CHRISTMAS STANDS ON THE RUINS OF PAGAN FESTIVALS

Basic idea behind all these festivals( Symbolism ):

Rebirth of the Sun, The longest night of the year, The Winter Solstice, Introspect, Planning for the Future.

Deities worshipped across the world in different cultures :

Goddesses: The Great Mother and Earth Goddess, Freyja, Gaia, Diana, Bona-Dea, Isis, Demeter

Gods: Mabon, The Sun God, The Star (Divine) Child, The Oak King, The Holly King, The Green Man, The Red Man, The Horned One, Odin, Lugh, Apollo, Ra, Saturn.


YULE

What is Yule, and what does it have to do with Christmas?"

The Christmas classic “Deck the Halls” contains the line “Troll the ancient yuletide carol” (to troll is to sing in a joyful or celebratory manner). Another line in the song says, “See the blazing yule before us.” We sing those lyrics, but often don’t know what they mean, since we never hear the word yule at any other time of year. So what does yule mean, and why is it a part of the Christmas tradition?

Yule was the name of a winter festival that occurred in December and January on the German lunar calendar. In the fourth century, the church decided to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ at that time with a 12-day feast, often called Epiphany or the Feast of the Nativity. They planned the feast to correspond with the pagan holiday, the feast of Sol Invictus, which celebrated the winter solstice and the gradually lengthening days of increased sunlight. Over time, these feasts merged to become the holiday we now know as Christmas. In today’s language, Yule is simply the feast celebrating the birth of Christ; Yuletide is the Christmas season.

Evergreens for Yule

Evergreens were cut and brought indoors to symbolize life, rebirth and renewal. They were thought to have power over death because their green never faded, and they were used to defeat winter demons and hold back death and destruction. Because of their strength and tenacity, they were also believed to encourage the Sun’s return.

Yule Tree: An Important Pagan Symbol

The Yule Tree was also another important symbol in pagan tradition. Originally, it represented the Tree of Life or the World Tree among early pagans. In ancient times it was decorated with gifts people wanted to receive from the gods. It was adorned with natural ornaments such as pinecones, berries and other fruit, as well as symbols sacred to the gods and goddess. In some holiday traditions, garlands of popcorn and berries were strung around the tree so that visiting birds could feed off the tree as well.

To Honour and Protect: The Yule Log

The custom of burning the Yule Log began with the ancient Scandinavians who burned a huge log, felled from and Ash tree, to honour their god Thor.

The Saga of Hákon the Good credits King Haakon I of Norway who ruled from 934–961 with the Christianisation of Norway as well as will converting Yule as a Christian celebration. The saga states that when Haakon arrived in Norway he was confirmed a Christian, but since the land was filled with pagan practices, Haakon hid his Christian culture.

In time, Haakon had a law passed establishing that Yule celebrations were to take place at the same time as the Christians celebrated Christmas, "and at that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines, and had to keep the holiday while the ale lasted."

Yule had previously been celebrated for three nights from midwinter night, according to the saga. Haakon planned that when he had solidly established himself and held power over the whole country, he would then "have the gospel preached". According to the saga, the result was that his popularity caused many to allow themselves to be baptised, and some people stopped making sacrifices. Haakon spent most of this time in Trondheim. When Haakon believed that he wielded enough power, he requested a bishop and other priests from England, and they came to Norway. On their arrival, "Haakon made it known that he would have the gospel preached in the whole country." The saga continues, describing the different reactions of various regional things.


WINTER SOLSTICE

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. In the ancient world,  people worshiped the sun god , as he was the giver of life and that winter came every year with diseases and death. The cold was so intense that no trees except a few had green colours in them. They used to decorate their doors with leaves of such trees that symbolize life and to keep death away.  Many used to die in those extremely cold conditions.

They celebrated the solstice because it meant that the winter had gone and at last the sun god would come to make all get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshiped the sun god called Ra. At the solstice, Ra came to recover people from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

SATURNALIA 

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.

BIRTH OF MITHRAS

The Roman religion of Mithraism, which existed for hundreds of years before Christians started celebrating Christmas, holds that the birth of Mithras was on the 25th of December. 

BIRTH OF NIMROD

Nimrod was a child-god in the ancient Babylonian religion. He was believed to be either the wife or the son of Semiramis, perhaps both! After he died, Semiramis pronounced him to be a god. He was viewed as the Savior by Babylonians.  David J. Stewart wrote:

" She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th, was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree."

BIRTH OF DIONYSUS

Dionysus (or Dionysos), the Greek god of the grape harvest, wine making and wine, ritual madness, and ecstasy. A real party goer! He was the son of Zeus and was a major Greek savior god who was worshipped by Mycenaeans in Greece and Minoans in Crete. He was sometimes included in the list of the 12 Olympian gods.

