Hi Elissa, I’m always inspired by your investigations and appreciate your commitment to historical accuracy. So much was muddled up in the 19th century in regards to the “pagan past” in Europe. Clarity is good! Of course the “why” of the meddling and muddling in the 19th c is a fascinating study of its own. Looking forward to reading part 2.
Thank you Jan for that. It is quite the rabbit hole when we start peeling back the layers. Separating 'beliefs' from historical evidence can be quite the mine field too!
An interesting piece but I do disagree on the dating of Christmas. It was known at an early period that Jesus died on March 25th, which was also the day on which he was conceived according to tradition. So his birth naturally took place on December 25th. There was no overt attempt to Christianise Mithraism by moving it to this date, it was based on an old dating tradition. Mithraism was a completely different religion which could not be assimilated and early Christians took great care to avoid mixing Christianity with paganism. This belief on Christmas dating linked to pagan practices is largely medieval and modern, particularly recently, as an attempt to undermine Christianity.
There is, though a lot of overlap between cultural practices in midwinter, I agree. One of the interesting things in England is how certain Catholic practices survived after the religion was abolished. Some practices survived for centuries so I definitely agree on the mixing of traditions with Christians adopting originally pagan traditions, in the same way that some Muslims, Hindus etc, put up fairy lights and Christmas trees at this time of year.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and if you are able to then please share what religious tradition believes that Jesus died on March 25th etc. I would be interested to read about it. All the information I share comes from historical, literary and archaeological evidence. I do my best to stay away from religious beliefs as proof of one thing or another. Early Christians did blend pagan customs with Christian beliefs as part of how they converted pagans. I have hundreds of examples, but if you are interested then the following books may be something you could dive into. Pagans and Christians by Robert Lane Fox, The Rise of Christianity in Northern Europe by Carole Cusack, Christianizing the Roman Empire by Ramsay MacMullen, The Pagan Middle Ages by Ludo Mills. These are just a few books, there are many more and also look into syncretism too :)
Certainly. Irenaeus, who lived from 130 to 202 AD, wrote in the second century that Jesus was born on December 25 ( in Against Heresies).
Sextus Julius Africanus (160 to 240 AD) recorded in the year 221 AD that Jesus was conceived on March 25, extrapolating forward nine months that Jesus was born on December 25.
Hippolytus (170 to 236 AD) wrote that Jesus was born on December 25 in his Commentary on Daniel.
St Augustine mentions it too but that is later, around 400 AD.
Sol Invictus was created by Emperor Aurelian in 274 and may have been designed to undermine Christianity. Though it may have reflected earlier practices, I suppose, but I don't know.
Anyway, the idea of the pagan connection with Christmas only arose in the 12th century - so it is really old! Popularised by the History Channel etc. recently.
I used to think it was pagan in origin until I started following a bunch of historians on twitter. Every year they moan about the "myth" that Christmas is pagan. There are some academic writings on this issue out there. A few crop up in Google.
But as I said, most historians agree that pagan practices crossed over into Christianity so some of our customs have definitely come from there.
Thank you! I'm looking forward to reading part 2. I find that the complexity and multi-layerdness of the past give me great relief - no such thing as "it's always been like this" and instead evolving, creative choices and political decisions by messy humans just like us.
Hi Jenny, thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. Yes, it is quite the mystery and very frustrating with thousands of years between us and them. There is definitely something with the winter solstice both with the rising and the setting of the sun at that time, but so much has been lost that even the Romans were confused! At this moment in time I haven't gone that far back in history to have any answers, but so far I haven't come across anything on the equinoxes which makes me believe that it has much to do with Wicca. I do have a few books on the topic of ancient ancient time keeping, Stonehenge etc which I hope to get to reading one day soon. Something I could possibly do next year as I will be getting to the point of running out of festivals to talk about! Take care and thank you for your support
Winter Solstice blessings to you too Nancy. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, it is always greatly appreciated. And yes, if only humans didn't have to meddle so much!
