The music of Yule
Executive Pagan has two posts on the music of Yule and its mythic resonances:Good Winter Solstice music is hard to find. In general I do not include filked Christmas carols in the "good" category, although there are a couple of exceptions (and completely new pagan words set to an existing melody are a different matter altogether). Good *Christmas* music abounds, of course... and some of it is even reasonably pagan-friendly.He also recommends White Frost and the Black Thorn, by Eleanor's Visceral Tomb:
This is a ritual in music - no other way to describe it. It transcends any possible category of pagan or Christian music - it is truly and deeply mythic in the sense of the Pratchett quote I posted previously, having "to do with gods only in the way that roots have to do with leaves." It has definitely altered my vision...The meaning of Yule
Deaf Pagan Crossroads has a series of Yule posts:
* Old Woman Winter reflects upon the Cailleach
* Helios, Sol and Saturnalia looks at Roman and Greek cultures - their ancient pagan traditions and how those traditions may have indeed paved the way for the later Christian celebration we know as Christmas.
* Chamber of the Sun has some beautiful photos of solstice sunrises in burial mounds, and reflections upon the rebirth of the sun at the solstice
* The Meaning of Solstice discusses the meaning and symbolism of the word "solstice"
Audio Latin Proverbs has an explanation of the Roman proverb, Semper Saturnalia agunt.
You will find the saying in Petronius's Satyricon. There's also a similar, more pessimistic saying from Seneca: "non semper Saturnalia erunt", "It will not always be Saturnalia-time." In other words: party-time will come to an end, sooner or later. Some people, of course, are on a kind of permanent vacation; "semper Saturnalia agunt", as in today's saying.Plus ca change, plus c'est la m^eme chose...
The About.com Pagan/Wiccan blog has studied Saturnalia customs in some detail:
One of the highlights of Saturnalia was the switching of traditional roles, particularly between a master and his slave. Everyone got to wear the red "pileus", or freedman's hat, and slaves were free to be as impertinent as they wished to their owners. However, despite the appearance of a reversal of social order, there were actually some fairly strict boundaries. A master might serve his slaves dinner, but the slaves were the ones who prepared it -- this kept Roman society in order, but still allowed everyone to have a good time.Hunter Ash gives an explanation of the Heathen customs of Yule and Mothers' Night:
The first night of Yule is called Mothernights, where Frigga and the Disir (female ancestral spirits) are especially honoured. Mothers Night is appropriately named, as it represents the rebirth of the world from the darkness of winter. This is the date with the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
A traditional vigil from dusk to dawn is held on the Mothers night, to make sure that the sun will rise again and welcome her when it does.And this 2005 post from Chieftain Ash explains how to celebrate Yule in Anglo-Saxon style:
In all likelihood, Modraniht was in some way connected to the cult of the Mothers. Altars all across the Lowlands, in England, France, and in other areas were erected to the "matrons," by Germanic mercenaries in the service of Rome. In some cases these altars were more than mere votive stones, but made up part of greater cult centers such as those at Nettersheim and Bonn. The "mothers" were shown with fruit baskets, plants, trees, babies, children, cloths for wrapping babies, and snakes. Most feel that this cult of "matrons" can be linked to the Norse idea of the disir or ancestral women who had a sacred night to them in the fall at Winter Nights (commonly referred to as Disablot).The Pagan calendar has all the significant dates of December, complete with explanations of each festival.
Getting charitable...
Circle Sanctuary are helping Pagan soldiers by sending gift packages, and the Montreal Pagan Resource Centre are collecting food or food vouchers for Pagan Community Yule Baskets.
And if you're looking for a good cause to donate to this Yule, please consider donating to Stepping Stones Nigeria, who help children in Nigeria who have been abandoned, abused and tortured because they have been accused of witchcraft. I learned about this charity from Angela at Nine Ravens.
Yuletide wit
Garrett Eisler at the Huffington Post has an excellent article satirising the recent spate of right-wing Christian articles on the "war on Christmas":
There's a war being waged against our sacred winter holiday, people. Centuries ago, our forebearers at this time of year began exchanging gifts, decorating trees, and welcoming the winter solstice with the return of light and end of darkness. All in the name of our beloved God. Yes, you know who I mean. Even in these heathen times, I'm not ashamed to speak his name: Saturn. There, I said it. Let's stop denying who this holiday is really about.
What has become of our holy Saturnalia, fellow pagans? I go into my local Wal-Mart, greeted by all the familiar holly and ivy of yore, and am welcomed not with the rousing "Io, Saturnalia!" of simpler times, but with some made-up newfangled, supposedly "non-offensive" substitute: this "Christ-Mass" thing.
In Milkbreath and Me, the symbolism of the Saturnalia tree is finally explained:
So we put up the tree yesterday, complete with Sol Invictus at the top. B insisted that it was not a tree but a ROCKET. The balls are planets. The lights are stars. The glass pickle ornament is an asteroid ("That's a kind of rock out in space!" he keeps explaining). The stocking ornament is a "space sock" -- so the astronauts don't get blisters from their moon boots.
