Midwinter, or rather the winter solstice, marked the end of the first
half of the Celtic year. It marked the date of the southernmost rising
and setting of the sun. By our calendar, the day of the longest night
usually falls on 21^st December. The Celtic festival of the winter
solstice, like Samhain, also had Roman and Christian festivals grafted
onto it, the very important celebration of Christmas, and the Roman
festival of Saturnalia.

The festival dedicated to Saturn began on the 19^th December. It
celebrated the overthrow of the old father-god, Saturn, by the
new father-god, Jupiter or Deus Pater (God the father, although in
this context he is actually God the son). These gods have direct
counterparts in Greek mythology (Cronos and Zeus) and in Celtic
mythology (Bran and Bel or Belin). The basic symbolism is very
ancient and a trifle convoluted. The goddess (Madron, mother of all
creation, the moon) is married to the god Mabon (her son, the Sun).
The renewal and continuation of the marriage (creation, the kingdom,
life and the harvest) depends on the aging god (or king) being replaced
by the young god (his twin, also Mabon, the new Sun, the new king).
The Saturnalia also known as 'Dies Natalis Invicti Solis', the Day of
Birth of the Unconquered Sun. Resulting from this title, the Saturnalia
also became associated with the New Year. Subsequently the Romans
created a new god to oversee the transition on the following Kalends,
or first month day. He was Janus, the two-headed god who looked back
over the past and forward into the future. His name gave rise to the
naming of this first month, January.

The Saturnalia was a fire festival, homes were decorated with evergreens, candles, and especially constructed coloured lanterns. The formal
festivities lasted seven days though the whole of the preceding month
was dedicated to Saturn. Personal gifts were exchanged, wrapped in
coloured cloth. Popular festival foods were figs, dates, plums, and pears
and apples, fresh melons and pomegranates from Africa, quince preserved
in honey, sweet bread, cakes and pastries pressed into the shape of stars,
nut breads, cheese pies, shelled pistachios, filberts, pine nuts and walnuts accompanied by cider and mulled wine.

Many of these customs seem to be synonymous with the traditional
festivities of Christmas. In fact Christ's birth-date was deliberately
and artificially set in the third century AD to coincide with, absorb
and supersede the pagan festival dedicated to Saturn. It is not certain
when Christ was born, research has put his birth most likely in the
spring. Some of the many controversies caused by the switch from
the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 persisted in the popular folk story that Christ was actually born on
January 6^th. At midnight on the eve of that day animals kneel in homage
to the Christ Child in mangers and stables. The theme of the advent
and the virgin birth is, of course, not Celtic or Roman, although there
are virgin births in other religions and mythologies. Specifically
Christian though, are the three Magi.

Two midwinter tradition, almost certainly Celtic in origin are the
Yule Candle and the Yule Log. Early Welsh texts, a good example being
the 'Romance of Amergin', give us detailed evidence of the Druid preoccupation with trees and their mythological and religious
significance. The Yule Log was directly associated with fire and the
purifying embodiment of the sun god. Bringing the Yule Log indoors
was symbolic of bringing the blessing of the sun god into the house.
The collecting, hauling and kindling of the wood were conducted with
great ceremony. The word Yule, however, is derived from the Middle
English 'yole', from the earlier Anglo-Saxon 'geol'. It's meaning is
unclear but could be related to 'geolo' (yellow) or 'geoleca' yolk. The
word appears in a variety of spellings, in Old Norse and other Teutonic languages, it appears though, to have no Celtic counterpart. The
Goidelic for Christmas is 'Noillach' (Scots Gaelic) or 'Nollaig' (Irish)
related to the Brythonic 'Nadelik' (Cornish) or 'Nadolig' (Welsh) derived
from the Latin 'Natalicia'.

