"A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me;
he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts."
(The Song of Solomon i.13)

Author's Note,
9 November 2001:

I generally plan my seasonal pages months in advance, as inspiration moves me.  This year I intended to use my friend Sandra Stanton's painting of Juno-Lucina as the theme (see below as well as under 13 December), for she is a strong goddess, crowned with the radiance of her own Winter light.

  Juno-Lucina offers the patriarchal powers no man-child doomed to suffer; she bears only Light, a crown of light, shining like stars in the night.  In one hand, she protects a bird, as she would protect a child, from whatever might threaten it.

Then September 11th happened and everything changed.......

After that tragedy, the mythic person who stepped into the foreground of my mind was Myrrha, a princess of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, south of Turkey.  In ancient times, while Myrrha was yet herself a child, her drunken father raped her, impregnating her with a son, the tragic Adonis.  Myrrha fled south to Arabia where the gods transformed her into a myrrh tree to conceal her from her father -- the gum-resins exuded by this tree were said to be the bitter tears she shed over her father's betrayal and her own exile.

Her brother grew within her for ten months. Then the bark swelled, burst, and the child emerged.  Aphrodite immediately appeared and took him away to became her beloved; despite her protection, the youth died in a hunting accident; Aphrodite grieved and annually resurrected her lover.  In other versions of the myth, this exotic tree, "menstruating" precious balm along the southern shores of the Red Sea, came to represent Aphrodite herself, a sea-goddess, whose fragrant myrrh is an aphrodisiac.

The myrrh tree is native to lands bordering the Red Sea (Arabia, Ethiopia and Somaliland). It is a low, spreading tree with pale gray bark which exudes drops of a reddish-brown juice. This liquid slowly hardens into gum-resin lumps, or "tear-drops," some as large as eggs. They are easily powdered, fragrant to the nose, somewhat astringent and bitter to the tongue.  The lumps were prized by the ancients and made into medicinals, perfume, oils, and aphrodisiacal incense burned in the temples.  Among the Hebrews, the tabernacle, sacred ark, and altar vessels were annointed with oil of myrrh.  For the first six months of the purification-year undergone by a Hebrew woman after childbearing, she too, like the sacred altar and vessels, was washed and annointed with oil of myrrh.

Six thousand years ago, the Egyptians discovered myrrh’s use in rites of death, where it was essential to the art of embalming.  Mummifying the corpse was believed to preserve the body for an afterlife spent in joyful, well-watered gardens.  The word, "myrrh," comes from the Arabic mur, "bitter," for, influenced by ancient Egypt,  myrrh eventually became associated with bitterness and death (the myth of Myrrha, Adonis, and Aphrodite clearly reflects this paradox).

Along with frankincense and gold, myrrh was one of the precious gifts brought by the three Magi to the Christ-child, but myrrh spoke to his death, not his birth: his corpse would later be annointed with fragrant myrrh-ointment by another triad, the three Marys (Christ's mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Bethany).  From the three Magi to the three Marys, myrrh is a mysterious presence.  The word "myrrh" is also cognate with Mary, or Maryam, the mother of the Christ-child.  Early Christians actually called the Virgin Mary "Myrrh of the Sea."  Like Myrrha/Aphrodite, she is both birth-mother and death-mother, birthing in desolation, deathing in equal desolation, myrrh at his birth, myrrh at his death. She, with the other two Marys (whose names, of course, are also cognate with "myrrh") who were present at the Crucifixion, were known as the myrrhophores, "myrrh-bearers," a title also given to ancient death-priestesses.

When Sandra Stanton began painting this myth of Myrrha, she refused to depict the frightened, pregnant princess who was turned into a myrrh tree.  Instead, she turned to Mother Mary, "Myrrh of the Sea," and created a painting she calls "Madonna of the Earth."  Like Myrrha, Aphrodite, and the myrrhophores, this Madonna becomes an expression of those who birth sons, mourn their loss, and go on alone, growing in peace and compassion.  This is a gentle crone-madonna, her bones and hair thinning, like the leafless winter tree, yet she's stronger than ever, serene, agelessly youthful.  Her tree holds many goddess images -- and she herself holds the Earth.

Today, the Madonna's Earth and her ancient images of pre-Christian madonnas are all in great need of the myrrh-deva's soothing oils, for they have been rent and ravaged by men of power -- kings (like Myrrha's father), CEOs, politicians, generals, terrorists, war lords, arms merchants, and too many religious leaders, east and west.

We too, the humans on the earth the myrrh-Madonna holds, need her tender attentions -- and by "we" I have to include all those men of power with their small hearts and stone eyes, who might, perhaps, be awakened by her fragrant, inner-dimensional incense, or stirred by her pungent oils, an oil they can neither hoard nor trade, for its use is the Madonna's own sacred secret.  My prayer for those in power, especially those behind the scenes who work in the shadows, is that they might finally be inspired to ask what they can do for the impoverished, the grieving, the angry, the despairing, and for earth herself.

In this winter solstice season, may the myrrh-deva whisper over our earth, as well as our bodies, running across our skin like the finest perfumed balm, soothing every joint and aching muscle. May the three Marys annoint our worried hearts with tenderness and awaken a profound sense of trust within sinew and synapse.  May myrrh, an essence of wholeness at a deep-down cellular level, be for us a bundle of life force, a creativity to hold between our breasts as we begin life anew.

May it be so.

Warmly,

Kathleen

*** Please note: data on myrrh comes from my unpublished book, The Green World Oracle: Listening to the Sacred Voices of Trees and Plants.  The material is protected by copyright laws and all rights are reserved.  It may not be reproduced without my written permission.  Sandra Stanton's art is equally and fully protected.

Solstice Celebrations Around the World
(From World Peace & Prayer Day)

Winter Solstice arrives when the sun enters Capricorn
on Friday, 21 December 2001.
In the western United States, this will take place late Friday morning -- 11:21am (PST);
on the East Coast, it'll be Friday afternoon -- 2:21pm (EST);
in Europe and further east, it'll be evening  -- 19:21 [7:21pm] (GMT)
If you'd like to look at charts, graphs, and math for winter solstices, try here:
http://www.treasure-troves.com/astro/WinterSolstice.html

The world's three desert-born monotheisms also celebrate important feasts during this winter season:  the Moslem month of Ramadan[also see below under 11/17] is celebrated from approximately 17 November (depending upon the new moon's sightings) to the New Moon of 15 December 2001; the Jewish feast of Chanukah[also see below under 12/9] is honored from sunset 9 December to 17 December 2001; western Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th; and eastern orthodox Christians celebrate Christ's birth on January 7th.

