The Overlooked History of Christmas

It’s that time of the year again where Christmas is once again upon us. For some a magical time of the year where family get-togethers are the norm and stuffing ones face and drinking far too much for which one cares to remember are acceptable. Where, thanks to the commercialisation by the retail industry, holidays gifts are exchanged from one person to another on a massive scale, leaving people immersed in the excitement and anticipation of the build-up to Christmas.

For the remaining population, Christmas is the exact opposite. The build up to Christmas consists of overcrowded shopping centres, traffic on the roads, Christmas advertisements (as early as September), stress of last minute arrangements, costs, even seeing family could be a bad thing, not to mention some pretty cheesy and awful Christmas songs.

But however you feel about Christmas, there is no denying that it is a unique time of the year with a unique feeling that only comes around once a year for one day. Christmas is celebrated all over the world and ‘Merry Christmas’ has a translation in over 80 languages, further adding to the wonder of Christmas.

But for this Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ there are many little known facts that get overlooked whilst everyone is capsulated in the Christmas spirit, here are some for you.

25^th December is not Jesus’s birthday

Contrary to popular belief the 25^th December is not Jesus’s birthday, although we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christ-mass day, Jesus was not actually born on this date. In fact there is no mention of Jesus Christ’s birthday in the Bible so it is not known what his actual date of birth is. There were holidays before Christmas existence dedicated to Jesus, Epiphany on 6^th January and Easter, although it wasn’t until 336 A.D. that an official holiday was celebrated in honour of Jesus’s birth. One widely believed theories for celebrating the birth of Jesus on 25^th December is owed to Christian writers efforts to ‘Christianise’ a Roman pagan festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, English translation: “the birthday of the Unconquered Sun”, which was celebrated on 25^th December.

Santa Claus is a mixture of legendary figures

Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle or just Santa, whatever your name for him, you will know that familiar figure of the red and white clad, gift bearing jolly old fat man with the big white beard and Christmas hat. But many do not know the history behind this mythical legend who hails from the North Pole. The modern figure of Santa Claus originates from the Dutch figure of Sinterklass who himself is based on Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was a historical Greek bishop known for his generosity and gift giving from Myra which is modern day Turkey. It is also believed that the cheerful figure of Santa Claus also has elements of the Germanic pagan god Odin who is of the ghostly pagan midwinter event of Yule. Odin was a white bearded gift bearer from the North who rode across the sky with his eight legged Sleipnir, giving out gifts to people; sound familiar? The modern day Santa Claus owes itself to Saint Nicholas, Odin as well as commercial industries.

The Christmas tree is borrowed

The Christmas tree, a decorated evergreen conifer tree, for some is the pinnacle sign of Christmas. The Christmas tree is the one thing that signifies Christmas is here. With the bright sparkling lights, decorations and tinsel wrapped around the tree finished off with an angel or bright star perched right on the top. Where presents received are kept under until Christmas day. The Christmas tree can be enjoyed anywhere from public places to the centrepiece of one’s home.

There are many customs and traditions surrounding the Christmas tree but the original concept of erecting a tree for Christmas stems from 16^th century Germany. Although, like Santa Claus, the use of Christmas tree is most likely a borrowed idea from German pagan religions as well as Ancient Egyptians, Hebrews and Chinese who all also utilised evergreen trees.

So there you have it, some of the main overlooked and often rarely known facts about Christmas. Christmas day is ultimately a Christian holiday created to celebrate the birth of Christ with many elements borrowed from pagan religions to make the conversion to the Christian religion more straightforward. The original celebration has changed so much even in the last 30 years, due to commercial efforts and translations of the holiday in countries where Christianity is a minority; that inevitably has led to Christmas losing some of its religious meanings. One thing is left to say and that is, we wish you a merry Christmas!