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Where did the origin of Santa Claus come from? When did people first start to celebrate Christmas?
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January 31, 2010 - Christmas was supposedly a day created to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Where did the origin/idea of Santa Claus come from?
Where did the idea to give gifts on Christmas come from?
Why do we put up Christmas trees?
Where did the idea to decorate trees and houses with lights,garlands,etc. come from?
When did people first start to celebrate Christmas?
How long has Christmas celebrations went on throughout history?
Why did people decide that December 25th should be the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ?
The Bible has no specific date on when Jesus Christ was born, so why December 25th?
Responses:
Those are alot of questions.This may answer a few. The Oosthoeks Encyclopedia explains: â[St. Nicholasâ] celebration in the household sprang from the church festivity (including surprises for the children) which in turn sprang from pre-Christian elements. Saint Nicholas, who rides on the rooftops, is the pagan god Wodan [Odin]. . . . Saint Nicholas was also the leader of the wild chase in which the souls of the dead visit the earth.â Yes, the Teutons believed that Odin, or Wodan, their chief god, led the souls of the dead on a furious cross-country ride during the âtwelve bad daysâ between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6). The resulting gale carried along the seeds of the produce of the fields, stimulating fertility. The apples, nuts, and other autumn produce given around âSt. Nicholas Dayâ? These were symbols of fertility. Ancient people believed that they could appease their gods by giving them presents during the cold, dark winter days. This would result in increased fertility for man, animal, and soil. Odin was accompanied by his servant Eckhard, the forerunner of Black Peter, who also carried a rod. As recently as the Middle Ages, it was the popular belief that certain trees and plants could render humans fertile and that merely striking a woman with a branch of such a tree sufficed to make her pregnant. The book Feest-en Vierdagen in kerk en volksgebruik (Holidays and Celebrations in the Church and in Popular Customs) mentions a few other similarities between Odin and âSaintâ Nicholas: âWodan, too, filled the boots and wooden shoes placed by the chimney but with gold. For Wodanâs steed, hay and straw were also placed in the wooden shoe. The last sheaf of the field was also for the horse.â The book Sint Nicolaas, by B. S. P. van den Aardweg, points to a few other striking similarities: âSt. Nicholas: a tall, powerful figure on a white horse. He has a long white beard, a crosier in his hand, and a miter on his head . . . with a wide, flowing bishopâs cloak. âWodan: a person of tall stature with a white beard. He wears a wide-brimmed hat pulled deeply over his eyes. In his hand he holds a magic spear. He is clad in a wide mantle and rides his loyal gray horse Sleipnir. âThere are more of these apparent similarities: Wodan rode his gray horse through the air and shuddering people offered cakes with filling in addition to meat and produce of the fields. St. Nicholas rides on the rooftops and children prepare hay, carrots, and water for the horse. Gingersnaps and the rod were symbols of fertility long before the beginning of the St. Nicholas festivities.â Modern-Day Fertility Rites A number of other customs in connection with âSaintâ Nicholas likewise betray their pagan origins. For example, in northern areas on December 4, young boys from 12 to 18 years of age appear on the streets. Dressed in grotesque costumes adorned with feathers, shells, and other regional products, the masked boys represent âlittle Saint Nicholases,â or Sunne Klaezjen. During the evening of the following day, men 18 years and older get their turn. In the early evening, they rove the streets. Using brooms, buffalo horns, and cudgels, they drive away all the women, girls, and little boys they happen to meet. Young girls are made to dance or jump over a stick. The purpose of all of this? Again it was fertilityâthe ever-recurring concern of ancient cultures. Winter was a dark and anxious period, and it was often viewed as the time during which the fertility god was asleep or dead. It was thought that by various means the deity could be given new life or that the god or goddess could at least be given some assistance. Gifts, dances, noise, blows from a fertility rodâall of these were viewed as ways to expel wicked spirits and increase fertility in humans, animals, and the soil. So when young girls jump over the stick, they mimic their ancestors who believed that the height to which they jumped would be the height to which flax would grow. By driving out women and children, the young men reenact the rite of driving out wicked spirits
- Santa Clause is related to St. Nicholas who would leave gifts such as small toys and oranges in children's shoes. It came from the Christian custom of sharing and catholicism (universalism) Christmas trees were a pagan tradition that carried over when they started to convert I'm not sure where the idea to decorate them came from, probably just to make things look nice or the commercialization of christmas celebrated Since christianity became more common, probably around 40-50AD It was put there to coincide with the pagan solstice celebrations so that the Christians would not be persecuted Jesus was also probably born sometime in spring, either march or april. hope this all helps.
