Origins Of Christmas

Ever wondered where some of our Christmas traditions come from? As with the majority of Christian celebrations, the origins of Christmas have their roots in Paganism.

When Christianity began to gain popularity, it is widely believed that the celebrations were purposely aligned with Pagan celebrations to make it easier for Pagans to convert seamlessly, or from a more cynical point of view, to over ride the original celebrations and wipe them out.

The Christians believe Jesus was born on the 25th December, however, historians say it would be almost impossible to pin point an exact date, perhaps even a year.

The date seems to change depending on which researcher you read. I have found a lot of sites claiming 25th December, some claiming 21st August and one claiming February 17th. The general consensus seems to be that we will never really know for sure, but that it was some time in the winter.

Christmas Day, 25th December, is the date Jesus’ birth is celebrated, and it is said to be celebrated then to coincide with the Winter Solstice, or Yuletide when Pagans (and many non-Pagans) celebrated the return of the sun, as each day after that adds a little extra light until the Summer Solstice in June. Yule is generally accepted to be December 21st but it can actually fall anywhere between 20th and 23rd.

The Yule decorations included bringing greenery into the home – a tree for wassailing which was decorated, mistletoe hung from doorways to be kissed under, and holly berries to ward off evil spirits. Often, wreaths were made up from wild flowers and leaves and displayed in the home.

The traditional food and drink at Yule was spiced cider, turkey, eggnog, nuts and cakes made from alcohol soaked fruits.

Activities included singing songs related to the Solstice, kissing under the mistletoe, decorating the tree and exchanging gifts.

All of these activities were done in honour of the Pagan God of Yule, Kriss Kringle, known today as Santa Claus.

The name Yule was phased out and replaced by Christmas, or Christ’s Mass, although many references are still made to Yule or Yuletide as an alternate name.

I have often pondered why we eat turkey, decorate a tree and exchange gifts as none of those things seem to have any relevance to the birth of Christ. I think the origins of Christmas are really interesting and it’s fun to learn where our traditions stem from. I like knowing that even though we may have changed the name (and the date ever so slightly) we are actually still celebrating the festival in the way our ancestors would have done all those years ago.

So this year, don’t forget to raise a glass to Kriss Kringle, the god of Yuletide too!

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