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Nauf: “So, did you do it?”
Boleskine: “Do what?”
Nauf: “You know, did you stick to your resolutions from last year?”
Boleskine: “Ummm, no. I didn’t make any.”
Nauf: “UGH, you’re no fun.”
A moment of silence passes between the friends, then as expected…
Nauf: “So, you making any for this year?”
Boleskine: “I don’t think so, nobody ever sticks to them you know.”
Nauf: “Maybe that should be your resolution.”
Boleskine: “What?”
Nauf: “If you resolve not to stick to the ones you make, then you are sure to follow through!”
Boleskine: “That’s nice, Naufragio. The pretty nurse will be here in a few moments with your medication. Why don’t you just relax into this warm white jacket, it’s a little cool in here…”
Well, once Naufragio escapes, I mean ditches the nurse, I mean…Naufragio has the Romans to thank for her plight.
Although a “New Year” has been celebrated as early 4000 years ago by the Babalonians, often at that time it was held in Spring, near the end of March. Many cultures of that time used a Lunar calendars which did not follow a 365 day cycle. The Chinese calendar is an example that one might be familiar with. The Julian and Gregorian calendars are Solar calendars. Although approved in 153 B.C by the Roman senate, the calendar was tweaked until 46 B.C. when Julius Cesar developed the calendar to accurately reflect the seasons that January first officially became the “New Year” for those that follow it. It was during that time that Janus was put in charge of those festivities.
Janus was the Roman God of beginnings and endings. He was often pictured with two faces, one looking forward and the other backwards. A symbol for change and transitions, he was the perfect deity for looking at those unwanted aspects of your past and planning for a better future. The Romans would give gifts of branches from sacred trees as well as nuts and coins with Janus’ image at midnight on Dec 31 when Janus was looking at the year coming and the year leaving simultaneously. He became a symbol for resolutions throughout the ancient world and the month of January was named after him. (Starting to make sense now, isn’t it?)
P.S.
January 1 has extra special meaning in my family. It is the birthday of not only my father, but his mother as well. My grandmother has passed on but she is always remembered on the day of her birth, the same day (different years, duh) that she gave birth to my father.
How many times have we heard this line? Always it is accompanied by an image of a baby in a manger. AWWWWW, how cute. Also, how wrong. I know that this is a subject written over and over about by Pagans all over the world. Allow me to throw my hat in the ring too. If I bore you, you can always peruse my other posts or click away to something more attention grabbing. You won’t hurt my feelings, honest.
Traditions:
The Date - Where to start? One theory states the Mesopotamians were among the first to celebrate the solstice with a 12-day festival designed to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more year.Solstice celebrations are held by many peoples all over the world and no one really knows how long, we do know it’s been thousands of years. Today we still have evidence of perfect markers of the solstice in Stonehenge; Newgrange, a beautiful megalithic site in Ireland; Maeshowe, on the Orkney Islands north of Scotland; and Sun Dagger of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, built a thousand years ago by the Chacoans, ancestors of the Pueblo people.
By the early fourth century, Church leaders decided they needed a Christian alternative to rival popular solstice celebrations. They chose December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth and held the first recorded Feast of the Nativity in Rome in A.D. 336.
Wassailing – Not just a drink or an obscure lyric in a favorite holiday carol. This was a medieval custom of blessing the apple trees ensure their fertility. Groups would go out into the orchards and give offerings of song (Caroling), decorations (Why do you decorate your tree in December again?) and pouring cider on the trees so that they would be prosperous and “fruitful” (Yes I meant the pun) in the following season. Once a solstice ritual, because it is so linked to the themes of nature’s rebirth and fertility.
Yule Log – First burned at the Winter Solstice in Scandinavia, Ireland, Greece and other countries in celebration of the rebirth of the sun after a
long winter. Due to the proximity to the chosen date of Christmas, it latter became associated with a representation of the light of the Savior rather than the light of the sun.
Holly and Evergreens – Anything Green in this time of flora hybernation and death has been seen as symbols of rebirth and life. Holly, with it’s pointy leaves is especially prized and desired around door and windows as protection, warding off “evil” spirits and unwanted energies.
Mistletoe – The Ancient Greeks and others thought this plant to have mystical properties, able to bestow life, fertility and protect against poison as well as an aphrodisiac. It has long been used for ceremonial purposes. Druids for example would cut a certain rare type off the oak with Golden sickles and sacrifice white bulls for prosperity. It was hung at doorways for protection. The kissing part developed from the fertility belief.
The Tree – First, see my earlier notes on Wassailing and Evergreens, additionally, read on.
Pagan people who had revered the Oak but converted began to see the Fir as “God’s” tree. (whose triangular shape represented the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) By the 12th century it was hung upside-down from ceilings, undecorated, as a symbol of Christianity.
The first decorated Fir tree was in 1510. Martin Luther is said to have decorated a small Christmas Tree with candles, to show his children how the stars twinkled through the dark night.
Ok, so How is that infant the reason again?
Well, it’s snowing for the first time this season. Large white fluffy flakes slowly drifting to the ground. Time to post my newly re-decorated altar. The wand is birch that I carved myself and although you can’t see it, wood burned my name on. Thank you to Boleskine 93 for the pics and the support in allowing me to “create”.
Soon it shall be the last Thursday of November in America. (OK, in many places but there is a point to this) Thanksgiving shall be held and celebrated for the vast majority. It’s not a religious holiday so I guess I’d call it a political one. Maybe it’s just an excuse to rev up all the sales the following Friday, so maybe it would be a merchant holiday. Anyway, the “holiday season” is upon us and a comment by Boleskine93 got me thinking.
Being Pagan, Boleskine doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. His Thanksgiving was at Mabon. He along with most Pagans also celebrate Yule and not Christmas. So many of us “go with the flow” of the season because we have multitudes of family and friends who do celebrate different major holidays and we join in. This is my situation, plus I’m still not use to not celebrating these holidays yet being so new to my path.
What do you say when in a restaurant, at a store, at work, etc and someone says “Merry Christmas” or “Have a happy Thanksgiving” to you? I just say “and you too.” I don’t bother going into the fact that maybe I don’t celebrate that day. I’ll even wish customers at work a happy holiday not knowing if they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan or other. I feel it’s a nice gesture, sending good will and 95% of the time they do celebrate them. If someone wished me a happy Hanukkah or Ramadan, I would respond in kind. Would they be assuming I was Jewish or something else? Maybe. They are sending out a good wish, positive vibes to me, why should it matter? Returning that sentiment, since obviously they do celebrate that day, just seems the correct response to me. I really don’t care if they assume I’m Christian on not. They are not harming me, they are being nice.
Would you go into “I’m Pagan, I don’t celebrate ABC Day”? What do others feel about this?
Soon it will be Mabon and Boleskine 93 and I have begun our list of preparations. The first thing that we have completed to date is our home altar.
Now we shall begin in the coming weeks to decorate the house and gather supplies for the ceremonies and rituals.
