Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. People around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, and of course waiting for Santa clause to arrive.

Before the arrival of Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrate Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the midwinter holiday. They were terrified of Oden as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people then decided who would die.

In Rome, winter was not as harsh as those in the far North Saturnalia — a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture was celebrated. Saturnalia was a hedonistic time when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. . In addition members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. For some Romas, Mirthnas’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t mention the exact birth of Jesus although some evidence suggests that his birthday may have occurred in the spring. Pope Julius, I chose December 25. It is believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adapt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined ‘debt” to society by entertaining the less fortunate.

BONUS
Christmas facts
In the middle ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous a lot like today’s Mardi Gras.
Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.
Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.