Product Description

An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas

• Analyzes the symbolism of the many plants associated with Christmas

• Reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration

The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual.

Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. In fact, the authors contend that the emphasis of Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is just an adaptation of the pagan winter solstice celebration.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24447 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-24
• Released on: 2006-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781594770920
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"The authors and the translators richly deserve congratulations on what is without doubt one of the finest books about Pagan Christmas written in recent times."
(Lee Prosser, Ghostvillage.com, Dec 2006 )

"The illustrations and photographs are excellent. The text is concise, and accurate. Pagan Christmas is a fine reading experience!"
(Lee Prosser, Ghostvillage.com, Dec 18, 2006 )

From the Back Cover
CHRISTMAS / PAGANISM

The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give the magical properties of plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual.

Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning and use of the botanical elements of Christmas provide a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the Christian church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. Indeed, the emphasis at Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is by its very nature another form of the pagan winter solstice celebration still practiced today.

CHRISTIAN RÄTSCH, Ph.D., is a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specializes in the shamanic uses of plants. A former president of the German Society for Ethnomedicine, he is the author of The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants and Marijuana Medicine and coauthor of Plants of the Gods. CLAUDIA MÜLLER-EBELING, Ph.D., is an art historian and anthropologist and coauthor, with Christian Rätsch, of Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas and Witchcraft Medicine. Both authors live in Hamburg, Germany.

About the Author
Christian Rätsch, Ph.D., is a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specializes in the shamanic uses of plants. Currently serving as the president of the German Society for Ethnomedicine, he is the author of The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants and Marijuana Medicine and coauthor of Plants of the Gods. Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Ph.D., is an art historian and anthropologist and coauthor, with Christian Rätsch, of Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas and Witchcraft Medicine. Both authors live in Hamburg, Germany.

Customer Reviews

A book of scholarship with fabulous interest!
Kudos to the author! At last a book about pagan winter celebrations and the origins of Christmas that a thinking pagan can sink his or her teeth into! The author is an anthropologist and an ethnopharmacologist. This book goes far beyond the fluffy books on Yule that are on the market and shows you amazing things! Of course you really need to read the whole thing. A cursory glance will cause you to think it's all about magic, mushrooms, and sex, but, hey -- it's pagan isn't it? I picked it up with the ho-hum attitude of "I probably know everything it's going to say," and was immediately mesmerized with the layout, the pictures, the information, everything! And the little known esoterica brought out here makes it really worth reading. Worth reading on many, many levels.

Mystical and Academic Book
First, this book is written by two German anthropologists and was only recently translated into English. The research is very thorough and objective. I'm sure someone would argue with this assertation, but I don't think I'd want dispute anthropologists who study ethnobotany and art history as well. They are more qualified than I am.

Second, the book is not really a how-to book as far as rituals and such. This is more about the traditions and symbolism which we believe to be Christian and part of Christmas observance. Imagine telling someone that Santa Claus is really the personification of a hallucinogenic mushroom, the fly agaric, often used in shamanic religious practices. St. Nicholas' sack has pagan symbolism. The Christmas tree was the Christian church's response to the pagans who worshipped the living tree, so cutting down and killing the tree would be the ultimate insult. Plants and recipes involving particular spices are also mentioned in here. The living evergreen wreath is exceptionally symbolic as the circle of life and the wheel of the year. Buying gifts and decorating like mad is a new phenomenon during the Christmas season as is evident in poems, stories, and sayings from as late as the early 1900s.

I believe this book would be educational and would benefit almost any reader. Pagans and Christians should all read this book. Some extremists wouldn't like it as it is in direct conflict with their beliefs.

I say buy the book or borrow it from a library for its educational value. If it had been available in English, I would have bought it sooner. I've been looking for a book like this for years.

Pagan Christmas
An incredible book full of revelations. After getting my first 'Ratsch-book' I have been seeking out publications which he authored or co-authored. I have not been disappointed!