Winter Solstice on December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere is both the shortest day of the year, and the first day of Winter. The word solstice finds its root in the Latin words sol for sun and sistere, meaning “to stand.” The term also refers to new birth, as a new year rises from the old.

The short day and long night of Solstice inspired many customs we still practice during modern holiday season celebrations.

Io Saturnalia

Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a seven-day festival from December 17 – 24 of the Julian calendar. It began with a sacrifice to Saturn, continued with a public banquet and private gift-giving of modest presents. But the most dramatic aspect of the holiday was social role reversals. Men dressed as women; masters dressed as servants, and slaves feasted at banquet tables. Ordinary pursuits of work or business were set aside while Romans spent the time gambling and feasting.

Decorations included boughs from laurel and evergreen trees to symbolize the continuity of life, and lamps that were kept burning to ward off evil spirits.

Yule

The word Yule has several possible sources. Norse myths described the sun as a wheel that changed with the seasons. The word for the wheel was jól, which may be the source of yule.

To celebrate the Solstice, Norsemen let bonfires, shared stories, and drank ale – which may have made the stories more creative.

British Druids observed the day by cutting mistletoe, a parasite that grows on oak trees. Oak trees were sacred, and mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.

Burning the Yule Log, which was more accurately an entire tree, was a way to entice the sun to return. The Yule log fed the fire through what became the Twelve Days of Christmas.

In Finnish lore, the goddess Louhi caused winter darkness when she kidnapped the sun and moon, and hid them inside a mountain.

Italian folklore refers to the goddess Befana. During Solstice, or perhaps the day before Epiphany, she rides around the world on her broom to leave candy and gifts for well-behaved children, and a lump of coal for the others [sound familiar?]. Invitations for Befana to visit came by way of a rag doll in her likeness placed by the front door or window.

The Kallikantzaroi

The Kallikantzaroi, from Greek mythology, live underground and emerge during Solstice to cause havoc. The creatures are small, black, male, mostly blind and have long black tails.

One way to avoid the chaos Kallikantzaroi cause is to leave colanders where they are easily seen. Kallikantzaroi can only count up to the number three, and they spend the night trying to count the holes in the colander.

However you celebrate this festive season, have a wonderful time!

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Illustrations

Winter Solstice at Stonehenge taken December 27, 2008 by simonwakefield.

Dice Players in Pompeii.

Mistletoe with flowers by Ticketee.

Hauling the Yule log, 1864.

Befalna by Tiguliano.

Matrakoukos, chief of the Kallikatzaroi.

“Kallikantzaroi – Greek Christmas Goblins.” Greeker than the Greeks.

The Story Behind Yule. Almanac. Nov. 29, 2021.

Winter Solstice. BBC. June 6, 2007.

Michelle Bierma & Time Reese. “Winter Solstice.” Three Rivers. Dec. 9, 2019.

The post Yule Tide Festivals first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Red and Green are the colors most often associated with Christmas and the month of December. Freshly cut evergreen trees are green. Santa Claus wears the same red suit every year. I sometimes wonder why he delivers so many items of clothing but never updates his look.

For thousands of years people in European cultures have used evergreen plants to decorate their homes and other buildings. In ancient Rome, citizens gave holly wreaths as gifts in celebration of Saturnalia, their annual feast for the god Saturn. The exchange of holly was a way to wish friends and family a long life, peace, and good luck.

Saturnalia was an important festival, so important early Christian church leaders gave up trying to eradicate it. Instead, they set the date of Jesus’ birth on December 25th and adopted the customs of gift giving and holly wreaths.

In the northern hemisphere, December is the beginning of dark, cold winter days. Winter Solstice is the day with the longest night and shortest daylight hours. This year it takes place on December 22nd. In a world without electricity or central heating, winter darkness could be terrifying. What if the world never became bright again?

The presence of evergreens – whether as trees, holly, or mistletoe – promised that spring would return.

During the Fourteenth Century it was popular to present Paradise Plays about Adam and Eve and their Fall from Paradise. Among the required props was a tree to represent the Tree of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve were allowed to eat any fruit in Paradise except the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil. When Eve accepted the devil’s advice, and ate the fruit, she recognized good and evil. Being a generous soul, Eve then offered the fruit to Adam, who willingly ate it.

