Yule was not originally just a synonym for Christmas. It was its own season with its own time-honored traditions, and those, in turn, with their own context and meanings. Some were quite complex, even rigorous. And not all have survived into the modern era. Like the Yule Goat or the Yule Boar. (From the sound of them, just as good, no?)

Even a simple affair like the Yule Log, which was at base just a large stick for a fire, had a fair bit of ritual to it. One thing about the Middle Ages is that life may have been nasty, brutish and short, but folks still found themselves with time on their hands especially in winter.

Yule or Yuletide was a religious festival observed by Germanic peoples and many of their neighbors. Basically, the word Yule meant "feast." It entailed banquets, rowdy behavior, group singing and drinking games, which eventually formed the foundation for the English custom of Wassailing. (And probably date rape.)

The earliest references to Yule are by way of indigenous Germanic month names like Ærra Jéola (before Yule) or Jiuliand Æftera Jéola (After Yule). Understandably, Yule was something people looked forward to all year long.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to Yule are encountered throughout the Nordic countries, and, of course, Yule came over time to be used in English-speaking countries to refer to the Christmas season itself. Oh, and the French turned it into a holiday cake. Of course.

The early Church was the homo sapiens of religious cultures. It absorbed, corrupted and eventually eviscerated whatever unsuspecting religious customs it stumbled upon as it sped across Europe. In the fourth century AD when Pope Julius I decided to celebrate Christmas around the winter solstice, Yule was doomed. The Yule log tradition continued, for example, but the fire came to represent the light of the Savior instead of the light of the Sun.

Yule was originally a celebration of the winter solstice. In Scandinavia, Yule ran from several weeks before the winter solstice to a couple weeks after. It marked the sun's rebirth (its return from the southern reaches). The Yule log gets its name from the Scandinavian tradition, but the ritual burning of a special log during winter solstice took place as far west as Ireland, as far south as Greece and as far north as Siberia.

Almost everywhere, the fire was started with a piece of the last year's log, to symbolize continuity and the eternal light of heaven.

On or about Christmas eve, a big-assed log was carried home, songs were sung, stories were told, children danced, adults played Twister. Offerings of food and wine and decorations were placed upon the log. In short, Party Time, at least after a certain amount of pre-party planning.

In Bulgaria, for instance, you just about had to fight for your right to party. A young man of the family would be sent dressed in his best clothes to cut down an oak, elm or pear tree. A prayer for forgiveness was necessary before it could be chopped down.

He then had to carry home as large a piece of it as he could on his right shoulder, and it could not be allowed to touch the ground. Before the log was burned, a hole would be bored in one end and filled with a Chrism of wine, oil and incense. The hole was plugged, and that end of the log was wrapped in white linen.

The Yule log was thought to bring good luck. Pieces that were kept protected a house from fire, lightning or hail. Ashes of the log would be placed in wells to keep the water good and at the roots of fruit trees and vines to help them bear a good harvest.

The log also predicted bad luck. If the fire went out before the night was through, tragedy would strike the home in the coming year. If its flame cast someone's shadow without a head, that person would die within the year. Apparently the hands of pagan gods got angry, too.

The colors of Yule are red, white and green and supposedly come from the Holly Tree. Pagans across Europe would cut boughs of evergreen trees and mistletoe and holly branches and bring them into their home or temple where they decorated and displayed them. These were thought to be magical since they remained green through the winter months.

Trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life. The ancient Germanic people tied fruit and attached candles to evergreen branches in honor of their god Woden. This is the deity after whom Wednesday is named.

In cultures across pre-Christian Europe, mistletoe was seen to represent divine male essence and thus romance, fertility and vitality. The Druids considered it a sacred plant. It was believed to have medicinal qualities and mysterious supernatural powers. According to Pliny the Elder, the Celts considered it a remedy for barrenness in animals and an antidote to poison.

As Christianity became widespread in Europe, it absorbed the pagan respect for the mistletoe plant to some extent. In some way that is not entirely understood, this gave rise to the widespread custom of kissing under the mistletoe during the Christmas season.

Most people don't know that mistletoe does not grow out of the ground but rather up in trees as a parasitic shrub. There's got to be some irony in that somewhere.

Mistletoe was regarded as an aphrodisiac as well. It may also possess abortifacient qualities. A hard working plant, just in time for the holidays. They weren't called pagans for nothing. Merry Christmas. Wanna mess around?