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| | From:  LustreofHope (Original Message) | Sent: 11/14/2007 7:15 PM |
| Some Yule Traditions | ![]() | | | Things to do | | Many mainstream Christmas traditions stem from original Pagan practices, so a lot of these will seem familiar even if you are new to the Pagan path. Yule Log - A special log was chosen on the eve of Yule, for the holiday fire. A small piece from last year's log is used to light the fire. Charred pieces from the fire would be kept to protect the house through the coming year. Today, the Yule log is sometimes represented as a log cake instead. Or a small log is decorated with candles. Kissing Under Mistletoe - The roots of this habit are unknown, but is likely tied with the fertility aspects of mistletoe and that it was viewed as a bringer of peace by the Druids. Some earlier versions of this tradition say to remove one berry with each kiss. When there are no more berries on the sprig of mistletoe, no more kisses. Tree Decorating - There is some debate on the origin of this tradition. Druids (and some other ancient cultures) saw evergreen trees as symbols of everlasting life, because they seemed to live through the winter undaunted by the cold. So using evergreen branches as decorations symbolized the undying strength of the Sun. Decorating the trees may have come from the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia (held around the Solstice). Gift Giving - The Christians attribute the giving of gifts at Christmas to the three wise men who brough gold, frankinsence and myrrh to the newborn Jesus. But this tradition was common well before the time of Jesus, during Saturnalia.
| | | | Symbols | ![]() | | | Things Seen at Yule | | Herbs - Mistletoe, holly, evergreens
Colours - Red, green, white
Oils/Incense - Cedar, pine, myrrh, cinnamon, frankincense
Other Symbols - Wreaths, Yule log
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Ornaments: The Germanic peoples originally decorated their trees with fruit, candy, cookies, and flowers. These ornaments symbolized the abundance to come when the Sun shed His warmth. While a lovely custom, the decorations were heavy and difficult to keep on the tree. After a few years, the area glassblowers put their heads together and came up with a solution: They could decorate trees with the lightweight glass orbs they produced. The use of the orbs made tree decorating an easy process. Even better, the round, three-dimensional shape of the ornaments replicated the shape of the Sun. |
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Plum pudding: Plum pudding is an odd name for this dish, considering that it isn't a pudding, contains no plums at all, and is prepared more for fortune-telling than for eating. A stew, the mixture contains raisins and meat and is laced with spiced brandy and rum. In seventeenth century England, preparing the dish was a family affair; each household member stirred the pot and made a wish. At one point in the preparations, several items - a ring, a coin, a button, and a thimble - were added to the pot. What did they represent? The ring stood for marriage, the coin for wealth, and the button and the thimble were symbols of the eternal bachelor and spinster, respectively. It foretold your future in the coming year. |
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Poinsettia: Known for centuries as the Flower of the Holy Night, the poinsettia is the product of an old Mexican myth. Apparently, a young boy wanted very much to give the Christ-child a birthday gift. He was very poor, though, and couldn't afford to buy Him anything. His intentions were so sincere that the Divine intervened and the flower sprang up at his feet. During the nineteenth century, Dr. Joel R. Poinsett, America's Mexican ambassador and an amateur botanist became so interested in the flowers that he brought some back to the United States with him. Eventually, the plants were renamed after him, and the poinsettia was born. |
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Reindeer: Although commonly associated with Santa Claus, many people believe that reindeer represent the stags that drew the chariot of the Norse gift giving goddess, Freya. Another notion is that they symbolize the abundance of the Celtic horned God, Cernunnos. No matter how you slice it, though, the presence of the horned, hooved beasts during the holidays definitely has Pagan origins.