- That's a big list, I'll change the order a bit but I'll try to answer them all When did people first start to celebrate Christmas? around 400 AD, before that it was actually a sin to celebrate birthdays (also answers question 6) Why do we put up Christmas Trees and where did the idea to decorate .... come from? It comes from the old pagan holiday of Solaria, the festival of light, celebrated on the 25th of December (google is your friend). Placing christmas on that date was a way to make pagans convert pagans to the christian church without making them lose a celebration. (also answers the last two questions) Now for Santa The idea of santa clause came from europe, mostly Holland. There they used to celebrate "Sinterklaas" A childrens holiday where Saint Nicholas gives children presents. on december fifth , the day the actual saint nicholas died. (google nichlolas of myra). When America was found, europeans went to the new world and of course brought their old traditions. There the traditions changed. Sinterklaas changed into Santa Claus, they moved the holiday to christmas.
- "Santa Claus" comes from the Dutch (Sinterklaas / Sinter Claes) Dec 25th was picked because the Catholic Church needed converts, so they picked a day that was already celebrated by many pagans. Read this for answers to all your questions http://www.history.com/content/christmas
- Actual St. Nickolas (AKA Santa) was born in Patara, a seafaring port in Lycia. He was appointed bishop of the somewhat derelict diocese of Myra (now Demre), which he transformed by his holiness and good works. Patara is on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Modern day fictional figure of Santa is based on a poem written in America in early 1800s.
- Saint Nicholas of Myra was a Bishop who started the tradition in Turkey.
- "Where did the origin/idea of Santa Claus come from?" From an anonymous poem sent to Readers Digest in the early 1900's titled "Twas the Night Before Christmas", the poem is about St. Nicholas, a Catholic Saint, that was known for giving toys to poor children at Christmas. The poem was so popular that children of American puritans (who rejected Christmas in their protestantism against the Catholic Church) actually looked for "St. Nick" on Christmas eve. "Where did the idea to give gifts on Christmas come from?" See above, Coca Cola was the first to capitalize on the popularity of the poem about St. Nick, they marketed a St Nick mythical character, who later became known as Santa Claus. Coca Cola launched the commercialization of Christmas. "Why do we put up Christmas trees?" It is a merging of the pagan tradition, pagans used apples to decorate their trees, and Christians (many of which were converts from paganism) used religious ornaments and ribbon (red for the blood of Christ, and white for baptism). As time when on, garland and ornaments and red glass balls (instead of apples) were used. "Where did the idea to decorate trees and houses with lights,garlands,etc. come from?" Pagans and the Christian converts from Paganism that still valued their cultural traditions. In some areas in Canada and Alaska, you'll see Totem Poles as part of the art in Churches. This is reflective of the lingering cultural history and traditions of these areas for the converts to Christianity, as well as a sign of respect for the culture and history of the area. The Christian religion isn't about viewing differing cultures and traditions as evil, Christianity views only what is in violation of Gods law as evil. Christianity is for everyone, of every culture. If a persons cultural traditions/history/beliefs are in violation of God's moral law, then they need to be tossed, but if not, then a Christian preserving their cultural heritage isn't wrong. Just because Pagans decorated trees, that doesn't make decorating trees inherently immoral. Christianity is not a nation, like Judaism and Islam. Christianity is not a religion designed to impose a nationalistic culture on other cultures. "When did people first start to celebrate Christmas?" Shortly before the liturgical calendar of the Catholic church was made, the 2 main events of the Gospel being Christmas and Easter. The Gospel is a year-long event in the liturgical calendar, for instance John the Baptists birth is celebrated on 6-24, given the 6 month difference between his birth and Christs, so whether the dates are accurate is besides the point. I think Constantine instituted the Holy-day as a national one after he legalized Christianity, but the date of Dec. 25th (or March 25th depending on your calendar) was the calculation made by a monk using the historical aspects in gospels and secular history as his frame of reference. There was some miscalculations in the dates due to the switch from the Hebrew calendar to the Julian, and Julian to the Gregorian, as well as the monk miscalculating the timeframe of King Herod. The miscalculations on the part of the Monk in regards to King Herod is also why Jesus' birth is now believed by scholars to be between 3-6 ad, rather than 0 ad. In the Eastern tradition Christmas is celebrated in January, as per their liturgical calendar. "How long has Christmas celebrations went on throughout history?" Christmas is short for "the Christ Mass", it is a high mass celebration in the Catholic Church. The range is from 200-400 ad, off and on throughout, there was much controversy even then over celebrating the birth of someone, as that was understood as something only Pagans do. But understand, just