I belong to another bulletin board, and as a long-term member I sometimes wonder what the hell is going on with the newbs. Every Christmas it's the same thing: who had Christmas first, the Christians or the Wiccans?
You didn't read that wrong. The Wiccans on the board take up the position that, "We had Christmas first, only we called it Yule. Nyaah." And the Christians on the board fire back with, "No, we started Christmas, and Jesus is the reason for the season!"
My response to either argument has been, "Oh, will you please just shut the fuck up?"
Seriously.
Neither side on my bulletin board is right, and here's why.
The Wiccans are right in stating that Christmas is, in essence, a pagan holiday. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia around the winter solstice, marking the dedication of Saturn's temple in December. It was a time for revelry and colorful merrymaking, with the social roles reversing (masters aping slaves and vice versa), gambling and gift-giving the rule of the day, and license given free rein. In short, if you were a Roman, you got drunk, waited on your slaves, had a little wild sex (if you were a man, that is), and gave little presents of waxworks and earthernware statuettes like they were going out of style.
The Mithra cult took hold in Rome during the Empire, when the importance of the legions in relevance to the throne can't be overstated. More than one Caesar found himself given his marching orders when the legions were unhappy--or, even worse, when the Praetorian Guard decided he had to go. And many Mithraists were soldiers, drawn to the religion by its message of honor, duty and brotherhood. They celebrated the Birth of the Unconquerable Sun--Dies Natalis Solis Invicti--on December 25th, a holiday first instituted by the Emperor Elagabalus, and promoted as an empire-wide festival by Emperor Aurelian after that.
Between the Saturnalia and the Dies Natalis, the early Christian Church had trouble. Many Christian converts were working-class poor--so to speak--laborers, crafters, slaves and freedmen, with some of the equestrian ("knightly") and patrician class as well. There were even Christians among the legions. They didn't believe in Mithra or the old Roman gods, but they were still part of Roman society. And when the society around them threw themselves into a week-long festival of feasting, games, plays, gambling, and fun-loving riot, the early Christians often joined in.
This was upsetting to the Church elders. They recognized the necessity of living with their neighbors; they knew they couldn't keep their converts isolated from the world without leading them out of Rome (and what the consequences of such an action would have been can't be good). Yet many, like Tertullian, condemned Christians' enjoyment of the solstice festivals as "idolatry." Eventually Christian writers began to connect the birthday of the Unconquered Sun with the birthday of Christ (most notably Sextus Julius Africanus), and Christmas began to be promoted in the Christian East around 378 CE.
So . . . why are the Wiccans on my board wrong?
Because unless they're practicing Norse pagans, they didn't have "Yule" before the rest of us. If they're Wiccans, they're participants in a religion that is 53 years old. And as many of the Wiccans on my bulletin board are in their late twenties or early thirties, it's a good possibility that their parents were either Jews, Christians or Muslims. Maybe Baha'ists, Sikhs, or Hindus. If their parents were pagans, good for them, but with this crowd . . . it's not likely.
The Christians are pissed because I told them Jesus isn't the reason for the season. The Wiccans are pissed because I didn't agree with their claim for having "Yule" first. Personally, I wish they'd all open their eyes and realize that there is only one reason for this season.
I refer, of course, to MONEY.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas, and don't stand underneath any flying sleighs.