lack of sun, can be a lack of both mental well-being, but physical well-being as well causing vitamin D deficiencies. The celebration marks the start of the holiday season. On the morning of December 13, households will designate a member of the household (usually the eldest daughter) to serve drinks and baked treats from pepparkakor (ginger snap cookies), mulled wine (glögg), coffee as well as saffron baked goods like cookies or the more iconic treat lussekatter in honor of Lucy’s Day.
Saffron featured prominently in Gotland, Sweden by the 1300s, lending itself to inclusion in the iconic Gotland Pancake (saffranspannkaka) that was a treat of the yule season. It may have made it to Sweden much earlier, albeit in limited distribution because the Vikings had extensive trade routes. We do know that the Romans used to cultivate saffron in southern Gaul, and we have evidence of old Roman recipes using the ingredient such as jussele, mentioned in Galfridus (Anglicus)’ Promptorium parvulorum sive clericorum. Gaul was an area populated with Celtic tribes that we know Germanic tribes had interactions with (plus, they had interactions with the Romans, too). So it’s possible the spice was known to the Germanic peoples (at least sone of the elite) long before booming in popularity in the Middle Ages.
meaning Germanic tribes had some exposure to it. Saffron then, as well as today is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Saffron only blooms once per year for two weeks. Each bloom has 3 pistils that must be harvested by hand just after sunrise for full flavor efficacy once the bloom opens for the day. Over 150,000 flowers have to be harvested this way to net just 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds of spice. So any food made with saffron already denotes it as a special dish reserved for important celebrations, but the harvesting for this foodway preserves sacred connection to the sun. The yellow color used in those saffron spiced treats are a nod to Lussi’s connections as a light bringer. One presumes the eating of these treats in the morning once the sun has pierced the darkness once again could be the conclusion in some areas to the warding of the property from the night before, and the corresponding nightlong vigil.
While there’s a few different Christian origin stories for Saint Lucia (or Lucy), one of them has her bringing light to persecuted Christians hiding in the catacombs surrounded by the dead with nothing but a lit wreath to guide her. Symbolically, traversing the dark and realm of the dead with light, seems to fit with pre-Christian symbolism. There is another story of how a woman with golden radiance appeared in a boat with food during a time of great hunger as well, who disappeared once the food was delivered. Another comes from what seems to be an attempt by the Church to demonize her, saying she was another wife of the Biblical Adam that consorted with Lucifer, and the unholy product of their union would be the demons or lussiferda.
The traditional depiction of Saint Lucia is of a woman clad in white. We know this is sacred iconography that is referenced time and again in Northern Tradition areas. We see this mentioned in Tacitus’ Germania that priest or priestesses wore white, we also see in the folk traditions mentioned by Grimm that women clad in white appeared at dawn for Ostara/Eostre.
While I don’t agree with the song’s description saying this is for Freya (and thus assuming that Lussi is an aspect of Freya), the lyrics only mention Lussi and Alfrodul (an attested name for Sunna) and the lyrics are perfect for Lussinatt. If you visit this song on youtube, you can find the lyrics in Swedish and English if you expand the description.
Hail to you Lussa holy among the holy, the bright dis of Yule. Drive with your light from the valleys of the Earth the darkness of midwinter.
(Excerpted English translated Lyrics from Lussesang)
At its heart this is a festival of lights in the darkness where observed in Europe, including Sweden, Norway, Finland, as well as parts of Estonia, Croatia, and Italy. Denmark began observing it in 1944 when Franz Wend imported it from Sweden as a cultural counter protest to Nazi Germany and their occupation of Denmark. Plus across the diaspora of communities created through Swedish immigration elsewhere. The Nordic Museum has a small gallery of photos of Lussinacht celebrations from the first half of the 20th Century.
I will leave you with this striking, cinematographic observance of Lussi’s Night “Light in the Darkness” by Jonna Jinton, an artist, musician and filmmaker living in the northern woodlands of Sweden.
