Many of the immigrants coming to America over the last 500 years brought with them a history of Pagan traditions, although they may have been unaware of such. Some of these traditions were written out of history by the Christian churches and Roman colonization. However, in some cases Christianity adopted to the strong local Pagan traditions, for example the Celtic and pre-Celtic traditions of Ireland, which were beyond the reach of the Roman Empire and its campaigns to eliminate Druidism.
The Celtic pagan solar and agricultural festivals of the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices have survived to this day. There were four great days of the Celtic year: Beltaine at the start of May; Midsummer; Lughnasadh on 1st August; and Samhain on 31st October. After Samhain the Sun says goodbye to its power and must wait a half year under the dominance of the forces of winter darkness and evil. The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and is a time of hope and rebirth.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the spectacular passage tomb of Newgrange, located at Brú na Bóinne, County Meath in Ireland. Newgrange is one of the pyramids of Europe. It is the world’s oldest sun observatory and was built some 700 years before the great pyramids in Egypt. During the Winter Solstice, which occurs about the 21st December, a beam of direct sunlight shines through the roof-box above the entrance, goes along the passage and reaches across the tomb chamber floor as far as the front edge of the basin stone in the end recess. Thus the light of the sun, the source of life, enters the darkness of the entrance to the underworld and symbolizes the birth of new life.
The Church took the approximate time of the Winter Solstice and used that as the birth date of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus had a cup of life, so too was the Celtic God Dagda the owner of the Cauldron of Life. The Dagda “the good God” was the leader of the Tuatha De Danann, the Gods of the Gaelic people of Ireland. The Dagda himself was the son of the River Goddess Danu and Bel (or Bilé) of the Underworld. Bel is seen as the father of the Gaelic Gods and men. It is the Dagda and his son Angus who are associated with the Newgrange site.
In all the Celtic festivals, bonfires are lit on hilltops and hearth fires rekindled. The modern Christmas celebration begins on Christmas Eve, when the traditional Yule log is brought to the family hearth. This log is cut by the male head of the household and the older son, while the table is being set for the Christmas Eve Fast supper. This tradition still exists in many European cultures. The Yule celebrations are of Viking origin and it is they who gave us the 12 days of Christmas.
Decorating the house at Christmas, with plants and flowers, especially holly, which bears its red berries at this time, comes from a heathen tradition. The Roman temples were decorated during the great Winter Feast in December to celebrate the God Saturn, who represented time. The Mistletoe was venerated by the Druids and is considered lucky to hang in a house at Christmas, but is unwelcome in churches, due to its pagan associations. Images of Robins and Wrens also adorn Christmas cards, probably related to Irish Druids interpreting the singing of the latter to predict the future.
New Years Eve celebrations or “Hogmanay” ,as it is called in Scotland, have become very popular in America. They are a mixture of the Celtic Samhain, which is also a year end celebration, the Roman Winter Feast of Saturn and the Viking Yule Tide celebration.
Then on 2nd February the celebration of Imbolc takes place. Also called Oimelc and Candlemas, Imbolc celebrates the awakening of the land and the growing power of the Sun. The word “Im Bolg” means in the belly and is related to the pregnancy of ewes at this time of year. The church have taken this day as their own as it is 40 days after Christ’s birth on 25th December and is the date that his mother Mary has to go to the temple for purification. Using the Orthodox Church’s date of Nativity, then we get 14th or 15th February as the celebration date.
The 1st February, being the Eve of Imbolc, is the Feast of St. Bridget or Bride, the most popular of the Irish saints. “Brigit” is the daughter of Dagda; is the Gaelic goddess of fire, hearth and home; is the Lady of Smithcraft; is the goddess of poetry and is the midwife to spring. Sites bearing her name are found all over northern Europe. The Christian church took the view that it was easier to convert the Irish Pagans if their Gods were converted to Christian saints.
If a hedgehog came out of its hole on St. Bridgets Day then the good weather was judged to have arrived. This tradition was brought to America and this day became Groundhog Day!
Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) takes place on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the 40 Day Fasting Period of Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. It was French settlers who brought the tradition to America . Early records write of Mardi Gras celebrations in Nice, France in 1294 and Venice, Italy in 1268. However, although carnival celebrations have had Church approval since the Middle Ages, it is likely that the traditions date back to pre-Christian times, being similar to the Roman festival of Saturn and the Greek celebrations of Dionysus (called Bacchus by the Romans).
The timing of Easter is dependent upon the first Sunday after the Jewish Passover, which in turn comes from the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. The Passover celebrates the release of the Jews from their captivity in Egypt. Its timing relates therefore to a pre-Christian lunar based calendar.
The word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon fertility God “Eastre”, whose rites where celebrated at the Spring Equinox. This explains the association Easter has nowadays with eggs and rabbits, as the all are connected with fertility. In Babylon this Goddess was known as “Ishtar”. The Hebrews called her “Astarte” or “Ashtoreth”.
There are also many ancient religions which celebrate the death and rebirth of a deity at this time of year. For example, the Romans celebrated the death and resurrection of the God “Attis” on 25th or 26th March, marking the Spring Equinox. Attis was the son of the Cybele, the Divine Mother. This is similar to Dagda above, who was son of Danu (“the source of all rivers”) and her husband Bel.
Another key Celtic festival day is Beltane, or Bealtinne, meaning Bel’s fire. It takes place on 1st May and has now become May Day or Labour Day throughout the world. It is a happy festival when pagans celebrate Beltane with maypole dances, symbolizing the mystery of the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God – Bel and Danu. The names Danu and Bel are to be found in rivers and towns from Europe to India, demonstrating how ancient these Gods may be. These two are the Lord and Lady of the Wiccans and the time from the evening of 30th April to 1st May is a major feast for witches, as it is described in the “Walpurgisnacht” scene in Goethe’s “Faust”. As the Gaelic wording “-tinne”, meaning fire, in the name suggests there is once again a bonfire involved. The bonfire is still common today, but many of the wilder celebrations of the coming of summer have gone out of fashion.
The great Celtic Festival of Midsummer Day on 24th June, celebrating the victory of sunshine and crops, has been renamed The Feast of St. John, thus associating John the Baptist with the Summer Solstice, just as his cousin Jesus has become part of the Winter Solstice tradition. The Scandinavian countries still hold big Summer Solstice Celebrations. In Ireland the Eve of St. John on 23rd June was known as Bonfire night. The practice of burning animals in baskets on the bonfires was still being practiced in France until a few hundred years ago. Julius Caesar’s diaries record the use of huge wicker-work images which were burnt containing living men. This idea was used in the film the “Wicker Man” set on the Scottish islands.
Lughnasadh or Lammas is the name of the harvest festival, which takes place on 1st August. Lugh is the God of Light and is known as Lugh of the Long Arms, which were said to be golden, which may be connected with rays of light one sees stretching out from the centre of the sun, when squinting at it. His name is to be found in towns and cities around Europe, including Luton, London and Lyon. The mountain Croagh Patrick, in Ireland, was associated with the Lugh. The name of St. Patrick was imposed on the mountain about 800 AD. Incidentally, religious historians have also stated that it is unlikely that St. Patrick was ever there. The pilgrimage climb up Croagh Patrick takes place on the last Sunday in July and is still effectively held on the old feast day of the God Lugh. Lugh is sacrificed at Lughnasadh by his wife Neasa or Nass to ensure the bounty of the land.
Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn'), which marks the Feast of the Dead, occurs on 31st October. Many Pagans also celebrate it as the old Celtic New Year (although some mark this at Imbolc). On this, as well as the other three major Celtic Festival days Lughnasadh, Imbolc and Beltane, the spirits of the other world join us. Halloween or Samhain sees the sad farewell to the supremacy of the sun and brings the prospect of shorter sunless days and long dark nights. It also marks the start of the New Celtic Year and is considered an ideal time to perform supernatural experiments and spells, for example to see who you will marry.
There are clearly Celtic origins behind American Halloween tradition. On the Aran Islands, in the West of Ireland, people still celebrate Samhain in its purest form. The locals wear costumes, which were in earlier times made of straw. The doors of the house are left open so that spirits or other beings can enter. However, the owners of the house remain silent. Only the pumpkin is missing, as it is not part of the Celtic tradition.
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