26
Dec
![26 DECEMBER
Celestial: Sun Capricorn/Moon Capricorn
Deities/Entities/Notable Figures or Aspects Which May Be Recognized Today: Ancestors
Herbs/Flora/Essences of the Day: Sesame, Okra, Sweet Potato, Rice
Cards for Today: The World
Pan-African/African-American: Kwanzaa (12/26 - 1/1 one week)- celebrated by African Americans and other descendants of the African peoples, and also widely respected by environmentally conscious people for its emphasis on communal values that support sustainable, Earth-friendly economies. It celebrates family, community, culture and strength. Observed from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language. The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African “first fruit” celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration. It respects teamwork, responsible stewardship, unity of faith and purpose and the honouring of creativity and beauty.
Tradition: 12 Days of Christmas Begins - continuing until the Twelfth-day - January 6 also considered Epiphany.
Anglican/Catholic/Christian/Orthodox Feast or Saint Days: (incorporating all Saint feasts for the date into one category) - St. Stephen’s Day - the birthday of St. Stephen is celebrated as the first Christian martyr. This date is the commemoration of one of the seven deacons named by the apostles of Jesus Christ to distribute alms.
Tradition: Boxing Day - the first day after the Christian festival of Christmas, the name of this day come from a tradition started in the United Kingdom which spread to many other countries under British rule. On this day, gifts from boxes placed in church were distributed to the poor.
Tradition: The Medieval Feast of Fools - this period of celebration seems to have ran from today until 28 December. The central idea seems always to have been a brief social revolution, in which power, dignity and impunity is briefly conferred on those in a subordinate position making it a successor to the Roman Saturnalia. In the medieval version the young people, who played the chief parts, chose from among their own number a mock pope, archbishop, bishop, or abbot to reign as Lord of Misrule. Participants would then “consecrate” him with many ridiculous ceremonies in the chief church of the place, giving names such as Archbishop of Dolts, Abbot of Unreason, Boy Bishop, or Pope of Fools. The protagonist could be a boy bishop or subdeacon. In any case the parody tipped towards the profane. The ceremonies often mocked the performance of the highest offices of the church, while other persons, dressed in different kinds of masks and disguises, engaged in songs and dances and practised all manner of revelry including sexual within the church building. In the Middle Ages, particularly in France, the main Feast of Fools was staged on or about the Feast of the Circumcision, 1 January. It is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish it from certain other similar celebrations, such as the Feast of Asses, and the enthronement of the Boy Bishop. So far as the Feast of Fools had an independent existence, it seems to have grown out of a special “festival of the subdeacons” culminating on the day of the Circumcision and including a special celebration on St Stephen’s day 26 December, the priests on St John the Evangelist’s day 27 December, and again the choristers and mass-servers on the Feast of the Holy Innocents on 28 December. The subdeacons were accustomed to hold their feast about the same time of year, but more particularly on the festival of the Circumcision. This feast of the subdeacons afterwards developed into the feast of the lower clergy and was later taken up by certain brotherhoods or guilds of “fools” with a definite organization of their own. The feast of fools was an imitation of the Roman Saturnalia. There can be little doubt that medieval censors commonly took it that the license and buffoonery which marked this occasion had their origin in pagan customs.
Tradition: Season of Pantomimes - this season was/is the traditional time in European tradition for Pantomimes - musical-comedy theatrical productions. Performances were enacted in mime by traveling companies. Their characterizations often represented ancient symbolic figures. One popular character, Columbine was traditionally dressed in white with black pompoms and is believed to have symbolized the moon. Columbine or Columbina was the sweetheart of Harlequin, and, like him, was supposed to be invisible to mortal eyes. Christmas pantomimes/plays were common at this time following an ancient tradition handed down from the Greeks and Romans. During the Christian era, plays about the Greek and Roman gods gave way to morality plays adapted from the Bible.
Tradition: Mummer`s Day - is an ancient Cornish midwinter celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day and New Year`s Day in Padstow, Cornwall. It was originally part of the pagan heritage of midwinter celebrations that were regularly celebrated all over Cornwall where people would dance and disguise themselves by blackening/painting their faces or wearing masks. It was in contrast to the `white` summer festivals of Cornish towns such as Padstow, Helston and Penzance. Recently the people of Penzance have revived its midwinter celebration with the Montol Festival which like Padstow at times would have had people darkening or painting their skin to disguise themselves as well as masking.
Irish/Welsh/Manx/Newfounlandish Tradition: Wren’s Day (Wren’s day/Hunt the Wren Day/The Hunting of the Wrens) - a tradition celebrated on St. Stephen’s Day consists of “hunting” a fake wren, and putting it on top of a decorated pole. Then crowds of Mummers, Strawboys or Wrenboys celebrate the Wren (also pronounced as the Wran) by dressing up in masks, straw suits and colourful, motley clothing while accompanied by traditional bands, parade through the towns and villages in remembrance of a festival that was believed to have been celebrated by the Druids. In ancient times, Wren hunting was once practiced on this day as it was protected at all other times during the year.
Jewish/Judaism/Hebrew: Hanukkah (20 - 28/12) - the eight days of the great feast of lights in the Jewish festival cycle. This feast celebrates the rites that followed the Maccabees’ liberation of Jerusalem from the Syrians, and the miracle whereby a tiny amount of oil found in the temple, reckoned to be enough to give light for only one day, burned for the full eight days the priests needed to consecrate new oil. In this year a synchronicity may be held with Mother Night.
Greek: Haloa - some sources state that on the 26th day of the month of Poseideon, Greek women gathered for the Merry Womens Mysteries of Demeter and Kore, which later also honored Dionysos. Women carried first fruits and the new wine of Dionysos from Athens in procession to the open threshing floors ending with a great feast. Much wine was set out and the tables were full of all the fields that are yielded by land and sea, save only those prohibited in the mysteries; pomegranate and apple and domestic fowls and eggs and red sea mullet and black tailed brayfish and shark. Men prepared the feast and then withdrew leaving the women to alone enjoy themselves, consuming cakes in the shape of genitals and trading obscenities, scurrilous jests and mutual abuse.
History/Zoroastrianism: Death of Zarathustra - in the Zoroastrian calendar, this day marks the death of the saint and teacher Zarathusthra, or Zoroaster, in 551 BC, celebrated in rites that observe the universal myth pattern of the Double Holy Seven—in this case seven male and seven female emanations of the deity, whose efficacy in purifying the earth from evil is praised in sacred fire rites. Other examples: the fourteen body parts of Ausar (Osiris), the fourteen Stations of the Cross in Roman Catholic ritual, and, in symbols common to Egyptian mystery schools and the biblical Book of Revelations, the cycle of the Dove descending into the crown of the head and down through the seven chakras, then reascending the chakra column as the Eagle.
Egyptian: Djehuti – beginning on the 11th of Mechir, a four-day festival of Thoth, the lunar neter of wisdom and learning, was held now. The rites began with a celebration of Djehuti’s arrival in the physical realm; honored his gifts of mathematics, literature and music; and culminated in the ceremony of gratitude for the most profound of all Djehuti’s secrets: the khu, or light body, which adepts in the mystery schools aspired to generate through spiritual practice. The Egyptians used a palm branch containing twelve leaves or shoots to symbolize the completion of the year at the Solstice time. As well, Sobek was born today and Sekhmet went forth to Letopolis.
Bahamian: The Junkanoo Festival - a celebration annually on this day in the Bahama Islands. Old gods are honoured and ancient magic is reinvoked as music, dancing, and costumed marchers fill the streets until the crack of dawn.
