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Celebrate Dísablót on May 14th

Celebrate Dísablót on May 14th

Dísablót, one of the most significant pagan festivals celebrated in ancient Scandinavia, is still remembered and commemorated by modern-day pagans and heathens. This springtime festival, which usually takes place on May 14th, was dedicated to the dísir, the female spirits and goddesses who were believed to protect and bless the fertility of the land, animals, and people. Here, we will explore the history, traditions, and significance of Dísablót.

Origins and Meaning of Dísablót

The word “blót” in Old Norse means sacrifice or offering. Ancient Heathens performed Blót ceremonies to appease the gods and goddesses.  Our ancestors sought their blessings and favors, and to ensure the community’s prosperity and protection. Dísablót, therefore, is a special blót dedicated to the dísir. Heathens consider the dísir to be our guardians and benefactors. The term “dísir” (singular dís) refers to ancestral female spirits. These ancestral spirits watch over their descendants and guide them in their daily lives. Eventually, the dísir evolved into a type of goddess, whom we honor.

Our ancestors held Dísablót in the spring or early summer, at the beginning of the growing season. They looked to spring as at time of renewal, hope, and optimism. The harsh winter had passed and the land was ready for planting and harvesting. People invoked and praised the dísir for maintaining fertility. People also prayed to them for protection and guidance in family, marriage, childbirth, and health. Dísablót is a celebration of life and fertility, and a form of ancestor worship.

Dísablót Rituals and Offerings

Not surprisingly, Dísablót practices varied from region to region and community to community. However, this festival had some common elements and themes. People offered food and drink to the dísir. The offerings could be meat, bread, cheese, beer, mead, or other delicacies. People placed the food on a special altar or platform, which they decorated with flowers, greens, and ribbons. The altar became the connection between our world and the dísir.

People lit bonfires to honor the dísir and to provide light and warmth. People also lit fires to ward off evil spirits and diseases. Our ancestors considered the smoke and ashes sacred, and sometimes used them for divination or healing.

Music, dance, and poetry were also integral to Dísablót. Singing and playing instruments were ways people praised and thanked the dísir, as well as expressing joy and gratitude for spring’s arrival. The bards and skalds, who were the Norse poets and storytellers, recited epic tales and sagas of the gods and heroes.

Dísablót was also a time for socializing and feasting. The participants, who could be family members, friends, or neighbors, shared the offerings and the food, and drank together. This communal aspect of Dísablót reflected the importance of kinship and community bonds in Norse society.

Dísablót in Modern Times

Although the practice of Dísablót ceased with the Christianization of Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, the memory and legacy of this festival have survived and been revived in modern times. Contemporary heathen and pagan communities have adapted and reinterpreted the rituals and meanings of Dísablót to fit their own beliefs and practices. Some groups hold public or private ceremonies that follow the traditional format of offering food, lighting fires, and reciting poetry. Others create their own variations that incorporate elements of personal spirituality or social activism.

Dísablót has also become a symbol of Norse identity and heritage. Some Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden and Iceland, have incorporated Dísablót into their cultural calendars as a way of preserving and promoting their historical traditions. Museums, festivals, and educational programs feature Dísablót as a way of educating the public about the pre-Christian past and the continuity of cultural values.

Moreover, Dísablót has gained popularity and recognition among non-Scandinavian pagans and heathens as a way of connecting with their ancestral roots and honoring the feminine divine. As the dísir represent a diverse range of female energies and archetypes, they are seen as a source of inspiration and empowerment for women and queer people. Dísablót, therefore, has taken on new meanings and significance for those who seek to reclaim their spiritual heritage and resist the dominant norms of patriarchal monotheism.

A Significant Holiday Worth Celebrating

Dísablót is a fascinating and rich festival that reflects the complex and diverse religious and cultural landscape of ancient Scandinavia. Its emphasis on fertility, ancestor worship, communal bonds, and artistic expression has resonated with people throughout history and across borders. Dísablót offers a valuable opportunity to explore and celebrate the feminine divine, the cycles of nature, and the power of community.

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Walpurgis Night and May Day

Walpurgis Night and May Day

Walpurgis Night and May Day are two festivals that are steeped in pagan and Heathen traditions. People have celebrated them for centuries in various parts of Europe. These festivals mark the beginning of the summer season. Both pagans and Christians associate these holidays with fertility, growth, and renewal.

