The Christmas season is upon us, and once again, as an avowed unbeliever, I state my love for the season.
What's not to like?
I'm a believer in the power of myth in all our lives. I'm a believer in story. The Christmas season provides us with these elements in spades. I'm sorry about the catastrophes that Christianity has brought about, sure, but I love so many of the details of the myth and the story.
But let's forget, for a moment, the actual story, and focus on something else: the pagan origins of almost everything in the Christmas story. And let's not forget that the details of Jesus's birth, as described in the Gospels, are nothing new: the virgin birth, the gifts of frankincense and myrrh, the emphasis on astronomical/astrological features (the star in the East; winter solstice), the very date of December 25th--all of these have been associated with other gods. The birth, death, and rebirth of a god is similarly not unique to Christianity. The sacrificial death of a god/king for the greater good is also a long tradition. Thus it was that the cult of Christianity displayed many familiar features to the pagans who were more or less forced to convert. The Catholic Church was quite clever in its strategies for convincing ordinary folk to accept a new religion: they simply superimposed their own myths on the symbolism and motifs of older religions.
The winter solstice (in the northern hemisphere) is, of course, the event surrounded by so much myth and magic. A few days past the solstice, when the days begin to grow longer, was the birthday of many gods:
By the third century CE, there were many religions and spiritual mysteries being followed within the Roman Empire. Many, if not most, celebrated the birth of their god-man near the time of the solstice. Emperor Aurelian (270 to 275 CE) blended a number of Pagan solstice celebrations of the nativity of such god-men/saviors as Appolo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on DEC-25.
I'm fascinated by the similarities of so many of the various sects; no wonder Carl Jung gave archetypes such a central role in his theory of the unconscious.
The yule log, candles and festive lights, Christmas tree, holly and ivy of song, mistletoe, and many other traditions associated with Christmas were originally pagan in nature and had to do with the solstice. Our Christian forebears well knew this and were not pleased:
Polydor Virgil, an early British Christian, said "Dancing, masques, mummeries, stageplays, and other such Christmas disorders now in use with Christians, were derived from these Roman Saturnalian and Bacchanalian festivals; which should cause all pious Christians eternally to abominate them." In Massachusetts, Puritans unsuccessfully tried to ban Christmas entirely during the 17th century, because of its heathenism. The English Parliament abolished Christmas in 1647.
Party poopers. Talk about a "war on Christmas"! (Do the Bill O'Reillys of the world have any clue at all? Any knowledge of history??)
Anyway, all this goes to show that one doesn't have to be Christian to enjoy the Christmas season and all its traditions. The holiday season has always afforded me great happiness as I continued the traditions of my childhood and, later, established some new traditions with our kids. We need a little extra light, kindness, comfort and joy in our lives.
I wish you peace and happiness during this season. And may the Flying Spaghetti Monster touch you with his Noodly Appendage!
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