According to the medieval English writer and historian the Venerable Bede, Christian missionaries sent to convert the Pagans of northern Europe, were instructed to superimpose Christian themes upon existing local Pagan holidays.
Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum contains a letter from Pope Gregory I to Saint Mellitus, who was conducting missionary work among the Pagan Anglo-Saxons. Pope Gregory suggested that conversion would be easier if the heathens were allowed to retain the outward forms of their traditional Pagan practices and traditions, while recasting those traditions spiritually towards the Christian God. Thus, Christmas as we know it, was created by associating stories of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with existing Pagan celebrations. It is not surprising then, to find that many of the symbols and traditions that we associate with Christmas have pre-Christian, Pagan origins and meanings.
First of all there is the date, 25th of December. The truth of the matter is that no one really knows when Jesus of Nazareth was born. It is highly unlikely that shepherds, even in that part of the world, slept with their sheep at night in the fields, in the dead heart of winter.
The winter festival, usually around the winter solstice, was the most popular and often considered one of the most important festivals in many pagan cultures. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the ‘birthday of the unconquered Sun’ was a Roman festival celebrated throughout the empire. The festival was held at the winter solstice, when the Sun ceased its southward march, winning its battle with the darkness, to prove itself once more to be unconquered. It didn’t take much of a leap for early Christians to link the birthday of the unconquered Sun to the birth of Jesus.
Ancient Romans gave us such customs as giving gifts, charity, decorating with greenery and lights, eating, drinking and making merry, which are linked to Santurnalia and the Roman New Year.
The celebration of the nativity and the establishment of the 25th of December as Christmas did not come about until the 3rd and 4th century. As Northern Europe was the last to be Christianised, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas.
Burning the Yule log, decorating a Christmas tree, feasting on ham, hanging holly and mistletoe for instance, are all historically associated with the Scandinavian winter festival of Yule and Teutonic feasts.
Yule is a winter festival historically celebrated primarily in Northern Europe which coincides with the Winter Solstice. Amongst Germanic pagans, Yule feast was celebrated with a sacrifice. Swedish kings used to sacrifice male slaves every nine years at the yule festival, but luckily, at least for the male slaves, this went out of fashion. Boars became the new sacrifice and this tradition of slaughtering a boar in the name of Freyr persists today in the baking of the Christmas ham.
The celebration of Christmas had a rocky development. The drinking, merry making, gambling looked down upon, even caroling was at one time condemned as lewd. Fortunately the best of these traditions have survived, so I will wish everyone a happy and safe holiday, regardless of how or why they celebrate it.
So until the next edition,
Blessed Be,
Mad Meg
The Web Witch
