fandomtherapy | (no subject)

Well, it's a festival, celebrated in the middle of winter.

The middle of winter has always been a time for celebration; centuries before Jesus was born, the Europeans would celebrate light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight. The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday.

Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring, Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival, which was a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture in Rome.

called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

It wasn't until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Christmas is celebrated differently all over the world. But I think we'll just stick with how we do it in America now.

...

*STARES*

((*dies at Daniel*))

*looks concerned*

Are you okay, Aeryn?

[[Hehehe *pets Daniel*]]

Yeah. It's just... there were dates...

Should I repeat it without the dates?

Please?

A very, very long time ago, there was a whole bunch of pagan ceremonies held during midwinter. About sixteen hundred years ago, the church decided that Jesus' birthday would be celebrated as a holiday, and it would occur during the time of these pagan festivals to try and draw interest to it.

Christmas wasn't really that popular for a number of reasons up until about two hundred years ago, when it gained a revival. It was declared a Federal holiday a hundred and thirty five years ago, and the idea changed from a bustling carnival type holiday into a supposedly peaceful family affair.

Since then, many changes and adaptions have taken place for it to become the Christmas the others have been telling you about, with presents and cards and decorating trees.

Cards? Decorating trees?

Christmas cards were first introduced in Victorian England... that was about a hundred and fifty years ago in a country on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. A man called Sir Henry Cole sent the first Christmas cards, because he didn't have time to write to all his friends and family. Instead, he commissioned John Callcott Horsley to design a card with a single message on that he could send out. They're still used today to send out messages wishing you happy holidays, and I do believe it's the largest holiday of the year for card giving.

Decorating trees... ah, well, that has it's roots in Pagan ceremonies as well. But it didn't become popular until Queen Victoria, who was the Queen of England during the Victorian era I just spoke about, had one and she and her family were sketched about it.

They're evergreen trees because of the pagan beliefs - that the sun god would return stronger and green plants would grow again as summer returned. Decorating the trees in pagan times was in honor to their gods.