Though religious associations with Christmas have been quite watered down, it is still primarily a Christian Holiday. However, few people know that many Christmas traditions have pagan roots (Spoiler alert! It’s practically all of them). In fact, it took centuries before Catholics adopted most of our favorite Holiday traditions and attributed them to the birth of Jesus. The Catholic Church eventually came to see the incorporation of these winter festivities as the perfect conversion tactic. The holiday was incredibly unpopular with Protestants, on the other hand. During the 1600s in England, Oliver Cromwell outright banned Christmas as well as other Saint celebrations on the grounds of pompous pagan blasphemy (Talk about a literal war on christmas!). It wasn’t until the 1800s that the Christmas we know today actually began to take shape. So, without further adieu, here are four christmas traditions with pagan roots!
- The Christmas Tree
- Though the official Christmas tree as we know it was popularized in 17th century Germany, evergreens have been used for winter celebrations throughout cultures for centuries. Many pre-christian pagan cultures (it’s worth noting as well that the word “pagan” was used by Christians to describe anyone of a non judo-christian faith) practiced decorating the inside of their homes with various greenery during the mid-winter months as a means to provoke the coming of spring.
- Christmas lights
- Similarly, the hanging of lanterns and candles (now modern days Christmas lights) was practiced by early Greeks and Romans during the winter solstice as means to coax back the sun. Because of the short days and long nights during winter, people feared that the sun would leave them for good, so the practice of adorning the outside of one’s home with lights was a tradition meant to bring the sun back in the springtime.
- Santa Claus
- Though everyone loves to attribute Santa Claus to St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, Santa, as we know him today, is actually an amalgam of several different folk characters of various cultures, and has only just recently donned his jolly persona. One of the most obvious of these mythical Santa look-alikes is the Norse king of Asgard Odin. Legend has it that during the winter solstice (or Yule) Odin would lead a hunting party through the sky, riding an eight legged horse named Sleipnir (now Santa’s reindeer). Children would leave their boots by the fire place and fill them with hay and carrots, treats for Sleipnir, and Odin would leave the children gifts in return (much reminiscent to the tradition of hanging stockings on the fireplace). The tradition was later adopted by Christians and attributed to St. Nicholas.
- Gift Giving
- The act of giving gifts was reserved to pagan traditions for quite some time. In fact, the act of gift giving was actually reserved for New Year’s. It wasn’t until the Victorian era, when the Queen gave Christmas presents to her husband and children that the practice shifted to Christmas. The practice of gift giving also came with the secularization of the holiday, and made many a puritan quite unhappy (though to be fair what doesn't make puritans unhappy?). The implementation of gift-giving also reflected the shift of focus from friends to family on Christmas. Before, Christmas was just another excuse to get obnoxiously drunk at a pub (like Brits need an excuse). But the violence and havoc that resulted from these drunken rampages led to a re-branding of Christmas to a quiet family centered holiday to be celebrated indoors.
Well there ya' have it folks! A brief history on the origins of christmas, hopefully now you have a little more insight into one of the world's most expensive holidays.
