Enjoy a 12th Night Madrigal Feast with Family and Friends

Have you ever attended a Madrigal Feast? If not, you’re in for a treat that your family and visiting relatives of all ages will enjoy. The Madrigal tradition originated as a celebration of the end of the 12 Days of Christmas in Medieval and Renaissance England.  More commonly known as “Twelfth Night”, the tradition is still celebrated in many communities as the official end of the holiday season.

In keeping with our theme of 7 Sentimental Gifts for the Holidays, how about surprising your family and friends by stuffing tickets in their stockings to attend a Madrigal Feast together. They’ll enjoy the opportunity to spend time together in a festive atmosphere long after the holiday hustle and bustle has worn off.

What’s a Madrigal Dinner like? Think of it as Dinner Theater. The Madrigal Feast is served in several courses based around a comedic play with a Renaissance theme. In most cases, a grand song is sung before the introduction of each new course is served at dinner and the audience is invited to participate and sing along. Many audiences are asked to play roles during the dinner, such as guests at the wedding of a princess or as participants in a royal proceeding.

If you enjoy a bit of light hearted theater with Kings, Queens, jesters, minstrels, wenches, knights, wizards, thieves and enchanted and mythical figures, consider attending a Madrigal Feast with family and friends each year as part of your new Yule holiday tradition. The camaraderie, playfulness and fantasy continues the lighthearted fun of the holiday season into January. After all, who doesn’t like to start the New Year with merrymaking, feasting and theater?

In North Carolina, the NC Historical Enrichment Society is hosting a Twelfth Night Madrigal Feast on January 8, 2011. Their celebration is hosted by King Henry VIII who will bring songs, dance, mischief, revelry and skits to keep all members of his court entertained and amused during the feasting.

As guests of King Henry and the NC Historical Society, you’ll dine like royalty with a four course meal which includes:

• First Course – Mushroom Tart
• Second Course – Tomato Bisque
• Main Course – Half Herbed Cornish Hen with New Potatoes, Baby Carrots, String Beans en Papillote and Crusty Bread
• Fourth Course – King Cake

Drink – Mulled Apple Cider and 1 glass of Wine or Beer included with meal. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.historicalenrichmentsociety.org/historicalMadrigal.html

Madrigal Feasts can be found all around the US. Check your local area for listings.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Enjoy a chocolate Yule Log this holiday season

Yule, a festival of light with twelve days of feasting and public celebrations, begins at the Winter Solstice. Symbolic rituals are observed including the lighting of candles and a Yule log is kept burning throughout the twelve days to symbolize the returning of the light and the Sun after the darkest day of the year on Winter Solstice. A tasty addition to the festivities has been added in the form of a Chocolate Yule log cake.

The origin of this holiday comes from over 2000 years ago, originating in Northern Europe. The holiday began as a pagan tradition known as Yule, which was celebrated for 12 days.  During this time, Scandinavian people celebrated the Norse God Odin, a bearded god who flew through the air on a horse and handed out gifts. The Pagan Romans held a seven-day festival of Saturnalia beginning on December 17th, which included the celebration of the God Mithras, who was born on December 25th. They exchanged gifts, enjoyed feasts and once this festival culminated, the New Year festivities began. Modern day examples of how we celebrate these pagan traditions today include candles in the windows of our home and what we now call Christmas lights, which we hang on a Christmas tree (our modern adaptation of the yule log and evergreen branches that the ancient Europeans brought into their homes).

In the 4th century, Rome changed from a pagan society to a Christian society and the church began to replace and absorb pagan traditions. Since there was already a holiday in place to celebrate the birth of the God Mithras, the decision was made to switch this birthday and dedicate the day as a symbolic birth date for Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church holds a ritualistic midnight mass for this event, which became Christ’s Mass, i.e. Christmas.

