The modern celebration of Christmas derives directly from ancient rites held during the time of the Winter Solstice, from the Latin sol, ("sun") + sistere ("to stop, to stand still"). Thus, the Winter Solstice is the day of the Standing-Still Sun, so called because at this time, the sun appears to stand still in the sky.
In simplest terms, this phenomenon happens because as Earth orbits the sun, the declination (north/south position) of the sun constantly alters due to the orientation of Earth's axis with respect to the sun. Solstices take place when the sun reaches its farthest point from the celestial equator (the equator projected onto the sky), simultaneous with the maximum tilt of Earth's own axis and equator. In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs when the sun is farthest south. The sun's declination at this time is known as the "Tropic of Capricorn."
The ancient Celtic Coligny Calendar, which dates from between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., does not record the Winter Solstice as one of the four major annual celebrations or great "Fire Festivals." However, it is clear that the Celts, like other ancient peoples, did celebrate the Winter Solstice or "Yule," as it came to be called.
The word "Yule" is often attributed to the Old Norse hvël, (modern Norse hjul, Old English hwëol) meaning "Wheel." The Celtic equivalent is cuidheal (pronounced "coo-yul").
Unlike our modern linear concept of it, the Celts did, in fact, view Time as an ever-turning wheel, and like other ancient peoples, they, too, observed the Yule as both the rebirth of the Sun God (the Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year, after which the nights begin once more to shorten and the days to lengthen as winter wanes) and a feast of the dead. The Celtic Sun God was Bel ("Bright One"), who is cognate with the Celtic Death God Bíle ("Great Tree"). At the Yule, they appear in the guise of the Oak King (Bel) and the Holly King (Bíle), and represent summer and winter, respectively. As they do at the Summer Solstice or "Litha," the Oak King and Holly King battle for supremacy. But at the Winter Solstice or Yule, it is the waxing Oak King (summer) who vanquishes the waning Holly King (winter).
The Oak King is also known to us as the Green Man and sometimes appears in the guise of the Green Knight, who plays "The Beheading Game" in Celtic literature (and in which guise, if conflation has occurred, he may exhibit elements of the Holly King, as well). The Holly King is also known to us as the Red Man and frequently appears in the guise of the Red Demon or Devil.
This latter is for two reasons: The Red Man's face is red because he is the Winter King, and so is chapped from winter's cold and exposure to its bitter elements; and the Celtic Death and Underworld God Cernunnos ("Horned One"), who is thought to be cognate with Bíle, is usually depicted wearing the antlers of a stag and sometimes with stag ears, cloven hooves, and a beard, too. Other figures that may also be representative of Cernunnos sport ram, bull, or goat horns (in reality, in nature, horns are a symbol of power and authority, rather than of evil). Eventually, particularly during the medieval age, this red, horned, bearded, cloven-hooved image was merged with the Christian Devil.
Because the Winter Solstice or Yule falls during the astrological transition of the sign of Sagittarius the Archer to Capricorn the Goat, in addition to the stag of Cernunnos, the goat (sacred to both the Scandinavian god Thor and the Greek gods Pan and Dionysius) has always played a large part in the midwinter rites, as well. So the Christian Devil was given an increasingly goatish appearance, besides.
Cernunnos is often shown carrying a club and with one or more bags of gold or grain, and he possessed a magic cauldron, in which dead warriors were immersed, headfirst, to be brought back to life to fight anew. All of this also makes him cognate with the Celtic Death or Underworld God Daghda.
The name "Daghda" is usually translated as "Good God," but may actually mean "Best Two" --- Old Irish dag ("best") + dá ("two") --- for we must think of Bel/Bíle as the two faces of one and the same god, just as both summer and winter manifest themselves simultaneously on one earth (when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere, and vice versa). Like Cernunnos, the Daghda carries a club, although his so huge that it would require eight men to heft it and so must be dragged around in a wagon or on wheels, and he has a great cauldron of plenty, from which pours forth an endless cornucopia of food and drink. Indeed, the Daghda himself --- a large, stout, hairy, uncouth, foolish god dressed in a peasant's short, rustic tunic and a pair of boots --- is fat with abundance. He is credited with once having eaten so much porridge, in fact, which had been thickened with goat meat, that he fell into a long, deep sleep afterward and his belly distended to the point that he was unable to copulate until he had disgorged its contents.
