Today is October 31st, and it is widely celebrated as Halloween, which originated from the pagan holiday known as Samhain. Samhain is a Gaelic festival that marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It is believed that during this time, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinnest, allowing spirits and other supernatural beings to more easily cross over into our realm. Samhain was an important holiday for the ancient Celts, who lived in areas that are now Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It was a time for honoring the deceased ancestors and seeking their guidance and protection. People would light bonfires and wear costumes and masks to ward off evil spirits.
Is Easter a Pagan Holiday?
Many people believe Easter was originally a pagan festival because of the connection between its English name, Easter, and the Germanic deity “Eostre”— a fertility goddess, associated with the vernal equinox. Whatever the truth of this association, in most European languages Easter translates to some derivative of Pascha: the Hebrew word for Passover. Pascua de Resurreccion in Spanish, Pasqua in Italian, Pâques in French. English’s name for the holiday is the exception, not the rule—and a complete look at the holiday’s etymology makes clear its roots are Hebraic, not pagan. Finally, Easter was made an official holiday long before Christian and German culture blended, rendering a Germanic inspiration highly unlikely.
The Resurrection Argument
Another argument is that the murder and resurrection of gods—particularly fertility gods—are a staple of pagan religion. This fact, combined with Easter’s fertile iconography—eggs, rabbits, etc.—lead many to believe the holiday was a tailored repackaging of earlier stories, rites, and religious figures. For instance, the Egyptian god Horus was murdered and resurrected, becoming a symbol of crop cycles. Innana—the Sumerian goddess of fertility—was crucified on a stake, and subsequently raised from the underworld. And Greek god of the harvest, Dionysus, was torn to shreds and resurrected from the one remaining piece: his heart.
But while some of the imagery of Easter intersect with those of pagan rites–just as some of the gospel’s themes intersect with pre-Christian mythology–there is no way to draw a causal relationship. Death, rebirth, and sacrifice are common touch-points for all religions, pre and post-Christian.
Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?
If you’re a Christmas celebrating disciple of Jesus, chances are you have been told that the Church hijacked Christmas and all its traditions from pagan holidays. How do you respond to that? Get defensive and a little upset? Question your celebrations? Argue, deny, and get angry? Hopefully not, but if you’ve ever been tempted, I want to help you find a better response. Last year, I wrote about whether or not Jesus was born on December 25th . So this year, let’s talk about what we can say to our friends who claim Christmas comes from paganism.
Before we talk responses, though, let’s get a few facts straight:
- Early Christians did not celebrate Christmas, but many thought Jesus was born around December 25th. Clement of Alexandria (born ~150 AD and died ~215 AD) wrote that Jesus was conceived on March 25th, and so born around December 25th. (Ancient believers thought that important people died on the same calendar date they were conceived, and Clement calculated Jesus’ death as taking place on March 25th.) Hippolytus’ Commentary on Daniel (circa AD 200) Jesus’ birth in December as well. Around 350 AD, Pope Julius I decreed that Jesus’ birth be commemorated on December 25th. This doesn’t mean Jesus was born in December, but that early Christians believed he was. When they began celebrating Christmas, it was based on this understanding, not an attempt to integrate with the culture that was actively persecuting them.
- December includes many historic non-Christian holidays. Most cultures around the world have festivals to mark Midwinter or the winter solstice. Some, like Saturnalia and the Feast of Mithras, were widespread in the Roman Empire and took place around December 15-21. Christians didn’t hijack these celebrations, but they may have imported some customs like feasts and songs, special decorations, and gift-giving. This happens when cultural celebrations happen close to one another, like Samhain and All Saints Day that together, have become Halloween.
- Christians have always redeemed pagan customs. In Athens, Paul stood up to address the men in the Areopagus and showed them that their altar “To an Unknown God” was really a recognition of the true Creator of all things. On the British Isles, Christian missionaries turned worship of the Three Faced Goddess to worship of the true Triune God. Throughout history, temples to other deities have been converted into places of Christian worship, and ethnic worship customs have become Christian expressions. While that may not be what happened with Christmas, it is not uncommon for missionaries to find ways to redeem culture for Christ.
