Quote:
Originally Posted by SpikePhanta
Yeah, Christmas isn't so much a holiday for Christians now, lol!
It's more of a consumer holiday for everyone. I know many people who arent Christians who celebrate it (like me).
Also Hanukkah was awhile ago so it doesnt really work now.
But yes merry X-mas everyone!
|
Christmas is NOT and was NEVER a christian holiday and doesn't even have anything to do with Christianity except for the name change. Infact the importance of it for all people precedes all religions.
For thousands of years ever since people have lived in northern climates the 25th has been the most important and most celebrated day of the year. The significance of it is that it is the winter solstice and the longest night and shortest day of the year happens. The reason its such a important day, especially to ancient people, is because the days reverse and begin to get longer until the summer solstice. In northern hemispheres these changes are not only more pronounced but you have harsh winter to deal with, mind you the earth takes a while to heat up again so there is a lag between mid winter and actual climate changes.
In any case long before the word Christianity even crossed someones mind the 25th was the most celebrated and most important day of the year in the norther hemisphere for nearly all cultures and all continents.
Nowadays the winter solstice actually occurs on the 21st or the 22nd, thanks to our Roman based calendar being inaccurate the dates have shifted and now the 22nd is actually the 25th.
See our calendar is based on astrology, like most calendars, and therefore the winter solstice was supposed to happen on the same day every year, the 25th of December. During the Roman times the solstices and equinoxes were important, the 25th of December was midwinter and was celebrated as the Brumalia festival honoring Brachus, the god of wine. The celebrations would always take part on the night of the 24th and carry on to the 25th. Not only that but the name of the festival Brumalia comes from the latin word Bruma, which means shortest day. In any case the Roman calendar that our calendar is based on was inaccurate, it was updated to the Julian Calendar but that one was also inaccurate and lost 11min every year. Eventually hundreds and hundreds of years later the difference was to big and we created the Gregorian calender that we use now, that brought in leap years and fixed the error, unfortunately they miscalculated and our Gregorian calendar is still off by three days from the original Roman calendar, so now the winter solstice happens on the 21st or the 22nd depending on the year.
As far as Christmas trees go, the Egyptians used evergreens to celebrate the winter solstice obviously on the 24th/25th of December, they would put them in their homes. Infact not only the Egyptians did this as natives in NA, Mayans, Romans, Druids, etc. had similar traditions to celebrate the day, and usually celebrate life. As far as gift giving, its part of another ancient Roman celebration called Saturnalia to celebrate the god of Saturn that went from the 17th to the 23rd of December. Even the legend of St.Nicholas just so happens to be virtually identical to a ancient Greek and Roman myth. The feasts and focus on purification has always been a part of the winter solstice celebrations from the Egyptians, to the Romans, to the Mayans, to the North American Natives.
The 25th of December is NOT a christian holiday, to say so is ignorant as every culture in the norther hemisphere celebrates it and have celebrated it long before Christianity or Jesus existed even in thought.