The Complete Christmas
Collection
Christmas Recipes, Crafts
and Kids Activities and xmas stories. There
are many traditions and symbols that we associate with Christmas including the
Christmas tree, leaving cookies out for Santa Claus, and sending Christmas cards
and Christmas presents. If you're like most, you observe all of the traditions
which are sacred to your family without a thought about where they originated
or why they became so popular in the first place.
While you don't need
to know why you celebrate the Christmas holiday the way you do, it makes for interesting
conversation when you're sipping egg nog in front of the fireplace. So, if you're
ready to wow your family and friends with your knowledge of the Christmas holiday,
bring up these interesting facts about the most widely celebrated holiday.
The
modern term Christmas originates form the Olde English "cristes masse," which
means "Christ's mass." The name Christ finds its origins in the Greek tongue,
which was the language spoken by Christ himself. The Greek form of the work was
Khristos, which means "anointed one."
The origins of the Christmas
tree actually predate Christ and the history of Christianity by thousands of years.
The tree finds its beginning during the time of the Druids, a society made up
of sorcerers, prophets and priests. During the time of the Druid winter solstice,
which fell on December 21, the Druid priests decorated outdoor trees with apples
and lit candles to show their appreciation to their god Odin. The candles represented
the eternal light of their sun god Balter. Christians later adopted the practice
widely and decorated their fir trees with apples to represent Adam and Eve's gall
from grace.
The first Christmas tree has been credited to a warrior
of the Crusades, Winfried of England, who had traveled to the Northern forests
to covert the Pagans, according to legend. When Winfried came upon an unruly mob
getting ready to conduct a human sacrifice before the sacred Oak of Geismar, he
chopped down the detestable tree and a fir tree immediately sprang from where
the Oak tree formerly stood. Winfried claimed the tree was the three of Christ
which represented the love and kindness that should be in everyone's home.
Santa
Claus is a lively, jolly and fat old fellow who tours the whole world on Christmas
Eve delivering presents to deserving children. The modern-day Santa Claus finds
his origins in Saint Nicholas. This patron saint was shown in paintings to look
like the ordinary person that he was, but was given a makeover by the Coca-Cola
Company in the 1930's. That's right; our beloved Santa Claus is nothing more than
a clever marketing ploy. And you thought it was hard when the kids on the playground
told you Santa Claus didn't exist.
Christmas cards were introduced
during the 1840s in Britain with the introduction of the postal service and the
penny stamp. While a penny was a lot of money during those days, sending Christmas
cards still became very common by the 1860s.
Holly and mistletoe are
also attributed to the Druids. The ancient Druids were the first society known
to have worn sprigs of holly and mistletoe. The druid priests believed that holly
was able to remain green and vibrant the entire year because it possessed magical
properties. We may have also picked up some other significant traditions from
the Druids. Do you think that it's a coincidence that the colors of holly, green
and red, are the colors associated with Christmas today? Mistletoe, on the other
hand, represented fertility and was looked down upon by the Christian church for
its association with non-virginity.
Gift giving came to us from the
Romans. The Romans exchanged holly wreaths as gifts during their Saturnalia festival,
which coincided with the Druid's winter solstice. The wreaths were a symbol of
eternal life. Later, many Christians would take to adorning their homes with holly
during the Saturnalia festival to avoid persecution from the Romans. Eventually
adornment with holly was absorbed into Christian practices as well.
So,
now that you know a little more about why you do the things you do during the
Christmas season, why don't you see what other tidbits of historical knowledge
that you can uncover to share during your next holiday gathering. By
Adam Lenk For more Christmas articles and information visit www.makingchristmas.com
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