In the joyous song “Wolcum Yole!” from Benjamin Britten’s "A Ceremony of Carols," yole clearly refers to Yuletide, the twelve days of Christmas, but Yule can also refer to al 12-day Solstice festival celebrated long before Christianity arrived in northern Europe.
That Yule began on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Just what happened during the prehistoric Yule celebrations is speculation at best, apparently, but bonfires and large logs were involved.
And like many pagan traditions, the Yule log melded into the celebration of Christmas.
But a Yule log was more than a mere log.
It was a large tree, dragged into a dwelling with the wide end thrust into the fireplace.
From Christmas Day and throughout Yuletide the family would push more and more of the log into the fire with hopes that it would continue to burn until the Twelfth Night.
From ancient times all the way up to the Industrial Revolution, removing large trees from the then extensive forests probably didn’t do much harm to the environment.
But now, with the world undergoing accelerated climate change, scientists have come to realize that trees - beyond their traditional value - are vital in removing carbon dioxide from the air and for sequestering carbon.
All over the world, people are starting to plant trees - a very good thing.
But perhaps there is something better than creating new forests.
We should protect our existing forests.
More and more studies have confirmed that mature trees are best able to sequester carbon.
It seems counter-intuitive when most living things slow down as they age, but it seems that trees are the most efficient in carbon sequestration when they are between 70 and 125 years old.
Mature stands, especially natural forest with lots of biodiversity, should be protected.
This concept is controversial to say the least, but protecting mature trees and letting young trees grow to maturity – if done on a large enough scale - may be one of the best methods to slow climate change.
Meanwhile, on this day when we celebrate the soon to be increasing hours of available solar energy, let’s celebrate all renewable energy - wind, gravity, and the source of the energy for trees: the sun.