Sacred Day: Deities of the Day - this day is sacred to various deities from around the world. Among them are Frau Sonne, Igaehindvo, the Star Faery, Sunne, and Yemaya.
Greek: Halcyon Days (14-28/12) - the seven days before and after Yule, a time of calm and tranquility derived from Alcyone, a Greek Goddess of the Pleiades connected with Artemis, Bast, Aphrodite, Het Heret.
Native American: Shalako/Soyal/Hopi New Year/Winter Ceremony (21/12 - 9/1 [20 days]) - The Hopi celebration of the return of life in a month long ceremony which begins with the new moon before the shortest day of the year. The major rights which occur approximately eight days before the solstice include a celebration of creation and rebirth dedicated to the Spider Woman and Hawk Maiden. A failed mock attack is made against the holder of the sun shield. This represents the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. It is considered a most significant holy days in the Hopi calendar. It involves days of fasting, concentration, silence including the removal of the sacred images/figures from their shrines for the days of purification. They are then reinstalled in a solemn procession with prayers reaffirming communal and cosmic order which prepares for the return of the Kachina Spirit guides.
Astronomical: Ursids Meteor Shower - running from the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth, the Ursids meteor shower peaks tonight. It is associated with Comet Tuttle.
History: Witchcraft Trials - Dr Fiann arraigned for 20 counts of witchcraft and treason, 1590. Boxing Day. Turtle Dance, Native American.
Tradition: Blessing of the Wine Day in Luxembourg
South African: Day of Goodwill – Boxing Day became the Day of Goodwill in 1994 when Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) came into power to make Apartheid forever a regime of the past. It is meant to be a day to give to those who are less fortunate.
Custom: Candy Cane Day
Note: Name in bold corresponds to image and (typically) associated observation or Aspect/Deity/Entity/Historical Figure for the day presented for this post.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwweitP9l11qkey4lo1_r1_400.jpg)
26 DECEMBER
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Celestial: Sun Capricorn/Moon Capricorn
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Deities/Entities/Notable Figures or Aspects Which May Be Recognized Today: Ancestors
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Herbs/Flora/Essences of the Day: Sesame, Okra, Sweet Potato, Rice
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Cards for Today: The World
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Pan-African/African-American: Kwanzaa (12/26 - 1/1 one week)- celebrated by African Americans and other descendants of the African peoples, and also widely respected by environmentally conscious people for its emphasis on communal values that support sustainable, Earth-friendly economies. It celebrates family, community, culture and strength. Observed from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language. The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African “first fruit” celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration. It respects teamwork, responsible stewardship, unity of faith and purpose and the honouring of creativity and beauty.
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Tradition: 12 Days of Christmas Begins - continuing until the Twelfth-day - January 6 also considered Epiphany.
-
Anglican/Catholic/Christian/Orthodox Feast or Saint Days: (incorporating all Saint feasts for the date into one category) - St. Stephen’s Day - the birthday of St. Stephen is celebrated as the first Christian martyr. This date is the commemoration of one of the seven deacons named by the apostles of Jesus Christ to distribute alms.
-
Tradition: Boxing Day - the first day after the Christian festival of Christmas, the name of this day come from a tradition started in the United Kingdom which spread to many other countries under British rule. On this day, gifts from boxes placed in church were distributed to the poor.
-
Tradition: The Medieval Feast of Fools - this period of celebration seems to have ran from today until 28 December. The central idea seems always to have been a brief social revolution, in which power, dignity and impunity is briefly conferred on those in a subordinate position making it a successor to the Roman Saturnalia. In the medieval version the young people, who played the chief parts, chose from among their own number a mock pope, archbishop, bishop, or abbot to reign as Lord of Misrule. Participants would then “consecrate” him with many ridiculous ceremonies in the chief church of the place, giving names such as Archbishop of Dolts, Abbot of Unreason, Boy Bishop, or Pope of Fools. The protagonist could be a boy bishop or subdeacon. In any case the parody tipped towards the profane. The ceremonies often mocked the performance of the highest offices of the church, while other persons, dressed in different kinds of masks and disguises, engaged in songs and dances and practised all manner of revelry including sexual within the church building. In the Middle Ages, particularly in France, the main Feast of Fools was staged on or about the Feast of the Circumcision, 1 January. It is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish it from certain other similar celebrations, such as the Feast of Asses, and the enthronement of the Boy Bishop. So far as the Feast of Fools had an independent existence, it seems to have grown out of a special “festival of the subdeacons” culminating on the day of the Circumcision and including a special celebration on St Stephen’s day 26 December, the priests on St John the Evangelist’s day 27 December, and again the choristers and mass-servers on the Feast of the Holy Innocents on 28 December. The subdeacons were accustomed to hold their feast about the same time of year, but more particularly on the festival of the Circumcision. This feast of the subdeacons afterwards developed into the feast of the lower clergy and was later taken up by certain brotherhoods or guilds of “fools” with a definite organization of their own. The feast of fools was an imitation of the Roman Saturnalia. There can be little doubt that medieval censors commonly took it that the license and buffoonery which marked this occasion had their origin in pagan customs.
-
Tradition: Season of Pantomimes - this season was/is the traditional time in European tradition for Pantomimes - musical-comedy theatrical productions. Performances were enacted in mime by traveling companies. Their characterizations often represented ancient symbolic figures. One popular character, Columbine was traditionally dressed in white with black pompoms and is believed to have symbolized the moon. Columbine or Columbina was the sweetheart of Harlequin, and, like him, was supposed to be invisible to mortal eyes. Christmas pantomimes/plays were common at this time following an ancient tradition handed down from the Greeks and Romans. During the Christian era, plays about the Greek and Roman gods gave way to morality plays adapted from the Bible.
-
Tradition: Mummer`s Day - is an ancient Cornish midwinter celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day and New Year`s Day in Padstow, Cornwall. It was originally part of the pagan heritage of midwinter celebrations that were regularly celebrated all over Cornwall where people would dance and disguise themselves by blackening/painting their faces or wearing masks. It was in contrast to the `white` summer festivals of Cornish towns such as Padstow, Helston and Penzance. Recently the people of Penzance have revived its midwinter celebration with the Montol Festival which like Padstow at times would have had people darkening or painting their skin to disguise themselves as well as masking.
-
Irish/Welsh/Manx/Newfounlandish Tradition: Wren’s Day (Wren’s day/Hunt the Wren Day/The Hunting of the Wrens) - a tradition celebrated on St. Stephen’s Day consists of “hunting” a fake wren, and putting it on top of a decorated pole. Then crowds of Mummers, Strawboys or Wrenboys celebrate the Wren (also pronounced as the Wran) by dressing up in masks, straw suits and colourful, motley clothing while accompanied by traditional bands, parade through the towns and villages in remembrance of a festival that was believed to have been celebrated by the Druids. In ancient times, Wren hunting was once practiced on this day as it was protected at all other times during the year.
-
Jewish/Judaism/Hebrew: Hanukkah (20 - 28/12) - the eight days of the great feast of lights in the Jewish festival cycle. This feast celebrates the rites that followed the Maccabees’ liberation of Jerusalem from the Syrians, and the miracle whereby a tiny amount of oil found in the temple, reckoned to be enough to give light for only one day, burned for the full eight days the priests needed to consecrate new oil. In this year a synchronicity may be held with Mother Night.
