A Glimpse at Christmas Past

One of the Christmas decorations I remember from childhood is perhaps not so widely used any more, and for that matter, was probably not common in many homes in the southern United States. Where my folks came up with it is a mystery now since, as a child, it never occurred to me to question it. It was just part of the decorations. It was a Yule Log and it always occupied a special place on the table near the front door.

Last year I asked a friend to have her husband cut a round log for me from a small tree. It was to be about 15 inches long, with slanted ends and three candle-sized holes drilled close together along its length. I remember our old log having white bark but I was happy with pale gray on the new one. Indeed, neither she nor her husband had ever heard of a Yule log such as this but I now have one of my own.

As it turns out, the Yule Log is one of the most universal of all Christmas symbols, surviving from ancient times. Its origins can be traced back to the Midwinter festivals in which the Norsemen indulged…nights filled with feasting, “drinking Yule” and watching the fire leap around the log burning in the home hearth. The ceremonies and beliefs associated with the Yule Log’s sacred origins are closely linked to representations of health, fruitfulness and productivity. In England, the Yule was cut and dragged home by oxen or horses as the people walked alongside and sang merry songs. It was often decorated with evergreens and sometimes sprinkled with grain or cider before it was finally set alight.

In Yugoslavia, the Yule Log was cut just before dawn on Christmas Eve and carried into the house at twilight. The wood itself was decorated with flowers, colored silks and gold, and then doused with wine and an offering of grain. In an area of France known as Provencal, families would go together to cut the Yule Log, singing as they went along. These songs asked for blessings to be bestowed upon their crops and their flocks. The people of Provencal called their Yule Log the trefoire and, with great ceremony, carried the log around the house three times and christened it with wine before it was set ablaze.

To all European races, the Yule Log as believed to bring beneficial magic and was kept burning for at least twelve hours and sometimes as long as twelve days, warming both the house and those who resided within. When the fire of the Yule Log was finally quenched, a small fragment of the wood would be saved and used to light the next year’s log. It was also believed that as long as the Yule Log burned, the house would be protected from witchcraft. The ashes that remained from the sacred Yule Log were scattered over fields to bring fertility, or cast into wells to purify and sweeten the water. Sometimes, the ashes were used in the creation of various charms…to free cattle from vermin, for example, or to ward off hailstorms.

Well, I won’t be heating my living room with a Yule Log nor will I douse it with spirits before lighting it. It sits in the middle of the dining room table, surrounded by evergreens and red berries, its three red candles ready to be lit on Christmas Eve. It will bring no magic to my house nor will it carry any blessings for me or New Dog.

What my Yule Log will do is brighten a room with Christmas light and remind me of a child’s Christmas. There won’t be any great ceremony but there will be a pause to remember my parents and the traditions from their home which grace my home today.