Origins of Christmas

Saturnalia

In Roman times, the best-known winter festival was Saturnalia, which was popular throughout Italy. Saturnalia was a time of general relaxation, feasting, merry-making, and a cessation of formal rules. It included the making and giving of small presents (Saturnalia et Sigillaricia), including small dolls for children and candles for adults. During Saturnalia, business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and even public nudity.

It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus. Saturnalia honored the god Saturn and began on December 17. The festival gradually lengthened until the late Republican period, when it was seven days (December 17-24). In imperial times, Saturnalia was shortened to five days.


Yule

Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, with the belief that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Feasting would continue until the log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days. In Germany, the equivalent holiday was called Mitwinternacht (mid-winter night), and there were twelve Rauhnächte (harsh or wild nights). As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas, a usage first recorded in 900.



Solis Invicti

The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Natalis Solis Invicti. It marked the birthday of a solar deity called Sol Invictus (or Mithras). Sol Invictus ("The Unconquered Sun") was originally a god of Syrian origin, while Mithras, the "Sun of Righteousness" worshipped by many Roman soldiers, was originally of Persian origin.

Early Christian writers often connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus. Many scholars believe that the date of Christmas was chosen to appropriate the Sol Invictus festival for Christianity. The Romans considered December 25 to be the date of the winter solstice, which they called bruma. It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.



Jesus and Christ Mass

The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus. According to biblical accounts, Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem. The birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals, and the infant Jesus was laid in a manger. Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child. Christians believe that the birth of Jesus fulfilled many prophecies made hundreds of years before his birth.

Sextus Julius Africanus popularized the idea that Jesus was born on December 25 in his Chronographiai, a reference book for Christians written in 221. This date is nine months after the traditional date of the Birth of Christ (March 25), now celebrated as the Feast of the Annunciation. March 25 was also considered to be the date of the vernal equinox and therefore the creation of Adam.Early Christians believed it was also the date Jesus was crucified. The idea that Jesus was conceived on the same date that he died is consistent with a Jewish belief that a prophet lived an integral number of years



Odin

Prior to the Germanic peoples' conversion to Christianity, Germanic folklore contained stories about the god Odin (Wodan), who would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and the fallen warriors residing in his realm. Children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy.

This practice survived in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas. Children still place their straw filled shoes at the chimney every winter night, and Saint Nicholas (who, unlike Santa, is still riding a horse) rewards them with candy and gifts. Odin's appearance was often similar to that of Saint Nicholas, being depicted as an old, mysterious man with a beard.



Saint Nicholas

Santa Claus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor (the greater part of modern-day Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled white man in a red coat trimmed with white fur (derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas), with a long white beard and green or white gloves.

On Christmas Eve, he rides in his sleigh pulled by flying reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. To enter the house, Santa Claus comes down the chimney and exits through the fireplace. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elves manufacturing toys.



The Krampus

Another early folk tale, originating among the Germanic tribes, tells of Saint Nicholas and a demon (aka the Krampus). The story states that the land was terrorized by the Krampus who at night would slither down the chimneys and disembowell bad children or stuff them up the flue, or keep them in a sack to eat later.

Saint Nicholas sought out the demon, and tricked it with blessed or magical shackles (in some versions the same shackles that imprisoned Christ prior to the crucifixion, in other versions the shackles were those used to hold St. Peter or Paul of Tarsus); the demon was trapped and forced to obey the saint's orders. The saint ordered him to go to each house and make amends, by delivering gifts to the children. Depending on the version, the saint either made the demon fulfill this task every year, or the demon was so disgusted by the act of good will that it chose to be sent back to Hell.

Yet other versions have the demon reform under the saint's orders, and go on to recruit other elves and imps into helping him, thus becoming Santa Claus. Another form of the above tale in Germany is of the Pelznickel or Belsnickle ("Furry Nicholas") who visited naughty children in their sleep. The name originated from the fact that the person appeared to be a huge beast since he was covered from head to toe in furs.



Sinterklaas

In the Netherlands Saint Nicolas was known as Sinterklaas and was originally aided by slaves, commonly known as Zwarte Piet ("Black Peter"). Some tales depict Zwarte Piet beating bad children with a rod or even taking them to Moorish Spain in a sack. Some consider the legend of Zwarte Piet to be racist because it refers to Sinterklaas having African slaves work for him in the days before pakjesavond (the 5th of December — the day on which presents are opened), even though the Zwarte Pieten are not depicted as slaves nowadays.

Some say that Zwarte Piet's job was listing children's wishes for Boxing Day, others say that his was keeping track of all the bad children in order to capture them in a sack and take them back to Spain. In recent decades this story has been altered and the former slaves have become modern servants who have black faces because they climb through chimneys and get blackened by the soot from the fire.



Amanitas and the xmas gnomes

James Arthur, an American Psychedelist and Enthomycologist, was a friend of mine when I lived in Fresno. He told me about his theory (which evolved into a series of published novels) which revolved around psychedelia and Christmas.

James' theory suggested that many of the modern features attributed to Santa Claus may somehow be derived from those of the Kamchatkan or Siberian shaman. During the midwinter festival (holiday season) in Siberia (near the North Pole), the shaman would enter a yurt (home) through the shangrak (chimney), bringing with him a sack of fly agaric mushrooms (presents) to give to the inhabitants.

This type of mushroom is brightly colored red and white, like Santa Claus. The mushrooms were often hung (to dry) in front of the fireplace, much like the stockings of modern-day Christmas. Furthermore, the mushrooms were associated with reindeer who were known to eat them and become intoxicated. Reindeer are also associated with the shaman, and like Santa Claus, many people believed that the shaman could fly.



Father Christmas

Pre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to Britons and Americans as Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the "Ghost of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.



Santa in America

Modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the publication of the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known today as "The Night Before Christmas") wriitten on December 23, 1823. In this poem Santa is established as a heavyset individual with eight reindeer (who are named for the first time).

Santa Claus later appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. Still, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus's image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. Later, the mythology of Santa would be further refined to it's current incarnation by the works of the Rankin/Bass animation studios - makers of the stop motion Santa Clause musicals, which outlined and redefined the Santa Claus mythos into how it's known today.