the celebration of christmas
DESCRIPTION
A brief history of Mid-Winter Celebrations and common pagan customTRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Celebrations in mid winter
predate Christian times by
millennium and whilstChristmas became aChristian festival many ofthe original superstitionsof pagan times are stillobserved.
The Egyptians
Four thousand years ago, the
Egyptians (3110- 30BC) celebrated the rebirth of theSun with a festival that
lasted12 days to reflect the 12divisions in the sun's
calendar.Palms with 12 shoots wereused to decorate their
houses.
Evergreens were cherished because
they symbolized the season to come. Greenery featured
prominently in mid - winter décor.
Zoroastrian Tradition
The Babylonians (1750 – 529
BC) celebrated renewal of the
year and the same festivities
were later adopted by thePersians (529BC - 637AD).
The Romans continued thecustom.
The Festival of Saturn (Saturnalia)
In Roman times people decorated theirhomes with greenery but the usual order ofthe year was suspended and grudges andquarrels forgotten. Wars were interrupted ortemporarily set aside and merriment of allkinds prevailed.
The Roman mid-winter ‘festival of misrule,’when social order was temporarily subvertedand masters and slaves exchanged places.
The same practice continued throughout theMiddle Ages during other festivals such asThe Festival of Fools.
Saturn and Mithras
The 25th December was used to honour
Saturn (God of Harvest), and Mithras,
(God of light).
Pagans prepared special food, decorated
their homes with greenery, and joined in
singing and gift giving.
Once Christianity became the religion of the
Romans, the celebrations and pagan
customs became part of the Christian way.
Mithras
The Festival of the Dead (Samhain)
According to Celtic myth Lugh, the SunGod was defeated by his dark side andbecome the Lord of Misrule. Good folkneeded the comfort of their own kindand protection from the evil forces of thedark.
The Festival of the Dead (Samhain) wascelebrated on three levels. It was a timeof plenty as the live stock were returnedfrom the hills before the severe winterahead; it was a time of great kinship, asthe hill dwellers came to the gathering;and was the time of year when thedarkness of night prevailed over thelightness of the day.
Festival of Light
Samhain was an unreal time, whenone year turned into another. A twilightzone where the spirits of the dead andthose not yet born, walked freely amongthe living. Halloween or the beginning ofthe Festival of the Dead and Hogmanay ,the end as beginning of the New Year.
Many rituals and superstitions from thattime still prevail and are incorporatedinto modern Christmas customs.Christmas was called the Festival of Lightin the Western or Latin Church. Lightingcandles and lamps helped return thelight and warmth as well as chasing awaythe spirits of darkness.
The Birth of Christ
Christmas was not observed in Rome,until about 300 years after Christ's
death.
In 274 C.E., the Roman Emperor Aurelian
established a feast of the birth of SolInvictus (the Unconquered Sun), onDecember 25. Christmas.
There is no evidence to support Christwas born on December 25, but it isgenerally agreed as the date was
alreadypopular in pagan religious celebrations
itwas a deliberate compromise.
Christmas Day
Christians have celebratedChristmas Day since AD 336 and
theearliest known Christmas Daycelebration in England was in thecity of York in AD 521 by KingArthur.
By the twelfth century Christmashad become the most importantreligious festival in Europe. Theobsolete feasts of antiquity weregradually adapted to the mainevents of the life of Christ.
Merriment and religious devotion were not associated in the early church, ultimately they were incorporated due to politicalpressures.
The Three Wise Men
‘Now when Jesus wasborn in Bethlehem ofJudea in the days of
Herodthe King, behold,
therecame wise men (Magi)from the east ofJerusalem.’
Mathew 2:1
Nativity Scene
Unlike the modern interpretationof the Christmas Nativity, itappears only shepherds werepresent immediately after theBirth.
Most of the nativity scenes werepainted in the 15 & 16th
centuries.
Christmas cards depicting thenativity become popular only in
the19th century.
Gerard van Honthorst (1590 – 1656), The Adoration of the
Shepherds (1622)
Twelve Days of Christmas
To promote universalcelebration of Christ's birththe main churches eventually agreed to
acceptTwelve Days of Christmas.
In the Western Church thisran from Christmas DayUntil Epiphany, (January6th).
Puritans banned Christmas
In 1644 the English Puritans forbidany merriment or religious servicesby Act of Parliament.
Consider to be heathen practice,The Puritans ordered Christmas tobe kept as a fasting day.
Charles II revived the feast, but theScots adhered to the Puritan viewand did not celebrate Christmas forseveral centuries.
Modern Christmas
Queen Victoria enjoyed the German
style decorated tree and insisted in
having one in Buckingham Palace at
Christmas. She and Prince Albert
decorated it for the Royal children.
The Royal couple were so popular
loyal subjects took to the new
Christmas custom and every home
in England had a Christmas Tree
.
Initially the trees were decorated with flags of the Empire but when Woolworth's offered coloured lights, these were used instead
Scots and Christmas
The celebration of Christmas wasbanned in Scotland after theReformation.