Although Chanukah and Christmas always fall during December, it should be noted that the Moslem feast of Ramadan migrates each lunar year and doesn't always fall during the Chanukah / Christmas season --- it did in 1999 and again in 2000, but in 2001 it'll fall within the celebration of Chanukah but lie outside the Solstice/Christian celebratory winter-nexus.

Ancient calendar-events, of course, mean little when politics sway dangerously out of control.  Nevertheless, one cannot help but pray that the bitterness and sense of betrayal between Sarah and Hagar will stop overshadowing their raging descendants and, instead, transform and engender a new tolerance, to say nothing of simple common sense, during this winter season.

  To help Afghanistan's refugees,
please contact: RAWA

Winter Links:
GENERAL

"Lady Snowfall"
by Tatyana Smirnova
[Courtesy of Tradestone International]

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/natural/natural.htm

This lovely site from Caltech professor of physics, Kenneth G. Libbrecht, examines why no two snowflakes are ever alike.  The page offers images of and links to gorgeous photos of individual snowflakes.  I found it utterly fascinating.

[Annotation updated 11/9/01]: From the "Weather Doctor," meteorologist Dr. Keith C. Heidorn, comes this marvelous essay on frost:

...Our friend Jack Frost, it appears, is a benevolent artist compared to some of the other frost beings of mythology. Jack is likely the son of the Norse god of wind Kari, born Jokul ("icicle") Frosti ("frost"). When Jokul Frosti immigrated to England with the Norse, he became Jack Frost, an elf-like being who colours tree leaves and paints patterns on windows....

Heidorn elegantly combines the science of frost formation with the folklore of Jack Frost, Father Frost, the "frosty sisters" of the Pleiades (from an Australian Aboriginal myth), Germany's crone who makes snow by shaking out her feather bed, and other such beings.  There are lovely photos of different types of frost as well.

This wonderful site is the home page for Waverly Fitzgerald's School of the Seasons, one of my favorite sites (and one which appears elsewhere among my own pages).  Waverly is thorough, wide-ranging, and has a superb eye for lore.  She updates each month a day or so before it begins -- but check her "Archives" section if you, like me, love sneak previews -- a few dates will change each year (e.g., Chanukah), but most remain the same.  Don't miss this one.  On the home page, you'll also find great special feature articles on the holiday season.

[Annotation updated 11/9/01]:Another "must see" is this award-winning site, created by San Franciscan, Teresa Ruano, and offering appealing essays on Winter Solstice, Yule, Saturnalia, and much else. (Note: click anywhere on the large candle to enter the site).  The focus is pagan, but the fabulous collection of links includes Chanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa as well.

If you click on "About the site," you'll find a hypertext link to Ruano's beautifully written reasons for choosing a candle for her site; she also gives the superb Margot Adler text that swirls around that opening candle:

"When one combines a process of inquiry with content of beauty and antiquity, when, even as a lark, one opens the flow of archetypal images contained in the history and legends of people long negated by this culture, many who confront these images are going to take to them and begin a journey unimagined by those who started the process."

               --Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon

Above all, don't forget to explore her "and Today" page -- here, starting with December first, she gives new entries for each day throughout the holiday season.  This is a great site for browsing -- just click on all hypertext!  (Note: the site is updated each year.)

This site from fellow-Capricorn, Frances Donovan, comes from about.com (formerly the Mining Company, "mining" the web for gems so you don't have to).  Donovan's opening essay on Yule is brief but lovely; she also offers terrific links to other related Yule sites [link updated 11/9/01], making this another good place to browse for lore and rituals.  (You can also access previous weekly issues of this site and learn about entry-level data on wicca as well as Donovan's path from Catholicsm to Wicca.  She has an honest, amusing, engaging style.)

From the always excellent Witches' Voice site come various essays on many aspects of winter solstice and Christmas, especially from pagan perspectives.

This is Carol McCullough's colorful "Winter Festivals from the Past & Present."  Her opening commentary mentions the calendar changes of 1752, which is why the Orthodox Church retains the older date of 7 January (if you're interested in the history behind these calendar changes, you might wish to explore some of the links on my page about Time).  Then she offers a survey of worldwide festivals with brief comments on each:  Sweden's Midvimterblot; Druid/Wiccan solstice; Tibet's Dosmoche (a 5-day celebration for the dying year) and Butter Sculpture festivals; medieval Europe's Feast of the Ass; Italy's La Befana; Pakistan's Chaomas; Ethiopia's Ganna games; England's wassailing of the apple trees (also a Snapdragon game); Mexico's "Night of the Radishes"; and Japan's Hari-Kuyo, or festival of Broken Needles.  At the end, under "Happy Holidays," she has good links to other sites, including those for Chanukah and Kwanzaa.  I wish she had more data for each festival but the page is bright, pleasant and gives a good sense of the variety of winter festivals available throughout the world.  It's a great starting point for you to explore further into those that intrigue you most.

From N. S. Gill, the reliable and erudite Ancient/Classical History guide at about.com, comes this excellent page of information and links to four ancient winter solstice celebrations held in Rome (Saturnalia and feasts honoring Mithras), Mesopotamia (the Zagmuk festival), and Israel (Chanukah).

From Anthony Pena, the Astrology guide at about.com, comes this provocative essay, "Jesus Was A Capricorn?"  Pena looks convincingly at facts surrounding the Christmas Star, magi, and ancient astronomy; he speculates (along with other astrologers) that Jesus was probably a Pisces and may have been born 1 March in the year 7 BCE.  Pena also provides a great collection of links to myths of Saturn and Janus, the Saturnalia, Star of Bethlehem, life in Roman antiquity, and much more.

[Added 12/10/01]: These are 4 elegant, winter dolls by Brenda Goin Morris: Odin, St. Nicholas, Lan Khoong-Khoong, and Befana.  Data is minimal but the doll-images are lovely (note: these are expensive -- around $500 each).

LINKS TO A SELECTION OF CROSS-CULTURAL
CALENDAR DATES

Note: for links arranged by region instead of calendar, please go to my Yuletide Around the World page (many of the links there were on my 1999 Winter page, but they took too long to load & I decided to divide them in 2000, despite the fact that some categories overlap).

Winter Moon
© 1999 by Joanna Powell Colbert: used with her permission [URL updated 12/1/01].
[Note: this link will take you to a series of Joanna's beautiful Yule paintings,
each with its own fine lore -- many can be bought as cards or prints.]

[Annotation updated 11/9/01]: This is Waverly Fitzgerald's brief paean to the month of November, which is when winter begins in many lands.  A calendar at the end shows many of the ancient winter celebrations in Europe, Asia, and the New World -- many of them have clickable links for further data.

