All I Want for Christmas is its History!

Creating A Family Yule Tradition – Autumn Stoneflower

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Christmas is, personally, my favorite holiday, and with it coming up, I thought it would be nice to look into its history and how it came to be. Originally, before christianity took over the holiday; creating it into what it is known as now; it was called Yule by pagans and was known to be a celebration of the winter solstice. Although Yule has been transformed a lot over the centuries, many of the traditions  have transitioned themselves into Christmas traditions that we take part in now.

Pagans would use the wood of specific trees to light a bonfire, made to ward off the darkness and welcome the return of the sun, as well as ensure warmth. This is what we now call the "Yule log". Evergreen trees were put in homes and decorated with food, runes, statues, and strips of cloth. There also may or may not have been human sacrifices for the atonement of humans and their misdeeds.

After christianity became established as a religion, christians traveled to Northern Europe to replace the pagan beliefs there. They compromised with "christian compromise" which linked the beliefs of the two religions together, making it an easier transition for those that were stuck in their ways of tradition. Part of that was changing the birth date of Jesus to go with the pagan's winter celebration.

Source(s): Dunn, M. (2023, August 2). The story of yule, the raucous pagan celebration of winter that inspired Christmas. All That's Interesting. https://allthatsinteresting.com/yule.

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