Reflections on Yule

Over the weekend, many of us marked Midwinter, Yule, the Winter Solstice, known by many names. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s still the shortest day and the longest night of the year, though we can’t exactly claim the bitter extremes our Northern Hemisphere friends endure. In Western Sydney, we might get a frosty morning or two, and the temperatures do drop into the single digits—briefly—before the sun rises and warms everything up again.

At our Winter Solstice, Sydney still averages about 9.9 hours of daylight. Compare that to London’s 7.8 hours, and it’s clear our winters are milder in both light and cold. So without the dramatic darkness or biting chill, what exactly are we celebrating?

For me, the solstices (and Winter in particular) are a time of turning inward. A quiet season of reflection. I’ll get to that in a moment.

At Pagan Fringe, we don’t always host public Sabbat events. It’s not the core of what we do, and honestly, it depends on what capacity I have which means what energy and what spoons I have week to week, season to season.

So what have I been doing since Samhain?

Samhain is the time to honour the ancestors and remember the dead. The weeks between Samhain and Yule have always felt like a descent into the underworld—a time for rest, reflection, and stillness in my practice.

I’ve spent this season journalling, sitting in ritual with loved ones, and visiting sacred spaces that help me reconnect. I’ve been exploring the themes I want to carry with me through the year ahead, all the way to the next Samhain.

There’s also been plenty of family time. I’ve been with my kids, preparing for our next public event in July, and marking Yule in good company. I celebrated with some heathen friends this year, pine tree and all, and we feasted like there was no tomorrow.

What did your Yule look like? And how are you preparing for the next turn of the Wheel?