The Pagan Society in Iceland celebrates the winter solstice with a special ceremony in Öskjuhlíd in Reykjavík tonight at 6 pm, near The Pearl restaurant.

“We salute the rising sun with the ceremony of yule sacrifice, similar to the autumn sacrifice, except this has more to do with the course of the sun, whereas the autumn sacrifice is a celebration of harvest and slaughtering,” high chieftain of the Pagan Society Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson tells icelandreview.com.

Typically, the ceremony would be followed by a feast, but this year the pagans had their yule feast a week before the winter solstice.

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere and as of today the days start getting longer again. This year the winter solstice is on December 22, but the date varies by a day or two each year.

“Centuries ago animals were slaughtered at the winter solstice, but we don’t do that anymore. Instead we burn a buck or a horse made of straw to symbolize the yule sacrifice,” Hilmarsson adds.

“Welcoming the return of the sun is the real purpose of the Christmas celebration,” Pagan Society member Anna Bergsteinsdóttir tells icelandreview.com. “The Christians hijacked this holiday and turned it into a Christian celebration,” she claims.

In the Nordic languages Christmas is known as yule, which comes from old Norse and is related to the word Jódnir, which is one of the names of the Viking god Odin.

“Yule is a heathen tradition,” Hilmarsson says. “In ancient Rome the winter solstice was celebrated with the holiday of Saturnalia, with drinking and promiscuity. But around the year 500 the Romans made a conscious decision to turn the holiday into a celebration of the birth of Christ at the end of December, which had not been celebrated until then,” he explains.

“We don’t mind sharing yule with other religions,” Hilmarsson says. “Some members of the Pagan Society even celebrate Christmas on December 24 with a Christmas tree and presents for the children. But we put more emphasis on spending time together than on commercialism,” he adds.

Hilmarsson expects about 100 people to participate in the ceremony of yule sacrifice tonight and everyone who is interested is welcome to join.

This year the Pagan Society in Iceland celebrates the winter solstice for the first time on their own land in Öskjuhlíd. A pagan temple will be built there within the next two years.