- Christians have not always been cool with Christmas. For a long time, the Church frowned on Christmas celebrations. When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, he still celebrated the Feast of Mithras for years. He was eventually convinced by his bishops to emphasize the Nativity of the Christ, but not everyone thought this was wise; it seemed like it was the same revelry under a different name. In Europe, Midwinter feasts and Christmas blended together and the Church struggled to distinguish celebrating Jesus from celebrating nature. In early America, the Puritans outlawed Christmas celebrations because of the temptation to drinking, gluttony, and materialism. Christmas celebrations only became mainstream for American Christians in the mid 1800s, and many of our traditions have developed in the years since.
- Christmas in America today has little to do with Christ. Most people in our culture, including most Christians, celebrate Christmas with non-Christian mythology and folklore. Santa, flying reindeer, elves, magical trains, none of them have to do with the story of Jesus. The “Hallmark Christmas” was popularized in the 40s and 50s, and had more to do with marketing than with spreading holiday cheer.
The issue isn’t whether or not Christmas finds its origin in pagan holidays. The issue is how we respond when someone suggests it does. This is what tells people what matters to us – our pride in our celebrations, or Jesus himself.
So first of all, don’t get too worked up about this. Even if it were true that Christmas originated with pagan holidays, it doesn’t change that today you celebrate the birth of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, the one who came to save us from our sins.
Second, be reflective of Christmas celebrations. What if your priority is on the same things that were priorities in pagan celebrations like Saturnalia and the Feast of Mithras? It is easy to spend the Christmas season eating too much, drinking too much, being more concerned with Santa and Elf on the Shelf, giving and receiving gifts, and outdoing our neighbor’s decorations. If you’ve been tempted by any of that, maybe ask yourself how your celebrations are pointing to the Christ you say is at the center of Christmas.
And finally, be patient and humble in your response. Maybe ask some questions, like, “What do you mean by that? What difference has it made for your life? What do you want me to do differently based on this?” Maybe the person who tells you that Christmas is based on pagan holidays is struggling with past hurts around Christmas or Christianity. Maybe you are just receiving that hurt unknowingly. Maybe the best Christmas gift you can give is a listening ear.
Christmas probably did not start as a replacement for pagan celebrations, but the Church has always struggled to keep it separate from non-Christian traditions and folklore. When you respond to a friend who claims Christmas is just a hijacked pagan holiday, be patient, be honest, be gentle, and be reflective. Take it as an opportunity to point to Christ. After all, isn’t he what this season is all about?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
If you are anything like us here at Voice and Vision, you are eagerly anticipating the extra-long holiday weekend. As our gift to you, we want to send you off with some fun Christmas facts. Please feel free to use them for interesting conversation starters at your gatherings. (You’re welcome).
ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god. Both celebrations were raucous, drunken parties.
Also in December, in which the darkest day of the year falls, the pagan cultures lit bonfires and candles to keep the darkness at bay. The Romans also incorporated this tradition into their own celebrations.
As Christianity spread across Europe, the Christian clergy were not able to curb the pagan customs and celebrations. Since no one knew Jesus’s date of birth, they adapted the pagan ritual into a celebration of His birthday.
CHRISTMAS TREES
As part of the solstice celebrations, the pagan cultures decorated their homes with greens in anticipation of the spring to come. Evergreen trees remained green during the coldest and darkest days, so they were thought to hold special powers. The Romans also decorated their temples with fir trees during Saturnalia and decorated them with bits of metal. There are even records of the Greeks decorating trees in honor of their gods. Interestingly, the first trees brought into the pagan homes were hung from the ceiling, upside down.
The tree tradition we are accustomed to today hails from Northern Europe, where Germanic pagan tribes decorated evergreen trees in worship of the god Woden with candles and dried fruit. The tradition was incorporated into the Christian faith in Germany during the 1500’s. They decorated trees in their homes with sweets, lights, and toys.
SANTA CLAUS
Inspired by St. Nicholas, this Christmas tradition has Christian roots, rather than pagan ones. Born in southern Turkey around 280, he was a bishop in the early Christian church and suffered persecution and imprisonment for his faith. Coming from a wealthy family, he was renowned for his generosity towards the poor and disenfranchised. The legends surrounding him abound, but the most famous is how he saved three daughters from being sold into slavery. There was no dowry to entice a man to marry them, so it was their father’s last resort. St. Nicholas is said to have tossed gold through an open window into the home, thus saving them from their fate. Legend has it that the gold landed in a sock drying by the fire, so children started hanging stockings by their fires in hopes St. Nicholas would toss gifts into them.
