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December celebrations in many faiths and locations - ancient and modern

http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm

The site offers more details than I've provided here.

My question concerns the psychological and spiritual effects of this time. There are archetypal reasons to feel closure, a sense of ending, of looking inward on the longest night of the year.

Aside from Christmas, Hanukka, Kwanzaa, and sometimes Ramadan, does this time of the year inspire you or affect you spiritually and how do you manifest it?

here's some background:

ANCIENT EGYPT: The god-man/savior Osiris died and was entombed on DEC-21. "At midnight, the priests emerged from an inner shrine crying 'The Virgin has brought forth! The light is waxing" and showing the image of a baby to the worshipers."

ANCIENT GREECE: The winter solstice ritual was called Lenaea, the Festival of the Wild Women. In very ancient times, a man representing the harvest god Dionysos was torn to pieces and eaten by a gang of women on this day. Later in the ritual, Dionysos would be reborn as a baby. By classical times, the human sacrifice had been replaced by the killing of a goat. The women's role had changed to that of funeral mourners and observers of birth.

ANCIENT ROME: Saturnalia began as a feast day for Saturn on DEC-17 and of Ops (DEC-19). About 50 BCE, both were later converted into two day celebrations. During the Empire, the festivals were combined to cover a full week: DEC-17 to 23.

By the third century CE, there were many religions and spiritual mysteries being followed within the Roman Empire. Many, if not most, celebrated the birth of their god-man near the time of the solstice. A single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on DEC-25. At the time, Mithraism and Christianity were fierce competitors. Aurelian had even declared Mithraism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 274 CE. Christianity won out by becoming the new official religion in the 4th century CE.

ATHEISTS: There has been a recent increase in solstice observances by Atheists in the U.S. For example, The American Atheists and local Atheist groups have organized celebrations for 2000-DEC, including the Great North Texas Infidel Bash in Weatherford TX and more than you ever thought possible.

CHRISTIANITY: Any record of the date of birth of Yeshua of Nazareth (later known as Jesus Christ) has been lost. The western church leaders selected DEC-25 because this was already the date recognized throughout the Roman Empire as the birthday of various Pagan gods. Since there was no central Christian authority at the time, it took centuries before the tradition was universally accepted.

I belive you have overlooked the Norse celebration of the solstice from which the term "Yule" for the Winter Solstice derives. As you can imagine the Winter solstice was VERY important to those in the far North, as the daylihjt is extremely limited in these environs around the solstice.

The return of the sun from it's nadir is great cause for celebration when you are in the darkness.

my mood and the way i act changes every hour ,so i dont think i could ever blame a time of the year on my behavior

KCRC: Thanks for pointing including the Norse celebration. I didn't want to make my post unbearably long.

The point is that diverse cultures recognized and celebrated this time period.

I always seem to feel older, more mature this time of year. I have always assumed it was because my children get older and older and they seem to need me less and less.

I feel tired and worn this time of year but at Yule it's like an infusion of energy for me and I enjoy the new year and it's opportunities. It's got so real as the new year for me that I rarely bother to notice on Dec 31st.

It is also a well studied scientific phenomena that the amount of sunlight affects the mood of people. As the fall turns to winter the amount of sunlight per day hits it's minimum. This causes depression and other disorders. Once the solstice hits, daylight increases and the symptoms begin to reverse.

Yule is a joyous time for me. I enjoy this time of year.

But this time of year does affect people. statistically there are more suicides this time of year than any other time.

I personally find this time of year depressing. Of course...that could be my great hate of snow and the fact that I live in the Northwest U.S...lol

Spiritually...I don't know that I've ever felt much of anything connected with this time of year. I think I get too caught up in the hating of snow to really be overly spiritual.

Personally I am happier this time of year, all the songs and celebration of holidays.. Also i am more of a night person so i enjoy the darkenss this time of year.. Something it me wakes up more.

Same here. The darker the day and the colder the weather, the happier I am.

I hate Christmas, but that's because of the associations and commercialism it has.

Also it's unbearably hot, and I don't have air conditioning, and ALL Christmas advertising etc includes things like roaring log fires. Which makes it even worse.