Let’s explore the history and significance of Walpurgis Night and May Day. BY doing so, we can learn how they relate to pagan and Heathen beliefs.

The History of Walpurgis Night

Walpurgis Night in Jesenice in Prague-West District, Czech Republic by Chmee2, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Walpurgis Night is a festival that is celebrated on the night of April 30th. It is named after Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century Christian missionary who was canonized by the Catholic Church for her work in converting pagans to Christianity.

However, we can trace back the origins of Walpurgis Night to pagan and Heathen traditions that predate Christianity. In pre-Christian times, the festival was known as Valpurgisnacht. People celebrated it as a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest.

During Valpurgisnacht, people would light bonfires and leave offerings of food and drink for their ancestors and other spirits. They would also dress up in costumes and masks to scare away evil spirits.

Over time, the festival became associated with witches and witchcraft. Unfortunately, literature and folklore depicted it as a time when witches would gather on Brocken, a mountain in Germany. There, they would hold a Sabbath and perform spells and other magical rituals.

May Day’s Significence

May Day, which is celebrated on May 1st, is another festival that has roots in pagan and Heathen traditions. The festival marks the beginning of the summer season, and people associate it with fertility, growth, and the renewal of life after the long winter months.

In pre-Christian times, people knew May Day as Beltane. Pagans celebrated it as a time when the nature spirits awoke  from their winter slumber. During the festival, people would light bonfires and dance around a maypole, which was decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Beltane was also a time of fertility, and pagans believed that couples who spent the night together on Beltane would be blessed with fertility and good fortune. This belief is reflected in the May Day tradition of crowning a May Queen and a May King, who represent the union of male and female energies.

How Walpurgis Night and May Day relate to Pagan and Heathen Beliefs

Walpurgis Night and May Day are both festivals that are steeped in pagan and Heathen beliefs. They show a deep reverence for nature and the cycles of life.

For pagans and Heathens, these festivals are an opportunity to connect with the natural world and to honor the spirits that inhabit it. They are also a time to celebrate the return of life and growth after the dark, cold winter months.

At the same time, Walpurgis Night and May Day are also an opportunity for us to reflect on the deeper spiritual meaning of these festivals. For pagans and Heathens, these festivals represent a time of spiritual renewal and transformation, a time when we can shed the old and embrace the new.

A Special Reverence for Nature

Walpurgis Night and May Day are two festivals that have been celebrated for centuries, and they continue to hold deep spiritual significance for pagans and Heathens today. These festivals are an opportunity to connect with the natural world, to honor our ancestors and other spirits, and to celebrate the renewal of life and growth that comes with the arrival of the summer season.

Whether you’re a pagan, Heathen, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty and power of nature, Walpurgis Night and May Day are festivals that are worth exploring and celebrating. By honoring these traditions, we can deepen our connection to the natural world and to the deeper spiritual forces that shape our lives.

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Let’s Talk Easter…Or Should I Say Eostre?

Let’s Talk Easter…Or Should I Say Eostre?

All right, buckle up, fellow pagans and Heathens, because it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room: Easter. You know, that holiday where Christians celebrate the resurrection of their lord and savior Jesus Christ by painting eggs, eating chocolate bunnies, and hiding baskets of treats for their kids? Yeah, that one.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything inherently wrong with Christians celebrating their holiday in whatever way they choose. But let’s not forget where all these trappings of Easter actually came from. That’s right, folks, they’re all stolen from pagan beliefs and customs that predate Christianity by centuries, if not millennia.

Etymology of Easter

Let’s start with the name itself: Easter. You might be surprised to learn that it’s actually named after a pagan goddess, Eostre (or Ostara), who was worshipped by the Germanic peoples of Europe. She was associated with the spring equinox, fertility, and new beginnings – which makes sense, considering that spring is the time when the world wakes up from its winter slumber and everything starts to bloom and grow again.

But when Christianity came along, it wasn’t content to let the pagans have their fun. So, it appropriated the name of Eostre’s festival and turned it into its own holiday. That’s right, Christians couldn’t even come up with their own name for this holiday – they had to steal it from a pagan deity.