Like many pagan traditions under siege in the attempt to be absorbed and overwritten by the church, the campaign was met with mixed success. The European people continued their own traditional pagan celebrations and simply added the new religious connotations into the mix.  Over the centuries, the festivals, feasts, gift giving and celebrations continued including the adoption of medieval carolers who went door to door singing while enjoying a cup of alcoholic punch at each stop.  Over the decades, Yule became the celebration of Christmas.

The festivals continued in this manner until around the 17th century when Protestant reformers decided that Christmas should be banned. Their reasoning was based on the premise that the holidays was built upon pagan traditions, which were then further embellished by the Catholic church with the adopted birthday celebration on December 25th. Both traditions, the pagan revelry and the Catholic traditions, were customs that they wanted no part of and they were able to ban Christmas in England. This only lasted for a few years, but many people who held this protestant belief moved during the 17th century to America, the New World and brought their religious beliefs with them. They were the Puritan settlers who formed the colony of Massachusetts. In 1659, they banned Christmas as a holiday in Massachusetts.  As new settlers including Catholics, Pagans, the Irish, Scottish, Dutch and others with moderate religious beliefs migrated to America establishing colonies in New York, Virginia and other Atlantic states, they brought their Christmas traditions and festivities with them and the celebration of Christmas was restored in the U.S.

How do we celebrate Christmas today? According to the History Channel’s documentary, The Real Story of Christmas, the preservation and evolution is credited to two influential Americans. The first is Clement Moore, who in 1822 wrote Twas the Night Before Christmas, which gave inspiration to new customs for the holiday, based on old world traditions. Moore combined the white bearded Norse God Odin who flew through the air handing out gifts with St. Nicholas, a 4th century Catholic Bishop who was known for gift giving in stockings and the two were then melded with Sinter Klaas, the Dutch version of St. Nicholas. Odin was known as the God of Thunder and was said to have flown on a horse with eight legs. Moore substituted Odin’s eight-legged horse into eight reindeer, which he gave individual names including Donner, which means thunder, and Blitzen, which means lightning.  He also combined old European stories of elves, making Santa Claus a wizard like magical elf.

The second influential figure was Thomas Nast, a famous illustrator who created the images of the donkey and the elephant for the Republican and Democratic parties and created the image of Uncle Sam.  In 1862, Nast took Moore’s poetic descriptions of Santa and drew the illustration of Santa Claus. He changed the image of Santa Claus from a smaller elf into a full size elf man with a white beard. He also created the concept of St. Nick’s naughty or nice list. (A lesser-known fact about St. Nicholas was that the original story of St. Nicholas said that when he visited houses, he was followed by a demon named Krampus who punished bad children). Nast glossed over this story by creating a gentler naughty or nice list. Nast also captivated his audience by capturing the growing sentiment of this time where children were becoming the focus of the family and thus Santa Claus was very attentive to children, bringing them gifts.

From the light filled traditions and festivals of the ancient Europeans, to the migration of Odin into Santa Claus and the bringing in of the evergreens from Northern Europe morphing into the Christmas tree, Christmas as a holiday has continued to evolve. The Industrial Revolution provided the opportunity for a variety of good and products to become mass produced and accessible to consumers and soon after, gift giving for the holiday began in earnest and became the American staple of the holiday that is widely celebrated today.

The holiday season continues to mix old and new, with a rise of neo-paganism bringing a resurgence of old traditions and returning back to the ancient customs and celebrations of Yule. This along with a growing distaste of Black Friday shopping complete with people fighting and trampling others over bargain gifts and thousands of Americans going into debt each year with over the top gift giving, may stimulate an entire new series of traditions and festivities in the 21st century.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Decorate like the ancients with boughs and garlands of evergreen and holly

I admit it, I’m a tree lover. I’ve written poetry and short stories about trees and have an ongoing crush with a gorgeous river birch tree in my backyard. I feel confident that several of my past lives were spent as part of a Druid community and trees hold a special place in my heart.

At this time of year, one of my favorite sights and smells of the holiday season in the home is the greenery. Ancient cultures have celebrated bringing in the green for thousands of years, adorning their homes with evergreen branches and boughs and adding a little mistletoe to keep the season merry and bright.