So we're right into celebrating midsummer, not midwinter over here. Makes a bit of a difference ;)

Ah yes, ye old time of gathering moss...Oh sorry, wrong holiday. *Clears throat*...Ah the lovely time of year when the yule logs are burned, the pagan trees go up with the lights of the solar system and stars, gifts under the tree itself.

Some think the tree represents the town of of the Nazerene, with the north star shining brightly atop the tree itself, with the gifts at the bottom as reflections of the three wise men. If this is the case, then the moral of the tree would be that "god" is within us all. A bit Buddhist if you ask me.

The gifts were originally meant as a forgive me factor, if you open it then you forgive the person for the things they did till the end of the year...Or some such nonesense.

Pagans think of it differantly. We think of it as the sun being at the top of the tree which is the tree of life, or the universe...The lights would be stars, the onaments would be each planet in the cosmos. The gifts would be there as alms for the gods.

Which ever you believe, just know that all religions stem from that one source...Which is togetherness. Follow this path and you might find a betterment within yourself.

Winter Solstice, also known as Midwinter, occurs around December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs on the shortest day or longest night of the year, often said to mark the beginning of a hemisphere's astronomical winter. The word solstice derives from Latin, Winter Solstice meaning Sun set still in winter. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near the winter solstice; examples of these include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years, Pongal and many other festivals of light.

The winter solstice may have been immensely important because communities were not assured to live through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months. Starvation was common in winter between January to April, also known as the famine months. In temperate climes, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so it was nearly the only time of year when a supply of fresh meat was available. The majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time. The concentration of the observances were not always on the day commencing at midnight or at dawn, but the beginning of the pre-Romanized day, which falls on the previous eve.

Even in modern cultures these gatherings are still valued for emotional comfort, having something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year. This is especially the case for populations in the near polar regions of the hemisphere. The depressive psychological effects of winter on individuals and societies for that matter, are for the most part tied to coldness, tiredness, malaise, and inactivity. Winter weather, plus being indoors causes negative ion deficiency which decreases serotonin levels resulting in depression and tiredness. Also, getting insufficient light in the short winter days increases the secretion of melatonin in the body, off balancing the circadian rhythm with longer sleep. Studies have proven that exercise, light therapy, increased negative ion exposure (which can be attained from plants and well ventilated flames burning wood or beeswax) can reinvigorate the body from its seasonal lul and relieve winter blues by shortening the melatonin secretions, increasing serotonin and temporarily creating a more even sleeping pattern. Midwinter festivals and celebrations occurring on the longest night of the year, often calling for evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing are examples of cultural winter therapies that have evolved as traditions since the beginnings of civilization. Such traditions can stir the wit, stave off malaise, reset the internal clock and rekindle the human spirit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

"The gifts would be there as alms for the gods."

Soulshroude - does that mean if you open these presents you are considering yourself akin to the gods?

Some Native Americans used prayer sticks to honor their ancestors on the Winter Solstice. It was an important time of year for them.

psyche, I know how you feel. Granted my children are still young and they do need me to tie their shoes yet, but I can tell they are needeing me less and less

Winter Solstice is a big time of closure for me. It's the one day a year I come to terms with all the death that has ever happened in my family. Especially because of a death happening on Winter Solstice.

Winter Solstice is huge time of closure for me, too. But it's edged with the promise of growth that will come from what I have learned.

Soulshroude: Thanks for shaking off the moss, or at least parting it to point us in the direction of togetherness.

Gaius: Honoring ancestors is a good tradition, one that I've never learned to do. Dead and gone has always been the practice in my natal family --- mourn in private. Very unconnected now that I think of it.

Psyche: I loved this time of the year when my children were young. Their delight and enthusiasm made all the work worthwhile.

This time of the year for me just seemlike everything slows down. While everyone else is at full steam, I am at half speed. It just seems to wear me out. As for religiously, no , it does nothing for me. I love this time of the year, but I have no family of my own, no kids to buy presents for. So I would say its like a slow and happy time where I can watch everyone go just as hard as I did for the past 11 months.

