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.
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! 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 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.
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! 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.
I’m fascinated by the historical origins of tradition. Enjoyed your article and excited to read more