This is "All Souls Day and the Wild Horde," again from Waverly Fitzgerald -- it's a fine essay on the "Wild Hordes" of Odin and Herne.

Ramadhan
17 November - 15 December 2001
[For additional information, see my new page on Islam]

Ramadan
(From Blue Mountain Arts)

Author's Note
[13 November 2001]:

Islam has never played much of a role in my life, yet it has long haunted the fringes of my consciousness.  When I visited Israel in the 1960's and 1970's, I always stayed with the Sisters of Zion in the Old City of Jerusalem where I awakened each dawn to the call to prayer from a nearby minaret.  I loved that call to prayer, the markets of the Old Quarter, the Arab men, the mint tea they offered me, the rich laughter we shared.  But I knew little of their faith.

Today, with the pressure of world events, I have been looking more closely at Islam.  Like many people, I thought of Ramadan as a kind of Moslem "Lent" when everyone fasts.  Recently, however, in reading portions of Islamic scholar Michael Sells' Approaching the Qur'an: the Early Revelations (White Cloud Press, 1999), I discovered how profoundly rich this period is.

It prepares the way for the "Night of Destiny" in which the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.  What I found especially engrossing is that the fluid Arabic used to speak of the Night into which Spirit breathes its seeds of Qur'anic revelations is redolent with the same sounds and imagery found in Qur'anic passages in which Spirit breathes the seed of Jesus into the womb of Maryam (Mary).  Sells writes:

Gender is a vital aspect of Qur'anic sound figures and the Qur'anic passages on spirit.  Like all sacred texts of the classical period of religious revelations, the Qur'an was revealed in a society in which the public voice of leadership was largely male; thus, the social context of the revelation, as in the Bible or the Vedas, was largely a male domain.  Yet the gender dynamic within the Qur'an contains an extraordinary balance that is constructed and modulated through sound figures.  These patterns create partial personifications -- of a woman giving birth, conceiving, suffering, experiencing peace, or grieving at the loss of her only child.... These sound visions occur at theologically critical moments in the Qur'an and are vital to its suppleness and beauty in the original Arabic.  It may be no coincidence that spirit (ruh) is one of the few words in Arabic that can be both masculine and feminine.... The loss of such sound visions in translation is particularly damaging because of the way Islam has been perceived in stereotypes about gender and the role of women in society [Sells:186].

In discussing "the intricate and beautiful gender dynamic that is a fundamental part of Qur'anic language" [Sells:202], Sells writes of the feminine pronoun, ha, a sound that "anchors the Sura," in these terms:

...it creates a sense of a feminine-gendered presence within a set of sliding or shifting referents (the sun, the sky and the earth and/or the sun, and then the soul).  The objects evoked are marks of wonder and signs of their underlying source [Sells:195].

Finally, about the Night of Destiny itself, Sells writes:

...The implicit metaphor in the Sura of Destiny is night, personified as a woman, conceiving the prophetic message through the spirit.  This conception by the night of destiny is almost identical, in the language used to depict it, to the conception by Maryam of Jesus through the spirit.  The personification of the night is never direct or blatant, but is heard and constructed through sound figures and undertones that make the Sura of Destiny one of the world's most beloved passages on prophecy [Sells:192-3].

I hope this brief introduction will give you some sense of the "spirit" within Islam (I highly recommend Sells' book for its surprising insights and stark beauty -- it comes with a fabulous CD of Qur'anic reciters chanting some of the early suras).

Now to Ramadan....

The above dates cover the estimated month of Ramadan for 2001 -- the actual dates depend upon the first sight of the new moon's rising, as the Moslem calendar is both lunar and experiential -- in other words, the new moon actually has to be seen: if the night is cloudy, Ramadan might start the following night, or the next, or whenever the sky clears.  This handsomely designed website comes from the ArabView Network.  It includes information on Ramadan, many tasty recipes, and links to related sites.  About Ramadan itself:

The holy month of Ramadan is the 9th month of the Muslim calendar where all Muslims "Fast" or refrain from eating from dusk till dawn. It is also believed that during this holy month, the Quran was revealed (believed to be on the 27th day of Ramadan - "Laylat al Qadr" or "Night of Power") to the Prophet Mohammad....

This is another very handsomely designed site (lovely turquoise-blues) with links to basic information on Ramadan and Islam.

"Ramadan -- What Is It?" comes from a December 1996 essay by Abdulhamid Mukhtar.  Based on tradition as well as etymologies, it's a very interesting piece of writing.  For example:

Ramadan is derived from the Arabic root word ramida or arramad -- intense scorching heat and dryness, especially the ground.... Some said  it is so called because the hearts and souls are more readily receptive to the admonition and remembrance of Allah during Ramadan, as the sand and stones are receptive to the sun's heat....

[Annotation updated 11/9/01]:This site offers many links to Ramadhan -- one of the sections I found most interesting is "Ramadhan Issues," where there's a lengthy essay on the question of whose sighting of the new moon begins and ends Ramadan.  The author takes issue with political boundaries and "government scholars" in determining Ramadan:

...The sighting of the moon of Ramadhan or the moon of Shawaal by a Muslim obliges all the Muslims to fast or break fast, with no difference between a country or another or between a Muslim or another because any Muslim who saw the moon is proof for any who did not see it.

    The witnessing by a Muslim in any country is not more deserving than the witnessing by a Muslim in any other country. There is no value of the divisions and borders which the kuffar established in the Muslims' lands, which made it so that the Muslims of Dar'a in Syria start fasting while the people of Ramtha in Jordan do not, although there is nothing between the two cities except imaginary borders....

In contrast to the viewpoint expressed at the above site, from the "Worldwide Online Newsletter" comes a simple one page site with a useful overview of Ramadan.  It includes hypertext for more in-depth data -- especially interesting is one on the "Moslem Lunar Calendar" with colorful visibility curves showing worldwide sighting-potentials. Looking at these charts gives one a good sense of the complexity of these sightings in their interlinked time zones.

From Christine Huda Dodge, the Islam guide at about.com, comes "The Ramadan Spirit," an eloquent page from 1999 contrasting the Moslem month of fasting with the materialism of some of the other seasonal celebrations.

Also from Christine Huda Dodge is this unusually lengthy page of well chosen links to many aspects of Ramadan (including links for teachers).  This is a great place to browse.

St. Catherine of Alexandria
[From the site directly below]

Again from Waverly, this is the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of scholars, jurists, unmarried women, and people who work with wheels, like spinners (it's also my name-day <smile>):

...She is possibly modeled after Kali who has a fiery wheel as an emblem. Certainly these images (found in the word Yule, the Advent candle wreath and St. Lucy's crown of candles) are ubiquitous at this time of year; so are folk customs forbidding women to spin (use a wheel). Durdin-Robertson says St. Catherine is a Christian version of Nemesis, the Goddess of the Wheel of Fortune (and thus perhaps with Mary in her aspect as Mother of Divine Providence....

