Who Put Christ In The Solstice?

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Jerry West - Writer


Once more we have come to the end of a year. The Sun has reached its nadir on the horizon of the northern hemisphere, and we will once again begin the journey back to summer and fishing season. In earlier times people could contemplate their future and wonder how many fishing seasons they had left in their life, meaning of course how much longer they had to live. Today I wonder which will end first, my life or the return of the fish.

The season that we are celebrating now has deep roots in the history and culture of our species. One often hears the phrase "put Christ back into Christmas" as if Christmas is a creation of the Christian faith. Well, perhaps the name is, but the holiday goes back much farther than Christianity. The season that we celebrate is that of the Winter Solstice, the point where the days once again become progressively longer and another annual cycle of life on the planet begins. A celebration that is found across many ancient cultures.

The ancient Egyptians decorated their homes with palm fronds on the shortest day of the year and celebrated for twelve days. Similar traditions can be found among the Hebrews and in Asia. The Scandinavians have given us Yule logs and Christmas trees from their ancient celebrations. Evergreens were seen by them as a promise of the return of Spring. In Celtic culture holly and mistletoe were significant, symbolizing fertility. In ancient Rome the celebration was called Saturnalia, and from the Pagan Romans we get the decorating of trees with lights and ornaments. Even some Christmas carols have their roots in Pagan rituals rather than in the Christian Church, and Santa Claus' history traces back to the pre-Christian times of Northern Europe. Christ, however, was more than likely not born in December.


So, perhaps a better question is "who put Christ in the Solstice?" It happened in the Fourth Century, after Christianity was adopted as the official religion by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor.

Religion is a tool of politics, a device for social control, and alternative religions and beliefs were then, as always, a problem for priests and those that they served. People were reluctant to give up their party time, so Constantine declared Christmas an immovable feast to be celebrated on December 25.

The Church then, over time, began co-opting Pagan festivals and customs and reassigning them Christian meaning. The Christmas Tree, for example, was proclaimed, because of its triangular shape, to symbolize the Holy Trinity. The Solstice festival, the celebration of the birth of the Sun, was changed to celebrate the birth of the Son.

Christians, like other radicals, often have a hard time agreeing on the finer points with one another - witness the Reformation and a few more sordid episodes in Church history - so the acceptance of Christmas celebrations was not universal throughout the Church. The Protestant regime of Oliver Cromwell in England actually banned Christmas celebrations, and Christmas as we know it today did not begin to really take shape until the 19th Century. Of course one could argue that the Christmas that we know in this new century did not really take shape until the advent of mass marketing and the mindless production for witless consumption of the last half of the last century.

In any event, whether you are celebrating the Son or the Sun, or just out to have a good time, this is still the season of hope and joy, and love. These are three things that we could use a lot more of in this world, and whose season ought to be extended.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Who-Put-Christ-In-The-Sols-by-Jerry-West-091221-932.html

[midnight]

1. You post some great pieces... There is always a phrase or two that makes

me look at something I've been told about differently. For instance, the phrase "Christians as Radicles" , "Religion as a tool of Politics". Thanks for being such a good teacher.

[havocmom]

3. Yep, "Religion as a tool of Politics" hit me like a bucket of cool, refreshing water

That pretty well 'spains much of human history, and misery.

[Raster]

2. Religion is a tool of politics and a device for social control!

[formercia]

6. Great Sig. n/t

[old mark]

4. Christian churches did because people were celebrating anyway.

The "christmas tree" and holiday parties and gifts were popular holdovers from the winter celebrations in europe since forever ago.


mark

[noel711]

5. This is not news... but thanks for the reminder

In his book "The Origins of the LIturgical Year"
professor Thomas Talley clarifies (with incredible
scholarship) that the holy days of the Christian church have their
basis in holy days that were set apart far earlier
than the Christian church. The church simply
settled their holy days on days that were already
in human consciousness.

Or as I tell my parishoners,
the pagans were there first.
The church simply pre-empted them
for their own use.

