Nordic Yule tradition origins

With the most celebrated holiday of the year around the corner i would like to take this time to talk a little bit about the actual origins of Christmas, or Yule as it was called (and still is) in the Nordic countries of Europe, namely Norway, Sweden, and Finland before the church made it into a religious holiday. Back in pagan traditions, when the nomadic Saami people (or reindeer people) and the mighty shamans roamed the vast north, today known as Scandinavia, Russia, and Siberia, the celebration of the winter solstice (Yule) remarked the return of the sun after months of almost complete darkness. It was a time to celebrate the cycle ( or wheel =yule - jul in Swedish) coming to its end and welcoming the start of a new one. To get together as a community, sharing warmth, light, and comfort through the dark and dead month of December, and especially the night of winter solstice. 

During this time it was a common practice among the shamans to gather in sweat lodges sipping the collected urine from reindeer to obtain the psychedelic effects of the amanita mushroom, a known delicacy for reindeer, but poisonous for human consumption. Trees were ornamented with the infamous red-with-white-spots-colored mushrooms to attract the reindeer while dressing in brightly red-colored clothing to praise the mushroom. One can only imagine how stories of flying reindeer came to life, hehe. 

Many of the ancient pagan Yule traditions have lived on to our modern-day, and growing up in Finland i was lucky enough to have experienced some of them, such as lighting the four advent candles on the Yule altar together with ornamental reindeer and Crumpuses made of hay, celebrating Santa Lucia (a proclaimed Christian saint, but also known as the ”witch of the north” or ”Lightbringer”), a young lady dressed in white, wearing a crown of holly, pine, and candles, representing a glimmer of light and hope, bringing homebaked goods, such as Lussekatter (=Lucifer Cats, also known as saffron buns, thought to ward off evil spirits) and singing with her fellowship maidens, hanging little fake amanita ornaments in the Yule tree, and the Yule tree collection ritual by going out into the woods and collecting a wild tree. And Yule glögg!! Mmmm homemade mulled wine, which btw i have a killer recipe for in my previous blog post, make sure to check it out here to spice up your Yule table!