Easter and Passover

Photo by Eczebulun via Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

And let’s not forget that Easter is also tied to the Jewish holiday of Passover. Passover celebrates the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. It’s no coincidence that Jesus’s resurrection was said to have happened around the same time as Passover. The early Christians were trying to piggyback off the popularity of an already-established holiday.  And it’s not just the name and holiday that was appropriated. Many of the symbols associated with Easter have pagan roots as well.

Easter Eggs

But let’s move on to some of the more tangible trappings of Easter. Eggs, for example. The egg is a potent symbol of fertility and new life in many cultures. Eggs have been used in springtime celebrations for thousands of years.

The ancient Persians used to decorate eggs for their New Year celebrations. And the ancient Egyptians and Greeks used them as offerings to their gods. This has nothing to do with Jesus rising from the dead, and everything to do with pagan fertility symbolism. Eggs have long been associated with new life and rebirth, and were often used in pagan spring rituals.

Easter Bunny

Let’s now look at the Easter bunny. This fluffy little creature has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but everything to do with the pagan celebration of spring. In Germanic folklore, the hare was associated with the goddess Ēostre, and was seen as a symbol of fertility and new life. The tradition of the Easter bunny laying eggs (yes, you read that right) is thought to have originated in Germany, where children would make nests for the hare to lay its eggs in.

The early Christians, of course, weren’t content to let the pagans have their bunny fun – so they co-opted it as a symbol of Jesus’s resurrection. Because nothing says “He is risen” like a cute, fluffy bunny delivering candy to children.

Candy and Easter

Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay

And speaking of candy, let’s not forget about all the sweet treats that have become synonymous with Easter. Chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, jelly beans – these are all modern inventions, but they all have their roots in the pagan tradition of offering sweet treats to the gods as a way of ensuring a bountiful harvest. The early Christians, again, saw no problem with appropriating this tradition and turning it into a way to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection.

Timing of Easter

But it’s not just the symbols of Easter that have pagan origins – the timing of the holiday itself is suspect as well. The Christian celebration of Easter always falls on the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. If you recall your science, the vernal equinox is when day and night are equal in length. This may sound like a purely astronomical calculation, but in fact it has its roots in pagan beliefs. The vernal equinox was a time of great importance in many pagan cultures. Pagans often associated it with the return of the sun or the god of spring.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. “But Tyra, isn’t it possible that some of these traditions just developed independently in different cultures?” Sure, it’s possible. But when you look at the overwhelming evidence of how Christianity has appropriated and co-opted pagan beliefs and customs over the centuries, it’s hard to ignore the pattern.

The TL;DR

So, what’s the takeaway here? Well, for one thing, it’s important to remember that the trappings of Easter – the eggs, the bunny, the candy – all have deep roots in pagan traditions. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with Christians celebrating their holiday in this way, it’s worth acknowledging where these traditions actually come from.

So there you have it, folks. Christianity has once again appropriated our ancestral traditions and claimed it as its own. So, when you chow down on that chocolate bunny this spring, give thanks to Eostre and the gods and goddesses of Spring.

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Happy Yule 2021!

Happy Yule 2021!

Happy Yule 2021! Welcome to the Rational Heathen’s Yule (b)Log–see what I did there? I want to wish you a happy Yule 2021. No, this year sucked, just like the last one, but hopefully you didn’t have to deal with getting sick from COVID-19.

Watch the Sunrise over Stonehenge on the Solstice!

Most of this post are roundups of past Yule posts, but I have a special treat for you! You can watch the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge live, which is way cool, thanks to the English Heritage site. The live video will happen the morning of December 22nd due to the timing of the winter solstice. Click on the link above to get access to the various channels, including their YouTube Channel. It’s all free and very cool.

The War on Christmas and Other Fallacies

So, this isn’t quite a post on Yule as it is on how Christians borrowed liberally from pagan celebrations to celebrate Christmas as we know it. Still, I count it with the season. Check it out.

Celebrating Yule with Non-Heathen Family Members

Yeah, everyone’s got them. And if they’re Christian, they may have a tough time with your Heathen ways (pun intended!). Here’s a way to make everyone happy.

8 Ways to Celebrate Yule for the Solitary Heathen

Yule can be a bit lonely for the solitary Heathen, so here are some cool ways to celebrate it by yourself.

What You Need to Know about Yule

Because I should be talking more about the history of Yule and how it relates to the modern Heathen.