The play master needed to place fruit on an evergreen tree. Since most people thought the forbidden fruit had been an apple, the play master tied red apples onto the tree.

The moral of the story was that although Adam and Eve brought humanity into sinful lives, on Christmas the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus who erased the sin.

It’s a long way from Roman Saturnalias and Medieval Paradise Plays, but the colors of green and red still dominate December. Green still retains its symbolism as the color of health and new life. Red remains the color of emotion, love, and passion.

Acknowledgements:
Featured Image: Photograph of snow covered holly bush by Laura Perlick. US Fish & Wildlife Service. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Photos:
Photo of mistletoe by Bernd Haynold. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Illustration of the Temptation of Eve. 18th Century. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Illustration of Christmas tree in the Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Sources:

“The Colors of Christmas.” Here.

“The Importance of Christmas Colors.” Here.

Deborah Byrd. “December solstice 2015.” Here.

Kate Smith. “How Red & Green Became the Colors of Christmas.” Dec. 20, 2010. Here.

The post HOLIDAY COLORS of RED & GREEN first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

“Okay, I’ll bite.  Why are you wishing me a Happy New Year when we already celebrated the New Year on January 1?”

Excellent Question, Grasshopper.  (Historian settles in for a lengthy chat.)  The January 1 date is completely arbitrary, a result of the introduction of the Julian calendar in 45 BCE.

“Could you answer my question without presenting a 50 minute lecture?”

You exaggerate.  I can answer your question in less than five minutes.

“I’m setting the stopwatch on my smart phone.  Go.”

Did you know the ancient Romans held a festival for Saturn, an agricultural god, on December 17?  The event expanded to cover five days, then seven.  It was the most popular event of the year.  That’s why the early Christian Church set Christmas on December 25, so new converts would not feel excluded from the fun and games.  Of course, Christian celebrations were more moral.

“Seconds are turning.” (Yawn.)

You want to know when the “new year” begins.  Got it. A new year can begin on any day.  It could start tomorrow.  But it wouldn’t be the New Year with capital letters.  Roman political leaders were a bit mischievous.  Their term of office lasted a year, but there was no fixed length to the months.  A leader might lengthen or shorten the year to suit himself.  Until Julius Caesar came back from the African campaigns.  He decreed 46BCE would be two months longer than usual so he could align time into long months of 31 days and short months of 30 days and February which was extra short and expandable during leap years.

(Starts texting.)

I can hear you.  (Exasperated) The first day of the official New Year is January 1 because that’s the day when Roman consuls took office.  The Christian Church adopted the Julian calendar, later changed it to the Gregorian calendar, but kept January 1.  And thus it has ever since, encompassing the entire known world, just as Caesar planned.

“Two minutes.”

Yesterday, February 10 started the new lunisolar year known as Chinese New Year. Celebrations continue for fifteen days ending with the Lantern Festival.  This is the Year of the Snake.

“I don’t like snakes.”

Have you ever met one?  Snake people are good to have around.  They are intelligent, analytical and graceful.  They like the good things in life.  They like wealth.

“Doesn’t everyone?”

Wealth means different things to different people.  Snakes like sumptuous luxury.

“One minute.  Will we get rich this year?”

Maybe.  Some think the Snake will encourage economic recovery.

“Why did you put a picture of tangerines at the top?”

That’s a new question.  You can’t count it in the five minutes.  Did I make it?

“Yes.  This proves you don’t have to go into every teeny tiny detail to answer a question.”

I like to be thorough.

“Can you briefly tell me about the fruit.”

I shall be succinct.  Tangerines and oranges invite luck and wealth, because the Chinese word for tangerine sounds like the word for “luck”, and the word for orange sounds like “wealth.”  As an added bonus, bright orange is a color associated with gold.

“So, luck + wealth + gold = prosperity.”

I didn’t know you could do math.

“Is the red envelope a replacement for plastic shopping bags?”

Better. These small paper containers hold lucky money.  Red is an auspicious color.  Lots of Chinese New Year decorations are red and gold – all to attract health, wealth, and happiness.  And, it’s biodegradable.  Where are you going?

“To buy tangerines.”

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