BIRTH OF DUSARES

Epiphanius goes on to mention other identical and, in his mind, deceitful festivals in Petra and in Elusa celebrating the birth of the “only son of the Lord” of a Virgin Goddess. In Petra, the Holy Child is Dusares, an Arabian God identified with Dionysos, Who was, in turn, identified with Helios, the sun. 

BIRTH OF BACCHUS

Bacchus, the Roman god associated with wine and ecstasy. He was equivalent to the Greek god, Dionysus.

BIRTH OF APOLLO

• Apollo, a greek god. He was believed to be the son of Zeus and Leto. He had a twin sister Artemis, and was the god of music, archery, healing, light, and truth. Every day he would harness a four-horse chariot to the Sun and drag it across the sky. ₂

BIRTH OF ATTIS

• Attis, originally a Phrygian god of vegetation. He died and was resurrected in similar way that fruits die in Winter and rise again in the Spring. He was also adopted by the Greeks

BIRTH OF BAAL

• Baal, the chief god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians. He was believed to be the child of El and Asherah. He was a fertility god of farming and childbirth, the Sun god, and the storm god. He is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). 

BIRTH OF HORUS

Horus (a.k.a. Harseisis, Heru-sa-Aset , Heru-ur, Hr, and Hrw) was considered to be the son of two major Egyptian deities: the god Osiris and and the goddess Isis. In adulthood, he avenged his father's murder, and became recognized as the God of civil order and justice. Ancient Egyptians regarded each of the Egyptian pharaohs as the living embodiment -- an incarnation -- of Horus. The pharaohs derived a great deal of authority from this linkage.

Tom Harpur, an author, journalist, Anglican priest, and theologian, studied the works of three authors specialized in ancient Egyptian religion: Godfrey Higgins (1771-1834), Gerald Massey (1828-1907) and Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880-1963). Harpur incorporated some of their findings into his book "Pagan Christ." ₁₇ He argued that all of the essential ideas of both Judaism and Christianity came primarily from Egyptian religion, including the concept of monotheism. He wrote in his book:

"[Author Gerald] Massey discovered nearly two hundred instances of immediate correspondence between the mythical Egyptian material and the allegedly historical Christian writings about Jesus. Horus indeed was the archetypal Pagan Christ."

WORSHIP OF MARDUK

In Mesopotamia, the mythical god Marduk, who was believed to fight against the cold and darkness, was also worshiped on this day. 

WORSHIP OF HUITZILOPOCHLI 

The Aztecs on this day would sacrifice children in worship of their sun-god, Huitzilopochli. 

FESTIVAL OF BALDER

North-western Europe hosted festivities for the Nordic god Balder.
The tradition of kissing under mistletoe has a much simpler explanation. It goes back to ancient Norse mythology and the Norse goddess, Frigga. The legend goes that Frigga’s son, Balder, was killed by an evil spirit with an arrow crafted from a mistletoe plant. In her grief, Frigga cried tears made from white berries. Her tears magically brought Balder back to life. From then on, Frigga was so happy to have her favorite son back that she blessed the mistletoe plant and promised that anyone who passed beneath it would receive a kiss.

SOL INVICTUS

Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun)was the the Roman sun god and principle deity of the City of Rome. Worship of Sol Invictus was established by the Roman emperor Aurelian in 274 CE. The faith group survived until at least the 5th century because St. Augustine preached against them at that time. The Romans celebrated a festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (The birthday of the Unconquered Sun) on DEC-25.

What’s more, the early Christians who chose that date, chose it precisely because it was the winter solstice and was connected to the return of the light. In a work attributed, perhaps falsely, to the 4th century Christian church father John Chrysostom, the writer connects the birth of Jesus with the birth of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun, which was celebrated on Rome’s traditional winter solstice, December 25th:

But Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December . . . the eighth before the calends of January [25 December] . . ., But they 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, He is the Sun of Justice. 

 JEWISH FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS


The Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkahstarts on the 25th of Kislev (the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December). Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people were able to re-dedicate and worship in their Temple, in Jerusalem, again following many years of not being allowed to practice their religion.

Jesus was a Jew, so this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December the 25th for the date of Christmas!

Santa Claus owes his very existence to the old Norse myths. He’s changed a lot over the centuries, but his origins in Scandinavia and Northern Europe cannot be denied.

Here’s a look at how Santa Claus emerged from the lands of the Vikings, exchanging the Norse god Odin’s more terrifying traits for those of a plump, chuckling man of eternally good nature.

