A celebration of the winter solstice has been held since time immemorial in the Northern Hemisphere. Throughout the ages the festival has had many names. It is certain that a mid-winter festival called Yule was celebrated in the Nordic countries well before the year 1000. Though challenged by some scholars, the fact that Yule/Jól was celebrated in Iceland and throughout the Northern Hemisphere well before the advent of Christianity is now widely accepted. The exact date, or dates, that Yule was celebrated is not certain, but it was probably connected to the full moon nearest the winter solstice. The calendar has been changed many times since, and it is impossible to reconcile the references to an exact date.
The name itself has been retained in many languages-- Yule - Jól - Jul even if the cause for celebration has shifted from the sun reversing its downward path, shining ever longer each day, to the birth of Jesus. This linguistic retention of the name should be proof enough that the festival has always been an important one. For close to a thousand years people have tried to explain the meaning of the name "Yule" to no avail. Some scholars believe it comes from one of the names of Óðinn, others have even theorized that it came from the name of Julius Caesar. It has also been suggested that Jól is derived from the Old-Nordic word for wheel: Hjól, the theory being that the wheel of the year has come full circle, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There have been more attempts at explanations than one can shake a stick at. Certainly the exact meaning of the original word is something we shall never know. This ancient festival is shrouded in mystery, but has left us a beautiful word describing a delightful occasion.
History of Yule
So where did this holiday come from? It started over 4000 years ago in ancient Egypt, the occasion being an extravagant party to celebrate the rebirth of Horus, the God who appeared in the sky as a fiery orb each day we know today as Sun. As Egyptians honored Horus with a twelve-month calender, the festival lasted twelve days with each day with each day symbolizing one month. Buildings were decorated with greenery of all sorts to honor the Sun. The Egyptians flourished & the word of their Sun-welcoming ceremonies quickly swept through Mesopotamia. Believing that the rituals were at the heart of their neighbor’s prosperity the Babylonians got in on the act calling it Zagmuk & incorporated their own Sun God, Marduk. The Babylonians believed that Marduk had created the world after defeating the monsters of chaos. The Zagmuk festival began five days before Winter Solstice and lasted six days after, with the peak of the festival falling on the Solstice itself. No longer after, the Persians & Greeks also caught on & celebrated in different way. Eventually words of these Sun-welcoming festivities spilled into the outside world & other folks took up the cause as well.
Finally the ancient Romans decided to participate & that’s when the winter festivities really started to take shape. They combined most of their traditions of their predecessors & added a few of their own like exchange of God figures Jupiter for Zeus & Saturn for Kronos. This gave them the opportunity to honor Saturn because the God was responsible for the pulse of nature & its germinating properties. The festival began at the Roman temple of Saturn with a ceremony to remove the chains that had bound the God’s feet all year long. With that the whole of Roma was on holiday. As the sun gained power in the sky, Jupiter once again defeated Saturn. So it went with the popularity of the winter festivals spreading through Europe & gaining popularity. Then Christianity a new religion sprang to the forefront. No matter how good the new religion sounded to the Pagans, they were used to their old ways. The Christians (former Pagans) had a revelation around the 4th Century. Unlike the Pagan religion theirs was based on the workings of man-god Jesus, his death & resurrection & a Mother Goddess, Mary mother of Jesus. Since no one really knew when the Christ-child was born, the Christians set his birthday on December 25. They billed the festival as the “Birth of the Son” because “Son” & “Sun” were pronounced the same, the Pagans would think the new celebrations was just an addition to their own.
