Yuletide Celebrations

Today is Yule, also known as the winter solstice, the original winter celebration that early Christians tried to stamp out by introducing a Christian celebration during the 4th century instead. You know the one I mean, it’s called Christmas.

A lot of people still mark Yule though, in one way or another, because tonight will be the longest night of year meaning that the days are gradually going to start getting lighter as we once again head towards spring. If that’s not something to celebrate in the midst of a grey and dismal winter - and that’s what we usually get here in the UK, after all - then I really don’t know what is.

I don’t make a big fuss about Yule because our family celebrate Christmas too, although not from a religious point of view. We celebrate it as the turning of the year, the mid point in winter from where things can only get better. Basically, a delayed Yule celebration but I do mark the actual day in my own quiet little way by lighting lots of candles and making a meal that I particularly enjoy. The lighting of candles was originally to persuade the sun, through the Sun God, Mithras, who was born on the shortest day of the year, to reappear as quickly as possible, grow strong and drive away the darkness. As for the food, I don’t have a tradition, I just go with what I fancy. This year it’ll be marinated pork loin with cherry sauce, potatoes and fresh vegetables. The cherry sauce has been frozen for a couple of months but that’s ok, it’ll thaw out and warm up nicely and will be a reminder of the glorious fruit that will once again adorn the tree in the garden following the setting of the blossom, a true mark of spring. As for the pork, I just love pork loin, especially if it’s been marinated properly, and a few winter veg never go amiss.

In Scandinavia they still use the name Jul (pronounced Yule) to describe Christmas, rather than anything religious. Try as they might, those early Christians just never managed to ‘persuade’ them to entirely drop their Pagan traditions. They still have ‘nisser’ - naughty elf like creatures who you have to be kind to during the celebrations otherwise they’ll bugger up your crops next year - and they still use apples, oranges with cloves in, straw goats and other typically Pagan festival decorations.

Mind you, having said that, a lot of what we have originates from the Yule celebrations, it‘s just that most people aren‘t aware of them. Holly, Ivy, Yule Logs, Mistletoe, and even some ‘Christmas’ cards have a Yuletide greeting on them, being sent by people who have no idea that Yule is not the same as Christmas. The twelve days of Christmas also originates from the burning of the Yule log for twelve days.

As somebody who feels the cold something dreadful, I’m sooooooo looking forward to the sun gathering strength and warming us up again, so for me the winter solstice is definitely something to celebrate.

Sharon J xx

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So Who Does Christmas Belong To?

I’ve seen an awful lot of arguments happening on various Internet boards recently, all with the same theme: who does Christmas belong to and who should be ‘allowed’ to celebrate it? Some of those arguments have gotten really out hand, with name calling and threats to personal safety being thrown about.

I believe that Christmas should be celebrated by anybody who wishes to join in the festivities and that, as long as they’re not hurting others, they should be allowed to celebrate in whatever way suits them, be they Christians, Pagans, Jews, Atheists or whatever else.

Many Pagans will argue that Christmas (Yule) originally belonged to them with the counterargument from Christians being that the word CHRIST in Christmas makes it theirs. Everybody has their own opinion but shouldn’t it foremostly be a time when we can practice peace by showing tolerance towards other religions or lifestyles, and stop arguing over who it belongs to and how it should be celebrated?

Here in the UK we’ve been calling this winter celebration Christmas for a good few hundred years. Before that it was known as Yule, a celebration of the Winter Solstice (the rebirth of the sun). Whether or not we should or shouldn’t call it Christmas is of no real relevance to me - it’s just a name - what’s important is that we can accept that it’s a time when each and every one of us should be able to do whatever we feel is right on that day. For some, it means absolutely nothing more than presents, for others it’s a time during which they can feel close to and give thanks to their God, for others it’s a time when they can drink and be merry. No doubt there are many, many more reasons why people celebrate Christmas too. Or even why they don't, whatever the case may be.

If we choose to celebrate, can’t we at least do that in peace, without needing to justify why we choose to do so as Atheists, Pagans or Worshippers of Little Green Men from Mars? Nobody has a supreme ‘right’ to Christmas, it’s just a day really, like any other. There’s no proof that Jesus was born that day (in fact, it’s highly unlikely) and nowhere does it say that you have to believe in God (as depicted in the Bible) in order to celebrate it.

Personally, I don’t believe it really has much to do with religion anymore at all. It’s about money. Even if everybody stopped celebrating on grounds of their faith, Christmas would still live on. The money grabbing capitalists would see to that. If anybody, they're probably who Christmas really belongs to these days.

Sharon J xx

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Image Credit: Tom Stardust

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