FYI: during my Catholic days, I celebrated this feast for years in my small slum apartment on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1960-70's.  When the Vatican deleted many saints like Catherine (also St. Nicholas and St. Christopher) from the yearly calendar, I wondered who would replace her.  I kept checking church calendars for updates.  Then one night I dreamed that I was given a beautifully illuminated, medieval-style, updated Daily Missal.  Eagerly, I turned to 25 November to see whose feastday it now was.  There on the exquisitely painted page I saw written: The Feast of the Acceptance by God of St. Francis of Assisi's Music.  The grammar was awkward, but it only served to impress it upon my memory so that I could recall it intact when I awoke.  I now celebrate the music and sacred art within each of us on 25 November.

St. Barbara:  [art link dead 11/11/01]
Detail of the Werl Altarpiece by the Master of Flemalle
(Madrid's Prado Museum)

4 December:

http://www.omda.bg/engl/cook/Varvara.htm

This is the feast of St. Barbara:

....This saint protects children from different diseases and, first of all, small-pox. This festival has to do not only with children, but with animals too....

This site from Bulgaria looks at traditions involving this saint; it also provides festive Bulgarian recipes for foods associated with this day: "bathed bread," stuffed dried peppers, lentils, and macaroons. (Also see my Balkans: Bulgarian pages.)

St. Nicholas
Robert Lentz
Courtesy of  Natural Bridges

5-6 December:
*** [Note: also see Christmas, 25 December, for Santa Claus] ***

  http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/stnick.html
[Link updated 12/1/01]

These dates are the eve and feastday of St. Nicholas.  Waverly Fitzgerald offers this well researched page on St. Nicholas as well as his companion, "Black Pete."  I found especially interesting the echoes of Poseidon (whose feastday is December 1st) found in this Turkish saint.

I love the additional nautical lore offered on this Bulgarian site about St. Nicholas.  Although the connection to Poseidon (see directly above) isn't specified, it's obvious from the context:

The folk-Christian myth relates of the partitioning of the world when to Saint Nicholas’ lot fell the seas, rivers and lakes. He is the master of the entire submarine realm - fish and water demons, as well as of the sea winds. According to the myths, St. Nicholas makes winds rage and cease, he can walk on the seas, and whenever there is a ship in trouble, he would save it.

The site offers several Bulgarian recipes for ribnik, dough-wrapped carp (a fish offered to St. Nicholas) as well as for rice with dried fruits.

Chanukah
9 - 17 December 2001

The Three Candles
[Detail]
Marc Chagall

Author's Note
[9 November 2001]:

I am not Jewish, at least not in this lifetime <smile>.  But I love Chanukah.  I have an Israeli menorah depicting the Tree of Life that I bought in the 1950's when I was studying Hebrew with a dear friend.  In 1959 I played the role of Margot, the older sister of Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank in a local Civic Theatre production in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  As Margot, I celebrated and sang as a Jew with the rest of the largely Jewish cast.  I've never forgotten the poignancy of that time.  The feast celebrates a miracle, seeds of light, burning in a time of darkness and despair.  This is a good thing to celebrate, for all peoples.

Waverly Fitzgerald's thoughtful page gives both an historical and a cross-cultural perspective.  For example:

The Jewish festival of light, Hanukkah, begins on the 25th of Kislev, three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice. This means it spans the darkest time of the year both in the lunar cycle and the solar cycle....

From Dakota State University come five well-chosen Chanukah links.  They express a great range of variety and overall excellence.  This is a good browsing site.

This is a family oriented site, lively, well written, and many pages are as interesting for adults as for children:

...We've got stories, tasty holiday recipes, holiday pictures for the kids to print and color, easy crafts to make, holiday games to play, and spinning dreidels!

Our Lady of Guadalupe
[From "The Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe":
see directly below]

The Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is explored in this illustrated essay on the background of this major winter celebration in Mexico:

December 12 is perhaps the most important day on Mexico's fiesta calendar, for it is the day which honors the "Mother of the Mexicans," the Virgin of Guadalupe. According to legend, an apparition of the Virgin appeared to the recently converted Indian Juan Diego in 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac, just north of Mexico City; this site had served in pre-Conquest times as an ancient pilgrimage site dedicated to the Aztec earth goddess, Tonantzin. A brown-skinned Virgin, speaking in Juan Diego's native tongue of Nahuatl, declared herself to be Mary, the Mother of Christ, and requested that a church be built in her honor on the hill....

Juno-Lucina/St. Lucia
(Detail)
Courtesy of Sandra Stanton (also see directly below)

This is the feastday of Sweden's St. Lucia, a light-bearing saint who originated in Italy as the goddess Juno-Lucina.  This lovely, strong page from Sandra Stanton begins with Lucina and offers a brief historical perspective.

[Annotation updated 11/12/01]:This is another fine page on Juno-Lucia, this time from Joanna Powell Colbert:

Juno Lucina, Mother of Lights, was a goddess of childbirth whose festival was celebrated with torchlights and bonfires in Rome in early December. As midwife of the miraculous Sun Child born at Winter Solstice, it was said she brought children to light....

Here is yet another version of St. Lucia, with nicely expanded lore: http://www.jpc-artworks.com/gallery/wintersolstice/giftbringers5.html:
[Link updated 12/1/01]

And from Waverly Fitzgerald, woven from several excellent sources, comes a more detailed look at St. Lucia, patroness of eye diseases and the blind.  Waverly reminds us that before the calendar change, St. Lucia's feast would have fallen on winter solstice (just like the Baltic goddess Saule -- see below).

St. Ignatius of Antioch
[11/1/00: art link is now defunct]

20 December:
http://www.omda.bg/engl/cook/Ignajden.htm

This is the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch as it is celebrated in Bulgaria.  According to tradition, the Virgin's labor pains began on this day and continued until Christmas:

....This festival venerates the bishop of Antioch - Saint Ignatius  Theophorus, sentenced to death because of his Christian faith and thrown to the lions. It was from the day of St. Ignatius to Christmas Eve that Virgin Mary's labours continued.  Christmas and New Year festivities begin from Ignazhden. The popular belief holds this day as the beginning of the new year, that is why in some places in Bulgaria its name is Nov den /New Day/.  And since it is the start of a new year, it is very important what man or woman first steps in the house - good or bad. On this personality depends the whole year ahead....

