Christmas, the Pagan Holiday

Granted, you will not find much at all about this holiday in the Bible. That's because Christmas, originally known as simply the Winter Solstice or various other names, is a pagan holiday that was around long before Christianity or Judaism. Everything from the holiday decorations to the celebrations of God's Son on the 25th is derived from pagan traditions and celebrations. Even God in the Old Testament takes note that it is a pagan holiday. That is why the Bible forbids you to partake in most of the holiday's tradition. If you have ever decorated a Christmas tree, hung mistletoe or decked the halls with silver or gold you have gone against God's word according to Jeremiah 10:2-5. Jeremiah 10:2-5 "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."

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Christmas Trees Long before Christianity trees and plants that remained green all year had a special meaning during the winter. In ancient times people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. Many countries believed it would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. The Germans however are the ones credited with starting the "Christmas tree" tradition that we know of today. They built pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles. Later full trees were erected with candles to represent the awe of starts twinkling amidst evergreens in the forest.

Yule Log & 12 Days of Christmas Yule is a winter festival that was celebrated by Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Germanic pagans in pre-Christian times. It is a celebration of the Scandinavian sex and fertility god Jul (pronounced "Yule"). The Norse in Scandinavia celebrated Yule from December 21st through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons brought home large logs and would set on fire. A large single log was kept burning for 12 days and each day a different sacrifice was offered to Jul in the fire. The people would also feast until the log burned out on the 12th day. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Yuletide is the period of those twelve days and is also where we get the 12 days of Christmas. "Yuletide Greetings" or "Yuletide Carols" is actually the tradition of sending greetings or song in the name of the Scandinavian fertility god and his festival.

Santa The story of Santa actually started as Odin and Thor. In Germanic folklore Odin would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and his fallen warriors residing in his realm. Children would place their boots filled with carrots, straw or sugar near the chimney for Odin's flying eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would reward the children by refilling the boots with gifts or candy. In later Germanic traditions Thor would visit every home that had an alter to him and bring gifts to the children who put their sabots, wooden shoes, outside the night before. The much later Christian tradition of St. Nicholas comes from a saint that was most likely fictional as there is no evidence of his existence. He was supposedly raised of wealthy parents who died when he was a child. When Nicholas became an adult he became a priest and gave his possessions to the poor, especially to orphans. Santa did not play an active part in the holiday until 1823 when Clarke Moore's poem "The Night Before Christmas" was published. It was this poem and a drawing by Thomas Nast that made Santa a popular part of Christmas. Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. The image of Santa Clause that we most commonly see pictures and costumes of nowadays was made famous by the Coca-Cola Company.

Mistletoe Mistletoe is an old Celtic symbol that represents eternal life. The Romans saw it as a symbol of peace and fertility, thus why kissing under it has been a Roman custom. To the Druids mistletoe was sacred and worshiped. They also used it when casting spells and believed that if it was held over a woman's head she was powerless to resist any sexual advances. This also influenced the tradition of hanging mistletoe in the doorways in hopes that a women caught under it may not be able to resist a kiss. Holly & Wreaths Decking the halls with holly was a pagan tradition to warn off spirits. Wiccans tied holly in circles, or wreaths, to wear on their head to increase the power of the holly.

December 25th

Christmas is rumored to be the celebration of Jesus' birthday but according to the description of his birth in the Bible it would not have been during the wintertime. Why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter, why December 25th? Ancient Egyptians noticed that from summer solstice to the winter solstice as the sun moves south the days became shorter and colder from the perspective of the northern hemisphere. This was traditionally thought to be symbolic of death since the crops would start dying off and the warmth of the sun’s life was slow become scarcer and replaced by the bitter cold. On December 22nd the sun makes it to the lowest point in the sky and stops traveling south. During the three darkest days of the year (22nd, 23rd, 24th) the sun does not travel south or north and appears to stand still as if it had died for the three days. On December 25th the sun starts moving north again foreshadowing longer days and the ‘coming back to life’ notion of spring. From this came many pagan legends of savior Sun gods being born and reborn on December 25th. The Bible has no mention of what day Jesus was born but the Church placed his celebration on the 25th in an attempt to do away with the pagan celebrations on that day such as Mithraism.