Welcome to December, the 12th month of the year. Of course, it used to be the tenth month – hence the “dec” prefix – until about 700 BC, when the Romans added January and February, so that the calendar covered a standard lunar year. It is also the month with the most religious festivals – about fourteen – Such as Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Rohatsu and Christmas.
This is why people like retail employees are encouraged to say “happy holidays”, because it covers all bases where their customers are concerned (Although any boss who admonishes them for saying Merry Christmas probably needs to lighten up). However, such measures have raised concerns about a gradual move to take down Christmas, all in the name of political correctness.
THIS IS NOTHING NEW
This sort of fear mongering goes back to the 1920’s, when people like Henry Ford raved about a secret Jewish plot to destroy Christmas, to the John Birch society in the late 1950’s, ranting about a secret Communist plot to destroy Christmas in America, to today’s paranoid right wing pundits screaming about a liberal plot to destroy almost everything.
Although it is important to note that Christmas is not just a religious festival but a cultural one as well, celebrated by people from all schools of belief and un-belief. You don’t have to be Christian to celebrate Christmas, it’s available to everyone – the very definition of inclusiveness. And, for the record, most of the famous Christmas songs from the 20th century were written by Jewish composers such as Irving Berlin, Johnny Marks, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.
So, is the war on Christmas real? Well, considering it’s been raging (allegedly) for around 100 years and we are still drowning in Christmas paraphernalia at this time of year, it would appear not. However, as journalist Henrik Hertzberg articulates, the IDEA is certainly real.
You may have seen the endless blog articles and social media posts, demanding that people join in the fight against Pagans (Non-Christians) stealing Christmas away from Christ. Unfortunately, these very passionate but rather ill-informed campaigns are basically trying to shut the gate after the horse has already bolted.
OUR PAGAN ANCESTORS
The modern festival which we call Christmas, is actually an amalgamation of various Pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice. These festivals would take place every year, all over Europe, centuries before Christianity came to the continent.
Something which occurred quite regularly throughout the long history of Christianity, as it spread further and further around the globe, was the process of inculturation (one culture gradually taking the characteristics of another). In other words, when Rome converted to Christianity, Christianity also converted to Rome.
The Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday and new Christian festivals were held on the same days as old Pagan festivals, all for the sake of convenience. It’s no secret that the Roman Empire covered a lot of different cultures, most of whom worshipped on a Sunday and annually celebrated the winter solstice on December 25: the date of the shortest day and longest night, which marks the halfway point of the cold season, and is as good a reason as any for a big party.
These festivals featured many activities that will, no doubt, sound very familiar:
Saturnalia (December 17-23) was a time when the Romans celebrated the God of Agriculture (Saturn) by taking time off from work or school and enjoying a great feast, during which, masters and servants would swap roles. They would honour the Gods by decorating evergreen trees and exchanging gifts. They also sang Carols celebrating harvest traditions.
Meanwhile, the Germanic peoples celebrated Yule on December 25. One practice was to bring home a huge log that would burn for 12 days (The Yule Log), in addition to decorating an evergreen tree. At night time, Odin (The Yule Father) would ride the 8 legged Horse, Sleipnir, through the sky and visit peoples homes, leaving presents for the children. In Scandinavia, the children would leave boots filled with hay for Sleipnir to eat, in exchange for their presents.
The Christmas ham, stems from a festive tribute to the Norse boars Gullinbursti (Freyr’s boar) & Saehrimnir (the pig eaten in Valhalla). Mistletoe was seen as a magical symbol of life and fertility by the Druids and the Greeks, while the Scandinavians saw it as a symbol of peace, used for truces and for spouses to have a kiss and make up, while standing underneath.
It’s because of these origins that evergreen trees were considered pagan symbols in the USA until the 1940’s – as they are not only associated with the Roman God Saturn, but also the Egyptian God, Ra, and the Norse God, Baldur.
Why December 25th was chosen specifically for Christmas still seems to be a matter of debate amongst historians. Is it because of the winter solstice? or the birthday of the Sun God, Sol Invictus? or (as some religious scholars claim) because it was Jesus’ actual birthday?
BETHLEHEM IN WINTER
The probability of Jesus actually being born on the 25th of December is highly unlikely given the Gospel accounts. Firstly, Shepherds don’t attend their flocks in the winter, and if we start at the conception of John the Baptist in Sivan (June), then count forward 6 months to arrive at Gabriel’s announcement of the conception of Jesus in Kislev (December), and then count a further 9 months (the time it takes for human gestation) we reach the month of Tishri (September), as the time that Jesus would have born. Sorry new agers, Christ was not a Capricorn.
A major reason that some Christians are so incensed at anyone highlighting the Pagan association with December 25th, is their interpretation that, by celebrating Christmas on that particular day, they are somehow being accused of unknowingly taking part in a Pagan ritual. This is a straw man argument and not a claim any history buffs are making.
IN CONCLUSION
Feasting, Gift Giving, Decorating, these are not exclusively Christian or Pagan activities, these are human activities. As for celebrating the birth of Jesus, It’s unlikely that God would object to people doing that on ANY day of the year. Therefore, in the words of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, “have yourself a merry little Christmas now”.