*Updates:December 2, 2021 with Swedish terminology.December 10, 2022 with information about saffron rarity, harvesting, and references.
I made use of The Nordiscka Museet’s website, they had an amazing bibliography, referenced below in addition to some other sources as well.
THE TWELVE DAYS OF YULE
From sagas we have two terms: jólablót (Yule sacrifice) and midvinterblót (Midwinter sacrifice). We’re left with a puzzle, were they two terms for the same observance, or different observances. Scholars are cautious about assuming information, but I believe they are the same.
If you’ve ever heard the Christmas Carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” modern heathens opt to celebrate this as the Twelve Days of Yule, with the last day culminating on 12th Night. Since ancient calendars followed a different method of time, the solstice celebrations as well as later ‘Christmassy’ style observances can vary from place to place as to when they occur, in large part because of differences with changing calendars: lunisolar, Julian, Gregorian. This is further complicated as Christianity and Christian leaders from the church and monarchies also changed dates and celebrations, causing an array of syncretizations. For Christians it was Pope Julius I who said December 25th was the birth of Christ in the 4th Century, and later in 567 CE the Council of Tours would officially proclaim that the 12 Days were to be celebrated from Christmas Day through to the Epiphany. Remember, Christmas exists in December because Christians’ attached their religious observance to the pre-existing celebrations in the Roman Empire connected with Saturnalia, or the god Mithras. As Christianity spreads into Europe we see that syncretization blend again as it comes into contact with the Germanic cultures. Because of all of this there’s really no 100% right time, because the calendars kept changing and the dates were moved around, we’re looking at a range of possible dates from December well into January.
Today, most pagans and heathens celebrate the yuletide as running from approximately December 20 – December 31 (but there are variations), many opting for ease to focus rites around the astronomical winter solstice. We’re told by the writings of German missionary, Thietmar of Merseburg (b975 – d1018 CE) that in Denmark yule fell in the month of January (this after the country had converted officially to Christianity decades earlier).
In the archaeological record we have some runestaves (in this case they were a type of runic calendar) that points to a celebration known as “midvinternatterna” (Midwinter nights) occurring from roughly January 12-14th (Julian calendar) or January 19-21 (Gregorian calendar, what we modernly use in the mainstream Western civilization today). While this seems incongruously tied to the winter solstice, we have records from Roman sources that talk of the Germanic tribes tying their gatherings to nights of the new or full moon. Modern recreations of the old Germanic lunisolar calendar would have Yule occurring at the full moon, after the new moon following the winter solstice, taking us into January.
We do know that the celebration of Yule wasn’t always twelve days long. In the Norse text Heimskringla: The Saga of Hakon the Good (written in the 13th Century about events 3 centuries earlier) talks about it once lasting for three days, or as long as the ale lasted. The night it began was known as the slaughter night, where animals would be ritually slain. Ynglingna saga also talks of animal sacrifice. The meat later used to feed the community, as well as the Gods. We know there were practices as well of human sacrifice too during other ritual observances across the Northern Tradition umbrella for various rites. In Ynglinga saga ( in Snorri’s Edda) is that of the Swedish King Domalde being sacrificed to help during years of drought and famine, the scene famously imagined by Swedish painter Carl Larsson in his Midvinter’s Blot.
Continue reading “The Twelve Days of Yule: From Mother’s Night thru Twelfth Night”
Please update your links to the revised and expanded article.
Just as our pagan cousins celebrate the eight major sabbats that comprise the Wheel of the Year, for those of us in the Northern Tradition we too have somewhat similar key celebrations that we call holy tides (from the Old Norsehátíðir). Some of these celebrations are more significant and special than others, and these especially important holy-days are known as high holy tides: such as Ostara, Winter Nights, and Yule which is now upon us.
