Christmas is a time for stories. It’s about coming together with family, looking back, looking forward and creating meaning.
Juleaften
My mother was a Dane, so my family celebrated on the 24th, Juleaften. Not that we’re religious, but then Juleaften comes from the pagan word Jul or Yule – a time for honouring the winter solstice. About 20 of us get together. The youngest never even met my mum but referred to her as Mormor or Oldemor. I cook a Danish Christmas dessert called risalamande and we sing Danish hymns that we neither believe nor understand. But all this Scandi mash-up binds us together, and it’s excellent!
Tradition
Most cultures have a festival during the switch from one year to the next—in ancient societies, not much happened with growth, trade or war in the deep midwinter. So, it makes sense to be the time to get together, make sacrifice, feast, and make meaning to bond the tribe.
We have so much in common
Around the world, year-change rituals from China to Iran and India to Europe have common factors: families getting together; feasting on significant traditional dishes, the exchange of presents or money; rituals involving lights or fireworks in the darkness; group singing; symbolism of death and rebirth; saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new with a refreshed disposition; spring cleaning.
The evolution of story
In the prehistoric struggle for supremacy of one primate group over another, the species with the largest functioning groups or tribes had an advantage. One evolved activity that gave humans an edge was our ability to assign meaning to objects and practices. This is the foundation of animistic religion, and it’s exactly what we’re engaging in when we get together at Christmas and Diwali. Toshigami or Nowruz. We tell the old stories and create new ones. Storytelling is a group activity as old as the Enchanted Forest.
Happy holidays!
I wish you all a very happy and rewarding holiday season. I look forward to hearing your stories when we’re back here, refreshed after our winter retreats.
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