I’m known for my tree decorating skills and have an elaborate seven stage decorating ritual for my Christmas trees. Yes, I said trees, as I’m known to have several around the home each year.  With all that I love during the holidays, there’s one aspect to tree decorating that I’ve never been comfortable with, which is the tradition popularized in the Victorian age of chopping down a living tree and bringing it into the home.

I can acknowledge that the look and sentiment is endearing, but in our current time, I think perhaps it’s time to be more conscious of the fact that we are chopping down trees, (which provide oxygen when rooted in the ground) to be used for two weeks in our home and then discarded. In this age of pollution and toxins, maybe we can find a better way to bring the spirit and significance of evergreens into our homes.

If you are open to this sentiment, here are some ideas I’ve explored that you may enjoy as well:

1. In ancient cultures, greenery was brought into the home in evergreen swags, boughs and garlands, which were placed above doors and around the home. I love the look as it used today on fireplace mantels, stair rails, and in wreaths and swags hanging from windows and doors.  Using green cuttings and branches as garland and wreaths, allow the tree to continue to live while only removing a few branches.
2. Artificial Christmas trees have come a long way and are beautiful, very life like and can be used over again each year, saving both the forest and your budget. An added bonus is that the trees do not have to be watered, and they don’t dry out creating a potential fire hazard in your home. For those who love the ‘christmas tree smell’, the live evergreen branches on the mantle, wreath and around your home provide this beautiful scent.
3. Consider wreaths made from herbs, which can be used in cooking after the holiday season. One of my favorites is from Williams-Sonoma, the ‘Cooks Herb Wreath’, which contains rosemary, sage, bay leaf, oregano and other herbs. Not only are the wreaths beautiful and exude an aromatic scent through the home, they make wonderful gifts. Nothing says an old fashioned Christmas than plucking bay leaves from the wreath hanging on the wall to throw into your recipe.
4. I believe I’ve found the perfect compromise to satisfy those who wish to preserve trees and help the earth and those who love real christmas trees in their home. This year I wanted to bring in the energy of a living tree as a second tree for the holidays, so I purchased a live European Cypress tree from ProFlowers, which arrived in a red pot and included a mini string of colored lights and tiny wood ornaments. The tree come with instructions of how to care for it during the winter and in the spring, it can be removed from the pot and planted in the ground. My husband loved it and this spring we look forward to planting the tree in our backyard. We plan to continue this tradition each year, creating a forest of trees in our backyard, which will contain the many memories of our holidays over the years.  It’s the perfect sentiment for our family and each tree will carry the memories of the holiday spent in our home while continuing its life for many years to come on our land.  We look forward to the day when the young trees planted each year mature and can be decorated outside in the traditions of the ancients. It feels as though we’ve come full circle, it’s good for us, good for the trees and good for the earth.

Enjoy decking your halls with boughs of holly and perhaps creating a nourishing new holiday tradition for your family with a live tree which you plant in the spring.  Read about my other recommended 7 Sentimental Gifts for the Holiday Season.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Give the gift of time this holiday season

The only thing disappearing quicker than money these days is time. It’s hard to believe that another year is just about over and we’ll soon be racing through the new one.  Each year when children are asked what they want most from their parents, the most popular answer is time. They want more time with their mother and father. How the time is spent varies, from having a book read to them at bedtime to just playing in the backyard.

Many adults appreciate the gift of time as well. In this age of extreme hustle and bustle, the simplest of gifts become the most show-stopping, because it is so rare for anyone to give the gift of time these days. Are you willing?

Here are a few gift ideas which will be appreciated and remembered for years to come.

