Did you know that Christmas is a celebrated tradition that has its roots in three festivals and one of which is the Winter Solstice Celebration?
Many of the Christian countries, celebrate Christmas. It is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure behind Christianity. But wait, there is a lot more that you may not know.
Christmas By Decree
The first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I chose the date to celebrate Christmas, choosing December 25th. Historians cite many reasons for this, one being this same day as the birth of the Persian god of light, Mithras; another reason was because of a scheduling conflict, as December 17th was a pagan holiday where Saturn was worshiped. If you want to know more about Constantine you will find that he was once a non Christian who converted, and it is during his time that the modern bible was assembled we know it, and Christian beliefs and canons established. This was the result of the First Council of Nicaea.
Going back to Christmas, and three festivals; two of these go way before the birth of Christ. These three festivals, and many of the traditions and customs pertinent with each, have become entwined and evolved into what seems to be one big celebration.
Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an old Roman festival named after the Roman god Saturn; a festival marked by gift giving, a tradition that has endured to this very day.
Winter Solstice
The other is the Winter Solstice celebration, that came from the Nordic peoples.
The winter solstice occurs when the Sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane as the observer. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the event of the Winter solstice occurs sometime between December 20 and 23 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and between June 20 and 23 in the Southern Hemisphere, and the winter solstice occurs during either the shortest day or the longest night of the year (not to be confused with the darkest day or nights). Though the Winter Solstice lasts an instant, the term is also used to refer to the full 24-hour period.
Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.The winter solstice celebration was also prevalent in Britain, where it became part of Anglo Saxon lore. We still preserve the traditions up to this day, traditions and customs such as the Christmas trees, and holly? Those things actually have nothing to do with the birth of Christ.
Ancient Britons were fascinated by the ability of evergreens to retain its color, even when all other leaves had turned to red and brown, and died before the coming of the winter snow. Green symbolized winter’s passing and the much-awaited onset of spring. So, when we place a Christmas tree in our homes, we are preserving an age-old tradition dating back to European ancestors.
In fact, Santa Claus was supposedly clad in green, and not red. He is thought to have been a personification of Odin, chief of the gods in Norse mythology. This tradition blended almost seamlessly with the ‘new’ image of Santa, who is based upon a real person. Interestingly, Santa only became the red and white, jolly figure we know today because of a commercial promotion by Coca Cola in the thirties, who made Santa red forever, to match their own company’s established color. I wrote a blog about that sometime ago, called Santa Season.
So, whether Christian or not, everyone actually has a reason to celebrate at this time in December.
Give presents, send greeting cards and light up the tree.. for these are traditions that have been handed down to us and have been mixed with the Christian revelry over Christ’s birth… that is called Christmas.
cforms contact form by delicious:days