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Santa Claus: Although often associated with the Norse Sun-god, Kris Kringle, the initial origins of Santa's capabilities probably had much to do with the myths surrounding the Aryan God, Odin, Lord of the Winds. Legend contends that He was a nocturnal god capable of flying through the stormiest clouds on His gray, eight legged horse, materializing and vanishing at will, and that he held the whole of magic in the palm of his hand. Such origin explains why Santa flies through the sky, is never seen, knows who's been naughty and nice, and has a bag of toys that never runs dry. |
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Sleigh: Santa's sleigh is more than likely a holdover from the Norse myth of Freya. Legend has it that every year She spent the twelve days immediately following the Solstice giving gifts to the nice and doling out misery to the naughty. |
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Snowflake: Because winter brings snow in many areas, it only stands to reason that the snowflake would become a common holiday symbol. Well, maybe there is more. According to legend, the snowflake was formed from the tears that Demeter cried after Persephone's descent into the Underworld. The microscopic flakes have six sides, and since six is the numerological digit associated with affection, the snowflake was used by Pagans as a winter symbol of love. |
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Stockings: Although we often think of stockings as a normal part of the winter holiday decorations, they didn't start out that way. Legend has it that three young ladies of meager means were terribly distraught over the probability of their impending spinsterhood's. They had no dowries and in those days, no dowry meant no marriage. Somehow, word of their angst reached St. Nick. For two nights, he tossed bags of gold through their window. On the third night, however, all the windows and doors were locked. Not to be deterred, he climbed down the chimney and filled the stockings they left by the hearth to dry. This legend seems to be the first account of St. Nick being the Santa-like figure we know him as today. |
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Tinsel and Icicles: The tradition of placing tinsel and foil icicles on holiday trees came from a seasonal story of unknown origins. The gist of it was that spiders weren't allowed anywhere near the tree. Upset at this discriminatory practice, they whined to the Christ-child. Once the baby allowed their admittance, they climbed onto the tree and covered it with webs. He was so delighted with their creativity that he turned the webs into strands of silver.
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Tree: Even though the use of evergreens dates back to the Greeks and Romans, the use of the holiday tree is said to have originated in eighth century Germany. Legend has it that the Christian St. Boniface was trying to convert a group of Druids. Try as he might, though, he couldn't convince them that the oak tree was neither sacred nor invincible. In desperation, he finally cut one down. When the tree fell, it crushed everything in its path but a single evergreen sapling. Boniface declared it a miracle, then proclaimed that the fir tree belonged to the Christ-child. After that, trees were brought into homes as holiday decorations. It wasn't until the sixteenth century, however, that the Germans thought to decorate the branches. Some historians say that the first ornaments were used as offerings to the spirit of the tree. |
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Twelve Days of Christmas: The custom of holding a twelve-day winter festival probably began with the ancient Egyptian Sun celebration, and then continued with the Babylonian Zagmuk. (Modern day historians also allude to the fact that the twelve-day celebration may have originally been designed to honor the zodiacal wheel.) Be that as it may, the church reinvented the twelve-day custom when the holiday was Christianized. Instead of revolving around the twelve days of Solstice, their festival commenced on December 25 and continued through Epiphany or January 6, which was the day the gift-laden Magi supposedly arrived in Bethlehem. During the Middle Ages, gift-giving on each of the festival days became tradition. This custom was the basis for the popular carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". |
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Wassail: The original name of an apple orchard fertility ritual, the term "wassail" came to us from the Anglo-Saxons and means to hail or salute. The actual ritual was a matter of saluting the trees and sprinkling them with a mixture of eggs and apples to which wine, ale, or cider was added. This consecration was believed to increase the apple yield for the coming year. |
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Wreath: Long before Christianity, the circle shape was the primary Pagan symbol of life everlasting-the never-ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. It was often used to represent the Sun as well. It's little wonder then, that the Greeks utilized this shape, covered it with greenery, and incorporated it in the decor for the Sacaea festival. When the Romans first formed the Saturnalia celebration, they took up the custom, too, but also gave wreaths as gifts to symbolize the infinity of goodwill, friendship, and joyfulness. |
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Yule Log: Although normally attributed to the Scandinavian peoples, it might be said that the Yule log actually originated with the ancient Greeks, who burned whole trees in an effort to hold off the mischievous Kallikantzaroi. However, the Celts reinvented the custom, and gave it a whole new meaning. The log adorned with traditional evergreens signifies the death of darkness and the warmth of the Sun during the newly born solar year. According to tradition, the log should burn continuously for twelve days, and a bit of the wood should be saved to start the next year's fire. The first day of the Yule fire varies depending upon religious belief. Pagans usually light the Yule fire on the Winter Solstice, while Christians wait until Christmas Day. �?�?�?nbsp; |
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