Because Yule is a holiday that hales from an earth-based religion, it is clearly focused on the movement of the planet and the seasons that cycle creates.

Falling on one of the four quarter points of the the Wiccan / Pagan calendar, Yule marks the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year.

From the Autumn Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) onward, the days get shorter and the nights get longer until on December 21st or 22nd, the sun rises after seven and sets as early as 4:30 in the afternoon.  After that long night, the process reverses.

Viewed from this perspective, the holiday of Yule, isn't just about lighting candles in the dark.  It is about the lengthening days and the barely perceptible shift from increasing darkness to increasing light.

Witches and pagans don't celebrate that shift because they think that darkness is bad or that light is in better.  They celebrate it because they recognize that both light and dark serve a very important purpose.

In light we see clearly.  We take action. We are filled with purpose.  In darkness we rest.  In darkness, undistracted, we are free to focus on what is within.  And if what we see there is problematic we know that it was already there - in dark or in light.

Earth-based religions value all aspects of the yearly cycle.  And it follows that, as earthly creatures in tune with the turning wheel of the year, the process of looking inward can be cyclical, too.  By working with (instead of against) these inner and outer cycles, we can discover new insights and revelations.  For me, this is what the holiday of Yule is really about.

This year, I began the process of evaluating the passing year in early November.  As the world darkened, I spent more time inside.  I used some of this time to think about strategies related to personal transformation and growth.  When the solstice is still weeks away, I began to write out my plans for the year ahead, allowing myself plenty of time to reflect and redefine.

If we attune to the cycle and follow this process, lighting our holiday candles on the longest night of the year means that we know just what we're creating and what we’re releasing.  In that space, poised between darkness and light, we transition from reflection to purpose, prepared to joyfully welcome the year to come.

“The principal point of their doctrine is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another..... the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed.”

"A goal is a dream with a deadline." Napoleon Hill

Every year, I set my New Year's resolutions early and work with them for weeks.  I annoy my friends and family by asking them about their resolutions and find it very hard to accept that some people simply will not make them - no matter how many times I ask.

Who can resist a fresh start?  A new opportunity?  A wide open future?  

Certainly not me.  To my mind, the new year just isn't the new year without a resolution.  And according to a University of Scranton study 45% of people agree.  Sadly, out of that 45% (who always set a resolution) only 8% will succeed. But all is not discouraging. 

The same study goes on to report that those who "explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals" than those of us who don't. Or, in other words, specific resolutions work, while vague ones often don't.

And this is the difference, I suppose, between a resolution and a goal.  

Unlike the average resolution, goals include specific and realistic targets - complete with numbers, dates and deadlines.  Setting these quantifiable, number specific targets help make our intentions real, moving them out of our minds and into the material world - where they belong.

So if you're feeling shaky about your New Year's resolutions, take a few minutes to write them out.  Now look them over. Are they vague or specific?  Do they have numbers?  When do they end?

Answer these questions, in writing, and read through what you have written at least once a day.  In doing so you can find yourself among the 8% who succeed - effective December 31st 2015 or before!

*Stats courtesy of StatisticBrain.com.

My altar after tonight's New Moon in Capricorn / Winter Solstice manifestation work.  Love the resonant energies of the steadily increasing lunar AND solar light!

This pic shows my leaf green candle, Night Queen incense, offering of water and small dish of earth.  I planted one Moon Flower in the dish and four more in the silver container.  I also replanted a very neglected jade plant in fresh earth. 

Took several pictures.  All show the same slanting light :)

Wishing everyone Alban Arthan blessings & light!

About Alban Arthan (Druidic Celebration Winter Solstice Celebration):

"In this darkest time of the year we celebrate the return of the Divine Child, the Mabon, the rebirth of the golden solstice Sun, who will bring warmth, light and life back to Earth again. The Wheel of the Year revolves beyond death and towards new light and new life."

"In the Druidic tradition the name of this festival is "Alban Arthan", Welsh for "Light of Winter". According to an older and more poetic interpretation, the name is "Alban Arthuan", meaning "Light of Arthur". In this poetical image, Arthur is symbolized by the Sun. The Sun dies and is reborn, just as the mythical Arthur is sleeping deep inside a mountain and will wake up again when the people need his help."    ~  By Eilthireach @ Druidry.org

Have to say that my guide Arthur  and I favor the more poetic interpretation.  Also think that it is very cool that the card I drew in the video for tonight's manifestation (mine and yours) was the Wheel!