DECEMBER 2023

Unwrapping the Origin Behind the Centuries-Old Holiday of Christmas

Jimena Ham

It's almost the most anticipated moment of the year—when we share gifts, food, and precious moments with our family and friends. That time is Christmas! 

Here at AST, we have a three-week break from school and our academic responsibilities during which we can spend time with loved ones, enjoy family traditions and indulge in delicious food.

With this holiday in mind, I am, once again, writing about the origins of yet another holiday! I will describe how this holiday began and give some fun facts! 

First, let’s address the huge amount of money that is spent every year on Christmas—it's crazy! Nonetheless, this is to be expected; after all, who doesn't spend money during a holiday on either food, decorations, gifts, or other stuff?! Last year, in 2022, the United States spent approximately $936.3 billion during Christmas festivities, and according to the website explodingtopic.com, amounts spent every year have increased in big ways since 2008! Can you imagine the amount of money that will be spent on this year's Christmas? 

But that’s enough about money! Let’s talk about ancient traditions that happened around Christmas time… Normally, when people explain the origin of Christmas and why we celebrate it, they recall the biblical story. Many celebrate Christmas because it is the day set aside to recognize the birth of Jesus Christ. The holiday is on December 25, but the actual date of Jesus' birth is still disputed. Though some historians might disagree with this, many believe that winter holidays similar to Christmas had been celebrated for several centuries before the Christian holiday became official in the fourteenth century. So, is there more to the Christmas story we all know? Some historians say that it all originated in third-century Rome when the citizens of ancient Rome would celebrate a festival commemorating the winter solstice. This mid-December celebration was called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, their god of seed-sowing. The Romans had festivities with the hope for a spring harvest. As time passed, this holiday went from a one-day celebration to a whole week. Celebrations happened in the temple of Saturn, with a religious ceremony that included a free public banquet open to all. This festivity was so important to the Roman people that businesses and law courts were closed so that everybody could take part in it. During Saturnalia, the people would also drink, feast on delicious food, gamble—which was illegal in the Roman Empire, but I guess on holidays they could ignore the law—and, last but not least, exchange gifts, which we do in modern days for Christmas. In the Roman Empire, there was another festivity that happened during December, more specifically the December 25. This celebration was to honor Sol Invictus, their sun god. This day was celebrated by only a few people, mostly high-ranking officials and soldiers. 

In addition to these ancient Roman festivities, some historians believe that the Christmas holiday we celebrate nowadays can be traced back to another pagan holiday, called Yule, which was an adaptation of the Roman holiday Saturnalia. Throughout Scandinavia, the British Isles and northern Germany, people celebrated this to commemorate the start of the winter solstice, and they had similar traditions to Saturnalia and Christmas like gift-giving and cooking. Yule would take place for 12 days, during which the people would harvest their crops to make meals. They would cut a tree and decorate it with various objects, like pinecones, foliage, and candles. They also had the Yule Log, decorated with candles and berries, which was placed on an altar. 

During the first century AD/CE, pagan traditions and beliefs were being challenged by the Christian church, which was growing in power throughout Europe as more and more people converted to Christianity inside the Roman Empire. Since Rome already celebrated Sol Invictus’ birthday on December 25, many theorize that this is the reason that the Christian church decided to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth on that same day. Nonetheless, there are many other theories about why that day was picked. 

It’s important to recognize that Christmas isn’t the only holiday with these kinds of origins. Many holidays we celebrate today have come from a long past of traditions and customs from a variety of different religions. Not only do they bring joy to many of us, they also let us create memorable memories that we can pass along to future generations who might enjoy the same traditions as us, change them a bit, and create their own! 

Fun Facts: 

Now, my favorite part of this article...here are some interesting and fun facts about Christmas! 

Santa Claus: 

It all started in the fourteenth century, after the death of Nikolas, a well-known and beloved Turkish bishop. His death later became known as Saint Nicholas Day. On this day, on December 6, children who had behaved well throughout the year would wake up to find gifts for them in the morning, but those who had not behaved would receive nothing. This was to celebrate the story that Nikolas had been known to give gifts to needy children, but it also served as a way to pressure children to be obedient. For this holiday, the bishop Nikolas was known as “Sinter Claus.” Sounds familiar, right? Many years later, in 1822, a professor named Clement Clark Mour turned the folktale of “Sinterklaas” into a poem called, “The Night before Christmas.” It is about a kind-hearted saint named Santa Claus, who flew in a sled pulled by magical reindeer, and went down the chimneys of the homes of well-behaved children on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts and spread good cheer. 

Christmas Trees: 

This tradition seems to be traced back to German medieval traditions. On December 24, Germans would cut trees with the purpose of decorating them inside their homes in order to celebrate the feast day of Adam and Eve. They would normally decorate homes with things like nuts, berries, and holly. However, they would more traditionally use apples, which represented the Garden of Eden. Later on, this tradition became popular during the nineteenth century after Queen Victoria of England would keep a fashionable tree adorned with the prettiest of things in Windsor Castle. This came to be because her own mother and husband were German. Because of this, many people in Britain and Europe started to implement these traditions in their homes, which later led to America becoming a popular hit.

Works Cited

Budrovich, Nicole. “The Wild Holiday That Turned Ancient Rome Upside Down.” Getty, 17 December 2020, https://www.getty.edu/news/the-wild-holiday-that-turned-ancient-rome-upside-down/. Accessed 26 November 2023.

Haas, Mindy, and St. Nicholas. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS - Voice & Vision, Inc.” Voice and Vision, 23 December 2017, https://voiceandvisioninc.org/blog/entry/a-brief-history-of-christmas/. Accessed 26 November 2023.

Howarth, Josh. “How Much Do Americans Spend On Christmas? (Latest Data).” Exploding Topics, 20 October 2023, https://explodingtopics.com/blog/christmas-spending-stats. Accessed 26 November 2023.

Rhoades, Traci. “Origins of Christmas: History of Why We Celebrate.” Parade, 3 October 2023, https://parade.com/living/history-of-christmas. Accessed 26 November 2023.

“12 Popular Christmas Traditions Explained.” Dictionary.com, 22 December 2021,

 https://www.dictionary.com/e/christmas-traditions/. Accessed 26 November 2023.