Continue reading “The Holy Tides – Yule, its traditions, and religious observances”
Of these three documented High Holy Tides, it is Yule that far and away seems the most sacred to modern practitioners in the Northern Tradition, if for no other reason than so many of the ‘Christmas’ traditions that have survived into the present day. While the association of Christ with this ancient pagan holiday came about in Roman times as connected to the festival of Saturnalia and the Mithraic cult, the spread of Christianity into Europe brought the pagan customs in the root cultures of the Northern Tradition (Germania, Scandinavia, and Anglo-Saxon England) into direct connection with the newly Christianized holiday export. While some aspects of other pagan solstice practices were common throughout, it is explicitly a number of Northern Tradition practices that we see surviving in our modern Christmas traditions, including: carols, feasting and drinking, gift-giving, Santa Claus (and other variants), evergreen decorations and the Yule log.
Since customs vary between the modern day countries where these ancient cultures once stood, there is some variance in these customs, and in how modern day Heathens choose to celebrate them. Some mirror their practices more precisely after a geo-specific historic culture, whereas others will look at the width and breadth of what we know of Northern Tradition customs.
If you’ve ever heard the Christmas Carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” modern heathens opt to celebrate this as the Twelve Days of Yule, with the last day culminating on 12thNight. Since ancient calendars followed a different method of time, the solstice celebrations as well as later ‘Christmasy’ style observances can vary from place to place as to when they occur. Today, most pagans and heathens celebrate the yuletide as running from approximately December 20 – December 31 (but there are variations).
We do know that the celebration of Yule wasn’t always twelve days long. In the Norse text Heimskringla: The Saga of Hakon the Good talks about it once lasting for three days, or as long as the ale lasted. The night it began was known as the slaughter night, where animals would be ritually slain. Their meat later used to feed the community, as well as the Gods. It was King Hakon of Norway, who as a Christian passed a law that the Christian Christmas Day (which was already a weird bastardization of the Christian story of the Nativity and Saturnalia/Mithraic customs) AND the pagan yuletide celebrations were to henceforth be celebrated at the same time. While this only specifically impacted Norway (and its territories), it illustrates an intentional combining of the holy-days into one celebration.
Today, the high holy tide is celebrated for twelve days. Whether this was because in some areas it was celebrated for that long originally, or was perhaps some odd creation that came from blending old pagan time-keeping methods and calendars with the modern ones together the end result is the same.
It is customary that NO work is done during the yuletide. From Germanic sources we see stories of the Goddess Berchta punishing those who had left work undone. In the Icelandic Svarfdæla saga, we see a warrior who postpones a fight until after the Yuletide. The Saga of Hakon the Good also speaks that the Yule was to be kept holy. Some practitioners of the Northern Tradition will even opt to completely withdraw and go incommunicado from online mailing lists, bulletin boards, and social media outlets like facebook so they can stay focused on spending the yuletide with friends and family. While it’s not always an option for everyone, there are those who choose to use vacation time from work so they can have the entire yuletide off as well.
Mother’s Night
The modern yuletide usually begins for most Heathens with Mother’s Night. In Bede’s De Temporum Ratione he describes what he knows about an old Anglo-Saxon celebration that he states was called Módraniht, which marked the beginning of a new year and was celebrated at the time of Christmas. Apparently Mother’s Night was observed the entire evening through. While little information exists to describe what Mother’s Night was, by looking at the Northern Tradition umbrella we see what appear to be similar rituals. While Yule marks the start of the year for the Anglo-Saxons, we see in Scandinavia that this distinction was at least for some geo-specific locations given to Winter Nights, which had a separate observed ritual to the Disir as part of their celebration. The disir can be understood to be the ancestral mothers, and other female spirits that oversee the family, clan, or tribe. When we reach back to ancient Germania, we also see a thriving cultus dedicated to the “matrons” or the Idis. Female deities are also sometimes included with the disir.
I personally theorize that Saint Lucia’s Day (celebrated primarily in Scandinavian countries) occurs on December 13th and features a female ‘light-bringer’ may be a Christianized remnant of an ancient disir-related ritual. The Christianized Saint Lucia Day, may have pagan origins related to the figure of Lussi. The practice of Lussevaka – to stay awake through Lussinatt to guard oneself and the household against evil, not only fits symbolically well with a solstice celebration of longest night, but also brings to mind the description of Mother’s Night being observed for the entire night as well.