-
Greek: Haloa - some sources state that on the 26th day of the month of Poseideon, Greek women gathered for the Merry Womens Mysteries of Demeter and Kore, which later also honored Dionysos. Women carried first fruits and the new wine of Dionysos from Athens in procession to the open threshing floors ending with a great feast. Much wine was set out and the tables were full of all the fields that are yielded by land and sea, save only those prohibited in the mysteries; pomegranate and apple and domestic fowls and eggs and red sea mullet and black tailed brayfish and shark. Men prepared the feast and then withdrew leaving the women to alone enjoy themselves, consuming cakes in the shape of genitals and trading obscenities, scurrilous jests and mutual abuse.
-
History/Zoroastrianism: Death of Zarathustra - in the Zoroastrian calendar, this day marks the death of the saint and teacher Zarathusthra, or Zoroaster, in 551 BC, celebrated in rites that observe the universal myth pattern of the Double Holy Seven—in this case seven male and seven female emanations of the deity, whose efficacy in purifying the earth from evil is praised in sacred fire rites. Other examples: the fourteen body parts of Ausar (Osiris), the fourteen Stations of the Cross in Roman Catholic ritual, and, in symbols common to Egyptian mystery schools and the biblical Book of Revelations, the cycle of the Dove descending into the crown of the head and down through the seven chakras, then reascending the chakra column as the Eagle.
-
Egyptian: Djehuti – beginning on the 11th of Mechir, a four-day festival of Thoth, the lunar neter of wisdom and learning, was held now. The rites began with a celebration of Djehuti’s arrival in the physical realm; honored his gifts of mathematics, literature and music; and culminated in the ceremony of gratitude for the most profound of all Djehuti’s secrets: the khu, or light body, which adepts in the mystery schools aspired to generate through spiritual practice. The Egyptians used a palm branch containing twelve leaves or shoots to symbolize the completion of the year at the Solstice time. As well, Sobek was born today and Sekhmet went forth to Letopolis.
-
Bahamian: The Junkanoo Festival - a celebration annually on this day in the Bahama Islands. Old gods are honoured and ancient magic is reinvoked as music, dancing, and costumed marchers fill the streets until the crack of dawn.
-
Sacred Day: Deities of the Day - this day is sacred to various deities from around the world. Among them are Frau Sonne, Igaehindvo, the Star Faery, Sunne, and Yemaya.
-
Greek: Halcyon Days (14-28/12) - the seven days before and after Yule, a time of calm and tranquility derived from Alcyone, a Greek Goddess of the Pleiades connected with Artemis, Bast, Aphrodite, Het Heret.
-
Native American: Shalako/Soyal/Hopi New Year/Winter Ceremony (21/12 - 9/1 [20 days]) - The Hopi celebration of the return of life in a month long ceremony which begins with the new moon before the shortest day of the year. The major rights which occur approximately eight days before the solstice include a celebration of creation and rebirth dedicated to the Spider Woman and Hawk Maiden. A failed mock attack is made against the holder of the sun shield. This represents the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. It is considered a most significant holy days in the Hopi calendar. It involves days of fasting, concentration, silence including the removal of the sacred images/figures from their shrines for the days of purification. They are then reinstalled in a solemn procession with prayers reaffirming communal and cosmic order which prepares for the return of the Kachina Spirit guides.
-
Astronomical: Ursids Meteor Shower - running from the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth, the Ursids meteor shower peaks tonight. It is associated with Comet Tuttle.
-
History: Witchcraft Trials - Dr Fiann arraigned for 20 counts of witchcraft and treason, 1590. Boxing Day. Turtle Dance, Native American.
-
Tradition: Blessing of the Wine Day in Luxembourg
-
South African: Day of Goodwill – Boxing Day became the Day of Goodwill in 1994 when Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) came into power to make Apartheid forever a regime of the past. It is meant to be a day to give to those who are less fortunate.
-
Custom: Candy Cane Day
Note: Name in bold corresponds to image and (typically) associated observation or Aspect/Deity/Entity/Historical Figure for the day presented for this post.
![23 December
Celestial: Sun Capricorn/Moon Sagittarius
Deities/Entities/Notable Figures or Aspects Which May Be Recognized Today: Light
Herbs/Flora/Essences of the Day: Paperwhite, Statice, Evergreens, Mistletoe, Holly, Ivy
Cards for Today: The Sun, The World
Jewish/Judaism/Hebrew: Hanukkah (20 - 28/12) - the eight days of the great feast of lights in the Jewish festival cycle. This feast celebrates the rites that followed the Maccabees’ liberation of Jerusalem from the Syrians, and the miracle whereby a tiny amount of oil found in the temple, reckoned to be enough to give light for only one day, burned for the full eight days the priests needed to consecrate new oil. In this year a synchronicity may be held with Mother Night.
Celtic/Druidic: Alban Arthuan (Arthan)/Winter Solstice - the Ogham Calendar is based upon the Coligny Tablet, a Gaelic-Celtic bronze tablet found in France in 1895 and dating to about 2000 years ago. The calendar started on the last quarter moon, the first after the autumn equinox, Samhain. Both this festival and the winter solstice were used to start lunar calendars in pre-Roman Europe and the Celtic orientated British Isles. Gwyl Nadolig, the Yuletide Tree Festival and Elder Festival, begins at sundown.
Celtic/Druidic: The Feast of Potential/Secret of the Unhewn Stone/Day of Mistletoe - a “day out of time“ between the old and new years - in some Celtic calendars, this intercalary day between the Winter Solstice and 12/25 is called the “Secret of the Unhewn Stone” and in some quarters may be seen as the only day in the year not ruled by a tree or ogham symbol. Like Mother Night (12/20), the Unhewn Stone was thus a symbol of the unshaped, emerging potential of all things.
Roman/Pagan: The Laurentalia (Larentinalia)/Parentalia/Festival of Acca Larentia (22 - 23/12 dates noted vary) - on the sixth/seventh (eighth) days of Saturnalia, Acca Larentia was given offerings as mother of the Lares (ancestors). This was called the Day of the Parentalia of Larentine Acca or the Laurentalia. She was also given the name Larunda or Lara. She was the Roman goddess who gave the early Romans their land, of the dead and of seed corn, patroness of the year and life to come. In early times, a Pagan religious ceremony called the Laurentina was held in Rome each year on this date. It celebrated the recovery of light from the darkness of the winter solstice. This day honours the Etruscan goddess whose name means Lady Mother. Several tales are told about her. Some say she was the foster-mother or Romus and Remulus, the founders of Rome, or that she was the wolf that suckled them. Some say she was a lover of Heracles. Another tale relates that after spending a night in the temple of Heracles, she was told to give herself to the first man she met. He happened to be a rich man who married her. After his death, she inherited his fortune, which she gave to Rome, a generosity which the Romans celebrated with a rowdy feast. Sources suggest that these legends might derive from the same roots as the understanding of “lupa” which means both “she-wolf” and “prostitute.” In all of her manifestations, she represents mothering and abundance.
