Winter Solstice The Origins of Christmas. Explore how the pagans, celts, and Romans all had a massive impact on Christmas celebrations today.
Christmas and some of its folklore and traditions remind us that our lives are inextricably linked with nature and the cyclical rhythms of the natural world.
Many of the things we associate with Christmas are rooted in Pagan traditions. In our busy modern world, the relatively simple Pagan life is generally misunderstood; for example, the term Pagan came from Christians and was used to describe anyone that wasn’t a Christian, which was most of us at that time. Today, Christianity maintains many Pagan traditions. Let’s look at some of them and see how many you know.
The Winter Solstice is the origin of Christmas. The Winter Solstice was a celebration for the Romans, Celts, Norse, and Druids.
They all held big celebration’s around the winter solstice. For us, living in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice ( the shortest day of the year) falls around the 21st of December, and that is why Christmas is celebrated in late December, the same time as many existing pagan holidays.
The winter solstice was a considerable part of pagan life, just as Christmas is for us today. Pagans were primarily agricultural people, and winter marked the end of harvest and toiling in the fields. The Winter Solstice was an opportunity to enjoy the company of loved ones, feast and be Merry.
In the northern hemisphere, winter is a dark, cold, and often hungry period when people’s spirits could quickly drop, so the winter solstice celebrations helped to keep people entertained and enjoy themselves working to prepare their land before the spring solstice, which would see the sun come around once again.
The Romans celebrated Saturnalia between 17 and 24 December. This was in honour of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The Romans would spend the week of Saturnalia feasting, drinking, giving gifts, and being joyful. Unlike us, The Romans exchanged only small gifts for good luck. They believed this would bring in a bountiful harvest the following year.
So what about the big man himself? He was known as St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, the poor, and prostitutes. (who knew the last one!) St Nicholas lived in the 4th century AD; he was a bishop known for giving gifts to the poor.
The legend describes St Nicholas as having a large beard, and he wore a long cloak. But even before St Nicholas, Odin was a god worshipped by early Germanic tribes. The legends say Odin was an older man with a long, white beard. It says Odin would ride through the night skies with his 8-legged horse called Sleipnir
The story goes that the children would fill their boots with straw and carrots and leave them on the roof for Sleipner to feed on. Odin would reward the children by leaving small presents in their boots.
The Santa Claus we recognise today is based on the traditions of St. Nicholas, Odin, and Sleipnir, but he’s a far more modern creation than that.
Today’s Father Christmas was born not from myth and legend but directly from the marketing department of Coca-Cola, whose White-bearded, barrel-bellied character, clad all in red, was the star of 1930s America.
Wildlife and nature are inextricably linked to our Christmas celebrations. Let’s take a look at some of the species that have become part of all of our Christmas.
Robins are found in many gardens and parks. They are a firm favourite for many people. They are easy to spot, curious, and have a loud song that they sing from prominent perches throughout winter.
Both males and females have distinctive red breast feathers. Robins are very territorial, defending their “patch’ vigorously, except during the breeding season, when the males let the females build a nest in their territory. Both sexes travel extensively during December, searching for a mate and are much more visible.
There are many stories about how robins became associated with Christmas.
Our favourite is that Victorian posties, who wore bright red tunics, were nicknamed ‘robin redbreasts’, so it’s no coincidence that robins began appearing on Christmas cards during Victorian times.
Reindeer are a big part of Christmas today but are the ‘newbies’ to the Christmas story. They did feature in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem’ Twas the night before Christmas’ yet, the most famous reindeer of them all – Rudolph – only became a part of Christmas in 1939 when Robert L. May, a department store worker, wrote a Christmas story to help increase sales at his store.
On the other hand, donkeys are depicted in the nativity scenes and are one of the original animals of Christmas. A popular myth is that the cross on the donkey’s back is a reminder that a donkey carried Jesus to the manger in Bethlehem. Donkeys have their very own Christmas song’ Little Donkey.’
Talking of songs, Swans feature in the 12 Days of Christmas. Mute swans resident and can be seen virtually every year throughout Britain.
Other species, such as Bewick swans, migrate here for winter. Amazingly, almost all Whooper swans from Iceland migrate to the UK and Ireland yearly. One of the easier ways to identify swan species is by the colour of their bills; The native mute swans have orange bills, whilst the winter migrant whooper swans’ bills are yellow.
