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In the myth and folklore of ancient European cultures and spiritual traditions, the longest night of the year, called Winter Solstice, was a time of transition during which people sought out personal renewal and rebirth. The Fires of Yule provides a template and a pattern for entering deeply into the Winter Solstice Season, experiencing it in poetic and transformative ways through a contemporary calendar called �The Thirteen Dayes of Yule.� Readers of The Fires of Yule will follow a pilgrim path of the Thirteen Dayes from 13 to 25 December, engaging in various myths, symbols, stories, and rituals associated with each day. Becoming �practitioners� of the Yule, deepening their experience of the Winter Solstice, they will move beyond the more banal and commercialized forms of �the December holidays.� The calendar of the Thirteen Dayes is sourced (historically) in Celtic myth and Paganism, as well as (imaginatively) in the lore of the Elves of ancient pre-Celtic worlds. This book brings together many of the best-known icons and customs of modern Christmas traditions, re-sourcing them in the light of a Pagan Hearth and offering touchstones for self-renewal at Winter Solstice. This revised edition of The Fires of Yule presents the mystic pattern of Thirteen Dayes in its fullest expression, narrated in the voice of a fictional character, Cornelius Whitsel, a student of religion and a Pagan spiritual director in the Keltelven Traditions who lives in the imagined landscape of Ross County, Pennsylvania. Cornelius has been a character in two of Montague Whitsel�s other books; Ham Farir: The Faring of Matthew Thorin Dier (2008) and Tales from the Seasons (2009). The Fires of Yule is the culmination of more than three decades of the author�s devout engagement with the Yule and deep reflection on the nature of the Winter Solstice. Montague Whitsel has explored, studied and practiced Western spiritualities grounded in the Celtic, Neo-Pagan and Monastic traditions for more than 40 years.