 Why was Christmas banned in Scotland and how did the ancient Celts celebrate the Winter Solstice? The reason why Christmas in Scotland was banned is related to the Reformation, the great transformative event in Christianity, for the power of the Catholic Church and the Pope was challenged and everything associated with it. But before we continue we need a little context including the Viking Blood Festival of Yule which marked the Winter Solstice. Celebrations in the land we call Scotland today took place for millennia around this time of year. It was related to the Winter Solstice around the 21st of December in our modern calendar and the ancient Celts had major celebrations around this time of year. Some say that the tradition of the Yule log came from the Celtic priesthood of the Druids. As they believed that the sun stood still for 12 days in the middle of the winter, a log was set alight to bring light into the darkness, conquer evil spirits and bring luck for the year to come. When the Vikings invaded the left many marks, one mark that they did leave was the Viking festival that marked the Winter Solstice, originally known as Yule, another name for their god Odin. Yule later evolved into Yule, still a synonym of Christmas today. Yule, our Germanic festival in general, was celebrated by the Vikings in a way where there was a feast and originally would have included sacrificing animals and even sacrificing meat in the Old Norse tradition. The Welsh Viking made a good video on how the Vikings celebrated Yule which I'll link above and also in the description below. In this video one interesting fact that he notes is that Hakun the Good, a 10th century king of Norway who was actually Christian but had to hide his Christian sensibilities for the pagan Norse at that point, actually changed the date of Yule according to one ancient source at least. From originally the Winter Solstice, which was usually the 21st of December to the 25th of December, in line with the Christian tradition. This is not to have been done, to make the transition from a pagan society into a Christian society down the line more seamless, as ultimately there would be a celebration on the same day, if Yule was moved to the 25th of December as opposed to a couple of days before. Yule was widely celebrated in Scotland for centuries and it seemed to infuse and combine many different traditions and beliefs over the centuries. Like I said, Yule was still used as a synonym for Christmas in many regards, although it did have pagan origins. Christmas itself today can be viewed as a mixture and infusion of numerous different festivals and celebrations down through the centuries and millennia, including celebrations relating to the Winter Solstice, pagan and Germanic celebrations of Yule, obviously a major Christian element and even references to the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalia, a festival that was dedicated to the God Saturn that have all been rolled up into the epic celebration that we call Christmas today. As I said before, if we turn our attention back to why Christmas was banned in Scotland, it was related to the Reformation. Prior to the Reformation, Christmas in Scotland was largely a religious feasting day, although Easter was maybe considered to be more of an important celebration than Christmas. With the Reformation, however, anything associated with the Catholic Church came under attack and in 1640 the Scottish Parliament went so far as to ban all Christmas or Yule vacations as the Acts states. The Kirk within this kingdom is now purged of all superstitious observation of days, therefore the seder states have discharged and simply discharged the foresaid Yule vacation and all observation thereof in time coming. In fact, the baking of Yule bread was considered a criminal act. Who knew that baking could be such a rebellious activity? Although the law that outlawed Christmas or Yule vacations was reversed shortly after, Christmas or Yule celebrations were frowned upon for centuries. It was only in the late 20th century that Christmas became a public holiday in Scotland. This frowning or discouraging of celebrating Yule or Christmas vacations meant that Hogmanay became a major feature in the Scottish calendar and New Year in Hogmanay played a significant role for centuries. As we have seen, there is so much incredible history behind Christmas and Yule celebrations. Thanks for watching and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Yule, an incredible winter solstice, a great Saturn Allure or whatever festival or celebration you choose to celebrate. Thanks again for watching and I'll speak to you next time.