Copyright 2008 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
Heathens, Santa and Jingle Bells
How do we deal with the secular side of Christmas?
There are actually three holidays that affect us at Yuletide. First and foremost is our holiday of Yule. Next is Christmas, which his actually two holidays. There is the Christian religious version which revolves on their myth of the birth of their supposed founder. Second to it is the secular holiday which emphasizes gift giving, Santa Claus, snowmen and the Christmas tree.
Thankfully, Yule always comes three or more days before Christmas. (For the next three years, it will fall on the 21st). It is enough separation for assuring that Yule is kept distinct from Christmas. The importance of this separation of Yule and Christmas is important in many ways. It assures that ours is a truly Heathen Yule. We can more easily avoid “bleed-over” from other holidays. The earlier date also avoids conflicts with family events involving non-Heathen relatives.
Christmas is always on December 25th. For many, the celebration begins on December 24th. Again, it is a dual holiday. There is the strictly religious side, reflected in religious observances. The other side is secular and cultural. For December 24th, known as “Christmas Eve” (or Julaften in Scandinavia), the religious observance is normally a midnight church service. This may take the place of the daytime service on the 25th. The secular observances are normally cultural things. For example, Italians and Scandinavians both have their own traditions of fish dinners on Christmas Eve. Though a meatless day was originally a Catholic form of fasting, the modern traditions make little note of it. Scandinavia has not been Catholic since the 16th Century CE, yet the fish tradition persists.
The religious observances of Christmas are easy enough to avoid. The secular ones have become part and parcel of our present society. They include the modern Christmas Tree, Christmas Shopping, lavish gift giving, and the Santa Claus legend. The Tree and the Santa legend are very much a modern thing, yet both inevitably derive from Heathen traditions. In their present Christmas form, they are not quite Heathen.
The Christmas Tree hies from Germany. It is a remnant of the same Tree legend that is behind the Yule log. Germans brought a tree into the house and decorated it with candles. German immigrants brought it to America in the early 18th Century. It caught on here and has been a staple of the season ever since.
The 20th Century saw some brilliant changes to the Yule tree. The use of electric lights made the tree safer, and the coming of artificial trees did away with some of the mess associated with live trees. Tinsel was introduced to simulate icicles, and glass ornaments shared space with lights. Atop the tree was placed a star. To Christians it symbolized the star of their Christmas legend. More recently, decorations of another sort have been used. These are miniatures of various things from toy trucks to cartoon characters. Made by greeting card companies and collectibles vendors, the new decorations have turned the tree into something else entirely.
Another tradition is decoration under the tree. This began with Christians erecting little statues of a “Nativity scene” based on the myth of their supposed founder’s birth. In 19th Century Germany, there arose a tradition of erecting a “Christmas Garden” which included miniature scenes and other things. At the same time, it became popular to run electric trains under the Tree during the 1930s. The current trend is toward porcelain Yule villages with an occasional train.
Santa Claus is a popular character. The American versions is actually descended from the English “Father Christmas,” who is himself a vestige of the Heathen “Yule Visitor” of Anglo-Saxon times. In the ancient times in Scandinavia, Germany and England, a popular legend was the “Yule visitor.” He would bring gifts and the “wassail bowl” filled with a spiced drink. In some places, the Visitor was female. For instance, one German myth involved “Frau Perchta” who would give candies to the good children and beat the bad ones. Depending on the locale, the Female visitor could equate with Frigga, Freya or Holde
Santa Claus is a modern name derived from Dutch “Sinter Klaus.” He is also known as “Saint Nicholas”. Rather than do away with the popular Yule Visitor, Christianity tried to assimilate him. They transposed the name of a legendary bishop who was known for generosity to the poor. Hence the Heathen Yule Visitors became Saint Nicholas, and then Santa Klaus. The Dutch were a large community in North America who influenced the name.
In the modern legend, Santa Klaus lives at the North Pole. He has a workshop filled with elves who make toys for children. On Christmas Eve, Santa goes around the world in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. He stops at each house, goes down the chimney, and leaves gifts. We can see some correspondences to our myths. North is the holy direction of Heathenism. The elves are more like Norse dwarves who are excellent craftsmen. A flying sleigh and eight reindeer is very much like Sleipnir, the eight legged flying horse. Even after centuries of alteration, the older Heathen aspects are still there.
