Growing up in a home full of German traditions, I was told that live fur trees were brought into the homes around yule to: 1-cut down on the yucky smells that being in a closed house could sometimes bring. 2-Symbolize the cycles of life and the eternal soul. 3-Encourage fertility for the young couples of the family. There is really nothing "Christian" about the Christmas tree. Wreaths traditionally were fashioned in the shape of the "circle cross" symbol, and were made of natural/green materials to encourage Sunna's return...nothing "Christian" about that either. Wassail vs Caroling is the same difference as "Trick or Treating" at homes and "Truck or Treating" at churches...a captured and tweaked tradition. Santa Claus is a mix of St. Nick and Odin. I have many statue depictions of Santa that look FAR MORE like Odin than the American version of Santa. I grew up hearing NOTHING about Santa, but did hear about Krampus! I was threatened that Krampus would come and take me away if I wasn't good. LOL! The date of Christmas was 100% because of Pagan celebrations that took place at that time of the year...especially in the North! People used the Sun to determine everything they did, and they waited anxiously to see that Sunna was turning back from the south to the north, and when she did, they partied like rock stars! Great video!!!!! ❤ HAPPY YULE!!!! 🎄🕯
I was trying to think of where Christians got the idea of Christmas 🎄 tree is a Christian thing . Maybe a mix of yule log , and Moses burning 🔥 bush and that the Christians stolen everything from the Pagans and druids .
@@Kim-J312 I think they grasped onto the "everlasting life" part of the Pagan ideology, and added the lights to symbolize God's light in the darkness. Moses' burning bush is a good thought too tho. I didn't think of that! ❤
I’m so grateful for this channel. I actually learn so much legitimate, useful Pagan information lost in the mix of all the trendy ‘witchy’ crap these days. I love learning all of this history 🎄
I Am Happy You Mentioned The Name Of Mitra The Vedic God Guardian Of Oath And Friendship (Mitra=Friend In Sanskrit) Is Celebrated In Vedic Time's And Also In Greece Rome And Persia Because He Was The God Of Winter Solstice Thank You For This Video It Is Really Great To Watch And Learn New Thing's About Indo-European Cultures.
I agree with your rating. Though the Christmas tree I also suspect is pagan in origin. My family always says Jesus is the reason for the season and my MIL in particular gets a birthday cake every Christmas for Jesus. So I’m really hoping baby #2 is born on their due date, Dec 25th. Happy holidays Jacob, see you soon!
Jacob, Happy Yule and congrats on how you've grown your channel. I stumbled upon your channel last summer after seeing (and really enjoying) The Northman and going on youtube to learn more about it. I am not a pagan myself but am a fan of history and generally have an open mind. I feel like "pagan" history does not get much mainstream attention in the US and you do an excellent job of breaking it down. It has also been fascinating to learn more about paganism from your perspective, many aspects of which I can get down with such as maintaining a strong connection with nature. I look forward to seeing where things go from here.
Another great vid bud. Wassailing still happens here in the uk. Used to wake the spirits in the orchards for the hopes of a good Harvest later in the year,
Thank you for the grate video! As a Hungarian/German I found the tree thing interesting. My family only decorated the tree with lights. I never really questioned why. That was our family heritage and I just respected it. And I still remember that the tree for our family was always so important. That was the representation of the circle of life and my grandmother always said that the fresh tree smell and the lights are helping us to start a good and healthy year. They said if you don’t have a tree you’re going to have a bad luck. So interesting to see how long a tradition can stay alive.
I guess as Germany was along with England the first Germanic peoples to be christianized, a lot of pagan ideas were adapted and absorbed into the christian mainstream so they do not appear as pagan anymore. Frau Holle of the fairy tale, the equivalent of Berchta / Perchta of central Germany and the alpine area has a direct connection to winter: when you shake her pillows and bed covers fiercely enough until the feathers fly, it is snowing on earth. Arguably she also is Fria / Frigg and wife of Woden / Odin. Perchta and the perchten are clearly connected to Christmas customs, the Perchten or schiachen meant to scare away demons and devils running amok in the Rauhnachten, the lawless gap between the years, the gap between the solar and lunar calendars. Woden leading the wild hunt ie the winter storms was also active in that time, maybe that’s why Jakob Grimm thought he evolved into Father Christmas. The original German Weihnachtsmann/ Father Christmas had little to do with Santa: he wore a brown, later red furry coat with a big hood drawn into his face and he was a two-edged sword because he dished out both presents and also punishment, similar to Woden’s fickle nature.
