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Wiccan Ways

Much of Christianity was derived from Pagan sources; this includes the sites of many cathedrals, the lives of many Christian saints (who were really recycled pagan Goddesses and Gods), many Christian holy days, and many cultural celebrations. There are many vestiges of Paganism which remain a part of our culture. Holidays Christian holy days, like Easter and Christmas, celebrate important days in the life of Jesus Christ (birth, resurrection). Sabbaths are based on important events in the Bible and in Christianity's history. Sabbats. There are eight sabbats which are celebrated by Wiccans. They have little difference from the main Christian holidays because the Christian holidays have their origins in pagan celebrations which existed BEFORE Christianity. Christmas originated from the pagan Yule celebration. Three days after the solstice (by today's calendar, that's December 25), the sun starts to rise again in the sky. This is the Jul (pronounced "Yule"), the turning of the sun. It was a time of rejoicing because it meant the winter would eventually end and the summer return. In various cultures, it was honored in different ways. Festivities during the Yule holiday always involved feasting and general merriment. The anglo-saxon word for December was geol, "feast-month." Pronounced much like Yule, it was probably influenced by the name of the holiday itself.
Preserved foods. Gift-giving was also featured, particularly to the children. In fact, children seem to have been honored at Yule since earliest times. It was because the it honored the "birth" of the god or goddess, and children reflected new life within themselves. Also featured were evergreen trees, boughs and wreaths. Wreaths were especially important because they were images of the sun itself. Easter comes from the pagan sabbat of Eostar. Pagan roots of Easter lie in celebrating the spring equinox, for millennia an important holiday in many religions. Celebrating the beginning of spring may be among the...