When You Can’t Get in the Yule Spirit

Bah humbug! Are you the Scrooge around Yule? So am I. So, here are some ways to cope.

The Yule Goat Sneaks Heathen Tradition into Christmas

Heard of the Yule Goat or Yulebok? Well, if you haven’t, here’s your chance to add a little paganism to your relatives’ Christmas under the guise of Christmas.

Should a Heathen Teach Their Kids about Santa Claus?

Is Santa Claus Christian or Heathen? Should you teach your kids about him?

Yule as a Non-Event

When life intrudes and you can’t properly celebrate Yule.

Book Review: A Guide to Celebrating the 12 Days of Yule

I know many Heathens want to celebrate Yule, but don’t necessarily have an idea how to do it. This is a great book, if you’re looking for ideas.

Enjoy! And have a Happy Yule 2021!

The Rational Heathen

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Harvest Time, Alfarblot, and Preparations

Harvest Time, Alfarblot, and Preparations

Here in the Northern Rockies, harvest is in full swing. Lots of peppers, corn, beans, potatoes, melons, and pumpkins fill the farmer’s markets. Inevitably, that means food banks get a ridiculous amount of produce donated from local farms. 

I am far from rich, being a writer. (And if you want to support my writing, go to my patreon page and sign up — or buy me a coffee.) That’s why I hunt and go to food banks. Since the main food bank in my area now allows one to take whatever you need, I’ve been back there once every two weeks. They say some people go there every day, but I live out of town a fair ways, so to save fuel, I have to plan trips accordingly.

I won’t bore you with my shopping experience, but suffice to say, most of the food had been picked over early. That being said, as I waited, stuff that I actually needed appeared and I was able to bring home a lot of good stuff.

Last night I created ratatouille and filled my dehydrator with parsley and peppers. I couldn’t help thinking about our ancestors and what they must have gone through during this time to prepare for winter. I have to do a fair amount of preps, but it couldn’t be anything like what they did.

The Harvest and Preparation

Our ancestors needed to prepare for the lean winter months. That required them to pay attention to the harvest. Harvest was a time when everyone worked, from the highest thegn to the lowest slave. Landowners at least had to supervise the harvest and keep track of everything being done, if they wanted it done correctly. Women and children had to help process the food to ensure it was properly preserved.

If you were a lord, you might have delegated oversight to trusted men or women, but this depended on how much land you owned, what time in history you lived, and how big your kindred was. Remember, kindreds were basically extended family. There might be people whom you had no famillial ties within your village, but they and their families had some positive aspects for being considered part of your kindred.

Maybe they were warriors who fought alongside you. Maybe they were people who helped you out, or whom you helped out. Basically, your community was there for protection and help. Because it was unlikely that separately they were stronger without you (or you without them).

Preparation for the Darkness

Winter, for all its beauty and majesty, could be a very brutal time for kindreds. Basically if you didn’t have the food saved, you were shit out of luck. Sure, there was game and fish to be had–assuming you could break a hole in the ice or find game in the snow–but other than your livestock and your food stores, that was it when it came to edible foods. The northern hemisphere was retreating into darkness, culminating in the solstice where the light returned. 

The gods help you if you had raiders, thieves, pests, or a bad harvest. There’s a reason why our ancestors were good warriors. They had to be. Not only did they raid other peoples for their treasures, but they also had to defend their homes against other raiders. Losing your food was a death sentence, unless you somehow procured more. This is why it was so important to be part of a kindred and not an outlaw. Outlaws didn’t have the safety of a kindred.

Planning for a Harvest Festival

Now with the harvest almost completed, we modern day Heathens can look to have a harvest festival now. Maybe it’s winter finding, Alfarblot, or Samhain for you. Maybe you just want to celebrate Harvest. That’s perfectly acceptable. Maybe you’ve had a rough year and need something to look forward to. Maybe you had a good year and need to celebrate it. As a Heathen, the second harvest festival seems like a good idea.

Like most Heathens, I feel that more celebrations are better than too little. So, if you want to celebrate Harvest, Halloween, Winter Finding, and Alfarblot, go for it. Just be aware you’ll have a very busy schedule.

Alfarblot?

