The History Of Yule

Over 4000 years ago in ancient Egypt a festival that lasted 12 days to honor the Sun God Horus was the beginning of modern day Yule.  Here they celebrated the rebirth of the Sun and since the calendar was based on the sun it lasted 12 days. One day for each month of the year.  Buildings were decorated with greenery of all kinds,  The most valued and sought after was the 12 frond palm branch.  Each month the palm branch would sprout a new frond.   This made them a representation of the birth, death and rebirth of the Sun.  By using these it was believed to speed up the sun's growth and strength and encourage him to stay in the sky longer.  The Egyptians flourished and word spread of their 12 day celebration.

The Mesopotamians heard of the Sun-Honoring ceremonies and believing that these were the reason for Egypt's prosperity they began to do the same.  They called the ceremony Zagmuk and used their creators name (Marduk).  They believed that he created the world, and each year would have to battle the monsters of chaos.  The battle would rage for 12 days, and the God required the cheering on of his people to help win the battle.  The celebration began 5 days before Winter Solstice and lasted 6 days after.  The main day of the festival was on Winter Solstice itself.  On the 7th day Marduck stayed in the sky longer and was a sign that the monsters were defeated.

In Persia the celebration was called Sacaea and it was a little different then the other two.  Theirs was a festival of chaos and confusion.  The slaves and the masters changed places and a mock king was crowned.  Law and order went by the wayside and grudges and debts were forgotten.  By the end of the festival all was returned to normal.

In Greece they exchanged their monsters and gods.  Zeus battled and defeated Kronos and the Titans.  The main reason was the Kallikantzaroi who were mischievous imps that roamed the earth for 12 days.  They were believed to steal the spirits of unsuspecting children and those born during this time.  The Greeks wrapped newborns with necklaces of garlic and kept large logs burning in the fireplace.  They would burn old clothes, rotten food and other things that they believed were offensive to the Kallikantzaroi.

The Romans already practiced a sun worshipping religion called Mithraism and soon began to participate with the rest.  They combined traditions of their ancestors with traditions of their own.  They changed Zeus to Jupiter and Kronos to Saturn.  They honored Saturn at this time and so the festival became known as Saturnalia.  The festival began at the Temple of Saturn where they removed the chains that bound his feet all year long.  All of Rome was on Holiday.  All arguments were in the past as well as schools were let out and businesses and legal offices were closed.  The children ruled their families during this time as well as slaves ruling master.  A mock king was crowned.  During this time they decorated the buildings with laurel boughs.  They would light candles and lamps to chase away all evil spirits and built bonfires on the hilltops to encourage the sun to rise.  They had masquerade balls, feasts, parades and singing.  As Jupiter gained power in the sky Saturn's feet were bound once more and order was restored to all of Rome.

Eventually the festival spread throughout Europe and lasted until a new form of religion called Christianity appeared.  The conversion process was quite long and difficult. No matter how good the Christians tried to make it sound the Pagans wanted nothing to do with it.  Seeing this the Christians began to build their churches on old Pagan sites.  They began to incorporate pagan symbols in the church decor and added some modified pagan customs to their rituals.  They changed the Pagan deities names slightly and called them saints and added them to their pantheon.  It didn't go as well as they had planned.  The Romans felt they were making a mockery of their gods and the Christians went into hiding.

Around the 4th century the Christians had a revelation.  They placed a lot of emphasis on Jesus and his workings and death, that they never thought much about his birth.  The pagans system of belief was based on birth, death, and rebirth and the Christian system did not, as well as the pagans revered mother Goddess where the Christians did not.  Realizing their error they got to work again and came up with something new.

Mary the mother of Jesus became known as "The Mother of God", and the "Queen of Heaven"  This linked them to Isis, the Egyptian "Queen of Heaven."

Since no one really knew the birthday of Christ they gave him a birthday of December 25th.  This fell in the middle of the Winter Holidays.  They called it the Birth of the Son.  Thus Christmas was born!