It is a knowledge most witches and pagans have that most, if not all, of the popular major holidays we know, love and celebrate today are actually pre-Christian in origin and that the traditions they carry with them to this day are rooted in the traditions and celebrations of ancient pagans. Christmas - or Yule - is no different. This most auspicious of holidays has numerous traditions that were “stolen” or, to put it in a more polite term, “adapted,” by Christians during the Age of Pisces, in a time when the “fish” were spawning their new religion across the globe. They swiftly learned, in their travels, that it is not an easy feat to convince people to give up their Gods, nor the time-honored traditions and practices that come along with those gods. In the times leading up to the Christian “takeover” - prior to their use of crusading and war to forcefully convert people - Christians used much more peaceful methods to reshape the pagans throughout and beyond Europe into God-fearing Christians. The easiest and most efficient way to convince the heathens to exchange their old gods for the new one was to adopt some of the existing practices of their culture and rework it in a manner that would infuse this new, foreign religion into familiar practices and celebrations. Over many centuries of using these subtle tactics and other not-so-subtle ones, Samhain morphed into “All Saints Day”, Ostara became “Easter”, and, of course, we have “Christmas” which is fundamentally rooted in pagan holidays, mostly the Roman celebration of Saturnalia and the Scandinavian celebration of Yule. Many who practice the old ways take offense to this takeover - mostly because we have been criticized for our paths by Christians, despite watching them gleefully participate in many of our ancient traditions - while others see it as the sincerest form of flattery. Others, still, simply see it as an easy way to secretly celebrate their pagan beliefs, even while in the midst of the staunchest religious family members. Whatever your beliefs or feelings on the matter, I would like to delve a little deeper into the celebration of Yule, which, in my opinion, has an even more important message for us this year than it ever has before.
To begin, we have to understand that the Christians were, at one point, persecuted themselves in their early formative years, when they were emerging as a sect of Judaism in the Middle East. Most of us who have been open about our craft to others know all too well what it is like to be persecuted and villainized for our beliefs and practices, so I find it really hard to blame early Christians for trying to find the easiest way to assimilate the masses into following the religion they believed they were sent by their God to spread. As the popularity of Christianity grew and spread throughout Southern Europe and other areas surrounding the Mediterranean that were under the control of the Roman Empire, early disciples of the faith wanted to really impart the idea that Christ was once an actual, living, human being, and like all humans, he had a birthday. The true reason for the selection of December 25 as the date for the birth of Christ will remain a mystery, considering most biblical sources indicate an earlier birthday in late Summer or early fall, but one can infer that the selected date likely had a lot to do with its proximity to the Roman celebration of Saturnalia; an incredibly prominent celebration honoring the god of agriculture, Saturn, on the winter solstice. Whatever the reason, several centuries after the Christians migrated into Rome, the first recorded celebration of “Christmas” occurred in 336 AD, as a celebration of the nativity of Jesus Christ. Over time, as the foothold of the religion strengthened, Saturnalia and Christmas merged into one, and soon the holiday became predominantly known as the celebration of the birth of Christ, and not so much about the success of the harvest and the coming spring, although the pagan influence is clearly still alive and well.
A noticeable similarity between the modern celebration of Christmas and the Roman Saturnalia is the more than adequate consumption of food and drink. Like most solstice celebrations and pagan holidays involving the celebration of harvests, Saturnalia involved eating and imbibing in drink, a tradition that carries on in modern Christmas celebrations. We bake indiscriminate amounts of cookies and gorge ourselves on eggnog, wine, and honeyed ham (if you’re of Scandinavian descent, like me) or some form of fat fowl and winter vegetables such as potatoes and yams. However, eating and drinking until you have to unbutton your pants is just one of many carryovers from Saturnalia. Another common feature in most ancient harvest festivals is fertility rituals, designed to encourage a bountiful harvest and strong young livestock in the coming year. One such ritual now associated with Yule and Christmas is the hanging of mistletoe and specifically the kissing beneath it. This practice, in part, originated as a Saturnalian fertility ritual, when mistletoe would be hung over beds or in stables (particularly anywhere with the potential for hanky-panky) to drive away evil spirits and encourage the gods to bless the house with wealth and prosperity, particularly of the food and offspring types; however, there is evidence this practice originated even earlier, much further North, in the cold and icy lands of Scandinavia.
