The Pagan Heart
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November-December 2005 Issue
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Yuletide in the Home of an Irish Saxon
By Avril H.
I am not going to go into a discussion on what Yule is - first it varies from group to group, family to family. Mine certainly has its own idiosycracies there with the combination of Saxon, Irish Norse, and plain English and Irish traditions all jumbled in together. It works for us, but as a discussion on the origins of Yule, I'm possibly not the person to do it. What I would like to share are a few traditions my family incorporates into our celebrations that have an interesting background. They will probably sound familiar to you. The Yuletide Tree and all the Trimmings This has always been a part of our Yuletide - the huge fir tree covered in glittery ornaments, sparkling lights, and a few peppermint canes and gingerbread biscuits looms large in my memories of childhood. The neverending mound of gifts beneath - with the requisite gift or two from Santa aka Woden. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Even now as a mature twenty-something I get all giddy at the thought of putting up the tree. I figured I'd write about the Pagan origins of the evergreen tree, symbol of Yule and now Christmas. Then I had an interesting discussion with a friend recently about this - until then I'd always held the belief that fir trees were an old Nordic custom the Christians appropriated. What I learnt was a little different and food for thought. While the use of evergreen boughs to decorate homes in winter was certainly an old tradition, the use of the tree was not. Which is a bit sad as that was always a loved myth of mine. But not too sad - I garnered a fair amount of satisfaction at the unexpected reversal of "aquisition of tradition". I am going to pretty much quote what Catherine told me - I went and looked into the history and it certainly matches up with her thoughts on the matter, but I like how she said it: "In the seventh century a Benedictine monk from England traipsed over to Germany to convert the heathens (that being the habit of those pesky monks at the time). Boniface was a fairly forthright monk and cocky to boot. He faced off against the locals in a "my god is better than yours" confrontation to prove the strength of the Christian god. At least, this is how the records of the time reveal it - what really happened in the village is anyone's guess, but I'd hazard that some natural event helped out at a fortuitous moment and "proved" his point. "Boniface had an argument with the local headman and ended up taking an axe to the village's sacred Donar Oak (sacred to Thor I believe). He chopped the tree down, and in the process, it split into four pieces and fell outwards to form a cross shape. According to the legend, the broken oak smashed all the surrounding undergrowth...except a tiny little fir tree. And Thor took no revenge upon this sacrilege. "The locals took this as a sign that the Christian god was mighty indeed - powerful enough to silence Thor and protect Boniface from the wrath of the Thunderer. They instantly converted and Boniface made them use the oak to build a church. Now me, I'm skeptical that it was such a simple process, let alone that the villagers converted so easily. But I believe that the basics of the story probably have solid foundations - in that Boniface replaced the villagers' worship of the sacred oak with a reverence for the fir tree as a symbol of the Christian god. "See, Boniface told them that the fir tree had a strong symbolic purpose. This was why it survived unscathed. The Christ Child's tree, the fir points the way to heaven as a constant year-round reminder of where we should strive to go. He saw its triangular shape as representative of the Trinity, the 3 within 1, making it a good visual aid in teaching this concept to the heathens. He told them that rather than hanging local oaks with gifts for the old gods, they should take the fir into their homes and surround it with objects representing love and light - presents and candles. These gifts were to be symbolic representations of God's gift to humanity - the love and light shown us through Jesus Christ, his Son. "From this humble beginning, the fir tree became a staple part of the Christmas festivities. The confusion for Pagans lies in the long-standing tradition of using evergreen boughs - it is easy enough to assume that the boughs indicate a Pagan heritage to the Yule tree. Especially considering the Biblical injunctions against decorating evergreens in the Pagan tradition. The point to remember is that the Biblical Pagans lived in the Holy lands, not Europe and Scandinavia. It's likely that the evergreens YHWH prohibited against copying were not humble pines and firs. "This is not to say that it is appropriate for the Christians to be using firs - that lies between them and their God. Me personally, I'd feel a little uncomfortable with disobeying YHWH's command just because an unwashed C7th monk decided that it made a good way to gently convert the heathens of Germany. Mind you, I prefer that approach to the hack and slash so favoured by other conversion-minded people!" Not