The Origins of Christmas Traditions

3^min

Although Christmas is a religious celebration revolving around the birth of Jesus Christ, most of its traditions were adopted from pagan cultures and "Christianized" at a later stage.

Let us take a small tour around some of our most cherished Christmas customs

The origins of the Christmas Tree :

Many pagan societies venerated the "Evergreen" trees and brought them into their homes in recognition of the Winter Solstice. The reason why this tree was so special to them is because it stayed green and vibrant throughout the harsh winters, hence its name "evergreen".

The first decorating of an evergreen tree began with the heathen Greeks and their worship of their god Adonia, who allegedly was brought back to life after being slain. The pagan Romans decorated their trees for their mid-winter Saturnalia festival and so did the ancient Germanic who used the evergreen tree as a symbol of eternal life.

You may wonder how and why the evergreen tree became a symbol of Christian celebrations. It all dates back to Western Germany in the 16th century where "Paradise Trees" were brought into homes to celebrate the annual Feast of Adam and Eve.They were first brought to America by German immigrants about the year 1700 and became popular Christmas trees around 1850 when President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) arranged to have the first Christmas tree in the White House.

Why is Christmas celebrated on the 25th of December?

The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the Sun god! This date was extremely important to pagans as it marked the famous "Saturnalia" festival honoring the god of Agriculture, and Juvenalia, a feast in honor of the children of Rome, around the same time. On the 25th of the month they celebrated the birth of the Sun god "Mithra" .It was during Saturnalia that the tradition of gift exchange was created.

The Christians adopted the dates after the Christianization of Roman pagans.

The origins of kissing under the Mistletoe:

Mistletoe is related to Frigga the goddess of love and beauty. Frigga had a much-loved son,named Balder. Frigga asked all living things to promise never to harm Balder, and they did. All except the lowly mistletoe, which somehow Frigga overlooked.

Loki, a trickster god, decided to make an arrow from the mistletoe plant, and used this arrow to shoot Balder through the heart, and killed him.

Frigga's tears of grief over Balder's death were said to have turned into the berries of the mistletoe. In one version of this myth Balder was restored to life, and in gratitude Frigga made the mistletoe a symbol of love and promised to bestow a kiss upon all those who pass beneath it.