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It ’s often claim that many of today ’s Christmas custom infer from the pre - Christian observances of pagan cults suppressed by Roman potency . The story goes that , afterChristianity became the State Department religionof theRoman Empirein the 4th century , zealous purple authorities seek to inflict the newfangled faith on the empire ’s zillion of inhabitants by co - opting their establish pagan traditions — include the particular date when a new festival was celebrated .
But it seems that the pagan influence on some Christmas traditions may have been overstated . Here is a tone at seven Christmas tradition and their origin .
Are Christmas trees pagan in origin? The answer might surprise you.
12 Days of Christmas
In Christianity , the " Twelve Day of Christmas " — nowmostly famous as a carol — concern to the time it take the " magi " ( also known as the " wise men " or " magic king " ) to arrive at the birthplace ofJesus . At least three magi ( some sects saythere were 12 ) , who were purportedly astrologers from distant lands , follow a new star to Bethlehem . They were the first to see the child after his family and some local shepherds , and so the magi ’s arrival represented the reflexion of Christ to people who were not Jewish — an significant spiritual allegory . As a solvent , " Three Kings Day " or " Epiphany " at the ending of the 12 days was once a major festival throughout Christian Europe , but today it isbig only in Spain .
HistorianRonald Hutton , in his book"The station of the Sun : A History of the Ritual Year in Britain"(Oxford University Press , 1996 ) , refer grounds that the 12 daytime develop in pre - ChristianCelticand Germanic traditions . Hutton argues that several practices carried out during the " Twelve Days of Christmas " in England ’s Middle Ages — such as the custom of wassailing , which was mostly walking about fuddle " good will to all " but also hallow crop and fruit tree — originated in pagan practices .
Christmas trees
Some of the flash claims of pagan origins surround the custom of evergreen Christmas trees , a exercise even theWhite Houseobserves . But while pagansconsidered evergreen plant trees witching , many historians hold that the New recitation has Christian German origins . It seems Christmas trees may have begun with the medieval Christian custom ofdecorating " Paradise tree " — representation of the Tree of Life , as draw in the Bible’sBook of Genesis . People observe " Adam and Eve Day " on Christmas Eve by perform their scriptural chronicle as a " Paradise Play , " and so the ornamental " Paradise trees " from the play became a seasonal tradition in Germany . Historian and archaeologistKen Darkof King ’s College London evidence Live Science that the tradition was cemented in 1848 , when Britain ’s majestic family published a Christmas engraving that usher Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert ( a German ) with their family and decorated tree diagram .
Yule
The term " Yule " and " Yuletide " now bear on to Christmas , but it was n’t always so : There is strong grounds that Yule was in the beginning an ancient Germanic and Norse fete season marking thewinter solstice — the longest Nox — and the eventual payoff of the Lord’s Day . Hutton suggests the Yule season , or Yuletide , to begin with covered a period of about 24 mean solar day during midwinter and start a few day before Dec. 25 . The pagan Yuletide was associated with gift - giving and feasting — practice think over in Christmas traditions — but most famously with bonfires and theYule logarithm . Over centuries , the Yule log has transformed into the tradition of a crackling wood fire at Christmas ; American version include atelevised burn logand nowrocket engine .
Mistletoe
The Christmas tradition of kiss under a branchlet of mistletoe seems to come in from 18th - century England : A 1719 report about superstitions surrounding the plant life does n’t note the practice , buta poem from 1784 does . Mistletoe is an evergreen plant that was used for Christmas decoration because of its bright fleeceable leaves and white Berry . historian are n’t certain why the idea of kissing arose , but it may be that an early gentile superstition became broken with the Christian custom : Mistletoe was supposedly sacred to the Gaelic Druid , and it appears in aNorse fable . Mistletoe also boast in ancient Greek and popish wedlock ceremonies , where it was thought to ensure fertility .
Santa and Odin
It ’s been suggested that the seasonal eccentric of " Santa Claus " or " Father Christmas " was influenced by the Norse god Odin . Odin was the head of the Norse pantheon and the immortal of expiry and magic ; whereas Santa Claus originated with the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas , afourth - century bishop in Anatolia , now Turkey . Both Odin and Saint Nicholas were usually depicted as old humanity with giving beards , which might be believe trial impression of the musical theme ; but according to the author Phyllis Siefker in " Santa Claus , Last of the Wild Men : The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas , traverse 50,000 geezerhood " ( McFarland , 1997 ) Odin was also associated with gift - giving during Yuletide and magical flying on his eight - legged horse Sleipnir , which became Santa ’s team of fly reindeer . Dark said few historians take this idea severely .
December 25th
The traditional date for the jubilation of Christmas in the West is the25th Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of December , which in the Northern Hemisphere is stuffy to the shortest day of the twelvemonth , or winter solstice around Dec. 21 . Several pre - Christian religions marked the poor day with ceremony , include the Imperial Roman cult of Sol Invictus(Latin for " unvanquished sun " ) ; and some researchers have proposed that the date of Christmas was deliberately chosen to supersede these pagan celebration . But Dark notes that the suppression of earliest festivities , such as theSaturnaliacelebrated in pagan Rome in mid - December , does not necessarily imply that the Christmas escort was intended to supplant them straight off . or else , he said , it may be that Christian authorities only wanted to fill a disruption in their ceremonial calendar .
Turkey for Christmas dinner
— Why do Christmas lights always get tangle ?
— When was Jesus have a bun in the oven ?
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Christmas dinner often features knock turkey in America , where the birds are ample ; and this is sometimes see as a forward-looking version of a pagan tradition of seasonal banqueting . But there is no diachronic grounds that this was the instance , and feasting is a common way of celebrating holidays . Theoriginal " turkeys"wereguinea fowlnative to Africa , and the name was apply to the standardised - sounding American birds , which were unknown in Europe before the find of the New World . But dago bird were a hard - to - get luxuriousness , and so most people settled for lesser Bronx cheer like duck’s egg or chickens . In 1843 ’s " A Christmas Carol " by Charles Dickens , for example , the Cratchit household plans to eat a goose . Dark notes that the approximation of feasting on stuffed domestic fowl at Christmas is not cosmopolitan , and that many English families once celebrated instead with roast boeuf dinners and Christmas ham .
