What is Christmas?

So what is the history of this holiday?

Let's travel back in time and see.

Photograph by Reverend Steve Waites

After solstice on December 21^st . the darkest night of the year, the renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the later Roman Empire as the “Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun,”  also known as Saturnalia, around December 25^th .

In a nutshell, Saturnalia, associated with Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, liberation and parties was a 10 day period of wine, feasting, gift-giving, and song held across the Roman empire where literally anything was okay and laws were suspended for a brief stretch of time................

Yule

Now lets move on to Yule, the festival of the Sun's rebirth. The Yule log represented the sun and was lit on the eve of Solstice for good luck in the coming year. Other important symbols were Holly wreathes and Mistletoe.

Mistletoe was considered very sacred to the Druids who called it the Healing Bough and believed that it processed great healing power. access to the unseen realms and a sense of immortality to those who hang it over a doorway during this season.

Let's look at other favorites, the Christmas tree. It is said that the lights and ornaments hung on the tree represent the Sun and Moon and stars as they appear on the Cosmic Tree of Life and therefore may help us symbolize and remember the souls of our ancestors at this auspicious time. 

Just gotta like Santa Claus

He’s said to be primarily based on St. Nicholas, a Fourth Century bishop from modern day Turkey. As far as one can tell the modern version of Santa first appeared as a chubby guy in a fur coat in a poem written in 1823 by Clement Moore. I'm sure we all remember the following snippit:-

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse'.........

Things really took off in 1931 when a popular soft drink's company designed a fat, jolly chap dressed in read and white, their corporate colors, and the rest is history and marketing.  

On a personal level this might be the only time of the year that we allow ourselves the luxury and perfect opportunity to reach out to long-distance friends, relatives and loved one's and show them that we care very much about their well being. 

Reverend Steve Waites, M.Th

Sacred Foundations, Inc.

Trustee, Instructor

Reverend Waites has spent a lifetime studying sacred geometry,

leylines and indigenous cultures and rituals.