Christmas is

a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, but its origins also

include festivals to mark the winter solstice.

Many of these

traditions are still around today.

Ancient Mesopotamians

and Babylonians had festivals that marked the beginning of the new year.

The festivals, Zagmuk for the Mesopotamians and Sacaea for the Babylonians

and Persians, began 12 days before the new year. The ancient Greeks had

a similar festival in which they believed Kronos, a god, battled with

Zeus and his Titans. Many of these festivals also included role playing

in which peasants became the masters for a period of time.

The Romans

used the idea of role playing in their festival known as Saturnalia. The

festival began in mid-December and ran into January. There were parades

and feasts and people visited their friends and bestowed gifts on them.

They also celebrated a festival known as Juvenalia, a feast honoring children.

Christians wished to mark the birth of Jesus Christ and eventually co-opted

some of these practices.

Early Europeans

at the time welcomed back the sun in a ceremony during winter solstice.

Scandinavians had no sun for 35 days a year and would send out a search

party to look for it. The party would return having seen the first glimpses

of the sun as it returned and a festival would begin. They would burn

a yule log and have a feast until the log burned out. This was practical

as they were forced to slaughter their animals so they would not have

to feed as many through the winter.

It is said

that Christmas has been celebrated since 98 A.D. In 137 A.D, the bishop

of Rome ordered a feast to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas

was set on Dec. 25 by Bishop Julius I of Rome in 350 A.D. Christianity

had spread to Egypt by 432 A.D. and to England by the end of the sixth

century. Celebrations over the next several centuries used many of these

traditions depending on the beliefs of the people and their rulers.

In 1645, Christmas

was cancelled in England by Oliver Cromwell. He and his men were overthrown

and Charles II was restored to the throne and Christmas returned to England.

The Puritans

left England for what would become America and, though some colonies in

Virginia documented celebrations each year, Boston outlawed Christmas

from 1659-1681. In fact, anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined

five shillings.

Christmas did

not become a federal holiday until 1870.

Christmas actually

started to resemble the holiday we celebrate today in the 19th century.

Earlier in the century there were class riots in both England and America

but Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, two influential authors in

their homelands, wrote stories about the Christmas spirit, being with

one's family and helping out the less fortunate. The carnival type atmosphere

and feasts and parades were on their way out and Christmas became a day

of peace and nostalgia.

Over the years

the holiday has become more commercial, but we must remember its origins

and realize that people were celebrating at this time of year 2,000 years

ago. The world marches on, continually evolving its traditions, and we

are a part of history.

Back

to the Top of the Page