Tonight we honor our Mothers, who through joy and suffering endured so that their children, and their children’s children might not just survive, but thrive.
I call to our mothers, the light and the life bringers who have guided us from darkness onto the paths our ancestors have traveled, and now the paths we walk down.
All-mother Frigga I hail thee, and I thank thee. For the immeasurable blessings, your guidance and your wisdom. You see all things, even if I may not know them. May your counsel follow me into the year ahead and be the compass from which I navigate.
May the blessings of the disir be upon you all.
For those curious about how to potentially have a rite around this night, or how the Yule log connects, keep reading.
Most folks have heard of bonfires as part of solstice celebrations, in the Northern Tradition we also have traditions concerning the yule log, as well as the ashen faggot which was a collection of bundled branches that were burned instead. We see in the Christian practice of Saint Lucy’s Day, what I feel is a pre-Christian practice of bringing light on the darkest and longest of nights. We see folk traditions of Lussi where the lussebride or representative lucia would walk the property with her candle from house, through barn and stable, and around the boundaries of the farmstead to ward it from evil. In Heimskringla, we have a description of a Disablot, which suggests that the King in Sweden oversaw the ritual in his role as High Priest while ritually riding around the sacred hall. Just as we have aspects of land-taking in stories of Gefjon, or as exhibited in the Æcerbot (which was a ritual) or Plough Monday traditions, we can understand that it is likely that the King’s riding on his horse probably ritually connected to some aspect of land-taking or boundary making as well. One imagines in pre-Christian times this was probably accompanied by prayers or invocations to the Holy Powers for protection, and can be part and parcel of some of the hallowing traditions for rituals too.
Among English sources, we know that remnants of the previous years yule log, was used to help light the next year. By doing so we have a tradition that has the light (while now extinguished) ‘kept’ throughout the year. In part this becomes something like a folk amulet of good luck, but also a means to ‘restart the light’ on the coldest, darkest, and longest night of the year when it roles around again.
Based on this, here is how I like to celebrate Módraniht.
If your rite is attended by others outside of those who live under the same roof with you, ask them to turn off all lights in their homes before they come to the rite you’re hosting.
Some groups let the children decorate the Yule Log before it is set ablaze, using 100% natural fiber ribbons, construction paper cut outs, etc. This is a great activity to do before ritual if you wish too.
Have prepared enough candles so everyone in attendance has one.
Set up your ritual area: including prepping the area for the yulelog (ash removal, fire extinguisher/water/sand in reach, adding tender, etc.), an altar with any representations you may wish to include of the Disir / Idis / Matrons upon it, and any and all offerings. A traditional disablot would feature an animal sacrifice, but that’s not always practical today (especially with so many of us no longer raising and slaughtering livestock ourselves). But you can make sure there is still food and drink on the altar to give in offering. Remember, if you have come together for a feast even pot luck style, the powers (in this case the Disir) should always be fed first before any person. Historically, the feasting occurs after ritual (as the animal sacrifice would have portions cooked for those gathered). With small kids, or people who may have medical conditions it’s ok to have snacks, but always remember the Gods and ancestors are served first especially when you come together for ritual. So you open a bag of chips, put some on a plate for the powers, before any humans grab one to munch. (Save the big feast and the most special treats for after the rite).
Before you begin, please take a moment to address everyone present about how the rite will go, expectations on behavior and ritual etiquette, and allow them to ask questions. All too often I have seen newcomers given no warning, and then they make horrendous faux pas. A good host (or their representative) helps to set people at ease. Taking a few moments to explain things is such an easy preventative measure to take from offending a holy power. This is a great opportunity to teach about the Disir, the Matrons, some of our traditions with Yule, etc. Then I recommend one last comfort break for everyone before it’s time for ritual.
This ritual presumes you are doing a faining, not a blot with animal sacrifice.