Our ancestors celebrated a holiday known as Alfarblot. It was to remember our male ancestors. When it was celebrated exactly, we don’t know, but I seem to recall it could have been in the fall or the winter.  Choosing to remember our male ancestors during the second harvest festival seems appropriate. So, if you want to celebrate Alfarblot around Halloween or Samhain, that’s perfectly okay. I like to think of it around the beginning of November, but anytime around Halloween is fine.  Seeing as we really don’t know all the holidays from the past, we can celebrate it in the spirit as it was intended.

Why We Need to Celebrate Harvest

Harvest is a time for celebration of the foods we’ve received from our farmers, but more importantly, the Earth. Just think how our lives would be different if we couldn’t grow fruits and vegetables. As a species, we all might still be hunter/gatherers. Or maybe we wouldn’t even exist because the carrying capacity of the land wouldn’t be able to support so many humans.

Yes, humans domesticated plant and animal species, but without the Earth and our life’s genetics, we would have nothing. Even our biological scientific advancements in genetically modified engineering require DNA. That DNA happened either by the gods or by chance, whichever you believe. Without it, we would be here, nor would we have the foods we eat. Without good weather and optimal growing conditions, we wouldn’t have a harvest.

How to Celebrate the Harvest and Alfarblot

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate the harvest, here are some tips:

  • Try cooking some Viking recipes. You can Google “Viking recipes” or try some recipes HERE.
  • Give offerings to both the land some recipes HERE and the gods and goddesses of the harvest. This would include Freyr, Freyja, Thor, and Sif.
  • Give offerings to Ullr and Skadi for a safe and prosperous hunting season, if you hunt.
  • Make a feast from local foods.
  • Visit a farm and help with the harvest. Some farms will allow you to pick your own produce for a cost.
  • Work with your local food bank or food pantry to help feed the needy.
  • Have a harvest game day–Northern peoples loved to play board games and games of strategy in the winter months.
  • Decorate your home in an autumn theme. Be sure to do a salt ritual to ensure to banish negative wights.
  • Put up photos of your recent ancestors, or things that remind you of your recent ancestors, especially the men. If you don’t know who they might be, or if you don’t want to honor certain men, that’s okay. There are other male ancestors whom you can honor, even if you don’t know them. And you can always honor a man who has made a positive difference in your life.

Those are just some ideas. Let me know what you’re doing!

Hlæfæst or Lammas, or Something Else?

Hlæfæst or Lammas, or Something Else?

We’re coming up on August 1st, which is the August Harvest Festival, Hlæfæst. It’s also known to most modern pagans as Lammas. If you’re still using the AFA Holiday wheel-of-the-year, it’s called Freyfaxi. For obvious reasons, I’m not keen on the AFA world, and after having read about the story of Freyfaxi, I don’t consider it a good name for a harvest festival, although Freyfest might be more in tune with the holiday.

What to Call the First Harvest Festival?

So, I’ve decided to simply call it the August Harvest Festival or Hlæfæst (Loaf Feast), in honor of the holiday that existed in Anglo Saxon times before Christianity got its mitts into it. If you feel more comfortable to call it Freyfest, by all means, do so.

What is Lammas or Hlæfæst?

Hlæfæst is probably more of a modern day creation than it is a holiday from the past. We can kind of associate it with Lammas, which is the Wiccan/neopagan version of the holiday. It’s the first of three harvest festivals many Wiccans/neopagans celebrate. Lammas literally means “Loaf Mass” or “Loaf Feast.” As I said above, it has been Christianized, like so many of the pagan holidays, that we have to go by what little we can gleam from past traditions and historical notes.

When the Christians Honored Lugh

I remember going to church while in parochial school during the Blessing of the Loaves, which is the Christian version of Lammas. Naturally the Christians decided to Christianize it to get more people on board with their teachings. In the past, people associate Lammas with Lugh, who is a Celtic god. I can imagine Lugh laughing at the Church because they kept his holiday–they just gave it different trappings.

Can We Celebrate Hlæfæst as Heathens?

Although Lammas celebrates a god from the Celtic pantheon, there’s no reason why we can’t appropriate it and call it Hlæfæst. Hlæfæst celebrates the grain harvest, which honors Sif, Thor, Freyr, and Freyja. Rather than just honor Freyr with Freyfaxi, I think honoring four gods and goddesses is better because these are the gods who make the grain grow. It makes sense to give thanks to them.

