Pagan Christmas (25 page)

Long was my sleep;

I woke up.

BRÜNHILDE IN WAGNER, SIEGFRIED, 3RD ACT

For our pre-Christian ancestors, the winter solstice—the day of the year with the shortest daytime and the longest nighttime—nourished hope for the return of the sun. Pliny the Elder tells us that the sun

… brings the light to things and takes away darkness; it lightens and covers the other stars. Following the laws of nature, it leads the change of season and the ever-changing year. It breaks up the cloudy skies; and lightens up the cloudy darkness of the human mind. It yields her light to the other stars—shining, exceptional, seeing and hearing everything … (Pliny the Elder, Naturkunde II, 13).

Spices and smudgings can bring out the sun in human beings because sunlight brings out the green power of plants. Today, we call this power chlorophyll. Rosemary was dedicated to the Germanic sun god, Freyr (Old Nordic for “lord”), brother of the love goddess, Freya (Freia). In Old Germany, Freyr was known as Fro (Old High German for “lord”) and in Greece, Helios (Greek, “sun god”). “Freyr is the noblest of the gods. He reigns over rain and sunshine, and thus, in so far as this, over the growing things of the earth. It is good to ask him for a good harvest and peace; he oversees the bounty of human beings” (Snorri-Edda, Glyf 23 F).

Typical sun spices include lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum), turmeric (Curcuma longa), ginger (Zingiber officinale), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), saffron (Crocus sativus), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) (Madejsky and Rippe 1997, 56).

The sun comes from the smoke of the cinnamon rind in much the same way the legendary phoenix rises from its ashes. In ancient times, cinnamon was among the most popular spices and aromatic substances with pheromone-like effects. It was believed that the cinnamon tree grew in Arabia—not, however, on the ground, but instead in the nests of phoenix birds built high up on steep rocks. According to the story, in order to get to the cinnamon, the people had to trick the birds. Thus they put out parts of dead or sacrificed animals near the nests. When the birds left their nests to get the meat, the cinnamon collectors had just enough time to obtain some cinnamon from the nest.

Sun Incense

Based on a recipe from Sédir*

Ingredients

3 parts frankincense (olibanum, Boswellia sacra)

1 part cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum verum) or cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum)

1 part cardamom seed (Elettaria cardamomum)

Grind ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Place by small spoonfuls on the coals.

*Sédir is the pseudonym of Yvon de Loup (1871–1926), a French occultist and member of the Martinist Order. The recipe comes from his studies of occult botany (Belledame 1990, 117).

Sun Gods: Apollo, Mithras, and Jesus

Listen to me, blissful! Reigning

The all-seeing, eternal eyes

Far up strolling, heavenly light,

Sparkling gold Titan,

Never tired, self-made

Fair sight of the living!

ORPHIC HYMN TO HELIOS

Without the sun there would be no life. Without the sun there would be no plants, and without plants, there would be no oxygen. Without oxygen, there would be no animals or human beings!

Like many pre-Christian customs and beliefs, the old feast commemorating the yearly return of the sun was rededicated to the birth of Christ. In the year 274 CE, the Roman emperor Aurelianus established the cult of Deus sol invictus—“God of the invincible sun”—which was celebrated on December 25, even though the actual day of the winter solstice is the twenty-first or twenty-second day of the month. Why? Perhaps this was the first day on which the people could actually discern the elevated position of the sun and see that it truly was coming back from the depths of darkness. The feast associated with the event was called the “rebirth of the sun.” At the same time the Romans rededicated the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Christ, they also took over the cult of the Persian sun god Mithras, whose birthday was also celebrated on December 25. “The [Mithraic] mystery started with his initiation into a heavenly soul voyage” (Giebel 1990, 200).

Many of the gods of the past were associated with the sun: Ra and Osiris, the Egyptian sun and vegetation gods; Helios and Apollo, Greek gods of the sun and light; and the Germanic Wotan, who searches for the sun in the time of darkness with his wild army, to name just a few. The power of each of these important gods was attributed to the reigning emperor or king of the day. The sun was the giver of life for plants and thus also for human beings.1 Therefore, the first day of the week—Sunday—was named after the day once dedicated to Helios, the sun god.