Hi Elissa, I’m always inspired by your investigations and appreciate your commitment to historical accuracy. So much was muddled up in the 19th century in regards to the “pagan past” in Europe. Clarity is good! Of course the “why” of the meddling and muddling in the 19th c is a fascinating study of its own. Looking forward to reading part 2.
Thank you Jan for that. It is quite the rabbit hole when we start peeling back the layers. Separating 'beliefs' from historical evidence can be quite the mine field too!
I know that mine field well LOL
An interesting piece but I do disagree on the dating of Christmas. It was known at an early period that Jesus died on March 25th, which was also the day on which he was conceived according to tradition. So his birth naturally took place on December 25th. There was no overt attempt to Christianise Mithraism by moving it to this date, it was based on an old dating tradition. Mithraism was a completely different religion which could not be assimilated and early Christians took great care to avoid mixing Christianity with paganism. This belief on Christmas dating linked to pagan practices is largely medieval and modern, particularly recently, as an attempt to undermine Christianity.
There is, though a lot of overlap between cultural practices in midwinter, I agree. One of the interesting things in England is how certain Catholic practices survived after the religion was abolished. Some practices survived for centuries so I definitely agree on the mixing of traditions with Christians adopting originally pagan traditions, in the same way that some Muslims, Hindus etc, put up fairy lights and Christmas trees at this time of year.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and if you are able to then please share what religious tradition believes that Jesus died on March 25th etc. I would be interested to read about it. All the information I share comes from historical, literary and archaeological evidence. I do my best to stay away from religious beliefs as proof of one thing or another. Early Christians did blend pagan customs with Christian beliefs as part of how they converted pagans. I have hundreds of examples, but if you are interested then the following books may be something you could dive into. Pagans and Christians by Robert Lane Fox, The Rise of Christianity in Northern Europe by Carole Cusack, Christianizing the Roman Empire by Ramsay MacMullen, The Pagan Middle Ages by Ludo Mills. These are just a few books, there are many more and also look into syncretism too :)
Certainly. Irenaeus, who lived from 130 to 202 AD, wrote in the second century that Jesus was born on December 25 ( in Against Heresies).
Sextus Julius Africanus (160 to 240 AD) recorded in the year 221 AD that Jesus was conceived on March 25, extrapolating forward nine months that Jesus was born on December 25.
Hippolytus (170 to 236 AD) wrote that Jesus was born on December 25 in his Commentary on Daniel.
St Augustine mentions it too but that is later, around 400 AD.
Sol Invictus was created by Emperor Aurelian in 274 and may have been designed to undermine Christianity. Though it may have reflected earlier practices, I suppose, but I don't know.
Anyway, the idea of the pagan connection with Christmas only arose in the 12th century - so it is really old! Popularised by the History Channel etc. recently.
I used to think it was pagan in origin until I started following a bunch of historians on twitter. Every year they moan about the "myth" that Christmas is pagan. There are some academic writings on this issue out there. A few crop up in Google.
But as I said, most historians agree that pagan practices crossed over into Christianity so some of our customs have definitely come from there.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I will definitely look into this more.
Thank you! I'm looking forward to reading part 2. I find that the complexity and multi-layerdness of the past give me great relief - no such thing as "it's always been like this" and instead evolving, creative choices and political decisions by messy humans just like us.
Thank you Anna and yes I totally agree with you! :)
I’m fascinated by the historical origins of tradition. Enjoyed your article and excited to read more
Thank you Tammy for letting me know that and I am busy editing part 2 at this very moment!
Hi Jenny, thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. Yes, it is quite the mystery and very frustrating with thousands of years between us and them. There is definitely something with the winter solstice both with the rising and the setting of the sun at that time, but so much has been lost that even the Romans were confused! At this moment in time I haven't gone that far back in history to have any answers, but so far I haven't come across anything on the equinoxes which makes me believe that it has much to do with Wicca. I do have a few books on the topic of ancient ancient time keeping, Stonehenge etc which I hope to get to reading one day soon. Something I could possibly do next year as I will be getting to the point of running out of festivals to talk about! Take care and thank you for your support
Winter Solstice blessings to you too Nancy. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, it is always greatly appreciated. And yes, if only humans didn't have to meddle so much!