Investigating Holiday Traditions
Throughout time, religion has been intertwined with daily life. Whether it be nonchalant idioms, such as acting as the “Devil’s Advocate”, or the natural auto-response to say “Bless you” when someone sneezes... Religion has entangled itself into the modern world without the common person’s wherewithal. Unfortunately, just as any story passed down through generations, the origins and understandings of the christmas traditions may be twisted or askew. This is especially true now that Christmas is celebrated by both christians and nonchristians around the globe. Christmas traditions have been adapting for the last century, but where do the origins of these traditions stem from?
For this reason, I thought it would be fun to investigate the christmas holiday “traditions”.
Yule Log
Growing up, I was unfamiliar with pagan religions, or really any religions outside of Christianity. I remember watching a scene from “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas” where our leading lady searches the boiler room for the perfect Yule Log. Over the years, I heard other TV shows, movies, or read portions of books that referenced this overlooked tradition. During this time, I never investigated the purpose behind this item. During my high school years I became infatuated with history, specifically European history. This is where I learned that the Yule Log was just one of many pagan traditions that Christians adopted into their religious practices. Prior to Christianity becoming a dominant religion, Yule Logs were lit during the winter season across all of Europe. This practice was to bring hope, prosperity, abundance, and of course luck into the new year. Now, most people are unaware of the origins. They just enjoy the christmas dessert themed as a long without a second thought.
Christmas Tree
If you know someone who is an advocate of christmas, then you know that the Christmas tree is a very big deal. My hairdresser has themed christmas trees in her shop, as well as her house. For example, she has a kitchen themed tree in her kitchen that has ornaments that would represent or be seen in the kitchen. Decorating the christmas tree is a favored passed time amongst many, therefore I would love to know… Was this activity jump started by Christians? Many countries and cultures have brought trees and other plants within the home prior to the winter season to help remind them what life looks like in the dead of winter. Depending on the culture, evergreen trees were believed to ward off evil spirits, illness, and witchcraft. According to the History.com, the tradition of decorating the tree originated in Germany by the devout Christians’ who brought the decorated trees within their home.
Hanging Stockings
Did you ever wonder why stockings are hung from the mantle during the christmas holiday? If you remember the christmas claymation movies from the 60s/70s, in the movie “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” they explain that the reason behind the stockings is due to a need to hide the toys being delivered by Santa Claus. This storyline is one of many expressing the reasons behind the act of hanging stockings on the mantle during the holidays. I’ve been listening to the stories of my great grandparents and grandparents for years, explaining the origins of the stockings hung from the mantle. I believe that this has less to do with a religious connotations, but more to do with a lighthearted tradition of christmas created in the early 1900s probably due to the great depression and other financial hardships expanding across the globe.
Holly & Mistletoe
Have you ever heard the lyrics “Deck the halls with boughs of holly”? As has been mentioned in my previous blogs, there are spiritual beliefs/meanings behind everything in our world. This can be anything from animals, to colors, to herbs, plants, and more. Pagan religions were entangled with the longevity of the holly and mistletoe plants. These plants were able to survive during the harshest of winter. This led to the spiritual connotations recognized today of fertility and eternal life. Similarly to the pagans, christians brought in these plants because of the spiritual representation, the only difference was the connect to the christian belief of Jesus Christ and his rebirth.
Gift Giving
Gift giving has its ups and downs in society. There are two trains of thought when it comes to the origin of this holiday custom. While some people recognize gift giving as a tradition repeated to represent the three wiseman in the story of Jesus’ birth, others recognize the origin of gift giving as an extension of the Ancient Roman practice of Saturnalia as a symbol to give hope and luck.
Cookies for Santa
Did this tradition start with Santa? Well, in the polytheistic religions, we see people of various ages offer sacrifices to the gods/goddesses that they believe in. In almost every religion the followers present offerences to their higher power. It is not a far stretch that Santa would receive something in return for his hard work during the night of christmas eve. During the great depression when many families were suffering financial hardship, this tradition was founded to help children understand the importance behind giving. In an effort to teach generosity and appreciation, cookies have been left out for Santa for many generations since.
History is challenging because most of history is up for interpretation. The importance behind history is keeping and open-mind and allowing yourself to view something from multiple perspectives. In the case of these holiday traditions, many of the aspects that we follow today are said to be christian but may have deeper roots. Either way, the traditions are fun and help allow for happy memories within a household. Take some time during your holidays to create some traditions of your own with your family and friends!
