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Show 4 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON "RING all the centuries that II ll liave elaPse(1 since the' birth of 19 f$ 'nr'st Save to what are now JblS known as the Christian nations fjfWT2J f "ie world the occasion for A"xis5f celebrating one day in each I &531v"--) vear 'D nonor tlira, there have become associated with v that day a host of symbols, traditions and customs, ! -contributed by the various countries, which have made it, more perhaps than any other red letter day on our calendars, an international holiday. We Americans are somewhat prone to place Christmas in the same category with the distinctively distinc-tively American holidays of Fourth of July, Memorial day. and Thanksgiving day, without always al-ways realizing that we are only one of the many peoples who are celebrating it. It is a curious fact. too. that associated with this "Christian holiday" are many symbols and traditions tradi-tions of pagan origin The date itself. December 2fi (which is now universally accepted as the birthday of Christ, ilthough there is no exact historical his-torical record to establish that birthday). Is derived from many sources, all antedating the Christian era by ninny centuries. In fact the historic his-toric background for that date Is the earliest period in the history of mankind, dating as it does from the time when primitive man first began to recognize the phenomena of the' changing seasons 'In relation to his own Ih'e. One of these was the winter solstice on December Decem-ber 21 which was observed with festivity in Persia, Per-sia, China and Egypt ii ancient times. In some parts of China they still hold a thanksgiving feast on December 21 without knowing the reason for it. The ancient Egyptians ate goose (the historical precedent for the Christmas goose or turkey of the present day; for dinner, in honor of the winter solstice. It Is i curious coincidence that the symbol sym-bol for goose in the Egyptian hieroglyphics Is he Mrne as the symho for child, so thai there i something of an analogy in the Egyptian celebration celebra-tion of the wintei solstice and the Christian celebration cele-bration of Christmas in honor of the Christ child. In ancient Rome the winter solstice was also celebrated, because when the shortest day of the year was over and the December sun began to climb its upward course, the Romans thrilled to ,'ie promise of coming spring. The festival they 'ield was in honor of their god Saturn and at that time they prepared a feast which they called the Saturnalia. There were gifts and merrymaking 8"d banquets of true Roman magnificence and 'heir temples were decorated with flowers and reen branches. Under the reign of the Caesars slaves were liberated d were licensed to dine "ith their masters; prisoners were not punished for their misdeeds and war never was declared. Truly it was a time of "peace on earth, 'good Till to men." When the Romans invaded Britain they brought with them their customs and found that the cele-""a'iiin cele-""a'iiin of the Saturnalia was somew.iat similar to 8 celebration held at approximately the same time h? the pagan Britons, especially those of the Druid Priesthood. In these rites the mistletoe, which was Md sacred ,y the Druids was cut from the sacred ""k with a golden sickle by the prince of the nru'ils. Later when the mistletoe was hung in the farinlnll?es the young men had the privilege of jessing the girls under it, plucking, at each kiss, a "my frm the SI)ray -vhen the berries were all Plucked, kissing time was over. So it was from these pagan Druids that we re 'cived the mistletoe as a symbol of Christmas, as e did also the custom of burning the Yule log Th Scandinavians, from whom we get some of '"."r Christmas customs also had the Yule log and i '"'"led Yule fires in the night in honor of 1 "'W "'thunder god. The Yule log Has survived as one y the principal features of the modern English "'service of Christmas and around it has grown "P o number of traditions or superstitions of us """ In northern England it is believed that if a "minting person or a bare-fo..ted person comes the house while the log is burning it is an "M f had luck. They also put away the brand 'chaining from the Yule log very carefully for vj In lighting the Yule log on next year's Christmas fire. Just how all of these customs came to be associated asso-ciated with the Christian holiday, celebrated In honor of the birth of Christ, cannot be definitely determined, for the merging of customs of different differ-ent races and nations Is such a gradual one that It is impossible to assign definite dates for the origin of many traditions. The early Christians frowned upon the pagan ceremonies held at the time of the. winter solstice; yet they could not prevent their invasion of their own holy days. 'In the earliest days of the Christian era Epiphany, January 6, the day Christ was supposed to have been baptized, bap-tized, was observed by the followers of the new religion and eventually the observance of December Decem-ber 25 as Christmas grew out of a sort of compromise com-promise between Epiphany, January 6, and December Decem-ber 21, the day of the winter solstice and the high holiday of the pagans. Gradually the Christian Christmas began to replace the pagan festivals and the principal holiday of the wintei season began to be observed on December 25. However, a part of the Greek church still observes January 6, ignoring December 25, while the Russians, because be-cause of their adherence to the Julian calendar observe Christmas some 13 days later than do other peoples. Although the first observance of December 25 as Christmas has been lost In obscurity. It Is said that Julian I, bishop of Rome from 337 to 352 A. D., established the festival at Rome some time between those two dates and It Is probable that by the Fifth century the date was pretty well established throughout the Christian orld. King Arthur Is believed to have held the first Christmas day festival In Britain in the