We may never know for sure, but we can assume it is quite possible that the mistletoe ritual was picked up by the Romans from the Vikings and Celts, with whom they had contact for many centuries before and then during the rise of Christianity. At first, their contact with the Northmen was predominantly trading, later progressing to invasions and war, as one might expect, considering Rome's military prowess at the time. These Northern cultures saw mistletoe as having sacred and magical properties and used it during their winter solstice festivities to promote good fortune, fertility, abundance, and a healthy harvest and plentiful livestock. An ancient Norse myth tells us of Odin’s son Baldur - the God of Light and Goodness, coincidentally - who was prophesied to die, and when his mother, Frigg, learned of this, she secured an oath from all the plants and animals of the human world that they would not harm her beloved son. Sadly, however, Frigg neglected to secure this oath from the unassuming mistletoe, hidden among the branches of a tree, leading Loki, the ever mischievous god of the Norse pantheon, to craft an arrow from it, which he ensured was used to kill Baldur. In later versions of this myth, post-Scandinavian Christianization, the gods resurrected Baldur from the dead, and Frigg, who was ecstatic that her son was saved, declared that mistletoe was to be a symbol of love, and she vowed to kiss all those who passed beneath it. Hence, when the days grow short, and the nights grow dark and long in the north, Mistletoe is used symbolically to “resurrect” the sun, the bringer of light and goodness, no matter what name he is known by.
The Celts also had their own beliefs and traditions involving the eternally green-leafed and white-berried plant. Because mistletoe grows on tree branches without being connected to the earth, Celtic Druids believed that the plant was an earthly manifestation of Taranus, the sun or thunder god. Any tree that hosted the plant among its branches was believed to have been blessed and was revered as sacred to the Druids, whose beliefs of promoting harmony, connection with, and reverence for the natural world. The sun god played a central role in their spiritual practices, as the movement of the sun across the sky dictated the harvest, the growth and death of trees, and the coming and going of the animals they hunted. Harvesting this sacred plant was, like all things Druidic, a refined, organized, and specifically timed ritual that would occur precisely 6 days after the first new moon occurring after the end of the autumn season when the sun god reaches the end of his yearly life cycle and is reborn again. It was treated with incredible care, never allowed to touch the ground, and considered to be so magical that even valuable livestock was sacrificed to honor the sun god and thank him for his gift. As the Christian church established its foundations, it was, of course, keen to retain symbols such as mistletoe that were found to be so important to three of the prominent cultures they wished to convert, that they did so while reframing the narrative to fit within their own religious beliefs.
Another ritual tradition stemming from pagan practices that are now associated with Christmas is the act of caroling. Wassailing - aka, getting drunk on mulled wine, gallivanting around your village, and singing tidings of joy and love to everyone you see by offering them to imbibe in some of your wassails in exchange for gifts - was a practice during the winter solstice in England long prior to the advent of Christianity. Villagers would travel through their villages and into their fields and orchards, singing blessings, performing fertility rites or other rituals, and offering wine and cider to the earth and/or their ancestors in order to banish away evil spirits and promote good health in the coming year. While most of the songs we hear today have been tailored to fit into the narrative that this holiday is solely in reverence to the nativity and the birth of Christ, it is, in fact, a pagan tradition to sing and wish goodwill upon others during this time of year. One of my favorite holiday tunes, “Carol of the Bells”, was not a Christmas song, but a Ukrainian folk song that was written as a “winter well-wishing” song, about a swallow entering a home and heralding the coming of spring, and is believed to be of pre-Christian origin, although officially written down in 1916. The original lyrics describe the swallow calling out to the master of the home and regaling him with promises of all the wealth that he will possess in the coming year - strong healthy livestock, money, and a beautiful wife. The original folk melody that was used to compose the 1916 work was just one of many winter well-wishing tunes that had been sung by young girls in Ukrainian villages traveling from house to house in celebration of the new year. As the girls sang the tune predicting - or perhaps manifesting - good fortune, they were rewarded with baked goods or other treats. Sounds a bit familiar… almost pagan… No?
