Christmas - a Christian festival, or a pagan one?
Posted by
Rachel92
on 2008-04-23 08:43:29
Christmas = CHRIST MASS That is obviously christian.
Winter Solstice = Pagan
What is celebrated (the birth of christ) is christian. It's not the actual time jesus was born.
When it is celebrated (the winter solstice) is pagan. It's not celebrating the birth of christ.
Posted by
totoro
on 2008-04-24 14:01:34
Rachel92: While you are technically correct, many of the traditions of Christianity are pagan in origin because it made it easier to convert people when their traditions were co-opted. Scandinavia was the source of MANY Christian traditions that were origionally Pagan: Decorating trees on Winter Solstice, Odin (Santa Claus) coming down from the North Pole with his Elves and Reindeer distributing gifts at the hardest time of the year (very Norse Pagan), the celebration of light with the return of the sun (Christmas lights), the burning of the yule log, and much more. Christmas celebrates the birth of the son of god in the Christian tradition while Winter Solstice celebrates the return of the sun which was often worshipped as a god. It's an interesting play on words.
