The Pagan Festival Called Christmas

By kaylar, 26th Dec 2010 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/1hl07e53/

Posted in WikinutGuidesHistory

How many Pagan rites and rituals have been incorporated into the Christmas Celebration.

The Sky

On the 21st Day of December, (In the Northern Hemisphere) the Sun rises at the lowest point on the horizon.



It spends the least time in sky before it sets.



On the 22nd Day of December, it seems to rise a little higher and spends a few minutes more in the sky.



By the 23rd, the Sun clearly rises higher, stays longer in the sky, proving, the Sun, giver of life is returning.



The people who built Stonehenge understood the travels of the Sun and marked the soltices. When the Winter Soltices passed, proving the Sun was spending more time in the sky, they celebrated.



In Babylon, years before the birth of Moses, the feast of the Son of Isis (Isis is an Imported Egyptian goddess) was celebrated on December 25.



It was a very happy holiday with feasting and gift giving



More recently, the Romans celebrated this time of year with Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture and the season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.



One of the more unique features of the festival were the Mummers, groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors.

The Flora

North European pagans celebrated their Winter Solstice called 'Yule'. Yule celebrated the birth of the Sun god, Mithras.



(BTW, Nero claimed to be the reincarnated Mithras)



This god was born on the shortest day of the year, and would grow and mature for the year.



Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun.



The word Yule means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun.



Along with the log, which was to last the length of the festival, another bit of flora which was important to the Pagans was Mistletoe.



Mistletoe was sacred. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe was a fertility ritual.



Probably the most famous Pagan symbol is the Evergreen Tree.



Evergreen trees were brought into homes during the harsh winters as 'symbolic' magic.

The trees encouraged people that the Earth would be green again.

The Fire

Fire and Light are crucial to the Pagan festivals. They symbolise the Sun. Candles are that little bit of the sun you can hold in your hand. The Yule log burns and warms the home in the depth of the dark winter.



All kinds of lights are symbolic magic, This is, where one does something in a small way to effect the larger environment. Hence, the lights are to encourage the sun to spend more time in the sky.

The Time

One of the most effect tools of Christianity is to absorb a Pagan ritual and present it as their own. The Celebration of the Winter solstice and the Rebirth of the Sun, could be easily altered to match the Birth of the Son.



Most historians would put the birth in March or April, using the measure of Shepherds being in the field with their flocks, where others would date the birth September/October as Jesus was born six months after John.

The Easy Way Out

Culturally, the easiest thing is to incorporate what is into what you want. Do not trouble the tradition, simply give it a new meaning.



There's a celebration on X day about Y, simply claim that X day is about Z. .



Taking the Pagan festivals and adding to them was an easy way to avoid confrontation.



No one stopped Pagans from their Saturnalia, no one interfered in Sun worship. All the signs and symbols were swallowed up by the Church, given new meanings, and returned.

Not to Spoil it....

The celebration of 'Christmas' has absolutely nothing at all to do with the birth of Jesus. It is the wrong time of year, and not a single symbol; from the evergreen tree to carolling to giving presents, to getting drunk, to having fairy lights in any way shape or form 'Christian'.



The Celebrations had been going on for thousands of years, inserting a 'new' face and creating new meanings for ancient symbols was efficient.



The Cult of Isis has had a profound effect on religion and almost every symbol used can be traced back to the worship of that goddess.