Traditional and pagan festivities. (Christmas in General)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Christmas in General
Date:	27/11/01 (390 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lots and lots of fun to be had.

Disadvantages: not easy to get into some of this stuff.

Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth for most of you, but in fact a far older custom, with roots in many different religions. There is a lot to be said for having a big party in the middle of winter, when its cold and everyone needs cheering up.

The Vikings called it Yule, and there are other names as well for the winter festival. Traditionally, it celebrates the turning of the seasons, the death of the old god or year, the birth of the new. (Christianity does not have the monopoly on gods who die and rise again!)The greem man dies and is reborn in the spring.

Traditions - here's a few older activities, all good fun.

The Yule log - this is a large log cut and brought in especially, it is decorated, and there are some divining games associated with it. The Yule log is burned, often with a part of it being retained for other uses during the following year. If you haven't got room for a tree, have a Yule log instead.

Misteltoe - why this is associtated with Christmas, I don't know. It has druidic connotations, but is most famous for being the plant that killed Norse God Baldur. Kiss under the mistletoe if you will!

Holly and Ivy - again these are plants with distincly pagan conotations. Often linked with green man images and the life/death cycle. Green in the winter, they make excellent decorations.

Feasting - a good pagan tradition, Yule (or whatever you wish to call it) is the time to gather together for food frolics and fun, to keep your mind from the grimness of winter.

Wasailing - this is an old tradition often practised in Gloucestershire "Wasail , wasail all over the town, are cup it is white and out ale it is brown" goes the song, or "here we come a wasailing among the leaves so green" Wasailing is the practise of going from door to door singing, and being given good things to eat and drink. Often songs were sung in celebration of special animals kept by l
ocal people - perhaps to ensure good health and good yields in the following year.

Mumming - this is a splendid folk tradition, and as there are mumming groups all over the country, you have a good chance of seeing some. Mumming is a play - usually all the players are men (but that's less rigedly stuck to these days.) The plot centres on a fight - George and the dragon would by typical. Mummers don costumes, the two main characters fight, George dies, a doctor restores him to life, he fights again and wins. It has associations with the death/rebirth theme. Other characters in the plays include chimney sweeps, the devil, the king of Egypt's daughter (always played by a bloke)Father Christmas, The Turkish Knight, wild boar, and there are many other variations. Plays typically last for about ten minutes and are performed in pubs. This is really good fun and I can wholeheartedly recomend it.

There are some excellent pre Christain traditions associated with this time of year, so if you aren't practising a faith (or you happen to be pagan)and want something a bit different from the TV and the commercialism, you could do worse than to have a go at some of the older traditions! There's plenty of information out there about it, and there's always good fun to be had.

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