I agree very much with everything. I don't feel like there is a lot that is original to Christianity in a whole. Thank you for all your videos. I have loved every one.
I’ve been enjoying all the (good natured) jokes online about specifically how pagan Christmas is. We bring a tree into our homes and ritualize decorating it with the whole family, top it with a star or a mythical creature (Angel) and according to pop culture, dance around it. Then we set out a food offering on a special plate (alter) for the spirit that magically enters our home to bring us special gifts. There’s several others but it all just makes me grin.
hello from Friborg in Switzerland for us the Yule log is a real log which burns during the twelve days preceding Christmas or jøl Yule and we make blessings for the harvests or for the health of the inhabitants of the house at home it is a ancestral tradition which dates back to pagan Celtic and Germanic times.... best regards from Friborg Switzerland 🙏👍
I love the information provided here… I learned a couple of things today, including the proper pronunciation of “wassailing”. I also guess I didn’t realize that the Yule Log was burned potentially for divination. That’s kind of amazing; I found myself staring into the coals at Ohio Fall in the early hours with Logan and a couple others and seeing things that took my breath and made my stomach flip so I can believe it. I just never considered it to be a possible form of divination.
Hi Jacob, Odin is one of your spirit guides, he walks with you and he wants you to create an altar for him and a separate altar for your Norse & Celtic ancestors. He is proud of what you are teaching on this channel. He is with me as we watch your videos. I am tapped into the spirit realm and receive messages from spirit. Odin wanted me to deliver this message to you. Thank you for providing this information for many who don’t know or understand the proper history in Paganism, Celtic and Norse culture.
To stay close to nature during the winter it was common to bring a tree into ones home and the smell would liven up the place. Gift giving is also a common practice in paganism, giving food, toys, and stories, the idea was to share your hospitality with your neighbors during the cold months. Krampus is also said to be Loki in different forms creating mischief amongst men and women and to ward him off people would fill their socks with goodies and leave it at their doorsteps. Happy Yule!
I moved to south central Kentucky about 8 years ago because I thought I wanted to experience living in a rural area. It's been challenging For sure! But I have learned a lot About a many things that I took for granted. Having grown up in the northeast I pretty much thought that open mindedness was an American thing but, well, you know... But I absolutely love that you are at the ark filming this! I really appreciate your content And wish you all the best!
Wassailing was also something done for abundance ceremonies. People would wassail their orchards by dumping some apple cider on their trees and singing to them to appease the spirits and encourage a good harvest the following year. Not sure but I think it predates the drunken meanderings of neighbours. But even then, they were likely toasting with something made from that year's crops and wishing for a bountiful harvest the next year. Great vid as usual!
Winter Solstice Pagan Mother's Night 24th Dec Pagan. Is a Pagan festive era which the Christian took on when they took over in our countries. So the aprox 80-84 per cent pretty spot on 🙂👍 And folk song "Wassail wassail all over the land" sung in this period - "Wassail" exists in English/British folk traditions
Really makes me wonder what the hell this Goatman/ Krampus thing was before Christianity. Christmas Eve, in some cultures, he brings up the people dressed as Krampus going door to door and being sent away by offering schnapps. That should line up with Mother's Night, then. And Krampus punishes the bad kids on Christmas, instead of giving gifts.
Yes - I agree that Christmas is mostly Pagan with a little bland Christian seasoning. I also agree that we should 100% bring back Wassailing (I particularly like how the Welsh do it with the Mari Lwyd). And as someone who lives in the buckle of the Bible Belt, my petty little pagan heart giggles that you made this video in the location that you did. Side Note: After reciprocating that bird's mating dance, I think you are now officially its boyfriend.
Other than that date, and the fact that celebration concided with festivals that time. Christmas tree, Santa claus( created by Dutch immigrant), meeting with your families, and above all nativity plays are 100% christians.
I was almost…ALMOST….hoping for someone tackling you and dragging you out, Jacob. That would have been pretty funny. Great video and excellent points. It does bring a smile to my face. Happy Yule and Solstice!