I'm jealous, Knight.

It does seem like a celebration of a turning point. What is the Pagan celebration of the summer solstice?

You know, now that I am thinking about it. I guess it is a time of clouser. I just start it a bit sooner than most. I slow down and just start watching around the last two months of the year, not just on the shortest day of the year.

Look at the other side of Winter Solstice. It is the shortest day of the year but every day after that meant that the sun was making his way back through longer days.

For some pagans, the new year begins on Samhain or Halloween and so does winter - so the solstice is midwinter or the shortest day of the year. You have nowhere to go but up, so lets light a Yule log and celebrate.

I'm not an overly spiritual person but I do celebrate the Winter Solstice...it is an ending for me...of short, cold days...:D

Bring on the sun...:P

This year is the first year we are starting teach our child about the Pagan holidays. The poor thing is going to be so confused. lol

I am one of the weird people it seems I like the shortening days and all of this time of year. For me this time of a year is about renewal and fresh starts and fresh ideas and such.

Since several of you mentioned Yule, and I just finished researching Freya, here's a little tidbit that combines info on both:

Frey (the male counterpart to Freya) was the god of Yule, the pagan solstitial festival assimilated to Christmas. At the turning of the solar year he was born of his virgin-mother-sister-bride (the multitasking begins!!! Bloodmother opinion). Like other seasonal gods he had a perpetual rival, Njord, the other half of the year. They were collectively blotgodar (blood-gods---hey, good name for a VR prescence), who fought and sacrificed each other over and over.

BloodMother - sounds like the relationship of the Mexican god Quetzalquatl and his brother, represented in Aztec mythology as the polar opposites White and Black.

FelineDraco: Renewal. Exactly how I feel.

Wolfsbohne: the "opposite" repeats again --- absolute evil, absolute good, light and dark, death and life. Can't have one without the other? I still have trouble with that, although there's probably an equation for it.

well my emotions change every five minutes but if someone likes christmas i am, not going to be mean towards them
i sure wish i had something to believe in and celebreate

this is an artical i found a long time ago, i hope it answers some questions

Yule Lore (December 21st)

Yule, (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were wassailed with toasts of spiced cider.

Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun, the boughs were symbolic of immortality, the wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly, mistletoe, and ivy not only decorated the outside, but also the inside of homes. It was to extend invitation to Nature Sprites to come and join the celebration. A sprig of Holly was kept near the door all year long as a constant invitation for good fortune to pay visit to the residents.

The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a gift... it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze be a piece of last years log, (held onto for just this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out. Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice.

A different type of Yule log, and perhaps one more suitable for modern practitioners would be the type that is used as a base to hold three candles. Find a smaller branch of oak or pine, and flatten one side so it sets upright. Drill three holes in the top side to hold red, green, and white (season), green, gold, and black (the Sun God), or white, red, and black (the Great Goddess). Continue to decorate with greenery, red and gold bows, rosebuds, cloves, and dust with flour.

Deities of Yule are all Newborn Gods, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses, and Triple Goddesses. The best known would be the Dagda, and Brighid, the daughter of the Dagda. Brighid taught the smiths the arts of fire tending and the secrets of metal work. Brighid's flame, like the flame of the new light, pierces the darkness of the spirit and mind, while the Dagda's cauldron assures that Nature will always provide for all the children.

Symbolism of Yule:
Rebirth of the Sun, The longest night of the year, The Winter Solstice, Introspect, Planning for the Future.

Activities of Yule:
Caroling, wassailing the trees, burning the Yule log, decorating the Yule tree, exchanging of presents, kissing under the mistletoe, honoring Kriss Kringle the Germanic Pagan God of Yule

Deities of Yule:
Goddesses-Brighid, Isis, Demeter, Gaea, Diana, The Great Mother. Gods-Apollo, Ra, Odin, Lugh, The Oak King, The Horned One, The Green Man, The Divine Child, Mabon.

To me the time of yule is a time remembrance of the year just passed and a time of celebration for the year to come.

yule is always my favorite time off year, something about the long nights and the fact that the less light the better with my eyes and skin.

and this time of the year always has the most energy and makes me feel better than any other time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

For those posts about the winter blues and such.

