The common belief, when it comes to Christmas (taught to us through the Christian Church), is that Jesus is the "reason for the season". Well, technically and historically that's not really correct. Just about ALL the holidays, including Christmas, have their roots in both pagan and polytheic Roman mythology centered around dates that are pretty important to the planet as a whole no matter how you look at them. These are the solstices and equinoxes. Those astronomical events were a pretty serious source of information to people who didn't have clocks or calendars. They marked the changing of the seasons and gave signals for when it was time to plant and harvest. It's only natural that they would become focus for celebrations.

First of all there is little to no evidence that Jesus Christ, son of Joseph and Mary, was born in winter, let alone on December twenty-fifth. There is much evidence that Jesus was actually born in the Summer months.

There is also evidence of a Roman festival called the "Saturnalia", which was held on the winter solstice and lasted about twelve days. ("Twelve days of Christmas", anyone?) Saturnalia, which honors the Roman god Saturn (Chronus for those of us who are more familiar with the Greek usage) bears a striking resemblance to modern winter holidy festivals and included vacations, parties, gifts, feasts and so forth.

There is also significant evidence that Rome was not the only place to celbrate the Winter Solstice. Pagans throughout Northern Europe celebrated the solstice by decorating Pine Trees (held to be sacred because of their mystical power to stay green all winter) and brewing wine from pine nuts. Vikings were said to have scattered the entrails of their hunting kills around trees near their villages and towns as a warning to their enemies. We've come quite a ways when you consider that we use plastic and mylar garland for this instead of intestine. I bet you'll never think of garland the same way again, will you?

In the Julian calendar, December 25th was reckoned as the winter solstice. It was regarded as the nativity of the Sun as its days began to lengthen and its power increase from that turning point of the year. The ritual of the nativity, as it was celebrated in Syria and Egypt was remarkable. The celebrants retired into certain inner shrines from which at midnight they issued a loud cry, "The Virgin has brought forth! The Light is waxing!" The Egyptians even represented the newborn Sun by an image of an infant which, on his birthday (the winter solstice), they brought forth and exhibited to his worshippers.

Also, the Virgin who thus conceived and bore a son on the twenty-fifth of December was the great Oriental goddess whom the Semites called the Heavenly Virgin or simply the Heavenly Goddess. This is the origin of the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of the mother of Jesus Christ. It has no basis in the Bible or in fact. Christ’s mother was not named Mary and the Bible is clear that she bore other children.

December 25th was also associated with Mithras, as he was Sun god. Thus, Mithras was the god of the festival of the solstice on 25th December, which followed immediately on from the Saturnalia. With this deity, we see Sunday worship emerge in Rome.

The gospels say nothing as to the day of Christ’s birth and the early Church did not celebrate it. The custom of celebrating Christ’s birth began in Egypt, being derived from the Mother goddess cult there, and the Christians there celebrated it on January 6th. By the fourth century it had become generally established in the East. The western church had never recognised January 6th as the true date and, in time, its decision was accepted by the eastern church. At Antioch this change was not introduced until about 375 CE.

The long and short of Christmas is that when the Romans adopted Christianity, they felt the need to force all the pagans under their rule to quit practicing pagan rituals and observances. They couldn't take the holidays away, so they tried to replace them by substituting in Christian figures for the pagan figures. We talked about this in the previous Samhain (Halloween) article. The same Christianization of an already widely celebrated holiday happened there. Christ's birth was 'officially' fixed on December 25th, what was then widely accepted to be the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Through various calendar corrections, we now know the solstice is on the 21st, furthering the gap between religious Christmas and the old solstice celbrations.

It is also important to mention Yule. In the Shetland Islands, the Yule or Christmas holidays began seven days before Christmas and ended at Antinmas, i.e. the twenty-fourth day after Christmas. The Shetlanders name these holidays the Yules. Seven days before Christmas, the elves, called Trows by the Shetlanders, are let free from their homes in the earth and dwell above ground if it pleases them. This is the probable origin of the elf symbolism of and with Santa Claus. It seems to relate back to the concept of the misrule of the seven days of the Saturnalia leading up to December 25th.

I could go on forever about different pieces of our modern "Christmas" celebration that came from different cultures in different parts of history. What we celebrate as Christmas now is basically a melting pot of all the different culutural and religious celebrations from all over the world that have evolved over the years. I guess my point is, there are many "reasons for the season" and Christ is but one of them.

About the Author: Melanie has been interested in the metaphysical since she was a small child. Over the years, she studied a variety of topics in her on-going quest for knowledge. In 1996, she created a Metaphysical Television Show named Reality Check as a way to open a few minds and sharing new possibilities with her audience while spending much needed time concentrating on her own spirituality. She produced and co-hosted the show for five years. During that time, Melanie opened a Holistic and Metaphysical Resource Center and store named Kindred Spirits. Through both Reality Check and Kindred Spirits, Melanie met many interesting and inspiring people who had a great deal of impact in nudging her along on her own spiritual path. Melanie also communicates with her Spirit Guides, and is a Reiki I Practitioner. Melanie believes her path is to heal, teach, and write as a way to help others along their spiritual paths. She does all of this while keeping a very open mind and respecting the beliefs of others.

Melanie is also a Parent Station Moderator and Community Leader for The Metaphysical and New Age Forum.