Merry Christmas

The European Roots of Christmas And Our Path Through Post Modernity

TheWild Hunt of Odin by Peter Nicolai Arbo

This depiction of Odin’s Wild Hunt is one of my favorite paintings. It is a depiction of the Nordic/Germanic celebration of the Winter Solstice. On the shortest night of the year Odin rides through the night sky on his eight legged horse Sleipnir accompanied by the Valkyries. Odin and his consort ride and reap the spirits of the year’s dead. On this night, all people are to stay in doors, lest they be caught by the hunt and whisked away from life prematurely. On the longest, darkest night of the year Odin, God of death and transition, whisks death away and clears the world for the ascension of light, life and the coming abundance of the new year.

In some versions of the myth Odin rides in a sleigh. People who leave treats for him outside receive a gift that he places in a stocking. There is a Germanic version where he rides in a sleigh pulled by a team of skeletal reindeer that is led by a white reindeer. In our modern times, this imagery is dominated by St. Nick - or Santa Claus.

The Nordic/Germanic/Saxon myths of the Wild Hunt are fun to learn about and contemplate. Doing so gives me a deep appreciation of the ability of my European ancestors to conquer and survive the harsh European winters. The Wild Hunt represents the howl of the darkest, most violent winter storms, personified as The All Father. He is both an awesome, superhuman force to be rightfully feared and respected, and a generous benefactor in his bounty if given the proper preparation and reverence.

Yol or Yule (The Twelve Days of Christmas)

The Yule Log

This is a Nordic and Germanic ritual where the burning of the log is meant to entice the sun to return and bring its light back to the world. On the solstice the log is lit and burns for the 12 day festival of Yol. Originally, the log was the entire trunk of a large tree. A portion of the log is left unburnt and preserved to initiate Yol the following year. This is a ceremonial reminder of the need to preserve resources for the future. This act of foresight, sacrifice and conservation brings protection from the Gods.

Christmas Caroling (Wassailing)

There are different variations of this tradition across Northern Europe. The Saxon tradition was that a group of folk would go door to door and sing traditional songs. The receiving household would give some gift, maybe even some ale or cider, to the ever merrier band of carolers.

The Yule (Yol) Tree

Throughout the Germanic and Celtic lands of Europe the evergreen tree was erected. It was ornamented with figurines of the Gods, regional, local, personal totems and symbols and offerings in the form of food and clothes. The offerings were both a symbol of competence showing the ability of a household to offer up a surplus as well as a sign of generosity and exchange with neighbors, friends and family.

The evergreen tree itself is a symbol of life, rebirth and renewal. In addition to the tree, branches were used to decorate homes. They provided protection against the winter demons of death and destruction. Their strength and ability to endure the winter were thought to encourage the return of the sun. They also have a natural and refreshing perfume - inviting the sights and scents of the forest into the home in the depths of winter.

Holly and Mistletoe

Yol/Christmas is the most stark and striking of the solstice holidays for it is grounded in the natural environment that presents the most striking scene of earth’s winter transition. The day is not just the shortest of the year, but in Northern Europe it is the most harsh. It is a day in the northern most extremis of our European and diaspora habitats that is shrouded in total darkness and freezing cold. It is also the most supernaturally beautiful when the snow covers the land and the sun emerges from the dark. The forests are bright, the teeming life is still and the earth an ampitheatre of serenity. The celebrations reflect this transition. For while they incorporate acknowledgement of the dormant earth, they also celebrate the coming of fertility, birth and renewal.

Holly represents the masculine ingredient in the celebration of fertility. The prickles could ward off bad spirits and the berries were a symbol of potency and virility.

Mistletoe had an important role in northern and southern Europe. The druids harvested the leaves and flowers. The men would pick them from the treetops and the women would catch them. They believed that all infertile animals would become fertile by eating the berries of the varieties that are not poisonous. They hung them above doorways for luck. It was in the 18th century AD that the custom of kissing under the mistletoe became a sign of romantic interest and flirtation.

Saturnalia

Saturnalia was the Roman solstice festival. It was the dies solis invicti nati - the day of the invincible sun. It is a celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture. The festival lasted six days. The Romans decorated their homes with lights and evergreen wreaths. In the festival, the Romans suspended the law and appointed a King of the Saturnalia. This King was a jester and his rule an inversion of all of the Roman virtues - chaos reigned. Rome hated the idea of a King and so when the festival was over this King was killed in effigy. The rites of Saturn complete, Jupiter emerged to impose order onto chaos once again.

