Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Four - The Yule Log

The burning of the Yule Log is another tradition from Northern Europe. The Yule Log was a large log that was burned on the winter solstice to represent the survival of light in the dark winter. Wine and spices were often poured over it and it was thought that burning the Yule Log kept the house free of spirits and brought luck to the home. People often saved the splinters and unburned parts of the log to start the next year's log.

When it became a Christian tradition, the fire changed from a symbol of the sun to a symbol of the light of Christ, the savior, although many of the same superstitions still held.

Around the turn of the 20th Century, a Yule Log desert was created out of rolled up cake and frosting in order to resemble the actual logs. It has now become a traditional Christmas desert.