city of York In 521 A. D. This festival lasted for several days and so appealed to his people that It became an annual custom. It was about this time, too, that the association of the mixture of Druid and Roman symbols and traditions began to appear In the Christmas celebrations. The Christians saw with alarm the association of what they considered heathenish rites with their own ceremonies, but they were powerless to check the growth of the alien influences and the Importance of the 7es tival gradually grew until there occurred an event which seemed to the Christians a just rebuke for the Increasing importance of the pagan traditions. tradi-tions. In 878 King Alfred was holding high revelry on Christmas day when he was surprised by the Danes, his army cut to pieces and he himself became be-came a fugitive. In 1223 there was an Important Christmas celebration cele-bration staged by St. Francis of Assist in a grotto near Greccio In the Ahruzzi mountains of Italy There was a pageant at midnight, portraying the Nativity, and Thomas of Celano. who was among the worshippers, writes that they saw a smiling babe appear In the arms of St. Francis as he bent over the manger. The report of .his miracle spread over the land and a convent was built there to commemorate It. Giotto painted a picture -of the Incident and this celebration and this picture pic-ture did much to give us our present-day ideas of the Nativity of Christ. By the early Middle ages. Christmas had become the greatest of the annual festivals and. although in some countries, notably England, the pagan elements of the celebration still existed for the most part the Christian element was emphasized Churches were decorated and plays concerning the Nativity were given. Carols were sung In the streets 'and images of the Virgin and Christ-were carried about from house to house. There was feasting and merrymaking, too. as well as religious ceremonies. In the England of Shakespeare's time -hi Christmas festivities were very elaborate, lasting until Twelfth day. i Epiphany and dnrina tin-time tin-time there was no work of any kind. So the "Merrie Christmas" of Old England became est ah li'shed Then came the period of the Puritan.-whose Puritan.-whose straight-laced Ideas gave them a Keen dls taste for Christmas festivities, especially those in which the pagan elements were most evident. So they prevailed upon parliament to prohibit such celebrations and Christmas was made a day of fasting and prayer instead of a day of feasting and fun But after the Restoration the old .-ele- brations came back, somewhat subdued for awhile, but eventually rather similar to what they had been before. If the "Merrie Christmas" of Old England with Its Yule logs, mistletoe, holly, cheery Christmas carols, Christmas cards, plum puddings and mince pies and all of the other elements which combine to make it a season of gayety, have served to change the original character of the ho'iday, It Is equally true that other countries have contributed other traditions which help make It a joyous season. sea-son. Germany has contributed the ChristJias tree and Martin Luther is said to have been the first to set up a Christmas tree In that country. Holland has contributed the jolly old Santa Claus as the symbol of cheerful giving and the custom of hanging hang-ing up Christmas stockings in which he Is to put his gifts. The latter Is an outgrowth of the custom of the Dutch children of placing their wooden shoes in the chimney corner on St. Nicholas eve (December 6) when the spirit of the good SL Nicholas (they called him Sinterklaas, which later became Santa Claus) made his rounds and left '-is gifts for them. This custom of hanging up stockings stock-ings is also said to have originated In Russia from two customs. In east Russia, among the peasantry, there was a custom whereby a young girl discovered through divination whom she would have for her husband and the traditional formula in this custom was "Come and take my stockings off." Among the professional classes parents placed money in the stockings of their children p.t marriage as a gift for the othei partner. Although Holland is usually credited with being the contributor of Santa Claus. as a matter of fact, this symbol of Christmas is a composite character and under a variety of names he Is a legacy from a number of nations. In Holland he Is Sinterklaas. or San Nicolaas; In Germany fie Is Kriss Kringle, a derivation from Krlst Klndli. the Christ Child; and in France he is Bnnhomme Noel or Pere Noel, Father Christmas. And in Italy, the children believe that he has a companion com-panion on his annual trip, a sort of Mrs. Santa Claus whom they know as La Befana. prohably a lndifVnfion of the Tfnlian word for Epiphany. But It must not be supposed that any one of the , Christmas customs has been contributed by any one country exclusively. In nearly all of the Christmas traditions there are contributions from several nations and every country claims a share in most of them. America, the youngest of all nations, has inherited Its Christmas customs from all of them, but it has. so we believe. Improved upon many and contributed one or two of Its own The principal one. of course, is the Christmas fur key. for the turkey is "all-American " Rut as evi dence of the fact that Christmas Is truly an International holiday, consider these words of one writer on the history of Christinas: "We eat the, Egyptian's goose it may have changed to a turkey tur-key in America as a sacrifice to the sun. they tell us. We hang the mistletoe of the Druids, bnrn the Yule log of the Nordic pagans. Holly, some authorities say. Is our own symbolizing the. crown of thorns the Christ wore to (lolgotha The reel herries are drops' nf hlood We drink r he wassail bowl, some of us. handed to our Hps tiy the Vikings We decorate the sacred oak which, by the grace of St. Boniface, is an evergreen. We await the coming of the (iennanic Santa Claus for our gifts. And we chant peace on earth good will to all men. which, after all. is the most Important." |