Roman/Pagan: Saturnalia (17/12 - 23(24)/12) - the seventh day of the celebration in honour of the Golden Age of the God Saturnus (Saturn). He was pictured with a half-bare chest and a sickle or ears of corn in his hand. Saturnus was associated in Roman times with fertility, agriculture and wealth but later became known as a god of Chaos. The Roman equivalent to the Greek Kronos, god of sowing and the harvest. Kronos was the son of Ouranos (the sky god) and Gaia (the Earth mother/goddess). Also recognized was his consort Ops, Goddess of abundance and fertility. Saturnalia it is thought, was introduced around 217 BCE to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat. Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, popularity grew it to a week-long extravaganza where drinking and debauchery started on the shortest day and continued through the longest night. At this time of goodwill to all, the common greetings were “Bona Saturnalia!” or “Io, Saturnalia!” (pronounced “yo”) The festival in premise harkened back to the earlier time when Saturnus ruled and all men were equal, there was no work and everyone enjoyed peace and happiness. It was a time of tremendous celebration and can best be described as a festival of extravagance, considered decadent by some accounts because of its unrestrained nature. It was marked by tomfoolery, what could be called sexual license per se (of all configurations) and the reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters switched places. The toga was not worn, but instead the colorful, informal “dinner clothes” as well as the pileus (freedman’s hat) a felt cap (the forerunner of the elve’s hat) normally worn by the liberated slave that symbolized the freedom of the season was donned by everyone. Nudity and sensual representation were openly allowed. It was generally a week of feasting, merriment, charades, gift-giving, and the lighting of torches and candles. Gambling was allowed in public, schools and courts were closed, no criminals were punished, all work was stopped and war was postponed. The gifts exchanged included traditional wax tapers known as “cerei” which represented the returning light of the Solstice and small clay earthenware figures (dolls) called “sigillaria” which were flat and had oval faces, of self-setting clay, with a hole for hanging in each one, so that later, for the Roman God Dionysia, they can be hung on a pine tree. The pottery represented human heads once placed on the god’s altar. Other gifts given were dice, knuckle bones, moneyboxes, perfumes, pipes, a pig, sausage, a parrot and with passing time more elaborate gifts such as silver. Saturnalia may have evolved from Persian and Egyptian holidays however. The Egyptians celebrated a solstice festival for twelve days, reflecting the twelve divisions in the sun calendar. They decorated with greenery of the area - palms with twelve shoots- as a symbol of the completed year. Palms were especially appropriate because they were thought to put forth a new shoot each month. The annual renewal festival of the Babylonians was adopted by the Persians as Sacaea. One of the themes of these festivals, and later of Saturnalia, was the temporary upset of order. As the old year died, rules were relaxed. Everyone was considered equal and good will was extended to all. Slaves were treated as free men and were the first to be entertained at the banquet. They were served by their masters in recollection that under the rule of Saturn there had been no differences in social ranks. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. In the eastern provinces, mock kings were elected with bean lots and issued silly orders. In the Danube, one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire , the “Lord of Misrule” concept took on a darker representation where it was said that Roman soldiers would choose a man from among them to be the Lord of Misrule. After all had indulged, the chosen man’s throat was slit on the altar of Saturn. This festival is the origin of most all carnivals and revels still observed today. The modern celebration of Christmas is elementally a continuation of this midwinter festivity. In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine designated December 25, Sol Invictus (birthday of the Sun-God Mithra), as the birthday of Jesus Christ, thereby placing the Christian Savior among the pantheon of Roman gods. Constantine succeeded in drawing Christians into the pagan celebrations of Rome , which procured the religious unity needed for the success of the Holy Roman Empire. Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and Christmas became merged into one.
Multi-Tradition: Winter Solstice/Yuletide/Mean Geimredh/Alban Arthan Celebrations - Among Nordo-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic peoples, this date marks the beginning of the 12-day Solstice cycle, in which the fading of the old year is observed. The Sun Child (the winter-born God-King, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun and the promise of new life in the spring is in some traditions celebrated on 21 December or 25 December. Yule is widely celebrated by many varieties of modern pagan. It is also known as Winter Rite, Midwinter, and Alban Arthan. Yule is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Yula, which means Wheel of the Year. In many cultureds it is symbolised in religion by a Virgin mother giving birth to a sacred child : Rhiannon to Pryderi; Isis to Horus; Demeter to Persephone. It is the festival of the Sun’s rebirth, and a time for many pagans to honor the Horned God. The aspect of the God many pagans invoke at this Sabbat is Frey, the Scandinavian fertility God and a deity associated with peace and prosperity. Love, family togetherness, and accomplishments from the past year are also celebrated. On this Sabbat, witches bid farewell to the Great Mother and welcome the reborn Horned God, who rules the dark half of the year. An old tradition many pagans still observe in this season is bringing in the Yule Log, wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains of last year’s log. Once, the Yule log was the center of the celebration. It was lit on the eve of the solstice (it should light on the first try) and kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. Riddles are posed and answered, magic and rituals are practiced. In the past, wild boars were sacrificed and consumed along with large quantities of liquor. German men and boys would go into the forests and drag back the largest log they could find. It was burned in the central village hall. By tradition, this log burned for 12 days (the forerunner of the modern 12 days of Christmas). Many village animals were killed for a communal feast, as there would be insufficient animal feed to keep the entire herds alive throughout the winter. The villagers feasted on this meat while the northern European winter raged outdoors. According to Norse/Viking tradition, Father Odin would fly about during these times and catalogue who had been naughty and who had been nice. Unlike Santa Claus, Father Odin’s disapproval could result in serious consequences.Corn dollies were carried from house to house while carolling. Fertility rites were practiced (girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were subject to a bit more than a kiss in these times), and divinations were cast for the coming Spring. Many of these customs, in have been adapted and are celebrated in the mainstream Christian Christmas celebration, though most celebrants do not realize their origins.
Greek: Haloa - some sources state that on the 26th day of the month of Poseideon, Greek women gathered for the Merry Womens Mysteries of Demeter and Kore, which later also honored Dionysos. Women carried first fruits and the new wine of Dionysos from Athens in procession to the open threshing floors ending with a great feast. Much wine was set out and the tables were full of all the fields that are yielded by land and sea, save only those prohibited in the mysteries; pomegranate and apple and domestic fowls and eggs and red sea mullet and black tailed brayfish and shark. Men prepared the feast and then withdrew leaving the women to alone enjoy themselves, consuming cakes in the shape of genitals and trading obscenities, scurrilous jests and mutual abuse.
Greek: Rural Dionysia - various sources indicate that the ancient Greeks celebrated this holiday at different times in different neighborhoods but usually around the time of the full moon in Poseideon. The early rustic festival featured a jar of wine, a vine, a goat, a basket of raisins and a depiction of a phallus had been replaced with an elaborate procession featuring gold vessels, decorated horses and people wearing costumes and masks - but the phallicism remained. This was a time for revelry including phallic songs, imagery and adoration, games (the kind played at picnics like one-legged hopping or playing tag) phallocentric sexual license. Some sources relate that it was a great day of masturbation among men where it was encoraged and was accomplished in groups and with some level of theatricality. Eventually, under the influence of the City Dionysia at Athens, the production of plays.
Greek: Halcyon Days (14-28/12) - the seven days before and after Yule, a time of calm and tranquility derived from Alcyone, a Greek Goddess of the Pleiades connected with Artemis, Bast, Aphrodite, Het Heret.
Southern Hemisphere/Pagan: Litha - these days mark the celebration of the Lesser Sabbat of Litha in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tradition/Lore: Fools Day(England)- when the town’s fool sits on the throne and the king goes into hiding as a simulated death.
European: Evergreen Festival (21 - 25/12 [5 days]) - since ancient times in northern Europe and cultures descended from it, this is the annual Evergreen Festival, celebrated in the planting of new evergreens and the making of evergreen wreaths.
Egyptian: Feast day of Het-Heru (Hathor) - the sky goddess and patroness of astrology is/was celebrated on the 8th day of Mechir.
Buddhism: Sanghamitta Day - in honor of the Buddhist nun who brought a branch of the Bodhi tree to Sri Lanka where it has flourished for over 2,000 years.
Chinese: The Dōngzhì/Grand Winter Solstice Festival - one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around this time when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù which represents “Returning”.
