Christmas/Winter Solstice
Now I’ve joined the ranks of the bereaved at Christmas, wishing instead I was alone down a dark alleyway jacking-up under the starry sky and not having to put on a plastic smile and pretend ’tis the season to be jolly’….All very macabre and Trainspotting’esque for 2018, and a million miles away from what I’ve ever done or will be doing in the future. But that’s the stark contrast between how I feel and where we’re at seasonally, I’m not in the mood for dress-ups but somehow I have to conjure them up for my children’s happiness. Don’t worry, I’ll be using essential oils not heroin to manifest this juxtatransition….(new word alert), I am a witch healer after all.
Now I’ve dispensed with the emotional update, this blog will be my attempt to debunk what these seasonal festivities are about. Recovering the myth, whilst giving festive redirection through spiritual enlightenment, accompanied by a smattering of the confused history. Why am I doing this? Because what Christmas has become, leaves me feeling pretty sickened with all the pointless decadence. In recent years, this festival has morphed into a cataclysmic, extortionate, material meltdown, a galaxy away from its origins. With the only emotions evoked, created by tear-jerking TV ad campaigns or the wrath from trying to force a ‘family’ get together. And don’t get me started on the millions of fake Santa’s I can pay a small fortune to confuse my kids with?! Mummy, what’s Santa doing over here I thought he was in the North Pole? Mummy, that Santa looks different from the one we say the other day? Mummy, that Santa’s a girl?! Blah, blah, arrrggggg save me!
Unsurprisingly, celebrations at this time of the year have been happening for many hundreds of thousands of moons, well before the supposed birth of JC out trumped everything. All were celestially based, and as far from a John Lewis Ad as one can get, involving lots of personal growth and fire. Their point, the earth beginning its return journey away from darkness, towards the light of the sun; heralding hope for new life. The exact timing of this astronomical return to light, is not exact in our modern Gregorian calendar, and can fall anytime between the 20th — 23rd December. And was, and still is by modern Pagans, regarded as the birth of the Sun, (the Sun is male, the Moon is female), Winter Solstice/Yule.
Spiritually, the Goddess becomes, again, the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King, and this is celebrated with a 12 day Mid-Winter Holiday to rest, reflect and celebrate the re-awakening of nature and re-birth of ourselves. Our modern version of Christmas, superseding the Winter Solstice Festival, sees most of us enduring an exhausting, booze-soaked, social whirlwind, not in quiet reflection and deep introspection! I mean who doesn’t just want to snuggle up in soft, warm pyjamas and hibernate a little? But we fight it with everything we’ve got?! Ignoring our natural rhythms and cycle, treating ourselves like machines…And by not stopping, taking stock and facing our true selves, we damage our mental and physical wealth and health. We desperately need to acknowledge our mistakes, forgive ourselves for them and find the learning within them to truly grow. Inner reflection = insights and new ideas….a hell of a lot more useful to know than pie = mc2!
Winter Solstice was initially avoided by the Church, seen as a Pagan festival, until 440 yrs after Christ supposedly died….around the time the Roman Emperor, Constantine, ordered the Bible to be written. Pope Julius I chose December 25, to both absorb the pagan Saturnalia festival and increase the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced. Please note the correlation, sun/Mother Nature and son/God… FYI, The 25th December had previously been celebrated as the birthday of the Roman sun god, Sol Invictus, the patron of soldiers. Whom was supposed to have been the reincarnation of the Syrian god Elagabalus/Aelagabalus/ Heliogabalus?! The Persian Mithraists held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras, and celebrated it as a victory of light over darkness. In Sweden, December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining One, and was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around the 21st, bonfires were lit to honour Odin and Thor. Unsurprisingly, there is much historical controversy on what actually happened in practice, public relations is not a new art! But the common theme is the re-birth of the sun….
