When Christmas comes around every year, we see some groups proudly proclaim that the holiday is just a pagan festival that the Christians tried to cover up, and others who want to keep the Christ in Christmas. So, how pagan is Christmas? Where do some of our most familiar customs and traditions come from? Let’s have a look.
Now, modern Christmas draws from two older festivals: the Roman Saturnalia, and the Germanic Yule. But first, let’s go back even further. Beyond written history. To the Neolithic.
Stonehenge in Great Britian is one of the most famous prehistoric megalithic structures in the world. How ancient peoples moved the enormous stones into place is still being investigated by archaeologists, but to put in so much effort, those ancient peoples must have had a very good reason to build the monument. And one thing we can observe about Stonehenge is that it is aligned to the Solstices.
The Solstices are the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice) in June, and the longest night of the year (Winter Solstice) in December. The difference becomes more and more dramatic the further you get from the equator, until the Arctic and Antarctic circles where there can be anywhere from 24 hours to several months of complete darkness or complete light.
Of course, Stonehenge isn’t the only ancient site aligned to
solar events. Places as far apart as Casa Rinconada, a Peublo site in New
Mexico, the Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu, Peru, and various temples and
buildings of Ancient Egypt. The sun and its cycles were very important to
ancient humans. Without paper calendars, these structures were a way to divide
up the year into its solstices and equinoxes, reminders of when to travel, when
to plant, and when to sow.
The sun is important to humans for several reasons. The most
obvious, of course, is the light and warmth it provides. Humans have poor night
vision, and operate best during the day. Is it any wonder that monsters and
spirits, both tangible and intangible, come out at night? For agricultural societies,
the sunlight also grows the crops needed to feed both humans and domestic
animals. And, as anyone who has struggled with seasonal depression knows, long
periods of darkness with little sun can cause mood disorders in humans.
So why celebrate the longest night of the year? Well, one obvious reason is to bring some cheer and good times to the darkest times of year. But also, it was important to ancient people that they appease deities and gods to make sure that the sun actually did come back. Winter Solstice is seen as a time of death and rebirth, especially of the sun and related gods. It is also a time of year when little can be done out in the fields, as the harvest has come in and it will be some time yet before the next year’s crop can be sown. Winter is also when animals who cannot be fed overwinter are slaughtered, creating a rare abundance of fresh meat. It all combines into a good reason to throw a party.
Ways to celebrate the longest night, besides good company, good food, and good drink, include lights to brighten up the dark, and bringing evergreens indoors as a reminder that life still exists even in midwinter. (And for their aroma, of course. Mm, fresh cut pine.)
So, the modern Christmas is the descendent of a long history of human celebration centered around the Winter Solstice. But there are two specific festivals that it draws on the most. The first, is the Roman Saturnalia. This holiday celebrated the Roman God Saturn, and occurred in mid-December. A harvest and agricultural god, Saturn was said to have ruled in a pre-historic time where there were no slaves or masters and all humans lived in leisurely equality with no labor or work.
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In celebration of Saturn, during the course of Saturnalia no work was done of any kind (unless it had to do with the production of food and drink.) Courts and business were closed, and everyone, no matter their social status, was expected to partake in the best food and wine available. Masters waited on servants, slaves could insult their masters, and social order was inverted. Gifts were exchanged between friends, often candles or small humorous gifts, people wore fancy dress during the day, gambling was permitted in the streets, and households would elect one member of the family as “King” to order others around.
Is it any wonder that Saturnalia was the most popular Roman holiday? By the 1st Century BC it stretched over 7 days, starting on December 17th. On the old Julian Calendar, December 25th was the Winter Solstice. In 274 AD, the emperor Aurelian declared December 25th to be the birthday of the sun god Sol Invictus.
Then came the New Year, or festival of Kalends, when the first day of January and the start of the new calendar year was celebrated. With, of course, more feasting and partying. This time in honor of the god Janus, god of beginning and ends. Other traditions included crossdressing or dressing up as animals and going from door to door singing and performing for sweets.
In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine decreed that Christians could not be prosecuted in the Roman Empire. Converts to Christianity began to grow, by 400 AD most of Rome, including the upper class, were Christian and practices like sacrificing animals to Gods were banned.
However, it was difficult to get people to cease their accustomed partying in mid-winter. The most popular holiday in the empire couldn’t be banned, and most people didn’t want to give up their celebrations. So, instead, it was necessary to change why people were celebrating.
Pope Julius I declared December 25th to be the birthday of Jesus. Perhaps to replace the birthday of the Sun God Sol with that of the Son of God. Perhaps to coincide with Saturnalia. This was intended to be celebrated with attending Mass, a Christ’s Mass. And many did, but continued to also party in the way they had become accustomed.
“Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eighth before the calends of January [25 December] ... But they [the pagans] call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, [we may say] He is the Sun of Justice.”- John Chrysostom, 4th century AD
The other holiday that has had significant influence on the modern Christmas is Yule. This winter solstice celebration was celebrated by Germanic peoples, especially the Norse people. The gods honored here included Odin and Thor. Like other Winter Solstice celebrations around the world, Yule included feasting, drinking, and light. The Yule Log was a tree cut down and intended to burn in the fireplace for the full length of the festival. (Anywhere from 3 to 12 days depending on the place and year). Another important feature was the Yule Boar. Wild Boars are incredibly fierce creatures, and very dangerous to hunt, so serving one for a feast was a sign of hunting prowess. They were also associated with the God Freyr. At Yule, one would be led into the hall and men would lay their hands on its back and make solemn oaths before slaughtering it. We still eat ham at Christmas today.
“And they would sacrifice a boar in the sonarblót. On Yule Eve the sonar-boar was led into the hall before the king; then people laid their hands on its bristles and made vows.” -Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
It is also common to see Yule Goats in Scandinavian countries, a link to Thor’s chariot pulled by goats, and to earlier Slavic harvest gods represented as goats. King Haakon of Norway is said to have decreed that Yule and Christmas be combined during his rule from 934-961.
Do Christmas Lights, evergreen trees, and elaborate dinners have anything to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? Well, not really. But I think that they do have something to do with a fundamentally human way of coping with the longest nights of the year.
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