What was the original pagan holiday celebrated around Christmas about?

Question

So far all I've heard is life, and the soltice. Anything else?

I just wonder if us Christians would be less bothered by the statement "it's a pagan holiday" if we really understood what was at the heart of that holiday.

Let me put it this way, to a Christian, Christmas is about the Birth of Christ - but what concepts are at the heart of that? Redemption, peace, good will...I would asume these are concepts that Pagans wouldn't be bothered by.

So Pagans - please share what's at the heart of your celebration - so we can all have a wonderful Christmas next week and enjoy the good concepts at the heart of that day - be it Pagan, Christian, whatever.

Thanks

Answer 1

On an astronomical level, the Winter Solstice celebrates the fact that the days will start to grow longer - we have made it through the darkest part of winter (even though the coldest months are yet to come). Spiritually, it marks the rebirth of the God, and celebrates his return for another turning of the Wheel. Unto us, the Sun is reborn!

From the essay by Mike Nichols at
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/yule.html

Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the year. It is the winter solstice that is being celebrated, seedtime of the year, the longest night and shortest day. It is the birthday of the new Sun King, the Son of God—by whatever name you choose to call him. On this darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth. And it makes perfect poetic sense that on the longest night of the winter, “the dark night of our souls”, there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.

[...]

For modern Witches, Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon yula, meaning “wheel” of the year) is usually celebrated on the actual winter solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21. It is a Lesser Sabbat or Low Holiday in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter days of the year, but a very important one. Pagan customs are still enthusiastically followed. Once, the Yule log had been the center of the celebration. It was lighted on the eve of the solstice (it should light on the first try) and must be kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. It should be made of ash. Later, the Yule log was replaced by the Yule tree but, instead of burning it, lighted candles were placed on it. In Christianity, Protestants might claim that Martin Luther invented the custom, and Catholics might grant St. Boniface the honor, but the custom can demonstrably be traced back through the Roman Saturnalia all the way to ancient Egypt. Needless to say, such a tree should be cut down rather than purchased, and should be disposed of by burning, the proper way to dispatch any sacred object.

Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe were important plants of the season, all symbolizing fertility and everlasting life. Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic Druids, who cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the moon, and believed it to be an aphrodisiac. (Magically—not medicinally! It’s highly toxic!) But aphrodisiacs must have been the smallest part of the Yuletide menu in ancient times, as contemporary reports indicate that the tables fairly creaked under the strain of every type of good food. And drink! The most popular of which was the “wassail cup”, deriving its name from the Anglo-Saxon term waes hael (be whole or hale).

Answer 2

I'm not a pagan, but I AM a comparative theologian so I'll take a crack at this.

There are many celebrations around the world that predate the Christian, most of them having to do with the annual seasons.

This is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. It's a little tough for us to comprehend the fear of the dark which plagued our ancestors, but try this. Go into a room with no windows. Turn off the lights and stuff something into any cracks that might show light. Then just sit there for a few minutes and try to imagine how it must have felt to have that EVERY night except when the moon is full or nearly so and there are no clouds to dim it. Then imagine the grunts, growls and snarls, the death shrieks of prey being caught by nighttime predators and you may begin to get an inkling of how scary this time of year was. There's no food except what you've foraged and preserved during the summer and if the sun doesn't come back and do its schtick there won't be any food again, EVER! Now THAT'S scary!

Once our ancestors got to thinking that there were beings of a higher order who might be urged, cajoled, placated or maybe even blackmailed into getting the sun back on track, it was a short step to designing rituals intended for just that outcome. And so the various winter rites were inaugurated. As people got more numerous and more in tune with the seasons, they began to realize that the sun was almost certainly going to start sticking around longer and longer, but the prevailing idea was that it was working so well because they were doing something the gods liked, so they kept on doing it, refining the rites, adding different things and generally trying their best to pretend that they could somehow control the world by their antics.

Eventually these celebrations began to merge as more and more groups of people had more and more contact with one another.

Then along comes Christianity. And the winter solstice is a really big deal by then. The problem for the early Christians: how to invite converts and give them the Good News in a comfortable way that'll cause them to want to listen and join. Answer: celebrate Christ's birthday, borrow all the old symbologies that won't shock the Christians and alter their meanings slightly to highlight the importance of this date vis a vis Jesus the Savior.

It worked rather well, actually.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Answer 3

Yule is our Winter solstice celebration usually occurring around December 20-23rd. It was mostly a Scandinavian and Germanic pagan holiday symbolizing the rebirth of the Oak King who brought warmth of the sun to the earth for crops to grow. All pagans celebrate differently. Mostly it is a time to reflect and meditate on the past year and focus on our goals for the next. I set up an altar decorated with holly and oak and a wolf and stag. Most of us make a yule log and decorate it with ivy or trinkets. We burn it and save a piece as good luck for the coming year. The next Yule log is lit with a piece from last year's log. My family is German and when I became pagan I was surprised that all my traditions I had followed were actually pagan! When the Catholic church realized it patrons were celebrating this Holiday the council decided to commence the birth of Jesus on December 24-25. Which if you think about is silly because who would wrap their baby in swaddling clothes in the dead of winter? I'm not bashing Christians but it would just seem more sensible to celebrate Jesus' birth in the summer. If you do some research you will find most pagan holidays correlate with Christian ones beacuse the Catholic church wanted to convert the pagans. The website www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm is good if you want to research pagan holidays. Well I hope that helps to give you some insight. Merry Christmas and Bright Blessings!