Hinduism: Chaomos - the Kalesh tribe of the Hindu Kush, celebrate on this date in their finest clothes. Lasting a week, it honors the demi-god Balomain, who counts the Kalesh every year and carries their prayers back to Tsiam, their mythical ancestral home.
Hinduism: Pongol - an annual Hindu Solstice celebration honouring the Goddess Sankrat took place at this time (approximately).
Mexican: Las Posadas (16 -24/12) - The Yule Child is honoured during this time in Mexico, by a religious festival known as Posadas , which begins annually on this day. In Catholic practice, the year’s most efficacious novena - a nine-day prayer cycle - begins now on the ninth day before Christmas. This novena (called Las Posadas in Hispanic countries), commemorates the journey of the Virgin Mary and Joseph toward Jerusalem for the birth of the Christ child. It is celebrated until the twenty-fourth of December.
Native American: Start of Month of the Goose - 22nd December - 19th January. Considered the time of renewal Time where the function is to prepare the ground.
Native American: Cherokee Sun Festival - the Cherokee people of North America celebrate on this day a very similar festival in honor of the Sun, who has locked herself inside her house in mourning for her dead daughter, and can be induced to re-emerge and smile only by the music and dance of children.
Native American: Tewa Festival of the Turtle Dance (21 - 24/12 [four days])- among the Tewa people of the Pueblo tribes, the festival of the Turtle Dance, commemorating the seeding and conception of all life by Father Sky and Mother Earth, begins now on the day before the Full Moon closest to the Winter Solstice.
Native American: Shalako/Soyal/Hopi New Year/Winter Ceremony (21/12 - 9/1 [20 days]) - The Hopi celebration of the return of life in a month long ceremony which begins with the new moon before the shortest day of the year. The major rights which occur approximately eight days before the solstice include a celebration of creation and rebirth dedicated to the Spider Woman and Hawk Maiden. A failed mock attack is made against the holder of the sun shield. This represents the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. It is considered a most significant holy days in the Hopi calendar. It involves days of fasting, concentration, silence including the removal of the sacred images/figures from their shrines for the days of purification. They are then reinstalled in a solemn procession with prayers reaffirming communal and cosmic order which prepares for the return of the Kachina Spirit guides.
Anglican/Catholic/Christian/Orthodox Feast or Saint Days: (incorporating all Saint feasts for the date into one category) - St. John of Kanti’s Day
Astronomical: Ursids Meteor Shower - running from the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth, the Ursids meteor shower peaks tonight. It is associated with Comet Tuttle.
Note: Name in bold corresponds to image and (typically) associated observation or Aspect/Deity/Entity/Historical Figure for the day presented for this post.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwrlxvrE0K1qkey4lo1_r1_400.jpg)
![22 December
Celestial: Sun Capricorn/Moon Libra
Deities/Entities/Notable Figures or Aspects Which May Be Recognized Today: All Yule and Solar Deities
Herbs/Flora/Essences of the Day: All Evergreens, Mistletoe, Holly
Cards for Today: The Sun
Multi-Tradition: Winter Solstice/Yule/Mean Geimredh/Alban Arthan ~ Among Nordo-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic peoples, this date marks the beginning of the 12-day Solstice cycle, in which the fading of the old year is observed. The Sun Child (the winter-born God-King, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun and the promise of new life in the spring is in some traditions celebrated on 21 December or 25 December.
Yule - the shortest day and longest night of the year. Yule is widely celebrated by many varieties of modern pagan. It is also known as Winter Rite, Midwinter, and Alban Arthan. Yule is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Yula, which means Wheel of the Year. In many cultureds it is symbolised in religion by a Virgin mother giving birth to a sacred child : Rhiannon to Pryderi; Isis to Horus; Demeter to Persephone. It is the festival of the Sun’s rebirth, and a time for many pagans to honor the Horned God. The aspect of the God many pagans invoke at this Sabbat is Frey, the Scandinavian fertility God and a deity associated with peace and prosperity. Love, family togetherness, and accomplishments from the past year are also celebrated. On this Sabbat, witches bid farewell to the Great Mother and welcome the reborn Horned God, who rules the dark half of the year. An old tradition many pagans still observe in this season is bringing in the Yule Log, wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains of last year’s log. Once, the Yule log was the center of the celebration. It was lit on the eve of the solstice (it should light on the first try) and kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. Riddles are posed and answered, magic and rituals are practiced. In the past, wild boars were sacrificed and consumed along with large quantities of liquor. German men and boys would go into the forests and drag back the largest log they could find. It was burned in the central village hall. By tradition, this log burned for 12 days (the forerunner of the modern 12 days of Christmas). Many village animals were killed for a communal feast, as there would be insufficient animal feed to keep the entire herds alive throughout the winter. The villagers feasted on this meat while the northern European winter raged outdoors. According to Norse/Viking tradition, Father Odin would fly about during these times and catalogue who had been naughty and who had been nice. Unlike Santa Claus, Father Odin’s disapproval could result in serious consequences.Corn dollies were carried from house to house while carolling. Fertility rites were practiced (girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were subject to a bit more than a kiss in these times), and divinations were cast for the coming Spring. Many of these customs, in have been adapted and are celebrated in the mainstream Christian Christmas celebration, though most celebrants do not realize their origins.
The Winter Solstice - the last of the year’s four Cardinal Festivals. The Sun enters Capricorn and Winter begins as it reaches the 270° point on the wheel, starting the homeward return towards the 0° point, at the Spring Equinox. The Solstice is traditionally the most important festival of the year as it marks the birth of the Solar Child at the time of returning Winter light, and is thus the moment of affirming faith in the re-emergence of earthly life in the Spring, and also, symbolically, in the soul’s survival beyond death. It may be marked in rites of the Holly King and Oak King. In a number of traditions, this time marks when the Lady gives birth to the Lord (conceived at Beltane) Many celebrate a divine births - Demeter, Horus, Osiris, Helios, Dionysus, Aeon and Jesus. Some begin a ritual before sunrise, so that they can watch the sunrise at its end, as the welcoming back the God of light. The birth of the divine child, whether he bears the name of Horus, Osiris, Helios, Dionysus, Pryderi or Aeon, is celebrated at this time. The Greeks celebrated the birth of Demeter/Ceres at the winter solstice. During the solstice, a golden cow covered in a black veil was led around the temple of Helios seven times. The cow represents Isis and the ritual was called the seeking for Osiris. It commemorates the wanderings of Isis as she journeyed over the world mourning for his death and searching for the scattered body parts.
Astrological: Sun Enters Capricorn - on this date (approximately), the Sun enters the astrological sign of Capricorn. Persons born under the sign of the Goat are said to be ambitious, practical, loyal, and often reclusive. Capricorn is an earth sign and is ruled by the planet Saturn.
European: Evergreen Festival (21 - 25/12 [5 days]) - since ancient times in northern Europe and cultures descended from it, this is the annual Evergreen Festival, celebrated in the planting of new evergreens and the making of evergreen wreaths.
Roman/Pagan: Parentalia (22 - 23/12 source dates vary) - on the sixth/seventh (eighth) days of Saturnalia, Acca Larentia was given offerings as mother of the Lares (ancestors). This was called the Day of the Parentalia of Larentine Acca or the Laurentalia. She was also given the name Larunda or Lara.
