Candle number two has been lit! These candles officially start the Christmas season, the first Sunday in December. The season happily known as Advent.
.On the first Sunday of Advent – four weeks before Christmas – people light the first candle in the Advent season, a special event eagerly awaited. Each Sunday until Christmas, a candle is lit (and blown out after a while), until all four candles are alight.Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "
coming". Another interpretation of Advent comes from the Latin word for “
arrival” —
adventus — which means non-Christians can celebrate it simply as a fun countdown to Christmas.
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Daylight hours have become shorter, making the darkness set in much earlier and artificial lights are switched on to compensate. December brings a time for hope. Winter solstice in December marks the longest ‘dark nights’ of the year and we begin to look forward to the cycle reversing. Christmas spirit begins early.
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After our thanksgiving holiday, shoppers have been visiting stores that have long been displaying brightly arranged items for gifts while Christmas music has been heard everywhere.Traditional winter clothing, foods, Christmas Trees and everything for everyone is being purchased for the annual festivities we know as The Christmas Season.
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Many of our annual shopping and celebrations are, pretty much, repetitious annual events. Our church activities, home visits, and foods are much the same every year. In spite of this , we eagerly
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| A Nativity Scene, wood carved selling for $20,0003.00. |
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continue the ‘spirit of the season’, sometimes having little idea of ‘why’, outside of our spiritual beliefs and The Nativity of Jesus’ birth. For most, this is sufficient and, as most would say, is this is “ The Reason For The Season”.
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Pre-Christian people had other reasons. One, being the desire for survival.Where did our “routine practices” come from? Why are outdoor trees brought inside? Why do we put up wreathes and why do we call it the “The Jul”? And then there’s ‘Christmas ham’?? We just had turkey...
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Some of our seasonal “needs” have some ancient history. Our ancestors, in earlier days believed the sun had a lot to do with their survival. The darkness often brought danger and some thought the sun was being withheld for an unknown reason.They took action to remedy the situation.
At Midwinter, or Solstice, the Vikings honored their Asa Gods with religious rituals and feasting. They sacrificed a wild boar to' Frey', the God of Fertility and Farming, to assure a good growing season in the coming year. The meat was then cooked and eaten at the feast. Winter solstice ham! This is the origin of today's Christmas ham in Scandinavia.
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Then, some believed the sun was a huge wheel that rolled out of sight. To honor the gods,they fashioned a giant Sunwheel, which was put on fire and rolled down a hill to entice the Sun to return. This could be the origin of the Christmas wreath. We don’t fire it up, but we often set it ablaze with colorful lights and display them in many windows.
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Now there’s this “Yule log”. Most US people don’t even have a Yulelog, but some do, and have a table display of a short wooden branch with candles placed in drilled holes. No real reason except for more candle-light. This log, in Viking days, was the heat supply in dark nights.Today, it's known as a decoration or a cheese log rolled in nuts.
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And why do we chop down a perfectly shaped tree and bring it into out home?
It’s bound with strings of lights, tinsel, and decorative objects.
Later, in the season, it’s ‘roots’ are covered with fake snow displaying brightly wrapped boxes that are coveted by children of all ages.
Even our Christmas tree goes back to Pre-Christian times. The Vikings decorated evergreen trees with pieces of food and clothes, small statues of the Gods, carved runes, etc., to entice the tree spirits to come back in the spring. Christmas wasn't celebrated in Norway until about 1000 or 1100, when Christianity first came to the area.
In earlier times, it was a celebration of the end of the harvest.By ancient law, the work of autumn was to be completed in November and it was time to celebrate.
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No celebration was complete without the traditional brew.
Glögg is a Scandinavian Christmas drink. Recipes vary widely, but all
use wine or port as a base with the addition of mulling spices, sugar and usually other liquors such as brandy or vodka. Beer production was made mandatory. The brew played a big part of the farmer’s life. The time of celebration has varied. According to written sources such as one law issued by an annual parliamentary assembly which took place on the west coast of Norway sometime approximately 900 to 1300 AD in medieval Norway beer brewing was mentioned.
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By law, it was mandatory for farmers to have a beer drinking party with at least three farmers attending. If a farmer was so far away from his neighbors that this was difficult, he still had to brew as much beer as if he had been taking part of such a party. The beer should be ready by the first of November. and failure to do so meant the possibility of losing ownership of the farm.
Ancient sagas note that Vikings were huge beer drinkers. They would even stop mid-battle for a beer break to drink huge quantities of beer, and then rejoin the battle, probably with a lot more gusto!
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The drinking of ale was particularly important to several seasonal religious festivals and these festivals continued to be celebrated after the introduction of Christianity, although under new names. Jul or jol is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, "jul" was the
name of a month in the old Germanic calendar. The concept of "jul" was
a period of time rather than a specific event prevailing in Scandinavia. In modern times, "Jul" is a general time stretching from mid-November to mid-January, with Christmas and the week up to New Year as the highlight. The modern English yule and yuletide derive from this term. Some modern customs have survived, although we may have altered the significance.
The long winter’s darkness is made brighter and the people rejoice as the Christmas Season begins..
Adult reindeer of both sexes are capable of growing horns, or antlers. Males use theirs
Any any rate, from the Norwegian point of view, the “Dark Time” or
Winter Part 1 is past. Christmas has marked the end of part one and
“After Christmas” begins Winter Part 2’. Daylight, when available, becomes a bit 'less dark'. Happier days ahead.
