Winter Solstice, The Sun Goddess, Mushroom Christmas and Reindeer Mothers

And the First Sacred Night

Winter Solstice and the origin of Christmas

It is said that before Christianity claimed the sun as the holy son Jesus, the sun was considered a goddess. We still have traces of this in our language. In German the sun is feminine: Die Sonne and the moon masculine: Der Mond. the Norse Mythology calls this sibling pair Sunna and Máni and even the origin of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty tells us of the birth of sister sun and brother moon.

These are reminiscent of a pre-christian and pre-patriarchal culture. In which the woman as the one giving birth to children would be honoured as life giving. The sun as an essential nutrient for plants to grow and humans to thrive could have therefore be considered feminine. Alongside the life giving waters, still known as great ocean goddesses today from Thetys to the Ladoes of the Lake such as the Welsh mother sorceress Cerridwen and Frau Holle as mentioned in my last post all the way to river nymphs, spring deities, well maidens and washers at the ford (I will dedicate a whole post on this topic another time).

It is very important to acknowledge this change in tradition from a feminine sun to a masculine, leading to the oh so popular synonymous use of sun and son. Change is the only constant in life as they say and I want to affirm this not as a justification of what happened but a beacon of hope that we are contributing to change right now. Meaning: it will all change again. Let’s hope we are entering a phase where we don’t have to fight between men and women, idealise matriarchal cultures and demonise patriarchy as we see where separation and oppression have lead us to. I hope we can acknowledge interdependency and find our new path forward from power-over structures to empowering-each-other sovereignty.

I believe we can’t return to ancient ways because we have changed and have to adapt culture to what is alive now but that does not mean that we can’t learn an awful lot about our heritage and let it open our minds and hearts to ways that are different than what we have been used to. Ways that aligned with our innate wisdom, respected and tended to the earth and its all inhabitants, knew of the living souls of each creature and being and allowed for regeneration and conflict resolution instead of exploitation and war making out of greed and trauma response. Could it be that the ancient mother cultures had less of this because children were not separated from their bodies of origin too quickly? I am going on a tangent and will return, but for now let’s talk about Christmas:

As you should know, Christmas is a rather young celebration and one that first mingled with and later replaced Yule/Jol and former ways of gathering in the darkest time of the year to share food and shelter. It was ultimately a season moreso than a few holy-days.

When we think about the Winter Solstice we know its importance is predating Christianity by at least 3000 years in the Neolithic time.

Kelle BanDea

provides some wonderful words and further video sources about this time which links it even to the Paleolithic (at least).

This concept of the light emerging from the dark seems to accord with ancient ideas of each day beginning the evening before, rather than at each new morning. The day follows on from the night, whereas today we tend to view this the opposite way around. The Celts are believed to have perhaps viewed the cycle of days this way. In Genesis, we have the line ‘there was evening and then there was morning, the first Day,’ so this may have been a widespread idea. It’s perhaps not surprising then that we have so many Divine Sons/Suns born from a Divine/supernatural Mother who are honoured around this time of year. From Jesus Christ to Mithras; and in many forms of modern Druidry, Mabon son of Modron, the Great Mother.

Many mythical heroes (and heroines) at some point in their stories are reborn after a time in the Underworld. Inanna, Persephone, Adonis, Orpheus, Baldr…It’s a popular motif and one that I personally believe has a lot of psychological power. Its origins may lie as far back as the Paleolithic, according to this video by Professor Jon White, in which he discusses Paleo burials within caves as a forerunner of this idea of death and rebirth. He also suggests the Winter Solstice as, at least for some cultures, the original Day (or Night) of the Dead.

Coming back to the concept of the Divine Son of the Great Mother, which is a particular interest of mine, it’s notable that the Saxons, who celebrated Yule around the time of the Winter Solstice before Christian conversion, also celebrated Modraniht, or ‘Mothers’ Night,’ on Christmas Eve. At least according to medieval historian the Venerable Bede, anyway. The word ‘Mothers’ here is plural, suggesting a celebration of not one Mother Goddess but a group of motherly deities, female ancestors, or human mothers, much like our modern Mother’s Day. ¹

You can refer to my post from yesterday about the Mothers’ Night here for more information and threshold rituals into the 12 Sacred Nights:

Oh holy Mother!

Old customs from fertility rituals to sacred hearth fires are still practiced in various forms today such as the kiss under the mistletoe, bringing an evergreen tree home to decorate, baking a Yule log (originally an actual tree which was burned all through the 12 Sacred Nights) and the advent wreath with four candles symbolising the wheel of the year, the four seasons and the light in the dark leading to the Winter Solstice.

High Reindeers and female shamans

Before patriarchy and capitalism, the Yule period was a time of reindeer, which we still know as Santa's sleigh team. The reindeer mother leads us through the nights of the solstice and carries the sun in her horns. Unlike the male reindeer, she keeps her antlers all winter long. Yes, you read correctly, this means Rudolph and all his friends are actually girls not boys.

Reindeer grandmother, primordial goddess, mother who gives birth to life.

As the female reindeer kept her horns and was pregnant during the winter solstice, she became a metaphor for the rebirth of the sun, which had a profound meaning during the Ice Age. It is the source of life, the guardian of the paths, the bearer of the magic of the Amanita fly agaric. And it is these ‘magic mushrooms’ and their use by female shamans that the legends of the flying reindeer at the solstice probably go back to.

Amanita muscaria has a ancient history as use as an entheogen around the world. Some believe it was the original soma, Chinese mushroom of immortality and was used in the Greek mystery cults. It is also associated with Santa Claus and his flying reindeer. What is known for sure is that the Siberian Saami culture uses it in various forms as a sacred medicine, intoxicant and entheogen. It has deep religious significance in the cultures were it is traditionally used. The hallucinogenic effects and reports of nausea after ingestion dried mushroom caps vary but most positive experiences report light having luminous and beautiful effects, seeing jewel like objects with their eyes closed while having a relaxed and peaceful feeling. Medicinally, Amanita Muscaria is powerful nerve & pain relief, clams the nervous system and provides stress relief. Providing relief from sciatica, anxiety, ptsd, menopausal symptoms, arthritis, depression, addiction, trauma, promotes lucid dreamwork & visioning. returning us home to our true selves.

Quote from my friend Freya’s Substack about the Deer Mother, please also refer to

Freya

and her recent post about the amanita muscaria usage and traditions that inspired the coca cola marketing of contemporary Christmas.

Sami Reindeer Woman, Arctic Photo.

Below you find the the First Sacred Night theme, daily ritual practice for the mystical winter time, the corresponding archetype and incense suggestion alongside instructions for the 13 Wish Ritual which will accompany you throughout this time into the Gregorian New Year.

Plus my personal alignment of months for potent shadow work and divination which has never been released before and isn’t found in any Rauhnacht-course I have ever come across but I think will spread soon (My ideas often come early for the collective but are taken on rapidly a little later - Human Design geeks would argue that is because I am a manifestor).