The words “Yule Ball” conjure up delicious images of fancy dress parties in halls bedecked with mistletoe and holly, of wassail and dancing, feasting and merry-making, gifts piled to the rafters, and a Yule log crackling in the hearth. But what if a Yule Ball was an object rather than an experience? What if it was something you could hold in your hand, a present to celebrate the present?
Gift giving has always been a part of my Yuletide celebrations, but more and more the gifts have become simple, symbolic, and consumable. One of my favorite gifts to give at the Winter Solstice is a Yule Ball. The crafting of this seasonal charm is a ritual of generosity and love that extends the warmth of the season beyond the winter.
Small, symbolic, and useful gifts, one to mark each sabbat, are wound up in a ball. As it is unraveled by the recipient over the course of the year, a new item is revealed to help celebrate that turn of the wheel and maintain a connection to the person who gave it to him. It becomes a means of strengthening or forging bonds between friends and family, sharing traditions, and keeping memories alive.
This is a ritual that can be done as a group activity or by a solitary practitioner. Yule Balls can be tailored to an individual recipient or made in multiples for giving and sharing on a larger scale (such as group grab bags and gift exchanges).
Items Needed
One each of the following objects to represent each sabbat and its accompanying message written on a small piece of paper. (Note: Yule Balls can be as large or small as you’d like. The gifts and messages for each sabbat can be altered according to your traditions, needs, and resources; each gift can also be a written message if you chose. The more personal the content, the stronger the magic within.)
Yule – Incense. (Create your own by combining pine needles, a few drops of pine oil, cinnamon, cloves, and a resin such as frankincense and/or myrrh in a mortar and pestle. Freezing the resin before combining it with your other ingredients will prevent it from gumming up as you grind it. The incense can be stored in a small bottle or plastic pouch.)
Sample message:
My crackling scent invokes the sun
And welcomes back the light.
Burn me at the Solstice,
Winter’s longest night.
Samhain – A scrying stone. (A small black crystal with a smooth, shiny surface such as obsidian, tourmaline, or jet for meditation and divination.)
Sample message:
Look inside, what do you see?
When you hold this stone, remember me.
Mabon – Fall planting. (A flowering bulb of your choice to plant at the Autumnal Equinox and enjoy at the Spring Equinox.)
Sample message:
A time to reap, a time to sow
As you gather, so you grow.
Plant me now so come the spring,
Life returns with the joy it brings.
Lammas – Bread of life. (A green seed or bean and your favorite recipe for bread or cake. Instruct your recipient to add the bean/seed before baking to symbolically create the traditional green Lammas Loaf.)
Sample message:
Bake bread,
Add a seed,
Know the harvest
Will meet our needs.
What now is green,
Will soon be gold.
I wish you plenty
A hundred fold!
Litha – Shared sun salutation. (Write a note to your recipient with the exact time of the Summer Solstice sunrise for where he lives. Even if you are not together that morning, this serves as a promise to share the moment together by doing the salutation at the same time.)
Sample message:
Rise on Litha morning,
Go out to greet the sun.
Raise your hands above your head,
Feel the season, strong and warm.
I may not be beside you,
But that same sun I’ll see.
For I’ll rise too,
And stand with you
Together, we will be.
Beltane – Maypole ribbons. (8 lengths of ribbon, 4 white, 4 red, at least 20 feet in length to be tied to the top of a Maypole.)
Sample message:
Inside are ribbons,
You provide the pole.
So on this day of Beltane,
’Round the Maypole you can stroll.
Ostara – Spice dye. (1 to 2 tablespoons of each in separate packets: turmeric, hibiscus flowers or hibiscus powder, chili powder.)
Sample message:
Turmeric for yellow,
Hibiscus for blue.
Chili for red,
Such lovely hues.
A few drops of vinegar, water, and these
Color eggs for Ostara with the greatest of ease.
Imbolc – Stirring seeds. (A packet of seeds to get plants started at Imbolc.)
Sample message:
Into the earth I go,
At Imbolc to stir and grow.
Construction of the Yule Ball
After the messages for each sabbat have been personalized to your satisfaction, the Yule Ball can now be physically constructed. You will only need a few additional items to do so.
Crepe paper in different shades of green (green to represent the life force reborn at the Winter Solstice)
Scissors
Personalized sabbat messages
Tape
Green ribbon
Instructions: Wind a generous length of crepe paper around the first gift, the incense for Yule. (Because the gifts in the Ball go from Imbolc to Yule, the object you’ll be starting with—the core of the Ball—will be the gift for NEXT Yule, the incense.). Continue to wrap, shaping it with your hands as you work to make the edges round and smooth. Do not add another gift until the layer is uniform. As you wind the gift for Yule, speak an incantation to bind the giver to the receiver, making the Yule Ball a conduit for maintaining a connection throughout the year:
From sabbat to sabbat, with each turn of the wheel,
I wrap, I bind, and our friendship I seal.
From summer to winter, and spring to fall,
Our spirits merge in this Yule Ball.
Repeat the incantation as you continue to wrap. If you have a specific person in mind for the Ball, speak his name at the beginning of the incantation to deepen the gift’s connection to him. As you add each gift, use alternating shades of crepe paper to indicate to your recipient when he should stop unwinding. Add the remaining gifts to the Ball in the following order. (Remember, you’re working backwards—the LAST gift you wrap will be the FIRST your recipient will unravel.)
The Scrying Stone for Samhain
The Bulb for Mabon
The Green Seed and Bread Recipe for Lammas
The Sun Salutation Note for Litha
The Maypole Ribbons for Beltane
The Spice Dyes for Ostara
The Seeds for Imbolc
When you have incorporated all of the gifts into the Ball, continue to add layers of crepe paper to smooth it out completely, continuing to speak the incantation. When the Ball is as round as you can make it, secure the last end of crepe paper with a small piece of tape. Finish the Ball by tying a ribbon around it and knotting it three times with the words:
A year of blessings to the bearer be,
And the warmth of the solstice times three!
Tie a bow at the top. For fun, you can also add a tag with a light-hearted sentiment such as, “Do Not Open Till Imbolc!”
Time to Unwind
Give or send the Yule Ball to your recipient at the Winter Solstice, with the following instructions (or write your own):
Warm Solstice Greetings!
You hold in your hand a Yule Ball wound a hundred times with warmth and love. Inside are gifts that will be revealed throughout the year. Unwind the ball until you get to the first gift—then stop! Use what you find to celebrate the season and remember me. Unwind the ball again at the next turn of the wheel.
Be merry!
Visualize the crepe paper as a thread that ties you to your recipient. As the Ball unwinds and the year unfolds, visualize yourselves growing closer, the connection intensifying at each sabbat. That is the true magic of this ritual. All too often, life gets in the way of staying in touch and maintaining the bonds we share with others. Wrap and be merry, and know that the year ahead will be full of love and friendship.