Odin was chief among the Norse pagan deities. (We still remember him in the day of the week named for him, Wednesday, Woden’s Day.) He was spiritual, wise, and capricious. In centuries past, when the midwinter Yule celebration was in full swing, Odin was both a terrifying specter and an anxiously awaited gift-bringer, soaring through the skies on his flying eight-legged white horse, Sleipnir.

Back in the day of the Vikings, Yule was the time around the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21. Gods and ghosts went soaring above the rooftops on the Wild Ride, the dreaded Oskoreia. One of Odin’s many names was Jólnir (master of Yule). Astride Sleipnir, he led the flying Wild Hunt, accompanied by his sword-maiden Valkyries and a few other gods and assorted ghosts.

The motley gang would fly over the villages and countryside, terrifying any who happened to be out and about at night. But Odin would also deliver toys and candy. Children would fill their boots with straw for Sleipnir, and set them by the hearth. Odin would slip down chimneys and fire holes, leaving his gifts behind.

Centuries passed, and the world was changing. About the time paganism was being replaced by Christianity—which happened centuries later in the north than the rest of Europe—honoring Odin became forbidden. Yule was rescheduled to coincide with the Christian celebrations, and Odin was pushed out of the picture.

First the chief god was replaced by the goodly Christian Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek bishop. Always depicted wearing a red cloak, he became known as the patron saint of giving in most parts of Europe—but not Scandinavia. He had helpers who would report on which children were good. He’d deliver gifts to the good kids. Beware the punishments dealt out to those who were bad!

After the Reformation, Nick and the other saints became forgotten in all the Protestant countries of Europe except Holland. There he morphed into Sinter Klaas, a kind and wise old man with a white beard, white dress, and red cloak. He’d ride the skies and roofs of the houses on his eight-legged white horse, delivering gifts through the chimney to the well-behaved children on his birthday, Dec. 6, St. Nicholas Day. Reminds you of Odin, right?

17th-century Dutch immigrants brought their tradition of Sinter Klaas to America, and his name changed into Santa Claus.

 

Santa Claus: a portly, jolly man with a white beard, wearing a red coat, carrying a bag full of gifts for children. This image became popular in the U.S. in the 19th century after the publication of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C. Moore. The eight-legged horse was replaced for eight flying reindeer. And of course, where do reindeer come from in the first place?

Santa’s image got more popular through advertisements for Coca-Cola in the 1930s. The artist, Haddon Sundblom, was the son of Finnish immigrants. Before Sundblom reinvented him, Santa had been a tall, wizardly looking fellow, much more like Odin. The Finns held on to a more ancient image of the Yule master for centuries. The Joulupukki or “Yule Buck” is originally a pagan tradition. He is connected to Odin and said to wear red leather pants and a fur trimmed red leather coat. But Sundblom also remembered the jovial Dutch Santa Claus with his red cloak and long white beard.

As for the elves in Santa’s North Pole workshop who work all year long making Christmas toys, it was Odin who was the lord of Alfheim, home of the elves. And all magical weapons and jewelry of the gods and goddesses were fashioned by highly skilled dwarves, who dwelled deep within the earth.

In steps the Yule goat, the giver of gifts until the 19th century. A popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats. Today, the Yule goat in Scandinavia is best known as a Christmas ornament, made out of straw and bound with red ribbons.

In the 19th century, as American Santa Claus traditions were now spreading to Scandinavia, the Nordic julenisse started to deliver the Christmas presents, replacing the Yule Goat.

In Norway, it is said that the Julenisse or Santa Claus was born under a rock in Vindfangerbukta north of the town of Drøbak on the Oslofjord, several hundred years ago. Today, Drøbak is considered the premier Norwegian Christmas town, with its popular Christmas house or Julehuset located right next to the town hall. Busloads of people come to see the julenisse, trolls, elves, and gnomes in the house. Whether tourists know it or not, these are the image descendants of the one-eyed god Odin.

Folklore experts can’t deny the legacy of Odin, and his transformation into new versions of Yule gift-bringers. Margaret Baker, author of “Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore” comments that “The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is the 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts.”

The Christian Church adopted this day from the Pagans as the time to celebrate Jesus' birthday, even though it is a few months later than his actual birth. This was a common policy of early Christianity. They often built their cathedrals where Pagan holy places once were, and often adopted Pagan holidays, beliefs, and practices as their own. This helped the common folk convert from

Paganism to the new religion.

Thus, Jesus is not the actual "Reason for the Season." The origins of Christmas can be traced back to the alleged birth day of a multitude of Pagan gods and goddesses in Egypt, the Middle East, Greece and Rome.