Curiously, and on another note, the Chariot Tarot card, which typically depicts a chariot rider (very Roman Empire), has a sun either on him or behind him. This major Arcana card, implies war, a struggle, and an eventual, hard-won victory over enemies, obstacles, nature, the uncertainties inside you. A bit like getting through Winter, phyiscally and metaphysically, the time to look inwards and face your inner demons and clear them out in time for new beginnings.
By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, ousted paganism..it had become remarkably dangerous to be a witch! However, ever a nation of party animals, these ‘Christians’ got the churchy thingy out of the way and then got royally drunk and celebrated Mardi-gras stylee. Either a beggar or student would be crowned “lord of misrule” and other party go’ers would play the part of their loyal subjects. They would then make a tour of the rich, demanding their best food and booze. Failure to comply led to all sorts of trickery and thus Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society.
Christmas then fell out of fashion with the mealy mouthed Quaker set, where debauchery on any levels was banned. It didn’t make it back until the early 19th C….Charles Dickenson, amongst other writers, assisted on this revival of the holiday by “changing consciousness of Christmas and the way in which it was celebrated” as they emphasized family, religion, gift-giving, and social reconciliation as opposed to the historic revelry common in some places.[53](Wiki
This re-incarnation of Christmas began its descent into commercialism from the get-go in the 1800s, so my complaint is not a modern one. Apparently, it has been a fairly common one since its re-introduction, nothing new under the Sun! But I believe its reached its fully pimped out potential, well I am hoping so, I think a lot of us are a bit ‘over’ it. Now, clearly primarily driven by the economy and not any form of spirituality, but there is more satisfaction in the latter. And tho our celebrations are a very far cry from a true Winter Solstice celebration, a lot of Pagan traditions continue Today…tho we’ve largely forgotten what they symbolise….
Take oak born mistletoe, from the earliest times, seen as a magical, sacred plant, bestower of life and fertility, protection against poison and an aphrodisiac. It was hung above doors to ward off evil spirits, enhance fertility and bring peace. Holly, a protective evergreen with its spiky bristles to repel unwanted spirits. Its red berries representative of feminine blood, making it feminine. Newborn babies were thus sprinkled with holly water, the original holy water, for protection! Holly and mistletoe together represent the sacred marriage at this time of year with the re-birth of the sun….male and female. Ivy, represents immortality and resurrection, its spiral growth reminiscent of reincarnation and rebirth. Together these evergreens, which we make our wreaths from, represent the wheel of life.
Yew trees were regarded at the tree of regeneration and rebirth because they send up new trees from their roots and live such a long life. They were therefore used as the central ‘world tree’ in ritual spaces, connecting with the spirit realm and ancestors, and were thus planted in graveyards. You can always find yew trees in the gardens of churches….now you know why, churches were built on sacred sites.
As for Christmas Trees, yes Prince Albert re-introduced them to us in Victorian times, but they have a much longer historical pedigree. Roman priests would cut down, decorate and carry a ceremonial pine tree to their temple celebrations for Saturnalia. Roman people would also decorate their homes with boughs of evergreen trees or bushes in pots; FYI pine and fir are symbolic of rebirth and life. Pagans brought live trees into their homes to keep the wood spirits warm for the winter months, hanging food and treats for them on the branches…my son clearly believes he has wood spirit rights!
And candles have long been symbolic of light and fire, red, gold and green are the colours of Yule and the returning Sun….now the main colours for Christmas….
And so I have given you choices, if you’re similarly not feeling it. You can go Pagan, celebrating Winter Solstice by taking the time to surrender to your natural instincts to retreat inwards for insight and growth. You can then use Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve as a festive re-birth celebration, depending on how long you need to recuperate, restored and reinvigorated with new ideas and enthusiasm for the year ahead. Or you can go a bit Victorian Christmas, and give more to the poor and needy. Or you can remain as you are, revelling in all the gaudy debauchery.
Originally published at celticwitchmama.com on December 17, 2018.
