From an email newsletter that I subscribe to:
Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ?r!
(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)
Winter Solstice this year occurs Dec. 22nd at 1:08 AM EST (6:08 UT)
Me?n Geimhridh (Irish translation: Midwinter) or Grianstad an Gheimhridh (Irish translation: Winter solstice)
The Christmas season is a strange mixture of ancient holidays, festivals, and superstitions passed down to us. Frequently we have little personal knowledge of where many of our holiday traditions started or even why they are done, we do it because it has always been done that way. Or has it?
The Christmas season has been celebrated by people everywhere across Europe and the Middle East, whether Christian or not. The holiday is more pagan than Christian with its association with Nordic divination, Celtic fertility rites, and Roman Mithrais. This was the time of year when Virgin mothers give birth to sacred sons and daughters; Rhiannon to Pryderi, Isis to Horus, Demeter to Persephone; and to gods and heroes such as Oedipus, Heseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Apollo, Mithra, and even Arthur. The stories of many of these gods and heroes possess narratives containing birth, death, and resurrection which predate the story of Jesus. Because of these associations Martin Luther and John Calvin abhorred the season. Did you know that the Yule season (the term Yule is actually Wiccan and was a holiday celebrating the rebirth of the Great God) was nearly banned during the Scottish Reformation of 1649? The conservative protestant beliefs of the time almost made Christmas extinct in Scotland and much of England. The ban was enforced in many locations by the Church of Scotland, but also defied by many people. The Puritans refused to acknowledge it, and even made it illegal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Until the first half of the 20th century it looked as if Scots might continue to reject Christmas because of its unacceptable connections to the Church of Rome, plus the habits of heavy feasting which was unacceptable with the ethics of ascetic Presbyterians of the Reformed Scottish Church. Even until the 1960s because of the Churchs strongly held beliefs Christmas Day in Scotland was considered a working day, shops stayed open, life went on as usual. Many who grew up during this time in Scotland, even until the 1970s, did not open presents at Christmas but waited until the day after Hogmanay (New Years Day) for Santas arrival. In some respects you might say that 20th century commercialism saved Christmas in Scotland! Some think the Church of Scotland wasnt so much afraid of the people practicing the old superstitious ways as they were of them adapting the customs of the Roman Church and it was this reason they avoided celebrating Christmas for so long.
The duration of the Yule festival depends upon the account and time period from which one reads. Yule can be either the years shortest day - the winter solstice December 21st or 22nd depending on the year, or the period of time beginning about then and extending though 12th Night or Uphalieday (Feast of the Epiphany) on January 6th. Some in the far north considered it starting on the eve of December 12th, Maunsmass Een, the eve before the feast day of St. Magnus. Yuletide is commonly considered the time beginning December 26th and continuing until 12th Night. Love, family togetherness, and accomplishments from the previous year are celebrated. The name is derived from the sun and in spite of being held at the darkest time of the year, it is also considered a Fire Festival like Beltane and Samhain. As with the other Fire Festivals, massive communal bonfires were lit across the countryside to mark the occasion. The name Yule is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Yula, which means Wheel of the Year.
How did our Christmas end up on the 25th of December? Well that is another story unto itself. Tradition said Mary bore the child Jesus on the twenty-fifth day, but no one could confirm the month. Finally in 320 AD the Roman Catholic Church decided to make it December 25th in an effort to co-opt the Mithraic celebration by the Romans and the Yule of the Celts and Saxons. Before being Christianized as the Mass of Christ (Christmas), there was a festival honoring the God of the Sun known as the Birthday of the Invincible Sun (Dies Natalis Invicti Solis) celebrated on this date in ancient Rome. In 272 AD it was made a public holiday, even consisting of the lightning of sacred bonfires. Under the Julian calendar (before 1752, Britain was a holdout on accepting the Gregorian calendar established in 1582 by Papal decree you guessed it Protestant/Catholic politics again) Yule was celebrated on January 5th. When the calendar was changed many people refused to hold Christmas on the new date of December 25th and in some locations, such as the Shetlands, even up until the Second World War the old customs were maintained and the Auld Yule celebrated on the 5th. Whoever said the Scots were stubborn!
Proto-Celtic Neolithic tribes, Celts and Druids (the word Druid mean wise man of the oak, or One who has knowledge of the oak ) were also known to have held a festival during this time of year calling it Nuadhulig or New All-Heal or new mistletoe. Everyone joined the priests in searching the forest for mistletoe growing on the scared oak tree. It is described that once the mistletoe was found the Druid priest climbed the tree, cut the mistletoe off with a golden knife and wrapped the parasitic plant in a white cloth. At the tree where the mistletoe was found two white bulls were sacrificed, and it is said at one time it was humans who were the sacrifice. The wrapped plant was carried back to the village where a religious ceremony was held followed by feasting, singing and dancing. On the next day the plant was divided up among everyone and taken to their homes to be hung up inside or above doors to ward off evil and to give fairies a shelter from the winter chill. In the Druid calendars, the solstices and equinoxes all occurred at about midpoint in each season. The passage and chamber of Newgrange (Pre-Celtic or possibly Proto-Celtic 3,200 BCE), a tomb in Ireland, is illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise. A shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. The dramatic event lasts for 17 minutes at dawn from the 19th to the 23rd of December. The point of roughness is the term for the winter solstice in Wales which in ancient Welsh mythology, was when Rhiannon gave birth to the sacred son, Pryderi.
The Romans celebrated this season and called it Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the Sower. For seven days there was a feast celebrating the fruits of the earth and hope for their renewal. Bacchus, the god of wine, played a major role in this festival. Many of the customs from that time have survived in various forms such as the giving of gifts, decorating a tree with lights, paper party hats, balloons and the blowing of paper party trumpets.
