Winter Solstice

In many Celtic-based traditions of neopaganism, there is the enduring legend of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. These two mighty rulers fight for supremacy as the Wheel of the Year...

If you live in Bavaria or some parts of Germany, you may be very familiar with the scary Christmas creature known as the Krampus. Let’s take a look at the Krampus–and just as importantly, the hu...

During the winter solstice season, we hear all kinds of cool stuff about candy canes, Santa Claus, reindeer and other traditions. But did you know that many Christmas customs can trace their roots bac...

While it may be mostly Pagans who celebrate the Yule holiday today, nearly all cultures and faiths have held some sort of winter solstice celebration or festival. Because of the theme of endless birth...

One of the first references to the fir tree in association with the Christmas tree comes from the Alsatian town of Strasbourg in 1604: “On Christmas, they put fir trees in the rooms in Strasbourg, the...

The darkest night of the year was called mothers’ night, because now the sun god, lover of the goddess, is reborn in the lap of the Earth. With him, the light of life is renewed. It is the moment of q...

Soon Christmas Comes Melody: Hans Helmut; Lyrics: Karola Wilke Soon Christmas comes Now Father Christmas is not far away Listen, the old man is knocking on the gate. With his white horse, he is waitin...

The usual dates supplied for the traditional Christmas season start with November 11 and end on February 2. Here is a small survey of the most important dates in the Christmas calendar. November 11. M...

Rituals are like theatrical plays or operas. With the passage of time, their content is continuously reinterpreted and imbued with contemporary meaning. Rituals are ideal surfaces for projection. They...

The symbolic meaning of Christmas plants opens up to us a new perspective on cultures and customs of times long past: the mythical wild hunt of Germanic and Nordic origin, the Julbock and the feast of...

Throughout the season runs evidence of a very rich Christmas ethnobotany, with ancient traces we will follow to their roots in this book. During this excursion into the past, we will learn much about ...

The word distaff means “fiber stick.” Thus, the Old Norse dísir and Old English idises, tutelary spirits who presided over the birth of a child, determined the length, thickness, and overall quality o...

Also running amok was Berchta’s more northerly incarnation, Frau Holle, who used to take charge of all infants who died before they could be baptized. The stubbled fields over which the broomstick-mou...

In the Alps of the same century, a visit from the Salige Fräuleins (“Blessed Young Ladies”), who came at night to sample food offerings left on the table, was announced by softer bee-like music than t...

On Berchtl Nights, the goddess’s Austrian servants take to the streets and create a din by ringing cowbells and playing tuneless music on their fiddles. These activities were not always confined to Ad...

Today is a good day for reflection, for tomorrow brings more light and you too will be brought to increased light, and all the things you carry will be revealed clearly in the light of day. You may ha...