Tree decorating goes all the way back to Zoroastrian celebration of the Solstice called Yalda - decorations are for wishes asking Mother Earth to grant them.
I highly agree with Santa being a representation of Odin. Eight reign deer/eight legged horse... Knows if you're sleeping, or awake. Knows if you've been bad or good/ the two ravens, thought and memory, flying around and reporting back to Odin.
I heard someone say something about an Evergreen tree (Pine, Fir, Cedar etc) being a pagan fertility symbol because they represented life, even in the Winter months when most other tree's are dormant, or maybe they used to believe dead. Someone correct me on this if I'm wrong.
“Tree worship, common among pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the Devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.” (The New Encyclopedia Britannica)
Excited to watch this video but I have a question........ What do people think about someone creating new holidays on the solstice's, equinoxes and the cross-quarter days... but that are not centered in historical practices, but rather, focus on the changing of the seasons?
Santa certainly seems to be an amalgamation of multiple figures both historical and mythical. We’ve even added new aspects to his myth pretty recently with the red suit, the reigndeer, and rudolf specifically being all created out of pop culture.
1.) Yule Log: The origin of the folk custom is unclear, like other traditions associated with Yule. The first mention of a log burned around Christmas comes from Robert Herrick's poetry collection of 1648 where it is called a "Christmas log". It is not referred to as a "Yule log" until John Aubrey's work from 1686. Prior to that century, there has been no evidence of Yule logs let alone evidence that can be traced back to the holiday of Yule. 2.) Christmas Trees: Is there any sources that connect a ''pagan'' tree worship to the Christmas Tree? What would be the definition of tree worship? Jacob says of the evergreens: ''This is something that POSSIBLY...'' but he doesn't say it is. Many pictures depicting the Roman celebration of Saturnalia show evergreen decorations. This may be very possible, but no ancient sources describe how they decorated for the festival. And thus the question, so what if they did? Many of the accounts of tree worship center around groves, which is not a Christmas Tree. Roman senator Tacitus in his first century CE work Annals, the Frisians dismembered 900 Roman soldiers in a ''grove'' dedicated to the goddess in 28 CE. - Sacred pillar-like objects, perhaps tree stumps, held sacred by the pagan Saxons, -The sacred tree at Uppsala was a sacred tree located at the Temple at Uppsala, Sweden, in the second half of the 11th century. It is not known what species it was. It is even more sparsely documented than the famous temple by which it stood. 3.) Santa Claus: Sinterklaas, there's not enough information to conclude that he's Odin. Jason again says it's ''possible.'' which can be construed as ''not probable.'' One thing that can be agreed is Santa has been integrated with a lot of secularistic virtues and god like powers. 4.) Saturnalia was a one day agricultural festival, then extended to three days, then to seven, Dec. 17-23 base on the Julian Calendar and not the Gregorian Calendar which is what is used today. There is no evidence that the early church fathers rebranded this festival and called it Christmas.
About Christmas trees: All Nordic Pagans were very much into sacrifices, from the bronze age until the end of the Viking era. During the winter solstice sacrifice (midvinterblot), humans and animals were hung from trees (oaks). It's pretty easy to see how the thought process worked. It's cold and dark, so during the coldest and darkest day of the year you sacrifice to the gods so they will bring light and warmth (and food) back. And how do you tell the gods to make the trees live again? You tell them by hanging (previously) living things from the branches of a leaf-less tree. To kick-start the process, so to speak. The red baubles on xmas trees were in the very recent past actual apples. So people would remind the gods that "hey, this is how we want our trees to look, they should be full of fruit". The decorated indoor trees are more recent (1600-1700s), and was mainly for rich people at first. As you know, Christians wall-papered over all pagan traditions. The spring equinox on Easter is now about the death and resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate with... bunnies and eggs. Very logical. The autumn equinox is "all saints day", which we celebrate with... pumpkins. Which saints love, apparently. The only thing they gave up on is midsummer, which is the most important holiday in Scandinavia. They just managed to make the pole into a cross instead of the obvious phallus (some regions still do the phallus, though). But there's no Christian holiday that magically coincides with midsummer. Santa Claus: In the nordic traditions it wasn't Santa Claus (Sinterklaas, Saint Nikolaus) who gave you presents. It differs from country to country, but in Sweden it was either a "julbocken" (the yule goat, hence the straw goat ornaments) or "jultomten" (the Yule gnome). A "Tomte" is a small, immortal humanoid who lives on your plot of land (tomt). If you treat him well, he'll make sure your animals are healthy. If you ignore him or displease him, he might cause horrible things to befall you. The YULE gnome is just your regular gnome but during yuletide. The artist Jenny Nyström made some famous paintings of these creatures. Iceland has a whole bunch of these creatures, all under the employ of an evil witch. I don't think Odin has anything to do with Santa. Odin was not a god you'd WANT to get a visit from. (Oh what a cozy evening, let's hope the god of war and human sacrifice shows up later!) His name is rarely present in toponyms, unlike all the other gods. He's the type of god whose name doesn't get mentioned, as you don't want to attract his attention. Much like trolls.
