This is our Yule episode! Getting ready for the return of the light.

Mithra

Title

• Persian God of contracts, friendship, order, the rising sun, covenants and later of war

Description

• A young man riding a chariot drawn by whte horses, with an arsenal of weapons, but mainly a mace

Duties

• Helped to judge the dead, heralded the rising of the sun, oversaw the change of seasons, bestowed the divine right to rule for kings, and maintained the cosmic order

Lineage

• Mithras sprang from a rock fully in adult form

Stories

• No stories 

Interesting Facts

• Mithra is often seen as the template from which Christ was cut. There isn’t actually much evidence for this if any at all.

Symbols

• Sun and maces

Celtic, possibly British or Indo-European

The immediate and more well known superstition of knocking on wood is the one of the Celts. Knocking on the wood of their home (or those of others) was derived from the idea that good and bad spirits lived in the wood and that by knocking on iy you could either summon or rid yourself of these spirits (and Christians). The ridding of Christians by doing this is what linked the magical power to the Crucifix. ( ie; holding the Crucifix up to ward off Dracula- an evil spirit of sorts) In this sense using it as a form of protection, in other cases it was thought to have brought good fortune and and others even still thought to offer gratitude to the spirits or Gods.

Later it has been thought that this superstition according to some historians began in the 19th century connected with a children’s game known as “Twiggy Touchwood” or “Tig Touch-Wood” which we refer to as “tag” nowadays. Although the difference lies in the fact that you had to touch wood for immunity from becoming “it” back then ( “tig” would be the person who was “it”) whereas today you can touch anything agreed upon. The phrase “touch wood” is still used today in British culture sometimes in lieu of actually touching wood.

Other countries use other materials such as steel in Italy possibly associated with the iron horseshoe. Turks still use wood but require you to knock twice, and so on.

Based on my research it would seem we here in the States have taken a bit from at least two of these. The Celts, in looking for protection from bad luck and the Turks, in that we most often knock twice.

What is Yule?

Yule (The Winter Solstice) Is the Sabbat of pagan cultures celebrating the returning of the light and the God rising again. Yule sits opposite Midsummer on the Wheel of the Year.

In the time when Christians were seeking to convert pagans, Christmas was set near the Yule holiday on the calendar and took on many of its practices. Yule falls between December 20-22nd north of the equator and June 20-22nd south of the equator.

In Celtic tradition the Oak tree represents Yule and the Holly is associated with Midsummer. The Oak King defeats the Holly King and is considered a symbol of strength and endurance. The Oak was also considered to have been the bridge connecting this world to t