by Anne R. Allen
Merry Yuletide! Every religion in the northern hemisphere celebrates the Winter Solstice in some way. Usually with lights to illuminate the darkest time of year, like the festival of Hanukah.
In the snowy north, the European ancestors of many of us were cold and hungry, so they invented holidays to get together and cheer each other up, drink adult beverages, and share what food they had.
Which story they were telling about it didn’t much matter.
The indigenous people of the British Isles and Northern Europe celebrated the solstice as “Yule.” In Germanic countries, the great white-bearded patriarch Odin went out hunting and brought back treats he left in the footwear of all the small children who’d been good. I’m not sure ancient Norsemen had chimneys, but Odin got in somehow. Ancient Teutonic tribes brought evergreens into their houses to celebrate the life that still existed in the snow-bound winter world.
In the soggy British Isles, Celtic people stayed warm by burning a huge Yule log, feasted for 12 days, celebrated the Great Triple Goddess in her Crone form, and gave food to the poor. Druids brought the sacred mistletoe into their houses and believed it made people kiss and make up.
It makes me sad when ignorant people call these wonderful festivals “satanic.” Indigenous European religions — which Christians called “pagan” — have nothing to do with Satan. They don’t even have a god of evil. There’s Loki, but he’s just a trickster, and the Frost Giants, who were always threatening the human race with extinction, but they weren’t a part of anybody’s daily life. And they didn’t tempt young Vikings to steal cookies or pinch their baby brothers.
The indigenous European Winter Solstice celebrations are about life and light and faith — faith that the Sun will come back in the spring.
Wine and Baths and Jesus
When the Italian conquerors came along, bringing wine and baths and Jesus, they had the sense to incorporate the ancient indigenous festivals with the story of Christ. Odin morphed into Father Christmas, and later, somebody found a nice Turkish saint named St. Nicholas to merge with the story, and in the 19th century US, he became the jolly, red-suited Santa Claus. (And then, in the late 20th century, the philosopher Frank Costanza invented Festivus for the rest of us, celebrated on December 23rd, but that’s another story…)
There is not much evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was born on December 25th. But the Persian god Mithra — very big with the Roman army — was supposed to have been born on that day, and so was Sol Invictus (The “Invincible Sun”) a sun god of the late Roman empire.
So when the Italians arrived in the north, they found a perfectly good date for a celebration. The hall was already booked. Why not? Mithra, Sol, Jesus — they all could have the same birthday. The more the merrier. And they also had the tradition of the weeks-long wild and crazy festival of Saturnalia, which included December 25th — keep partying, Quintillus!
Happy Winter Solstice, everybody! Celebrate your ancestors, eat, drink, be merry, and give to the poor. May the season bring you love and light.
If it allows you time to write, that’s wonderful. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. “Write every day” is one of those rules that needs to be broken every so often. Roz Morris has some great advice on how to stay in touch with your WIP during the holidays.
And Ruth and I wish you all some warm and happy holidays, no matter what tradition you choose to celebrate.
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by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) December 24, 2023
What about you, scriveners? Are you able to write during the holidays? Do you lose momentum on your WIP when you take time off for celebrations? What are your favorite “pagan” rituals at this time of year?
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A contemporary take on one of the myths of the indigenous people of England: the Green Man, Robin Hood.
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Here’s a great write-up of Sherwood, Ltd from Debra Eve at the Later Bloomer
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“… The myths and legends of the gentleman robber of Sherwood Forest weave their way through the narrative and are echoed by the characters in the present day, giving the story a depth and charm that I found irresistible.
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Merriest of days right back to you, Anne & Ruth. May the holidays be good to you & may the new year be better still.
CS–Thanks for your faithful commenting. We appreciate all our readers who comment!
Anne and Ruth, wishing you and your families a peaceful, blessed Christmas and a stupendously wonderful New Year!
Joy–May you have a fantastic 2024!
