And most of the traditions that we have that relate to Christmas relate to the solstice, which was celebrated in ancient Rome on December So when Christianity became the official religion in a sense, in Rome, they were able to fix this date. There's a little discrepancy about it but there's no question that the fact that it was celebrated in Rome as an important day with gift giving, candle lighting, and singing and decorating houses really cemented Christmas as December Another custom we can thank the pagans for?
Christmas trees. Davis explained that the evergreen trees signaled the "return of life" and "light" as the winter solstice meant the days were starting to get longer. Among earlier Jews, a day began at six in the evening and ran until six the following evening. Had not Moses written: "An evening and a morning were the first day"?
Christmas means "Christ-mass. Under the influence of the church, Christian traditions replaced pagan solstice festivals throughout Europe. Often the more innocent pagan practices such as bringing in a Yule log, decorating with holly and the like were carried over into the Christmas observance, transfigured with new meaning. Evergreen Trees were the symbol of eternal life. Martin Luther introduced them to the Reformation Church as a picture of our endless life in Christ, by bringing in a tree to his family on Christmas Eve lit with candles Isaiah Candles are a picture that Christ is the Light of the world John 8.
Holly speaks of the thorns in His crown Matthew Gifts are a reminder of the gifts of the Magi to baby Jesus. The Yule Log was a symbol by which all the men in the family would carry a log large enough to burn for 12 days into the house. They were identifying with Christ and His Cross.
The fire was started with a fragment from the previous years [this refers to the eternal existence of Christ before His birth] log. It speaks of warmth, unity, joy and the security of endless life. Mistletoe was an ancient symbol from the Roman times. It was under mistletoe that old enmities and broken friendship were restored. Bells are associated with ringing out news. Christ is the good news, the best news of all. In , Clement Moore wrote a poem for children that has never been forgotten.
It was entitled, " Twas the Night before Christmas Saint Nicholas was the supposed early Bishop of a church in Asia Minor [the modern country of Turkey]. He became aware of some desperate needs in his congregation, and a family having to sell their children into slavery, so one night he came and left money on their doorstep.
It was gold in a stocking. Christmas Cards started in An English artist named William Dobson, drew up some pictures in England for use at this season. They found local use there and soon spread to America. John Barnett. During a week when so many Americans have experienced some combination of joy, rage, and frustration in seeking the perfect holiday gifts for their children, it seems appropriate to pause and ask: Where did the practice of giving Christmas gifts to children come from?
There does not appear to be an easy answer. Nor do presents seem to have a clear connection to Christian faith. In fact, religious leaders have long been more likely to decry the commercialization of Christmas as detracting from the true spirit of the holiday than to celebrate the delivery of purchased goods to middle-class or wealthy children. Donating gifts to poor children is a different matter, of course, but that practice became common in the United States only after gift-giving at home became a well-established ritual.
Critics of the commercialization of Christmas tend to attribute the growth of holiday gift-giving to corporate marketing efforts. Although such efforts did contribute to the magnitude of the ritual, the practice of buying Christmas presents for children predates the spread of corporate capitalism in the United States: It began during the first half of the s, particularly in New York City, and was part of a broader transformation of Christmas from a time of public revelry into a home- and child-centered holiday.
This reinvention was driven partly by commercial interests, but more powerfully by the converging anxieties of social elites and middle-class parents in rapidly urbanizing communities who sought to exert control over the bewildering changes occurring in their cities.
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