Mediterranean Christian cultures and those influenced by the Orthodox Christian Churches do not have Santa. Their gift-givers are the “Three Kings,” the legendary wise men of the Christian nativity myth. These kings are said to show up after Christmas, between January 1 and January 6. That is the day of gift giving in Latin, Greek and Orthodox cultures. For instance, Italian children leave their shoes on the steps for the Three Kings to fill with gifts.
Santa Claus is so much a cultural icon that many non-Christians have felt it necessary to accommodate the legend. The same can be said for those Christians whose cultures embraced the Three kings. The Santa character is pervasive and unavoidable. Many Jews, Hindus and Buddhists have had to deal with this quasi-Christian character who is the face of the secular part of the season.
Naturally, this ties in with the Christmas shopping and extravagant gift giving. We have come a long way since the time of Dickens, when the children’s gifts were a handful of candies and perhaps a small trinket. The “Christmas stockings” of those days were able to hold all of a child’s gifts, small as they were. The tradition of shopping has grown to a national phenomenon that affects the entire economy. Most retail businesses are heavily dependent on holiday sales to remain profitable.
On the other side of the shopping coin is the Christian urge to give to the needy. Indeed, charities are louder than ever this time of year, clamoring for donations. On the streets of big cities, “sidewalk Santas” stand on street corners ringing bells beside their coin pots. Ads for charities come via mail and television. Another twist for the season is for people to volunteer to spend a holiday working in a soup kitchen. This form of penance is one of many that crop up every November.
Where do we stand? Let us face it, folks, we abide in a society where Christmas is the major Winter holiday. While we can easily sidestep the religious side of Christmas, the secular side is unavoidable. It is all over the media, from television to magazines and newspapers. It is all over every shop and mall. The decorations are everywhere, as are the Christmas Trees and Santa Clauses.
The Tree is a modern version of a Heathen symbol. It is a good thing that brings much joy into a home. Others may not know why this is, but we understand it perfectly. What with the Tree accepted by society at large, it is a great thing for us to enjoy.
Santa Claus presents a bit of a problem, First, there is the issue faced by Christian parents as well as us. Is it better to let a child believe in Santa (or another Yule Giver), or should he learn the truth from the start? Parents vary on this one. Some say it is cute and harmless to let children believe, while others think it is deceptive. Each household must make its own decision.
That being said, we need to address the identity of Santa. Whether we want our children to believe or not, it is important that they learn about our traditional Yule Givers. Again, each household will have its own take on the matter. Some will say it is Odin, others Thor, and still others another God or Goddess. I feel it important that our children realize that Santa is just the modern society’s version of things. One family told their children that Santa was one of the gods in disguise. The main problem is that the Santa character is everywhere. We cannot avoid him.
Gift giving is a matter we need to address from a purely Heathen viewpoint. Like it or not, but we will be expected to participate in gift exchanges with our non-Heathen friends and relatives. As with the spirit of Heathen generosity, the gift should be thoughtful and something the receiver would want. We should avoid the Christmas shopping frenzy and the attitude that equates lavish gifts with showing care for the receiver. The issue is not expense, but quality and meaning.
For children, especially Heathen children, gift giving has to be put into perspective. The trend since 1945 is an increase in things lavished upon children. Advertisers take full advantage of this. Our society could have blunted the ads aimed at children a few decades ago, but did not. More and more, the advertisers are promoting a wicked sort of greed. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” is the spirit of the day. While Christmas may abide such a thing, we should not!
Heathen giving to children needs to be reasonable. We want to give them things they will enjoy, but also emphasize quality over quantity. The Yule giving is a great time for us to teach the young the value of gratitude. The weeks building up to Yule is also a good time to teach children the truth about advertising. We can use this time to ensure that as the young grow into adulthood, they will be resistant to the claims and tricks of marketers.
The secular side of Christmas is like an occupational hazard of living in this time and place. This is our society’s annual Winter Festival, and we ought not feel afraid to participate in the secular elements that suit us. We do so with Heathen clarity of thought. Though most of the trappings of the season originated with our Yule, they are not quite the same.
When all is said and done, we ought take as much joy in the Yule season as we can. After all, it was our season first! There is no need to avoid the secular side of the season. We can easily bypass the religious aspects of Christmas, and instead share the secular seasonal things with our non-heathen relatives and friends. Loosen up. Relax and enjoy. While some religions consider it a “sin” to participate in our events, we do no wrong if we find some joy in theirs.
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