Family Recipes: Everyone has a favorite food that someone in the family makes and they look forward to tasting it each year. It’s one thing to pass along the recipe, but every cook knows there are secret steps to making things taste just right and that can only be shared by cooking together. How do you package this into an inspiring gift? I’ll tell you!  I’m originally from Louisiana and many years ago I was missing home, especially the food and the people.  To my surprise, a box arrived at my door and when I opened it up, I found a gumbo pot, wooden spoons, and the recipe and all the ingredients to make gumbo. Also packed in the box were wonderful reminders of home including mardi gras beads, Cajun spices, and potholders emboldened with Louisiana art and popular sayings.

It was a wonderful gift and you can do the same with your favorite recipe. Buy the special pan that you cook or bake your recipe in and fill it with fun accoutrement including an apron, cooking utensils needed and the recipe. Then add a card with the gift explaining that you’d like to arrange a time to spend with the recipient, spending an afternoon cooking together, as you share the recipe and instructions with them. This can be as simple as a cookie sheet and rolling pin for young children to bake cookies with grandma, to tongs and a special BBQ sauce for a father in law to share with his son in law over some grill time. The possibilities are wide open and what’s most important is to create that pocket of time that the two of you spend together enjoying the moment and each other’s company.

Personalized Coupons: One year my husband surprised me by filling my stocking with a coupon book he had made. The coupons consisted of actions that he would do for me upon presentation of the coupon. They ranged from massage and helping with various chores around the home, to very unique offerings that I still remember and look back at fondly to this day, because they were so personalized and thoughtful. One said, ‘Upon presentation of this coupon, I promise to drop whatever I’m doing, no matter what it is and give you my full attention instantly’. Another was called ‘Chocolate Now’, which said I could present the coupon when I was in an urgent chocolate need and he would be pressed into service to find the chocolate I desired and bring to me post haste.

There were many others and each were equally delightful. What touched me the most was how well thought out each one was, as he had given great thought to things I really enjoyed and then offered these items to me so lovingly in little certificates of time.

Our son was very young at the time when my husband gave me these coupons at Christmas and as all children do, he watched the activity with great interest. He could see how the coupons touched me and how much I enjoyed them.   A few days later, we were celebrating my birthday and he announced that he had a gift for me and that like his father, he had created a coupon book for me. I was so touched and couldn’t wait to see what coupons he had created for me. I imagined things such as ‘I’ll clean up my room, pick up my toys’ and other scenarios. I looked at his father to see if he had played a part in this gift and he shrugged his shoulders and indicated he had been unaware. What I received instead will be remembered forever.

The first coupon said, ‘I will love you forever, for you are the best mommy.’ Not a mother I know can receive a coupon like this and not cry at their mere mention of it.  What happened next was so memorable and funny that we still joke about it today. He had wanted the rest of the coupons to be gifts given to me, dinner out at my favorite restaurant, a trip to a place I wanted to see and some jewelry. Knowing that he needed to find the resources to provide the gifts to me, the logical answer was apparent to him immediately.

The coupons then began to read… ‘This coupon says: Daddy will buy you a necklace with diamonds, Daddy will take us on a trip and Daddy will take you to dinner at your favorite restaurant.’ I began to chuckle and my husband looked at me, as he had not seen the coupons yet. I hugged my son and said I loved the gift and then handed them over to his father.  We later explained to him that the coupons are meant to be things that he could do as a gift. He understood but still maintained that I needed to receive these presents and his father would have to play his part in the coupons.  All these years later, we still laugh and joke about the coupons and suggest that whenever needed, he can always fall back on some coupons as gifts.

Play Time: Think about the person you wish to give the gift to and what they most loved to do when they were young.  Maybe it’s a friend you’ve known since elementary school and now they work a high pressure job with long hours. You remember that they have always loved baseball and that they were a pretty good player back in the day. Yes, you could buy tickets and take them to a major league game, but there are other gifts of time that you could offer as well including… purchase a glove and baseball for your friend or a football and scout out a local park where the two of you could toss the ball. Write down the name of the park and create two tickets that look similar to ball park tickets. Write on the tickets a day and time and list the park name and location. Present the tickets with the baseball and glove or football and invite your friend for an afternoon of catch. Bring along a cooler of your favorite beer and snacks and a simple afternoon in the park can provide just the downtime that your friend needs. This also works with fishing, golfing and hundreds of other activities and is just as appreciated by fathers and brothers as well as friends.

