If you’re like us, you’re looking forward to the long holiday weekend. We hope you enjoy these wacky Christmas trivia nuggets, our parting present to you. Use them how you see fit to spark thought-provoking debate at your next get-together!
THE BIRTH OF CHRISTMAS
Both ancient European pagans and Romans contributed to the development of Christmas. Two major Roman feasts occurred in December. The first was the two-week celebration of Saturnalia, their agricultural deity. The Mithraic calendar marked the day their sun god, Mithra, was born, on December 25. Both events consisted of loud, inebriated revelry.
Since December also contains the darkest day of the year, people in pagan civilizations traditionally used fire and light to celebrate the season. The Romans adopted this custom for their own festivals.
Unfortunately, the Christian clergy in Europe were unable to put a stop to the widespread practice of pagan rituals and festivals even as Christianity became the dominant religion in the region. Since no one knew when Jesus was born, the pagan ceremony was modified to honor Him on a date that is unknown.
AUTUMNAL DECORATIONS
The pagans would adorn their dwellings with fresh greenery as part of the solstice festivities, marking the coming of spring. The fact that evergreens could keep their color even in the dead of winter led people to believe they have supernatural abilities. During Saturnalia, the Romans would also decorate their temples with fir trees and shards of metal. The Greeks are known to have decorated trees as a form of worship to their deities. Trees were taken into pagan dwellings and hung upside down from the ceiling.
Germanic pagan tribes in Northern Europe decorated evergreen trees with candles and dried fruit in honor of the god Woden, the forerunner to the modern Christmas tree practice. In the sixteenth century, the practice was adopted by Christians in Germany. Trees were adorned with treats, lights, and toys inside people’s homes.
SANTA CLAUS
Rather of having pagan origins, this Christmas custom was Christianized by the influence of St. Nicholas. He was a bishop in the early Christian church and was born in what is now southern Turkey in the year 280. He came from affluence and gained notoriety for helping the underprivileged. There are several tales told about him, but the most well-known involves him preventing the sale of his three daughters into slavery. It was their father’s last resort because they had no dowry to offer a prospective husband. Legend has it that St. Nicholas saved a family from certain ruin by dropping a bag of gold through an open window. Children now traditionally hang stockings by their fireplaces in the belief that St. Nicholas will fill them with treats in honor of the legend of the gold landing in a sock drying by the fire.
The sixth of December is celebrated as St. Nicholas Day in memory of the saint. In time, St. Nicholas became a part of the folklore of every European country. Christkind or Kris Kringle (Christ child) accompanied St. Nicholas on his gift-giving rounds in Swiss and German cultures. In Sweden, an elf named Jultomten would ride around on a sleigh pulled by goats, spreading joy to everybody who received a present from him. Additionally, there was “Father Christmas” in England and “Pere Noel” in France. Sinter Klaas was his name in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lorraine, France, and some regions of Germany. (Just so you know, Klaas is a shorter form of Nicholas.) Santa Claus as we know him in the United States is a direct import from this source.