Yule: Winter Solstice - Dec 21st/22nd
The origin of the word Yule, has several suggested origins from the Old English word, geõla, the Old Norse word jõl, a pagan festival celebrated at the winter solstice, or the Anglo-Saxon word for the festival of the Winter Solstice, 'Iul' meaning 'wheel'. In old almanacs Yule was represented by the symbol of a wheel, conveying the idea of the year turning like a wheel, The Great Wheel of the Zodiac, The Wheel of Life. The spokes of the wheel, were the old festivals of the year, the solstices and equinoxes.
The winter solstice, the rebirth of the Sun, is an important turning point, as it marks the shortest day, when the hours of daylight are at their least. It also the start of the increase in the hours of daylight, until the Summer Solstice, when darkness becomes ascendant once more.
Burning of the Straw Yule Goat (Gavle, Sweden). It is thought that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god Thor (one of the most popular Gods in the northern pantheon) who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Perhaps the burning of the straw goat mimics the sacrifice of real goats once offered to Thor.
[Jeff moans/grumbles/rants: All this religious nonesense causing worldwide frictions. This norse pagan way pre-dates the present Christian celebrations and such like and comes across as a much more simpler / realistic / straight forward way of recognising the end of the year. The burning thing (which is a modern activity circa 1996) just looks like a bit of harmless fun.
So let's not get 'worked up' when the ever increasing 'traditional' primary school nativity plays are being replaced with capitalist style performances of 'Ralph the Reindeer' (as Rudolph has a cold) with Santa Mustaffa surrounded by children dressed as snowfakes or chimney stacks nor the other bizarre dressing up displays of the likes of Elvis Presley, recycling bins and assortments of vegetables (apparently) prancing about on stage over what now needs to be increasingly referred to as 'winterval' or whatever (mustn't upset the sensitive followers of 'other' beliefs/cults/ideologies, must we. Go burn a straw goat instead.]