Christmas Origins - The Dawn of a New Day
During the Christmas season, there are often many reminders to remember the reason for the season - reminders to focus on the spirit of kindness and charitable giving rather than commercialism and greed. And of course, there are many reminders about the birth of Christ with the origin of the very word Christmas being "Mass on Christ's Day."
This got me thinking and wondering about the true origins of the Christmas celebration. How did we arrive to our modern Christmas celebration? Why December 25th? Why Christmas trees? Why Santa? What truly are the "reasons for the season"?
December 25th - Winter Solstice
Dating back to at least the Neolithic period (12,000 - 6500 BC), the winter solstice seems to have played an important role in human civilization. The winter solstice is the longest and darkest day of the year, but also signals the beginning of a new hope - the dawn of a new brighter day. In many ancient cultures, the sun itself was considered a deity. Some of these saw the winter months as the sun god becoming weak or ill, but the winter solstice signaled the rebirth or restrengthening of the sun god, which would usher in longer days and an abundance of spring crops.
The ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a tribute to the god of agriculture, from December 17 - 23rd, which was a festival of joyous celebrations - a time for drinking, feasting and giving gifts. This is thought by many to be a direct precursor to the later Christian celebrations of Christmas.
The Iranians celebrated Shab-e Yalda, honoring the triumph of the sun god Mithra over darkness. People would gather together on the longest night of the year to protect themselves from evil.
The Chinese had a custom called Dong Zhi welcoming the return of longer days and an increase in positive energy. The Incans had Inti Raymi, honoring their sun god. The Germanic people celebrated Yule with origins traced to the Norse god Odin.
There seem to be two main theories as to why Christmas is now celebrated on December 25th.
The first is that the early Christians held a tradition that the Annunciation took place on March 25th, so 9 months later would be Christ's birth, or December 25th. Most biblical scholars, however, seem to reject the theory of Jesus being born on December 25th. The first individual to identify December 25th as the date of Christ's birth, seems to be Julius Africanas in 221 AD.
The second and seemingly more promising theory is that this was a Roman Christianization of the dies solis invicti nati (day of the rebirth of the unconquered sun, or the resurgence of the Roman sun god following the winter solstice, also referred to as "Sol Invictus"). Sol Invictus was made an official celebration on December 25, 274 AD under Roman emperor Aurelian.
Shortly thereafter, in 334 AD, Constantine instituted the first observance of "Christmas" or "Mass on Christ's Day" as a re-purposing of the previous pagan celebration of Sol Invictus, and kept the same day of observance. Rather than the celebration of the sun god, it became a celebration of the Son of God. Much of the symbolism of bringing additional light and hope to the world from the winter solstice celebrations carried over very will to the birth of the Christ bringing new light and hope.
Also worth noting that Christians in the first two centuries are said to have strongly opposed celebrations of the birthdays of martyrs, including Jesus (Jehovah's witnesses to this day strongly oppose birthday celebrations of any kind as pagan and evil based on their interpretation of biblical texts). Martyrs were to be honored on the date of their death. Easter, therefore, was a much more significant holiday for early Christians and likely continued to be the more significant holiday for several hundred years after Christmas was introduced. Christmas did not gain wide-spread popularity until the 9th century AD.
Christmas Trees
Christmas trees are attributed to 16th centrury Germans who brought evergreen trees into their home to decorate for celebration. Some made pyramids of wood and decorated with evergreens boughs. Martin Luther, the famous 16th century protestant reformer, is attributed as the first to add candles to the tree, a reminder of the beauty he observed in the stars gleaming on the evergreen trees outdoors.
But long before Christmas trees existed, evergreens were a significant part of many ancient cultures. Evergreens were seen as blessed from the gods, staying green year-round and defying the bleakness of the cold, dark winter months. Evergreen boughs were hung over doorways and windows and some saw evergreens as having magical qualities to ward of evil spirits, ghosts, witches or illness. Evergreens were a symbol that other plants would also be re-born and recover their life with the re-birth of the sun god following the winter solstice.
Ancient Egyptians decorated their homes with green palm rushed around the time of the winter solstice as part of the worship of the god of Ra, who wore a sun as a blazing disc. These decorations signified the inevitable triumph of life over the bleak winter death.
Romans, in their celebration of Saturnalia decorated their homes and temples with evergreens in honor of their god of agriculture as a signal that their crops would soon be green and flourishing.
