Origins Of Christmas Pagan
Prior to england becoming a nation the caucasian or anglo saxon used the word geol derived from the word yule or phrase yuletide season to.
Origins of christmas pagan. The ancient origins of santa claus the christmas tree. Pagan origins of christmas sun worship the pegan origins of christmas can be traced back to the commemoration of the winter solstice celebrated in europe on or around december 22nd. Christmas is a pagan holiday. According to eighth century biographer æddi stephanus saint boniface 634 709 who was a missionary in germany took an ax to an oak.
In newly christianized areas where the pagan celtic and germanic cults remained strong legends of the god wodan were blended with those of various christian saints. The date itself and several of the customs we ve come to associate with christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the. In northern europe many other traditions that we now consider part of christmas worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of christ. More can be said about the pagan origins of christmas.
Creating modern traditions. The earliest history of christmas is composed of pagan non christian fertility rites and practices which predate jesus by centuries. Tony van renterghem writes in when santa was a shaman. Saint nicholas was one of these.
Africanglobe many people suffer from the misconception that christmas is a christian holiday. In roman mythology holly was the sacred plant of the god saturn and to honor him at the saturnalia festival the romans gave each other gifts of holly wreaths. The christmas tree is considered by some as christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the winter solstice which included the use of evergreen boughs and an adaptation of pagan tree worship. The pagans of northern europe celebrated their own winter solstice known as yule.
In the following century christmas celebrations became a matter of heated argument between reformers and traditionalists with the reformers attacking what they saw as pagan revelries. Favourite christmas pastimes such as caroling and gift giving have their origins in the pre christian pagan populaces of europe. The church absorbed customs and traditions from pre existing pagan winter festivals such as saturnalia and yule. The pagan origins of holly.
The christmas tree is a 17th century german invention university of bristol s hutton told livescience but it clearly derives from the pagan practice of bringing greenery indoors to decorate in. It was the industrial revolution which came much closer to destroying christmas than the puritans managed by taking away traditional holidays in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.