initially a Pagan symbol, the Yule tree has certainly become one. I think in a way this is very appropriate - so many Pagan traditions adopted by the Christians (or taken with them when they converted to their new faith) that I like the idea of taking one from Christianity. The worship of and reverence for trees is an old tradition amongst many Pagan faiths, so aquiring the tradition of the fir tree as a symbol of the eternal cycle and returning life seems very suitable to me. Burning the Yule Log The log, however, is completely Pagan in origin. Depending upon which part of Europe you hearken to, it may be birch, ash, yew, or oak. All depends upon custom and belief. Birch is very traditional to my family - with the relationship of birch to driving out evil and being the wood of the Mother, it has always seemed right to use it for our Yule Log, despite it not being the Saxon wood of choice. It's actually rather Scottish, which always makes my father laugh. Some families save the fir tree and use that as the next year's log - or kindling to start it. We don't - we use it throughout the year with each fire festival as a way of sharing out the power of the solstice and the god throughout the twelve months. So the remaining fragments of last year's tree are added to the birch kindling for this year's log on the solstice eve. Our log is picked out during the midsummer festivities, dedicated to the Goddess, and set aside to dry by the side of the house. We are fortunate enough to have access to a stand of silver birch on Shannon's Dad's farm. By midsummer the catkins are in full growth and they look so pretty. We select a tree, offer to the spirit of the wood and the Mother, and cut it down during the weekend before Midsummer so that it can be trimmed and brought to the festivities. I am not sure of the origin of the tradition, but for our blot we erect a tent and set up the birch within. The tables are laid out about her and during the course of the feast people often hang tokens, prayers, and wishes from her in the hopes that she will carry these to the Mother for us. A cherished guest at the blot itself, the end of the feast involves a symle (our version of the symbel) in her honour and offerings for the birch are left at her base. These (and the tokens to the Mother) are carefully saved to be added to the Yule fire later in the year. Shannon (my Wiccan cousin from Scotland who knows her Saxon custom) uses green ash for her log since the smoke protects the home from evil for the coming year. This has always made me laugh - ash is traditional to both the saxons and the Nordic peoples...considering my path is Saxon and her heritage Scottish and faith Wiccan, it would make more sense if the woods were reversed. She has to unplug the smoke alarm in the dining room before lighting the log and sometimes judicious application of some "firestarter" is necessary to help the flames catch (although usually the ash simply burns despite its greenness), but I have to say her home is one of the most peaceful and safe-feeling ones I know. If a little smokey at times. Whatever wood is used, it should burn throughout Modresnacht and on through at least Yuletide - it is considered bad luck for it to burn out, so having extra birch on hand from the same initial log is always a good idea! If you are fortunate enough to have a large enough fireplace and a big enough log, it might manage to burn for a significant portion of the Twelve days. Otherwise, do what we do. Once midsummer is over we cut the birch into 12 pieces along with all the trimmings. Each day we add a new portion and feed it with the trimmings and other wood we have collected during the year. Once the log is dragged inside and set alight we sit around it with bunches of holly and ivy and weave wreaths and garlands to festoon the rooms. It's a chance to freshen up the dried boughs of evergreen (which usually get tossed onto the fire - the sap helps get the flames roaring and the smell is wonderful) and replace them with fresh new greenery. I have always loved holly - in my family we tend to avoid the wreaths until Modresnacht, using it to add colour to vases of greenery but nothing more. The ritual of sitting together, bending and binding the branches, seems to set the seal upon the start of the twelve days. And it certainly brings harmony to us all - we manage to have fairly happy festivals with little of the bickering and squabbling so common to large family gatherings. I hope that this festive season brings joy and good fortune to you and yours and may your log burn bright and long.
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Primary Article - November-December 2005: Saulegriza, the Lithuanian Solstice
Secondary Article - Kupoliu Svente - the Lithuanian Midsummer
Secondary Article - Midsumarsblot - the Asatru Summer Solstice Blot
Secondary Article - Ta Kat' Agrous Dionysia - The Rural Dionysia
Secondary Article - History's Eye: A Number of Winter Festivals
~ The Festival of Sokar & The Rebirth Celebration of Nehebkau
~ Yuletide
~ Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
~ Haloa & Lenaea
~ Victory Feast of Horus
Secondary Article - Celtic Path - The Winter Solstice
Return to the Index of articles for Seasonal Festivals
