Several excerpts from the Java-bode, December 22, 1956
Christmas: A Christian holiday, yet many customs originate from paganism. In modified forms, they have withstood the test of time.
Already several days before Christmas, a festive mood awakens in people, reaching its peak during the Christmas days. It is no coincidence that the Christmas tree, holly, and mistletoe are popular then, and that Christmas bread, Christmas wreaths, and other Christmas pastries enhance the festive joy. It is seldom considered that such items and customs originate from ancient paganism.
In the past, our ancestors celebrated the Yule feast around this time, the festival of fertility, in honor of the return of the light. The shortest day had passed, and the days began to lengthen again. Sacrificial meals were held, and sacrificial fires blazed high in the sacred forests. Christmas is a Christian holiday, but all those customs emerged from pagan soil and have, more or less modified, remained and been adopted by modern man.
It is difficult to link Christmas customs to a specific day, as what occurs here on Christmas Day takes place elsewhere on December 26th or even on Epiphany. Some customs, such as eating certain types of cookies and pastries, are in vogue throughout that entire period between Christmas and Epiphany. In general, it can be said that in the rural Netherlands, Christmas Day is the holy day, a day of reflection and meditation, while Boxing Day is used more as a day for going out or visiting.
Achterhoek
Among the elderly in the Achterhoek, the superstition still lives that on Christmas Eve “Derk met de bèèr” rides around, destroying everything left lying outside. In many places, all agricultural tools are still stored in the barn and the yard is cleaned…
In many families in the Achterhoek, something extra is eaten on Christmas Eve, and this custom is reminiscent of the old name “dikkevretsavond” (gluttony evening). In farming families, pancakes fried with sausage are often served. A mocking rhyme that points to an extra treat goes: “Kasaventjen, Kasaventjen, dan gaat ‘t er bie ons op. Dan slacht mien va ‘nen pekkelhering en ik, ik kriege de kop”.
In Aalten, people eat “pilleweggeskes” on Christmas Eve, small spherical “weggen” (loaves) on which two dough pills are placed in a cross shape. Children still know an old begging song: “Pilleweggen-aovend, offert geld, Geft de kleine kinder wat, Geft de groten ‘ne schop vör ‘t gat!”
The aforementioned two dough pills in a cross shape did not originally belong on this Christmas pastry. They were placed there when the common people no longer understood the name “pilleweg.” A “pil” is a godchild or baptized child, and the “pillegift” in the form of a “pillewegge” was a baptismal gift. It was also a reminder of the pagan bread offering made to ward off the demons of the childbed. Anise, caraway, and cinnamon drove the gods away with their strong scent.
The fact that “pillewegen” are given as gifts on Christmas Eve likely finds its origin in the veneration of Mary as a woman in labor. The custom of eating walnuts on Christmas Eve in the cozy domestic family circle (in Aalten, for example) is still in vogue.