While we are on the topic of songs, let’s think about one that most of us - if not all of us - are familiar with: “12 Days of Christmas”. This might come as a shocker to you, but the “12 days” tradition is not one that began with Christianity. I mean, if the whole point is to celebrate the birth of Christ, why celebrate the 12 days leading up to it? It is more than likely that these leading 12 days were adapted from the Germanic and Scandinavian celebration of Yule dating from the Iron Age, which originally took place around the winter solstice and - you guessed it - lasted twelve days. The shortest day, the actual solstice, was of course the most significant day, and it was celebrated by the lighting of huge fires to mark the rebirth of the sun. However, these Yule fires were initially ignited at the beginning of the 12 days using remnants of the previous year's “Yule log”. For those who may not be entirely familiar with the custom, Yule logs were originally entire trees that were dragged into the longhouse, anointed with wine or mead as an offering to the gods, and set ablaze starting with the largest end. This tree would be continuously burned for all 12 days, with every member of the household taking their turn feeding the length of timber into the flames and ensuring that it would never be extinguished until after the solstice. If the fire were to burn out before the solstice, bad luck would befall the entire household. Each night, the family would keep watch over the flames, gathering around the hearth, telling stories, and making wishes for the coming year. However, it was not just the tradition of burning evergreen trees that survived to this day. The Norse would adorn evergreen trees with offerings such as carvings, candles, and food for the tree spirits (vaettir or wights) to encourage them to return in the spring, and to appease them in the hopes they bestowed their livestock with offspring, their fields with a bountiful harvest, and their home with abundance.
The “Yule Father” would be honored at this time - more commonly known as the god Odin - the wisest and most powerful God of Norse mythology. It was believed that on this, the longest night of the year, he would fly across the sky on his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, and deliver curses and blessings onto all people for the new year to come. Norse children would leave their shoes out by the hearth on the eve of the winter solstice, and place sugar and hay inside of them as an offering for Sleipnir, a tradition not far off from leaving cookies and milk out for someone else associated with modern-day Christmas. Coincidentally (or not), Odin is depicted in the sagas as having a long white beard and wearing a hooded cloak lined with fur. This seems very reminiscent of someone else we know associated with modern-day Christmas celebrations, who doesn’t seem to have much to do with the birthing of a guy from the Middle East.
The description of Odin, undeniably, bears a striking resemblance to the Dutch and Belgian character of Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas, the predecessor to the modern-day Santa Claus that many of our parents used to scare us into compliance in the weeks leading up to the big day for fear we would be left off the “nice” list and receive coal (curses) instead of gifts (blessings). It is a common belief of folklorists that Odin is partially responsible for or at least inspired the concept of Santa Claus, who rides through the skies pulled by his 8 reindeer (remember how many legs Sleipnir had?) to spread joy and bring gifts. Sure, during the nativity baby Jesus was given gifts from three wise men, but traditionally, the giving of gifts wasn’t that prominent an aspect of Christmas celebrations and really only started to take hold in the last century or so. Even in ancient Rome children were gifted wax figures during Saturnalia that would represent sacrifices made to Saturn to wish for bountiful harvests. Later, in France, nuns would give gifts to the poor on St. Nicholas’ Eve - named such for St. Nicholas - a Turkish saint famed for his charitable nature (he allegedly gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the sick and the poor) and piety. While this interpretation of Ole Saint Nick is derived from the early Christian tradition, there is no denying that he was clearly used as a transitional figure in converting pagan solstice celebrants onto the idea of it being a Christian holiday.
It is clear by now that many of the traditions we celebrate during these joyous times are actually pagan in origin rather than Christian, but in the grand scheme of things, we all have the same goals and desires. We want to spend time with the people we love, in comfort and warmth, eating and drinking, singing and dancing, petitioning and praying so that when the sun (or Son) is reborn in the spring that we are blessed with abundance and prosperity in the coming year. We all want to honor our creator in a way that feels right to us, for that is how we connect to the divinity within.
You are possibly wondering, at this point, why I think this Yule is an especially important one as I noted at the beginning of this article. If you read our last article, you are aware that we are now in the Age of Aquarius, an age where it is fundamentally important to our growth spiritually and as a society that we raise not only our vibrations but the vibrations of the entire world around us, which includes those who see witchcraft as a sin. It is an age where power structures ruled by money and control (the church and the government, for example) will be losing their power, and old power structures do not bend or break willingly - nor easily - especially when it means they lose their control over the masses. There will be resistance to this unstoppable change, and we must be the ones who bring the light into this new age, which will challenge us in many ways. We have our own scar tissue to heal in order to ascend, but we were chosen to be here, at this time, for a reason, because we are strong enough and bright enough to light up the world. Our goal is unification; changing the narrative from “us vs them”, to acceptance, brotherhood, love, and forgiveness that are the values of the Aquarian Age. One important step in this process is the unification of religion and spirituality; We must accept and respect those who call themselves Christian witches, and we must teach Christians - those who are unaware - that witchcraft is not a religion or an abomination onto their God, but an expression of the inner power that their divine creator bestowed onto them; a divinity that resides in each and every one of us. Their holy book has been mistranslated and rewritten by those in power to convince them to hate us because we threaten the power structures by acknowledging that WE are the true holders of the power because we are the embodiment of divine creation. We have a job to help them accept this reality so they may raise their vibrations as well.