The Daghda's club has parallels not only to that of Cernunnos, but also to the hammers of the Gaulish god Sucellus and the Scandinavian god Thor. Like Thor's hammer, the Daghda's club could both kill and heal, and both Thor's hammer and the Daghda's club marked boundaries, as well. Like the Scandinavian god Odinn, the Daghda rides a horse and is associated with feasts and bounty. Two of the other names by which he is known are Deirgderc ("Red Eye"), a reference to the sun, and Ruad Rofhessa ("Red One of Great Knowledge"), and these may well represent parallels with the Scandinavian god Odinn, too, who is portrayed as having only one eye, having sacrificed the other to gain knowledge.
The Daghda is also undoubtedly the original source of the Celtic Gruagach ("Hairy One"), often portrayed as a giant or ogre and who is linked to the Celtic Wild Man of the Woods, associated with the Wild Hunt led by Cernunnos or Herne the Hunter (the Cerne Abbas giant). Over the ages, the Gruagach gradually devolved into the Brownie --- a bogey, dwarf, elf, fairy, goblin, gnome, kobold, pixie, puck, or sprite said to dwell in farmhouses and barns, and who, if not treated kindly and appeased with bowls of porridge or milk, will do mischief to the inhabitants.
From all this derive many of our modern traditions associated with Yule or Christmas.
In many countries worldwide, the twin figures of the Oak and Holly Kings have remained separate, and usually, it is the Oak King who has been assigned the "good" role of the rewarder/gift-giver, while the Holly King has been assigned the "wicked" role of the punisher/depriver.
In the predominately Teutonic countries of Europe, for example, the Oak King is der Weihnachtsmann ("the Christmas Man"), while the Holly King is known variously, along with many other monikers, as Aschenklas ("Ashes Nicholas"), Hans Muff ("John the Muff"), HoheZecher ("Tall Heavy Drinker"), Knecht Ruprecht ("Servant of the Bright One"), Krampus ("Stuff of Farce"), Pelznikol ("Furry Nicholas"), and Schwarz Peter ("Black Peter"). While the "Christmas Man" brings all the good children presents, his "Servant" leaves ashes, lumps of coal, and rocks for all the naughty children, violently thrashes them with rods and switches, and even chains them up, crams them into a bag or bucket, and hurls them into the fiery depths of hell!
In the Low Countries, particularly the Netherlands, Sinterklaas ("Saint Claus" or "Saint Nicholas") rides a white horse and is accompanied by a servant, Zwarte Piet ("Black Peter"), said to be a chimneysweep and black from soot (during the Yule, in part a chthonic rite, the spirits of the dead were believed to enter dwellings through chimneys or smoke holes). It is the job of Zwarte Piet to punish the naughty. In France, children are visited by Père Noël ("Father Christmas") and Père Fouettard ("Father Spanker"), the latter of whom carries a whip with which to punish the naughty. In the Czech Republic, Svaty Mikalas ("Saint Nicholas") climbs a golden rope down to the earth from heaven, accompanied by an angel and a whip-wielding devil.
In Finland, the Joulepukki ("Yule Buck" or "Yule Goat") originally didn't bestow gifts at all (although he does today), but demanded them instead, and the evil spirits who trailed in his wake were horned and garbed in goatskins.
In Norway, the original Julebukk ("Yule Buck" or "Yule Goat") was the goat that drew the Thunder God Thor's chariot across the heavens. During the pagan feast, the Julebukk was undoubtedly a real sacrificial goat. But in later times, it was portrayed by a young man bearing the head of a goat on a stick and he himself cloaked in a goatskin. He engaged in all kinds of wild antics and would ritually "die" and be "reborn" at some point during the celebration. As the sacrificial goat was increasingly merged with the Christian Devil, however, both Church and State eventually outlawed this practice, and in modern times, the Julebukk has been transformed into a caroling party, with children dressing up like Santa's elves and caroling from house to house in exchange for candy and other treats. Christmas presents are delivered by the Julenisse ("Yule Goblin"), who is assisted by the Smånissen ("Little Goblins"), for whom porridge is traditionally left out.
