Christmas
Christmas, December 25. Christmas is the annual feast commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Observed annually on December 25. Also known as the Nativity.
Orthodox Christmas, January 7. On January 7 in accordance with the Julian calendar.
The Origins of Christmas
Christmas is more a day honoring the birth of Christ than it is a birthday celebration on the precise date, as the real birthday of Christ is unknown. December is the rainy season in Judea, and a time when shepherds would not have been in the fields of Bethlehem. Even the year is not certain, and could not have been later than 4 B.C, the year of King Herod's death. Furthermore, the early Christians did not celebrate birthdays, and the celebration of Christ's birth is not as religiously significant as his ressurection, celebrated with Easter. It is most likely that the observance of Christmas was established to replace existing pagan festivals of the time. Pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice were common in pre-Christian times, the most significant at the time being the Roman Saturnalia, and the Mithraic birthday of the unconquered sun. Much of our current Christmas lore comes from these ancient customs. Saint Nicholas inherited his reindeer from the Nordic god Odin, chief of the wild hunt, who rode with them through the sky. Saturnalia. This ancient Roman festival occuring December 17 to 23 was the predecessor to many of the customs of Christmas. The festival of Saturn celebrated in ancient Rome, at the end of the vintage and harvesting, with feasting and unrestrained merrymaking. It honored Saturnus, the god of agriculture. Observance included exchanging presents and offering sacrifices. Masters served their slaves as a token of the equality of rank and the lack of class distinctions during the golden age (which was supposedly ruled over by Saturnus). Gifts were exchanged, most commonly wax tapers and clay dolls which were primarily given to children.
Mithra. Mithraism was Christianity's main competitor for converts in early Chrisitan times. Mithraic winter festival celebrating the birthday of Mithra, the god of the Sun, Coincides with a pagan celebration of the winter solstice -- "birthday of the unconquered sun".
Early Celebrations. Christmas did not appear until the 4th century, and its establishment was preceded by Easter, Pentecost, Ascension, and Epiphany. Celebrated in Rome from beginning about 330 A.D., but even then probably not widespread. It was mentioned by Clemens Alexadrinus around this time. Original date was January 6 in the Eastern churches as part of the Epiphany observance, but this was replaced with December 25 in the 5th century.
Christmas Customs
Just as the date of Christmas was due to pagan festivals, many of the Christmas customs we celebrate today have ancient origins, not only from the Roman Saturnalia, but from the Druids, Teutons, and others, who had their own winter celebrations. Nordic [Teutonic] Juul, etc. Some of the customs, i.e. christmas carols, may have come from the Lord of Misrule celebration.
Mistletoe. The hanging of mistletoe comes from the Druids, to whom it was believed to have healing powers. They would hang it over their doors to appease the woodland spirits, in the belief that only happiness could pass the mistletoe. From this is derived the custom to kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas time.
Holly The use of holly to "deck the halls" most likely either comes from Saturnalia or from the Teutonic tradition of hanging evergreens in homes as a refuge for sylvan spirits from the inclement winter weather.
Gifts. There had long been a custom of exchanging gifts on New Year's Day [romans?]. Because of the pagan origins of this custom, and the desire by the Christians to abolish all pagan customs combined with the difficulty in eliminating long observed customs, the gift-giving custom was moved to Christmas, where it could be looked upon as an emulation of the Magi, and a token of generosity and goodwill.
Santa Claus. The name is a corruption of Saint Nicholas (Sinter Klaas), the patron saint of children, whose feast day is on December 6. It was the custom in old England to clean out the chimney at the beginning of the year so that luck could descend and stay all year. This may have been the origin for Santa Claus' habit of entering through the chimney.
Christmas tree. Only legends. The Christmas tree was originally a German tradition. Although perhaps not completely unknown in England, did not become standard until Queen Victoria married the German Prince Albert. In 1870, the German Army celebrated Christmas in Notre Dame, thereby introducing the custom to France [franco-prussian war?]. The custom was brought to America by German immigrants.
Christmas Around the World
Netherlands. Here Saint Nicolas' Day is celebrated. Legend mixed with pre-Christian mythology of the god Woden. Here also began the custom of placing a wooden shoe by the fireplace to be filled with gifts, which later became the stocking.
Scandinavia. The ancient Goths and Saxons celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Juul, from which we get the name "Yule". The ancient festival included bonfires dedicated to Thor, and we still refer to a large Christmas
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