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Glastonbury Goddess Temple: Yule Priestesses by Bee Helygen. 

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Yule (Winter Solstice)

The Winter Solstice, also called Yule or Midwinter, occurs on December 21 and is the first pagan holiday celebrated after the ending of the old year at Samhain. It is located in the north on the Wheel of the Year, which represents the land of dark nights and the cold grip of winter. When Winter Solstice arrives, we know we are halfway through the dark part of the year.

The darkness that has been growing since the Fall Equinox reaches its peak at the Winter Solstice, making this the shortest day of the year. Starting the day after Winter Solstice, the length of sunlight beings to increase day by day until it reaches its peak at the Summer Solstice. 

Many view Winter Solstice as the day on which the “sun is reborn,” as indeed it is. The Pagan Solstice celebration is just one of many festivals of light that occur this time of year, including Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, St. Lucia’s Day, and La Posadas.

Yule traditions include the burning of the Yule log, which represents the increasing light of the season. It is a common practice to keep a piece of it to light the next year’s Yule log, and to scatter some of its ashes over the fields. Kissing under the mistletoe, whose white berries symbolized semen to the ancient Druids, may be the remnants of an ancient fertility practice. Holly and evergreen are both symbols of the promise of the return of life and springtime, since their leaves do not turn brown and die like other trees.

Source: Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions by Joyce & River Higginbotham, pg. 17-8.

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May you find the happiness you seek, peace upon your path, love without price and magic in all your days. Yuletide blessings to you!

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Is Lutheranism the True Catholic Church? (and other stuff with a Lutheran Theologian)

This is the third video from my visit to the heartland of Missouri Synod Lutheranism. I’ve learned a lot, been challenged, and have found myself in respectful disagreement at times as well. In all those things I’ve been shown grace and hospitality and have had a blast.

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Old Lutheran church in Bauska. Latvia

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Pulpit - a country lutheran church, somewhere in Iceland, 2020

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The installation of Archbishop Tapio Luoma in Turku cathedral, Finland. Photo: Timo Jakonen. 2018.

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Evangelical Lutheran Church pastors at prayer in Guntur, India. (Photographer: T. Vijaya Kumar)

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New pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania at Ebenezer Cathedral in Shinyanga, Tanzania. (Photographer: Erik M. Lunsford - Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)

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The remaining (Lutheran) Volga Germans of Frank, Russia | Flickr

The colony of Frank was officially founded in 1767. At first the colony did not have a name, only a number, and was called Frank by the colonists… Frank was located on the east bank of the Medveditsa River, on the western edge of the Saratov Province of the Lower Volga area. It is primarily an agricultural area, with some oil and gas resources in the area. 

The village of Frank was populated by German immigrants at the invitation of Catherine-the-Great of Russia. It is believed that many of the original settlers were from the Hessen area of Germany, in the 1760’s.

The official statistics state that 525 people of the Lutheran faith were settled here in 1767. Most of them had left their homelands the previous spring and had spend over a year in getting there. Many traveled by ship from Germany to Oranienbaum (near St. Petersburg) and then by wagons or boats to the steppes of the Volga.

According to tradition, the colonists found little or no preparation had been made for them. and like the settlers in the other Volga colonies, they had to dig into the banks of the river to make crude shelters for themselves. However, after a number of years, the village of Frank became a very prosperous agriculture community… The church was the focal point of the colony. From the bell tower, the sexton announced the deaths in the community by means of the church bell, designating by the first peals, whether the deceased by a man, woman, or child, and then tolling out the age. The bells were further used in cases of fire, and blizzards in order to direct wanderers to the village.

In the early years, educational interest was not high. The principal aim of the whole system was to perpetuate the German language and the traditional and religious customs and practices. In subsequent year the educational cause was promoted and higher educational standards realized.

Frank families were large. Like all pioneers, a part of their service was to multiply and replenish the steppes. Despite suffering, sacrifice, and struggle, the population grew.

When in the early seventies of the 19th century the Czar put an end to all privileges and was determined to make of these Germans full-fledged Russians, they sought a land of liberty, and America was the magnet. Emigration began almost at once, some going to South America, a few to Canada, but by far the largest number came to the United States.

After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, many of the Volga Germans that had not immigrated to the United States—about 400,000—were deported eastward, feared by Stalin to be potential collaborators and enemies of the state. They were resettled primarily in Kazakhstan and drafted into the Soviet Labor Army. Approximately one third of these did not survive. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were not allowed to resettle in their old homes in the Volga region. Today, roughly 200,000 ethnic Germans live in Kazakhstan, approximately 1.4% of the overall population. 600,000 more now live in Russia.

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Worshipers at Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in New York City, United States. (Photographer: Michael Appleton - New York Times)

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Holy Trinity Lutheran Church - Buffalo, NY

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Ethnic Bataks perform a traditional dance that represents the confession of sins in Medan, Indonesia. (Photographer: M. Renaux - Lutheran World Federation)

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December 2023: "In Bethlehem, the city of Christ's birth, Lutherans lit advent candles around a nativity surrounded by rubble, as God's children in Gaza still are today. God sent his only Son to be with us in times of doubt, fear, and grief. God is with them in Bethlehem, He is with His children in Gaza, and He is with his children under the rubble."

Photos and text from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

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A Lisu Lutheran congregation in Meile, China, with a visiting American bishop. (Photographer: unnamed - Evangelical Lutheran Church of America)

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Members of St. Lucas Lutheran Church participate in Toledo Pride in Toledo, Ohio, on Aug. 18, 2018. Chirag Wakaskar / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images