The Pagan Aspects of Christmas (2)

In the first article in this series I covered the significance of the Winter Solstice and the practices of those who celebrated it.

One must keep in mind that there were many Pagans; whether they were Romans or otherwise in the 1st Century and they had their strong beliefs and practices, which they would not give up.   Christianity could not confront, it was not strong enough to decree.

What it did was absorb and redirect Pagan symbols.

Yule

Far from Bethlehem, in the North of  Europe the Pagans called their celebration of the Winter Solstice ‘Yule’. Yule celebrated the birth of the Sun god, Mithras.   (BTW, Nero claimed to be the reincarnated Mithras)

This god was born on the shortest day of the year, and would grow and mature for the year.   Yule logs burned in honour of the sun as the word Yule  is translated as “wheel,” and the wheel was the Pagan symbol for the sun.

Fire and Light were crucial to the Pagan festivals. They symbolise the Sun. Candles are that little bit of the sun you can hold in your hand. The Yule log burns and warms the home in the depth of the dark winter.

All kinds of light are symbolic magic.  This is, people do things in small ways way to effect the environment. Hence, the lights are to encourage the sun to spend more time in the sky.

Along with burning the Yule log, which was chosen to last the length of the festival, so too all kinds of candles and torches, and lights.

Mistletoe

An important bit of flora was Mistletoe.

This plant was considered sacred, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe was part of a fertility ritual. The Mistletoe was used to decorate doorways.

The Tree

The most famous Pagan symbol is the Evergreen Tree.    As you know, they stay green. They do not lose their leaves, turn brown or wither.

These trees were brought into homes during the harsh winter of the north as ‘symbolic’ magic. The trees encouraged people to believe that the Earth would be green again.   Plants would flower.   Although in the dark snow covered grounds outside of the homes it seemed barren and hopeless, having that tree inside of the house gave hope and encouragement.