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| Roman sun god from the temple at Aqua Sulis (Bath, Somerset) | Green man image symbolic of the Pagan deity; a human face constructed of foliage. |
Following the death of Jesus Christ the new cult of Christianity gradually spread westwards and mingled with the religion of Rome. Although Celtic Christianity reached the northern parts of Britain by the 2nd century AD it was not until not until 596 that Saint Augustine brought Roman Christianity to Kent and onwards into Pagan southern England and gradually a number of the Pagan festivals and traditions were taken over by the Christians.
The Romans invaded England (via the River Medway in Kent) in 43AD and brought with them their customs and religious beliefs which ran parallel to the British Pagan beliefs. Compare the carving of the Roman sun god Mithras and the Pagan Green Man whos face incorporates a variety of leaves.
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| Roman sun god from the temple at Aqua Sulis (Bath, Somerset) | Green man image symbolic of the Pagan deity; a human face constructed of foliage. |
Mithras was said to have been born on the shortest day of the year, 25th December (the early calendar wasn't quite right!) and as he grew and matured the days gradually lengthened. The early Christian Church in England chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on the same day as the Bible does not record his actual birth date. Worshiping the sun god gradually merged into worshiping the son of God. Some of the oldest parish curches in England have carvings of green men incorporated the architechture.
The pagans of northern Europe had long celebrated the winter solstice, known as Yule. This was at the darkest time of the year and the belief was that the sun stood still for twelve days and during that time a log was lit to conquer the darkness and banish evil spirits before heralding the lengthening days. With the coming of Christianity and the twelve days of Yule became twelve days of Christmas and the custom of lighting candles to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year gradually developed into the burning of theYule log.
Yule was a celebration of coming fertility and in the dark ages the midwinter celbrations were quite raucaus affairs. The yule log itself was a whole tree trunk, often oak or ash, and big enough to burn for the whole twelve days and was thought of as a phallic symbol. It was decorated with various evergreens which were natural symbols of rebirth and life amid winter whiteness and often wassailed with alcoholic drinks. Ashes of the log were preserved for medicinal use and were spread over the land to ensure that the new season's crops would grow well.
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Nowadays the yule log is most often represented by a chocolate covered Swiss roll cake. |
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Holly for protection |
Ivy for eternal life |
Mistletoe for fertility |
Evergreens which are still used as decorations at Christmas time |
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