Everybody knows the Christian ways in celebrating Christmas. What about the traditions dating back from pagan times?
On the 22nd
of December, Yule had been celebrated, marking the winter solstice.
This represents the depth of winter and for some this is the time of
death and also of birth, for at this point the Sun begins to make the
return journey and the days begin to lengthen.
All
Christmas customs celebrate the return of light in some way and the
advent (the coming) of the Magical Child. Many religions mark the birth
of a divine child, at some point. That is why it is often said that
Christmas is a ‘time for children’ and children are showered with gifts.
Evergreen
trees are sacred for they retain their greenery all year around, as
opposed to deciduous trees, whose leaves die. Almost everyone has a
Christmas tree, decorated with brilliant baubles and ornaments that
catch the light and seem to conjure the return of the sun. Some decorate
their houses with holly and mistletoe. It is said that mistletoe is
sacred to the Sun but also to the Moon, because the berries are
moon-white. It is a beautiful way of Christmas to kiss beneath the
mistletoe for fertility and happiness.
Most
times all Christian celebrations retain a little from a heathen past,
because in the old times the transition toward Christianity had been
swifter on condition the well known patterns of pagan ways were
preserved.
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