Love this post, Anne! I was just learning about the origin of the Dec. 25 celebration on an episode of The Great Courses. That the reason an evergreen tree was brought into the home was because evergreens were seen to be magic by the early Northern Europeans – the only form of vegetation that didn’t seem to die in winter! Stayed green.
Hugs to you my friend, in this season and always.
Melodie–And now our Christmas trees are still magic because they stay green year after year! Because they’re made of plastic. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
No “Rhythm of Writing” lost here during the holidays, Christmas or otherwise. At the moment, busy transcribing, but will be taking a modest break in January to concentrate on self-pubbing my novella.
But…we are having a semi-quiet Christmas this year, with family and the like.
And to that end, a very Merry Christmas to you and Ruth and here’s to ever reliable NORAD’s Santa Tracker (legit they have a FB page) making sure that St. Nick makes a required stop at your collective humble abodes.
GB–A “Semi-quiet” Christmas sounds lovely! Have a wonderful holiday!
Good thing I came by – wonderful post! As someone with an academic interest in religions, I appreciate this. Way too many people use religion to further their own selfish agenda. I live in an old European city and our famous cathedral is built right next to a former Roman temple for Mithras. That religion is gone, humans are still here and the world keeps turning. But isn‘t it wonderful how stories live on?
I wish both of you happy holidays and all the best in life!
P.S.: If I remember my university studies right, Satan used to be just one of many demons in early Jewish folklore. Lurked on roofs and jumped on people to cause epilepsy, as far as I recall. Hell of a rebranding, if I may say so.
Tina–I took a few courses in the history of religion, too. I love it that your cathedral is next to a Roman temple of Mithras. The religions may have merged, like the Neanderthals and the Cro Magnons. I think the whole “Holy Grail” saga originated with Mithra. You’re right that Satan was just another demon for a long time. When Jesus said “Get behind me Satan, he did a lot to boost Satan’s ratings. Then the Gnostics promoted the guy to be the equal of Jesus. (In that, they were influenced a lot by the Zoroastrians.) So it’s all mushed together to create what we now call Christianity.
Interesting post, Anne. A glass raised to you and Ruth for always making my Sunday pleasant. Merry Christmas, my friends!
Garry–And a glass raised to you too. (Just tea. It’s too early here to make merry with adult beverages.) Merry Christmas!
Thank you for this! We Pagans appreciate it. Merry Yule!
Michelle–Blessed Be! Enjoy the Yule celebrations!
Of course, as writers we want to reveal the antagonist of the story. Who might in the under/ otherly world want to stir things up, cause division, and otherwise create distraction in the midst of celebration. Who might devise, plot, and perpetuate a myriad of tales to eventually mock the simple joy of a Christmas tree? And WHY? Perhaps the characters of this story are not fantastical. I know I’ve come toe-to-toe with a foe to my joy.
Note the strategy. Note the technique. Great plot, don’t you think?
And yet, there is light in the darkness.
Londie–It’s true. We need a Grinch 🙂 And yet, there is light…
Sounds wonderful and what a jolly review. One of these years I’m going to make a yule log. Merry Christmas!!
Yvonne–I tried to make one many years ago. Getting that cake moist enough to roll isn’t easy. But it is delicious!
Merry Christmas to you Anne. Thanks for the mini rundown of holidays and lore. It seems in one way or another these holidays all celebrate the light. Yes, if some of the world wasn’t so uneducated and ignorant, what a world it could be. <3
Debby–Yes, we need some lightbulbs to go on in a lot of heads. Sigh. But we can always hope.
Yes we can! 🙂
Lore is one of my favorite research subjects, so thanks for this. It’s a gray, gloomy day where I live but I am warm, have coffee in my cup, and the sun will shine again. No matter how we celebrate it’s all about the light and sharing not just material goods but the warmth in our hearts. In these dark times we need some illumination.
Merry Christmas to you and Ruth, and a New Year that’s stellar in every way.
Very interesting. Thank you for all your research, Anne. Happy Holidays!