In Sweden, the Yule Tomte ("Gnome") lives under the floorboards of houses or in barns, emerging at Christmas to leave presents from a huge sack he carries on his back. In Denmark, the Julemanden ("Yule Man") arrives in a sleigh drawn by reindeer and also carries a sack on his back. He is assisted by the Juul Nisse ("Yule Goblins"), who inhabit attics and for whom porridge, rice pudding, or milk are also traditionally left out.
Like the United States itself, America's modern "Santa Claus" is a melting-pot of all these figures and practices, in which the Oak King and Holly King are reunited as one dual-faced entity. For America's Santa Claus is both the rewarder/gift-giver and the punisher/depriver, leaving presents for good children, and switches, ashes, and lumps of coal for naughty children. From house to house, he travels in his sleigh drawn by beasts sacred to Cernunnos, the Stag Lord, eight reindeer --- both the number of men required to heft the Daghda's mighty club and the number of legs boasted by the Scandinavian god Odinn's horse, Sleipnir. And just as the spirits of the dead were believed to do, Santa Claus enters the houses he visits via their chimneys, carrying a huge sack on his back. Today, the slender figure and bishop's robes he once sported in his erroneous guise as St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (whose association with Santa Claus has now been largely debunked), have disappeared, and as he was in the beginning, Santa Claus is once more fat with abundance and dressed in a short tunic and a pair of boots. To ensure his goodwill and bounty, American children traditionally leave him not porridge, but cookies and milk instead. Santa Claus deposits his gifts under Christmas trees.
Although Christmas trees are popularly believed to have originated in Germany, with Martin Luther, they are actually an extremely old custom.
Unlike deciduous trees and bushes, which appear to "die" each winter, evergreen trees and shrubbery do not shed their leaves, but remain "alive." For this reason, they were thought to bring good luck, and evergreen trees like firs, pines, spruces, and yews, and their boughs, as well as holly, ivy, laurel, and rosemary, were all used to bedeck dwellings for that purpose (in places like Egypt, green date-palm leaves were also employed). Wreaths, symbolic of the Wheel of Time, were woven of these plants, too. The trees and boughs were adorned with natural ornaments, such as pinecones, berries, and other fruit, as well as symbols sacred to the gods and goddesses. The holly sacred to the Holly King was believed to be particularly auspicious and, if planted outside around a dwelling, to protect it from thunder, lightning, and all evil.
Because, during the Yule, the spirits of the dead were believed to enter dwellings through chimneys or smoke holes, it was the custom of the Celts, Teutons, and other ancient peoples to keep their hearth fires burning during the celebration, in order to prevent the spirits from coming inside. Among the Celts and the Teutons, this was done by means of felling a great tree, as the Oak King, Bel ("Bright One"), cuts down the Holly King, Bíle ("Great Tree"), each Yule. Following its felling, the great tree was carried home and placed trunk-first into the hearth. As it burned, its remainder was gradually pushed into the hearth to feed the flames, which lasted for several days. This is the origin of today's Yule log. Although other trees, such as apple, ash, or oak were also used in this ancient Yule-log rite, it is the yew that has become most associated with it, having sharp green needles and red berries reminiscent of holly's prickly green leaves and own red berries.
In a special ceremony held during the time of the Yule rites, the Celtic Druids also gathered an t-uil-íoc ("All-Heal"), the mistletoe that was sacred to the Oak King. Mistletoe is a plant that grows parasitically in trees and has no roots in the ground. Because of this, it was thought to be of divine origin and/or created by lightning. Contrary to popular belief, however, although it is commonly found on apple and other trees, it is rarely discovered on oaks, so was all the more revered when it was.
On the sixth day of the moon, the Archdruid led a procession of Druids into the forest, in search of oak-growing mistletoe. When it was located, he climbed the oak and, with a gold athame (small, ceremonial sickle), cut the mistletoe from the branches. To prevent its power from running back into the earth, the mistletoe was not permitted to touch the ground. Instead, it was caught in sheets of white linen.
