Saturnalia
In ancient Rome the saturnalia was celebrated for honoring Saturnus (god of fertility, harvest and time), his wife Ops (Mother Earth), Consus (god of storage bins) and the winter solstice, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti(Latin: the birthday of the unconquered Sun). This happened between 17th and 25th of December.
The Romans used to visit their friends and family, give presents, decorate evergreen trees with stars and suns, decorate houses with evergreen branches, burn candles, gamble and have costume parties. At this time, the normal conceptions of moral and class were abandoned. Furthermore the Romans ate voraciously, drank alcohol excessively and danced exactly the same way as in the Nordic countries at the time of Yule.
All these pastimes were sacred rituals and grave duties guaranteeing the continuation of life. That is why they where same both in the Northern and the Southern Europe.
The Nordic Yule feast (old Scandinavian; jólaveizla) began in the evening of winter solstice 20th-23rd December, when the holy boar (castrated male pig) was sacrificed to Mother Earth. This was ment to give strength to Mother Earth (Frigg, Freja, Nerthus, Erce), so that she could give birth to her Son (Balder) on 24th of December. He was a symbol of next generations, eternal soul and light.
Sacrifice of Atonement
It is the most valuable of all the sacrifices, when a god himself is sacrificed for recreating the divine energy. It was called a sacrifice of atonement(old Scandinavian; sónarblót), and those who ate of it received a part of its divine power. Thus the death of one creature gave live to all the others. For ancient farmers, this was a completely normal idea: they ‘sacrificed’ and sew the seed in spring to earth, where it ‘died’, giving life to so many new seeds in a corn. The principle is the same in the Christian atonement sacrifice of the Christ and the ritual of Eucharist.
The holy boar was carefully chosen. It had been pampered and fed as if it were a god. When he came in the house in the evening of December the 23th, everyone paid him respect. The men put their hands on his back and took holy oaths. Following the boar was blessed, slaughtered and eaten. The participants drank beer to the health of the new year and peace from a holy drink horn.
Mother's little piglets are we all, are we all, are we all!
Mother's little piglets are we all, are we all — we all!
You are, and I am — you are, and I am.
(Scandinavian folksong. Translation: Author)
The ham as a Yule dish is therefore not a coincident, because pig is the holy animal and personification of Mother Earth, symbolizing her fertility. In many languages Mother Earth is called sow, like the Scandinavian mother goddess Freja is Syr or So; the sow. Thus the Yule ham is Mother Earth herself.
It's Christmas again, it's Christmas again, and bowls are filled with porridge,
Now one can have it, now one can have it, have his stomach full of porridge.
(Scandinavian folksong. Translation: Author)
The holy Yule porridge was as important as the sacred boar. Originally it was not made of rice, but other cereals. The insane eating and drinking on Yule was thought to guarantee the fields were giving a good harvest and the animals prospered. As told before, there were twelve Yule days, and it was assumed that if one then had food and drink all the while, one would have them the next twelve months of the new year.
Predictions
The old Yule was the time of many kinds of predictions. One could for example tell one’s lifespan by watching how a candle burned. Sounds of the animals might tell about what would happen next year. Peasants made twelve circles on the ceiling for predicting the next year’s weather. The circles symbolized the twelve Yule days and the twelve months of the year. If the first Yule day was cloudy, the peasant filled the symbol with chalk and it meant that the month of January would be cloudy. These circles were called Yule marks.
Concept of Yule
The concept of Yule peace is as old as the Yule itself. Originally it began from the Mother’s Night and continued the next twelve plus one days. At that time any crime was a severe sacrilege and was punished with death or outlawedness. Still the Yule was a time of wild games and uncontrolled sexuality, when the normal moral was forgotten. This duty was meant to strengthen the fertility of all living beings. Nowadays, because of the Christian resistance, there is nothing left of these Yule games but kisses under the mistletoe and the Scandinavian pre-Christmas parties (Finnish: pikkujoulu. Swedish: lilla jul. Danish: julefrokost.)
Yule was also a celebration of ancestors. They were present and participating at Yule as much as the living. A table, for example, was set for them with food and drink. As late as the 20th century, food and gifts were brought to the old megalithic tombs on midwinter.
Even nature spirits were believed to celebrate Yule in the same way as the living and the dead. For example, the holy elder tree had to be given her Yule beer every year. The common folklore about nature spirits tells of them intruding a home at the Yule evening in an attempt to steal the holy drink horns that were originally taken from them. The story might reflect the period of time when Christianity took over the pagan traditions giving, them new Christian names.
Above is a description of Yule from 400 AD. It was carved on a golden drink horn found in Denmark. On the left side one can see the holy boar, a horse and a fish to be sacrificed. The horse would be sacrificed on the Boxing Day. The animals are situated between two octagrams representing Mother Earth. The grains between the man and the horse symbolize the beginning of the new ceremonial year, and the days getting lighter. On the right side the effects of the Yule are to be seen. Nature wakes up from her hibernation and all the animals beget offspring.
To be continued in a subsequent blog.
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