SelfhelpMagazine

by Joanna Poppink, M.F.C.C.

However distasteful it may seem to many, much human behavior is tied to a rich and shrouded past, where our ancestors celebrated festivals more closely lied to cycles of nature, including the sun and moon, and told rich stories of gods who ruled forces seen and unseen.

Greek mythology is but one kind of mythology that had its influence on our traditions. Many other mytholgies spawned tradtions that we celebrate whole-heartedly today, despite our lack of understanding from whence they came.

For example, unbeknown to many people the world over, religion, myth, history and folklore collide mid December with stories and folklore that very closely resembles ritual and tradition that was commonplace many centuries before Christ. Dozens of traditions celebrate the light coming into darkness. They explode in twinkling lights, tinsel and carols in the night.

Spirits fly through stormy skies carrying gifts and lumps of coal. Lightning strikes an oak tree and creates mistletoe plus lots of surprising kisses.

We move in a frenzy of shopping, cooking and traveling. Or we flee the holidays in cars, planes or depression. We spend more time, money and energy than we can afford.

We party. We give to the poor and homeless. We give out of joy, and we give out of guilt and duty. We tell stories to our children, teaching and exciting them with the extravaganza of Christmas. We take time off work, eat too much and decorate everything.

We have no idea our rich pagan ritual past, and how closely those rituals contribute to our current activities! This series of articles is an attempt to understand how many centuries of human activity contribute to the very fabric of our modern holiday traditions.

Our current holidays are as if "Lord of Misrule", the "King of Unreason", once again governs the Feast of Fools as he did in ancient Rome. One we understand our ritual past, we can see how everything in our familiar world might seem "topsy turvy".

Following my curiosity and love of stories, I gathered some ancient European beliefs and customs of December. I wanted to see if we are more influenced by natural forces and rituals of the past than we realize. The bits and pieces of stories I found hold voices hushed over time. Listening to them now may give us a richer understanding of our holiday experience today.

This is a 7=part series. Please start with Parts II and III to see how these long-held traditions might be playing out in your very living room!

Part II

About the Author:

Joanna Poppink, M.F.C.C. is a Marriage, Family, Child Counselor (License #15563). She has a private practice in Los Angeles where she works with adult individuals and couples. She specializes in working with people with eating disorders and their loved ones. Contact her: 10573 West Pico Blvd. Suite 20, Los Angeles, CA 90064. 310) 474-4165 phone.