The Celts similarly decorated their temples with evergreens as a sign of everlasting life and the Vikings saw evergreens as a plant of their sun god, Balder.
In short, evergreens signify the triumph of life over death - a hope for better things to come.
Santa Claus and US celebrations of Christmas
Santa dates back to the 3rd century AD with St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, who was admired for his piety and kindness. He is said to have travelled the countryside to give away his wealth to help the poor and sick.
St Nicholas made his way into American culture when groups of Dutch families gathered to honor the anniversary of his death in December of 1773 and 1774. The Dutch Sint Nikolaas was shortened to Sinter Klaas, which became Santa Claus. Washington Irving popularized Santa Claus by referring to him as the patron saint of New York in 1809.
During this time period, celebrations of "pagan" aspects of Christmas were heavily frowned upon in puritan American culture. The puritans had even gone as far as establishing laws imposing fines on anyone celebrating Christmas in any other way than a solemn church ceremony. So Christmas decorations or Christmas trees (again of German origin) were not allowed in many areas.
The 19th century saw a large influx of German and Irish immigrants, so the puritan restrictions on Christmas soon gave way to German and Irish traditions with Christmas trees, decorations and more festive celebrations.
Also around this time, stores started to advertise more for Christmas shopping and decorations and Santa Claus became a marketing ploy. In 1822, Clement Clark Moore published his "A Visit from St. Nicholas" later known as "The Night Before Christmas" describing Santa riding around with eight reindeer. In 1841, there was a life-size model of Santa Claus in a Philadelphia shop. By the 1890's the Salvation Army started dressing up unemployed men as Santa Claus to help raise money for charitable causes. The Macy's Santa has appeared in most Macy's Day parades since 1924.
Whether known as St. Nicholas or Santa Claus, the name has become a symbol of giving, generosity, and kindness. So while St. Nicholas likely never dreamed he would be the inspiration for a jovial toy-maker living in the North Pole with elves and reindeer, the spirit of St. Nicholas remains in Santa Claus.
Reason for the Season
So, what is the "reason for the season" of Christmas? Certainly it is a Christian celebration of the Christ child. But perhaps on a much broader level, it can also be seen as the metaphorical re-birth of the Christ-nature within each of us. Perhaps it can be a symbol of the re-birth or renewal of our individual commitments to be a part of bringing forth a new life and new hope, expelling the darkness and welcoming the dawn of a new day.
(Shout out to Star Wars fans for the cliche reference to "A New Hope" and Zelda fans for the "Dawn of a New Day" reference)
This got me thinking and wondering about the true origins of the Christmas celebration. How did we arrive to our modern Christmas celebration? Why December 25th? Why Christmas trees? Why Santa? What truly are the "reasons for the season"?
December 25th - Winter Solstice
Dating back to at least the Neolithic period (12,000 - 6500 BC), the winter solstice seems to have played an important role in human civilization. The winter solstice is the longest and darkest day of the year, but also signals the beginning of a new hope - the dawn of a new brighter day. In many ancient cultures, the sun itself was considered a deity. Some of these saw the winter months as the sun god becoming weak or ill, but the winter solstice signaled the rebirth or restrengthening of the sun god, which would usher in longer days and an abundance of spring crops.
The ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a tribute to the god of agriculture, from December 17 - 23rd, which was a festival of joyous celebrations - a time for drinking, feasting and giving gifts. This is thought by many to be a direct precursor to the later Christian celebrations of Christmas.
The Iranians celebrated Shab-e Yalda, honoring the triumph of the sun god Mithra over darkness. People would gather together on the longest night of the year to protect themselves from evil.
The Chinese had a custom called Dong Zhi welcoming the return of longer days and an increase in positive energy. The Incans had Inti Raymi, honoring their sun god. The Germanic people celebrated Yule with origins traced to the Norse god Odin.
There seem to be two main theories as to why Christmas is now celebrated on December 25th.
The first is that the early Christians held a tradition that the Annunciation took place on March 25th, so 9 months later would be Christ's birth, or December 25th. Most biblical scholars, however, seem to reject the theory of Jesus being born on December 25th. The first individual to identify December 25th as the date of Christ's birth, seems to be Julius Africanas in 221 AD.
The second and seemingly more promising theory is that this was a Roman Christianization of the dies solis invicti nati (day of the rebirth of the unconquered sun, or the resurgence of the Roman sun god following the winter solstice, also referred to as "Sol Invictus"). Sol Invictus was made an official celebration on December 25, 274 AD under Roman emperor Aurelian.
