(Posted in the Christianity board also) I'm writing a paper for my HST 105 class about the pagan traditions that Christians base some of their traditions off of. Do you know of any good resources on this subject? Any thoughts? Since it's that time of year, I'm focusing on Christmas traditions. *hugs* ~*BA*~
You'd be hard pressed to find a Christmas tradition that ISN'T based in Paganism. Well, except the birth of Christ which didn't happen in December, the holiday was moved there in 325 to coincide with Yule/Saturnalia. Christmas Tree Jolly Elf Lighting the tree or candles on the longest night of the year Wassailing Mistletoe Wreaths All of these are Pagan traditions.
let's see... Christmas itself - this was the festival of the birth of Mithras in Roman times, also being close to the winter solstice it was often associated with "reborn god" myths in pagan Europe. Yule Log - this was an English/Celtic/general pagan tradition before Christianity, the log kept burning for severaldays (12 being the usual number). wassailing - comes from pagan Saxon and Viking drinking rituals. One guy (wasn't really a women's thing) says "Wes heil!" and quaffs. His friend responds "Drinkheil!" and also quaffs. rinse and repeat until both parties are completely slathered. Mistletoe - used by the druids to decorate their altars around this time. Cut with ceremonial sickles usually.
Don't forget about all the saints! Several saints were once pagan gods. Some say the whole idea of Jesus dates back to different pagan deities. Zeus and Hercules is a big one as well as Osiris and Isis. Isis basically gave a similar virgin birth to Horus(Osiris had his sexual organs done away with by Set). There are images online of Isis breast feeding Horus that are similar to the famous ones of the Madonna and Christ. As far as academic resources go. Get on some sort of database like JSTOR if your university is affiliated with them.
Easter has roots deep paganism. For example, the egg and rabbit were fertility symbols, hence the easter egg and bunny.