(FYI: St Ignatius lived in the first-second centuries A.D. and was thrown to the lions in Rome, where he died as a martyr.  He is reported to have said: I am God's wheat, ground fine by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ...If the lions are lazy, poke them.)

Although this Bulgarian feast honors a Christian saint, the feast's traditional connection with the beginnings of the Virgin's labor as well as its association with new life and new beginnings clearly mark it as a Christian holiday substituted for a much older winter solstice celebration.  The site provides recipes connected with this feast, including ring-cakes and potato dishes.

Saule [Detail]
Used with the kind permission of Joanna Powell Colbert
[See directly below]

21-22 December (Winter Solstice):
http://www.jpc-artworks.com/gallery/wintersolstice/saule.html:
[URL updated 12/1/01]

Winter Solstice is celebrated as the feast of the Baltic goddess Saule in Latvia and Lithuania.  Joanna Powell Colbert gives us this page on Saule's connection with light -- in this case, the golden apples of the sun:

....At Winter Solstice, Kaleda, Saule is reborn as her daughter the morning-star....

The page offers good data in addition to a lovely image of Saule (see directly above for detail).

Based on data from "O Mother Sun" by Patricia Monaghan (Crossing Press), this page gives more information on Saule.  My favorite part is this beautiful passage on the goddess, her sun-stone (amber), and spinning (note: this site is double-listed on my Common Themes: Weaving page):

....Among the Balts, the connection between the sun and spinning is very old, and the sun-stone, amber, forms the link....Sometimes amber discs were also placed in the grave, perhaps as prayers to the Sun Goddess to spin forth the lost life in another body.... [A]mber was considered a magical substance for a spinner; as the light never tangles in the sky, so an amber spindle protected the new thread from snarls caused by unhappy or malicious spirits....

                 "Saule, my amber weeping Goddess
                       creating light like thread.
          As "Saules Mat" my mother sun, daily blessing
                    your thankful world with light."

From Sacred Serpent (whose other pages are found elsewhere on my website) comes another site dedicated to Saule ("Sow-lay") by Vilija, a woman who knows the language and lore firsthand.  It's beautifully done, authoritative, impressively detailed.  For example, in addition to being the Sun, Saule is also the mother of the planets, all of whom are her daughters! --

...As the female head of the heavenly family, Saule is the mother of the planets.  Among Her daughters are: Vaivora (Mercury), Ausrine, (Morning Star or Venus), Zemyna (Earth), Ziezdre (Mars), Selija (Saturn) and Indraja (Jupiter). Thus, according to some scholars, Lithuanians named the planets during a matriarchal age. i.e. earlier than the Romans.

On December 13th, (Feast of St. Lucia), Saule pauses on Her return to dance with Her daughters. She also dances at Velykos (Easter) and Rasa (summer solstice)....

The site conjures up many such evocative images.

From Kristaps ("Chris") Johnson comes yet one more fine page on Saule and, to a lesser extent, her brother, the Moon.  Chris approaches Saule in her own right but also in an interesting cross-cultural context.  The illustrated page includes her ancient symbols as found in intricate embroideries -- Chris includes some lovely examples.

This rich essay, again from Sacred Serpent, is "The Winter Solstice: Kucios and Kaledos," by Audrius Dundzila, Ph.D. looks at traditions surrounding the Balts' winter solstice eve (Kucios) and winter solstice itself (Kaledos), which is the rebirth of Saule, Mother Sun.

From Sweden comes this well written and quite intriguing essay on Yule, or Winter Solstice, from a pagan perspective.  The author is Mike Nichols.  Here is how he begins:

     Our Christian friends are often quite surprised at how enthusiastically we Pagans celebrate the 'Christmas' season.  Even though we prefer to use the word 'Yule', and our celebrations may peak a few days BEFORE the 25th, we nonetheless follow many of the traditional customs of the season: decorated trees, carolling, presents, Yule logs, and mistletoe.  We might even go so far as putting up a 'Nativity set', though for us the three central characters are likely to be interpreted as Mother Nature, Father Time, and the Baby Sun-God.  None of this will come as a surprise to anyone who knows the true history of the holiday, of course.

    In fact, if truth be known, the holiday of Christmas has always been more Pagan than Christian, with its associations of Nordic divination, Celtic  fertility rites, and Roman Mithraism.  That is why both Martin Luther and John Calvin abhorred it, why the Puritans refused to acknowledge it, much less celebrate it (to them, no day of the year could be more holy than the Sabbath), and why it was even made ILLEGAL in Boston!  The holiday was already too closely associated with the birth of older Pagan gods and heroes.  And many of them (like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur) possessed a narrative of birth, death, and resurrection that was uncomfortably close to that of Jesus.  And to make matters worse, many of them pre-dated the Christian Savior.

    Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the year.  It is the Winter Solstice that is being celebrated, seed-time of the year, the longest night and shortest day.  It is the birthday of the new Sun King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose to call him.  On this darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth....

There is rich lore here, including wassail cups, bees, crickets, windy weather, shepherds tending flocks by night, lambing, ivy, holly, and mistletoe.  If you're interested in the ancient roots of this season, don't miss this essay.

[Added 12/10 & 12/16/01]: From the non-profit organization, Religious Tolerance, comes an excellent and thoughtful page on cross-cultural winter solstice celebrations.  The cultures include those of Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Druids, Native Americans, Buddhists, Jews, Moslems, atheists, and Neo Pagans.  It also looks at prehistoric monuments aligned with the rising sun on winter solstice.  Here is one passage concerning pre-historic north Europeans:

...In pre-historic times, winter was a very difficult time for Aoriginal people in the northern latitudes. The growing season had ended and the tribe had to live off of stored food and whatever animals they could catch. The people would be troubled as the life-giving sun sank lower in the sky each noon. They feared that it would eventually disappear and leave them in permanent darkness and extreme cold. After the winter solstice, they would have reason to celebrate as they saw the sun rising and strengthening once more. Although many months of cold weather remained before spring, they took heart that the return of the warm season was inevitable. The concept of birth and or death/rebirth became associated with the winter solstice. The Aboriginal people had no elaborate instruments to detect the solstice. But they were able to notice a slight elevation of the sun's path within a few days after the solstice -- perhaps by DEC-25.  Celebrations were often timed for about the 25th....

[Added 12/10/01]: From Shamanic Astrology comes "Mysteries of the Winter Solstice" by Daniel Giamario.  It begins with a discussion of calendars and their unfortunate modern detachment from natural cycles.  Then it moves to its central topic, winter solstice, in a cross-cultural context, beginning with the Native American:

...A cross-cultural and global view of humanity reveals the Winter Solstice to be in many respects, the most important of all the magic points of the natural year. A look at some examples from around the world will illustrate this.

