The Holly King is a classic Yule icon, adopted into modern culture in a figure everyone - Pagan or not - knows: Santa Clause. Yes, the Holly King was the original Santa, before St. Nicholas and all those other folk he has morphed into over the centuries. The 8 reindeer are representations of the 8 major Sabbats, and his classic depiction of a jolly man with a long beard has outlasted the centuries. In Pagan lore, the Oak and Holly Kings are two archetypes of the God: light and dark. At both solstices, the two do battle. The Oak King (light) wins over the Holly King at Yule, and the light begins once again to grow. At Litha, it is the Holly King who triumphs, and the world once again grows dark.
Tuesday
The Holly King
The Holly King is a classic Yule icon, adopted into modern culture in a figure everyone - Pagan or not - knows: Santa Clause. Yes, the Holly King was the original Santa, before St. Nicholas and all those other folk he has morphed into over the centuries. The 8 reindeer are representations of the 8 major Sabbats, and his classic depiction of a jolly man with a long beard has outlasted the centuries. In Pagan lore, the Oak and Holly Kings are two archetypes of the God: light and dark. At both solstices, the two do battle. The Oak King (light) wins over the Holly King at Yule, and the light begins once again to grow. At Litha, it is the Holly King who triumphs, and the world once again grows dark.
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