All too often I hear people complaining about how commercialized Christmas has become, and how the holiday season is now a time of buying expensive gifts and that it has lost it's original meaning. I agree, and I support those who want to bring the original spirit of the holidays back. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at the origins of Christmas.
During winter in Scandinavia the sun would disappear for many days. After thirty-five days scouts would be sent to the mountain tops to look for the return of the sun. When the first light was seen the scouts would return with the good news. A great festival would be held, called the Yuletide, and a special feast would be served around a fire burning with the Yule log. Great bonfires would also be lit to celebrate the return of the sun. In some areas people would tie apples to branches of trees to remind themselves that spring and summer would return. This is why we have colorful bulbs on Christmas trees, and why in the not too distant past people would put oranges, apples, strings with popcorn, and other foods on trees.
Kissing under the mistletoe is likely tied with the fertility aspects of mistletoe and that it was viewed as a bringer of peace by the Druids. Mistletoe was also known as a powerful healing herb. Mistletoe and kissing are also seen in one of the Norse myths: Frigga is the Norse Goddess of love, marriage and fertility. Her son, Balder was slain by Loki with an arrrow made from mistletoe. When Balder was restored to life, Frigga blessed the mistletoe and gave a kiss to anyone who passed under it. Some later versions of this tradition say to remove one berry with each kiss. When there are no more berries on the sprig of mistletoe, there are no more kisses.
The Romans celebrated their god Saturn in December. Their festival, Saturnalia included masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits). Here is where the concept of the gift exchange originated. The Romans also decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles, which are where our modern decorations come from.
Santa Claus is a mix of many different cultural and religious icons. Saint Nicholas is well known, but much of who Santa Claus was based on predates Christianity as well. The Teutonic god of the air, Odin, sported a long white beard and would ride through the air on a gray horse named Sleipnir each Autumn to give out gifts to children. Children would leave a piece of straw in the field so Sleipnir could eat it much like we leave milk and cookies out. The Germanic god Thor, who was described as elderly, plump man in red with a long white beard who would fly through the air in chariot drawn by two white goats named Cracker and Gnasher. His palace was in supposed to be in the "northland;" and would come down the chimney because he was also a god of fire.
The Roman mystery religion of the God "Sol Invictus" also celebrated the birthday of their god around that time of the year. This was a copy of the Persian religion Mithraism, which was competing with Christianity in popularity. The god it celebrated, Mithras, which predated Christianity by about 2,000 years and probably originated from Zoroastrianism. Mithras was called "The Mediator" by the Persians, and was supposed to have been created as a son by the god Ahura-Mazda. He came into the world via a virgin birth via a woman named Anahita. He even was known for being reborn from a cave, but this topic can wait until Easter (another non-Christian holiday) for more details.
Mithraism was once one of the main competing religions against Christianity. When the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and declared Rome to be a Christian empire, a lot had to be done to make the conversion easier for non-Christians and to prevent riots. The result was that many pagan beliefs were brought into Christianity. Instead of a serious, solemn, day of reflection that early Christians celebrated the birthday of Jesus with, the decorations, candles, gift-giving, and merriment were brought in. Of course, most historians and theologians agree that there was no change Jesus could have been born in December and that instead the late summer/early fall is a more likely time if he even existed at all. The date we use now was co-opted.
So when you hear idiots like Bill O'Reilly, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or any of the others who get upset about how Christmas has been co-opted by commercialism or how the message is watered down to a less specific "happy holidays", keep all of this in mind. Christmas is not, and never was, a true Christian holiday. In order to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, you'll probably have to go join up with the Wiccans. Even they don't get it all the way right, as there don't seem to be any followers of Mithras anymore.
Alternatively, rather than pretending that there is some deep Christian meaning to December, just have fun like the rest of us and celebrate that alone. This holiday isn't about Jesus, it's just about fun. Enjoy it for what it is, and don't try to find any deeper meaning that isn't there.
Happy Holidays.