We are seeing uprisings against the power structures that have been hindering our ascension across the globe, as oppressed people speak out, louder than ever before, against the machines that keep them oppressed. This time, they will be heard. In my country, we have been “led” by a man who is an embodiment of everything oppositional to Aquarian values: He is ruled by dark money, and did everything in his power to ensure that he and his already wealthy donors would be made even more wealthy at the expense of our nation and the majority of its civilians; he does not have one ounce of empathy for anyone other than himself, and cares only for having control and the power to do his bidding, no matter who he harms in the process; He believes he is above the law - that he IS the law - and that the rules that apply to all other people do not apply to him; He used lies and fake religious fervency to attain and maintain power and manipulated many people who call themselves “Christian” into supporting him based on nothing but these lies and his thinly veiled promises to allow hate to reign, and to bring suffering onto those that they hate in exchange for their zealous and unwavering support. None of his values align with Aquarius - nor with the Christian faith - and yet, “Christians” still followed him out of fear that their faith and their way of life was under attack by anyone who disagreed with him, because he told them it was. Despite his hold over so many, there were more of us who rose up against his hostile takeover of our country and chose the path of love and equality over hate and intolerance. And yet, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, those who cling to this man who upholds the old power structures of money, deceit, and control refuse to accept his loss. It is as though they are living in an alternate dimension from ours, which, in fact, not far from the truth
This is just one example of the kind of exposure to the rift in our vibrations that we will be experiencing in the years to come. To us of higher vibrational frequencies, we will be witnessing great advances in social justice and technology, wondrous revelations in science, and more, while a large swathe of lower vibrational individuals will live through these same events, yet will experience them in an entirely opposite way. Instead of wonder, they will experience fear; where there is love, they will see hate; where joy abounds, they will feel the only rage. They will fight and resist, by any means necessary, every step of the way, and believe with all of their hearts that what they are doing is right. These individuals will truly BELIEVE that they are helping themselves and others by continuing to support the existing power structures, when in fact they are only harming us all. The dying power structures, such as megachurches and unfettered capitalism, will continue to stoke the embers of fear within these people using propaganda and lies, and they will continue to believe what they are told because change is a terrifying concept to those of lower vibrational energies.
It has been said that “religion is the opiate of the masses” due to its ability to subdue and incapacitate believers with its promises of being blessed by a divine higher power for their adherence to the laws of authority; We are and will continue to witness the effects of withdrawal from this addiction for years to come. As any survivor of addiction or cult abuse can tell you, it is not easy to abandon the family you have found in your shared beliefs. When you have been thoroughly convinced that there is an existential threat and that only the leader of your cult can protect you from it, leaving willingly becomes nearly impossible. In the same vein, any recovered addict will tell you that it is not easy to abandon the drug or vice that was the only thing they had that could make them feel alive or bring them closer to perceived divinity while they were under its influence. The lower vibrational individuals we will be dealing with here in my country have found a false sense of security in a belief system that has been corrupted by a power structure of greed; a belief system that allows them to be their worst selves in the name of their leader or their “God”, and they have found a whole new family of 70 MILLION people who think just like them - people who honestly believe that it is a “radical” idea to support brotherhood, equality, truth, and justice for ALL people - because it is what they were told to believe.
So, this Yuletide, I ask you: how do we enlighten these people? How do we earn the trust of people who have been so brainwashed into believing that magical people are their enemy, that we are not actually their enemy? It certainly isn’t by attacking them, or insulting their beliefs; It is not by calling them stupid, or even pointing out the idiocy, criminality, or flaws of their leader, for these acts only lower our vibrations to their level rather than lifting them up. People of lower vibrations inherently abhor self-reflection, admission of wrongdoing, accepting loss, and being vulnerable, so pointing out their misgivings will only strengthen their resolve that you are evil and are only out to harm them and destroy everything they believe in. But we don’t want to destroy their beliefs, at least when it comes to their religion. Despite what some have been led to believe, religion - even Christianity - and witchcraft are not actually mutually exclusive ideologies. While I don’t consider myself a Christian, I do believe that Christ was a real person who had a real and lasting effect on our entire planet, and this is something that I think many witches are afraid to acknowledge. Because of the past traumas and harm that we have experienced over centuries, such as the violent and heinous acts committed in the name of their God, it will be a challenge for us to overcome our own resistance to integration. The Christian religion wiped out much of our ancient knowledge, commandeered our ancestors' practices and made them their own, and villanized us, causing us to hide our magic from the world for fear of persecution; however, we must not allow our anger over these things to blind us and control us. The age of control is over. There will be enough anger coming from the opposite end of the spectrum, as the Piscean values that the Christian faith used to establish its foothold and build its empire is slowly being exposed, and to reflect their anger will only fan the flames and heighten the ongoing conflict. We need to do our best to embrace what things we can share with those who follow different paths than ours and see if we can come together and find common ground in order to help them to learn and accept that we are not their enemy or evil, but people - like them - whose beliefs and practices have the same goal of bringing us closer to divinity.