The Ritual
Extinguish all light (electrical, fire, candles, etc.). Allow darkness to descend and give pause to it in silent observance by all. After that pause (approximately a minute or so, adapt to your gathering by what seems best) then set your yule log alight (with some means of firestarter). You can do this very traditionally, or make it easier on yourself with a lighter.
The host or gythia(or godhi), then will light a candle from the yule log, then precede to walk the boundaries of the ritual space to hallow. I would invoke Sunna that her light may follow you and ward away the darkness, and shine blessings and protections upon you and all those assembled. Many invoke Thor for hallowing, but for Mother’s Night I like to keep the energy to the female powers. I went with Sunna because the solstice is in part a time sacred to her. The flame of a candle can be perceived as a microcosm of the flames of the sun. You could just as easily choose another female power that is appropriate for your group: Frau Holle, Berchta, Freya, Frigga, etc.
After the host/gythia has hallowed and warded the space, return to the altar.
The sacred drink (mead, or some other beverage to stand for it) should be poured into the mead cup/horn and the invocation should be said to start things off. Pour from the cup/horn into a special vessel like a blot bowl for it in offering to the gods, part of this liquid will be used to dip a branch in and anoint blessings on the altar, offerings, and blessings upon those gathered. [If you plan to do OPTION 2 below, don’t pour it all out. Pre-plan so there’s either a designated helper to bear the horn or cup, or there’s a means to have it stowed on the altar without it splashing everywhere. Keep some in the original bottle to pour more into the horn/cup if needed.]
OPTION 1
OPTION 1b
OPTION 2
The host/gythia should close out the rite, with any final offerings, invocations, prayers, songs, etc. Adapt as best suits your gathering.
The last act should be everyone’s individual candles being extinguished. In olden days, fire would be carried from the yule log to restart the hearth fires throughout the community (assuming a certain level of proximity). That’s not practical today (unless you’re in walking distance), so instead the candles lit by the yule log are extinguished, and each individual takes the candle home with them. When people return home, they can set the first fire in their home (be it a candle or at the hearth) from the candle lit by the yule log to carry the good fortune and blessings into their homes for the new year.
At this point while the rite is concluded, the festivities have not. Time for feasting, the vigil, and for those so inclined this is the time to tell stories, or to sing.
Traditionally at least one person should sit vigil with the yule fire the whole night through, It’s easier if you can share the burden, or do so in shifts. Some may simply spend the time in conversation throughout the night. Some may prefer to be in meditation.
Once dawn arrives, those groups so inclined will then cast runes to see what is in store for them in the next year.
Afterwards to bookend and conclude this last bit of religious observance I recommend that those left should recite or sing Sigdrifa’s Prayer, (or perhaps something more specifically geared to Sunna such as a song or a prayer) with their attention to the east (In the Landnámabok it mentions bowing to the east to hail the rising sun) and then extinguish the yule fire. (Unless you have the means to safely keep the fire burning. and the intention to keep the fire burning. Even if you do, you should collect some of the embers now before they are ash to use to start the fire next year.)
If you’re the host, save part of the Yule log to start the fire at next year’s Yule after you extinguish it when morning comes. The candles are being sent home for the same symbolic reason for everyone (including those who may not be able to stay for the vigil through until dawn). Craft tins are great for storing the wood, and large enough ones will work for the candles too. The metal tins should provide an environment that if there’s any lingering heat or chance for the flame to reignite you’ll quickly deprive it of any oxygen. I’ve seen cookie tins used, or if the wood was thoroughly doused and left to soak a few minutes in water, I’ve seen it then retrieved and wrapped in aluminum foil. I like the idea of the craft tins, because they’re small, portable, and individuals can decorate the container to make it something special.
And last but not least grab some breakfast, clean up, say goodbye to anyone leaving, and go get some sleep!
What lies above is just an example of how you could conduct a ritual for the evening. Don’t be daunted by it, be inspired, adapt as best befits your situation. As long as the focus is on the Disir/Matrons, and there is sincerity and respect in what you are doing it will all fall into place.
Wyrd Designs 
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