As our lives grow busier by the day, time is the one gift that doesn’t truly expire, as the memories of being together last a lifetime. Consider giving your loved ones the rare gift of time this year for the holidays. You may be surprised to discover how much it truly means to them and to you.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Heartfelt gifts best express the spirit of the holiday season

Fifteen years ago on the day after Thanksgiving, which is now known as Black Friday, I woke up at 3am and went with some family members to stand in line at a store which opened at 4am, in order to shop the sales.  The mood was festive, lighthearted and the people we chatted with in the line were full of the holiday spirit. Several people offered to go on a coffee and doughnut run for our large group and we all pitched in money and relaxed together savoring the warmth of the coffee and munching away on doughnuts that were hot and fresh from the bakery.  It was a unique experience, the group of us there in line, looking to shop early and save some money along the way. Most everyone there had children and were hoping to find good deals on the items their children wanted this year. Grandparents were staying at their homes to watch the grandchildren and it was an opportunity to sneak out of the house while the kids were sleeping and do some Santa shopping.  We all chatted about what we hoped to find in the store and why we wanted the particular item. When the doors opened, we ambled in, some of the men in line were pulling carts out for all of us and we casually entered the store and began shopping. As we passed each other in an aisle, we’d call out to each other warmly, “Were you able to find that item you were looking for?  think I saw some of them on aisle 7″ and we’d smile, say thanks and continue our shopping.

Somewhere along the way, this early bird shopping has developed into something terribly wrong. Now on Black Friday, we watch store video clips on the news, to see long lines of people who are willing to fight to stay in line, and wiling to crush and stomp over other people in order to be first to grab whatever gadget or toy is on sale for an hour. The video captures the events as people fall to the ground and are stepped on and over, while others struggle to breathe after being crushed in a wave of people fighting to get through the door at the same time.

It’s horrifying to watch on the news and difficult to imagine actually being at one of these sales. I haven’t been in over a decade to one of these sales and it’s highly unlikely that given the state of the events as they occur today, that I will ever attend a sale again on Black Friday.

While watching this tidal wave turn of events on a concept that began so normally, it made me wonder about the state of the Christmas holiday. Have we finally reached a turning point, where mass consumerism will reach a breaking point?  After all, what gadget, toy or outfit is worth trampling another human being for? Please someone tell me, where is the Christmas spirit in this action?  What expectations does that person have, when they give that gift to their loved one and say, “I hope you really like this, because I trampled three people to get to it in time”.

My hope, my wish, for this holiday season is that people return to the concept of sentimental gifts from the heart.  Gifts that create a connection to family, to memories, to heartfelt sentiments that mean something on a deeper level.  It still can be a store bought gift, not all of us are inclined or talented enough to begin crocheting afghans or preserving jellies as home spun gifts. The point is that the gift should be meaningful and say something special.  Great thought should go into the gift and what it means to the recipient as well as to the giver and great thought does not mean going into great debt!

For the next seven days, I’m going to share with you 7 Sentimental Gifts to Give, which are thought-provoking, emotion filled, and packed full of memories to be enjoyed by children and adults of all ages. I’ve chosen seven gifts that I think express this message very well and I’m sure there are more that I haven’t discovered.

I hope to hear from you with your favorite gift that captures the spirit and sentiment of the season and the joy felt when you find that gift that you know a certain person will love.

