All around the world as the year draws to a close, people from many different countries and walks of life prepare to celebrate their winter festivals.
One of the most commonly known and celebrated event is Christmas, a special time of the year with many different meanings and variations. A common theme is the giving and receiving of gifts between loved ones. At its core, Christmas is a holiday adopted by the Christian religion as a time of celebration of the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ.
The holiday’s influence spreads far and wide and Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate it. Some people feel it’s hypocritical for non-Christians to celebrate Christmas. However, the middle of winter has been a time of celebration around the world for a long time. Even as far back as the time of the Roman Empire, Roman pagans would celebrate the holiday Saturnalia with a great feast during a weeklong celebration in honor of the god Saturn.
According to the “Origin of Christmas” webpage Simpletoremember.com: “Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week-long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.”
The Norse in Scandinavia would celebrate Yule from the winter solstice on Dec. 21 through January, in recognition of the return of the sun. Fathers and sons would bring large logs home and set them ablaze.
“The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year,” according to the History.com webpage about Christmas.
Early Christians adopted Dec. 25 as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, as it made it an easier transition for people who converted, because so many of them were used to that time being a celebration of many different cultures and religions.
Today, Christmas as we know it has undergone a split of sorts, while the Christian holiday is still very much the dominant holiday.
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Santa Claus himself was modeled after Nikolaos of Myra, also known as Saint Nicholas and Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a well-known reputation of secretly giving gifts to people. His modern day incarnation lives in the North Pole, traveling the world each Christmas Eve delivering toys in his sled to sleeping children.
Though most people grow out of belief in Santa Claus at a young age, the theme of this holiday still remains; it is a time of giving gifts to the people they love, and celebrating another year that has gone by.
“Celebrations are a natural part of human culture,” says Elisabeth Cornwell of The Washington Post.
The Christmas holiday has adopted many traditions from around the world and incorporated them into itself, Christians celebrate the birth of their lord and a time of great joy. Non-Christians celebrate family and friends.
This has effectively turned Christmas into two holidays of the same name that occupy the same date, making it perfectly fine for those who may be Atheist or Agnostic or even people who belong to a different religion to celebrate the holiday.
It is even fine for Christians to celebrate both aspects of Christmas. After all, an important aspect of the Christian religion is good will toward humankind.
Christmas is a special time of the year, and the way it is celebrated may not be the same for every person. But the spirit of joy and the good feelings it brings are something that can be shared by all.
