I'm a big fan of the Teaching Company. Every month or so they send me a series of free lectures. This month deals with Christmas in Victorian Britain and 19th Century America. Thought you all would enjoy this. Link below.

Our holiday gift to you—Two Special Holiday Lectures!

In Christmas in Victorian Britain, Professor Allitt explores the celebration of Christmas as we know it today, with decorations, music, and lavish gift exchanges, and where it began-Victorian Britain. While the holiday had older traditions such as those that celebrated the winter solstice, the Victorians enhanced and clarified the religious elements of Christmas while at the same time commercializing it.

After familiarizing yourself with the origins of modern day Christmas, explore Christmas in 19th Century America. How did different ethnic groups in America celebrate Christmas in the early 19th century? Why did New Englanders often want to avoid all forms of celebration while Pennsylvania Germans dressed up, visited each other, and drank heavily? After the Civil War, Christmas celebrations began to be standardized throughout the nation under the influence of the new department stores, which ran the Christmas-oriented marketing campaigns we are familiar with today.

Professor Patrick N. Allitt is Professor of History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born and raised in central England and received his B.A. in British and European History from Oxford University. He earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Allitt has served as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School and at the Princeton University Center for the Study of American Religion.

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/HolidayLecture...092&pc=Campaign

Sean

True origin of Christmas:
It is a roman catholic holiday. In pagan babylonian baal worship (sun worship) long before Moses was born, every Dec. 25, the rebirth of the false sun god baal was celebrated. People hung little round balls on trees as symbols of the sun, and gave gifts to one another. Baal worship spread throughout the world and got into the ancient roman religion, and from their it got into the roman catholic church. Catholicism, trying to take advantage of the pagan Dec. 25 holiday, falsely declared it to be the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Pagan origins of Christmas from
Online book: THE TWO BABYLONS, by Alexander Hislop


Chapter III
Festivals
Section I. Christmas and Lady-day
If Rome be indeed the Babylon of the Apocalypse, and the Madonna enshrined in her sanctuaries be the very queen of heaven, for the worshipping of whom the fierce anger of God was provoked against the Jews in the days of Jeremiah, it is of the last consequence that the fact should be established beyond all possibility of doubt; for that being once established, every one who trembles at the Word of God must shudder at the very thought of giving such a system, either individually or nationally, the least countenance or support. Something has been said already that goes far to prove the identity of the Roman and Babylonian systems; but at every step the evidence becomes still more overwhelming. That which arises from comparing the different festivals is peculiarly so.

The festivals of Rome are innumerable; but five of the most important may be singled out for elucidation--viz., Christmas-day, Lady-day, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, and the Feast of the Assumption. Each and all of these can be proved to be Babylonian. And first, as to the festival in honour of the birth of Christ, or Christmas. How comes it that that festival was connected with the 25th of December? There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of His birth, or the time of the year when He was born. What is recorded there, implies that at what time soever His birth took place, it could not have been on the 25th of December. At the time that the angel announced His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open fields. Now, no doubt, the climate of Palestine is not so severe as the climate of this country; but even there, though the heat of the day be considerable, the cold of the night, from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October. *


* GILL, in his Commentary on Luke 2:8, has the following: "There are two sorts of cattle with the Jews...there are the cattle of the house that lie in the city; the cattle of the wilderness are they that lie in the pastures. On which one of the commentators (MAIMONIDES, in Misn. Betza), observes, 'These lie in the pastures, which are in the villages, all the days of the cold and heat, and do not go into the cities until the rains descend.' The first rain falls in the month Marchesvan, which answers to the latter part of our October and the former part of November...From whence it appears that Christ must be born before the middle of October, since the first rain was not yet come." KITTO, on Deuteronomy 11:14 (Illustrated Commentary), says that the "first rain," is in "autumn," "that is, in September or October." This would make the time of the removal of the flocks from the fields somewhat earlier than I have stated in the text; but there is no doubt that it could not be later than there stated, according to the testimony of Maimonides, whose acquaintance with all that concerns Jewish customs is well known.
It is in the last degree incredible, then, that the birth of Christ could have taken place at the end of December. There is great unanimity among commentators on this point. Besides Barnes, Doddridge, Lightfoot, Joseph Scaliger, and Jennings, in his "Jewish Antiquities," who are all of opinion that December 25th could not be the right time of our Lord's nativity, the celebrated Joseph Mede pronounces a very decisive opinion to the same effect. After a long and careful disquisition on the subject, among other arguments he adduces the following;--"At the birth of Christ every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city whereto they belonged, whither some had long journeys; but the middle of winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child, and children to travel in. Therefore, Christ could not be born in the depth of winter. Again, at the time of Christ's birth, the shepherds lay abroad watching with their flocks in the night time; but this was not likely to be in the middle of winter. And if any shall think the winter wind was not so extreme in these parts, let him remember the words of Christ in the gospel, 'Pray that your flight be not in the winter.' If the winter was so bad a time to flee in, it seems no fit time for shepherds to lie in the fields in, and women and children to travel in." Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties * that the day of our Lord's birth cannot be determined, ** and that within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance.