because Pagans did it, that doesn't automatically render it immoral. Christ's coming was foretold and anticipated, so why would it be immoral to celebrate his birth when the anticipation and fulfillment of his foretold coming is religiously based? Also Christians don't worship a tree, or nature, or a change in seasons, so decorating a tree for the sake of decorating it as part of celebrating the birth of Christ isn't immoral. In Christianity, it is what is going on in your heart that matters. Consider the moral contrast of Christianity with Judaism, where under Jewish law you could be sentenced to death for bending down to tie your shoelace in front of a statue. It doesn't matter if you only bowed down to tie your shoe, you bowed down in front of a statue, and your sentence for doing so is death. Christianity is not a religion that is about the letter of the law (like Judaism and Islam) but is a religion of the heart of the law. Judaic and Islamic "letter of the law"-thinking is why we sometimes see people throw a fit over Christians celebrating the birthday of their Lord and over Christians decorating Christmas trees. "But, but, Pagans do that!" So what? "Why did people decide that December 25th should be the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ?" Explained in previous answer. "The Bible has no specific date on when Jesus Christ was born, so why December 25th?" Explained in previous answer.
- Coke came up with the current image of Santa in 1931. that is why he wears red.
- Answering in order of your questions: Dutch emigrants who settled in North America took the âSaintâ Nicholas celebration with them. In time the name was corrupted to âSanta Claus.â The stately bishop was transformed into a red-cheeked, obese fellow dressed in a bright-red suit. His bishopâs miter was exchanged for an elfâs hat and the white horse for a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Santa Claus, however, continued to be a gift bringer, although his visitation was shifted to Christmas Eve. The Encyclopedia Americana explained: âMost of the customs now associated with Christmas were not originally Christmas customs but rather were pre-Christian and non-Christian customs taken up by the Christian church. Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated in mid-December, provided the model for many of the merry-making customs of Christmas. From this celebration, for example, were derived the elaborate feasting, the giving of gifts, and the burning of candles.â The article in the Catholic newspaper pointed out that back in ancient times, many evergreens, such as âholly, butcherâs broom, laurel and branches of pine or fir were considered to have magical or medicinal powers that would ward off illness.â It went on to say: âOn Christmas Eve, 24 December, Adam and Eve would be commemorated with the highly popular episode of the Tree of the earthly Paradise . . . The tree ought to have been an apple tree, but since an apple tree would have been inappropriate in winter, a fir tree was set on the stage and some apples put on its branches or, to symbolize the future coming of Redemption, wafers prepared with crushed biscuits in special moulds that were symbols of the Eucharistic presence of Jesus, as well as sweets and gifts for children. The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: âTree worship, common among the pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.â THE Christmas spirit is not Christian, because it did not originate with Christ. It predated the Christian era by many centuries. Shortly after the Flood the spirit and the whole celebration of Christmas had its beginning. It began with Nimrod, grandson of Ham the son of Noah, a wicked, ruthless dictator, responsible for the great organized worldly apostasy from God that continues to this day. In contempt for God and all decency Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis. After his untimely death, his mother-wife, Semiramis, taught the lie that her husband-son was a spirit god. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth to new life of the dead Nimrod. She taught that on the anniversary of his birth, which was December 25, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. The historian, Professor Hislop, says: âNow the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivusâthe slain god come to life again.ââThe Two Babylons, pages 97, 98. Abbot Duchesne says its most ancient testimonial is a calendar âdrawn up at Rome in 336.Origines du Culte Chrétien, page 248. December 25 was adopted as Jesusâ birthday from pagan celebrations, as U.S. Catholic explains: âThe Romansâ favorite festival was Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ended with the âbirthday of the unconquered sunâ (Natalis solis invicti) on December 25. Somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century, savvy officials of the church of Rome decided December 25 would make a dandy day to celebrate the birthday of the âsun of righteousness.â Christmas was born.â The article continues: âIt is impossible to separate Christmas from its pagan origins.â
- it was a political move to pacify them who didn't believe in Christ birth, regardless of the date, but it was inevitable , so mixing santa with it was also a marketing Eureka, realized and its been like this ever since. Watch out you don't fall into judging the righteous with looking at the santa marketing part, Its the JW's pitfall
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