Solstice means -- "standstill of the Sun". At Winter Solstice, the Sun travels farthest south in its orbital path and for about three days the Sun rises and sets at virtually the same place, appearing to stand still, and then it slowly moves north. As Winter Solstice approaches, the nights become longer and the days shorter, so that the days around Winter Solstice are the shortest of the year. Most ancient peoples (including Anasazi, Celtic, Scandinavian, Etruscan, and many more) planned festivals and ceremonies at or around the Winter Solstice. The intent was to ensure that the Sun would return; that the days would again get longer. The implicit belief was that if the ceremonies were not worked properly, then the Sun might not return, and there would be eternal winter and night.

The Anasazi, along with their descendants among the Hopi, Pueblo, and Zuni, especially honored the Winter Solstice. The Hopi's highest festival is Soyal, taking place as close to the day of the Winter Solstice as they can make it by observation of the sunrise and sunset on their horizon calendars. A village elder, called the Tawa-Mongwi, or the Sun Chief, stands at an observation point on Second Mesa to carefully observe the sunset over the San Francisco peaks, home of their Kachinas. It was (and is) extremely important to get this right, for knowledge of when to plant crops was dependent on the correct ascertations of the Winter Solstice.

Among the Pueblos, Winter Solstice is an affirmation that the cyclical order of time and the world order will continue intact. Their ceremonies of Soyal are designed to guarantee the Sun's return north. They called the full Moon nearest to Soyal "sacred but dangerous Moon", alluding to the concern that the Sun might not return.

The Zunis attempted to organize their calendar so that Winter Solstice occurred at or near Full Moon. White Shell Woman (the Moon) helps to persuade the Sun to return north. The coincidence of Full Moon and Winter Solstice would also have provided a great opportunity to bring the solar and lunar calendars into agreement.

These examples are typical of all land based agricultural peoples. There are numerous other examples from the Celtic traditions and from other Neolithic peoples of Northern Europe and the British Isles with virtually identical attitudes about the Winter Solstice. Always included were the practical applications regarding agriculture as well as the spiritual matters of the death of the Sun/Light and its return....

Note: although the lengthy and informative page is unfootnoted, there's a bibliography at the end.

[Added 12/10/01]:From Self Help Magazine comes a series of 6 short but really nice pages by psychologist Joanna Poppink, MFCC, on winter solstice.  The first page is somewhat weak but the next five have great data (unfortunately not footnoted).  On Page 4 I especially like her connecting winter solstice to the moment in which Thor hurls a lightning bolt of pure light at a dark oak -- a moment in which both light and dark are equally balanced and precious.  Since the dark is so often demonized in the West, it's refreshing to see someone who honors the life-carrying power and other gifts of the "dark."

For technical reasons beyond my ken, the site has blocked any ability to copy and paste quotes, so I can't include an excerpt (I've e-mailed the webmistress for help).

[Added 12/10/01]:From Creative Minds Unlimited comes an entry level page on various cross-cultural winter and/or winter solstice celebrations.  The range is intriguing.

Christmas Eve / Christmas Day

Star Window

Author's Note
(27 June 2001):

What if there had been no special baby born in a cave under the stars?  What if all we had had to celebrate the past few thousand years were millions and millions of babies born under the stars -- small humans, growing into wise humans, with no special being to mediate between us and the heavens, no special being given the task of uniquely loving, laughing, bleeding, dying, rising?  What if there were just us, the lovely earth, the watching stars?  What if.......?

What if all the love and tenderness for earth and each other had to come from us alone, witnessed only by the stars?  What if the gods themselves have decreed that we alone hold responsibility for the wonder and fragile beauty of this planet?  Could we not then do a better job of all this? -- with no one to fall back upon but ourselves?  I'm not suggesting that there are no deities or Watchers out there, only that perhaps we have too long depended upon rescue from "out there" instead of focusing upon the innate wisdom and compassion long ago seeded within us.

In this season of Light's birth from the holy, all encompassing, pulsing Darkness, perhaps we could remember that what's really being born, hopefully, is our own ability to mature and navigate gracefully through both Darkness and Light, for the dance between these seeming opposites profoundly enriches the deeper wisdom lying too long unclaimed within us.......

Adoration of the Shepherds on Christmas Eve
[Detail]
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494)
Tigertail Virtual Museum

24 December:
http://www.omda.bg/engl/cook/Christmas.htm

This page on Christmas eve in Bulgaria details many folk customs rooted in an agricultural past and associated with this celebration:

It is also called Sukha koleda /Dry Christmas/, Malka koleda /Little Christmas/, Kadena vecher /Incensed Night/, Bozhich. The forty-day Advent, starting on 15 November, finishes on this day.
Folk beliefs hold it that the Mother of God began her labours on St. Ignatius’ Day and gave birth to God’s son on Christmas Eve....

Recipes included on the page are for meatless chomlek, stuffed cabbage leaves, boiled wheat, walnut kernels in the Thracian style, "Swift Pumpkin" dessert, stewed dried fruit, and a round breadloaf:

...the water used to make the bread was brought in a white caldron by a girl or by a young woman married in the autumn preceding Christmas Eve and having borne no children yet....

This is a page with a wide variety of Christmas Eve customs from Poland:

Customs to ensure a betrothal or good harvest were a major part of rural Polish Christmas time traditions.
        For Poles, Christmas Eve is a time of family gathering and reconciliation. It's also a night of magic: Animals are said to talk in a human voice and people have the power to tell the future....

There are also good links to other Polish Yuletide features, including links to food, carols, and creches.

[Note for another great page on Christmas Eve customs in Poland, see Okana's Web under "Yule in Russia & Eastern Europe" on my new Cross-Cultural Yuletide Links page.]

[Added 12/1/01]:  This is a new (2001) page by Waverly Fitzgerald for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  She looks at wonderful customs, ancient and contemporary, from all over the world.  Don't miss exploring this one.

Nativity
(From Moscow's Church of the Transfiguration -- no URL available)

25 December (Christmas):
Mythinglinks' Yuletide Around the World

For more links and great artwork on Christmas & Yuletide, I have shifted data that used to be on this page to a separate Myth*inglinks page at the above link.  This page covers regional Yuletide customs and lore in Scandinavia; Russia & Eastern Europe; Western Europe (including Celtic traditions; also Greece, France, and Europe in general); the New World; and "Down Under."  The page concludes with Yuletide mummers, festive foods, and Christmas tree lore.

[Added 12/10/01]:From N.S. Gill, the literate and first-rate about.com guide to the Ancient/Classical world, comes "Latin Christmas Carols and Music: Cantus, carols, chants, lyrics, musical terminology."  This is a lovely collection of briefly annotated links to the music of the Christmas season.

