Yule is a winter festival celebrated in Northern Europe since ancient times. In pre-Christian times, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Germanic pagans celebrated Yule in late December or early January on a date determined by a lunar calendar.[1] With the coming of Christianity and the adoption of the Julian calendar, Yule was placed on December 25 in order to correspond with Christmas.[2] The terms "Yule" (Joul) and "Christmas" are often used interchangeably, especially in Christmas carols. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden the term jul is still the most common way to refer to Christmas. In Finland, Christmas is called joulu, in Estonia jõulud, and in Iceland and the Faroe Islands jól.

Yule is an important festival for modern Wiccans and other Neopagans, who observe the holiday on the winter solstice (Decemeber 21 or 22).

In general, many Wiccan based sects favor a plethora of sources on winter solstice holidays to recreate a type of "Yule" holiday. While the name "Yule" is used, it is not an absolute reconstruction of the original holiday. Wreaths, Yule logs, decoration of trees, decorating with mistletoe, holly, and ivy, exchanges of presents, and even wassailing are incorporated and regarded as sacred. The return of the Sun as Frey is commemorated in some groups. However, due to the eclectic nature of modern Wicca, many solstice narratives from outside mythologies are incorporated or even substituted.

In some Wiccan sects the holiday is observed in a manner that commemorates the death of the Holly King identified with the wren bird (symbolizing the old year and the shortened sun) at the hands of his son and successor, the robin redbreast Oak King (the new year and the new sun that begins to grow) (Farrar & Farrar [1989] 1998: 35-38). In most Wiccan sects, this holiday is also celebrated as the rebirth of the Great God, who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun.