Celebrating A Celtic Christmas

Many people don't realize that a lot of the customs we use to celebrate Christmas are deeply rooted in Celtic Culture, which is much older than the Christian tradition. Advent Wreath, Holly, Mistletoe and Christmas Trees, read on to learn more about these Celtic Christmas traditions. Maybe you will want to celebrate a Celtic Christmas.

The light of the Christmas star to you
The warmth of home and hearth to you
The cheer and good will of friends to you
The hope of a childlike heart to you
The joy of a thousand angels to you
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.

We must look to the Scandinavian custom and to the Norse myths to explain the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. It has long been regarded as an aphrodisiac and fertility herb. Part of it's mystery to the ancients is that although it is a partial parasite that grows in trees, mistletoe remains green throughout the winter.

Fiona Ritchie includes a nice essay about a typical Christmas ceilidh and a Dundee cake recipe in her liner notes.

This is one of the very few holiday CDs you can play year round. Here is what one review says about this album:

"And for a CD that prominently features the word Christmas in its title, there is almost no holiday music here at all, except for "I Saw Three Ships," a guitar solo by English guitarist John Renbourn, and the Tannahill Weavers' version of "Auld Lang Syne." --Michael Simmons

Ritchie says she chose tunes for Christmas Ceilidh that reminded her of the village holiday socials she attended as a child in Scotland.

No Irish home would be complete without the holly. One charming folklore superstition was that the fairy folk would come in out of the cold to find shelter in the holly branches, so holly was placed all around the house. A spray was placed over the door, on the mantle, around picture frames, among the plates on the cupboard, as candle rings and in other areas of the home.

Holly Image is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.

Traditionally the Advent Wreath are made with evergreen boughs. You can just add some cut evergreen boughs to yours. You might want to place it on the kitchen counter/table where you usually take your meals.

A bronze Celtic Advent Wreath features a rich endless knot design which symbolizes eternity.

"Advent wreaths have their roots in Celtic traditions. The countdown to the celebrations was marked with an evergreen holly wreath or a Celtic rope knot to hold four or five candles. one was lit each week in the lead up to Christmas. Traditionally there were 24 candles, the last of which was lit on the winter solace, bringing most light at the time when the world outside is at its darkest." ~~Felisha Requer

Search for the roots of today's Christmas traditions and you will find your way back to the ancient Celtic festival of Alban Arthuan, a festival of peace and a celebration of waxing solar light, held during the Winter Solstice on December 21. Alban Arthuan ("The Light of Arthur"), also is referred to as Yule, Mabon, Jul, Saturnalia, or Christmas.

December 25th is a major holiday in Ireland. Christmas is downplayed in Scotland, some historians have suggested, because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church or Kirk, which viewed Christmas as a "Papist", or Catholic event. People in Scotland tend to celebrate the next Celtic festival of Hogmany, the Scots word for the last day of the year, held on January 1.

A guid New Year to ane an` a` and mony may ye see!

The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a yearly round of celebrations based upon the cycle of the sun as seen in the northern hemisphere. It includes the summer and winter solstices, the spring and fall equinoxes and the four cross-quarter days which fall-half way in between them. Although not unique to the Celtic tradition, these ancient celebrations are best known in the western world through remnants of the Celtic culture (i.e. artifacts, stories, songs, inscriptions, extant practices, historical records, and archaeological evidence).

The many seasonal festivals that had been celebrated for centuries by Celtic tribes found a new home when Pope Gregory embraced the pagan celebrations into the Roman faith, adding them to the Gregorian Calendar of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Celtic Winter Solstice, celebrating the birth of the Sun God became a Christian festival for the birth of the Son of God.