I personally celebrate Yule/christams/solstice but the coomercialism is a bit much. But, the true feeling is meant to be a happy day for all. Celebrate, it's going to get warmer.

so, my way of not offending people

Happy nondenomination winter celebration

I live in a part of the Midwest where all four seasons are very distinct. Living here, I get a sense that life, death, and renewal are all part of a much larger natural cycle and order that I do not completely understand, but which fill me with wonder. I have struggled with clinical depression all of my life and I do have difficulties with that in this time of year but, on balance, I sense that the Light and Sun are coming back. This intersects somewhat with the Christian traditions on which I was raised, and many of the other traditions from other belief systems discussed in this thread; there is a sense (Christian tradition probably would say “promise”) of hope, rebirth, and a new beginning.

you did not put in Yule aka 12th night.... it came before christmas

Undermyknife:

I can relate to you on that!!!

Not being a man of ceremony, does anyone have any suggestions about celebrating the Winter Solstice besides making a Yule Log. My wife misses her Pagan roots and is looking for something refreshing.

whenever I think of pagan ceremonies or celebrations, I think of community. Friends, family and revelry. Hard laughter.

this thread is is cool cause this is the first time i have ever heard of yule which i think is concidered christmas.. am i right ? ok but ya thats what i celebrate is christmas when all the family and friends get together and eat a big meal and open some giftes but this year were not opening gifts its just going to be family and food.. and alot of cold snow..

Any traditions, BloodMother?

Just starting a new one this year.

But just for you, Wolfsbohne, pulled a book down from the shelf (The Winter Solstice), and we shall both learn something new: okay, going out in the night, honoring the directions, lighting a fire, celebrating the harsh beauty of this time, reciting a litany, bunch of recipes I’ll never do, also making shrines, a lot of shrine making in this book.

This sounds like more fun: The Solstice Animals. “The theme of wildness that underlies the celebration of Midwinter is evidenced by the ancient ritual of guising with animal masks. The wearing of animal masks was believed to encourage animal spirits to enter us and reconnect us to the wild essence of our being.”

Deer masks and headdresses feature in many ancient rituals that date back thousands of years.

What what shall he have
that killed the deer?
His leather skin and horns to wear.
Take you no scorn to wear a horn
It was a crest ere thou wast born,
Thy father’s ather bore
and thy father wore it too
The horn, the horn, the lust horn
Is not a thing to laugh to scorn.

Shakespeare, As you Like it.

Then, you could do the Horn Dance. Six dancers carry huge racks of reindeer horns.

Hmm. Don’t know if I can get my friends to do this. They are accompanied by a hobby-horse, a boy with a boy and arrow, a She-Male (see page 162) with a pot and ladle, and a fiddler.

One of them might do the She-Male, and they’d all fight over the boy and bow and arrow. Going to page 162.

LOL.....

I think we'll just read Mid Summer's Night Dream and have some egg nog.

My apologies for such a late post to the reply of Wolfsbohne.

As per your comment on the gifts as alms for the gods statement...This custom lets the reciever of such gifts take on the role of the gods as both an honour and a allegory, something I am sure you are all too aware of.

To be forgiven by the gods is to be renewed in your faith and hope. Thus the gift giving is recieved well.

Oh, and before I forget, a website for your wife to peruse, old customs of the pagans...

Yuletide

I love this time of year aside from the weather. If I don't have to be in the snow and winter I'm content. I love the look of snow when it firsts falls, I think it's beautiful.

For me around this time of year I feel the cheer of the season raise my spirits up but its also depressing at the same time. Its like my energies are trying to balance themselves.

Soulshroude, thank you for posting the link. The history was interesting as I hadn't realized how out of favor Christmas had once been in the U.K.

Well, I like the long nights, but i hate the cold! Sometimes i ache to go out in the summer and feel the warm breeze, but i do enjoy the snow.

