Azhdaya's Laire

A Collection of Yule Poetry

I dedicate this page to the Oak and Holly King, and their eternal struggle.

Yule Blessings

Blessings to you from the Earth Mother.

She is the Moon.

She watches over all of us by.

The light that she casts over the blessed earth.

Walk her night lit path

And happiness you will find at every turn.

Blessed be!

Blessings to you from the Sky Father.

He is the Sun. He holds us up

And brings us strength. Carry his sword

To cleave the evil from your path

And you will be unmolested.

Blessed Be!

Blessings to you from the Great Spirit.

It binds us all together:

Man to womyn; beast to beast; all.

We are it and it is us.

Blessed Be!

May you have a wonderful Holiday.

The time has come for the sun to be reborn

He lies in his Mother's womb waiting...

Awaiting his reappearance on this plane.

Let us all rejoice in his rebirth and ours.

Blessed Be!

(poem by: Yusef)

The Yule Log

Come, bring with a noise,

My merry, merry boys,

The Christmas log to the firing;

While my good dame, she

Bids ye all be free,

And drink to your heart's desiring.

With the last year's brand

Light the new block, and

For good success in his spending,

On your Psaltries play,

That sweet luck may

Come while the log is tending.

(poem by: Robert Herrick 1591-1674)

Yule Robin

He was there in the morning,

Red breast gleaming in the dawn's light.

I recall the mass migration,

Robins flying south

On the morn the God died.

This day of his birth,

This beautiful robin is all the proof

That I need to believe

In His return.

The earth grows yet colder,

With glittering ice and powdery snow,

The after-birth decline

Of our Mother reflected

in the weather.

But unlike her son,

She will not die;

As he gains in strength,

He in turn gives some to her,

And she becomes young again.

But for now,

I watch the robin

Who appeared on Yule morning.

(poem by: Michelle Blank)

Yuletide Cheer

The chill breath of winter touches us,

As blankets of snow cover the ground.

With the glow of moonlight upon them,

Its like diamond sparkles all around.

Inside the room is cozy and warm,

The scent of evergreen wafts from the fire.

Surrounded with love and family,

I've got all that I could desire.

Sleigh bells jingle from the front porch,

As my coveners decorate outside.

They've no need of blankets,

They have the warmth of love inside.

In my home we all gather round,

And with Pagan carols our voices ring.

Then we settle down to enjoy the tale,

Of the Oaken Lord and the Holly King.

For our holiday is quite different,

Than the cowan Christmas night.

We cast our Circle, join together,

And welcome the return of Light.

Then we sit and share the feast,

As we pass bread and wine around.

As blessings from mingled voices...

"Never hunger," "Never thirst" abound.

All too soon the rite is ended,

And we greet the newborn day.

As we clasp hands together,

This wish we send your way....

It's no matter your tradition,

Be you family, friend, or guest.

We wish you joy and peace,

And may your Yule be Blessed!!

(poem by: Isha ArrowHawk )

Aspects of Yule

Time of deepest darkness

The God is born anew

Seedling in the frozen earth

Awaiting springtime dew.

The ground, an icy wasteland,

Though neighbors hearts are warm

We share our goods with everyone

So no one comes to harm.

Snow lies on her shoulders

Frosted mantle for her hair

Winter's Queen is giving birth

The Goddess, always there

The sun is growing brighter.

It happens every year

Promising return of light

For sod and oak and deer

Stag King, his mighty antlers

Rising from a drift

Leaps for the hunter's arrow

Just as strong and swift

He knows his time has ended

He is heading to the plain

Where joy caresses memory

Like softly summer rain

New fawn takes his first step,

The buck he will become.

After the time of knowing

A new year has begun.

(poem by: Zephyr Lioness)

Yule

Amongst the oak and holly leaves

The wren and robin sat between

"Come", the wren croaked, "I shall sing

A song of winter cold".

"My brother is the far-flung crow

The black death-watch upon the snow

The swordless Horned One to him goes

When Autumn sun wanes cold."

"My Sister of Dark Night is queen

The hag that lives the moons between

Her womb is barren now of seed

Her lover grey and old".

"And where have you been, robin brother?

Gone to see your white-breast mother?

The white snow covers up her bowers,

She's taken her home of old".

Amidst the oak and holly leaves

The robin silent sat between

Until with sweet voice, calmly

He began a merry song.

"Long has my White-Crow Mother been

With your brother, Black Winged Bran

Until her belly stirs within

As Yuletide sun grows strong."

"And now at sunrise, silent stark,

Between the days and the Winter dark

Rekindled is The Fire's spark

The Oak King sounds the horn."

"In the forest's icy gleam

There goes a shadow, swiftly seen,

The holly and the oak between

The Green Man is reborn."

"So tell me truly, dark-eyed wren,

Where will you the Summer spend?

Until The Wheel is turned again

And Winter casts its thorn?"

But wren's reply was never got

By a golden arrow he'd been shot

And darkness died upon the spot

The holly and the oak between.

