The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world.
Also to know is, are Christmas decorations Pagan?
Decorating trees, feasting with loved ones, hanging up socks by the fireplace, and drinking yourself silly are no different – they’re all a part of pagan history and sacred holidays. In fact, most of the cultural aspects we associate with Christmas are steeped in pagan roots.
Consequently, is Santa a pagan god?
The modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England’s Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter, Hutton said.
Is Yule a religion?
Today, Yule is
| Yule | |
|---|---|
| Type | Cultural, Germanic Pagan then Christian, secular, contemporary Pagan and Satanic |
| Date | Varies |
| Frequency | Annual |
What are some Yule traditions?
Here are some customary ways to celebrate the solstice—you might notice that some resemble beloved Christmas traditions.
- Build a Yule Altar. …
- Make an Evergreen Yule Wreath. …
- Burn a Yule Log. …
- Decorate a Yule Tree. …
- Exchange Nature-Based Gifts. …
- Give Back to Nature. …
- Celebrate in Candlelight. …
- Set up a Meditation Space.
What are the 12 days of Yule?
The ancient festival was a 12 daylong celebration beginning on the eve of the Winter Solstice (known to most Pagans as Yule) and ending at the new calendar year. This celebration was so important in ancient times that it was converted by the Christians to the 12 Days of Christmas.
What came first Yule or Christmas?
The English term Christmas (“mass on Christ’s day”) is of fairly recent origin. The earlier term Yule may have derived from the Germanic jōl or the Anglo-Saxon geōl, which referred to the feast of the winter solstice.
What does Yule mean to pagans?
What exactly is Yule?
Yule comes from a name for a 12-day festival, celebrated by Germanic peoples, around the winter solstice in December and January. … Yule also carries associations with a farm animal. The Yule goat carried Father Christmas on his back and is a symbol of Christmas throughout Scandinavian countries.
What is the difference between Yule and Christmas?
In today’s language, Yule is simply the feast celebrating the birth of Christ, and Yuletide is the Christmas season. Lots of aspects of the story of Jesus’ birth are celebrated during Yule season, but remnants of the original feasts and celebrations also show up in many of our modern-day Christmas traditions.
What pagan holiday is Easter?
Well, it turns out Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northern Hemisphere, long before the advent of Christianity. “Since pre-historic times, people have celebrated the equinoxes and the solstices as sacred times,” University of Sydney Professor Carole Cusack said.
Which dessert stems from a pagan fireplace tradition?
Why do we eat Yule log at Christmas?
The ancient Norse used the Yule log in their celebration of the return of the sun at winter solstice. … This tradition dates back to the Norse Yule log. It is probably also responsible for the popularity of log-shaped cheese, cakes and desserts during the holidays.
Why is it called Yule?
By circa 900, Yule was being used as a word for Christmas, which it still is in Scottish and northern dialects (and as a “literary archaism” for the rest of us). So when Alfred the Great gave free-men 12 days at Yule in the late 9th century, he meant a Christmas vacay.