Roman/Pagan: Saturnalia (17/12 - 23(24)/12) - the celebration in honour of the Golden Age of the God Saturnus. He was pictured with a half-bare chest and a sickle or ears of corn in his hand. Saturnus was associated in Roman times with fertility, agriculture and wealth but later became known as a god of Chaos. The Roman equivalent to the Greek Kronos, god of sowing and the harvest. Kronos was the son of Ouranos (the sky god) and Gaia (the Earth mother/goddess). Also recognized was his consort Ops, Goddess of abundance and fertility. Saturnalia it is thought, was introduced around 217 BCE to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat. Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, popularity grew it to a week-long extravaganza where drinking and debauchery started on the shortest day and continued through the longest night. At this time of goodwill to all, the common greetings were “Bona Saturnalia!” or “Io, Saturnalia!” (pronounced “yo”) The festival in premise harkened back to the earlier time when Saturnus ruled and all men were equal, there was no work and everyone enjoyed peace and happiness. It was a time of tremendous celebration and can best be described as a festival of extravagance, considered decadent by some accounts because of its unrestrained nature. It was marked by tomfoolery, what could be called sexual license per se (of all configurations) and the reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters switched places. The toga was not worn, but instead the colorful, informal “dinner clothes” as well as the pileus (freedman’s hat) a felt cap (the forerunner of the elve’s hat) normally worn by the liberated slave that symbolized the freedom of the season was donned by everyone. Nudity and sensual representation were openly allowed. It was generally a week of feasting, merriment, charades, gift-giving, and the lighting of torches and candles. Gambling was allowed in public, schools and courts were closed, no criminals were punished, all work was stopped and war was postponed. The gifts exchanged included traditional wax tapers known as “cerei” which represented the returning light of the Solstice and small clay earthenware figures (dolls) called “sigillaria” which were flat and had oval faces, of self-setting clay, with a hole for hanging in each one, so that later, for the Roman God Dionysia, they can be hung on a pine tree. The pottery represented human heads once placed on the god’s altar. Other gifts given were dice, knuckle bones, moneyboxes, perfumes, pipes, a pig, sausage, a parrot and with passing time more elaborate gifts such as silver. Saturnalia may have evolved from Persian and Egyptian holidays however. The Egyptians celebrated a solstice festival for twelve days, reflecting the twelve divisions in the sun calendar. They decorated with greenery of the area - palms with twelve shoots- as a symbol of the completed year. Palms were especially appropriate because they were thought to put forth a new shoot each month. The annual renewal festival of the Babylonians was adopted by the Persians as Sacaea. One of the themes of these festivals, and later of Saturnalia, was the temporary upset of order. As the old year died, rules were relaxed. Everyone was considered equal and good will was extended to all. Slaves were treated as free men and were the first to be entertained at the banquet. They were served by their masters in recollection that under the rule of Saturn there had been no differences in social ranks. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. In the eastern provinces, mock kings were elected with bean lots and issued silly orders. In the Danube, one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire , the “Lord of Misrule” concept took on a darker representation where it was said that Roman soldiers would choose a man from among them to be the Lord of Misrule. After all had indulged, the chosen man’s throat was slit on the altar of Saturn. This festival is the origin of most all carnivals and revels still observed today. The modern celebration of Christmas is elementally a continuation of this midwinter festivity. In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine designated December 25, Sol Invictus (birthday of the Sun-God Mithra), as the birthday of Jesus Christ, thereby placing the Christian Savior among the pantheon of Roman gods. Constantine succeeded in drawing Christians into the pagan celebrations of Rome , which procured the religious unity needed for the success of the Holy Roman Empire. Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and Christmas became merged into one.
Greek: Halcyon Days (14-28/12) - the seven days before and after Yule, a time of calm and tranquility derived from Alcyone, a Greek Goddess of the Pleiades connected with Artemis, Bast, Aphrodite, Het Heret.
Jewish/Judaism: Hanukkah (20 - 28/12) - the eight days of the great feast of lights in the Jewish festival cycle. This feast celebrates the rites that followed the Maccabees’ liberation of Jerusalem from the Syrians, and the miracle whereby a tiny amount of oil found in the temple, reckoned to be enough to give light for only one day, burned for the full eight days the priests needed to consecrate new oil. In this year a synchronicity may be held with Mother Night.
Southern Hemisphere/Pagan: Litha - these days mark the celebration of the Lesser Sabbat of Litha in the Southern Hemisphere.
Goddessian: Sacred Day - this day is also sacred to the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Greek Corn Goddess Demeter and Sul the ancient Briton Goddess of healing and the Sun.
Egyptian: Abet Offerings - invocations, offerings where made personally in homes to the Deities.
Egyptian: Asar Returns - Asar [Osiris] returns to Aset [Isis] in a celebration of light.
Celtic/Druidic: Festival of the Stars
Persian/Graeco-Roman: Mithra’s Birthday – the celebration of the return of light. See Winter Solstice
Sicilian: La Viecchio de Natali - Celebration of light.
Shintoism: Touji Taisai - Japanese day sacred to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu-no-Mikuni, heroine of one of the world’s great myths of the retreat and return of the Sun. When her brother, the raucous storm trickster Susanoo-no-Mikuni insulted and ridiculed her, she withdrew into a cave and caused the Earth to suffer in such cold and darkness that the other gods came to sing and dance outside her cave until the goddess relented and forgave, and allowed the others to charm her back out. Among the universal symbolisms of such stories is the principle that light avoids wild and violent action, and can tame it only by limiting it in patterns of order, symbolized by music and dance.
Chinese: Festival of Wang Mu - the Chinese observe the Empress Mother, lady of compassion. This peak day of the yin half of the year honors the Shen, or deities, of north, winter and the Earth element in prayers for the renewal of cosmic order.
Chinese: The Dōngzhì/Grand Winter Solstice Festival - one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around this time when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù which represents “Returning”.
Hinduism: Pongol - an annual Hindu Solstice celebration honouring the Goddess Sankrat took place at this time (approximately).
Mexican: Las Posadas (16 -24/12) - The Yule Child is honoured during this time in Mexico, by a religious festival known as Posadas , which begins annually on this day. In Catholic practice, the year’s most efficacious novena - a nine-day prayer cycle - begins now on the ninth day before Christmas. This novena (called Las Posadas in Hispanic countries), commemorates the journey of the Virgin Mary and Joseph toward Jerusalem for the birth of the Christ child. It is celebrated until the twenty-fourth of December.
Native American: Start of Month of the Goose - 22nd December - 19th January. Considered the time of renewal Time where the function is to prepare the ground.
Native American: Cherokee Sun Festival - the Cherokee people of North America celebrate on this day a very similar festival in honor of the Sun, who has locked herself inside her house in mourning for her dead daughter, and can be induced to re-emerge and smile only by the music and dance of children.
Native American: Tewa Festival of the Turtle Dance (21 - 24/12 [four days])- among the Tewa people of the Pueblo tribes, the festival of the Turtle Dance, commemorating the seeding and conception of all life by Father Sky and Mother Earth, begins now on the day before the Full Moon closest to the Winter Solstice.
Native American: Shalako/Soyal/Hopi New Year/Winter Ceremony (21/12 - 9/1 [20 days]) - The Hopi celebration of the return of life in a month long ceremony which begins with the new moon before the shortest day of the year. The major rights which occur approximately eight days before the solstice include a celebration of creation and rebirth dedicated to the Spider Woman and Hawk Maiden. A failed mock attack is made against the holder of the sun shield. This represents the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. It is considered a most significant holy days in the Hopi calendar. It involves days of fasting, concentration, silence including the removal of the sacred images/figures from their shrines for the days of purification. They are then reinstalled in a solemn procession with prayers reaffirming communal and cosmic order which prepares for the return of the Kachina Spirit guides.
Anglican/Catholic/Christian/Orthodox Feast or Saint Days: (incorporating all Saint feasts for the date into one category) - St. Chaeremon’s Day, St. Catherine of Siena
Astronomical: Ursids Meteor Shower - running from the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth, the Ursids meteor shower peaks tonight. It is associated with Comet Tuttle.
