Looking Forward to Another Year of Possibilities!

The time of Jól is upon us and what a special time this is. During the Jól season, we warmly embrace our families celebrating what makes us uniquely a community. We honor our Ancestors. We hail the Æsir. We are thankful for the warmth of our homes and celebrate the rebirth of the sun. We have made it halfway through Winter and each day the sun will stay in the sky a little longer reminding us that spring is on the horizon. Our future is so full of possibilities!

As we celebrate the 12 days of Jól, you will see many of the Folk sharing their traditions. Take inspiration from these and create your own. This is a magical time whether you are sharing in the traditions you grew up with or starting fresh. Every moment is an opportunity to pass this on to the next generation.

New Year's Day is the end of the Jól in our household. It is our tradition to start the new year with a bonfire to burn away the leftover issues of the old year and to offer up intentions for the new one. On our Jól log, every member of the house writes an intention, hope, or goal for the new year.

Each family member is given paper to write the issues, situations, or conflicts they want to leave behind in the old year with good intentions to move forward. I take several branches from our tree and each family member attach notes to them. I also write out a list of my goals for the year. These can range from learning something new to a personality trait I would like to improve on. All of this is thrown into the fire. We hail the Æsir and the Ancestors, thanking them for another year as we continue to move forward with right action in deeds not just hallow words.

Hail the New Year!

Hail the Folk!

Hail the AFA!

Gyðja Sara Ault

sault@runestone.org

~ From The Runestone, December 2025 ~