* Archdeacon WOOD, in Christian Annotator, LORIMER's Manual of Presbytery. Lorimer quotes Sir Peter King, who, in his Enquiry into the Worship of the Primitive Church, &c., infers that no such festival was observed in that Church, and adds--"It seems improbably that they should celebrate Christ's nativity when they disagreed about the month and the day when Christ was born." See also Rev. J. RYLE, in his Commentary on Luke, who admits that the time of Christ's birth is uncertain, although he opposes the idea that the flocks could not have been in the open fields in December, by an appeal to Jacob's complaint to Laban, "By day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night." Now the whole force of Jacob's complaint against his churlish kinsman lay in this, that Laban made him do what no other man would have done, and, therefore, if he refers to the cold nights of winter (which, however, is not the common understanding of the expression), it proves just the opposite of what it is brought by Mr. Ryle to prove--viz., that it was not the custom for shepherds to tend their flocks in the fields by night in winter.
** GIESELER, CHRYSOSTOM (Monitum in Hom. de Natal. Christi), writing in Antioch about AD 380, says: "It is not yet ten years since this day was made known to us". "What follows," adds Gieseler, "furnishes a remarkable illustration of the ease with which customs of recent date could assume the character of apostolic institutions." Thus proceeds Chrysostom: "Among those inhabiting the west, it was known before from ancient and primitive times, and to the dwellers from Thrace to Gadeira [Cadiz] it was previously familiar and well-known," that is, the birth-day of our Lord, which was unknown at Antioch in the east, on the very borders of the Holy Land, where He was born, was perfectly well-known in all the European region of the west, from Thrace even to Spain!

How, then, did the Romish Church fix on December the 25th as Christmas-day? Why, thus: Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition. "By us," says he, "who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians." Upright men strive to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostacy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, "about the time of the winter solstice." The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among ourselves--Yule-day --proves at once its Pagan and Babylonian origin. "Yule" is the Chaldee name for an "infant" or "little child"; * and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, "Yule-day," or the "Child's day," and the night that preceded it, "Mother-night," long before they came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character.


* From Eol, an "infant." In Scotland, at least in the Lowlands, the Yule-cakes are also called Nur-cakes. Now in Chaldee Nour signifies "birth." Therefore, Nur-cakes are "birth-cakes." The Scandinavian goddesses, called "norns," who appointed children their destinies at their birth, evidently derived their name from the cognate Chaldee word "Nor," a child.
Far and wide, in the realms of Paganism, was this birth-day observed. This festival has been commonly believed to have had only an astronomical character, referring simply to the completion of the sun's yearly course, and the commencement of a new cycle. But there is indubitably evidence that the festival in question had a much higher reference than this--that it commemorated not merely the figurative birth-day of the sun in the renewal of its course, but the birth-day of the grand Deliverer. Among the Sabeans of Arabia, who regarded the moon, and not the sun, as the visible symbol of the favourite object of their idolatry, the same period was observed as the birth festival. Thus we read in Stanley's Sabean Philosophy: "On the 24th of the tenth month," that is December, according to our reckoning, "the Arabians celebrated the BIRTHDAY OF THE LORD--that is the Moon." The Lord Moon was the great object of Arabian worship, and that Lord Moon, according to them, was born on the 24th of December, which clearly shows that the birth which they celebrated had no necessary connection with the course of the sun. It is worthy of special note, too, that if Christmas-day among the ancient Saxons of this island, was observed to celebrate the birth of any Lord of the host of heaven, the case must have been precisely the same here as it was in Arabia. The Saxons, as is well known, regarded the Sun as a female divinity, and the Moon as a male. *


* SHARON TURNER. Turner cites an Arabic poem which proves that a female sun and a masculine moon were recognised in Arabia as well as by the Anglo-Saxons.
It must have been the birth-day of the Lord Moon, therefore, and not of the Sun, that was celebrated by them on the 25th of December, even as the birth-day of the same Lord Moon was observed by the Arabians on the 24th of December. The name of the Lord Moon in the East seems to have been Meni, for this appears the most natural interpretation of the Divine statement in Isaiah lxv. 11, "But ye are they that forsake my holy mountain, that prepare a temple for Gad, and that furnish the drink-offering unto Meni." There is reason to believe that Gad refers to the sun-god, and that Meni in like manner designates the moon-divinity. *


*See KITTO, vol. iv. p. 66, end of Note. The name Gad evidently refers, in the first instance, to the war-god, for it signifies to assault; but it also signifies "the assembler"; and under both ideas it is applicable to Nimrod, whose general character was that of the sun-god, for he was the first grand warrior; and, under the name Phoroneus, he was celebrated for having first gathered mankind into social communities. The name Meni, "the numberer," on the other hand, seems just a synonym for the name of Cush or Chus, which, while it signifies "to cover" or "hide," signifies also "to count or number." The true proper meaning of the name Cush is, I have no doubt, "The numberer" or "Arithmetician"; for while Nimrod his son, as the "mighty" one, was the grand propagator of the Babylonian system of idolatry, by force and power, he, as Hermes, was the real concocter of that system, for he is said to have "taught men the proper mode of approaching the Deity with prayers and sacrifice" (WILKINSON); and seeing idolatry and astronomy were intimately combined, to enable him to do so with effect, it was indispensable that he should be pre-eminently skilled in the science of numbers. Now, Hermes (that is Cush) is said to have "first discovered numbers, and the art of reckoning, geometry, and astronomy, the games of chess and hazard" (Ibid.); and it is in all probability from reference to the meaning of the name of Cush, that some called "NUMBER the father of gods and men" (Ibid.). The name Meni is just the Chaldee form of the Hebrew "Mene," the "numberer" for in Chaldee i often takes the place of the final e. As we have seen reason to conclude with Gesenius, that Nebo, the great prophetic god of Babylon, was just the same god as Hermes, this shows the peculiar emphasis of the first words in the Divine sentence that sealed the doom of Belshazzar, as representing the primeval god--"MENE, MENE, Tekel, Upharsin," which is as much as covertly to say, "The numberer is numbered." As the cup was peculiarly the symbol of Cush, hence the pouring out of the drink-offering to him as the god of the cup; and as he was the great Diviner, hence the divinations as to the future year, which Jerome connects with the divinity referred to by Isaiah. Now Hermes, in Egypt as the "numberer," was identified with the moon that numbers the months. He was called "Lord of the moon" (BUNSEN); and as the "dispenser of time" (WILKINSON), he held a "palm branch, emblematic of a year" (Ibid.). Thus, then, if Gad was the "sun-divinity," Meni was very naturally regarded as "The Lord Moon."
Meni, or Manai, signifies "The Numberer." And it is by the changes of the moon that the months are numbered: Psalm civ. 19, "He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth the time of its going down." The name of the "Man of the Moon," or the god who presided over that luminary among the Saxons, was Mane, as given in the "Edda," and Mani, in the "Voluspa." That it was the birth of the "Lord Moon" that was celebrated among our ancestors at Christmas, we have remarkable evidence in the name that is still given in the lowlands of Scotland to the feast on the last day of the year, which seems to be a remnant of the old birth festival for the cakes then made are called Nur-Cakes, or Birth-cakes. That name is Hogmanay. Now, "Hog-Manai" in Chaldee signifies "The feast of the Numberer"; in other words, the festival of Deus Lunus, or of the Man of the Moon. To show the connection between country and country, and the inveterate endurance of old customs, it is worthy of remark, that Jerome, commenting on the very words of Isaiah already quoted, about spreading "a table for Gad," and "pouring out a drink-offering to Meni," observes that it "was the custom so late as his time [in the fourth century], in all cities especially in Egypt and at Alexandria, to set tables, and furnish them with various luxurious articles of food, and with goblets containing a mixture of new wine, on the last day of the month and the year, and that the people drew omens from them in respect of the fruitfulness of the year." The Egyptian year began at a different time from ours; but this is a near as possible (only substituting whisky for wine), the way in which Hogmanay is still observed on the last day of the last month of our year in Scotland. I do not know that any omens are drawn from anything that takes place at that time, but everybody in the south of Scotland is personally cognisant of the fact, that, on Hogmanay, or the evening before New Year's day, among those who observe old customs, a table is spread, and that while buns and other dainties are provided by those who can afford them, oat cakes and cheese are brought forth among those who never see oat cakes but on this occasion, and that strong drink forms an essential article of the provision.

Even where the sun was the favourite object of worship, as in Babylon itself and elsewhere, at this festival he was worshipped not merely as the orb of day, but as God incarnate. It was an essential principle of the Babylonian system, that the Sun or Baal was the one only God. When, therefore, Tammuz was worshipped as God incarnate, that implied also that he was an incarnation of the Sun. In the Hindoo Mythology, which is admitted to be essentially Babylonian, this comes out very distinctly. There, Surya, or the sun, is represented as being incarnate, and born for the purpose of subduing the enemies of the gods, who, without such a birth, could not have been subdued. *


* See the Sanscrit Researches of Col. VANS KENNEDY. Col. K., a most distinguished Sanscrit scholar, brings the Brahmins from Babylon (Ibid.). Be it observed the very name Surya, given to the sun over all India, is connected with this birth. Though the word had originally a different meaning, it was evidently identified by the priests with the Chaldee "Zero," and made to countenance the idea of the birth of the "Sun-god." The Pracrit name is still nearer the Scriptural name of the promised "seed." It is "Suro." It has been seen, in a previous chapter, that in Egypt also the Sun was represented as born of a goddess.
It was no mere astronomic festival, then, that the Pagans celebrated at the winter solstice. That festival at Rome was called the feast of Saturn, and the mode in which it was celebrated there, showed whence it had been derived. The feast, as regulated by Caligula, lasted five days; * loose reins were given to drunkenness and revelry, slaves had a temporary emancipation, ** and used all manner of freedoms with their masters.


* Subsequently the number of the days of the Saturnalia was increased to seven.
** If Saturn, or Kronos, was, as we have seen reason to believe, Phoroneus, "The emancipator," the "temporary emancipation" of the slaves at his festival was exactly in keeping with his supposed character.