The Yule Candle was very large and ornamental, usually blue, green or
red in colour, which was lit at the beginning of the Christmas season
and associated with several superstitions. It could only be extinguished
using a pair of tongs, blowing out the flame invited bad luck. Only the
head of the household could light or extinguish the flame. The
unconsumed remnant of the candle was preserved as a protection, to be
lit during thunderstorms to prevent the house being struck by lightning.
Its tallow was rubbed on the sole of the plough before spring ploughing,
to bless and promote the seed. The lit candle was displayed in a window,
as a sign of goodwill, a custom still widely observed in parts of New
England and rapidly spreading throughout the rest of the US. These associations derive from the ancient Celtic veneration for the candle as
a symbol of light in the darkness of winter. The Romans used oil lamps,
but the Celts made candles from wicks or reeds dipped in tallow rendered from beef lard. Some sources erroneously list pig fat, this does not set
firmly enough for candle making, it would have been used in lamps only.

The Yule Log had a number of associated superstitions. It had to burn steadily without being extinguished, or bad luck would follow. It could
be cut down on one's own land, or accepted as a gift from a neighbour,
or be stolen from the forest, but it could not be bought or sold: the
exchange of money for a Yule Log would destroy its magic properties.
It was decorated with evergreens and dragged to the house by oxen if it
was too heavy to be manhandled. In Cornwall, the figure of a man was chalked on the log, to be consumed by the fire. Did this represent an
earlier sacrifice by burning?

Wine, cider or ale, and sometimes corn, was sprinkled over the log before
it was lit. Apparently some communities soaked the log for several days before it was ready for the fire. One must presume the alcohol was initially burning rather than the soggy log.

After the Yule season, part of the unconsumed log was kept safely to
one side and used to ignite the new log in the following year, probably
from the communal bonfire. The remainder was kept to attach to the
plough in the ploughing season and the ashes were gathered up and sprinkled on the land to ensure a good harvest next year.

The two plants still associated with the Yule, namely the holly and the
ivy, were also associated with the Celts and the Saturnalia. Saturn's club
was of holly wood and his sacred bird, the golden crested wren, nested in
ivy. Holly represents the letter T (Tinne) in the Ancient Druidic alphabet
Beth-Luis-Nion. It is the totem tree of the oak god's twin (or father), the
holly god, or Green Knight, represented by Bran in the British tradition, Cronos in Greece and Saturn in Rome. He is the god of the waning part
of the year, while his brother-son Bel is the god of the waxing part of the year. When Christian mythology began to include aspects of earlier pagan mythology, John the Baptist became identified with oak. He was beheaded
at midsummer, the day of transition between the oak king and the holly
king, in turn leading to the identification of Jesus with the oak's
successor, holly. This is the origin of the lines in the carol 'The Holly and
the Ivy'…. Of all the trees that are in the wood, the Holly bears the crown
and, I feel, is a small demonstration that Christians then were perfectly comfortable sharing the traditions of the Celts.

In Middle English the word for holly was spelt 'holi' this was derived
from the Old English 'Holen'. Holy was also spelled 'holi' from the Old English 'halig'. There has been an association of holly and Holy ever
since. A further connection with Jesus is the shape of the letter itself.
The Hebrew 'Tav', the Greek 'Tae' and our letter T all graphically
represent the cross of the Crucifixion.

Ivy represents the letter G (Gort) in the Ancient Druidic alphabet Beth-
Luis-Nion. The vine and the ivy share the characteristic of growing
spirally and both are associated with resurrection. As with holly, ivy is associated with Bran, Saturn and Cronos and had many of the same attributes.

Then of course there is the Mistletoe, one of the Druids most sacred
plants and venerated in folk-law way after the Druids passing. With
good reason too, the plant contains eleven proteins and lectins (which
are currently being investigated for anti-cancer effects). Its known uses, ancient and modern, include the infusion of dried leaves and berries
which makes a tea that has hypotensive (reduces blood pressure),
cardiac stimulant, diuretic and sedative properties, when taken by
humans (this is not a suggestion). It has been demonstrated to have
an antineoplastic (tumour reducing) effect on animals.

The custom of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas seems to
confirm Pliny's description of it as an acknowledged aid to fertility,
although it was also an earlier custom to hang mistletoe in the porch
of a house as a more general and innocent sign of peace and hospitality.
In Christian times, mistletoe was carried as a defense against witches, or placed in a baby's cradle to prevent its abduction by fairies.