Type in blue lifted directly from Wikipedia. It’s not a source that can always be relied on as accurate, so I have only included facts that have a source reference, or that I have read elsewhere!
Yule or Yuletide ("Yule-time") is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt!
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground, or just above it.
The hunters may be the dead or the fairies (often in folklore connected with the dead). The hunter may be an unidentified lost soul, a deity or spirit of either gender, or may be a historical or legendary figure.
Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it. Mortals getting in the path of, or following the Hunt, could be kidnapped and brought to the land of the dead. A girl who saw Wild Edric's Ride was warned by her father to put her apron over her head to avoid the sight. Others believed that people's spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the cavalcade.
In Germany, where it was also known as the "Wild Army", or "Furious Army", its leader was given various identities, including Wodan (or "Woden"), Knecht Ruprecht (cf. Krampus), Berchtold (or Berchta), and Holda (or "Holle"). The Wild Hunt is also known from post-medieval folklore.
Yuletide was not celebrated in this country until the Norman invasion 1066!
The Celebration of the Nativity of Jesus goes back to the latter part of the first century and was closely connected to the Epiphany or 'manifestation of Christ to the gentiles' which was celebrated throughout Christendom on, or around the 6th January. Most of the stories of the birth of Christ didn't feature much before the Gospel of Luke was circulated and made more widely available. The texts and stories of Christmas were available at the beginning of the 2nd century and were accepted as part of the Canon of NT Scripture at the Synod of Hippo Regius AD393, and confirmed at the Councils of Carthage in AD 397. These councils were under the authority of St. Augustine of Hippo, who regarded the canon as already closed.
At the time the Roman Empire became Christian under the emperor Constantine 272 -337, the official religion of the empire was Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun). Sol was the deity connected with quite a few Roman cults, and an inscription referring to Sol Invictus appeared on all Roman coins until the middle of the reign of Constantine. The last inscription being AD387. Although not officially recognised by the new Christian Roman Empire, there were enough devotees in the 5th century that St. Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.
In order to stamp out their practices it was deemed expedient by the Western Church, to change the date of the Christian celebration of the Nativity, from January 6th, to December 25th, the winter Solstice, which was the main festival of the Sol Invictus associated cults.
The Christianisation of festivals and sacred places was common practice then, and still is today. It certainly worked in the matter of Christmas, for the celebration of the winter solstice and the cults of Sol were unheard of again until the late 19th and early 20th centuries when people became fascinated with all things Roman!
During the time following the Norman invasion, Yule and Christmas became common words for the celebration of the Nativity, but with little, or no thought for the pagan origins of the Yule festival. Again the term Yule went out of fashion until 16th century when George 1st of Hanover became King of England, bringing with him many Germanic customs. Again under Queen Victoria a new wave of Germanic customs came to England through Prince Albert, including the use of the Christmas tree and Yule Log. Never has there been any hint of pagan ritual or practices associated with them, until in the mid 20th century, when some atheists, who wanted to secularise Christmas, and undermine those who believe in Christianity, made a connection that wasn’t there!
As far as being wary of anything that ‘might’ have pagan connections I would argue that the whole of the salvation message is directed towards the pagan and the godless. In his letters St Paul constantly talks about people being lifted from the world, into Christ, and being set free by Grace. The same is true of festivals and places. By the practice of holiness on a specific date or in a special place, the evil associated with it is negated. A sinner is made clean by the blood of Jesus, and a place is made clean by its dedication to God.
There is a wonderful house in Kent which is now a house of healing. God is powerfully using that pace to heal broken lives and bodies. Once it was a centre of the Occult and witchcraft. God showed the present owners, that He wanted to reclaim the house and the land, and cleanse it from its past. It took months of fasting, prayer and spiritual battling, but it was worth it, it is now a place of real Christian blessing. We don’t forget the past, but we don’t follow those ways any more.
For Christians, the celebration of Christmas is a celebration of the Nativity, and will never be anything else! Far from abandoning the celebration of Nativity, Christians should be working hard to put Christ back into it! and teaching the world, the real, and only meaning, for this wonderful celebration.
Interesting that, in the book of Ezekiel, because of the evil practices of the Jews, in the Temple of God, He abandons the Temple for a time. His Glory departs from it, and it is laid waste. Next, he changes the hearts of his people, and they return to Him. He makes a new covenant with them. Then he commands them to go home and rebuild His temple, not somewhere else! but on the same site that had seen all the abominations. They are then instructed to cleanse the Temple, and once again his glory fills it, and it becomes a holy place.
The early Church cleansed the land of many pagan shrines, and taught the people about the grace and salvation of Jesus. Then, over these very places where pagan rituals had taken place, churches have been built, and they have become places of worship. No-one now thinks of their grim past, for they have been made new, and consecrated to God.
Christmas has always been a Christian celebration, hence it’s name Christ’s Mass. That it is now celebrated on the once pagan winter solstice or Yuletide festival is a matter of rejoicing. We do not however celebrate Yuletide or winter solstice, anymore than church buildings are used for pagan rites.
What those who are trying to stop the celebration of Christmas are doing is ,in effect, what some of the heretics of the early church were trying to do, when they tried to impose circumcision on new believers! They are denying the power of Christ to abolish the old covenant and give us a new one, based on grace.
Yes, To the secular word Christmas has become commercial, materialistic and greedy, and to some extent, Santa has become deified. But Christians don’t have to be that way. Indeed part of being a Christian is being different from the world, and holding on to higher standards.
Surely The Incarnation is worth celebrating! It’s good to use the time to remember and contact fringe relatives and old friends with a card and an expression of our love for them. It is good to give presents, again to show our love. And I, who personally hate the winter months, with their long evenings, short days, cold and damp, love to have a celebration in the middle of it, with family and friends. I find this time uplifting, both to the body and the soul.
