![]() Up until the 1800s, the day recognized as Christ’s birthday was largely a pagan celebration. “Only in relatively recent times, the past two hundred years, has Christmas been celebrated by most Christians. From the burning of the Yule log to the singing of vulgar carols to the hanging of the mistletoe to the chopping down of evergreens, Christmas traditions relied on pagan spirituality and superstition. The religious connotations of Christmas, like those of Samhain, involved paganism. Whereas Celtic Samhain served important legal and social functions – such as the settling of debts, the execution of criminals, the slaughtering or purchasing of livestock, and the renting of land – Christmas was a purely indulgent event. The presiding figure of these feasts was called the “Lord of Misrule.” Among holidays, Christmas itself might be called the “Lord of Misrule.” Not surprisingly, excessive amounts of alcohol were consumed on Christmas, and it was common to see people cross-dressing or to hear of wild orgies. If the home owners did not open their doors, the mobs often broke them down and treated themselves to whatever they wanted. Groups of peasants – more akin to mobs than anything – would roam from door to door, knocking and demanding food and other items. During these drunken festivities, aristocrats were expected to wait on the poor and open their doors to them. Indeed, the Feast of Fools was a part of the winter celebratory tradition. If you remember the Feast of Fools as depicted in the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you have an idea of what Christmas used to be like. Calling the wise men magicians is not only insulting, but it contradicts the scriptures which plainly condemn sorcery in all its forms).Īt Christmas time, the social order was flipped upside down. We get our word magician from the Persian word “magus,” which is the singular of magi. And, contrary to popular myth, the wise men were not magi, but righteous men of God. Ironically, it was the Catholic Church which selected December 25 th – a widespread pagan feast day – to commemorate the Savior’s birth (in reality, the Lord was born during the spring. Indeed, the Catholic Church condemned Christmas because of its pagan roots. Early Christmases were not times to commemorate the birth of Christ or gather for worship services. It was closer in ambiance to modern Carnival, Mardi Gras, or Oktoberfest than to our modern American Christmas. In the beginning, and for millennia thereafter, Christmas was a rowdy, drunken festival celebrated by pagans in many lands. The reason we sing “Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol” in “Deck the Halls” is because of the Yule traditions that were repackaged as Christian ones. Some of these traditions come from Yule, the Germanic/Nordic holiday, whereas others find their genesis in pagan Rome and beyond. Nearly every Christmas tradition we cherish has its roots in paganism. Though it is unpopular to say, the fact is that Christmas is a thoroughly pagan holiday. ![]() I write this article for two reasons: 1) To point out and discourage the holiday hypocrisy I see in the Christian community and 2) to give a brief overview of the true history of Christmas. What these Christians do not understand is that Christmas is every bit as pagan as Halloween – if not more so. However, those same Christians generally celebrate Christmas, merrily decking their halls with boughs of holly, singing Christmas carols, and kissing each other under the mistletoe. They latch onto internet fear-mongering, unsubstantiated rumors, and Roman propaganda, and repeat them as if they are the true facts about the autumn harvest festival known as Samhain (i.e. They despise Halloween’s rowdiness, its excesses, its darkness, and its supposedly unChristian character. Christians often boycott and denounce Halloween as a pagan holiday because of its Celtic roots.
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