This was precisely the way in which, according to Berosus, the drunken festival of the month Thebeth, answering to our December, in other words, the festival of Bacchus, was celebrated in Babylon. "It was the custom," says he, "during the five days it lasted, for masters to be in subjection to their servants, and one of them ruled the house, clothed in a purple garment like a king." This "purple-robed" servant was called "Zoganes," the "Man of sport and wantonness," and answered exactly to the "Lord of Misrule," that in the dark ages, was chosen in all Popish countries to head the revels of Christmas. The wassailling bowl of Christmas had its precise counterpart in the "Drunken festival" of Babylon; and many of the other observances still kept up among ourselves at Christmas came from the very same quarter. The candles, in some parts of England, lighted on Christmas-eve, and used so long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honour to him: for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax-candles on his altars. The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm-tree denoting the Pagan Messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the Sun-God and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognised as the "Man the branch." And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas-eve, and the appearance of the Christmas-tree the next morning. As Zero-Ashta, "The seed of the woman," which name also signified Ignigena, or "born of the fire," he has to enter the fire on "Mother-night," that he may be born the next day out of it, as the "Branch of God," or the Tree that brings all divine gifts to men. But why, it may be asked, does he enter the fire under the symbol of a Log? To understand this, it must be remembered that the divine child born at the winter solstice was born as a new incarnation of the great god (after that god had been cut in pieces), on purpose to revenge his death upon his murderers. Now the great god, cut off in the midst of his power and glory, was symbolised as a huge tree, stripped of all its branches, and cut down almost to the ground. But the great serpent, the symbol of the life restoring Aesculapius, twists itself around the dead stock, and lo, at its side up sprouts a young tree--a tree of an entirely different kind, that is destined never to be cut down by hostile power--even the palm-tree, the well-known symbol of victory. The Christmas-tree, as has been stated, was generally at Rome a different tree, even the fir; but the very same idea as was implied in the palm-tree was implied in the Christmas-fir; for that covertly symbolised the new-born God as Baal-berith, * "Lord of the Covenant," and thus shadowed forth the perpetuity and everlasting nature of his power, not that after having fallen before his enemies, he had risen triumphant over them all.


* Baal-bereth, which differs only in one letter from Baal-berith, "Lord of the Covenant," signifies "Lord of the fir-tree."
Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solis, "The birth-day of the unconquered Sun." Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus--the slain god come to life again. In the light reflected by the above statement on customs that still linger among us, the origin of which has been lost in the midst of hoar antiquity, let the reader look at the singular practice still kept up in the South on Christmas-eve, of kissing under the mistletoe bough. That mistletoe bough in the Druidic superstition, which, as we have seen, was derived from Babylon, was a representation of the Messiah, "The man the branch." The mistletoe was regarded as a divine branch *--a branch that came from heaven, and grew upon a tree that sprung out of the earth.


* In the Scandinavian story of Balder, the mistletoe branch is distinguished from the lamented god. The Druidic and Scandinavian myths somewhat differed; but yet, even in the Scandinavian story, it is evident that some marvellous power was attributed to the mistletoe branch; for it was able to do what nothing else in the compass of creation could accomplish; it slew the divinity on whom the Anglo-Saxons regarded "the empire" of their "heaven" as "depending." Now, all that is neceesary to unravel this apparent inconsistency, is just to understand "the branch" that had such power, as a symbolical expression for the true Messiah. The Bacchus of the Greeks came evidently to be recognised as the "seed of the serpent"; for he is said to have been brought forth by his mother in consequence of intercourse with Jupiter, when that god had appeared in the form of a serpent. If the character of Balder was the same, the story of his death just amounted to this, that the "seed of the serpent" had been slain by the "seed of the woman." This story, of course, must have originated with his enemies. But the idolators took up what they could not altogether deny, evidently with the view of explaining it away.
Thus by the engrafting of the celestial branch into the earthly tree, heaven and earth, that sin had severed, were joined together, and thus the mistletoe bough became the token of Divine reconciliation to man, the kiss being the well-known token of pardon and reconciliation. Whence could such an idea have come? May it not have come from the eighty-fifth Psalm, ver. 10,11, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have KISSED each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth [in consequence of the coming of the promised Saviour], and righteousness shall look down from heaven"? Certain it is that that Psalm was written soon after the Babylonish captivity; and as multitudes of the Jews, after that event, still remained in Babylon under the guidance of inspired men, such as Daniel, as a part of the Divine word it must have been communicated to them, as well as to their kinsmen in Palestine. Babylon was, at that time, the centre of the civilised world; and thus Paganism, corrupting the Divine symbol as it ever has done, had opportunities of sending forth its debased counterfeit of the truth to all the ends of the earth, through the Mysteries that were affiliated with the great central system in Babylon. Thus the very customs of Christmas still existent cast surprising light at once on the revelations of grace made to all the earth, and the efforts made by Satan and his emissaries to materialise, carnalise, and degrade them.

