The History of Christmas and Its Traditions
Christmas day is marked with great zeal throughout the world. Celebration for Christmas Day encompasses various activities such as families getting together, singing, dancing, cooking special dishes, and so much more. Have you ever dazzled in your thoughts about the very first Christmas? Though the history behind the inception of Christmas is wrought with confusion. Let us uncover all mysteries regarding the Christmas holiday for itu2019s about time people start celebrating this joyous holiday.
The Origin of Christmas:
Originally, Christmas in Christianity did not get any recognition, and the festivities did not take place. Surprisingly though, Christmas has since been regarded as the birth date of Jesus, however, through the years people have speculated the exact date in which He was born.
The first Christmas events did not start but instead, there existed the Saturnalia festival, which ran through the Roman Christians until December 25th and involved all the people of Rome honoring their god Saturn. As per tradition, Romans would gather and have a meal together, gift each other presents, and place numerous decorative ornaments on trees.
As the years passed and emperors changed u2013 the Christmas festivities finally began in 336 A.D on the 25th of December during Roman Emperor Constantine reign. It has been speculated that the primary Christian Roman emperor selected the 25th partly because it was already recognized as Saturnalia. He Him trying to combine practice and observance of Christians with pagans also significantly stimulated the expansion of this holiday.
Over 1,700 Years ago, in 350 A.D, the official inception of Christmas began as Pope Julius I declared the 25th December to be the day Christ’s birth would be celebrated. And thus, history as we know it, cemented a new era, the age of Christmas.
The Story of “Xmas”
The history of mankind is long and complicated, with the present society carrying millions of interlinked stories. Which is why people often wonder about how Christmas is often spelt “Xmas”, its interesting to note that the letter “X” is a very important letter as it is a Greek letter Chi which is a short form of “Christ”. Which means “Xmas” is nothing but a way to abbreviate Christmas.
The Story of Christmas Tree
Now let’s move on to a much more elaborate and widely known tale, the one of the Christmas tree. It is believed that the tradition of the Christmas tree dates back to the 16th century in modern Germany. Legend has it that an English missionary named Saint Boniface entered Germany in the 8th century. When he visited, a group of pagans aimed to cut down an ancient oak tree in a ritual and Boniface missionary’s violent vision to stop it was too much for him so he took matters into his own hands and struck the oak with an axe, somehow an evergreen tree sprung from it.
This event was historical due to how Boniface’s vision of cutting down the oak ultimately led to the use of winter fillers being incorporated into Christmas celebrations. With time people started cutting down trees and sprinkling them with apples and calling them “paradise trees”.
Over the years, the custom developed, and people started to decorate the trees by adding candles. In 1841, people started to use the Christmas trees in Germany when Queen Victoria of England wed a German prince named Albert. Decorating a tree at Windsor castle was the practice of the stated prince Albert. When a picture of the decorated Christmas tree and the royal family appeared in the Illustrated London News around Christmas 1848, the custom began to spread all over the world.
Electric Lights on the Tree:
It may be hard to believe today, but the Christmas tree has electric lights on it thanks to Johnson, who worked along with Thomas Edison back in 1882. Led Christmas trees decorations as we know them today became a favorite thing after he set up the first electrical lights on one.
Santa Claus’ Story:
Christmas isn’t Christmas without Santa Claus, but here’s a little known fact: the real Santa Claus, Santa of today, is based on a real person, Saint Nicholas. Let’s get into it more.
Santa Claus was in many regards a monk known for his generous heart and donation of his entire wealth but there’s more, Saint Nicholas was born in 280 A.D. in Myra which is modern-day Turkey. The story often passed around is how he saved three poor daughters of a very poor father who was about to sell them into slavery because he couldn’t afford them bringing three bags of gold quiet out of the blue.
In later years, particularly after his death, the custom of donating and gifting in the name of Santa grew in numbers. The story continued to travel farther and farther across Europe and the concept of Santa Claus began to take its shapes. He was later on said to be living in the North Pole with magic reindeer pulling his sleigh, which truly became huge more than it previously was in America.
Interestingly, in the early years, Santa Claus was depicted wearing various colors, but it wasn’t until a famous Coca-Cola advertisement in the 1930s that he became firmly associated with his iconic red and white suit.
Day of Saint Nicholas:
According to history, the annual feast celebration of Saint Nicholas falls on the sixth day of December, and If one were to imagine Santa Claus alive today, he would approximately be older than 1700 years!
Celebrating Christmas:
‘Tis the season to be jolly, to share, to give, and to love. A perfect time to come transparent as a family, exchange gifts, and most importantly spread the true essence of a holiday. In other words, let’s be nice every Christmas, let’s laugh and enjoy every Christmas, let’s be jolly and have jolly good time!
Merry Christmas:
Here you have it; this is the reason as to why we have holidays traditions we have in the first place. I expect that you have acquired new knowledge during our class today, and as we are leaving the class, let me remind you, we celebrate Christmas as more than just flowers, lights and the gift boxes but rather we enjoy the opportunity to spread love and joy amongst the people.
Merry Christmas, and may the good times of this beautiful season spread joy and love in your life.
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