Origin of Christmas: A Pagan Holiday
By- Debapriya Chatterjee
Many people are of the opinion that Christmas is a Christian holiday but that is far from the truth. What we celebrate as Christmas today is actually an amalgamation of different pagan rituals that have been in practice for several centuries, from before the birth of Christ. Most traditions that are associated with this particular holiday, like decorating Christmas trees, exchanging Christmas gifts and singing Christmas carols, are rooted in the practices of ancient non-Christian religions.
Before the inception of Christianity, Romans celebrated the birth of the unconquerable sun god, whom they called Mithra, on December 25. Since winter solstice held the promise of earthly renewal during springtime in ancient Rome, two festivals, namely Saturnalia and Jevenalia, were organized to honour the sun god. During the weeklong Saturnalia, Mithra was revered for blessing mankind with agriculture and on Juvenalia, a feast was organized for the children of Rome. 1. During these festivities, masters and servants exchanged gifts as well because the kind gesture was believed to bring good luck.
Contrary to popular belief, December 25 is not the day that Jesus was born. In fact, there is no mention of his exact birth date even in the Bible, though some references suggest that he was not born in winter at all. However, during the fourth century, when people were beginning to identify themselves as Christians, the Romans insisted that the new Christians continue to participate in their revelry as it was meant for all. That is when Christians started celebrating Christmas and it was inevitable that sooner or later, a connection between the birth of the Sun and the birth of the Son, was going to be made.
That is not all. Christmas has borrowed pagan practices from other cultures as well. The Norse celebrated Yule during winter solstice by gathering large logs to put on fire and feast around, as a sign of the return of the sun god. This celebration lasted for at least twelve days and usually ended in the first week of January. For all pagans, the evergreens were a sign of winter’ s inability to end the cycle of life and they comforted the people with some
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