Truth About the Yuletide Season

[scarlet raging storm]

Truth About the Yuletide Season

Long, long ago, in ancient Europe and Britain, the indigenous peoples
celebrated the Winter Solstice, Yule in many different ways. Ancient
Archaeological sites throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
the Nordic Provinces, and the Germanic Provinces, have alignments
with this date, as do Aztec and Maya ruins and North American Native
sites.
The one thing that is common among all of these is a small hole,
which light shows through only at sunrise or sunset on the day of the
Winter Solstice.

The British tribes had their festival of Yule on this day. They
decorated the houses with Holly, known to them as the "Holy Thorn"
and with evergreen boughs. It was traditional at this time to indulge
in many sweet things, as this was believed to bring sweetness into
the new year. The festival celebrates the re-birth of the sun... The
first step to a new growing season. This was the only day of the year
that the High Druid would take his golden sickle and newly made white
cloth and go out to harvest the "Oak Child" their name for the
mistletoe, which was then used both ritually and medicinally
throughout the year.
Mistletoe was considered holy, and never allowed to touch the ground.
The berries contained a poisonous substance, which in small doses
work very similarly to digitalis in heart cases, and is an anti-
cancer agent. The leaves, steeped into a tea, were considered a
strong aphrodisiac. This has lead to the modern custom of hanging
mistletoe, and kissing under it to encourage true love.

The Yule tree is of Germanic origins.

A large evergreen was dragged into the house, and decorated with
cookies and apples and wishes were hung on the tree with symbols, so
that the people in the house would have them granted in the new year.

The Gauls, a br
anch of the Celts, were the originators of the Yule
Log, which is still practiced in France today, and in some places in
Britain. The largest log available was cut and dragged into the
house. Yule continued from Sunrise on the Solstice, to the time the
Yule Log was all consumed. Merriment and frolicking were the order of
the day, and servants as well as their masters did no work.

When the invading Romans, with their new religion, (Christianity)
came north to conquer and plunder these people, they looked for ways
to incorporate their ways into their Catholicism. Many of the
Catholic Saints were canonized to keep the followers of the Ancient Gods happy.
If they could not worship their Gods as Gods, they would be allowed
to worship them as Saints, and that way the Church could control them
and cash in on their accustomed offerings. Many times the invaders,
in an effort to destroy the indigenous religion would build their
churches on the holy sites, thus getting the common people to
convert, just to be able to worship where they had for untold
generations. A tour of Ancient Churches will reveal Sheila-Na-Gig's,
Foliate Masks, and many other symbols of the old Gods, as the
stonemasons who built these structures were Pagans, and would,
knowing they, like everyone else in their area would be forced to
attend services there, added their God and Goddess figures, so that
they could worship them while bending the knee to the Roman Church.
To deny the church of Rome meant sure death, by whatever means the
local priests prescribed.

There is historical evidence that Christ was actually born in the
Spring, as there were lambs in the field, among other references,
however, the date picked for Christmas was December 25th, as that was
the first day following the Solstice that the days were noticeably
longer, and the village priests would tell their people
that the
rituals of Yule had worked, and the Sun had been re-born, another
theft from the Pagans. The modern Neo-Pagan, celebrates this holiday,
as they do the other solar and lunar holidays, with as many of the
old customs as we have access to. Many do not use the customs that
have been Christianized, but some still have the Yule Tree.

Santa Claus was once Papa Yule, who would leave presents and candy
for good children. He was Canonized as St. Nicholas, as he was
referred to in Britain as "Old Nick" who wore Antlers, and dressed in
skins, a far cry from the Modern Santa.

The Holly King, the old year, was killed in pageants by the Oak King,
dressed as an infant, symbolizing the new year taking over, and the
old one passing away.

So, as Yule approaches, and we deck our halls, altars, and our homes
with the Yuletide decorations, pause and remember the rich heritage
that this truly pagan holiday affords us. The old ways, buried under
years of deceit and oppression, still survive. Somewhere, deep inside
the collective unconscious the warm, festive memories of the ancient
past gather us all at this time of the year with warmth and happy
memories, shared with our families, both here and in the beyond.

If you want more information on this holiday, I would suggest,
Ancient Ways, or The Wheel of the Year, both by Dan and Pauline Campanelli, The Grandmother of Time, or Grandmother Moon, by Z.
Budapest, all of which have many good examples of the true spirit of
this holiday. There are also many other titles available at your
local bookstore, (and in my personal library) however, these are my
personal favorites.

In closing, I would like to wish you all the blessings of the
Yuletide Season, and a new year filled with peace and prosperity.
~~Mylinda S. Gomez