In the context of this cosmological and mythological background, the idea that Jesus was a descendent of the former sun gods was only logical, and it is easy to see why his followers associated the rebirth of the sun with his birth. But there remains a significant difference. According to Christian belief, the sun itself is not divine, but is “a mere creation that God has given special duties… . The pagan belief remained centered on the divine beauty of His work, and worshipped it, in their adoration of God, instead of only comprehending the Creator” (Forstner 1986, 96).

This is why the Church was so keen to point out that the pagan admiration of the sun really amounted to adoration of the “glowing light from the heights.”2

Mystery Cults

Soon, oh soon, the light

Ours to shape for all time, ours the right

The sun will lead us

Our reason to be here

YES, THE GATES OF DELIRIUM, 19743

In order to see into the mystery of life and death, human beings have devised techniques and rituals available only to those initiated into the ways of particular mystery cults. In 375 CE, Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia,4 described the pagan winter solstice feasts and mystery cults:

This feast was celebrated by the Greeks (I mean the pagans) on December 25—the day called Saturnalia by the Romans, Kronia in Egypt, and Kykellia by the Alexandrians. On December 25, then, a cut happens that is also a turn; and it begins to grow. This is the day when the light becomes more (Vossen 1985, 72).

For centuries, wheat has served as a botanical symbol of the Great Goddess, Demeter or Ceres, also known as the wheat or poppy goddess. Wheat is found in many Christmas arrangements. It is dedicated to St. Barbara and finds expression in St. Barbara’s wheat rituals. (Late Antique relief from Eleusis, Greece)

In Egypt, Kykellia is called “the rite of Isis.” Like the smudging nights, this is a twelve-day feast. It begins with a torch procession in honor of the birth of Horus, the son of Isis: “The birth of the new sun is the intended meaning, and that was connected with the announcement of the sowing [of wheat] in the earth, freshly fertilized (with dung) and flooded by the Nile” (Vossen 1985, 72f). The sowing was done on December 27, during the feast celebrating the ascension of Horus to the throne. The meaning of the name Isis is equivalent to “Earth.”

Who is not familiar with the image of the Mary holding the baby Jesus? This classic tableau has found expression in countless examples of European art. This depiction of mother and child is not merely a sentimental evocation of motherhood, nor did it originate with the birth of Christ. It actually began with Egyptian pictures of Isis and the Horus child, giving us yet another example of the mysteriously subtle interweaving of religious iconography and meaning in art from diverse cultures.

The rebirth of the sun is the mystery of the winter solstice, symbolized by the rejuvenation of the wheat crop. Wheat is sacred because it delivers sustenance, healing, and intoxicating substances (like Yule beer). The earthly wheat also provides straw for Christmas stars, which are the signs of Helios, the sun god, hung on the evergreen world tree. Thus on Christmas night, in the candle-lit darkness, wheat reminds us of the mythical rebirth of the sun that shines at midnight.

Kyphi: Incense for the Smudging Nights

Every day the scents carry me into the magic worlds of otherwise unreachable paths of beauty, of the spirit of love. And without them I feel alone and left out.

CHIN CHIA, HAN DYNASTY, 200 CE

Our Christmas feast has roots in every ancient celebration of the rebirth of the sun. The most important source of information on sun rites from antiquity is the book About Isis and Osiris by the Greek philosopher Plutarch (circa 46– 119 CE). Plutarch, a priest of Delphi, was intimately acquainted with the holy rites of Apollo and Helios and initiated into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. He also had a sharp mind and literary sensibility. Here, he writes about the original Egyptian ritual:

Around the time of the winter solstice, they carry a cow seven times around the sun temple, and this walk is called the visit of Osiris… . One had to walk seven times around the temple, because the sun finishes its walk from the winter to summer solstice in the seventh month. Horus, the son of Isis, is supposed to have made a sacrifice to Helios on the fourth day of the month, as in the book called Birthday of Horus. To make an incense offering for Helios three times a day, offer resin at dusk, myrrh at midday, and so-called kyphi at dawn… . These are believed to show favor to Helios and to serve him (Plutarch 1850, 93f).

INGREDIENTS FOR KYPHI-INCENSE, FROM PLUTARCH*

Substance/Egyptian Name

Source

Honey (meli)

Wine (oinos)

Raisin (staphides)

Cyperus, papyrus (kyperos)

Cyperus spp.

Resin (setion)

General term for resins and frankincense (olibanum)

Myrrh (smyrna)

Commiphora spp.

Broom (aspalathos)

Cytisus spp.

Hartwort (seseleos)

Bupleurum spp.

