The Pagan Origins of Christmas

( 1 Vote ) Christmas, just hearing the name makes one think of jolly elves and jingle bells but what is the true origin of the winter holiday? Unbeknownst to most is the fact that Christmas is pagan in origin. Christmas is actually a modern day continuance of the Winter Solstice celebration. The day on which Christmas is presently celebrated, December 25th, was originally established as “Dies Natalis Solis Invicti” or “the birthday of the Unconquered Sun" by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. The Unconquered or Invincible Sun was a sun god named Mithras. The sun god's birthday was also celebrated by the pagans of northern Europe who called the celebration Yule. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel was a pagan symbol for the sun. Thus "Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year" (Wittmann).

The Romans also held an additional winter solstice festival known as Saturnalia. Saturnalia was a feast with which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which was held on the 17th of December (“Saturnalia”). Over the years it expanded to 23 December, lasting a whole week. During Saturnalia “riotous merry-making took place, and the halls of houses were decked with boughs of laurel and evergreen trees. Lamps were kept burning to ward off the spirits of darkness. Schools were closed, the army rested, and no criminals were executed. Friends visited one another, bringing good-luck gifts of fruit, cakes, candles, dolls, jewelry, and incense” (Shotwell).

Later the Roman Empire "converted" to Christianity and formed the Roman Catholic Church. And the pagan winter festivals of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Yule, and Saturnalia were incorporated into Catholicism. This was done in hopes of persuading pagans to accept the Catholic faith. Thus the Catholic church took those pagan celebrations, combined them and changed the name to "Christ's Mass," declaring it a Christian holiday. This is where the term Christmas originated. However, the holiday really has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. In fact, the New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: "The date of Christ's birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month." The Catholic church knows Christmas is pagan yet they continue to endorse December 25th as the birth date of Christ.

The Bible shows us that Jesus could not have been born in the winter season. When the infant Jesus was born "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." (Luke 2:8). This never could have occurred in Judaea in the month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date (“The Truth about Christmas”). Notice that the Bible itself proves, in the Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night. Obviously if God had wished us to observe and celebrate Christ's birthday, He would not have so completely hidden the exact date.

Furthermore, the practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the wise men. They did not arrive at the time of Jesus' birth. The scriptures indicate that Jesus was a young child, possibly as much as two years old, living in a house by the time they arrived. In addition, the wise men gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, which was the custom of the day when visiting notable persons (“Who invented Christmas?”).

Modern day Christmas gift giving is a ritual that is again traced back to paganism. It is connected with the pagan kingdom of ancient Babylon. The queen of Babylon was named Semiramis, in an act of pure perversion she married her own son who was named Nimrod. At the time of Nimrod’s death Semiramis propagated the doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang up overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth to new life of the dead Nimrod (“The Truth about Christmas”). On each anniversary of Nimrod’s birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. Thus we have the origin of Christmas gift giving and the Christmas tree itself. Today, holiday gift giving is being greatly propelled by the commercial industry as an avid rite of Christmas.

Interestingly enough, the Christmas tree is spoken of in the Bible in the book of Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 1-5: "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."

Other aspects of the holiday such as the yule log, mistletoe, and the wreath, are adopted from paganism. They are viewed by Pagans as symbols of fertility and life (“Who invented Christmas?”). Even Christmas lights and the lighting of fires and candles are merely a continuation of the pagan custom of encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the southern skies.

What else needs to be said? Christmas is not Christian nor does it have anything to do with Christ. Some may chose to refer to the holiday as X-Mas but whatever one may choose to call it, the holiday is ultimately rooted in paganism.

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Works Cited:

Saturnalia. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

Shotwell, Janet. The Unconquered Sun. Shambhala International.
http://www.shambhala.org/arts/fest/unconquered.html

The Truth about Christmas. Godkind.
http://godkind.org/christmas-2.html

Who invented Christmas? WikiAnswers.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_Christmas

Wittmann, Kelly. Christmas' pagan origins. Pagewise.
http://www.essortment.com/all/christmaspagan_rece.htm

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