It was the divine savior of the Christian faith, Jesus himself, who, in fact, foretold of the Age of Aquarius when he said, “A man will meet you carrying an earthen pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he goes in” Luke 22:10
This section of Luke refers to the last supper before Jesus’ death, where he also predicts being betrayed by one of his own and goes on to reiterate the importance of not being like “the kings and Gentiles who exercise authority over them”, and that instead, “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” When thought of in both metaphorical and literal context, this is Jesus telling his disciples to abandon the Piscean age version of leadership, where the wealthy are in control and money rules, and to lead as one who does good for all without the promise of money or power. I believe that this was Jesus telling his followers to follow US witches into the Aquarian Age, imploring them to enter the (celestial) house we enter; in other words, asking them to raise their vibrations with us, rather than remain trapped in the realm of greed, negativity, and lower vibrations. I believe Jesus was helping Christians prepare for the future by telling them to follow us into new spiritual expansion and rebirth; that he was educating his disciples and warning them about this crucial time in human history and preparing them for it in advance. Yule is a celebration of the first phase in this rebirth - the returning of the Sun/Son - and in the coming months, as the days grow longer and the sun returns, we must use its warmth - our warmth - to melt the icy shackles of the existing power structures that confine our brothers and sisters on this earth, and be the collectors and bearers of the water it creates that the Piscean fishes will need to survive in the years to come.
The message this Yule, as I see it, is simple. Whether you are a religious person or not, the old ways of the past are dying, and we are being reborn. Birth is a long, exhausting, and painful process, but the result is more beautiful than anyone could ever imagine. While the process of birth begins and ends with love; in between, there is pain, and blood, and fear, and anger and uncertainty. During this time, we must not allow our own fears, pain, or uncertainty to blind us. We must not lash out at those who actually believe they are trying to do the right thing or help us - even if they are doing the opposite - we must reinforce to them why our path is our chosen path, and why it is leading us into a higher level of consciousness. This Yule is a celebration of the death of antiquated systems, and a celebration of the awakening of “christ consciousness” in all people. For those unfamiliar with the term, “Christ Consciousness” is a controversial term for the awareness of the higher self as part of a universal system. Is not intended to relate solely to the personality of Jesus Christ, and is more a combination of Christian language with Eastern religious and philosophical concepts, which can be interpreted in a number of ways; however, a common understanding is that Christ Consciousness is the state of consciousness in which a person has found self-realization and unity with God (any god) or the Divine, similar to the yogic and Hindu concept of samadhi, or deep spiritual bliss.
This Yule, we celebrate the awakening of the whole of our world - which includes many of the Christian Faith - to their inner divinity; to the realization that whatever gods or goddesses they believe in are not a force outside themselves that they must ask for guidance or forgiveness, but a divine spirit within them that is interconnected with every living thing on Earth. We are to be the water bearers in this new age, the ones who will create vast oceans of love, brotherhood, and forgiveness for our fishy friends to swim in, for, without water, the fish would not survive long. We must provide them a safe haven, and teach them what true, unconditional love looks like. Not everyone will be capable of raising their vibrations, and we must not wish for those who struggle to release the Piscean age values to simply vanish or hide themselves away, for we know by now that repressing anger or ignoring conflict only gives it time and space to fester and become an even bigger problem. We must start preparing to have uncomfortable conversations with each other, putting a sincere effort forth to help guide the resistors into this new way of life; one where they can see that the path that our waters flow is not one that they must abandon their religion to follow, but one that we can swim up together, side by side, into this new age, sharing the gifts of the world as one unified tribe, as it was always meant to be.
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