Can i be Wiccan and still celebrate Christmas normally?

Question

When i say "normally" i mean still do todays traditions.

Answer 1

Ok, head's up: Wicca, witchcraft, or paganism does NOT eliminate Christianity. I know I will get nasty e-mails from the religious fanatics here, but honey, the truth is simple: you are allowed to practice both religions if that is your belief. There's the rub with any organized religion: someone is going to tell you that he/she is more (insert religion here) than you are and you are not doing it right. Ignore them and do what you know to be right.

Answer 2

Christianity is not just a Christian celebration but a secular holiday, obviously if someone is Wicca they would not be celebrating Christmas in the sense of the birth of Jesus Christ, but they can celebrate in the same way which most people celebrate Christmas – by large people celebrate Christmas now out of tradition rather than for religious reasons. There is nothing stopping Wicca from doing and celebrating as they wish, Wicca have no restrictions to say what they can or cannot do.

I celebrate Sabbats but also celebrate secular holidays, Yule, Christmas and New Year blends together quite nicely as the traditions and themes are very similar – traditions such as burning the Yule log and the Christmas tree were associated with Yule celebrations and carried across to Christmas celebrations, Christmas and Yule have similar themes in the birth of son god, etc. Many Wicca and Neo-wicca that I know celebrate all the Christmas holidays their families and friends celebrate as well as Sabbats and Esabbats.

As a side note Christmas was not created to convert Pagans, nor was it originally a Pagan holiday, religions are influenced by the religions and culture before them, as much as many Pagans like to play on victim mentality and show prejudice by claiming Christians 'stole' the holiday from us, they did not and that sort of claim has no place here. They seem also to forget that Pagans persecuted Christians a lot more that Christians were persecuted Pagans – but it was a long time ago, get over it already guys!

Answer 3

The tradition of Christmas was taken from the pagans and the Holly King. They have gift giving and many of the same traditions left from that. They adopted the pagan belief to be able to get the pagans to start following the christian path. Christmas is Yule is whatever you make it or want it to be. In the pagan path there is not a rule that says that you have to celebrate it a certain way. I am pagan, I have children that have decided to be christian, one is still undecided, and we celebrate christmas with my non pagan family, and my christian children, like we always did. We have our own traditions as to how we celebrate the season. You should also. Don't let anyone dictate to you how you should celebrate this holiday.

Answer 4

All you have to do to celebrate Christmas as a pagan is replace the name Jesus with Mithras or Dionysus.

Long before Christians decided it was the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus, December 25th was the date that the births of the pagan gods Dionysus and Mithras were celebrated. They were both believed to the sons of a god and a virgin. Other than the name, the birth stories are mostly the same.

Answer 5

Yes, Why not! Many people who have come to Wicca were Christians before they found thier path and many Wiccans have families who are still Christian. So, to say you have to stop celebrating what you have known all your life is rediculious. Just add your own wiccan flair to it. In fact Christmas is an Pagan holiday. I know alot of Pagan families who still celebrate both because of thier families.

Answer 6

Yes of course, I'm Wiccan and I certainly do. The pagan traditions for the solstice were actually absorbed into the Christian culture and therefore created a mixture that we now call Christmas. Here's a list of the traditions that you can celebrate openly because they are in fact pagan in origin or predates Christianity.

The Christmas tree ---unless it's decorated in Apples - which is a northern germanic tradition. I segregate the two because if the tree is decorated with apples it symbolizes the tree of knowledge from the Adam and Eve story in Genesis. The regular tree, trimmed with candles/lights, birds, etc. that stems purely from pagan nature traditions.

The song Deck the Halls - all the items in the song are purely pagan in origin and remains the only song that has only minimally changed over the years. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly" - holly is a sacred plant in various mythos. "See the blazing Yule before us" - based on the Yule Log (see below). Some of the other songs, might have the tune of a pagan song, but the words have been changed to reflect a more Christian slant. I only use Deck the halls for that reason and because you can get more people to sing Deck the Halls with you then some other Pagan tune.

Yule logs - Purely pagan in origin. Yule logs in Europe were sometimes cut from Oak and were meant to burn at least 12 hours (In France, 24 hours) to symbolize the bringing back of the light and to shine light upon the dark corners of your home. Safety, home Hearth - all those good things. The yule log was for the most part a very large fire for such a large peice of wood.

Wreaths - In roman catholisism they take the wreath during the winter months and lay it on the alter with purple, white, and pink candles. This tradition comes nearly directly from pagan roots. The wreath itself comes from a variety of sources including Roman - but to use it as decoration predates christianity - so I feel it's ok to celebrate.

Mistletoe - This tradition comes from Norse Mythos. An arrow of mistletoe wounded the God Baldar, and Frigga (which was a mother to him) kissed him to remove the poison. Mistletoe is poisonous to eat, but spiritually it's used as an anti-toxin.
In some cultures, the mistletoe must have berries on it, one kiss for every berry, and when the berries are gone the kisses are gone. I think this particular bit of Mistletoe lore originates from the Victorian era but of that I can't be certain.

Wassail - This comes from Norse/Germanic traditions as well. This is basically a warm spiced alcoholic sometimes apple based drink, which was carried in a large punchbowl - a Wassail cup - and basically you would walk thru the town getting drunker and singing songs - "Here we come a wassailing". It celebrated community as every person was offered a mug of it to warm the soul on the darkest of nights.

Santa Claus - In his current red-suit form, he's actually a pipe tobacco advertising gimmick character (like joe the camel) circa 1943. But his roots come from a wide variety of places. In France, he wears more traditional french attire and walks along side a dark man with a whip who would whip all the bad children (which was usually arranged ahead of time by the parents of the bad children) and the Santa Claus figure would give presents of oranges and chocolate to the good children. But there's a Santa Claus a wide variety of cultures from all over Europe, Russia, and the artic circle. So because it's only faintly Christian in some forms "St. Nicholas", the Church actually opposed it for so long that I really can't say that Pagans shouldn't celebrate that part - as it's more a cultural icon and therefore not tied to religious pratice.

Answer 7

I guess you can. A lot of non-Christians do. They just don't celebrate it the same way Christians do. You can still do the tree-presents-santa thing, without doing the Jesus-church-Bible thing. In my eyes, Christmas has sort of separated off into two separate holidays. There's the secular Christmas, and the religious Christmas. A whole lot of people celebrate one, without celebrating the other.

Answer 8

Sure. I'm a pagan and I celebrate Yule with my pagan friends and immediate family and celebrate a secular Christmas with the extended family, who by the way are not all that religious and who all know that I am a pagan.

Peace

Answer 9

Yes. I do. Why not? Christmas for me has nothing at all to do with Jesus and everything to do with family. We have Santa and family dinners and exchange presents. It's not about religion. he god and goddess won't care.

You also might like to consider that, though Christmas is on the 24th, Yule is on the 21st. Just consider it a long celebration.

Answer 10

I know many Pagans that celebrate the Christian holidays with family and friends. I see no problem with it. Wicca does not require you to renounce any former activities or beliefs.
Remember that most Christian holidays have Pagan roots. The church declared holidays near the Pagan festivals to ease conversion to the church.
Be true to your own heart. The only expectations you must live up to are your own.

Blessings )O(

Answer 11

It depends on your attitude. nothing else. I personally do noy celebrate thanksgiveing because that lincoln declared it first,and only a holiday for the troops mainly.and not the south.as a wiccan I wish you well in you spiritual advancement. may the forces that be on this earth bless you. and may the right forces in it . guide you. the spirit can be found. use it wisely.