Christmas is a Christian festival, but a lot of its traditions originate from the older pagan festival of Yule. Yule or the Winter Solstice is on 21st December; it is the shortest day and longest night in year. From this point on days will begin to get longer. Pagans come together celebrate the return of the sun or re-birth of the sun God.
Lets have a look at 5 Christmas traditions and discover their pagan origins:
1. The Christmas tree
The evergreen Christmas tree started with the pagans. They saw evergreen as symbolic of the eternal cycles of nature: birth, life, death and re-birth. The re-birth always being seen as a result of the sun’s return.
I remember decorating the Christmas tree when I was little. My mum would let me and my brothers decorate one side of the tree and then put that side against the wall. Or she’d let us decorate it and then strategically move all of the decorations to where she wanted them to be, before visitors began to arrive. As we got older, she simply refused to let us decorate the tree at all. Did anybody else’s mum do that, or was it just mine?
The decorations, like the round babuls in colours of red and yellow and the lights (before electricity candles were used) are all seen by pagans as representations of the sun God.
2. The Presents
Pagans gave presents long before Christian’s came along, but on New Years Day rather than at Yule. The presents were often small and symbolic of a blessing for the year ahead.
Christian’s didn’t start giving presents until relatively recently. In Britain due to poverty and culture, Christmas presents didn’t commonplace until around the Victorian Era. There are records of wealthy people giving presents before then, but it was only some people and these were the upper classes of society.
3. Father Christmas
Father Christmas or Santa goes back to the Christian Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift giving to children and for valuing children greatly.
But what show his pagan roots are the colours of his archetypal dress. When I think of Father Christmas, I think of Miracle on 34th Street. I imagine the scene in which Kris is putting on his suit for the first time. His red suit with white trim, black belt with golden buckle, his black boots and of course his red hat. These colours: red, white and gold are all associated with the pagan sun god, who is believed to be re-born on Yule.
4. Kissing Under The Mistletoe
This time of year, mistletoe always seems to find it’s way to the office Christmas party. Hung in some precarious doorway, it can lead to an awkward moment of avoiding eye contact and pretending you’ve not seen it or to a drunken Christmas snog with the hottie from the IT Department.
Mistletoe’s pagan origins are as a symbol of fertility. Yule was a festival of fertility, by the very nature of it being the festival were the life-giving sun God is re-born. Often pagan’s would give mistletoe to those wanting to conceive.
5. The Humble Robin
Every year I receive at least one Christmas card with the humble robin on. His pagan associations come from his striking reddy orange chest, a symbol of the sun and also in his ability to fly. His ability to fly means that he can leave and then return, very much like the sun God.
There you have it, 5 Christmas Christian traditions that originated from paganism. It’s not just Christmas that has pagan roots, Christian festivals throughout the year have pagan traditions and elements integrated into them.
Have a great Christmas or Yule, whichever you choose to call it and whatever religious belief system (or not) is.
Published by: The Gay UK on Tuesday 24th December 2013.
Getting Into The Festive Spirit: Manchester Christmas Market
By AntonyFriends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo CommentsMidway through the markets my friend and I managed to get seats at a coffee stall (above: left hand column), where we were able to enjoy our drinks. I had the Bailey’s latte as always (above: right hand column) while my friend had his Bailey’s white coffee. As we drank we talked, about many different things including: Christmas, our plans for 2014 and tablets (the Kindle & the iPad Air).
As the afternoon got later, going into early evening, the markets got busier and busier. I had expected that it would get quieter as it got later, but I was wrong. It felt like we were sardines (below: left & right). We had a great time, but maybe next year I’ll avoids the crowds by going midweek.
Blog soon,
Antony
Christmas Tree, Cookies, Yule & Cats
By AntonyFriends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, Pets, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo CommentsThe festive period was a busy one, but a good one this year. It started with the preparation I bought The Vicar of Dibley – The Ultimate Collection [DVD], Miracle on 34th Street [DVD] & The Grinch [DVD] to get me in the festive mood and watched them while I wrapped presents and dressed Norbert the Norwegian (not really a Norwegian but it sounds better):
Norbert waiting to be taken home. | Norbert fully dressed. |
Then Sye dressed me up as an African Woman against my Will (honestly!) and we made cinnamon & whole nut cookies:
Me as an African Woman. | Cookies Up Close. |
The completed cookie batches. |
The idea Sye & I came up with was to make these cookies to give as homemade gifts to family & friends for Christmas. I don’t know about Sye’s family & friends but all mine that received them said they were delicious.
Yule kicked off the festive period with a relaxed gathering at Chrys’, with tasty food, wonderful company and making of festive wreaths. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well as I’d caught a bug before finishing work for the festive period, so by the time it came to making wreaths in the evening I was shattered. In true Yuletide spirit the group banded together and made me a wreath which was so kind of them to do.