In many countries the boar was sacrificed to the god, for the injury a boar was fabled to have done him. According to one version of the story of the death of Adonis, or Tammuz, it was, as we have seen, in consequence of a wound from the tusk of a boar that he died. The Phrygian Attes, the beloved of Cybele, whose story was identified with that of Adonis, was fabled to have perished in like manner, by the tusk of a boar. Therefore, Diana, who though commonly represented in popular myths only as the huntress Diana, was in reality the great mother of the gods, has frequently the boar's head as her accompaniment, in token not of any mere success in the chase, but of her triumph over the grand enemy of the idolatrous system, in which she occupied so conspicuous a place. According to Theocritus, Venus was reconciled to the boar that killed Adonis, because when brought in chains before her, it pleaded so pathetically that it had not killed her husband of malice prepense, but only through accident. But yet, in memory of the deed that the mystic boar had done, many a boar lost its head or was offered in sacrifice to the offended goddess. In Smith, Diana is represented with a boar's head lying beside her, on the top of a heap of stones in which the Roman Emperor Trajan is represented burning incense to the same goddess, the boar's head forms a very prominent figure. On Christmas-day the Continental Saxons offered a boar in sacrifice to the Sun, to propitiate her * for the loss of her beloved Adonis.


* The reader will remember the Sun was a goddess. Mallet says, "They offered the largest hog they could get to Frigga"--i.e., the mother of Balder the lamented one. In Egypt swine were offered once a year, at the feast of the Moon, to the Moon, and Bacchus or Osiris; and to them only it was lawful to make such an offering. (AELIAN)
In Rome a similar observance had evidently existed; for a boar formed the great article at the feast of Saturn, as appears from the following words of Martial:--


"That boar will make you a good Saturnalia."
Hence the boar's head is still a standing dish in England at the Christmas dinner, when the reason of it is long since forgotten. Yea, the "Christmas goose" and "Yule cakes" were essential articles in the worship of the Babylonian Messiah, as that worship was practised both in Egypt and at Rome. Wilkinson, in reference to Egypt, shows that "the favourite offering" of Osiris was "a goose," and moreover, that the "goose could not be eaten except in the depth of winter." As to Rome, Juvenal says, "that Osiris, if offended, could be pacified only by a large goose and a thin cake." In many countries we have evidence of a sacred character attached to the goose. It is well known that the capitol of Rome was on one occasion saved when on the point of being surprised by the Gauls in the dead of night, by the cackling of the geese sacred to Juno, kept in the temple of Jupiter. In India, the goose occupied a similar position; for in that land we read of the sacred "Brahmany goose," or goose sacred to Brahma. Finally, the monuments of Babylon show that the goose possessed a like mystic character in Chaldea, and that it was offered in sacrifice there, as well as in Rome or Egypt, for there the priest is seen with the goose in the one hand, and his sacrificing knife in the other. *


* The symbolic meaning of the offering of the goose is worthy of notice. "The goose," says Wilkinson, "signified in hieroglyphics a child or son"; and Horapolo says, "It was chosen to denote a son, from its love to its young, being always ready to give itself up to the chasseur, in order that they might be preserved; for which reason the Egyptians thought it right to revere this animal." (WILKINSON's Egyptians) Here, then, the true meaning of the symbol is a son, who voluntarily gives himself up as a sacrifice for those whom he loves--viz., the Pagan Messiah.
There can be no doubt, then, that the Pagan festival at the winter solstice--in other words, Christmas--was held in honour of the birth of the Babylonian Messiah.

The consideration of the next great festival in the Popish calendar gives the very strongest confirmation to what has now been said. That festival, called Lady-day, is celebrated at Rome on the 25th of March, in alleged commemoration of the miraculous conception of our Lord in the womb of the Virgin, on the day when the angel was sent to announce to her the distinguished honour that was to be bestowed upon her as the mother of the Messiah. But who could tell when this annunciation was made? The Scripture gives no clue at all in regard to the time. But it mattered not. But our Lord was either conceived or born, that very day now set down in the Popish calendar for the "Annunciation of the Virgin" was observed in Pagan Rome in honour of Cybele, the Mother of the Babylonian Messiah. *


* AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, and MACROB., Sat. The fact stated in the paragraph above casts light on a festival held in Egypt, of which no satisfactory account has yet been given. That festival was held in commemoration of "the entrance of Osiris into the moon." Now, Osiris, like Surya in India, was just the Sun. (PLUTARCH, De Iside et Osiride) The moon, on the other hand, though most frequently the symbol of the god Hermes or Thoth, was also the symbol of the goddess Isis, the queen of heaven. The learned Bunsen seems to dispute this; but his own admissions show that he does so without reason. And Jeremiah 44:17 seems decisive on the subject. The entrance of Osiris into the moon, then, was just the sun's being conceived by Isis, the queen of heaven, that, like the Indian Surya, he might in due time be born as the grand deliverer. Hence the very name Osiris; for, as Isis is the Greek form of H'isha, "the woman," so Osiris, as read at this day on the Egyptian monuments, is He-siri, "the seed." It is no objection to this to say that Osiris is commonly represented as the husband of Isis; for, as we have seen already, Osiris is at once the son and husband of his mother. Now, this festival took place in Egypt generally in March, just as Lady-day, or the first great festival of Cybele, was held in the same month in Pagan Rome. We have seen that the common title of Cybele at Rome was Domina, or "the lady" (OVID, Fasti), as in Babylon it was Beltis (EUSEB. Praep. Evang.), and from this, no doubt, comes the name "Lady-day" as it has descended to us.
Now, it is manifest that Lady-day and Christmas-day stand in intimate relation to one another. Between the 25th of March and the 25th of December there are exactly nine months. If, then, the false Messiah was conceived in March and born in December, can any one for a moment believe that the conception and birth of the true Messiah can have so exactly synchronised, not only to the month, but to the day? The thing is incredible. Lady-day and Christmas-day, then, are purely Babylonian.

