What Did Christmas Come From
Coffin in the book of christmas folklore tells us.
What did christmas come from. The recognisably modern figure of the english father christmas developed. In the northern hemisphere in europe for example the winter solstice which was the shortest day of the year occurs around dec. Father christmas is the traditional english name for the personification of christmas although now known as a christmas gift bringer and normally considered to be synonymous with american culture s santa claus which is now known worldwide he was originally part of an unrelated and much older english folkloric tradition. The earlier term yule may have derived from the germanic jōl or the anglo saxon geōl which referred to the feast of the winter solstice the corresponding terms in other languages navidad in spanish natale in italian noël in french all.
During this period roman courts were closed and roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong. Christmas christian festival celebrating the birth of jesus the english term christmas mass on christ s day is of fairly recent origin. The encyclopedia britannica under santalales states the european mistletoe is thought to have had special ritual significance in druidical ceremonies and lives in folklore today its special status as the christmas mistletoe having come from anglo saxon times mistletoe is a parasite that lives on oak trees. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of saturnalia a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between december 17 25.
Most people have heard that the christmas tree originates in the tannenbaum and is some sort of vestige of teutonic vegetation worship. But have you ever wondered where some of our weird christmas traditions come from. How did christmas come to be celebrated on december 25. It s the christmas season again and before we get sick of the eggnog fruitcake and christmas music played ad nauseum we get to enjoy it for a couple weeks.
One of the most pervasive customs of christmas today is the bringing home and decorating of a christmas tree where did this custom come from. The origins of christmas the origins of christmas go back to before the time of christ when many ancient cultures celebrated the changing of the seasons.