Christmas day soon came around and I cooked Christmas dinner for Steve. I was so impressed with myself, but only thought after dinner that I should have took a photo. Dylan & Russell my cats enjoyed the day. I bought them a Crinkle Bag. They love the sound of it along with the cat nip bag sown on a string inside:
Oh a crinkle bag! | OMG there’s catnip inside! |
They discovered some wrapping I’d left out and decided to put it on their head and walk around bumping into the walls. After a while they sussed out that if they put their paw in front on them to feel for walls they wouldn’t bang their head. They spent the rest of the evening taking it in turns to play “blind cat;” so should have got a video but at least I got a few photos:
I will not put my head in the wrapping…. | Ah I can’t see! |
I also got a number of wonderful presents including various DVD’s, smellies, gift vouchers and a beautiful Yankee Candle.
Boxing day concluded my festive celebrations with a visit to mum & Ian’s with Steve. Albeit brief it was good to see everyone and know that they had a good festive period to.
Blog soon,
Antony
About
Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of five books:
Ways The Human Can Go Wrong
Are you a Doctor, Nurse, Healthcare Assistant or Other Healthcare Professional? Or a Student?
Ways The Human Body Can Go Wrong covers every system of the body, what can go wrong when the body malfunctions or fails, symptoms (including why these happen) and cures/treatments available.
It includes knowledge around essential skills for Clinical Excellence such as Assessment, All Age Observational Norms, Models of Care, Communication/Handover Tips, the role of Specialities, Medication Tips, Dealing with Errors, Documentation Advice and a list of Useful Resources.
It is written in plain English, but highlights important medical terminology. It has been written at a level where someone from a non-medical background can pick it up and learn, but that it is still valuable to those with significant Clinical Experience.
My Royal Navy Friend
My dear friend Roy decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and enlist in the Royal Navy.
I wanted to maintain our friendship, to continue to support Roy, to make him laugh and to entertain him. So I came up with the idea of sending him a weekly email on random topics.
These emails were on a variety of topics, always being entertaining, sometimes being interesting, sometimes funny and occasionally being serious.
Topics included: Jokes, Puzzles, Inspirational Quotes, Future Technology to Be Excited About, How to Fight A Shark, How to Woo A Turtle, Some of the Most Amazing Jobs in the World, Facts About Castles, Do Aliens Exist?, The Kindest Humans, A List of Cakes, 13 Weird Body Facts, 20 Super Space Facts, Ancient Egyptian Curses, 10 Weird Olympic Games, The Great Emu War of 1932, Quiz: Flags of the World, Legendary Characters from the UK and others.
My Royal Navy Friend is a copy of these emails. In total, there are 52 emails. Dispersed throughout the book are also Royal Navy facts and stories.
The Alcohol Therapy Workbook
This workbook has been designed for anyone that is struggling with alcohol or has struggled with alcohol in the past.
It is written in a Motivational Interviewing style, one of the key therapies used to support people with alcohol issues. It has been designed using a trauma-informed approach and is strength–based.
What you will find in this book is more than just worksheets about alcohol. You’ll find all the tools someone needs to get into recovery from alcohol and stay there. It’s a therapy-based book, not an alcohol-based book.
SpellCast
SpellCast is a comprehensive compendium of spells, oils, charms and talismans. It is purely a book about magic, folk magic for the 21st century. The spells are ones that are tried and tested, with some that will stand the test of time.
In SpellCast you will read about the power of Instant Magic, of Banishment & Bindings, Blessings, Cleansing, Communication, Death, Employment, Finance & Money, Fertility, Friendship, Happiness & Joy, Health, Love & Relationships, Luck Magic, Protection, Transformative Magic and WishCraft.
This book will change your life. Your life will be abundant in all meanings of the word.
Mental Health Wisdom
This book contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness.
Mental Health Wisdom is divided into three sections.
Understanding is section one and is all about the facts of mental health.
In section two, Empathy Through Lived Experience, the author shares his personal experience of mental illness.
Life Hacks is section three. It’s all about self-care and quick and easy ways to improve your mental health, prevent mental illness or relapse of mental illness.
Mental Health Wisdom
Mental Health Wisdom contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness.
Mental Health Wisdom is divided into three sections.
Understanding is section one and is all about the facts of mental health.
In section two, Empathy Through Lived Experience, the author shares his personal experience of mental illness.
Life Hacks is section three. It’s all about self-care and quick and easy ways to improve your mental health, prevent mental illness or relapse of mental illness.
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A great introductory article on candle magic :)
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