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What the Yule---it's a New Year?

As the Yule season crept up and ambled past amidst the frantic preparations and planning that preceeded it I sat down and reflected on all the ritual we take so much for granted and perform each year with little thought to it's origin.

Every year we set up the Yule tree for December 21st, as I always have been acustomed to, decorate with Thorn, Berry and Mistletoe just as my granny did when I was a baby.

The Yule log, this year it was a fine piece of Cedar, is prepared for the ritual we share with all as well as the private one shared with the coven family.

Once all the days of Yule have past, sharing food, drink and blessings from the mother, we prepare for the New Year of the traditional Scot's custom of Hogmanay which has been passed down with it's quaint ageless ways I took on from those who have passed on to the summerlands long gone.

How surprised was I that our new friends in our new country hadn't a clue as to what these customs were or why we did what we do?
So much has been lost along the way just for those whose journey took them to the shores of a new world that imprinted the new customs of Christianity into the laws and traditions so thoroughly that simple rituals such as the passing of coal at New Year were long forgotten.

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