http://www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/sect31.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

whew! thats alot to read!

just because the holidays were pagan before doesnt mean we should not " remember " the birth of christ, or to even celebrate it. he is after all god incarnate. heck thats important.

if someone was a pagan, then became christian wouldnt that make that someone ok?

but im pretty sure this all just for everyones information, and thats great, because many christians dont know their own heritage as christians. did anyone also know there were many, ancient religions that had their chief diety being born of a virgin, in a manger or stable? i am prety sure zoroastrianism is one of them. i will have to do a little research.

*beats Mythra!*

Mithra was virgin birth/ressurected deity that existed before Jesus!

*cackles*

hey what do you mean? mithraism is indeed one of those religions. {thumbing through my humanities textbook}

I'll let Mythra explain if he even sees this thread. He ususally does chime in with information about Mithraism when someone says something about virgin births and the lot.

But from what I understand is that he says that the whole legend of Jesus was a direct copy of the birth life and death/resurrection of Mithra some 300+ years before Jesus was said to exist.

I daresay our ancestors were holding some form of celebration or ritual around the time of the winter solstice tens of thousands of years ago.....

just enjoy the season of joy, love and peace
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

Hmmm..... that is interesting... I would like to hear what he has to say.

Marry Marry and a BAH HUMBUG too!

Christians against Christmas. Very interesting ...

Christian Churches of God

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(Copyright ã 2002 Erica L. Cox and Wade Cox)

This paper may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The publisher’s name and address and the copyright notice must be included. No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright.

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http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org

Why we don’t celebrate Christmas

This paper is divided into sections dealing with the origins of popular Christmas traditions, followed by God’s Holy Days that He wants us to keep:

1. The ‘Festive Season’

2. Why December 25th

3. The Nativity

4. The Three Kings

5. The Christmas Tree

6. Christmas lights and candles

7. Santa Claus

8. Santa’s Elves

9. Christmas cake

10. Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe

11. The Yule log

12. Recent additions to the Christmas myth

13. What the Bible says about the timing of the birth of Christ

14. What festivals must we keep?

***********************

1. The ‘festive season’

There was an ancient festival celebrated in Rome over December. The festival was a build up to the winter solstice. This festival was called Saturnalia, the festival of Saturn, the god of seed growing and wine.

?What is a solstice?

This happens two times a year between the two equinoxes. This is when the sun is furthest from the equator.

?What is an equinox?

This happens two times a year. This is when day and night are of equal length. The sun crosses the equator at this time.

The Romans celebrated the winter solstice on the 25th of December. This is winter in the northern hemisphere.

During the time of the Roman Empire, this festival was celebrated over a period of 7 days, from 17 December through 23 December.

The festival was divided into 3 parts:

1. Saturnalia proper: celebrated from 17 December dedicated to the god Saturn.

2. Opali: celebrated from 19 December dedicated to Opis, god of the earth and wife of Saturn.

3. Sigillaria: celebrated from 22 to 23 December (the 6th and 7th days of Saturnalia). During Sigillaria clay toys were made and sold. These clay toys were given to children as presents at the end of the festival. This is where the custom of giving presents to children on Christmas Eve comes from.

The festival of Saturnalia was a Public holiday, no trading could be done and all schools were closed. Special banquets were held. Slaves were given the privileges of free men. Everyone took part in feasting and merrymaking.

Saturnalia was celebrated every year by the Romans for a long time, eventually it became a part of what is called Christmas today.

The phrase used to describe the Christmas Season, ‘the Festive Season’ originated from the festivities of Saturnalia.

2. Why December 25th

The Julian calendar placed 25 December as the winter solstice.

? What is the Julian Calendar?

The Julian Calendar was made by Julius Caesar – the ruler of the Roman Empire, 46 years before the date allocated as the birth of Christ.

The 25th of December was regarded as the Nativity (or birth of the sun), born of the Heavenly Mother goddess. The days become longer and the nights shorter. It was believed that the days became longer because the sun became more powerful from that day.

3. The Nativity

The celebrations surrounding the nativity were similar to that of Christmas. In the Roman Empire the worship of the Heavenly Mother goddess and her son was popular.

This worship survived the establishment of Christianity by Constantine (an Emperor of Rome).

The symbolism of the Heavenly Mother with her son is not of Christian origin. In the days of Augustine priests paraded here like the friars from the Middle Ages.

The Heavenly Mother goddess was adopted into the Christian faith as the Virgin Mary.

Christ’s mother’s name was Mariam not Mary. Mariam went on to have more children, unlike the Mother goddess, who gave birth to only one son and who is worshiped by catholic religions.

4. The Three Kings

The three kings associated with the sun worshipping festival are not the same wise men told of in the Bible. The three Kings seem to relate to the 12 days of Christmas.