In honor of his passing, December 6th was declared St. Nicholas day. As time went on, each European culture adapted versions of St. Nicholas. In Swiss and German cultures, Christkind or Kris Kringle (Christ child) accompanied St. Nicholas to deliver presents to well-behaved children. Jultomten was a happy elf delivering gifts via a sleigh drawn by goats in Sweden. Then there was Father Christmas in England and Pere Noel in France. In the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lorraine, France, and parts of Germany, he was known as Sinter Klaas. (Klaas, for the record, is a shortened version of the name Nicholas). This is where the Americanized Santa Claus comes from.
CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA
Christmas in early America was a mixed bag. Many with Puritan beliefs banned Christmas because of its pagan origins and the raucous nature of the celebrations. Other immigrants arriving from Europe continued with the customs of their homelands. The Dutch brought Sinter Klaas with them to New York in the 1600’s. The Germans brought their tree traditions in the 1700’s. Each celebrated their own way within their own communities.
It wasn’t until the early 1800’s that the American Christmas began to take shape. Washington Irving wrote a series of stories of a wealthy English landowner who invites his workers to have dinner with him. Irving liked the idea of people of all backgrounds and social status coming together for a festive holiday. So, he told a tale that reminisced about old Christmas traditions that had been lost but were restored by this wealthy landowner. Through Irving’s story, the idea began to take hold in the hearts of the American public.
In 1822, Clement Clark Moore wrote An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas for his daughters. It’s now famously known as The Night Before Christmas. In it, the modern idea of Santa Claus as a jolly man flying through the sky on a sleigh took hold. Later, in 1881, the artist Thomas Nast was hired to draw a depiction of Santa for a Coke-a-Cola advertisement. He created a rotund Santa with a wife named Mrs. Claus, surrounded by worker elves. After this, the image of Santa as a cheerful, fat, white-bearded man in a red suit became embedded in American culture.
A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
After the civil war, the country was looking for ways to look past difference and become united as a country. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared it a federal holiday. And while Christmas traditions have adapted with time, I think Washington Irving’s desire for unity in celebration lives on. It’s become a time of year where we wish others well, donate to our favorite charities, and give presents with a joyful spirit.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
So, where ever you may be, and whatever traditions you follow, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays!
Photo courtesy of Cris Dinoto via Unsplash
People would light bonfires and wear costumes and masks to ward off evil spirits. They would also leave food and drinks outside their homes as offerings to the spirits. Over time, Samhain blended with Christian traditions, particularly with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, which were celebrated on November 1st and 2nd respectively.
This fusion eventually gave rise to the modern-day Halloween that is celebrated today. Halloween is now a popular holiday around the world, although its religious and spiritual significance has largely been replaced by secular and commercial elements. People of all ages dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating, carve pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, and decorate their homes in spooky themes. It has become a time for fun, parties, and indulging in sweet treats. While Halloween may have strayed from its pagan roots, it still retains some of the ancient symbolism and customs associated with Samhain. It reminds us of the cyclical nature of life and death, and the importance of honoring our ancestors. So, as we celebrate Halloween today, let us also take a moment to remember the rich history and traditions that have shaped this holiday..
Reviews for "Celebrating today's pagan holiday around the world"
1) John - 1/5 - I was really disappointed with "What pagan holiday is it today". The concept was intriguing, but the execution was lacking. The book felt disjointed, with abrupt transitions between chapters and no clear storyline. Additionally, the characters felt one-dimensional and unrelatable. I was hoping for a thought-provoking exploration of pagan holidays, but instead, I got a confusing mess of unrelated information. Overall, I would not recommend this book.
2) Samantha - 2/5 - "What pagan holiday is it today" definitely had potential, but it fell short for me. The author seemed to have done thorough research on pagan holidays, but the writing style was dry and academic, making it hard to stay engaged. The book lacked a cohesive structure, making it difficult to follow along and connect with the content. I had hoped for a more accessible and captivating read, but unfortunately, this wasn't it.
3) Jessica - 2/5 - I found "What pagan holiday is it today" to be quite disappointing. While the idea of exploring pagan holidays sounded intriguing, the execution left much to be desired. The writing was convoluted, filled with unnecessary jargon and complex language. As a result, it was hard to grasp the main points and understand the significance of each holiday. This book could greatly benefit from clearer explanations and a more engaging writing style. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're already well-versed in pagan holidays and looking for a challenge.