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Yule
Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern Germanic paganism) celebrate Yule independently of the Christian festival. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon ("Mothers' Night"). The term ''Yule'' and cognates are still used in English and the Scandinavian languages as well as in Finnish and Estonian to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions. Etymology The modern English noun ''Yule'' descends from Old English , earlier ''geoh(h)ol'', ''geh(h)ol'', and ''geóla'', sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yule Log
The Yule log is a specially selected log burnt on a hearth as a winter tradition in regions of Europe, and subsequently North America. Today, this tradition is celebrated by Christians and modern pagans on or around Christmas/Yule. The name by which this tradition goes, as well as when and how the Yule log should be burnt, varies widely with time and place. The first solid evidence for this tradition originates in 1184 CE as a Christian Christmas eve tradition. The practice was originally known as the Christmas log (and still is in languages other than English), with Yule log first used in the late 17th century. The origins of the yule log are unclear, with scholar proposing a variety of possible theories ranging from a medieval Christmas tradition, a surviving ritual from Albanian, Roman, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic or Slavic paganism, or as a Proto-Indo-European ritual that has survived in a variety of cultures until today. Folklorist Linda Watts provides the following overview o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yule Goat
The Yule goat is a Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbol and tradition. Its origin is from Germanic paganism and has existed in many variants during Scandinavian history. Modern representations of the Yule goat are typically made of straw. History While its origins are unclear, a popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr; it goes back to common Indo-European beliefs. The last sheaf of grain bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule celebrations, called among other things Yule goat (''Julbocken'').Schager, Karin. ''Julbocken i folktro och jultradition'' (Yule goat in Folklore and Christmas tradition), Rabén & Sjögren, 1989. This connects to ancient Slavic mythologies, proto-Slavic beliefs where the Koliada (Yule) festival honors the god of the fertile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around the world. A liturgical year, liturgical feast central to Christianity, Christmas preparation begins on the Advent Sunday, First Sunday of Advent and it is followed by Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts Twelve Days of Christmas, twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in List of holidays by country, many countries, is observed religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as celebrated culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the annual Christmas and holiday season, holiday season. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midwinter
Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the early Germanic calendars where it was a period or a day which may have been determined by a lunisolar calendar before it was adapted into the Gregorian calendar. It appears with several meanings in later sources, including the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season, the first day of Þorri and the period from the middle of January to the middle of February. Since the 18th century, it has sometimes been misunderstood as synonymous with the astronomical winter solstice, which the word also can refer to in contemporary English. Attestations Midwinter is attested in the early Germanic calendars, where it appears to have been a specific day or a number of days during the winter half of the year. Before Christianisation and the adoption of the Julian calendar, the date of midwinter may have varied due to the use of a lunisolar calendar, or it may have been based on a week system tied to the astronomical winter so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas And Holiday Season
The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrations during this time create a peak season for the retail sector (Christmas/holiday "shopping season") extending to the end of the period ("January sales"). Christmas window displays and Christmas tree lighting ceremonies are customary traditions in various locales. In Western Christianity, the Christmas season is traditionally synonymous with Christmastide, which runs from December 25 (Christmas Day) to January 5 ( Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve), popularly known as the 12 Days of Christmas. Christmas in Italy is one of the country's major holidays and begins on 8 December, with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the day on which traditionally the Christmas tree is mounted and ends on 6 January, of the following year with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heathenry (new Religious Movement)
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a Modern paganism, modern pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the Germanic paganism, pre-Christian religions adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and Germanic folklore, folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably. Heathenry does not have a unified theology but is typically polytheism, polytheistic, centering on a pantheon (religion), pantheon of list of Germanic deities, deities from pre-Christian Germanic Europe. It adopts cosmology, cosmological views from these past societies, including an animism, animistic view of the cosmos in which the natural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mōdraniht
or (; Old English for "Night of the Mothers" or "Mothers' Night") was an event held on or around the northern hemisphere's longest night of the year ( the winter or hibernal solstice), by Anglo-Saxon pagans. The event is solely attested by the medieval English historian Bede in his eighth-century Latin work . It has been suggested that sacrifices may have occurred during this event. Scholars have proposed connections between the Anglo-Saxon and events attested among other Germanic peoples (specifically those involving the , collective female ancestral beings, and Yule), and the Germanic , female beings attested by way of altar and votive inscriptions, nearly always appearing in trios. The Norse equivalent to Mōdraniht was ' (alternatively ''hǫggunátt'', in , Icelandic and , ). The meaning of the prefix ''hǫku-/hǫggu-'' is unknown. Attestation In , Bede writes that the pagan Anglo-Saxons: Theories and interpretations Scholars have linked these ' ("Mothers") with the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Winter Festivals
This is an incomplete list of multinational festivals and holidays. January ;Christianity * Feast of the Circumcision: ''1 January'' * Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve): ''5 January'' * Epiphany (holiday), Epiphany: ''6 January'' – the arrival of the Three Magi * Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Apostolic Christmas: ''6 January'' * Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christmas: ''7 January'' – in churches using the Julian calendar. Until the year 2100, 7 January in the Julian Calendar is equivalent to 25 December in the Gregorian calendar. ;Secular * Basil of Caesarea, Saint Basil's Day: ''1 January'' – In Greek traditions, he is the Father Christmas figure. * New Year's Day: ''1 January'' – First day of the Gregorian Year. * Old New Year: ''14 January'' – New Year's Day according to the "old" Julian calendar. Includes a winter ritual of strolling and singing that was later incorporated into the Christmas carol. * Burns Sup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern Germanic Paganism
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the pre-Christian religions adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably. Heathenry does not have a unified theology but is typically polytheistic, centering on a pantheon of deities from pre-Christian Germanic Europe. It adopts cosmological views from these past societies, including an animistic view of the cosmos in which the natural world is imbued with spirits. The religion's deities and spirits are honored in sacrificial rites known as ''blóts'' in which food and libations ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiccans
Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a modern pagan, syncretic, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first half of the 20th century, and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century Hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca's liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices, disseminated through published books as well as secret written and oral teachings passed along to initiates. Many variations of the religion have grown and evolved over time, associated with a number of diverse lineages, sects, and denominations, referred to as ''traditions'', each with its own organisational structure and level of centralisation. Given its broadly decentralised nature, dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wassailing
The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail, which traditionally occurs on the twelfth day of Christmastide known as Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve (January 5), is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts; this practice still exists, but has largely been displaced by carol singing. The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Notable traditional wassailing songs include " Here We Come a-Wassailing", " Gloucestershire Wassail", and " Gower Wassail". Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word "wassail" originated as a borrowing from the Old Norse salutation ''ves heill,'' corresponding to Old English ''hál wes þ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heathen Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, or Anglo-Saxon polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices, with much regional variation. Developing from the earlier Iron Age religion of continental northern Europe, it was introduced to Britain following the Anglo-Saxon migration in the mid 5th century, and remained the dominant belief system in England until the Christianisation of its kingdoms between the 7th and 8th centuries, with some aspects gradually blending into folklore. The pejorative terms ''paganism'' and ''heathenism'' were first applied to this religion by Christianised Anglo-Saxons, and it does not appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