[Added 12/10/01]:Still on medieval music, this is "Nova Stella: a medieval Italian Christmas" from the time of Francis of Assisi.  The page is a brief introduction to a CD (unfortunately, the one music link doesn't work --  still, it looks interesting):

... To see God in the birds, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the snow, the fire in the torch lights over the Nativity scene. This approach to spirituality, inspired and encouraged by the mendicant orders of thirteenth-century Italy, spoke directly to human experience and reached directly into the hearts of people from all walks of life.

The "holy songs" that Francis and the villagers sang on that Christmas night could very well have included the early Laude spirituali, spiritual songs of praise. The poetry of the laude is the oldest repertoire of Italian lyric for which we have extant music. The immediacy of these songs even today allows the listener to experience the breath of spirituality that Francis himself introduced on that medieval Christmas night....

[Added Christmas Day 2001]:  "Early Christians hid the origins of the Bethlehem star" by Marcus Chown comes from the New Scientist.  Based on recent work by Michael Molnar (a respected astronomer formerly at Rutgers University), this interesting article focuses on the implications of a 4th century astrological text.  Unfortunately, the site is jury-rigged so that I can't copy and paste excerpts for you.

[Added 12/10/01]: From Creative Minds Unlimited comes a fine page by Vickie Hamby on Santa Claus (and St. Nicholas -- also see annotations for 5-6 December):

The idea of Santa Claus emerged thousands of years ago before Christ in Scandinavia.  The Viking god named Odin rode throughout the world in the winter on his eight-footed horse, Sleipnir, giving out gifts or punishments.  In the pagan world Odin was the forefather of Santa Claus.  His son Thor, god of farming, thunder and war, made his home in the far North.  His weapon was lightning, his color red.  While his father went about the world, Thor fought the gods of ice and snow, and conquered the cold, thus allowing spring to come.  Thor traveled in a chariot drawn by goats name Gnasher & Cracker.  During the same season , the gentle German goddess Hertha came down with her gifts of good fortune and health....

... In 1823, Clarke [Clement] Moore wrote details of Santa Claus in "The Night Before Christmas" that have shaped our view of who Santa Claus is.  It seems that Moore took aspect of many cultures' Santa's and combined them.  The Reindeer seem to have come from the myth of Thor.  Coming down the chimney is reminiscent of St. Nicholas dropping the third bag of coins for the third daughter.  Santa being an elf probably came from Sweden, where children believed that Santa enlisted the help of the elves in the attic.  It was from these children came the tradition of setting out food (this was to persuade the elves to help Santa with his duties)....

This is a nice little 1993 essay by Shava Nerad Averett that links the spirit of a kindly Santa Claus to the spirits of the kachinas of the American southwest.

Finally, this link will take you to facts and fictions about Clement Moore's famous depiction of "St. Nick."

Rozhanitza
[Detail]
Used with the kind permission of Joanna Powell Colbert
[see directly below]

26 December:
http://www.jpc-artworks.com/gallery/wintersolstice/rozhy.html:
[URL updated 12/1/01]

This date is celebrated as the birthday of the eastern European winter goddess, Rozhanitza.  On this day, people used to give each other gifts of embroidered cloth in the goddess' honor.  Here (above, her clothing reflecting Mary B. Kelly's research on these embroideries) Joanna shows her with her daughter, a deer-goddess.  The link gives further tantalizingly brief data on this virtually unknown goddess.

Hopi Turtle Icons
[See directly below]

This date is also celebrated in the American southwest -- in this case, with a sacred dance honoring the Turtle: click on Peter Garcia >>> Turtle Dance for the passage below:

....They named it the Turtle Dance because the turtle is a animal which has a long life. The elders were saying that the life span of the Native Americans of the Pueblo of San Juan relies on that certain reptile, the life-span that it has.

      The elders had a big ceremonial in naming the elements in the songs, the elements which are provided for human survival like the evergreens, the gourd rattle, and the turtle itself. And then also the songs relate to creations of the Kachinas....

Links on this illustrated pueblo site will take you to more information on the dance, a recording of a Turtle Song, and also to a beautiful essay by a Hopi elder on her memories of winter solstice.  (Note: on this site you can also order tasty homegrown dried soup packets with native recipes.)

[11/12/01: The powers-that-be at about.com have let economics guide them in slashing many excellent sites -- unfortunately, these links to two of Boise Matthews' are among them.  Perhaps if enough complain, they'll restore them.  In the meantime, see my 2001 Autumn Greetings & Lore for working links to seasonal pueblo dances.]

From about.com's guide to the southwest, Boise Matthews, comes an excellent page on solstice and other winter dances in the pueblos -- turtle, corn, buffalo, and deer dances.  Don't miss the "Tis the Season Introduction" link -- it'll take you to an exploration of the unique southwestern Solstice and Christmas blend of Native American and Hispanic cultures.

***Updated 26 April 2002: I'm glad I kept the above annotations because Boise now has her own website and the content looks much the same as what I first found on her about.com pages.  Here is the new link to pueblo dances: http://go-southwest.com/culture/pueblodances.shtml
and here are the Southwestern solstice/Christmas cultural blends: http://go-southwest.com/culture/home.shtml.

Kwanzaa

(From the Berber Corporation -- link is defunct as of 11/1/00 yet the firm still exists and if you delete everything in their URL back to their ".com," you'll be at their home page.  If you e-mail them from there, you might be able to get more info on this and other Kwanzaa images.)

Kwanzaa is a new ritual, dating only from 1966, but the human heart, not antiquity, is the true measure of a ritual's power and depth.  This site comes from the scholar who created the celebration, Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach:

...the central interest of this website is to provide information which reveals and reaffirms the integrity, beauty and expansive meaning of the holiday and thus aids in our approaching it with the depth of thought, dignity, and sense of specialness it deserves.

This is "Everything About Kwanzaa," a great site that was awarded the Times Pick by the Los Angeles Times on 12/23/96.  Whereas the preceding site has many fine linked pages (with accompanying load-times), this site is a long, convenient page with everything in one place.  I like both styles but if I were in a hurry, I'd use this one.  The other one is better for leisurely browsing.

This is a simpler site from WIVB, a TV station in Buffalo, New York.  It's well organized and has colorful graphics.  Its best feature is an essay on Kwanzaa's meaning and history from Dr. Conrad W. Worrill. [Note 10/29/00: link is now dead and has been replaced by this inferior page -- I  e-mailed them and complained but it did no good]:http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?s=19847

This useful little essay designed for educators from K-12 is "Kwanzaa- What Is It?" from the Akwansosem African Studies Program-Outreach at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

From the Flint Public Library in Michigan comes "Kwanzaa: an African-American Cultural Celebration."  The site offers a good collection of links to other sites but it also offers a unique Kwanzaa bibliography of non-fiction (divided into adult and youth), fiction (youth only), and audio & video resources.

