So, you think you know the whole story of Christmas, do you? All about how Santa Claus ™, in a sleigh pulled by eight tiny sheep, followed the Star of the North Pole to give frankincense, myrrh and three golden wise men to the Christ child, while he lit the eighth candle on the menorah and a bit of incense to Saturn and …
OK, so maybe I was a little off on the account. Sue me. But what that fractured fairy tale is supposed to illustrate is that Christmas didn’t just come, fully formed, with either Christianity or commercialism. Not by a long shot.
Christmas, the holiday as we know it, actually dates from the fourth century A.D., when Pope Julius I decreed that Dec. 25 would be the official celebration of Christ’s birth. But why the 25th day?
This brings us into a tale of competing religions amid the disintegrating Roman Empire.
By the 300s, the Empire was officially Christian after the conversion of Emperor Constantine I. Of course, even though the emperor had converted, much of the empire worshipped the old polytheistic religion of its ancestors. You know the drill: Jupiter, the Thunder God; Juno, his wife; Venus, the goddess of love; Mars, Minerva, Neptune, ad nauseam.
The worst of it was that in the new, godly Roman Empire, wild parties were still the norm. No, frats were still thousands of years off. To sate the Romans’ need for toga keggers, there existed a festival known as Natalis Solis Invicti, or the “Birth of the Invincible Sun.” NSI, for short, was dedicated to the god Mithras, who was a major contender with Christ. The festival consisted mainly of lots and lots of drinking and revelry. Throngs choked the streets, singing and dancing, as the posca (cheap Roman wine) flowed as freely as revelers to the vomitoriums. Just like New Year’s today.
And so, with the mindset of “drunken debauchery makes Baby Jesus cry,” both the Emperor and the Pope looked to find ways to curb the festivities and gain new converts to boot. Suddenly, the Pope declared, Jesus was born on the 25th day of December, and, therefore, the day should be as sober and solemn as befits the birth of the Savior.
“Spucatum tauri!” the people responded, in a well-known phrase describing male cow dung, as they went about their revels. Stung, the powers that be tried a new tack: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. And so, the Pope once again, in A.D. 354, stated that Christ was born on Dec. 25. This time, he also allowed for moderate celebrations, and so, almost from the first, “Christmas” and “joyful celebration” were synonymous. The people latched on quickly, and soon Mithras was a fading memory.
Christmas certainly isn’t the only holiday on the block in December. There’s something about the dead of winter that just screams for a party. Hanukkah, the Jewish “Feast of Lights,” takes place in early December. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, marked with daytime fasting, often ends in December. The African-American festival Kwanzaa has been celebrated for more than 30 years around Christmastime.
The whole upshot is this: December, for all its gray skies and chilly weather, is a joyful month no matter how you slice it. Be with your family and friends and celebrate the season, regardless of whether you’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, the victory of the Maccabees at Jerusalem Temple or even the old Natalis Solis Invictis. Just celebrate and have a good time. Everyone’s gotta party once in a while.
Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at
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