Remember that Heathenism, although based on an ancient religion, is pretty much still new, which means a lot is still open for interpretation. You can celebrate Hlæfæst as it suits you and your family.

How to Celebrate Hlæfæst

Since we’re kind of on our own when it comes to how to celebrate Hlæfæst, I propose the following:

  • Bake bread using local wheat or as many local ingredients as you can in honor of Thor and Sif. If it’s too hot, try a bread machine to make your bread.
  • Cook a pork roast in honor of Freyr. If it’s just too hot to cook a roast, go with pork chops or some other cut of pork that is simple to cook.
  • Cook vegetables and eat produce that is in season along with the pork. Thank Freyja for the food.
  • Offer a mead toast and blot to the gods and goddesses that helped bring this food to your table.
  • Visit a local farm or farmer’s market and buy fresh produce for yourself and your family.
  • Decorate your house with a harvest theme.
  • Make offerings to the landvaetr and the gods.

Tell me if you celebrate Lammas or Hlæfæst, and what you do.

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The Yule Goat Sneaks Heathen Tradition into Christmas

The Yule Goat Sneaks Heathen Tradition into Christmas

If you’re new to Heathenism, or even if you’ve been a Heathen for a while, you may or may not have seen the Julbock or Yule Goat as part of the Yule celebration. The Yule Goat or Julbock is a pagan Scandinavian tradition that predates Christianity that sneaked into Christmas celebrations in Scandinavia. It’s an interesting tradition that we can easily incorporate into our Yule festivities.

What is the Julbock? 

You may be wondering what the Yule Goat is and what significance it has for Heathens. After all, a goat is a goat, right? Well, maybe.

The Julbock is associated with the last sheaf of grain harvested, which in the past was considered to have magical properties. Called the julbocken, it was associated with proto-Slavic beliefs with the god of the harvest and the fertile sun, Devac, represented by a white goat. It was common for someone to dress up as a goat and demand presents as offerings. In this way, Yule was part of the harvest festival that has been carried into the winter solstice, perhaps as a way to entice the sun to return by paying tribute.

Historians think the Yule Goat may be linked to Thor’s goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr  in many respects.  Given that Thor provides rains and Sif, his consort, is the goddess of grain, you can kind of see the relationship and symbolism.

The current Julbock appears in Scandinavian tradition as straw tied with red ribbons in the shape of a goat. The Gävle Goat is Sweden is probably the best known Julbock since 1966.  Not surprisingly, it has been vandalized by arson at least 36 times and has been hit by cars, kicked to pieces, and stolen.  Apparently it is too big of a temptation to not offer it to the sun.   

Julbock Festivities 

In the past, the Julbock kept watch to ensure the Yule, and later Christmas, preparations were done correctly. It seems to be a benevolent Krampus in that respect.  In medieval times, the Julbock was associated with wassailing, playing pranks, and performing plays.  Youths in costumes would go house to house singing and performing plays for food and spirits.  These plays would often feature a Julbock in them.

In the 19th century, the Julbock was the bringer of presents before the whole Santa Claus thing took hold in Scandinavia.  An adult male relative of the house would dress up as a goat and hand out presents.  This eventually faded out as the Santa Claus tradition took hold in the latter half of the 19th century. Even so, there is at least one piece of art showing a rather pagan Santa Claus riding a goat. This artwork is entitled “Old Christmas” which gives us an interesting mix of the two traditions.

How to Add the Julbock in Your Heathen Celebrations

Julbock for sale at Amazon

Now that you know a bit about the Julbock, you may be wondering how to add it to your own Heathen celebrations.  Unless you’re a farmer, chances are you don’t have the last bundle of wheat from the harvest, so you may have to be satisfied with your own Julbock decoration or even these nice Julbock Yule tree ornaments.

But you don’t have to stop there with relegating the Julbock as a Yuletide decoration. If you have a large party on Yule, you can add your own Yule play which includes the Julbock.  Celebrate Yule by wassailing.  When it comes time to handing out Yule presents, who says you wouldn’t look marvelous in horns and a goat hide?  Many cool possibilities here.

So, those are my thoughts on the Julbock.  Maybe you have some ideas for celebrating Yule that I haven’t mentioned.  Let me know how you incorporate the Julbock in your Yule.


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