By Emma Wright

It’s the end of December, which means that houses are glowing all down neighborhood streets, fir trees are sparkling and delicately ornamented in living room corners and people are wrapping up carefully chosen gifts to present to friends and family for the holiday. It’s a time of year marked by both joy and chaos as celebrations come together on Dec. 25. 

But, many of the Christmas traditions we know today actually hail from pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. The winter solstice, or Yule, marks the start of winter and the darkest day in the Northern hemisphere and happens to fall just a few days before Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day. I guess we should first clarify the word pagan in this context: “pagan” refers to persons or cultures who held religious or cultural beliefs different from that of the Bible; a term that arose around the 4th century. At the time, “pagan” spanned a wide range of northern Europe, including the Romans and many Norse cultures. These cultures celebrated a variety of deities throughout the year to invoke health, fertility, good harvest and prosperity while expressing gratitude for the seasons past. Given the close alignment of Christmas Day and the often week-long winter solstice celebrations, here are some modern Christmas traditions that we actually owe to pagans:

The Christmas Tree: The trees that we place in our houses each December used to serve far more of a purpose than to store gifts under. Evergreen trees have been used for thousands of years as a representation of life and light returning along with the increase in daylight following the solstice. And, you know how Christmas trees are usually depicted as having red ornaments? Red apples used to be hung on the trees to invoke prosperity. It all makes sense now!

Gift-Giving: Romans marked the solstice with a days-long holiday honoring the god Saturn (the god of seeds and sowing), aptly known as Saturnalia, which included giving gifts to loved ones. This act was thought to bring good luck in the spirit of gratitude.

Feasting: Also thanks to the Romans, we associate Christmastime with gatherings over a hearty meal! Saturnalia was - literally - a time to eat, drink, and be merry as people appreciated the bounty of the year even in the dead of winter.

Red, Green and White Decorations: It’s hard to conjure an image of “Christmas” that doesn’t involve the traditional red and green color palette. Druids believed holly branches - with their deep green leaves and red berries - to bring prosperity and luck. And mistletoe - having white berries - represented fertility and health. To oppose the death of crops and the harder times brought by winter, branches of holly and mistletoe were hung in homes and above doorways, sometimes alongside other greenery like ivy or fir, hence “decking the halls” in hopes of bringing new life to the world. 

Santa Claus: Last, but not least, we couldn’t forget about the spitting image of Christmas! We’ve all heard Santa referred to as Saint Nick, or even Father Christmas. Saint Nicholas was based on a real person in the 3rd or 4th century and was a patron saint of children known for giving gifts to those in need during the darkest parts of winter. But even more similar to today’s ideal Santa is the Norse god Odin, who during the Scandanavian yule festival over the winter solstice, would bring gifts to people of the town. He was even reputed to have help from “Odin’s men,” who hand-made the gifts to be delivered. Sounds a lot like Santa’s workshop, to me!

While “pagan” was meant to be derogatory for quite some time throughout history, the cheer and giving nature of these festivities were enough to blend in with each other and create the traditions we have today. After all, each of these cultures appears to be celebrating the birth of new life and light, while expressing gratitude for all that has been and is yet to come. So as we exchange gifts, decorate our homes and feast with loved ones (as safely as possible this year), we can thank the change of seasons and centuries-old rituals for our holiday spirit. Cheers to you, however, you are choosing to celebrate this year!

Emma is a lifestyle writer for La Tonique.