In the spirit of love, joy, abundance and grace,

*~Kala~*

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Evergreens and Light Represent the Season of Yule

Do you know the history and origin of Christmas? The traditions that you hold near and dear may not be as old as you think they are. Early Christians didn’t celebrate birthdays and the actual birth date of Jesus is still unknown. Some astrologers and historians have surmised that the location of the star over Bethlehem and the presence of lambs in the story represent a spring birth, but the actual date was never recorded. (For more information on this topic, check out my interview with Courtney Roberts, about her book and research on The Star of the Magi on the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show)

The origin of this holiday comes from over 2000 years ago, originating in Northern Europe. The holiday began as a pagan tradition known as Yule, which was celebrated for 12 days.  During this time, Scandinavian people celebrated the Norse God Odin, a bearded god who flew through the air on a horse and handed out gifts. The Pagan Romans held a seven-day festival of Saturnalia beginning on December 17th, which included the celebration of the God Mithras, who was born on December 25th. They exchanged gifts, enjoyed feasts and once this festival culminated, the New Year festivities began. Are any of these customs beginning to sound familiar?

Yule is a festival of light, with twelve days of feasting and public celebrations. A large Yule log was kept burning throughout the twelve days to symbolize the returning of the light and the Sun after the darkest day of the year on Winter Solstice.  Later candles were added to keep the light burning, along with oil burning in lamps to symbolize the eternal light. Modern day examples of how we celebrate these pagan traditions today include candles in the windows of our home and what we now call Christmas lights, which we hang on a Christmas tree (our modern adaptation of the yule log and evergreen branches that the ancient Europeans brought into their homes).

In the 4th century, Rome changed from a pagan society to a Christian society and the church began to replace and absorb pagan traditions. Since there was already a holiday in place to celebrate the birth of the God Mithras, the decision was made to switch this birthday and dedicate the day as a symbolic birth date for Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church holds a ritualistic midnight mass for this event, which became Christ’s Mass, i.e. Christmas.

Like many pagan traditions under siege in the attempt to be absorbed and overwritten by the church, the campaign was met with mixed success. The European people continued their own traditional pagan celebrations and simply added the new religious connotations into the mix.  Over the centuries, the festivals, feasts, gift giving and celebrations continued including the adoption of medieval carolers who went door to door singing while enjoying a cup of alcoholic punch at each stop.

The festivals continued in this manner until around the 17th century when Protestant reformers decided that Christmas should be banned. Their reasoning was based on the premise that the holidays was built upon pagan traditions, which were then further embellished by the Catholic church with the adopted birthday celebration on December 25th. Both traditions, the pagan revelry and the Catholic traditions, were customs that they wanted no part of and they were able to ban Christmas in England. This only lasted for a few years, but many people who held this protestant belief moved during the 17th century to America, the New World and brought their religious beliefs with them. They were the Puritan settlers who formed the colony of Massachusetts. In 1659, they banned Christmas as a holiday in Massachusetts.  As new settlers including Catholics, Pagans, the Irish, Scottish, Dutch and others with moderate religious beliefs migrated to America establishing colonies in New York, Virginia and other Atlantic states, they brought their Christmas traditions and festivities with them and the celebration of Christmas was restored in the U.S.

How do we celebrate Christmas today? According to the History Channel’s documentary, The Real Story of Christmas, the preservation and evolution is credited to two influential Americans. The first is Clement Moore, who in 1822 wrote Twas the Night Before Christmas, which gave inspiration to new customs for the holiday, based on old world traditions. Moore combined the white bearded Norse God Odin who flew through the air handing out gifts with St. Nicholas, a 4th century Catholic Bishop who was known for gift giving in stockings and the two were then melded with Sinter Klaas, the Dutch version of St. Nicholas. Odin was known as the God of Thunder and was said to have flown on a horse with eight legs. Moore substituted Odin’s eight-legged horse into eight reindeer, which he gave individual names including Donner, which means thunder, and Blitzen, which means lightning.  He also combined old European stories of elves, making Santa Claus a wizard like magical elf.

