Yule

So Iwas trying to explain some of the idea of Yule to Willow today. Basically, I want to get across to her the idea that Christmas is not a Christian holiday, but a deeply pagan one. I think this is our most important holiday, the resonances of feasting in the face of potential famine, of death and rebirth, of rest and recuperation and escape from the industrialised timeclock, of blood and redemption, and of giving and receiving, are so deep and profound that even in these shallow times the archetypes swim and swirl around us.
If you want a look at the whole history behind Father Christmas, or Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus, or however you know him, this book is well worth a read. A bit of a dry historical-anthropological text sometimes, but it might make you believe again :-)
Of course, the real excuse that our ancestors had to party at this time of year, before the christians came along with their birthday party, was the Winter Solstice. And that's today - a couple of hours ago, as I write. So, as we go into winter, we are in fact, moving back towards the Sun.
And then, there's the real reason that the folks long ago partied at this time of year, and it's beautifil in its simplicity. Just that, there wasn't much to do in the fields at this time of year - all the harvest was in, and the ground would freeze, so no need to do anything there. Perhaps animals would need taking care of, but there'd be no young and no shearing. So it was a time of relative relaxation, and if you were lucky enough as a village to have some supply from the harvest, you'd have some idea by now how much of it you could lash out on a party. Probably the mead with the year's grains had fermented enough by now too :-)
I guess lots of kids got born in the autumn back then.
It's one of the main things I love about this time of year still - that even this nasty, narrow-minded capitalist world is brought to a halt. Not as effectively here in Holland as in England or Germany perhaps, but there's even here a bit of space for silence and contemplation.
So kick back, take a glass of whiskey, and enjoy another Christmas special on TV.