The 12 days of Christmas are associated with the solstice or 25 December. The period from 25 December till 5 January was known as the 12 days of Christmas. Twelfth night is the night of 6 January.

The Bible does not make mention of the number of men from the East. It does however mention three gifts. The Bible also does not call the men kings, but magi meaning wise men.

Matthew 2:1-12

1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterwards, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him." 3 When King Herod heard about his, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4 He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?" 5 "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea," they answered. "For this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah, You are by no means the Least of the leading cities Of Judah; 7 So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: "Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him." 9-10 And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 11 They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mariam, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him. 12 Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

5. The Christmas tree

The decoration of the pine tree comes from the worship of the god Attis.

?Who was Attis?

Attis, a pagan god, was crucified on a tree. This custom is related to the ancient tree spirit. The pine tree is cut and decorated with silver and gold and an emblem of the death and rebirth of Attis, with a six-pointed star of his sacrifice on top. The Greeks worshipped the god Adonis who was similar to Attis.

Attis was symbolized by a pine tree that was worshipped, and which was sacred to him. The reason pine trees was thought to be sacred, was that they were green in winter when other trees had lost their leaves.

The emblems of Attis attached to the pine tree have changed to sun symbols on top, then angels. Christmas tree decorations are easily identified as the sun and moon and stars represented by baubles and tinsel. In the Middle East Attis was also known as Baal consort of Astarte, Istar or Easter. The Bible condemns this practice. In Jeremiah we can identify a description of the Christmas tree and we are told not to follow the customs of the people around us.

Jeremiah 10:2-5

2 Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven;

For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

3 The religion of these people is worthless.

A tree is cut down in the Forest;

It is carved by the tool of the woodworker

4 and decorated with silver and gold.

It is fastened down with nails

To keep it from falling over.

5 Such idols are like scarecrows

in a field of melons;

they cannot speak;

they have to be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them;

They can cause you no harm,

And they can do you no good."

6. Christmas lights and candles

Wax tapers were given to the humble by their superiors during the Saturnalia. They were also used to ward of the gods of thunder, storm and tempest as well as witches and evil spirits. The candles were lit and tied to the sacred oak tree.

7. Santa Claus

Santa Claus as we know him today is a modern product of American commercialism. The Americans derived him from German and Dutch folklore.

The man known as Saint Nicholas is Nicholas of Myra. He was bishop of Lycia in Asia Minor and died in 345 or 352.

The legend goes that he took his wages for 3 years and made each year’s wages into a golden ball that he rolled into poor households. Apparently one rolled into a stocking. This is the origin of receiving gifts in a Christmas stocking.

The three golden balls became the symbol of merchants, and ended up in pawnshops. For this reason Saint Nicholas became patron saint of merchants.

Nicholas of Myra’s example of giving to the poor was taken up by French nuns. Gifts were distributed from the alms box on 26 December. For this reason the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day.

In the Netherlands, Santa Claus is known as Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas was a bishop with a mitre and a book of good deeds and sins. He has the staff of a shepherd and rides on a white horse over the rooftops. Sinterklaas had a servant named Black Peter. In the Netherlands children sing songs around chimneys to Sinterklaas. Black Peter listens at the top of the chimney to determine whether the children are singing the right songs and presenting the right offerings to Sinterklaas’ horse, carrots and hay. Presents are then given to the children through the chimney.

Sinterklaas is the patron Saint of the city of Amsterdam and the seamen who sailed from Amsterdam’s ports.

The German origin of Sinterklaas is based on the god Woden (from whom we get the word 'Wodenesday' meaning Woden’s day - today we say Wednesday). Woden was important to the people of what we today call Germany and among the ancient Teutons, as well as the English. Woden, who is a figure in history, is described in mythology as riding thought the air on his white horse, clothed in a flowing robe. He has a long white beard and a big hat because he is also held to have wisdom and he carries a book in his hand.

8. Santa’s Elves

The Shetlanders named the festive season the Yules. Seven days before Christmas, elves called ‘trows’ were let free from their homes in the earth and were allowed to live above ground if they wanted to do so. On the last day of the holidays the Shetlanders chase the trows back into their underground homes. This was called ‘saining’. Saining had to be properly carried out to rid the area of the trows, which were also called ‘grey folk’. It is from this that the modern myth of the alien grey comes from.

9. Christmas Cake

Following the saturnalia was a festival called the ‘Festival of Fools’. This ran from 25 December to 6 January. During this time a king was elected and sometimes a queen. They were elected on the 12th night of the 12 days of Christmas, (the eve of 5 January). They were elected by lot. Originally beans were baked in a cake to select the king and queen. Sometimes there were many beans with coloured beans representing the king or queen. In England the king was chosen by a bean and a queen by a pea in the cake. Later on the beans were replaced by coins.

10. Holly and Ivy and Mistletoe

Red and green are the ancient colours of the pagan cults. The berries and leaves seen in Christmas decorations, holly, ivy and mistletoe are green and red. Ivy was sacred to the god Attis and his priests were tattooed with ivy. Mistletoe found on oak was especially sacred to the Druids and Aryans. The idea came from the fact that Mistletoe spread and came into the tree from heaven and never touched the ground.

