It was Hakon the Good, a Christian king of Norway who ordered Yule to be celebrated at the same time as Christmas during the mid-10th century to phase out pagan holy days. Just like what happened with Ostara (Easter).

For us southern hemisphere folk, that first full moon after the first new moon after the winter solstice officially occurs tomorrow (July 14th, 2022) at 4:38am. Though that doesn’t particularly mean that our Yule starts tomorrow. Here’s where it gets even more fun. In the ancient times of Northern Europe, a new day would start at sunset, not midnight or sunrise, making NOW, as it has just become dark where we are in chilly Crows Nest, Queensland Australia, the first night of yule. 

I love drinking a heap of mead Christmas day and telling everyone within a 200m radius about the origins of Christmas and how nearly everything is yule related.

Here are a few Christmas things you may not know hold pagan origin:

•Santa, •Magic •Flying reindeer •Gift giving •Decorating pine trees •Wreaths •Lights/candles •Carols •Elves •Jingle bells •Eating ham •Mistletoe •Families gathering •Yule log cake •Pudding •The North Pole •And a big one that’s not acknowledged enough- the birth of the sun.