Afterward, despite the fact that it is highly poisonous and can cause hallucinations, convulsions, cardiovascular collapse, and death, it was used for healing, as well as in various rituals, the sticky juice of the white mistletoe berries being thought to be the semen of the gods. Like holly, it was believed to protect against thunder, lightning, and all evil. Distributed to the populace, it was hung up in doorways to guard dwellings. It was also long a symbol of peace, and traditionally, enemies who passed beneath it were required to lay aside their weapons. To kiss beneath a sprig of mistletoe was to ensure fertility, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe has survived to this day.
For modern Wiccans, the Winter Solstice or Yule is a "Lesser Sabbat" and one of the quarter days. It is often referred to as "Alban Arthuan," which is a term attributed to Iolo Morganwg and frequently translated as "The Light of Arthur." Morganwg was a forger, but if he were drawing on ancient traditions, "Alban Arthuan" should perhaps be interpreted as "Solstice of the Bear Battle," from the Welsh alban ("solstice") + arth ("bear") + gwán ("battle") (guán is the Old Welsh form, and the letter g is dropped in Welsh compounds). It may be a reference to the ceremonies and traditions of ancient Arctic peoples, in which the "Master of the Mountain," to prevent the populace from starving, sends the gods to them in the form of a great bear. In a version of the Wild Hunt, hunters stalk the bear, which hibernates in a cave, rousing it from slumber, then ritually slaying it with a bow and arrow. The bear's skull and skin are then preserved, after which the populace eats the meat during a feast. Early 20th-century German excavations of Alpine caves discovered altars to the bear, with bear skulls and skins preserved in a fashion identical to that of the ancient Artic peoples, indicating that this was a widespread cult and practice. The bear is sacred to the Earth-Mother Goddess and connected with the constellation of Ursa Major ("Great Bear").
Yule is also known as An Fhéill-Shlinnein ("Midwinter," but which translates literally as "Festival of the Shoulder blade," which may refer to a kind of divination performed by examining the shoulder blades of an animal).
Yule's Christian equivalent is, of course, Christmas ("Christ's Mass") --- the Gaelic is Nollaig ("Christmas," literally "the Nativity") --- which was grafted on to the rite, in a futile attempt to stamp out the so-called pagan celebration, which was viewed as "wicked" or "evil" by early Christians.
In the Roman Empire, Roman Mithraism (a mystery religion once believed to have originated in India/Persia, but now thought by many to have been based on Mediterranean astronomy and simply to have appropriated the Indian/Persian god Mithras) had taken hold, and the Emperor Aurelian had officially declared December 25th the Dies Natalis Solis Invictus ("Birthday of the Unconquered Sun"). December 25th had long been established as the birthday of Mithras, who, like numerous other deities and heroic figures, was said to have been of divine birth, being born to a virgin mother, and also to have died and been reborn or resurrected.
The Roman Saturnalia at the Winter Solstice, originally dedicated to the Roman god Saturn, had been expanded to encompass Mithras, whose religion shared a number of attributes with that dedicated to the Roman god Attis, also celebrated, along with various other deities, during the time of the Saturnalia, which was an increasingly raucous, chaotic rite, filled with drunkeness, gambling, and debauchery. During the Saturnalia, masters and slaves exchanged places, and all were ruled by a Mock King or Fool (in later ages, the Lord of Misrule, Abbot of Unreason, King of the Bean, etc.), who was a devolution of the Cernunnos/Daghda/Wild Man figure and who was celebrated during the medieval age at the Feast of Fools.
Like several other religions, Mithraism proved a formidable rival to Christianity, so that when Constantine the Great became the Roman Emperor, he faced a divided empire, one in which Mithraism and Christianity created conflict. The date of Jesus's birthday was unknown, but had later been established as Epiphany, January 6th (although other dates were also given). Whether or not Constantine himself actually converted to Christianity or merely wished to consolidate the Roman Empire is debatable. But under his reign, Jesus's birthday was moved to December 25th, so that Mithraism and Christianity shared the same celebratory day.
But perhaps that is fitting, for above all, Yule is a celebration of hope...hope that the Darkness will be banished from the earth and that the Light will be reborn.
The principal colors associated with Yule are red, green, and white. Red is for the waning Holly King and all that he represents; green is for the waxing Oak King and all he represents; and white is for the purity and hope of the Light reborn.
