PAGAN RITES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 101, 15 December 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

PAGAN RITES

It has been found that many of our old customs, which avc associate with Christian ideas are really the evolution of pagan rites. For instance, the custom of having cakes at Christmas goes back to the early days when Yuletide was celebrated at the time we now call Christmas, and Yule cakes were given as offerings between friends. Yule means :i wheel. It is the festival of wheelturn, when the Sun-god turns his chariot for a new circle of the heavens. The Yule cakes were coloured with saffon to correspond with the sun's hue. In Tudor days the size of the Yule wafer had increased to that of a small bun, still very yellow. Plenteous egg-volk used in mixing achieved the purpose with colouring from crocus flowers added, this being the source of saffron. The Jews had an old custom of offering little unleavened cakes, which were tokens of goodwill and peace on any festival, so when Christmas began to commemorate Christmas the two olu customs —that of the ancient Yule wafers and the Jewish cakes —Ave re combined. It was considered very wrong to refuse a cake, as it implied that the goodwill of the giver was being rejected. As time went on the wafers grew larger as more substances were added. The Saxons called the Christmas cakc the Yule dough. It was not a rich compound, but was believed to be lucky. In France to this day the "Gateau Noel" is a lucky symbol. A piece kept for a year was supposed to ward off evil spirits. In proof of its mystic properties, the fact that it never gets mouldly is cited. This is really on account of the richness of the cake. The Yule buns of the Tiulors and the Stuarts were vey popular. They always meant that good fortune and success were wished by those who gave. In wealthy houses they were compounded in heaps in the stillrooms, and huge baskets of them stood in the halls on Yule mornings to be given away.