While many people shun winter weddings in favor of warmer weather, Christmas time is actually a very meaningful time to get engaged or to marry — especially if you plan on exchanging Celtic wedding rings at your wedding, since Christmas is so rich with Celtic meaning and tradition. It’s also a great time to give Celtic jewelry as a gift.

Christianity is a religion that is built on other religions, so although Christmas isn’t itself a Celtic holiday, the priests intentionally aligned it with other pagan holidays, in order to ease the transition of converting people to Christianity. One pagan holiday that Christmas was built on was the Celtic holiday of Alban Arthuan, or Yule, a celebration of the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year, which marked the return of the sun.

There are many similarities between Yule and Christmas. In fact, the word “Yule” will be familiar to you, as it is often heard in Christmas songs and traditions. For example, one of the ways that the Celts celebrated Christmas was by burning a Yule Log. Although this tradition is now associated with Christmas cheer, it was at the time of the Celts intertwined with the celebration of the winter solstice. Every year a log was burned for 12 hours with the remains of the previous year’s log, symbolizing the continuing cycle of the sun from year to year. At the end of 12 hours, the remainder of the current year’s log was saved for the next year. Even the ashes were saved, to be sown with the seeds in the springtime — symbolizing the power of the sun and helping the seeds to grow.

Christmas trees stem from Celtic tradition, as well. The Celts would decorate a Yule tree for the winter solstice, with ornaments that represented the sun, moon, and stars — objects of the heavens. Gifts were also hung on the tree for the Celtic gods and goddesses, and this tradition may have evolved into the gift-giving tradition we know today.

Even modern beliefs surrounding mistletoe stem from Celtic Yule traditions. Today, tradition says that if you and a person of the opposite sex are caught standing under mistletoe, it means you have to kiss. This probably stems from the immense respect the Celts had for the plant, which they considered to be sacred, not to mention protection from evil spirits, witchcraft, diseases, and poison. In Celtic tradition, enemies who met under the plant had to make peace until the next day. Priests also distributed sprigs of mistletoe to all the people before the winter solstice.

All of these rich Celtic traditions make Christmas a wonderful time to celebrate your love for another person, either with Celtic jewelry or a Celtic-themed wedding. If you are shopping for Celtic engagement rings, or if you plan on exchanging Celtic wedding rings, consider incorporating your plans into your celebration of a Celtic Christmas!

admin Celtic Articles celtic engagement rings, celtic jewelry, celtic wedding rings

A Celebration of Arthurian Tradition

If you and your loved one are considering getting married in a Celtic-themed ceremony — for instance, exchanging Celtic wedding rings or claddagh wedding rings — Christmastime is a good time for this. Many of the roots of Christmas as we now know it stem from Alban Arthuan, the Celtic equivalent of Christmas.

Alban Arthuan is celebrated on the winter solstice, December 21. Translated into English, the name means “The Light of Arthur.” The holiday is also called Yule, and many of the traditions were adopted by Christianity. In fact, you would be surprised how many of the Christian traditions you are familiar with actually have Celtic roots! But we’ll talk about that more in a future post.

The name Alban Arthuan, or “The Light of Arthur,” is assumed by many to refer to King Arthur. Legend had it that King Arthur was born on the winter solstice, much like Christian tradition celebrates Jesus’ birthday on December 25. Although the name may refer to one of the purposes of the holiday — celebrating the rebirth of the sun, and the coming of longer days — legend also had it that the great King Arthur was sleeping in a mountain. Someday when his people needed him again, he would awaken and return to save them.

Arthurian legend has gone through many changes over the years. The earliest accounts in literature hailed him as a great warrior rather than a king, while later writings established many of the legends of King Arthur that are still well known today. All of these legends of Arthur establish him as a hero in the fight against the 6th century Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.

The legends of King Arthur may also have stemmed from earlier myths about a god named Artaius, found in the early mythology of the Celtic country, Gaul. Many of the other names in Arthurian legend can be found in Gaulic mythology, as well: Gwenhwyvar (Guinevere), Myrddin (Merlin), and Medrawt (Mordred), just to name a few. Some scholars theorize that the god Artaius evolved into a legendary warrior and king, who was credited with doing great things in battle and as a ruler. In fact, his feats may have been real, just performed by many different people instead of just one man. The Celts needed a savior, and they found one in Arthur.

Regardless of how the Arthur legends came about, one thing is for sure: The Christmas season is rich with Celtic heritage, and therefore a meaningful time for lovers to exchange Celtic wedding rings.

admin Celtic Wedding Articles celtic jewelry, celtic wedding rings, claddagh wedding rings

There are a number of traditions surrounding Celtic wedding rings. Celtic wedding ceremonies have been quite influential on many of our modern wedding traditions, so even without knowing it, your wedding might be more Celtic than you realize. Of course, by including a few ancient traditions, you can honor the beautiful Celtic heritage even more.

For instance, in Celtic ceremonies it was traditional for the bride to place her groom’s ring in his hand while speaking her wedding vows. Then he would place his ring for her in her hand, and say his vows as well. Celtic wedding rings were also worn on the ring finger of the left hand during this period, because it was believed there was a vein in this finger that flowed directly into the heart, so wearing the ring on this finger was symbolic of love.

The modern tradition of the unity candle also stems from Celtic wedding traditions. After exchanging the rings, the bride and groom each received a lit candle from their respective families. The two then used their candles to light a larger candle at the same time. This larger candle represented the joining not only of the couple (as it is typically viewed in modern unity candle rituals), but of their families or clans as well.

Another Celtic tradition was for the couple to draw a circle around themselves at the start of the ceremony. This ritual was known as Caim, and the circle surrounding the couple represented their relationship with each other and with God.

These ancient wedding traditions had a bigger impact on modern weddings than you might realize. For instance, it is traditional for the bride to stand on the groom’s left during the ceremony. This part of the ceremony came into being because in historical times, it symbolically left the groom’s right arm free to fight off the bride’s family as he took her away with him!

Even the old saying, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe,” stems from old Celtic wedding traditions. Blue was supposed to be a lucky color, and the new item — usually the bride’s handkerchief — was also supposed to bring luck to the couple. The borrowed item represented friendship, and the coin in the bride’s shoe was supposed to bring them financial success.

Celtic wedding ceremonies often started with a reference to the cyclical ebb and flow of life. The circular shape of the rings, and the unending designs found in Celtic jewelry, also symbolized this concept. Therefore by incorporating Celtic rings and customs into your modern wedding ceremony, you are celebrating the ancient roots of this beautiful practice.

admin Celtic Wedding Articles celtic jewelry, claddagh wedding rings, Meta keywords: Celtic wedding rings