From: thorfinn@wixer.cactus.org (Thorfinn Einarsson)
Subject: Re: pagan origin of Christmas customs?
Organization: Real/Time Communications
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 09:06:19 GMT

Yule-Tide Greetings to All!

>martini@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (ok)
>>In article <Bz3vzM.DCv@apollo.hp.com> stave@apollo.hp.com writes:
>>..  Also what, if any, other customs that are practiced
>>have their origins in pagan worship?
>
>ok, lets try Easter, from Ester/Ishtarte/similarly named goddess of farming..

Let's try Easter again, this time using the *Webster's Seventh New
Collegiate Dictionary*. Right after the word is listed, after the type
declaration and pronunciation, before the 
definitions, the etymology is given. In this case:

[ME estre, fr. OE eastre; akin to OHG Ostarun (pl.) Easter; both fr. 
the prehistoric WGmc name of a pagan spring festival akin to OE east].

note: ME  =  Middle English
      OE  =  Old English (as in Anglo-Saxon)
      OHG =  Old High German
      WGmc=  West Germanic

As you can see, Easter is a Germanic heathen spring festival.
A reading of Jacob Grimm's *Teutonic Mythology* shows that Easter
is also a Germanic Goddess. Many wondrous things can be found in 
this 4 volume set. Some of the information is dated, though.

>St Nick could have been a folk hero that got turned into a saint for 
>advertising reason.. dunno.

Old Nick is a folk hero of a sort. He is none other than Woden (Odhinn,
Wotan, Wodan, etc.). The "nick" comes from his carving of runes.
He is probably the original leader of the Wild Hunt. As folklore changed
through time, so did the leader of the Wild Hunt. In some stories,
a goddess (Frau Hulda, etc.) leads the Hunt. There is even one instance
where Sir Francis Drake leads the hunt. Old Nick is Germanic in origin.

The Yule Tree is known to some as the "christmas tree".
The Germanic heathen families or groups would find a tree in the forest,
decorate it, perform a ritual, leave some food for the elves, and go home.
The christian clergy forbade such heathen practices. So, the Germanic
pagans cut down the tree, brought it inside, and continued the practice.
The Yule Tree is Germanic in origin.

Yule is a period of 12 nights ending with New Year's Eve. This is where
the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas", comes from. The winter solstice
is called "Mother Night", the longest of nights. On New Year's Eve,
people would swear oathes on a sacred boarshead, a ring, or a family sword.
Today we call these New Year's Resolutions. The Yule-Tide is Germanic
in origin.

>peasant-in-the-field type origins.. fish friday, which my parents stil try
>to follow in honor of christ suffering on good friday is apparently 
>orriginally
>from Freya or some other love goddess type, a-phro-dite, and freya's day is
>friday, and whichever love-lady-goddess this was, fish were her symbol, and
>fish friday would have been in honor of fertility and love, long before that
>unfortunate carpenter tangled with the romans..

Freyja...good, except that the fish is not her symbol. She is associated
with cats and swine. She is the one who taught Odhinn Seidhr magic.

Sunday - Sun day
Monday - Moon day
Tuesday - Tiw's day (IE Tiwaz, ON Ty'r) 
          Tiwaz was a god of war, justice, and law. He would preside over
          the assemblies. Is it a coincidence, that the US presidential 
          elections take place on Tuesday?
Wednesday - Woden's day (Wednesday's child is full of woe)
           In Germany, the christian church changed the name of this day
           to Mittwoch (Mid-Week), because of the folk's reluctance 
           to abandon this mighty and terrifying god.
Thursday - Thorr's day
Friday - Freyja's (also perhaps Frigga's) day (traditional wedding day?)
Saturday - Saturn's day. In Scandinavia, this day is called "Wash Day".
           This is the only day of the week which is not Germanic in origin.

I wish you well during this Yule-Tide season. 
           (This is also a tradition which is Germanic in origin. 
            To Wassail someone is to wish them whole or well from
            Waes Hail...Be Hale)

=-= Thorfinn Einarsson =-=-=-=-=-= ALU =-=-=-=-=-= O'dhinn er alfadhir! =-=
"En stundum vakti hann upp daudha menn o'r io"rdhu edha settisk undir hanga;
fyrir thvi' var hann kalladhr draugadro'ttinn edha hangadro'ttinn."
=-= ALU =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ynglinga saga ch. 7 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ALU =-=