Mastic resin (schinos)

Pistacia lentiscus

Bitumen (asphaltos)

Asphalt†

Gum juniper (thryon)

possibly Tetraclinis articulata

Curly dock (lapathos)

Rumex crispus

Prickly juniper (arkeuthis)

Juniperus oxycedrus

Big juniper cardamom (kardamom)

Juniperus spp.

Cardamom (kardamom)

Elettaria cardamomum

Calamus, sweet flag (kalamos)

Acorus calamus

Citronella

Cymbopogon nardus

*Adapted from Plutarch, About Isis and Osiris, Chapter 81.

†It is believed that this asphalt is resined petroleum.

Kyphi: Egyptian Incense

The Hellenized word kyphi means “incense substance.” It is, like the word incense, a general term for a variety of substances. Incense was considered “the divine maker” in Egypt because it was supposed to sanctify the environment when burned.

Many authors have speculated about recipes for the legendary Egyptian kyphi incenses, which were considered magical. Kyphi was the “favorite dish” of the sun god. Whoever worshipped him needed kyphi—good kyphi. Some recipes handed down from antiquity contain ingredient lists that are an indecipherable riddle today, perhaps because of spelling errors or sloppy recording. Probably the most useful recipe is the sixteen-ingredient kyphi from Plutarch (Plutarch 1850 [Orig. pub. 2nd century CE]).

Plutarch writes:

It is not simply a matter of blending ingredients together, just like that! While the balm-makers are mixing the incense, people read them holy scriptures… . Kyphi is used as a drink and a medicine. As a drink, it purifies the inner organs because it seems to soften the lower part of the belly. Resin and myrrh are made by the sun; the plants sweat it out, as it were, in the midday heat. Some of the ingredients of kyphi—those that nourish themselves with cool air, shadow, dew, and humidity—grow better at night. This is because the daylight is a unified entity, and thus simpler, while the night air is a more complex mixture of many happenings, of lights and powers that come like seeds from the stars. Thus the approach to blending the incense must create a balance between simple things made by the sun during the day and the more elaborate things (things with many attributes) formed in the beginning of the night (Plutarch 1850 [Orig. pub. 2nd century CE]).

An Egyptian priest (recognizable because of his bald head) sacrificing incense balls. (After a wall painting in a nineteenth dynasty tomb in Memphis, Egypt)

The Egyptian Papyrus Ebers, the oldest existing medical text (written around 1553–1550 BCE), states:

Kyphi is used to make the house or clothes smell more pleasant: Dried myrrh, juniper berries, incense, spruce, aloewood, sebet-resin, calmus from Thailand (in Asia), inekkun-corns, mastic, and juice from the niiuben tree [styrax] are ground, combined, and put on the fire (Papyrus Ebers, XCVIII).

Mastic resin from Greece is an ancient incense substance used in the Egyptian kyphi recipe. In European occultism, mastic was associated with the sun, the waking of the “second face,” and the conjuring of spirits. When burned, mastic vaporizes with a white smoke and gives off an aroma that is resiny but not sweet, reminiscent of frankincense.

This recipe is difficult to reconstruct, as the botanical identifications cannot be verified. But we can say with confidence that basic incense combinations of frankincense and myrrh (or even frankincense and juniper) were used as offerings to the sun gods as far back as the time of the pharaohs.

Saturn, the God of Incense

The return of Saturn

Who was once in the Golden Age

The spring of humanity

Reigning as king

Was promised these days in oracles.

SIMON 1990, 196

During the Roman Saturnalia, people made offerings of presents to one another, especially candles and clay dolls symbolizing “life lights” and human beings. These were the predecessors of Christmas tree lights and gifts. In the pagan tradition, the Saturnalia often included a good deal of feasting and intoxication in addition to rest, relaxation, and general merry-making.

Saturn, or, more precisely, Saturnus, was the Roman god of agriculture. Even in antiquity, he was associated with the Greek god Kronos, symbolizing time itself. Saturnus was the husband of Ops (=Cybele), the Roman goddess of sowing and the harvest, and the father of Jupiter (=Zeus), who robbed him of his reign and drove him away. Under the reign of Saturn, humanity experienced the Golden Age (Saturnia regna), a time of happiness without sorrow. One of Saturn’s attributes is the sickle or wine grower’s knife, which is also an attribute of Sylvanus, the god of the forest. The sickle was symbolic of the idea that, in the Golden Age, it was not necessary to sow, only to harvest.