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Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, & Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide
CAD $36.50
An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas. This book analyzes the symbolism of the many plants associated with Christmas. It also reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration. The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan Yule rituals. All centered on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance.
This evolving feast has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world. Practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child.
Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun.
Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity.
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Additional information
| Weight | 626 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 21 × 2 × 26 cm |
Description
An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas. This book analyzes the symbolism of the many plants associated with Christmas. It also reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration. The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan Yule rituals. All centered on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance.
This evolving feast has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world. Practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child.
Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun.
Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity.
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