[Acrylic-bob]

To understand the origins of Christmas you first need to understand that Christmas is a religious festival. Then you need to understand that all religions develop as a way of coming to terms with the often inexplicable facts of existence.

The modern Christmas, which takes place at the end of the year, is a synthesis of a bewildering assortment of religious traditions going back through the mists of time to the origins of human civilisation. It is relatively easy to appreciate that Christmas marks the turning of the year. It is the forms and rituals surrounding it that can be difficult.

Our celtic ancestors inherited a body of religious traditions developed from the ancient civilisations which migrated from the Indus Valley. Chief among these traditions was the idea of a Mother Goddess who was responsible for for all fertility and growing things, She required annual fertilisation and so took a consort at the beginning of each year following the sacrifice of the previous incumbent. This tied the understanding of religion into the cycles of the year and the mystery of how life could spring from apparent death. The crops in the field produce seed and then die, the seed is scattered on the ground and hey presto springs back into life. Powerful Magick! Along with this idea comes the very basic human need to understand the nature of death and seek reassurance that it is not the end of existence. If the seeds that we harvest can spring into new life after death then, ipso facto, so will we. A lot of money has been made, and continues to be made, by explaining and attempting to manipulate this basic fact of life.

Back to Christmas. The Celts split their year into eight main parts corresponding to the celestial cycle of equinoxes and solstices. The two which concern us here are Samhain 31st October, and Yule 21st December. Samhain (pronounced "sow-en" or "sav-an") was the old Irish New Year, the beginning of the dark time, and a "twilight" period between both the years and the seasons. The name likely means "summer's end," although there is some debated about this among the more linguistically inclined; it does indeed mark the transition from summer to winter. Like twilight and all in between times, it was (and is) a time when our world was very near the Underworld and the Otherworld; when we and those who inhabited the other two worlds could travel between them, whether we wanted to or not. It is a time when the Sidhe, the Gods and the Ancestors might come visiting and should be offered proper hospitality; food, drink, a place to rest. Or the time when those less kindly had to be held at bay or destroyed.
This is the time when cattle and sheep where brought in from summer pasture, all but breeding stock being killed for winter food and to make fewer mouths to feed. The last fruit was picked, except that which would be left for the Sidhe, and the grain was already gathered and had been processed for fodder, flour, and beer. Fishermen put up their boats and stored their gear. Debts would be paid up. Young people who hired out as farm or herder help would return home, as would the warriors of the not-totally-mythological Fianna and any Bards or poets traveling about would find a household to attach themselves to. Many of the people would begin preparing for the long, dark winter of living almost constantly indoors in often crowded conditions. Farmers and other workers would be preparing to change their summer occupation in for one of logging, gathering wood for the next year (giving it a year to dry), much as their descendentss would well into the 20th century.
The festival itself would be celebrated with bonfires, feasts, and animal sacrifices (which would be the killing of the livestock for the feasts and to be cured for later) at large gatherings as well as smaller local ones. The Gods, Sidhe, and Ancestors would be welcome and fed in ritual, as they would be by individuals at home and hall. Divination would be important, for not only was this a major turning point in the year but such things would be easier with the nearness of Otherworldly help. The fires of the old year would be extinguished to be replaced by new ones.
Story telling started at this time and in many chieftains' halls it was mandatory that a story be told every night during the dark half of the year --from Samhain to Beltaine. After all, except for an occasional hunting expedition and the fixing of weapons and tools, there wasn't a lot to do at this time; while temperatures in the British Isles are kept relatively mild by the Gulf Stream it is dark most of the day during the winter months. Undoubtedly, not being driven by "Christian work ethic," the need for capitalistic gain, or artificial lighting people slept a lot through the winter.

When the Romans arrived they brought with them their own traditions to mark the end of the year, the Saturnalia. which began the middle of December and ended on January 1. The celebration would include big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).
The use of Evergreen plants was also an important feature of the Saturnalia and is probably a convenient juncture to introduce the idea of Sympathetic Magic. Holly is a plant associated with lightening. I am afraid that lightening may strike my house. If I plant a holly tree near my house the lightening will recall it’s association with Holly and seek that rather than my house, thus I am protected; a crude form of Insurance. That in essence is Sympathetic Magick, like attracts like. Similarly if I wanted my children to grow up strong, I would choose names and symbols for them that had associations with the qualities I desired for them, and so on through every aspect of life.

The use of evergreen plants in religion is symbolic of life continuing after death. When all the other trees have lost their leaves the evergreen endures and reminds us that there is life beyond death and encourages hope that the world will come back to life again.

The early Christians understood that it would be an uphill struggle to ban and replace the ancient cycle of festivals, so engrained were they. So they adopted them instead and placed their own interpretation on them. In doing so they made much use of the associations and symbolism of sympathetic magic. The berries of the Holly represent the blood of Christ. The spines remind us of the crown of thorns etc.etc.

The Yule log is a Scandinavian import, coming from the north of Europe where the sun would actually not rise above the horizon for many days. It is easy to see how important it was to keep the hope alive that the world had not ended and that the sun would eventually return. So a log was kept burning through the dark part of the year. It was accompanied with rituals to encourage the return of the sun and also decorated with sun symbols. The origins of the modern Christmas Tree, a decorated and illuminated evergreen, are clear.