The Wreath

The Greeks and Romans hung wreaths of evergreens as symbols of fertility, renewal and agricultural abundance. Wreaths were hung in households for the Saturnalia festival. In Northern Europe, homes were decorated with evergreen branches. Under Christianity these traditions merged. Today we see pinecones, holly berries and other treats laced in the wreath. This is a combination of the southern European wreath and the northern European ornamentation of the Yol tree with symbols of offering and abundance - nuts; cones; fruits …

Like the Northern European solstice rites, Saturnalia involved giving gifts to friends and family. The universal adoption of the wreath is for me a symbol of European brotherhood and a reminder that we must never again succumb to vanity and destroy ourselves in brother wars.

A Unified Heritage

One of the things I enjoy about looking into the Pagan origins of Christmas is seeing how many different variations of the legends, customs and practices exist across Northern Europe. In the wreath and the evergreen, southern and northern Europeans have already forged a common bond in our common symbol of renewal and eternal life. Christmas is a time for Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ - and Christians the world of celebrate using the ancient pagan symbols and rites of our southern and northern European heritage.

Seeing this, it has become for me a time to celebrate the entirety of my ancestry and the European people. In the mid 6th century AD the Catholic church declared Christmas the celebration of the birth of Christ. However, much of Europe was still not fully Christianized. In order for the people of Europe to accede to this, the Church had to accept that all of the Christmas celebrations were pagan.

Christian and European pagan myth and symbolism are bound together. It is in this celebration that we can connect with our roots, our ancient and recent past and come together as one people. Christmas is distinctly European as a solstice celebration, for it is bound to the geography of Europe. It is a celebration of the people of the harsh northern climates; of long, dark, freezing winters. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the lands and geography that our ancestors survived and cultivated to abundance with their, ingenuity, sacrifice, diligence, temperance, physical strength, endurance, social cohesion and supreme organizational skills and structures. In the dead of winter we celebrate our ability to survive and conquer the harshest elements of nature as we live in harmony with her and like the ritual of the preservation of the Yule log, prudently preserve her bounty for our future.

Our Future Is Our Past + Essential Innovations

Modernity has done much to tear up and dissolve our roots as a people. Its scissors of banality cut us off from our traditions. Christmas is a healing water; an anecdote that we can use to balm and heal them. It shows us that the Christianization of Europe was at least as much a pagan-ization of Christianity. We see this clearly when we look at all of the customs and traditions of our Christmas celebration. Christmas is a wonderful time to share meals and gifts with our friends and family. More than that it is an opportunity for us to connect with our past. A people without a past is not a people. A person without a people has no future.

Christmas presents us with a model for our path forward as a people. Our European ancestors kept their bearings in our lands during the imposition of an alien religion. We infused our ancient past and the rites that bound us to it as a people into the emergent Christian religion. Nowhere is the imprint of our spirit and the force of our will more clear than in our imposition of our ancient rites and symbols upon the solstice rites of Christmas.

Today, we stand at a crossroads as a people. Unlike post Imperial Roman Europe, we are not secure in the possession of our homelands. Our leaders are not of us and for us as were Clovis, Charlemagne, Alfred, Aleric and Egbert. It is essential that we forge and strengthen bonds that bind us together as a people and to our lands. Strengthening and deepening our bond with our European solstice celebration is an essential part of our healing and restoration. Christmas shows us this can be done. The solstice rites of pagan southern Europe and of pagan northern Europe are the solstice rites of Christianity - all fused in harmony together.

Through this conscious celebration, we can reclaim our past and thus reclaim our future. We stand together facing a unique opportunity. We are now embracing the heroic task before us. Let us turn to Christmas and appreciate it. Let our appreciation of its pagan and Christian roots inspire us. Our pagan ancestors’ spirit forged its will on Christendom infusing Christmas with the rites and customs of our primordial and ancient past. Now we too must awaken in the dead of winter. We must stoke and tend the fires of our collective spirit. We must and we shall summon our will and forge our identity. We must and we will express it triumphantly, blazing our transcendent path through the entropy of post modernity.

Merry Christmas! Happy Yol and Saturnalia!