The term "Yule" comes to us from the Scandinavian tradition, and many of what we consider as "Christmas" also comes from them. before there were Reindeer there were Goats. The Yule Goat is one of the oldest traditions from the Northern Europe Christmas Traditions. Each year the Goat was slaughtered during the Yule festival.
Within the Scandinavian, myths the God Thor had two Tanngrisnir meaning gap-tooth and Tanngnjostr meaning tooth grinder, these goats pulled his chariot through the sky. According to legend each evening Thor would butcher the goats and each morning they would rise whole from the bundled bones.
The goat is also associated with Joulupukki who is perhaps where the concept of Santa's outfit and his sleigh comes from. He flew in a sleigh drawn by a goat, his name actually means "Yule Buck", he wore a red suit. He is derived from stories of spirits that would dress themselves up in goatskin suits and demand presents , but his modern version called the Yule Elf who delivers presents on a sleigh pulled by a goat.
To Bring the Spirit of the Yule Goat into your life, why not try some of the following:
- Create a straw Yule goat it doesn't have to be as big, but a small one will do just fine. This can be used later as a sacrificial goat just place it in the Yule fire along with the log. Then wrap it in red ribbon all around the goat
- You can get dressed up and follow the older tradition of carolling or Julebukking "going Yule Goat", dress yourselves or the kiddies as a Gnome, Yule Elf, or in goat costumes and go to homes and request a treat for a song.
- You can be like a Jamaican and make a traditional Curry Goat meal Ill share our recipes next week Wed on KWW for the Holidays.
- You can also make masks and decorate in Honor of the Yule Goats
Fun Fact, the most famous of all the Yule Goats is the Gavle Goat, which is a huge straw effigy built over two days, many towns people make it a game of setting the Goat on fire during the Solstice without getting caught because it's not exactly legal but this tradition also dates back to when effigies were burned as a way to encourage the return of the sun.
Resources:
Sabbats Almanac Samhain twenty ten to Mabon twenty eleven
Yule Goat article on wikipedia
