Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Pagan Christmas
I don't know who chose December 25 as Christmas, but I think there is little doubt that Jesus was not born on that date. Whoever picked the 25th, I wouldn't be surprised if they lived around here. Reportedly, the 25th was chosen because it was close to the winter solstice. I think it is important that something "exciting" happens this time of year, after all, we are down to only about six hours of daylight. "Up north," near Hammerfest, the sun never actually rises. I can't imagine how depressing this time of year would be if we weren't forced to venture out into the darkness into the chaos of last minute gift shopping. The madness of the rush of Christmas supplants any possible depression caused by lack of light. It is like hitting your thumb with a hammer to make the headache go away. When I first arrived, I noticed the difference in daylight. Now it all seems normal. Today the sun rose at 9:28 and it sets at 3:41. On a positive note, tomorrow will only be seven seconds shorter.
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There's more to it than this but Christians in an attempt to reclaim everything in creation under their theistic beliefs would celebrate or locate Christian celebrations on the dates of many pagan celebrations or festivals. Another example of this besides Xmas is Halloween which is the eve of All Saints Day, but also a pagan holiday related to the harvest. Again Christians wanted to replace if not eradicate anything pagan or not "sacred" in their mind. In the case of Xmas (the "X" by the way is actually a symbol for Christianity and not secular at all)being celebrated on December 25th it involved as I recall the above motive or intent and some other reason or rational. I'd have to research it again. I just don't remember all the details.
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