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This is third in a series of 12 posts on historical Christmas traditions. I didn’t note my sources, but please trust I did verify the information.

We can thank the Celts this one, who revered mistletoe for its healing and fertility properties and believed it could bring luck and ward off evil. It grows at the top of many trees, including the Celts’ beloved apple and sacred oak. (It also is a symbol of peace and could be used to broker a truce during war.)

Some say the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe began with the Greeks, who also held it sacred, while others say we do it because the Norse associated it with love and friendship (it was sacred to the goddess Freya). I’ve also seen claims that the tradition really dates to the Victorian era and was once believed to be a promise of marriage.

December 14, 2018Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

Christmas Traditions: December 25 – Birth of Mithras (1-4th century AD)

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Mithras. Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is second in a series of 12 posts on historical Christmas traditions. I didn’t note my sources, but please trust I did verify the information.

About the time Jesus was born, the Romans were big into worshiping a god named Mithras in a highly elaborate cult. Mithras began as a Persian Zoroastrian god of oaths, but was assimilated by the Romans because of his popularity with soldiers. Some researchers suggest he may have been the god of choice of a pagan, Romano-Celtic King Arthur. Like Jesus, Mithras was said to have been born on December 25 and was as a reconciler between the forces of good and evil who was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead after three days. Like the Celtic gods celebrated at Yule, he was a child of the sun. Sources differ over whether or not Mithras became ever human like Jesus (and some Greek gods) did. Mithraism is sometimes viewed as a rival of early Christianity.

Have you ever heard of Mithras?

I hadn’t until I started researching what religion a pagan Arthur might have followed, and boom, there you go.

December 13, 2018Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

Christmas Traditions: December 25 – Winter Solstice

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

Back in November when we launched the anthology Tangled Lights and Silent Nights, we had a Facebook Party. For my hour, I shared a bunch of short posts about historical Christmas traditions. So for the next 12 days as we count down toward Christmas, I’d like to share one with you each day. A few are repeats of really old posts I’ve done here, but most of you weren’t around for the originals, so they will be new to you. Hope you enjoy!

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Did you know Jesus isn’t the only deity believed to be born on December 25? In fact, that date (or close to it) has been considered sacred for millennia.

The Winter Solstice (December 21-23 depending on the year) marks the longest night of the year. In the Celtic world (and in some modern neo-paganism today), Yule marks the rebirth of the god who died at Samhain (October 31) on the Celtic calendar. This child of light (Lugh, Mabon or various other gods) is symbolized by the sun, which will continue to gain strength until the Summer Solstice. In some versions of Celtic mythology, the young god is kidnapped or stolen away in precarious circumstances, much like the Christian story of the flight into Egypt and the Arthurian tale of Arthur’s fostering by Sir Ector at Merlin’s command. Many sites associated with the Druids, such as Newgrange and Stonehenge, are aligned to the Winter Solstice sunrise or sunset.

Have you ever celebrated the Solstice?

I do every year. I use it as an extension of Christmas and meditate on both the cold and dormancy of the winter (and how we should use it as a fallow time as well) and on the divine child and the miracle of his conception and birth.

October 16, 2018Anthologies, Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

Tangled Lights Anthology Now Available for Pre-Order at Barnes and Noble and iBooks

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Hi everyone. Sorry to bother you twice in one day. Just wanted to let you know that Tangled Lights is up on Barnes & Noble and iBooks for pre-order now.

It’s also on Goodreads if you want to add it to your TBR shelf.

I apologize for the piecemeal information. I probably should have waited until today to announce. Lesson learned for the future!

October 15, 201819th Century America, Anthologies, Books, Madame Presidentess, Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

Get More Victoria Woodhull in The Tangled Lights and Silent Nights Holiday Anthology

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Surprise! I’ve got a short story (the first one I’ve ever successfully completed) in an anthology, which is a dream come true for this writer.

Here’s all the official info:

Tangled Lights and Silent Nights: A Holiday Anthology

Publication Date: November 4

Wonder
This holiday season, twenty talented, award-winning, and bestselling authors have crafted never before released Yuletide-themed tales about their most beloved characters.

Magic
From murder to magic, love to loss, the past and the future, this multi-genre collection of poems and stories has something for everyone.

Charity
In the spirit of giving, the authors have generously opted to donate all profits to The LifeAfter—Visions of Hope Project, whose passion is to shatter the stigma and spread awareness to three taboo topics that underscore society today: Suicide, Substance Abuse, and Domestic Violence.

Nicole Evelina’s story:

A Vanderbilt Christmas
A companion story to the award-winning novel Madame Presidentess.

In 1872, Victoria Woodhull made history by becoming the first woman to run for president of the United States. But four years earlier she was still struggling to overcome her shameful past and establish herself in New York’s high society. She has finally secured an entre into that glittering world by way of an invitation to Christmas Eve dinner at the home of railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. But when her uncouth family crashes the party and threatens to send her social status spiraling, it will take a Christmas miracle to recover her reputation and keep her dreams on track.

Pre-order now
Some pre-order links are still going live, and paperback is yet to come, but you can pre-order the ebook here: https://www.books2read.com/tangledlights/.

Don’t forget – All proceeds go to charity!

Want a sneak peak? Since the story is so short, all I can give you is the first few paragraphs…

December 1868

If anyone had told me a year ago that I would be spending Christmas Eve at the home of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in the country, I would have booked them a room at Blackwell’s Island with the other lunatics. Me? The guttersnipe daughter of a confidence man and a religious zealot whose favorite hobby was blackmailing people? Even with my gift of clairvoyance, it would have been too much to believe.

But then again, much had changed over the last year. When my sister Tennie and I moved to New York at the direction of my spirit guide, Demosthenes, we had no idea the good fortune that awaited us. Our Pa, no doubt sensing a way to make a quick buck, had arranged an introduction to Commodore Vanderbilt in the hopes he would employ us as mediums and magnetic healers. But the tycoon did him one better. After I successfully channeled the spirit of his long-dead mother and gave an accurate prediction of the stock market, he took us in as his assistants. Although, this may have had more to do with my sister’s beauty than our skill.

No matter. We were here now. An invitation to Christmas Eve dinner was a rare honor, one much coveted by New York society. Ma and Pa would be fit-to-be-tied when they found out we were invited but they were not; but I thanked God their troublesome selves were back in the slums of Five Points where they belonged.

My husband, James, Tennie, and I, on the other hand, were seated along one side of a massive dining table that could easily seat twenty and was laden with china, crystal, and silver. The other chairs were occupied by a handful of the Commodore’s close friends and business associates – including his rival Mr. Fisk – plus several generations of his family. Around us, wreaths of evergreen and holly decorated the damask covered walls and pine boughs dripped from an elegant gold chandelier, while wreaths of orange, bay, and cinnamon perfumed the air.

Across the table, the eldest Vanderbilt son, William, shot daggers at me and Tennie. Clearly his disposition toward us hadn’t warmed any with time, nor had he grown in trust of us.

“Tell me, what will be your parlor trick tonight?” He picked at one of the starched white lace napkins. “Will you channel the angel who announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds, or perhaps even the baby Jesus himself?”

“If you are so certain you know, perhaps you should place a bet on it,” I shot back, referencing William’s secret vice of gambling.

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You can also check out the Pinterest board I created while writing it.