Adoration of the Magi
Detail
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
[11/1/00: link is now defunct but I saved the full version at:  da Vinci2]

6 January:
http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/
[Link updated 11/12/01: go to January calendar when it's posted]

This is the feast of the Epiphany, the day on which the three Magi (Wise Men and astrologers) found the Christ child.  This is Waverly Fitzgerald's special page for "Twelfth Night," January 6th (Epiphany).

Every country has rich traditions surrounding this feast of Epiphany.  This website tells us how it's celebrated in Bulgaria:

On 6 January the Bulgarian people celebrate Epiphany or St. Jordan’s Day. This festival has different names in the different parts of the country, some of them are Krastovden /Day of the Cross/, Voditzi /Waters/ or Vodokrashti /Waterchristen/. The night before St. Jordan’s Day is the last one of the ”incensed" nights....According to the popular belief, in the dead of night on Epiphany the skies open and everyone who sees them, will be given by God all that he wishes. In the past, many people used to sit up all night watchfully awaiting the heaven to open....

Bulgarian recipes for this feastday are for cluster loaf, cabbage leaves stuffed with grouts, and a wheat dessert prepared in the Stara Zagora style.

John's Baptism of Christ
Detail
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
[11/1/00: art link is now defunct but I saved the full version at:  da Vinci2]

This date is Christmas in the Orthodox Church, but it's St. John the Baptist's Day in Bulgaria and elsewhere, for it was on this day that John's baptism of Christ at the Jordan River was celebrated (FYI: historically, Christ's Baptism is a far more ancient Christian feast than the Nativity):

In the church calendar, this is the day celebrated in honour of Saint John the Baptist who baptized Jesus. It is also the holiday of all who bear the Saint's name. By old Bulgarian custom at early dawn - before sunrise - young women brought water from a river or a well. In a large caldron, referred to as "chebar", they bathed the children for health. The young couples, who had married in the winter before St. John's Day, were also given a bath in this "chebar"....

Bulgarian recipes for the day include stuffed leg of pork, banitza (a cheese pastry) and apple pie.

Holiday Blues

Detail of Nativity by Andrea Mantagna
[Negativized]

http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/home/blues.html

For many reasons, the winter holidays are often a time of depression -- this is the "shadow-side" of the season's bright festivities:

...The Yale Depression Research Clinic claims that the holiday blues are a "universal and normal" experience. Although many may feel unhappy during the holidays, even more may experience post-holiday doldrums. Several studies show a rise in emotional distress after holidays, especially Christmas. Other studies show that mental health emergencies increase during the three weeks following the holidays....

This site, "Avoiding the Holiday (and Post Holiday) Blues" by Dr. Steve Duncan from Montana State University, looks at causes and offers refreshing suggestions for relief.

[Added 12/16/01]:After September 11th, this essay, "Yuletide 2001: Joy, Guilt, & the Turning of the Wheel," by author Yasmine Gale, looks at the mixed feelings so many have during this Yuletide 2001.  It is thoughtful, insightful, gentle, sensible.  Here are some key passages:

...I began to feel a little guilty about my extreme joy and focus on the coming season.  After all, hundreds of thousands are being laid off from work, thousands recently died and thousands more were injured in the horrific attacks of some fanatical madmen…we’re fighting a war to find and root out those same extremists and many of “our men” (and women) are going to be a long ways from home come the holiday season—be it Yuletide, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah.  So how could I take so much pleasure in a holiday when there is so much pain in the world?

I began to think about the turning of the Wheel and how the cycle moves on regardless of those who are left behind—it is the nature of life, the nature of death.  We cannot live in constant pain.  We cannot share the agony of others because as much as misery may love company, it only perpetuates the problem to live with a constant focus on terror....

...And so our rituals of joy and celebration are so very important right now.

We must continue on, must keep up our spirits, because if we fall into depression it will only feed the vortex of negative energy that recent events have brought about....

Yasmine then offers her poem, "A Merry Yuletide to All," a clever, funny, and deep riff on Clement Moore's "The Night Before Christmas."  My favorite line comes from the Holly King:

...And not every hunger will feed, not every tear dry,
But to ignore beauty for pain is to let your soul die....

The page ends with an evocative sunrise winter solstice ritual.

While not focused specifically on holiday depression, this exquisite page from my friend and colleague, Dr. Dianne Skafte, offers simple, wise meditative exercises for getting in touch with the deeper, oracacular, "invisible" dimensions of life.  These are valid year-round but especially relevant at this time of the year.  Don't miss this one!

This essay from Laura Shamas (who teaches communication and theatre at Pepperdine University and is working on her doctorate in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute) looks at winter depression from another perspective -- that of bringing more beauty into our lives by honoring Aphrodite.  An exceptionally lovely Aphroditic ritual designed for New Year's is included.

Since this page is already very long, I've added new material & transferred many Yule links to their own page.  It covers regional Yuletide customs and lore in Scandinavia; Russia & Eastern Europe; Western Europe (e.g., Celtic); the New World; and "Down Under."  The page concludes with Yuletide Mummers; Yuletide Foods; and Yuletide Trees -- don't miss it! <smile> Yuletide Around the World

The Imbolc/Candlemas page:
The traditional end of the Yule season in the Catholic Church is Candlemas on 2 February.  This coincides with the pagan feast of Imbolc.  I have created a separate page for this ancient feast which marks the embryonic quickening of the seed of light, first planted on the darkest night of the year during
Winter Solstice.

MY MYTHIC HOLIDAY SHOPPING PAGE

This page includes a handful of terrific sites where I buy my own holiday treasures.  (Don't forget that in the West, the Christmas/Yule season lasts til Epiphany/Three Kings' Day on 6 January! -- thus, no holiday gift is ever really "late.")  It also includes a link to "Monsters in the Toybox," a great essay from Pat Grauer about what not to buy (her essay is Christian-oriented but I found it wise and valuable for all).

Other Related Myth*ing Links Pages:

Page designed & opening text written: 23 October 2000; began updating last year's links: 29-31October 2000 -- unless noted, all links are from 1999 but many have been updated for 2000.  Launched All Hallows Eve (late 31 October 2000).
1 November 2000: link-check is now complete; 2 November 2000; 6 November 2000 (Nedstated - about 70-80 unrecorded visits prior to this); 9 November 2000; 16 November 2000; 6 December 2000; 21 December 2000.