The Yule Hearth: the ritual

Yule Hearth is for the longest night of the year, around 21 December, when the dark is at its deepest and the light begins, very slowly, to come back. You switch off every light in the house, sit in the dark for a while, then light three red candles on a silver plate, one by one, and let juniper smoke rise beside them. What you take from it is a winter evening with a clear turning point: from tomorrow, every day is a little longer.

Where the custom comes from

The winter solstice is one of the oldest dates people have kept. At Newgrange in Ireland, a passage tomb built around 3200 BC, the rising sun on the shortest days shines straight down a narrow passage and lights the chamber at the back for a few minutes.

Yule comes from the Germanic midwinter feast. In Old Norse it was jól. The English monk Bede, writing in 725, recorded that the Anglo-Saxons called the months around midwinter Giuli. Later the word went into the Christmas season, and with it customs like the Yule log, a large piece of wood burned on the hearth through the holy nights.

Smoke belongs to these nights too. In the Alps, families walked through house and stable with juniper and other herbs during the Rauhnächte, the Twelve Nights between the years. In the Scottish Highlands, the old New Year custom of saining filled the house with juniper smoke on Hogmanay morning. The modern pagan Yule, one of eight festivals on the Wheel of the Year, was shaped in England in the 1950s. It is a modern calendar drawn from very old festivals, and we tell it that way.

Why a candle

On the longest night, the candle is the whole point. You sit in the dark first, so that the first flame really means something. Then you add light, one small flame at a time, the way the days will from now on.

We chose Manifest Magic spell candles in deep red. Spell candles are small, slim ritual candles, each burning for about 90 minutes. In modern candle magic, red belongs to fire and courage.

The fifth piece is the Witches' Queen ritual candle by Ancient Witch: a tall soy candle in black glass, 24 cm, that comes in an illustrated tube. It is the one that stays. When the three red candles are finished, the Queen is the light you keep for the Twelve Nights that begin soon after, and for the dark evenings of January.

The scent

Juniper is the evergreen shrub of the Alps, the Highlands and the northern heaths. Its wood and needles smell sharp, green and clean. When it smoulders, it gives a dry, resinous smoke. That is the smoke of the saining and of the Twelve Nights, and that is why we chose it for this night above all others.

Sandalwood and spice come in the incense rope. Sandalwood is the heartwood of a slow-growing tree from India. It has been burned and offered in Hindu and Buddhist temples for many centuries, and it smells soft, creamy and woody, with a warmth that rounds off the sharpness of juniper. The rope adds a gentle spice note. Many people find it comforting on a cold night.

We put the two side by side because they tell the same story from two ends of the world: a northern evergreen and a southern temple wood, both burned when the nights are long.

Why these pieces

Manifest Magic Spell Candles

The silver mushroom plate. A small round plate, 10 cm, in silvered aluminium, with an engraved rim and a little mushroom in the middle that holds an incense stick. It is heat-proof, so the slim candles can stand on its rim. The toadstool has long been a winter sign of luck in German-speaking countries, where you still call a lucky person a Glückspilz, a "lucky mushroom",.

Mushroom Incense Plate · Silver

The juniper bricks. Fifteen small pressed bricks of juniper, with a burner to set them on.

Juniper Smudge Bricks

The sandalwood incense rope. Herbs and resin braided into a rope that burns slowly, a little at a time, an old Himalayan way of offering smoke. We keep it for the evenings after the solstice, so the longest night belongs to the juniper alone.

Incense Rope · Sandalwood & Spice

Gothic Garden Ritual Candle

Together they make a small hearth for the darkest night: a circle of red flames, a thread of juniper smoke, and a tall black candle waiting for the days that follow.

How to do the ritual

1. At dusk on the longest night, switch off every light in the house. Leave only enough light to move safely.
2. Sit in the dark for a while. Five or ten minutes. Notice how long the night is.
3. Set the red candles. Warm the foot of three candles over a match for a moment, drip a little wax on the rim of the plate and press each candle into it. Put the plate on a heat-proof surface.
4. Light them one by one. With each one you can say a word for the year that is ending: what it gave, what it took, what you keep.
5. Light the juniper. Set a brick on its burner, light the tip, let it catch for a few seconds, then blow out the flame. Open a window a crack.
6. Stay with the candles while they burn, about 90 minutes. Never leave them alone.
7. When they are down, light the Witches' Queen. This is the light you carry on into the Twelve Nights. Tomorrow, every day is a little longer.

What the ritual gives you

It gives the darkest evening of the year a shape. Dark first, then light, then the promise of longer days that the sky keeps on its own.

You do it once a year. What stays is the plate, the tall candle, the rope, the rest of the juniper and nine more red candles from the pack of twelve, enough for many of the Twelve Nights.

Why we put it together

We wanted a Yule that does not borrow someone else's ceremony. Juniper is a European smoke, from the Alps and the Highlands, with a real history on exactly these nights. The red candles from Manifest Magic are short enough to sit through. The Ancient Witch candle is the one piece of drama, tall and black, because the solstice is allowed a little. We left out glitter, and anything that promises the new year will be better. It only gets lighter, and that comes true every year.

Safety

• Never leave burning candles or glowing incense unattended, and keep them away from curtains, greenery and Christmas decorations.
• The plate is heat-proof. Set it on a heat-proof surface, not on wood or a tablecloth.
• Let the room breathe. Open a window a crack while the juniper and the rope smoke.
• Keep candles and incense out of reach of children and pets.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions