New Yule Log: A Christmas Tradition for 2023

The mention of a Yule Log probably conjures images of a tasty, log shaped cake.  Shockingly, this is not an actual Yule Log.  In fact, a Yule Log in days passed, was a large log.  You know, from a tree.  The general idea was to find a large log and burn it for the duration of the yule celebration.  In some cases, this was twelve days, and the log was burned a little at a time.  In others, the log was used to determine the length of the celebration.  The longer it burned, the longer the party.  There is even mention that in early America slaves did not have to work while the Yule Log burned, so when they were sent to find the log, they chose the largest, greenest, most fire-resistant log possible. 

The act of burning the log also had many different meanings.  In the earliest days, the fire might represent the cleansing of the hearth in which it burned or the way it burned might reflect on whether good fortune waited in the coming year.  Some people believed that if you cast a headless shadow in the light of the Yule Log, it meant you were going to die.  Of course, these beliefs gave way to Christianity and the fire become symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  The idea being that you would reflect and be thankful for the year passed and be blessed in the one coming.

As large fireplaces became obsolete, so did the Yule Log tradition.  This is why some crafty French pastry Chefs invented the Yule Log desert; a tasty cake whose name is a nod to a lost tradition.  And probably, the only Yule Log you have ever experienced.

But we’re bring the Yule Log back…with a modern twist: The New Yule Log.  A new Christmas Tradition which ties it all together.  Except for the cake. 

Your New Yule Log is your Christmas Tree, transformed into a beautiful, handcrafted decoration that will grace your home for decades to come.  It is the trunk of your actual Christmas tree, debarked, dried, custom engraved and finished.  You display your New Yule Log collection with your holiday decorations, or, if you desire, they can be displayed year-round.  It is literally a physical representation of your holiday memories and they are fun to hold.

This can be a very sentimental decoration.  My log from 2005 says “Susie’s first Christmas.”  The log from 2022 says “Susie’s Last Christmas at home before College.”  But my favorite New Yule Log is from 2016.  That year, my brother-in-law had a cold sore on his lip, and we spent a lot of time tracking the cups he drank out of.  Eventually, someone remarked “2016: the Christmas we all got herpes!”   And that is engraved on my 2016 Yule Log.  Every time it comes out to grace our log rack, the joke lives again.  He hates it, but it’s gold.

Start your New Yule Log tradition this year and KEEP YOUR TREE FOREVER.