The Origins of Christmas

First, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and happy holidays to those of other beliefs.

Sometimes it seems that everyone celebrates Christmas as either a commercialized holiday for giving and recieving gifts or as a Christian holiday with the belief that it was the day that Jesus was born, but they generally aren't really aware of how December the 25th came to be called Christmas and why we have so many of the traditions that we do. Many of the reasons might surprise you...

First, it is very unlikely that Jesus was actually born in December. Biblical scholars believe that he was most likely born sometime in September--about six months after Passover.

Pope Julius the First declared in AD 350 that Christmas was to be celebrated on Dec. 25th. For some time before, Christmas had been celebrated on Jan. 6th.

There were several reasons for the choice of Dec. 25th. The feast of the Son of Isis (Horus) was celebrated on December 25 in ancient Babylon. Several traditions from this celebration have survived, most noteably the mass amounts of food and the practice of gift-giving. Also, Dec. 25th was the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar, and was celebrated in Rome as the most important day in the celebration of Saturnalia. But probably the main choice for the date was because the largest pagan religion of the time, the sun-worship religion (usually refered to as a cult) of Mithraism also celebrated their most important holiday on the 25th of December, which was called 'the Nativity of the SUN". The date was also considered the birthday of Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun-deity, in another popular pagan religion. The growing Christian church wanted their followers to be able to take part in all of the existing festivities and being able to still partake in such celebrations was a strong point in convincing people to convert to Christianity.

There are also countless other blended traditions in Christmas besides the choice of day. The popularity of mistletoe and holly stems from the Celtic culture of the British Isles where they were among the most revered all green plants as important symbols of fertility. They were often used in decorations of alters and around homes.

The tradition of Christmas carols comes from the Roman tradition of Mummers--a group of costumed singers and dancers who went from house to house, singing and performing.

The burning of the Yule Log, a tradition that has started to fade in the more recent decades, comes from the pagan worship of vegetation and fire, and is associated with magical and spiritual powers. Also, the most common translation of the word Yule is “wheel”, the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun.

The idea of the Christmas Tree evolved from the Druid practice of using the tree as a religious symbol, which evolved into bringing evergreens into homes as winter-time decorations and symbols of eternal life.

When you go to turn on the CD of Christmas carols, open packages, or look at your Christmas tree, think about where the traditions have come from and maybe understand a little more about why We do the things that We do and remember that most of the things in this "Christian" holiday really aren't Christian in origin at all.