My spirits are balance throughout the year for different reasons, but they always seem to come down a little THIS time of year, only because I'm in retail! :X

i look forward to the winter solstice..it is a time to reflect on the past year and time to look forward to te next year. as the nights get longer and the sun dims it makes me look at death and the memory of friends and family that is no longer with us and as the sun returns as spring returns i see new life all around...many people belive this is the time where the spirit world and ours is closest and as the spirits cross that is the new life that is born in the spring.

I have been able to blend my paths a bit so that I celebrate both Yule and Christmas. One long holiday season.:)

Very interesting topic I am definitely going to read more on this .

The Tropic of Capricorn (-23 degrees 27') or Winter Solstice, hence the shotest day of the year. Many cultures celibrate it as the start of the year's life cycle. The romans called it, "Dies Natalis Invicti Solis", which means: The birthday of the unconquered Sun.

Doru, like the idea of the Unconquered Sun, fighting its way back from the ever increasing and lingering darkness. Go Sun!

i agree BloodMother, go Sun!

Perhaps the holidays has something to do with it. The feasting and giving without the thought of wanting in return. But I always love this time of year. When families come together and love each other no matter what has happened between them throughout the year. The joy of someones first Christmas or reliving the memories of the past ones. Im not sure what makes the holiday season so special but it tends to affect people in a positive way that is always good. I look forward to the end of this year and coming of another in hopes of things being better. An optimistic day of the sort I suppose. I dont know. Perhaps Im pointless in this discussion but it feels good to be able to reflect on each year and always be able to pick out the good things.

For me it has more to do with turning the tide toward longer hours of daylight. Especially since I moved up to the Pacific Northwest I mind the short days. Here it's compounded by the fact that most days are cloudy/rainy. So what little daylight we have in this season - is gloomy daylight. I feel a renewal on Winter Solstice because each day the daylight increases even if it's just a little bit!

I too am generally happier around this time of year, although that could just be do to the break I finally get from school.

I don't know that it has any effect on me but I really do love that time of year. I am intensely nocturnal and the longer the night, the more I get done. It always feels just that little bit special too:)

The winter soltice is a time to lay to rest the events of the past year and as the wheel of the year turns again we find our selves in a deep trance as if the stress or the mourning of friends gone past has taken us and I live in Alaska dec 21 there is no day and lack of sunlight dose effect me but i love the cold and as i find as the end of the modern year comes even i feel older the year has taken its toll and i look forward to a new one.

Yule (dec 21) is the longest night of the year. from then forward the day starts getting long our ancestors celebrated this time of year as the return of their goddess from her winter slumber or the rebirth of the sun god from death.
either way its a time of year to gather together with friends and family, reflect on the past year and learn from the mistakes we made and look forward to the begining of new life in the coming spring.

I'm getting married during the winter solstice.. *sigh* It's going to be absolutely wonderful. =^_^=

congrates to you Ms. doom

Exploding Penguins of Death (a name which will live in infamy, I'm sure) Did you pick that date as a tie-in with the solstice?

Winter wedding is an interesting choice.

I am always excited this time of year because not only do i celebrate the holidays i also celebrate my birthday

Happy Birthday RavenMMMS. I hope you don't get cheated out of presents.

That whole being cheated out of presents thing sucked as a kid. (Birthday is 31 Dec.)

I do have some issues with seasonal mood swings, but the last weeks before Yule always remind me of when I was pregnant with my son (even though I wasn't pregnant with him during this period of the year). It just seems to be that same feeling of expectant waiting for an event when the world shifts....

I used to wonder if that was s why the pagan story of the Goddess and God throughout the cycle of the year had the God being born at Yule. Over time, I've become certain that the waiting for the rebirth of the light and of hope is a sort of annual spiritual pregnancy.

Yes! So that's the feeling of expectancy. hadn't made a direct connection before, but it is evocative of that time.

Thank you for the link and info, Soulshroude. Very useful indeed.

I think the holidays are a great way to get rid of the seasonal "depressive" disorder problem. Many are prone to depression i9n the winter months and the lack of sunlight. Although these winter holidays mean different things to different people,they still are helpful by giving us something to look forward to. Very interesting information in this thread.Thanks for sharing.

I like the summer better the cold hurts sometimes.