Christmas: Saturnalia And The Merging Christianity

Merry Christmas! Christmas is a special time of the year. People all around the world enjoy the Christmas season. Some traditions are specific in their country. Australia and the United States share some traditions, however, other things are completely different.

That is not to say there is no religious motivation behind Christmas food, or that there are no parallels to traditional Hanukkah foods, but these parallels and motivations are superficial at best. Instead, one must look at the overarching themes behind Christmas and Hanukkah food traditions in order to find a connection. While there are few similarities between the Christian and Jewish traditions, they both mark a significant event in their religion, and they both commemorate it with food. Food as a tool of reverence, then, is a common thread between

Christmas like Thanksgiving believe it or not, do happen to share many traits. One major factor that the two own is the warmth and love of bringing family and close friends together. It’s the few times a year that everyone has a reason to all gather around to

A Review of Penne Restad’s Christmas in America: A History Penne Restad’s Christmas in America is a demonstration of the change in American acceptance of Christmas and the understanding of what the holiday is. The book shows that the evolution from the humble European origins coming together in the United States through the 18th and 19th centuries cumulating in an amalgamation of different traditions to create a more unified American holiday. Events that propelled the solidification of the holiday are specific to the geographic separation creating pockets of cultural tradition to emerge without relative interference. The bedrock of Christmas history in America paved the way to ritualistic materialism in the 1800s that continues today, accessible

There is no doubt that Christmas is a religious event but nowadays Christmas becomes more commercialized, as it has been defined as a high consumption season because the gifts giving culture becomes the most important part of Christmas and the consumers want to please their children

When most people think of December they tend to think about Christmas. It is supposed to be a time of everyone coming together, being joyful, and

There are similarities and differences between Christmas in America and Christmas in Italy. The Christmas holiday originated with the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, a day around the shortest day of the year. Therefore, the main reason we celebrate the holiday is to celebrate Christ's birthday. Another reason for celebrating Christmas includes the changing of the seasons and the days that will become short before becoming long again. The shortest day, not necessarily falling on Christmas, is Winter Solstice which happens also to be a Pagan, agricultural holiday to mark the changes is the seasons. Most simply, we celebrate Christmas across the world as inspiration to imitate ethical behaviors of Christ who unconditionally loved all men and women regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds.

Christmas can have many meaning to different people depending on how they interpret it. However, if looking at the Christian aspect of it. The

Imagine if there were no Christmas trees on Christmas. How would it feel? Till this day in almost every American household there is at least one Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is one of the symbols and early traditions from the pagans that early Roman Catholics adopted. Although, the Roman Catholic Church perceived sinful and unacceptable some of the pagan traditions such as the value and behavior that the Anglo-Saxons had towards their cattle and how they sacrificed them to their idols. The church had to synchronize and blend some pagan traditions so they could influence their new strategy to evangelize and attract the heathens.

Specific Purpose: I want to educate my audience about the holidays history, so they may understand the true meaning of this ancient celebration and learn how it has evolved.

Fraser (2015) found the the individual whose story inspired the myth Santa, also known as Saint Nicholas, originates from a bishop living in Turkey in the third century. Nikoloas of Mrya refused to worship the then Roman Emperor Diocletian, and was imprisoned until Emperor Constantine freed the Christians five years later. He went on to show kindness and compassion by anonymously giving gifts to others without expecting anything in return. One such example occured when he placed gold coins in the stockings left out to

Christmas is the annual festival celebrating the birth of Jesus on the 25th December, at least that is what it began as initially. Since it has expanded into an international phenomenon for consumption, taking priority over our everyday practices of life (Michel De Certeau, 1980). Our time we spend divided between work and leisure in accordance to the codes and conventions of society shifts, Christmas derails these expectations. Yet surprisingly Christmas gains little attention in terms of social research, despite the fact that it can be explored diversely. The inquiry ‘What is Christmas?’ links to multiple aspects of social research. The aspects of Christmas can be subdivided into the following; religion, commercialism, gift-giving, social relationships, sensualism and mythology. This essay will analyse these fundamentals of Christmas through both psychological and sociological perspectives, as the theories among these two social sciences are best suited to the elements which make up Christmas itself.

To people in America, Christmas occurs on December 25th, a day where children wake up to find presents under the tree. In other traditions, some people go to church to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, even though many countries celebrate Christmas, there are different traditions and ways of celebrations. In Hispanic countries, like Spain, Cuba, Columbia and Mexico, they celebrate in a way that contrasts with ours yet are similar to things we can identify with.

In 1773 a New York newspaper reported that Dutch families had gathered together to celebrate his death. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname Sinter Klaas. In 1804 John Pintard, distributed wood cuts with engravings containing now-familiar santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over the fireplace. He gave out these woodcuts at a New York Historical Society meeting. In 1809 Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to Saint Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, the History of New York.

One of the modern mythological people is Santa. The Santa Clause story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century. The legend can be traced back to hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nichola was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern day Turkey. Nicholas became the subject of many later told legends. It is said that St. Nicholas gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping out the poor and the sick. One of St. Nicholas’s best story is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their