Most people look at me with a vacant stare,
but no one ever claimed Americans know history.

No, Jesus wasn't born on Dec. 25th..
and frankly, all the fervent literalists,
with their 'Happy Birthday Jesus' parties,
complete with cakes, are trite and silly.

[newtothegame]

10. ...

"All the fervent literalists, with their 'Happy Birthday Jesus' parties, complete with cakes, are trite and silly."

Who cares? Let them do their thing, and we'll do ours; what's the point in stirring the pot with statements like that? And if you wanna say that they're the ones stirring the pot, complaining about us taking Christ out of Christmas, I'd say, ok? We call them idiots for engaging in that kind of discourse, so what's our excuse?

[TexasObserver]

7. Yes, Christianity adopted solstice from the Sun worshipping pagans of Rome.

The rebirth of the Sun became the birth of the "son."

The tale of Jesus is full of allusions to the era of Sun worshippers and astro theology. Does the "Sun" not walk on water, when the early or late Sun light dances across the water?

Much of the story of Jesus is no doubt myth adopted from other hero stories of the region from the 2000 years preceding his teachings. That's assuming he lived at all, which I tend to favor. I think he was a masterful teacher who had learned Eastern teachings and brought them back to his native land.

But the celebration of the shortest day of the year in our hemisphere has been a practice for thousands of years predating Jesus. And why not? If you can make it past that night, you can make it another year. The very Yule log was just a big ass log that would make it through the night, because letting the fire go out is not an option.

[billyclem]

12. Dec 25th was co-opted from Mithraism.

It was the birthday of Mithras, the diety of a very popular competing religion. He also happened to have been born of a virgin in a cave. Mithraism also used a sacramental meal of bread and wine prior to the early Christians.

[TexasObserver]

13. Mithra was merely one of many myths birthed by celestial events of Dec 25th..

The reason for the date was not Mithra. It was the solstice and reemergence of the sun on the 25th.

You've got it ass backwards. Mithra is a myth created by astro theology, not the reverse.

Mithra was one of many hero tales that grew out of astro theology. The date December 25th is keyed to the sun's movements, not Mithra, not Jesus.

[pleah]

8. K&R

[dugaresa]

9. my favorite parish priest (now retired) pointed out these same things during mass once

he basically stated that in order to gain more converts the church adopted/adapted traditions of other religions and regions to make conversion easier and more fluid for folks.

[Syntheto]

11. Swift put it best....

...with his take on religion with the device of the battle between the 'Big-Enders' who cracked their eggs open on the big side, and the 'Little-Enders', who chose the other side.

It's one of my most vivid memories of 'Gulliver's Travels' and woo-boy, does it sum up everything wrong about ALL religions, whether they're monotheistic, polytheistic, or pagan natural spirits. It's ALL bullshit.

[ihavenobias]

14. K & R (#15).

A lot of Christian acquaintances don't believe me. Maybe if they see it in writing...

;)

[StillHopingForChange]

15. I absolutely love

explaining the origins of the Dec. 25th holiday to my religiously inclined family and friends and watching them scamper and stammer to disprove it. Makes me smile.

[winyanstaz]

16. yes indeed...well written :)

and a Blessed Solstice to you all.:)

[Uncle Joe]

17. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Joanne.:thumbsup:

[Number_Six]

18. First Christian emperor?

Man should've been nicked "Slick Connie". If you believe he was a sweetie, think again. He was a mix of Huey P Long and Stalin.

Connie saw the budding Xtian movement as yet another way to dominate and control; the other religions didn't come with so many rules and regs as Xtianity did, and where there are rules....one needs a ruler!

He even had his own Karl Rove: Bishop Eusebius, who is pretty much known among the academics as the forger who dumped that suspect paragraph into Antiquities.

Lovely chap. Anal retentive. The perfect gift for authoritarian rule.

[bertman]

19. Refreshing. Thanks Joanne98. I'm going to try to work this into the dinner conversation on

Christmas Eve with the fundie family members. Should be interesting.

Rec.