With Christmas looming large, I took a look at the many Pagan traditions that have been absorbed by Christianity during this winter festival, such as decorating the inside of our houses with evergreens like pine trees, holly and ivy, or the burning of a ‘yule log’. Another Pagan superstition that continues today is the way we stir the mixture of our traditional Christmas cake.
Fruit cake has always been synonymous with Christmas. It started life as a plum porridge that was eaten on Christmas Eve ahead of a day of fasting on Christmas Day. Over time, lots of things were added. Not only flour, butter, sugar and eggs, but also rituals surrounding the preparation – stirring being a crucial aspect of this.
Everyone in the household had to have a turn of stirring the mixture and even small babies’ hands would be held to the spoon so they could contribute. It was thought to bring good luck. The most important thing was that the mix had to be stirred in a clockwise direction. This actually had nothing to do with Christianity, but evolved from the sun-worshipping religions who mistrusted anything that moved in the opposite direction to the sun. It was believed that stirring anticlockwise went against nature. Even long after Christianity became more dominant than Paganism, this belief still held firm in many countryside communities.
Some of the mistrust came from beliefs that moving in an anticlockwise circle was used in witchcraft to summon the Devil and cast spells and curses. Christians were afraid of attracting the attention of the Devil and walking anticlockwise around a churchyard on the way to a funeral was even considered an omen of death.
These days, Christmas Day is a feast rather than a fast, and it is considered the right time to cut into the Christmas cake so it can be enjoyed throughout the whole Christmas holiday season. It might be wise, though, to make sure that the mixture was stirred in a clockwise direction before you take a bite! Happy Christmas!