History: Farrar Coven Founded - on this date in the year 1970, famous Wiccan authors Stewart and Janet Farrar founded their own coven. The Farrars, a husband and wife team, have written many popular Witchcraft books together.
Tradition/Culture: International Arbor Day
Note: Name in bold corresponds to image and (typically) associated observation or Aspect/Deity/Entity/Historical Figure for the day presented for this post.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwp4zc5xFL1qkey4lo1_400.jpg)
![21 - 22 December
Celestial: Sun Sagittarius/Moon Libra
Deities/Entities/Notable Figures or Aspects Which May Be Recognized Today: All Yule Deities
Herbs/Flora/Essences of the Day: All Evergreens, Mistletoe, Holly
Cards for Today: The Sun, The Hermit
Multi-Tradition/Pagan/Astrological/Astronomical: Winter Solstice/Yule/Mean Geimredh/Alban Arthan ~ Among Nordo-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic peoples, this date marks the beginning of the 12-day Solstice cycle, in which the fading of the old year is observed.
The Winter Solstice - the last of the year’s four Cardinal Festivals. The Sun enters Capricorn and Winter begins as it reaches the 270° point on the wheel, starting the homeward return towards the 0° point, at the Spring Equinox. The Solstice is traditionally the most important festival of the year as it marks the birth of the Solar Child at the time of returning Winter light, and is thus the moment of affirming faith in the re-emergence of earthly life in the Spring, and also, symbolically, in the soul’s survival beyond death. It may be marked in rites of the Holly King and Oak King. In a number of traditions, this time marks when the Lady gives birth to the Lord (conceived at Beltane) Many celebrate a divine births - Demeter, Horus, Osiris, Helios, Dionysus, Aeon and Jesus. Some begin a ritual before sunrise, so that they can watch the sunrise at its end, as the welcoming back the God of light.
Yule - the shortest day and longest night of the year. Yule is widely celebrated by many varieties of modern pagan. It is also known as Winter Rite, Midwinter, and Alban Arthan. Yule is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Yula, which means Wheel of the Year. In many cultureds it is symbolised in religion by a Virgin mother giving birth to a sacred child : Rhiannon to Pryderi; Isis to Horus; Demeter to Persephone. It is the festival of the Sun’s rebirth, and a time for many pagans to honor the Horned God. The aspect of the God many pagans invoke at this Sabbat is Frey, the Scandinavian fertility God and a deity associated with peace and prosperity. Love, family togetherness, and accomplishments from the past year are also celebrated. On this Sabbat, witches bid farewell to the Great Mother and welcome the reborn Horned God, who rules the dark half of the year. An old tradition many pagans still observe in this season is bringing in the Yule Log, wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains of last year’s log. Once, the Yule log was the center of the celebration. It was lit on the eve of the solstice (it should light on the first try) and kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. Riddles are posed and answered, magic and rituals are practiced. In the past, wild boars were sacrificed and consumed along with large quantities of liquor. Corn dollies were carried from house to house while carolling. Fertility rites were practiced (girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were subject to a bit more than a kiss in these times), and divinations were cast for the coming Spring. Many of these customs, in have been adapted and are celebrated in the mainstream Christian Christmas celebration, though most celebrants do not realize their origins.
Slavic: Festival of Koleda - in Slavic cultures, the festival of Koleda began at Winter Solstice and lasted for ten days. In Russia, this festival was called Kutuja, which was later applied to Christmas Eve. Although the Slavonic name comes from the God Kolyada, it was in honour of Lada, the Goddess of love, youth and fertility. She was said to be reborn each year at this time. Each family burned a Yule log and invited their personal household Gods to join in the festivities. Groups of children went from house to house singing; as a reward, they were given little gifts.
Asatruar/Teutonic/Norse: Day of Hertha - the early Germans considered the Norse goddess Hertha or Bertha, the goddess of Domesticity and the home. They baked yeast cakes shaped like slippers, which were called the slippers of Hertha, and filled them with gifts. During the Winter Solstice houses were decked with fir and evergreens to welcome her coming. When the family and serfs were gathered to dine, a great altar of flat stones was erected and here a fire of fir boughs was laid. Hertha descended through the smoke, guiding those who were wise in saga lore to foretell the fortunes of those persons at the feast. Hertha’s altar stones became the hearthstones of the home. In this tradition it is learned why Santa Claus comes down the chimney instead of at the door. It is a survival of the coming of Hertha.
Finnish: Day of Beiwe - the sun-goddess worshipped on this date by the Saami, the indigenous people of Finland. She travels with her daughter, Beiwe-Neia, through the sky in an enclosure of reindeer bones, bringing back the green plants for the reindeer to feed upon. On the Winter Solstice, her worshippers sacrifice white female animals and thread the meat on sticks which they bent into rings and tied with bright ribbons. They also smear their doorposts with butter so Beiwe can eat the rich food and begin her recovery.
Russian: Day of Rozhanitsa - the winter Goddess of the north is the Russian goddess, Rozhnitsa. In the twelfth century, the eastern Slavs worshipped her as an ancestor, offering her honey, bread and cheese — all bloodless sacrifices, like those offered at the Haloa. In the 19th and early 20th century, Russian women still embroidered and wove bright linens, usually red on white, which depict the Goddesses of the seasons.
Goddessian: Sacred Day - This day is sacred to Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Greek Corn Goddess Demeter, and Sul the ancient Briton Goddess of healing and the Sun.
European: Evergreen Festival (21 - 25/12 [5 days]) - since ancient times in northern Europe and cultures descended from it, this is the annual Evergreen Festival, celebrated in the planting of new evergreens and the making of evergreen wreaths.
Roman: Feast of Divalia/Angeronalia - in some quarters, on the fifth day of Saturnalia Diva Angerona is recognized. A Roman goddess, who was so obscure that few sources can be found to verify her existence now. Supposedly she is the goddess of silence and is pictured holding her finger to her lips. She prescribes remedies against angina. Her sealed lips represent a warning not to reveal the secret name (or taboo) name of Rome, which some claim is Amor (Roma backwards). This was also a day when sacrifices were made to Hercules and Ceres of a pregnant cow, baked goods and honeyed wine. Her rituals involves spending the day of the solstice in silence. No one was spoken to and no time keeping was allowed. After dark only candles were burned creating an oasis of peace and serenity in the midst of the chaotic Saturnalia season.
