KYKELLIA by Aquabella

Kykellia – or the story of Christmas

How does the pagan symbol of the birth of the sun find its way into a Christian Christmas carol from France? Why do the Canadian Huron Indians sing about Jesus’ birth? And how is it that in Bulgaria only boys aged between eight and twelve are allowed out of the house between midnight and dusk from 25th December to 6th January?

For at least 10,000 years humankind has celebrated and feared the winter solstice. In almost every culture on Earth whose ancient lore told of sun standing still this period has very great, and indeed magical significance. The origin of the festival is the primeval, human fear of increasing darkness and the recurrent anxiety as to whether nature would ever regain its fruitfulness. And so, the turn of the year also became a time of oaths and customs designed to appease the gods and drive out evil spirits.

One of the oldest winter rituals is the Egyptian festival of Kykellia, the festival that gave this extraordinary CD its title. On 25th December the ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of the god of light, Horus, who was born of Isis in the darkness in order to awaken the murdered god of fertility, Osiris.

Aquabella is an unique ensemble presenting world music a Capella. The group has been founded around the curiosity of its members towards Bulgarian women’s choirs, but after a while this changed into a search for songs and sounds from all over the globe.