Another bird to feature in the 12 days of Christmas is the Partridge, which becomes the first gift of Christmas in a pear tree. This song is about gifts given by true love. However, the ‘true love’ mentioned in the song is claimed to represent god, whilst the Partridge in the pear tree represents Jesus.
Like the Partridge, turtle doves also have a religious connection. The two turtle doves signify the Old and New Testament. Doves are often seen as symbols of peace, love and loyalty.
Of course, it’s not only fauna that has become part of Christmas for us. Flora features extensively too. Mistletoe was a symbol of love and friendship in ancient Norse mythology. In Britain, perhaps influenced by the Norse tradition, the custom of kissing under MistletoeMistletoe developed, with a berry picked from the sprig before a kiss. When all the berries were gone, there could be no more kissing.
The reputation of MistletoeMistletoe as a romantic plant is surprising. There is little romance in real life as this is a parasitic plant, impressive as they are. Mistletoe attaches itself to a tree and grows out of a branch, living off its food and resources. Mistletoe is toxic to us, but like holly berries, it makes a great food source for some of our wildlife.
Something mistletoe has in common with Holly is that they are both ‘dioecious’. This means they have distinct ‘male’ and ‘female’ plants – only the female plants have the berries. Even the name mistletoe translates from the Anglo Saxon as ‘poo on a stick’, ‘mistle’ meaning dung and ‘tan’ meaning twig or stick. Seeds are spread by birds ingesting the fruit and fertilised by the pooing in the tree.
Holly is found in a variety of habitats, from woodland to gardens; Holly, or more precisely, its berries, provide an important food source for many birds, including redwings and fieldfares. In pagan Britain, Holly was used traditionally at winter solstice to ward off evil spirits and celebrate new growth.
So how did the correlation between MistletoeMistletoe and kissing start? The tradition goes back to the pagans.
The Romans, Celts, Druids, and the Norse all had a thing about MistletoeMistletoe. It was considered a highly sacred plant, involved in several pagan rituals. In the Roman world, MistletoeMistletoe honoured the god Saturn.
To keep him happy, they would perform ‘fertility rituals’ underneath the sprigs of MistletoeMistletoe – and yes, that is exactly what it sounds like!
One myth I enjoy comes from the Druids, where MistletoeMistletoe symbolised peace and joy. In times of war, if enemies met underneath woodland mistletoe, they would drop their weapons and form a truce until the next day.
Christmas Tree Over the years, the evergreen fir has become the tree of choice for people to celebrate Christmas. Christians saw it as a sign of everlasting life, while the Romans used it first to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia.
Pagans used branches to decorate their homes during the winter solstice to symbolise the spring to come. Across many parts of northern Europe, cherry or hawthorn were used as Christmas trees – plants were put into pots and brought inside, hoping they would flower at Christmas.
Some people in the UK prefer our native Scots pine. It is a majestic tree that can live for centuries. It’s primarily found in the Caledonian Forest. Scot’s pine supports an incredible array of wildlife, including red squirrels, capercaillie and crested tits. There are also numerous insects which make their homes amongst the Caledonian pinewoods.
Decorating the Christmas Tree
The Romans are believed to be the first to decorate trees. It’s one of several traditions, including feasting, drinking, and exchanging gifts during Saturnalia. The Romans also hung small metal ornaments on trees outside their homes. These little ornaments represented a god, Saturn or the family’s personal patron saint.
Early Germanic tribes also decorated their trees, this time with fruits and candles, to honour the god Odin throughout winter solstice.
So Christmas, like many of our modern-day celebrations, draws heavily on European traditions.
In some countries, such as Poland, Finland and Denmark, it is a tradition to celebrate animals at Christmas by giving them gifts.
In Poland, when families share a traditional sweet biscuit, they will break some off to share with the animals; as the legend goes, sharing the food will enable the animals to talk at midnight. In Denmark, it is a tradition to walk in the woods to feed the birds and other animals at Christmas time, and in Finland, they hang food on trees for the wildlife.
So that’s just some of the many things that are associated with Christmas.
Christmas is a time for family and friends, but for many, it’s a time of loneliness or pressure from the expectations of others.
One thing we can all depend on and rely on is nature. Whatever you plan this Christmas, get out and enjoy being in nature.
Now you have read the blog then why not watch the 1952 movie The Holly and the Ivy
Further Reading
The 12 Animals of Christmas from Around the World
Animal we associate with Christmas – Children’s Version
Scottish Wildlife Trust Wildlife in Christmas Culture
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