A Yule Story
copyright 1994 by Andras Corban Arthen

Now this is the story of the very first song. It is a true story, as all stories are, if you believe in them.
This story begins a long, long time ago, when the Earth and Sun gave birth to the First Beings; the very first plants and animals and people. It was Springtime and the Sun shone warm and bright from his high perch above. And Earth, proud mother that she was, held and fed her newborns and relished them with tenderness and love. It was a time of joy! It was a time of great delight! The moon waxed and waned time and again in the night sky, and the children of the Earth grew well and strong through Summertime. They played and danced, and Earth and Sun watched over them. Then Autumn came and the Earth began to sleep much longer every day. She grew tired and pale. She could no longer feed her children, and had no strength to grow new life. High above, the Sun grew distant and took longer to return each morn. The nights grew longer, and cold winds blew where none had blown before.
And then, one day, Earth went to sleep and never did wake up. She wrapped herself in a blanket of snow, and rested her tired head on pillows of dried leaves. And she did not wake up.
Her children could do nothing to rouse her from her slumber. They prodded her. They called to her. But she would not awaken.
In the sky, the Sun was nowhere to be seen, and the children of the Earth felt fear, and also felt despair. This was the longest night that they had ever known.
"What shall become of us?" they pondered. "Earth Mother sleeps and Father Sun is oh-so-far away that we can barely see him in the sky. He is much too far to hear our call. What shall we do?"
So they brought their questions and their fears to the Moon, the sister of the Sun, for they knew not where else to turn. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath and looked within herself, and awoke thoughts that had never been awakened until then. She opened her soft eyes and said, "When hope is lost, the best way to get it back is with a song. Climb you the tallest trees, the biggest hills, the highest mountains, and yule a song to reach the Sun."

Excerpts from A WICCAN PRIMER: Rituals for Children © 1996