Iara Lima

Winter begins with a solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere, it takes place around June 20 or 21 and marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year. At this moment, the Sun reaches its lowest apparent height in the sky, and darkness lingers longer.

But there is a beautiful detail. It is precisely after this longest night that the days begin, little by little, to grow longer again. Yule celebrates this moment.

If Litha marks the peak of light, Yule celebrates the beginning of its return. The cold will still remain for some time, but nature has already begun to change even if almost no one notices, the cycle has already turned.

Yule is a major sabbat, celebrated in winter.

In contemporary pagan traditions, this is a period associated with the rebirth of light, with hope, and with the trust that every winter, no matter how harsh it may seem, comes to an end.

The image is simple and powerful: the greatest darkness is never permanent.

Perhaps that is why so many cultures have chosen this time of year to celebrate birth, new beginnings, and hope.

Various traditions linked to the European winter, such as the use of evergreen trees, candles, wreaths, feasts, and family gatherings, crossed the centuries and also became part of Christian Christmas celebrations. Not all of these customs have a single origin, but many dialogue with ancient solstice festivals celebrated by different peoples of Europe.

Regardless of religious tradition, the symbolism remains relevant.

Yule reminds us that resting is also part of the cycle. That there are moments when growing does not mean producing more, but creating conditions to flourish again when the season changes.

And in Brazil?

In the Southern Hemisphere, Yule takes place in June, during our winter.

Although it is very different from the European winter, it also transforms the landscape. In some regions, frost arrives; in others, the damp cold, the drought, or mornings wrapped in mist. Each place experiences this season in its own way.

Brazilian Indigenous peoples also developed their own calendars, observing constellations, rain cycles, animal behavior, and periods of scarcity or abundance. These traditions have no historical connection to Yule, but they reveal the same attention to the rhythms of nature.

Celebrating Yule in Brazil can simply be recognizing that winter is also part of our experience and that it has its own beauty.

It is impossible to talk about this time without remembering the Festas Juninas (June Festivals).

June brings together traditional celebrations such as Santo Antônio, São João, and São Pedro—festivals that, over time, mixed religious, popular, and rural elements. In the city where I grew up, it was said that the night of São Pedro was always the coldest of the year. I don’t know if meteorology confirms it, but affective memory insists on believing it.

My strongest memory of this season, however, takes place a little later, during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The city where I was born was so small that, walking forty minutes, it was possible to cross it entirely. In about an hour, we were already in the countryside.

My father and I would leave early to fetch branches from a pine tree that grew in the region. Today I believe it was a Brazilian pine (Podocarpus lambertii), although this is still a childhood memory.

We would bring the branches home, place them all in a pot filled with stones to keep the tree steady, and only then would the Christmas decoration begin.

The scent of fresh pine remained in the living room for many days. To me, that aroma always meant that the house was ready to receive a new cycle.

Only many years later did I discover that the custom of using evergreen trees during the European winter predates Christian Christmas. Curiously, without knowing any of this, I had also grown up surrounded by this memory.

And remember: in some modern druidic traditions, the winter solstice is also known as Alban Arthan, an expression traditionally associated with the return of light after the longest night of the year. More than celebrating a single day, this name recalls an idea that crosses different cultures: after darkness, light always finds a way to return.