Shortly thereafter, in 334 AD, Constantine instituted the first observance of "Christmas" or "Mass on Christ's Day" as a re-purposing of the previous pagan celebration of Sol Invictus, and kept the same day of observance. Rather than the celebration of the sun god, it became a celebration of the Son of God. Much of the symbolism of bringing additional light and hope to the world from the winter solstice celebrations carried over very will to the birth of the Christ bringing new light and hope.
Also worth noting that Christians in the first two centuries are said to have strongly opposed celebrations of the birthdays of martyrs, including Jesus (Jehovah's witnesses to this day strongly oppose birthday celebrations of any kind as pagan and evil based on their interpretation of biblical texts). Martyrs were to be honored on the date of their death. Easter, therefore, was a much more significant holiday for early Christians and likely continued to be the more significant holiday for several hundred years after Christmas was introduced. Christmas did not gain wide-spread popularity until the 9th century AD.
Christmas Trees
But long before Christmas trees existed, evergreens were a significant part of many ancient cultures. Evergreens were seen as blessed from the gods, staying green year-round and defying the bleakness of the cold, dark winter months. Evergreen boughs were hung over doorways and windows and some saw evergreens as having magical qualities to ward of evil spirits, ghosts, witches or illness. Evergreens were a symbol that other plants would also be re-born and recover their life with the re-birth of the sun god following the winter solstice.
Ancient Egyptians decorated their homes with green palm rushed around the time of the winter solstice as part of the worship of the god of Ra, who wore a sun as a blazing disc. These decorations signified the inevitable triumph of life over the bleak winter death.
Romans, in their celebration of Saturnalia decorated their homes and temples with evergreens in honor of their god of agriculture as a signal that their crops would soon be green and flourishing.
The Celts similarly decorated their temples with evergreens as a sign of everlasting life and the Vikings saw evergreens as a plant of their sun god, Balder.
In short, evergreens signify the triumph of life over death - a hope for better things to come.
Santa Claus and US celebrations of Christmas
Santa dates back to the 3rd century AD with St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, who was admired for his piety and kindness. He is said to have travelled the countryside to give away his wealth to help the poor and sick.
St Nicholas made his way into American culture when groups of Dutch families gathered to honor the anniversary of his death in December of 1773 and 1774. The Dutch Sint Nikolaas was shortened to Sinter Klaas, which became Santa Claus. Washington Irving popularized Santa Claus by referring to him as the patron saint of New York in 1809.
During this time period, celebrations of "pagan" aspects of Christmas were heavily frowned upon in puritan American culture. The puritans had even gone as far as establishing laws imposing fines on anyone celebrating Christmas in any other way than a solemn church ceremony. So Christmas decorations or Christmas trees (again of German origin) were not allowed in many areas.
The 19th century saw a large influx of German and Irish immigrants, so the puritan restrictions on Christmas soon gave way to German and Irish traditions with Christmas trees, decorations and more festive celebrations.
Also around this time, stores started to advertise more for Christmas shopping and decorations and Santa Claus became a marketing ploy. In 1822, Clement Clark Moore published his "A Visit from St. Nicholas" later known as "The Night Before Christmas" describing Santa riding around with eight reindeer. In 1841, there was a life-size model of Santa Claus in a Philadelphia shop. By the 1890's the Salvation Army started dressing up unemployed men as Santa Claus to help raise money for charitable causes. The Macy's Santa has appeared in most Macy's Day parades since 1924.
Whether known as St. Nicholas or Santa Claus, the name has become a symbol of giving, generosity, and kindness. So while St. Nicholas likely never dreamed he would be the inspiration for a jovial toy-maker living in the North Pole with elves and reindeer, the spirit of St. Nicholas remains in Santa Claus.
Reason for the Season
So, what is the "reason for the season" of Christmas? Certainly it is a Christian celebration of the Christ child. But perhaps on a much broader level, it can also be seen as the metaphorical re-birth of the Christ-nature within each of us. Perhaps it can be a symbol of the re-birth or renewal of our individual commitments to be a part of bringing forth a new life and new hope, expelling the darkness and welcoming the dawn of a new day.
(Shout out to Star Wars fans for the cliche reference to "A New Hope" and Zelda fans for the "Dawn of a New Day" reference)
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