As a Unitarian Universalist, one of the things I love when researching religions is commonality – finding similar practices across cultures, belief systems, and geography. As a Pagan whose religious roots reach deeply into history, these threads of similar practice and approach anchor me ever more firmly to the sacred world we share and the diverse people who are a part of it. The richness of shared or similar practices enhances rather than threatens my personally held beliefs. The season of Yuletide is a shining example of the beauty and connection that can occur across cultural, religious, and geographical borders.
A celebration and recognition of the power of light in the darkness appears throughout history for most cultures in the northern hemisphere. One of my favorite holiday etymological factoids involves the word “Yule.” Most words, when traced etymologically, go through several iterations of meaning. The root of Yule, however (Old English “geōl” and Old Norse “jōl”), has only ever meant Yule: a midwinter celebration. This community observance of light in the darkness is so very old that we do not even know where the word for it first came from. For the pre-Christian Norse, the holiday of Jōl was marked with feasting and the taking of oaths. This multi-day celebration is believed to have occurred in our contemporary months of December and January.
For the pre-Christian Irish, it appears that a powerful midwinter celebration was part of their religious cycle as well. Newgrange, a prehistoric monument in Ireland’s County Meath, is dated to over 5,000 years ago. This ancient religious center, an enormous mound with a passageway and alcoves, is aligned to the winter solstice. At dawn on the solstice, a beam of sunlight enters the chamber to perfectly illuminate the passageway… Continue reading