11. The Yule log

Germans burnt the Yule log. This was an ancient custom by 1184. It was recorded that a parish priest of Ahlen in Munsterland recorded bringing a tree to kindle the festal fire at the lord’s nativity. The lighting of fires and candles was to assist the sun to relight its lamp.

 

12. Recent additions to the Christmas myth

Kris Kringle: This was brought by European immigrants to the United States. What they named the Christkindl means the Christ Child and from this we get Kris Kringle.

The Knickerbocker Tales: Washington Irvine depicts Santa Claus as an elf who presents the stocking.

The reindeer: Clement Clark Moore in the poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas which was renamed ’Twas the Night before Christmas, introduced the eight reindeer with the traditional identification of the god of thunder and lightning in the names such as Donner and Blitzen.

The face of Santa Claus: In 1931, the Scandinavian Haddon Sundblom was commissioned by the Coca Cola Company, and, using his own face, portrayed Santa Claus for the next 25 years.

In 1941, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was sung by Gene Autry, and the final addition was made.

The colours and myths surrounding the figure known today as Santa Claus, are the final product of 3000 years of pagan idolatry and commercialism.

13. What the Bible says about the timing of the birth of Christ

Christ seems to have been born around the Feast of Tabernacles (September/October) in the period from 8 to 5BCE. The Bible says there were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flock at night at the time Christ was born (Luke 2:8). This could not have been possible in December, as there were no sheep in the fields then. It would have been about the ninth month in the lunar calendar and the Bible also says it was a cold and rainy time of the year in that part of the world (Ezra 10:9).

December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus Christ. The apostles and early Christian Church did not celebrate the birthday of Christ at any time. The Bible does not tell us exactly when Christ was born and there is no instruction to celebrate his birth anyway.

14. What festivals must we keep?

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to celebrate Christmas. The Bible does however give us a list of annual holy days we must keep. These Holy Days are a series of festivals that outline God’s plan of salvation.

The annual Holy Days are:

The Passover and the Feasts of Unleavened Bread,

Pentecost,

The Feast of Trumpets,

The Day of Atonement,

The Feast of Tabernacles, and the

The Last Great Day

This list of Holy Days can be found in Leviticus 23:1-44 and Deuteronomy 16:1-6.

Sean

you're in seasons mood

As a Deist, all holidays are pagan holidays to me. I love Christmas and the lights and presents and Santa. Christmas is no longer a true religious holiday, it is celebrated by many different cultures with many different religions, world-wide. No matter that it's name can be translated as Christ Mass, [my name can be translated from French (by way of Latin) as "the Cripple", but people call me by my given name - Beowulf (LOL)]. So you Christians go out there and celebrate your god and for this season, I will try not to poo-poo him! You non-Christians, celebrate the Christmas of Santa, Lights, Candy and Presents - and please let's not be politically correct and say "Happy Holidays" or "Season Greetings", Let's all give with a rousting "Merry Christmas - Y'All"

Hey Beowulf!

Glad to see ya!

Merry Christmas everyone.

The way my pastor said it was like this:

Christmas is celebrated this month because it is the holiday season. The birth of Christ was probably the spring or summer. But we celebrate Christ's birth all yr long.

Glad to see you too Ma'am. I stopped here on my way to the coast, just to see confer with Mako and CD and Mako is still sick and CD is across the drink still! If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! You have yourself a nice little Christmas, Mako said you have a daughter, make sure she has as good a Christmas as you can give, but not so much as too spoil her. I nearly made that mistake with my youngest! I should be back here permanently after the first of year. v

Yes Mako said you and Cd travel a lot. I am sure my Christmas will be great. Although thge spoiling has already begun. I think she is spoilt by the very opening of any gift. She has everything she wants and more. I couldn't possibly get anymore for her.
I can't wait for your "safe" return.

Safe journey wise one.

in response to the statement that mary is worshiped:

catholics do not worship mary. they revere her, and remember her for her part in the whole story, in the continuing story. she has appeared before people in lourdes, fatima, and guadalupe. she plays an important role. read the prayer "hail mary"

hail mary! full of grace, the lord is with thee.
blessed art thou, among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, jesus christ.
holy mary, mother of god,
pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. amen

there is no worship in that prayer. simply asking mary to pray for us, while keeping in mind that she is holy and blessed.

someone praying for you isnt bad. some catholics get carried away with mary. there are even marians-- people who want her to be considered a co-redeemer, which the catholic church will never accept as she did not die to release us from the bonds of sin.

having a christmas tree is not an idol unless you worship it, so its not bad to have. its tradition now anyway. besides,. i am pretty sure in saturnalia they also had pine trees under which presents were offered up to other people as sacrafices. this tree was known as a sacrafice tree.

yes they do worship her.holy mary mother of God ,pray for our sins?the Bible says Jesus is our mediator pray to Him!not to the saints or mary that is wrong, they are dead they can not hear you. God doesn't want you to go half way with Him and half way with the devil either your with Him or your not.

But, the bible speaks of balance...not absolutes.

If Eve never tasted the fruit of knowledge, not one person would be here to "worship" God. It's a paradox that must be balanced, to me.