Jul blog

I often get asked about our families celebrations, and what exactly we do. Each year things area  bit different and tend to be some what fluid depending who will be at home, which kids, how many kids and their current ages and what fits our current lives the best. But some consistencies exist, a general outline lets call it. A continuity of over a months celebrations and a lot of giving and kindness.  So here fallows is a general outline of our holiday season or Jultide.

Our festivities begin Nov 30 , or roughly the last weekend in Nov and as close to Dec 1 as possible. This is when we being any count downs. This first weekend will be the first of the 4 candles we light, as well as if we are doing daily gifts they will either start now or Dec 12th, depending. Traditionally we use wreaths of evergreens with 4 candles one is lit each week till Yule. We also will start the baking and cleaning in preparation. We will also begin decorating for Yule.

Dec 5th and 6th. Sinterklaas eve and Sinterklaas day. Or Krampus day and Sinterklaas day.

Dec 5th. This is when we leave our shoes out  and Sinterklaas, Krampus and Zwarte Pieten come. We leave out a bit of hay, a carrot and some cookies or and possibly sweet biscuits.

Zwarte Piet keeps track of who is good and bad all year letting Krampus and Sinterklaas respectively know who to visit. Sinterklaas leaves gifts for good children in their shoes left by the fire, and Krampus takes bad children back to his cave in Spain where they are from, so they can spend the next year learning to be kind. We play down the scary bits and Krampus also comes to our house to run off any bad spirits, so he does as much good and helping as being scary. And face it he is scary enough to run off the most persistent hang abouts.

In the evening usually either before neighbors get home from work, or just before bed, when we are least likely to be seen we put on our red caps, dress warm and take around gifts to all the neighbors. These are often paper or felt woven hearts that can be used as ornaments, with either a hand made ornament in it or maybe candied nuts, or some other simple and thoughtful gift. We anonymously leave on on every neighbors door.

Dec 6th. On Sinterklaas day we may do treasure hunting games with poems, riddles and clues to treats and gifts. We may eat special biscuits and any treats left the night before by Sinterklaas. Often including apples, oranges, Ginger breads, chocolates and such.

Dec 12th. this is when the Julasveinn or Yul lads arrive and a different one is known to visit homes until Yule eve. They might leave treats in the windowsills of good children or potatoes or notes reminding kids to be good for those who haven;t behaved. Common gifts are a candle, new clothes, packs of cards and books. Some years the kids might get a different book each night they have been good.

Dec 13th. Lucia Day. In the afternoon or evening we dress in white with red waist sashes and the girls wear ever green wreaths with led candles and if up to it carol, and we take around little baked goods often in hand made paper baskets to hang on every neighbors door. These often include little ginger bread cookies.

In the morning we might eat saffron buns with raisins. and before bed the kids will make Lucia a sandwich and leave out a carrot for her donkey and she may leave them some little gift. We may also get our Yule tree on this day and begin decorating it for Yule.

Dec 20th. Yule eve and some traditions Modraniht or Mothers Night. This is a time when depending who is at home we will honor the disir and all female beings. This includes leaving out offerings as well as writing letters and making gifts for the women in the family, namely the moms and grandmas and matriarchs of the home.

This is also when we will hang treats in the trees for the birds and put out food for the wild animals and take around some sort of hand made gifts to all the neighbors, again wearing our red caps and trying not to be seen, we may wear bells to be heard though. We also often contribute to some form of secret Santa program, often for the elderly and we may donate hand knitted goods and warm clothes items to the homeless.

Before bed the kids will leave out sweet rice pudding (milk, vanilla, almonds and whipped cream) for the good nisse and maybe some ginger breads for Father Winter.And carrots for the deer and goat.

During the night Weinachtsmann (Winter/ Christmas Man) or Julemanden (Yule Man) will come with his reindeer and his helper nisse (Jultomten or Julnisser) ridding the Julepokki (Yule goat). The Nisse will leave sheaves of wheat and suet for birds and treats for the wild animals and might hang treats on our Yule Tree or place under the tree if too heavy.