The second influential figure was Thomas Nast, a famous illustrator who created the images of the donkey and the elephant for the Republican and Democratic parties and created the image of Uncle Sam.  In 1862, Nast took Moore’s poetic descriptions of Santa and drew the illustration of Santa Claus. He changed the image of Santa Claus from a smaller elf into a full size elf man with a white beard. He also created the concept of St. Nick’s naughty or nice list. (A lesser-known fact about St. Nicholas was that the original story of St. Nicholas said that when he visited houses, he was followed by a demon named Krampus who punished bad children). Nast glossed over this story by creating a gentler naughty or nice list. Nast also captivated his audience by capturing the growing sentiment of this time where children were becoming the focus of the family and thus Santa Claus was very attentive to children, bringing them gifts.

From the light filled traditions and festivals of the ancient Europeans, to the migration of Odin into Santa Claus and the bringing in of the evergreens from Northern Europe morphing into the Christmas tree, Christmas as a holiday has continued to evolve. The Industrial Revolution provided the opportunity for a variety of good and products to become mass produced and accessible to consumers and soon after, gift giving for the holiday began in earnest and became the American staple of the holiday that is widely celebrated today.

The holiday season continues to mix old and new, with a rise of neo-paganism bringing a resurgence of old traditions. This along with a growing distaste of Black Friday shopping complete with people fighting and trampling others over bargain gifts and thousands of Americans going into debt each year with over the top gift giving, may stimulate an entire new series of traditions and festivities in the 21st century.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

On the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show, I had the opportunity to speak with Frank Joseph, the editor-in-chief of Ancient American magazine. The vision statement shared by Ancient American magazine is:

…”its editorial position stands firmly on behalf of evidence for the arrival of overseas visitors to the Americas hundreds and even thousands of years before Columbus— not only from Europe, but the Near East, Africa, Asia, and the Western Pacific. Each issue presents such otherwise neglected and even suppressed factual evidence demonstrating the lasting impact made on the Americas by Scandinavian Norsemen, Pharaonic Egyptians, Bronze Age Mediterraneans, Semitic Phoenicians, West Africans, Dynastic Chinese, seafaring Polynesians, and many other culture- bearers. All contributed to the birth and development of numerous and sophisticated civilizations which flourished throughout the American Continents in pre-Columbian times. It is the magazine’s purpose to show readers just how, when, and why these once powerful societies arose to great heights of cultural splendor and fell into deep obscurity as dramatic object lessons for our time. No rehash of well-worn theories, Ancient American offers up-to-the-moment news about ongoing discoveries and original perspectives, bringing to light a surprising abundance of fresh material that is seriously challenging entrenched conceptions of our past.”

Frank Joseph is also the author of over 20 books which have been published around the world, providing thought-provoking research on the history that you often don’t find in the textbooks. His works include: Atlantis and 2012, The Lost Civilization of Lemuria, The Lost Treasure of King Juba, Opening the Ark of the Covenant and the topic of our discussion during the show, Unearthing Ancient America: The Lost Sages of Conquerors, Castaways and Scoundrels.

In Unearthing Ancient America, Frank’s research explores the lost prehistory of the U.S.  We’re featuring this show on Explore Your Spirit with Kala during the Thanksgiving holiday as it contains fresh and occasionally suppressed information documenting the tremendous impact on North America by overseas visitors hundreds and even thousands of years before Columbus. I speak with Frank on the show about this evidence which includes: a medallion left in Michigan by Buddhist missionaries from India a thousand years ago, a 5th Century Christian church in Connecticut, the Grand Canyon’s underground city, a Roman statuette washed up at New Jersey, secret maps of America Columbus used for his first voyage to the New World, an Inca skeleton in Norway’s Viking grave, Florida’s own Stonehenge, and thirty other articles by twenty-three investigators describing the impact made by overseas visitors to our continent centuries before its official discovery.

I think you’ll find this interview to be fascinating and may open your eyes and thoughts to how our history is written and by whom.  We’re looking forward to having Frank back as a guest on the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show in 2011, as I speak with him about his new book, Gods of the Runes: The Divine Shapers of Fate.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Haunted History Examiner and the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.