Christmas Eve is finally here and with it the letter Y for Yule.
Yuletide comes from Celtic spirituality and is thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for wheel as we mark the turning of the seasons from Winter towards Spring and Summer. In some traditions Yuletide begins on Christmas Eve and lasts through until New Year’s day.
So our Yuletide was marked with a large Yule candle which is symbolic of the welcoming back of light into the world. The candle is traditionally lit on Christmas Eve to mark the movement from the ordinary daily world to the magical time of Christmas when we welcome the birth of Jesus as the Light of the World.
During the evening we heard the Christmas story and sang carols that were relevant to the different parts of narrative. 
Then we enacted the breaking of light into our dark
world as we broke light glowsticks together and then took these lights into our homes as a sign of Jesus the light of the world. The Yule log is also an important part of Yuletide and represents the bringing of
light into the home. Traditionally this involved hauling a large wooden log into
the fireplace which would then burn throughout Christmas day. We now celebrate this tradition with edible
Yule logs as we welcome the light of Christ into our lives to enlighten and
sustain us with the love and power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone got to take a small chocolate log with them as a Christmas gift from Beyond.
So we come to the end of another Beach Hut Advent Calendar. You can catch up on all the huts and the stories behind them by going back through the blog and watch our website in the New Year for details of our next event.