Dec 21, Yule day. In the morning we may have rice pudding, or sweet buns for breakfast. This is a laid back day to spend time with family. Traditionally when the pudding is made one whole almond is placed in the pudding and who ever gets it gets a treat, normally a small hand made gift anyone would like.

We spend the day relaxing and snacking, having a Julbord (Jul buffet) consisting of snacks, often having crackers, biscuits, cheeses, meats, fish, open faced sandwiches, fruits, nuts and so forth.

In the evening we may have a ham dinner, potatoes, baked fruits, sweet buns, vegetables, and so forth. For desert we may have a different rice pudding, maybe with pumpkin added in, or a pumpkin custard.

After dinner the kids will sit around sipping warmed cider, or hot cocoa and the grown ups may sip hot toddies, hot buttered rum, mulled wine (glogg) or some other warmed drink. We will also light the 4 candles of Jul at this time as well as placing the Jul log on the fire. Then we will exchange our gifts, maybe playing a game where we sit in a  circle and sing songs passing gifts till the song ends. When it ends who holds it gets to keep it Perfect for home made gifts or gifts where every one gets something similar. Or passing presents about till everyone gets the ones marked with their names.

Julbukking (like caroling but dressed up in disguises) may happen between Yule and New years.

New Years eve. We may again exchange small gifts or treats. The kids will stay up as late as they can and we will again dine on small treats and special snack like foods. Grazing through the night. Who ever stays up till midnight will exchange 3 kisses for a lucky new year, and the mothers will kiss the sleeping children placing 3 on each. The Mother Diser may bring small gifts for the kids as they sleep.

This is when elves moves homes and it is advantageous to leave out puddings and offerings to the weights and nisser at this time. And Bon fires and fire works are often lit to celebrate and to dissuade ill tempered spirits from settling. We may also take around bottles of cider to all the neighbors or other tasty celebratory beverages that may be consumed by all.

On New Years day the kids give their moms, god mothers and the women of their families the special carefully written letters in their best penmanship and other gifts they made them. It is also customary to light a candle and visit the graves of loved ones.

Jan 6th. 12th night and the last day of Yule. Bonfires are often lit to help drive back the dark and elf dances may be held to celebrate the elves and gnomes finding their good homes. More offerings are left out for the good folk hoping for good favor through the coming year. More Julbukking may occur. General celebration on this day.

This may sound like a lot of gifts, but in truth it is a lot of very simple things and hand made items. Nothing brought by any of the spirits of Yule are store bought except food items may be or books. We try to keep anything store bought from family members and put the focus as much on hand made and simple as possible. Everything is also spread out. So instead of sitting down to a tree over flowing with mass marketed gifts, there are a lot of small meaningful things, and because it is spread out through the month we find that it gives us a lot of opportunity to think of others and focus on being giving when others need it most. This can be a very stressful and difficult time for many and this gives us a time that is not stressful or complicated where we can remove the focus from ourselves and place it on those who need us.

I also find that children receiving things through out the month calms things. Instead of a giant mass getting moment, the giving is the emphasis, and the joy of making others happy, even if you get no credit (we do a lot of anonymis stuff) things that are received are mostly only received after giving. A moment of giving without expecting credit, and then the receipt is a random feeling act of kindness back. A lot of focus and attention is paid on the emotions and feelings of those receiving things, even if they don;t know who gave it. Even the offerings to the spirits of the season are all with a focus of leaving food for the animals and nature spirits. Lots of animal themed foods, and even the porridge and puddings are prepared in a manor with nature nutrition in mind. So rather than just cookies and milk, we are leaving out essential winter nutrition for wild life. I see my children getting far more excited about what they are doing for others, than opening the gifts for them. And when they open them they are more appreciative and spend time enjoying the one single item at a time, rather than rip the paper off glance, toss move on to next that can happen with all at once gift getting.

I hope maybe you can take something from this and make a tradition of your own. Many of the traditions listed above are from, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and that region. There are still areas left where their traditions are very reminiscent of their pre Christian influence.

God Jul