Winter Solstice

[thewizeard]

:O Tomorrow at 12-22-2006 .00:20 UT...


Let the Pagan Feast begin :) :yahoo: :sorcerer:


http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/xmas.htm

[100%]

burn everything

[Gripper]

:w00t: :01: :w00t:

LETS PARTY!!!!!


I make it Thursday as Winter Solstice am I wrong?

[thewizeard]

burn everything


..erm...not the Ketchup oright?

[100%]

It is a good reason to go out and make a huge fire.
Will do so on friday
thanks for reminder

[Skweeky]

What an excell...


I was gonnaw type something but I cannae be arsed

[internet.news]

90% of these kinda celebrations / routines is just saying the name of them :dabs:

:01:

:ermm:

unless of course, like Zed says, you burn everything, for the sun like :01: :01: :01:

[Buffalo]

quote from aloha.net:
Although Christmas is celebrated on the 25th day of December each year, the exact date of Jesus' birth is unknown./

Not so long ago a Jehovah witness person knocked on my door, I was polite and had a conversation with her, I asked why don't you celebrate Christmas, she said it's because Baby Jesus was born in October!

So she Lied then, or is aloha.net wrong?

[Gripper]

Symbolism of the Winter Solstice
Fire and candles are important to many pagan holidays.The Winter Solstice marks a crucial part of the natural cycle. In a real sense, the sun begins anew its journey toward longer days, times of new growth and renewal of the world once again. In a spiritual sense, it is a reminder that in order for a new path to begin, the old one must end and that spring will come again.

The winter solstice is the longest night of the year and is said to be when the Goddess gives birth to the God. From here on in the year, the days will become longer as the god grows into his full strength.

Fire and candles are important to many pagan holidays, but especially so for the winter solstice, as the God of most modern pagan traditions is associated with the sun. The winter solstice is a time of feasting and celebration. Often trees are decorated with bright ornaments, a tradition going back to ancient Germanic peoples, who held the oak and the fir tree as sacred. The Yule Log, candles and mistletoe are all symbols of the winter solstice.

Burning the Yule Log
The term Yule stems from the Anglo-Saxon "yula" or "wheel" of the year. In ancient pagan ritual, the Yule Log was lit on the eve of Winter Solstice and burned for twelve hours. Later, the Log was replaced by the Yule Tree, but instead of being burned, it was adorned with burning candles.

Relationship to Christmas
Pagan holidays have influenced many Christian traditions, including Halloween and Easter. Yule, or the Winter solstice, is considered by many to be the reason Christmas is celebrated in December. Both Christmas and the Winter Solstice celebrate the birth of gods.

The selection of December 25th as a Christian holiday was first recorded in scholarly texts dating to 325 A.D., although the actual practice was first decreed in 274 A.D. by the Emperor Aurelian. Since the non-Christians viewed this time as the rebirth of the sun, it made sense for the Church to also mark this period as the celebration of the nativity of Christ. Curiously, the selection of the day appears arbitrary although mankind had long known how to calculate the solstices. One can only guess that, rather than shift the celebration each year, a regularly scheduled event was preferable—the old Roman desire for order never quite left the new faith.

Copied and pasted for the edification of all:D
Additionally, many of the pagan traditions have been adopted to celebrate Christmas. Burning a Yule log, hanging mistletoe, lighting Advent candles and decorating trees are all now part of modern Christmas celebrations.