Yuletide
Winter solstice and Yuletide-themed tarot celebrating pagan midwinter traditions and renewal.
by Kristoffer Hughes · 2023
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The record
Yuletide is the pagan celebration of midwinter - the winter solstice (December 21-23). It is the shortest day of the year and marks the turning point where the days evolve out of the darkness and grow longer. This seasonal celebration is evoked by images of bauble laden Christmas trees, snow and snowflakes, reindeers and jolly, tubby men in fur trimmed red suits handing out presents willy-nilly, gingerbread men, and glowing red candles burning bright in the night. In the short dark days of midwinter people gathered in the warmth to tell stories, sing, drink and make merry, and share the good food of winter stores. It is the time of the Holly King and a surprising number of other deities, magical, and holy personages such as St Nicholas or Sinterklaas and the sinister Swart Piet (Black Peter) with his whip punishing naughty children, Father Christmas, Krampus - a monster who truncates the necessity for excessive spending on Christmas gifts by carrying off evildoers and bad kids - Mari Lwyd, and Perchten - another monster type and distant relative of Krampus whose post-Christmas activities includes scaring the bejeepers out of wayward youth. Yuletide also aligns with other notable an
The cards