Presbyterian ministers visited their flock
to check they had no festive foods inThe house.
Christmas was just another day withFaint echoes of bonfire ceremonies,More related to pagan sun worship
thancelebrating the birth of Christ.
Christmas in Scotland did not become a
public holiday until 1958.
Many viewed Christmas as an attempt to emulate Hogmanay. Cynics viewed it as a time for Victorian ‘do good’ers’ to exercise charity to the less privileged.
Colonial Christmas
At first Christmas was a time for colonists tolink with their homes and families.
Scottish tea planters in the east ate plumpuddings and turkey dinners long beforetheir relatives gave recognition to ChristmasDay.
The first official Christmas celebrated inAustralia was Dec 25, 1788 at Sydney Cove.
No Christmas cheer was shown to theprisoners on that day with the exception ofMichael Dennison who had been sentencedto 200 lashes. In the spirit of the season theprisoner was given 150.
The Christmas TreeThe Christmas tree come fromGermany when St Boniface wasconverted to Christianity. After hecame upon a group of Pagansworshipping at an oak tree he cut itdown and when a fir tree sprung upfrom the roots this was taken as asign.
By the 16th century fir trees werebrought into the home and it isReputed Martin Luther was the firstperson to decorate the tree withcandles.
The lights which decorate the Christmas
tree was a remnant of paganism.
Electric Christmas Tree
German settlers are thought tohave taken decorated trees to North
Americawhen they emigrated.
In the early 1800s when the first lit tree was
erected outside a church, many parishioners
Protested because they felt the action waspagan.
The introduction of electricity meant it was
much safer to illuminate the tree. Soon every
town community council had civic displays, all
trying to compete with each other.
Tree DecorationsHorns and bells were traditionally used todecorate the trees. Later these ornamentstook on a Christian message i.e. heraldingthe birth of Christ.
Originally fairy like figures were used onthe trees but these later became angels.
The common belief a spider spoke to thebaby Jesus is thought to be the reason
whytinsel was commonly used as a treedecoration.
A spider's web on the Christmas tree was
thought to be a sign of good luck.
Carols (songs of joy)
Families sang carols and clappedtheir hands to keep warm. Thecustom started in England and mostcarols were written in the nineteenthcentury.
These scenes were graphicallydepicted in the works of CharlesDickens’. For the first eight years ofthe author’s life it snowed inLondon. This was quite unusual butclearly left a lasting impression withscribe.
Christmas Fare
The English enjoyed Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day
whereas many European countries feast on Christmas
Eve .
It is thought King Henry VIII may have been the firstEnglish monarch to have turkey for Christmas
althoughgoose was the predominant roast until the Victorianera.
For Catholics fish pie became popular after theReformation and later ham also enjoyed common.
Wartime rationing meant sausages became usualChristmas far. Post war the rising cost of goose sawchickens and turkey rise in popularity
Christmas pudding dates from medieval England.
The Yule Log
Pagan festivals included many superstitions
which eventually became part of theChristmas tradition.
The Yule log was a Norse custom andburning of the Yule was a celebration of
thesun during the winter months.
According to tradition it was extremely unlucky for a barefooted woman or a
squinteyed man to see the yule log; and a flatfooted visitor to the house whilst the logWas burning was a very bad omen.
Superstitious people kept a piece of the log from the previous year as a lucky talisman.
Christmas Crackers
Christmas crackers were an attempt tomake a log shaped novelty similarto the Yule log. They first appear in themid 19th century.
At first cracker bon bons contained sugaralmonds and love messages were placedon the table. Later the 'snap' wasInvented to emulate the sounds of aburning log.
These became popular and were used inall manner of celebrations but later theybecame exclusive to Christmas.
Christmas Cards
The first Christmas cards appear in England(1843). Sir Henry Cole, director of TheVictoria and Albert Museum in London,became weary of hand penning Christmasgreetings and commissioned illustrator JohnCallcott Horsley to design a printable card. The card caused an uproar and cost aboutone week’s pay at one shilling.
The postal act of 1840 brought about thePenny post, which allowed mail to be sentanywhere in England for a penny.
Cards became even more popular in the UKWhen they could be posted in an unsealedenvelope for one halfpenny.
Religious themed Christmas cards were popular.
Christmas Gifts
"If you do not give a new pair of shoes to a poorperson at least once in your lifetime, you will gobarefoot in the next world."
This belief may be the reason why Christmasgifts were exchanged by the middle classes soas to avoid poverty. Many people gave presentsto the poor and miniature shoes becamepopular gifts for good luck from the 18th centuryonwards.
One reason why miniature shoes were giveninstead of the real thing might be becausesuperstitious people believed if you give a friendnew shoes then they would walk away.
Mistletoe
During the Feast of the Dead
(Hogmanay) Druid priests cut
down mistletoe from sacredoaks with golden sickles.
These were used to help Infertility and may explain why, to this day, we kissunder a sprig of mistletoe.
Trolls, Kallikantzartoi and Julenisse
Trolls Kallikantzartoi
Julenisse
Commonwealth of Australia
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