|
Post by bbbearsmom on Dec 19, 2020 17:20:51 GMT
From an article in the Wall Street Journal today about Christmas:
Long before Christianity, late December in the northern hemisphere was a time for midwinter festivals full of mirth and light. In fact, the New Testament never says that Jesus was born in the winter; the traditional date of Christmas wasn’t adopted until the year 325. This allowed the Christian holiday to displace the old pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. But some traditions remained unbroken. The practice of bringing evergreen plants like holly and mistletoe into the house at Christmastime began with the pagans, who used them to symbolize the continuation of life even in the midst of winter’s barrenness.
Solstice celebrations weren’t meant to mourn the darkness but to celebrate the fact that after the solstice, the days would gradually get longer. Winter ends and summer returns;
|
|
|
Post by bbbearsmom on Dec 20, 2020 0:12:51 GMT
Because of my winter depression I've always had problems with Christmas. One year I bought an English book about the history of Christmas. It started before Christ and ended in the early part of the 20th century. It was fascinating to read about the pre-Christ pagan festivals and how they were celebrated in the different countries, then later the Christmas traditions that have been built. A lot of the older traditions were from the pagan festivals.
|
|