The Oak King is now berry-crowned

The Green Man, born the forest 'round

But the wren lays cold upon the ground

The holly and the oak between

And young lads on the darkest night

Their golden arrows swift in flight

Will sing until the morning bright

The sun to welcome in:

"The wren, the wren, the King of the birds,

On Yuletide Day was caught in the furze.

Up with the kettle and down with the pan,

And give us a penny to bury the wren."

(poem by: Kenny Klien)

Yule

the trees

they reach their silver arms up to the sky

hoping for a glimpse of sun

yet the sky

cold grey

offers no solace

their roots are buried in frost

we crave light, they cry

suddenly

the sun cracks the sky like an egg

sunlight spills across the joyous trees

melting into every leaf

new life blooms

(poem by: Lady Lissar)

Yule Fire

Kindle the Christmas Brand and then

Till Sunneset let it burne;

When quencht then lay it up agen,

Till Christmas next returne.

Part must be kept where with to tend

The Christmas log next yeare;

And weher 'tis safely kept the Fiend,

Can do no mischiefe there.

(poem by: Anon)

Poem by Ing

The Oak King wore a crown made of deer antlers

intertwined with leafy branches of oak and mistletoe

bearing its white berries.

The Oak King was majestic as he strode through the

forest. He was following the sun, and he was finding

the path colder day by day.

Each time he crossed a stream, the Oak King would

take a drink. Each time he did, he began to see that

he was growing very old.

Soon the Oak King found it difficult to continue.

His old and stiffened body could not carry him much

further.

As he pulled himself to the edge of a calm, clear

spring, he said to himself; "Each day grows darker;

soon I shall die." The ancient Oak King bent to take

a drink. As he looked at his reflection, he saw ice

forming on the surface of the water. The Oak King

felt the darkness. The ice was closing his vital

drinking space.

Just as he was failing, the Oak King looked again at

his reflection in the spring. This time he saw the

ice melting away. The antlered crown of the Oak King

began to change. The rounded oak leaves became sharp

and pointed. The white mistletoe berries became red

as if the life fluids of all animals flowed into

them.

The Oak King lifted his head and felt the life force

grow strong within him. As he looked into the

unfreezing stream, this time he saw holly leaves

with red berries instead of oak and mistletoe.

The former Oak King, now the Holly King, leapt from

the stream bank, and pranced through the forest. He

now follows the sun on its upward course. With each

step the Holly King takes, he melts the ice, leaving

the ground ready for the Goddess to awaken her tiny

plants.

So Mote It Be!

(poem by: Ing who was Chief Bard of CoR when written)

Source: Angelfire

See Also: 

• The Pagan Library: Music & Poetry
• Yule & Winter Songs & Poetry Page
• Poetry, Quotations, Sayings, Facts, Information, Quips, Aphorisms, Lore

A Poem for Yule 2000

by Elspeth Sapphire

I hear the wind howling

The ice has entered my soul

The cold seems endless

The darkness black as coal.

Yet a spark of something

Shines bright through the night

Could it be the dawning

Of approaching light?

For it’s always coldest

In the hours before dawn

Darkness is its deepest,

Facing fears we’ve drawn

How can loneliness dwell

With loved ones nearby?

Why the tiny doubts

Filling me with their cries?

So I turn my face away

Forget the winter’s chill

Celebrate Sun’s return

As my spirit thrills.

Source: The Cauldron - A Pagan Forum

A YULE POEM:

The Childs' Wonder

(Author Unknown)

"Daddy", she said, her eyes full of tears,

"will you talk to me and quiet my fears?

Those bad boys at school are spreading a lie

'bout the impossibilty of reindeer that fly.

There's no Santa Claus, they say with a grin

there's not one now and there has never been.

How can one man take all of those toys

to thousands of girls and boys?

But I told them Daddy, that they were not right,

that I would come home and find out tonight.

Mama said wait until you come home.

Please tell me now that I was not wrong."

Her Daddy looked at her questioning face

and puffed his pipe while his fratic mind raced.

He had put this off as long as he could,

he had to think fast and it better be good.

Whispering a prayer, he began with a smile,

"Remember at circle how we learned to pray,

asking the Goddess to take care of us each day?

And you know how we say a prayer before each meal?

To this same Goddess whom we know to be real.

Though we never see her, we know she is there

watching her children with such loving care."

"The Goddess started Yule a long time ago

when she gave us herself to love and to know.

A spirit of giving came with that gift,

and her generosity filled the whole earth.

Man had to name this spirit of giving

just as he names all things that are living."

"The name Santa Claus came to someone's mind

problably the best name of any to find.

There is, you can see, and I think quite clear

Truly a Santa who visits each year.

A spirit like the Goddess, whom we never see,

She enters the hearts of your mother and me."

"Each year at Yule for one special night

we become him and make everything right.

But the REAL spirit of Yule is in you and in me

and I hope that you are old enough now to see

that as we believe and continue to give,

our friend Santa Claus will continue to live."

Source: OakDancer.com

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