Roman/Pagan: Saturnalia (17/12 - 23(24)/12) - the celebration in honour of the Golden Age of the God Saturnus. He was pictured with a half-bare chest and a sickle or ears of corn in his hand. Saturnus was associated in Roman times with fertility, agriculture and wealth but later became known as a god of Chaos. The Roman equivalent to the Greek Kronos, god of sowing and the harvest. Kronos was the son of Ouranos (the sky god) and Gaia (the Earth mother/goddess). Also recognized was his consort Ops, Goddess of abundance and fertility. Saturnalia it is thought, was introduced around 217 BCE to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat. Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, popularity grew it to a week-long extravaganza where drinking and debauchery started on the shortest day and continued through the longest night. At this time of goodwill to all, the common greetings were “Bona Saturnalia!” or “Io, Saturnalia!” (pronounced “yo”) The festival in premise harkened back to the earlier time when Saturnus ruled and all men were equal, there was no work and everyone enjoyed peace and happiness. It was a time of tremendous celebration and can best be described as a festival of extravagance, considered decadent by some accounts because of its unrestrained nature. It was marked by tomfoolery, what could be called sexual license per se (of all configurations) and the reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters switched places. The toga was not worn, but instead the colorful, informal “dinner clothes” as well as the pileus (freedman’s hat) a felt cap (the forerunner of the elve’s hat) normally worn by the liberated slave that symbolized the freedom of the season was donned by everyone. Nudity and sensual representation were openly allowed. It was generally a week of feasting, merriment, charades, gift-giving, and the lighting of torches and candles. Gambling was allowed in public, schools and courts were closed, no criminals were punished, all work was stopped and war was postponed. The gifts exchanged included traditional wax tapers known as “cerei” which represented the returning light of the Solstice and small clay earthenware figures (dolls) called “sigillaria” which were flat and had oval faces, of self-setting clay, with a hole for hanging in each one, so that later, for the Roman God Dionysia, they can be hung on a pine tree. The pottery represented human heads once placed on the god’s altar. Other gifts given were dice, knuckle bones, moneyboxes, perfumes, pipes, a pig, sausage, a parrot and with passing time more elaborate gifts such as silver. Saturnalia may have evolved from Persian and Egyptian holidays however. The Egyptians celebrated a solstice festival for twelve days, reflecting the twelve divisions in the sun calendar. They decorated with greenery of the area - palms with twelve shoots- as a symbol of the completed year. Palms were especially appropriate because they were thought to put forth a new shoot each month. The annual renewal festival of the Babylonians was adopted by the Persians as Sacaea. One of the themes of these festivals, and later of Saturnalia, was the temporary upset of order. As the old year died, rules were relaxed. Everyone was considered equal and good will was extended to all. Slaves were treated as free men and were the first to be entertained at the banquet. They were served by their masters in recollection that under the rule of Saturn there had been no differences in social ranks. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. In the eastern provinces, mock kings were elected with bean lots and issued silly orders. In the Danube, one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire , the “Lord of Misrule” concept took on a darker representation where it was said that Roman soldiers would choose a man from among them to be the Lord of Misrule. After all had indulged, the chosen man’s throat was slit on the altar of Saturn. This festival is the origin of most all carnivals and revels still observed today. The modern celebration of Christmas is elementally a continuation of this midwinter festivity. In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine designated December 25, Sol Invictus (birthday of the Sun-God Mithra), as the birthday of Jesus Christ, thereby placing the Christian Savior among the pantheon of Roman gods. Constantine succeeded in drawing Christians into the pagan celebrations of Rome , which procured the religious unity needed for the success of the Holy Roman Empire. Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and Christmas became merged into one.
Egyptian: Feast of Aset (Isis) - in the Khemitian calendar, the feast of Aset (Isis), Queen of Heaven and Earth, wife and sister of Ausar (Osiris) on the month of Mechir, day 6. In Mediterranean countries , Aset was the most widely revered deity in the ancient Western world, worshipped in various forms for some 4,000 years until she was rivaled by her Christian/Islamic counterpart, the Virgin Mary, and was ultimately suppressed by Islam. She rises again at this time.
Jewish/Judaism: Hanukkah (20 - 28/12) - the eight days of the great feast of lights in the Jewish festival cycle. This feast celebrates the rites that followed the Maccabees’ liberation of Jerusalem from the Syrians, and the miracle whereby a tiny amount of oil found in the temple, reckoned to be enough to give light for only one day, burned for the full eight days the priests needed to consecrate new oil. In this year a synchronicity may be held with Mother Night.
Southern Hemisphere/Pagan: Litha - these days mark the celebration of the Lesser Sabbat of Litha in the Southern Hemisphere.
Chinese: The Dōngzhì/Winter Solstice Festival - one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around this time when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù which represents “Returning”.
Hinduism: Pongol - an annual Hindu Solstice celebration honouring the Goddess Sankrat took place at this time (approximately).
Mexican: Las Posadas (16 -24/12) - The Yule Child is honoured during this time in Mexico, by a religious festival known as Posadas , which begins annually on this day. In Catholic practice, the year’s most efficacious novena - a nine-day prayer cycle - begins now on the ninth day before Christmas. This novena (called Las Posadas in Hispanic countries), commemorates the journey of the Virgin Mary and Joseph toward Jerusalem for the birth of the Christ child. It is celebrated until the twenty-fourth of December.
Native American: Tewa Festival of the Turtle Dance (21 - 24/12 [four days])- among the Tewa people of the Pueblo tribes, the festival of the Turtle Dance, commemorating the seeding and conception of all life by Father Sky and Mother Earth, begins now on the day before the Full Moon closest to the Winter Solstice.
Native American: Shalako/Soyal/Hopi New Year/Winter Ceremony (21/12 - 9/1 [20 days]) - The Hopi celebration of the return of life in a month long ceremony which begins with the new moon before the shortest day of the year. The major rights which occur approximately eight days before the solstice include a celebration of creation and rebirth dedicated to the Spider Woman and Hawk Maiden. A failed mock attack is made against the holder of the sun shield. This represents the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. It is considered a most significant holy days in the Hopi calendar. It involves days of fasting, concentration, silence including the removal of the sacred images/figures from their shrines for the days of purification. They are then reinstalled in a solemn procession with prayers reaffirming communal and cosmic order which prepares for the return of the Kachina Spirit guides.
Anglican/Catholic/Christian/Orthodox Feast or Saint Days: (incorporating all Saint feasts for the date into one category) - Feast of St. Thomas - the famous apostle known as “Doubting Thomas” who asked to check the wounds of Christ just to be sure. He is the patron saint of carpenters (because he was a carpenter), masons and architects because he was a carpenter and plays the clownish role of those who refuse to consider the premise that once we believe it, we can see it. One of the early saints given a feast day on or near the solstice for no apparent historical reason, undoubtedly to divert attention from the pagan rites associated with that date. On this day in England, poor women and children went “a-Thomassing” for the ingredients for the Christmas feast, particularly wheat for frumenty and flour for Yule bread. Ghosts were permitted to walk abroad from now until Christmas Eve. Since he is the patron saint of architects, people chose to make their gingerbread houses on this day and since he’s the doubting apostle, people were compelled to reflect on the role of doubt in their lives, Feast of St. Peter Canisius
History: Birthdate of Arthur - one of the many male solar figures who are celebrated now, at the winter solstice, is the legendary British warrior hero King Arthur, whose birthday is thought to be this date. Arthur’s precedence traversed both Pagan and Christianized worlds
History: Forefather’s Day, in the USA, this day was made a legal holiday in Massachusetts in 1895 using the correct date of December 21. In 1769 a club was formed to honour the settlers of New Plymouth. The attention of the group was focused on Plymouth Rock by Deacon Ephriam Spooner. He had been a boy of six back in 1741 when Elder Thomas Faunce made his famous proclamation about Plymouth Rock. Faunce became concerned when he heard a wharf was to be built around a huge boulder. He protested as he spread the story that this was the very rock on which the Pilgrims had landed. The club decided to memorialize the landing with an annual celebration of Forefathers Day, honoring the landing of the “first-comers.” The celebration was held December 22, 1769 and was first referred to as “Old Colony Day.” With the newly adopted Gregorian calendar the Club added 11 days to the landing instead of the correct 10. For over a century Forefathers Day was celebrated a day late.
Lore/Culture: Humbug Day - a day that allows those preparing for Christmas/Holidays to vent their frustrations - 12 “humbugs” allowed.
Note: Name in bold corresponds to image and (typically) associated observation or Aspect/Deity/Entity/Historical Figure for the day presented for this post.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwmb9pHlm01qkey4lo1_r1_400.jpg)
