25th December is a date that fills hearts of millions of people around the world with sheer happiness and joy. It’s Christmas when streets are lit with the most beautiful lights and pine trees are put up on every corner. People enjoy this chilly time of the year and celebrate while shoving behind all the problems and distress. However, Christmas was not always celebrated the way it is today. Centuries back and in olden times, there were a number of traditions and cultures associated with the holiday. Dip into this brief evolution of the festival with us and get some insight about the festive observations in the past.
The Roman and Pagan Culture
Christmas has its origins in both Roman and Pagan culture and practices. The Romans considered Saturn as the god of agriculture and celebrated it in the festival called Saturnalia. This two weeks long festival took place in the mid of December where people used to enjoy feasts, give gifts to their friends and family and had a good time. On 25th December, they celebrated the birth of their sun god, Mithra, which marked the day when the days would now start getting longer. Both of these Roman festivals involved loud parties and massive celebrations.
The Pagan culture used to observe the darkest day of the year in December and light candles, bonfires and other sources of light to get rid of the darkness. This tradition was adopted by the Romans and was incorporated in their celebrations. After the spread of Christianity, these traditions were accepted as the celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ as no one knew the exact date of birth.
The Christmas Trees
The concept of Christmas trees is also borrowed by the pagan and roman practices. The pagans used to deck up their spaces with evergreen trees in anticipation of the spring season. These evergreen trees were believed to have special powers as they remained green even in the freezing and dark days of the year. Besides that, romans also used fir trees to decorate the temples during the festival of Saturnalia. They also adorned the trees with bits of metal.
Adopting the cultural practice of Pagans, Germans also started beautifying their houses with pine trees. They also hung up candles and gifts on the trees. This practice picked up attention in the 1800s when a British royal family decided to put up a Christmas tree in their house. This started a global trend and gave birth to the universal symbol of Christmas trees on the holiday.
To sum up, Christmas is a heart-warming festival that rings your doorbells at the end of each year. On one hand it’s celebrated with great cheer and family fun, and on the other, it has its roots deeply seated in the olden cultures. The practices and traditions that you follow today are mostly taken from the pagan and roman ways of celebrating their festivals. With time, Christmas evolved and became a national holiday with families and friends having the best time of the year!