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THE TRUTH BEHIND CHRISTMAS
"Merry 'not' Christmas"
By: Tsahai Crawlle
The most anticipated holiday that comes every year, Christmas is truly a time for great caroling but shopping as well. From the famous Santa Claus to the supposed birth of the Christ, Christmas is a time teeming with joy for Americans everywhere. But why do we do it? We spend hundreds upon thousands of dollars in as little as a month for just one day of the year. But do you know where your traditions come from? Well I think you should take a look.
Long before Jesus set foot on earth people held winter festivities yearly. We can trace back the ever popular Christmas tree as an ancient Pagan-German practice during the celebration of Yule which occurred December 21st the time of the winter solstice, wherein fathers and sons would drag evergreens indoors as reminders of life and burned logs on fire in hope of good fortune. The Christmas tree was then adopted into English culture in 1848 when Queen Victoria of England prompted her German husband Prince Albert to decorate a tree as he did when he was a child. When a picture of the Queen and King’s Christmas tree appeared in the London News the Christmas tree was no longer viewed as a foreign practice.
Many of these seemingly harmless traditions in reality steam from ancient paganism, (a religion where the partiers take part in rituals, casting of spells and devil worship in an attempt to deny God ) which to many Christians is not only downright blasphemy against God but steaming from Lucifer himself. But can you be unknowingly practicing the rituals of witches? Let’s see, do you know where the practice of kissing underneath a mistletoe comes from? This thought to be known as an innocent practice is actually an old pagan custom.
Contrary to popular belief of many Christians and general public, Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th but this was the birth date of a Roman god, Mithra, which to Roman soldiers and government officials, was considered the holiest day of the year. This date was also in correspondence with the Roman Saturnalia wherein festivals involving food and drinks were held a week before the winter solstice in order to celebrate the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn. But why would so many allow this lie to become so popularized even though the Bible gives no clear date for the birth of Christ?
Due to the spread of Christianity, Paganism was being challenged by the 1 A.D. Although Christianity was spreading many Christians knew that they could not eliminate existing Pagan customs, so the ancient church decided to blend many of these traditions. The evergreens that were brought indoors were then decorated with apples to symbolize the “Garden of Eden”, which to us today are now Christmas ornaments. As far as the date was concerned the Roman Church officially declared December 25th the birth of Christ.
“Ho Ho Ho”, we have all heard of Santa Claus the jolly and plump man who, without prosecution, spreads cheer to young children by climbing down chimneys and rewarding well behaved children with presents and “naughty” children with coal. But, do you really know the origin of this fictional, pot bellied Claus who in reality should be charged with “breaking and entering” into people’s homes? Or are we naïve due to lack of knowledge about our history?
The famous “Santa Claus”, popularized in America by Coca Cola, was reinvented by famous eightieth century American seminary professor by the name of Clement Clarke Moore through his 1822 poem “A Night Before Christmas”. Moore’s “Santa Claus” was drawn from Saint Nicholas Day in Turkey to commemorate the death of Nicholas the Bishop(in the fourth century), and on this anniversary, December 6th, good children were rewarded with presents and bad children received nothing. Later in 1863 cartoonist Thomas Nast who worked for Harpers Weekly produced his version of what Santa Claus looked like. Equipped with a full beard, oversized belly and a sack full of toys, Nast’s Santa Claus became an American icon who is stamped on practically every wrapping paper and Christmas stocking today.
So this upcoming Christmas try to take a look at what you’re celebrating and where these traditions came from, you’ll be surprised at what you find!
Source: History Channel
dimitri halikias
January 14, 2010 at 9:56 pm
You make some very good points, and it is very true that most of our Christmas traditions come from pagan rituals, but that does not mean that when we celebrate Christmas we are “unknowingly practicing the rituals of witches.” First of all “paganism” is not a formal religion that worships the devil or denies the existence of god. Paganism is just a term used to refer to many different druidic based animistic religions that populated Europe before the spread of Christianity, it has nothing to do whatsoever with “practicing the rituals of witches.” With regards to Santa Clause, you are very correct that the American commercial image of Santa is a product of Coca Cola, but the practice and tradition of a divine power bringing gifts on Christmas has a history reaching back to the earliest Christians, and is not at all pagan. In fact, one of the single most impressive aspects of Christianity is that the Santa tradition is very real and prevalent in almost all sects of Christianity all over the world.