With the year coming to a close, many turn their attention to what could be considered the biggest holiday of the year: Christmas. Families gather by an open fire, lights glisten on houses, and presents wrapped just right get stuffed under the tree to be opened by joyous children on Christmas morning. A holiday with a stolen tree and stolen customs, the true stories washed away by Santa Claus and the celebration of Christ: one must remember that Christmas remains a stolen holiday.
According to History.com, many aspects of the Christmas season that many know and love originate from Paganism. The celebration on the 25th of December began in Rome with the event known as Saturnalia, a gift giving feast-like occasion that consisted of lit candles and houses decorated for the festivities. The festival celebrated not only the winter solstice but the birth of the god Mithra, and some believed it to be the most sacred day of the year. The winter solstice celebrates the days starting to get longer, often considered a return to life while the days begin to lengthen.
But what else from Christmas ties back into Paganism? The tree itself will always be a winter solstice tree, a widely celebrated Pagan idea. A pine tree represented the winter solstice, signaling a return to life and light. Even the image of decorations on a tree can be tied back to Paganism, as the placement of apples on the tree celebrated the coming year.
Even the smallest traditions still hold roots in more mystical places. The tradition of hanging mistletoe in the doorway of one’s home dates back to the Druids. According to CBS, the Druids believed the mistletoe to be an all-healing plant, and it became a tradition in Pagan culture to hang mistletoe in the doorway as a symbol of peace. This became so widely known that English churches banned the practice because of where the belief came from.
While the Pagan traditions of history became resigned to the shadows, the widely Christian-washed holiday of Christmas remains widely celebrated with the strongest of capitalist undertones. With almost every classic tradition stolen from a piece of Pagan culture, the holiday remains a jolly shell of its former self. A culture buried underneath a layer of religion and commercialism no longer serves the purpose of sun worship or celebrating the birthdays of gods; it simply consists of children wishing that a jolly stranger would come down their chimney on Christmas Eve.
Comments