Answer 4

The Solstice is the shortest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere), and it's a time to celebrate the time when the days will get longer and spring will return. It's a solar holiday, and it can be celebrated by non-religious people as well from a secular aspect.

It's a time to celebrate with friends and families. Yule is when trees are decorated because the evergreen is a symbol of life. (It stays green during the winter, even though the other trees have lost their leaves!) Wreaths represent rebirth, because they are circular. Gifts are given, and big meals are eaten. It's a time to cherish each other's company.

Also, many other Gods aside from the Christian Messiah share the same birthday. Check out Mithras, Dionysus (Bacchus), and Heru (Horus). Worship of these Gods predates Jesus, so perhaps that is what is upsetting. Even in modern Pagan traditions, it is a time to celebrate the birth of a Sun God.

Answer 5

Yes this is pretty much correct. The early Christians chose the to celebrate their beliefs on holidays that were originally pagan to draw more pagans into the Christianity. Christmas was originally Yule, which celebrates the winter solstice and the rebirth of the sun, which is probably why Christians celebrated the birth of Christ on Yule. The word "Christmas" actually means "Christ Mass". Yule is celebrated on the December 21(the day of the winter solstice), not the 25th.

Answer 6

The world needs more Christians like you...open minded and accepting of other faiths. Pagans celebrate life and honor the creative intelligence that brought our beautiful universe into existence. Pagans celebrate the solstice because it is a time when the day starts becoming longer and the night shorter. It is a prelude to the coming of spring. I am not a pagan but I certainly honor their views on many things. Thank you for your question. You let me know that not all christians are narrow-minded people.

Answer 7

if i´m not mistaking, the pagan holiday for Christmas is the celebration of the winter solstice, the day of the year when the sun reaches it´s most eastern rising point, which it´s associated with the end of a cycle and the beginning of winter. It´s not exactly celebrated on December 24Th, and it represents the time to end the things that need any kind of closure.

Answer 8

The tradition teaches that the tree is a sign of renewal and spiritual healing, It teaches that the Winter Solstice is near and that the promises of spring will soon come. It teaches that Mother Earth loves all of her children and will bring life and prosperity to all living things in the spring. The tree is a powerful reminder that the days of cold and Winter are not permanent and that as the tree is so very strong, so must we be.
The tree is the symbol of life.
The tree feeds us and shelters us. It gives it's twigs and branches freely so we might have fire and warmth. It watches out for All of nature's creatures from the littlest ant to the most powerful bear. The bird the bee the soil and the sky are all enriched and tended by the Tree.
The tree is the symbol of hope.
The tree will sleep in the cold of winter and awaken in spring to feed those that dwell in it's midst. I speak of the healing and powerful Apple tree. It feeds us with out asking for recompense. it lives to give. As do all fruit trees. In it's sweet offerings to all creatures the fruit tree offers hope. That no being living within it's reach will starve.
The tree offers warmth, protection, food and spiritual healing selflessly. The tree is the best of teachers for as it gives, so should we.
En Tis Blethec

Answer 9

In my tradition it is a celebration of light. In ancient times the solstice was considered Mid-winter. At that point they knew if their stores would get them through it and could rest a little bit easier. Therefore it is a time to share the blessings in your life and your abundance with others. Yule Eve is when the celebrations begin, as Yule is the longest night. Darkness is in power yet gives way to new light. Did you know that is what "Noel" actually means? "New light". We are celebrating the re-birth of the sUn. Yule is a time when slates are wiped clean. Yule is an honoring of the God and Goddess and the cycles of life, death and rebirth of all things. In my family we hold a Yule Ritual on Yule eve, burn our yule log, feast and open gifts to one another. Then we hold an all night vigil to await the rebirth of the sun. We play games, tell stories, look through old photo albums, sing etc. The little ones fall asleep and of course Santa in all his pagan glory comes! In the morning just before dawn we all go outside to welcome the sun with songs. We head in for a huge breakfast and to open our gifts from Santa. I love Yule and that I have a big pagan family that gets together to share it with one another. The adults in my family do not get each other presents...instead we "adopt" children from the Trees of Sharing in our community. We usually make shopping for them a family outing too! This is the most wonderful time of the year! I love seeing all the Christians with their pagan trees, stockings, stars, Santas, red and green! It reminds me that we are all truly ONE!

Merry Christmas to you!

Answer 10

Yule is a celebration of the RE-birth of the Sun God, not the birth of the Son of God. The reason why it was celebrated is to honor the Lord and Lady for the bounty of the previous harvests, also to ask them for their blessing on the coming harvests of the next year. Yule is about realizing the relationship between light and darkness, how one gives way to the other, and about the turning of the wheel or the circle of life.