Yule Customs Have a Pagan Past
By HOWARD BENEDICT
On Christmas day we honor the birth of Christ with hymns and
prayers. But many of the tradiCional customs of this holiday—the
jreenery, gaiety, fine foods and gifts—derive from our pagan an
cestors.
Behind all of our customs lie legends, some predating the Nativity.
In the clatter that frequently accompanies Christmas today, these
stories which come from many lands are all but forgotten. Here are
some of them:
Christmas day: The exact day of
Christ’s birth is not known, per
haps because no one thought of
celebrating it until 400 years after
He died. The Christians decided
on Dec. 25 to counteract the revel
ries of the Roman celebration of
Saturnalia, which extended from
Dec. 17 to 24. The Saturnalia,
which originated before the birth
of Christ, honored the god Saturn,
the sow^r. It was a time of up
roarious feasting, dancing and
games, which the Christians de
tested because they considered
Christmas a time for religion.
Santa Claus evolves from the
legendary $t. Nicholas, a 4th
Century bishop
of Asia Minor
who went from
door to door on a
white horse, leav
ing gifts for the
good children
and switches for
the bad. Changed
by continents and generations, St.
Nicholas has assumed many names
and shapes, such as Father Christ
mas in Finland, Pere Noel in
France, a witch named Befana in
Italy and Kriss Kringle in Ger
many. America’s Santa Claus was
first pictured as a jolly, rosy-faced
old fellow by the cartoonist
Thomas Nast in the late 19th Cen
I
tury. Clement Clark Moore’s
famous poem, “The Night Before
Christmas,” helped perpetuate
this picture.
The Creche: St. Francis of Assisi
is believed to have arranged the
first Nativity scene, setting it up
in a church in Greccio, Italy, in
1223. He used live cattle and don
keys and life-size images of the
Christ Child, Joseph and Mary.
Soon, the use of small figurines
to represent the Nativity swept
the Christian world.
Mistletoe: In ancient Gaul and
Britain,, mistletoe was worshipped
by the Druids, a
religious society
that existed
years „
C h r i 81. During
winter celebra
tions, a Druid
priest would
climb a tree
where mistletoe grew and cut it
with a golden sickle, allowing it
to fall into a white cloth so it
would not touch the ground. Two
white oxen then were sacrificed
and the mistletoe was distributed
to the people to be hung in their
homes. Mistletoe was considered a
symbol of peace and good fortune
and whenever enemies met be
neath it they dropped their wea
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pons and embraced.
Gift-giving was a popular cus
tom of tjie, Ramans during Saturn
alia! The most common gifts of
this time were statuettes made in
the likeness of a god.
Bells: The Romans also used
bells to discourage evil spirits. In
early Britian—
and in some
parts of Europe
toda y—b ells
were rung for an
hour on Christ
mas Eve to an
nounce the death
of the devil.
Then at midnight, great joyous
peals signaled the birth of Christ.
Carols: We also trace the ori
ginal Christmas carols to St.
Francis of Assisi. Hymns were a
part of the early Christmas cere
monies, but St. Francis believed
in moderate Christmas gaiety and
introduced sprightly carols which
were modeled on the chorale, a
French form of song and dance.
Candles derive from an old Irish
custom of putting a lighted candle
in the window on Christmas Eve
to light the Holy Family’s way.
Th# candles denote a house where
the Holy Family would have been
welcomed, not turned away as at
the inns in Bethlehem.
Holly and Evergreen also come
from the Roman Saturnalia. By
trimming their homes with this
greenery, the Romans believed
they could keep out evil spirits.
The Christians at first rejected
the custom, but later adopted it
reluctantly because an untrimm
ed house marked them as Chris
tians and next in line for the
gladiators.
Christmas tree: There are many
stories about the origin of the
Christmas tree. The one most fre
quently heard is that Martin
Luther lighted the first Christmas
tree in Germany about 1530 to
memorialize the beauty of winter
starlight.
Christmas cards were first pub
lished commercially in London in
1846 at the request of Sir Henry
Cole, owner of an art shop. They
pictured a happy family enjoying
a Christmas drink.
Christmas stocking: The origin
of this tradition is not known, but
there is a story
that St. Nicholas
once accidentally
dropped some
gold coins down
a chimney and
they fell in a
stocking hung up
to dry.
Christmas seals were conceived
in 1904 by a Danish postal clerk,
Einar Holboell, to raise money for
a tubercular children’s hospital.
The custom of selling seals to
raise money is now world wide.
*
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