Well done video, this integrated perfectly with my own research as I’ve been digging into this topic as a Christian for the last couple years. Appreciate you being cordial and honest about your conclusions and I tend to agree very much with you, I’d have scored it much higher on the ranking of how pagan it is. Practically 💯
As another comment already said, Nickolaus (Saint Nicolas) in Germany arrives on the 6th of December. Furthermore, in German Santa Claus is called "Weihnachstmann" which can be translated as Holy night's man. I don't know if Santa Claus and Saint Nicolas are connected in any way in their origin but in Germany at least there's a clear distinction between the two. Basically, they celebrate Saint Nicolas on his death day
I’m Christian and I love Christmas I see it as time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as a time to get together with family and friends and I know the Christmas has pagan origins and a lot of the customs were pagan including the Christmas tree which was pagan in origin it represented life and fertility but Christmas got Christianised and a lot of the customs and traditions were changed to represent Jesus and the holiday is pretty Christian in nowadays theres no much paganism in it anymore and Christmas is also celebrated by non Christians as a secular holiday and the verse in the bible about cutting down trees was talking about people cutting down trees to make wooden idols to worship pagan gods and not Christmas trees
Lol at the Pagan alarm bells going off in the security staff x) Although I think talking to a camera, these days, also sets off security staff alarm bells. Too many pranksters. I think replacing “Pagan” with “rustic” might get you off the keyword-specific radar. X)
The Bible says "take not the trees of the forest and adorn them with gold and silver as the Pagans do". I'm quoting this from memory, so I might be slightly off.
You should go and read the Bible first to come to the realization that the verse, which you misquoted, is not referencing the decorating of trees whatsoever. It's in Jeremiah 10 and it's in reference to the creation of wooden idols.
As a Swede, I honestly thought the yule log was more of an American thing... I've never heard it mentioned in Swedish, I wouldn't even know how to translate it. 😅
you should check out Religion for Breakfast's video he posted today- much of what Pagans claim as appropriated material turns out to maybe not have been theirs in the first place
If you want to get a feeling for south German, especially alpine Christmas traditions and potentially pagan influences I recommend a movie from 1934: Der verlorene Sohn / The prodigal son by Luis Trenker about 64 minutes in when the protagonist returns to his south Tyrolian homeland from America. The movie is on UA-cam but I only found the German version. I think this part of the movie is right up your alley!
Having come from a country that is mostly Christian/Catholic, it's sad not many would know the pagan origins of Christmas. This is why I can celebrate Yule like it is here with family, fun, feasts and other festivities taking place. Sure, we're not Scandinavian, but that doesn't mean we or I can't celebrate it like it is with the spirit of Yule. That being said, from Philippines by someone fascinated by Norse Paganism, I greet you Skal and a merry, blessed Yule.
The pagan origin of Christmas? Christmas existed in the first two centuries as can be historically seen and documented. This is 700 or more years before any Christians came into contact with any Scandinavians.
Wassailing was to give thanks to the Apple Trees, it just became about ppl getting drunk. The trees are still honoured in many places here & buttered toast left for the birds. The Veiled one of Wind & Wilderness, Queen of Winter should also be honoured at this time.
Hey Jakob, I wish you a happy Yule and I like your videos use it so interesting about North paganism. I am huge interested in North paganism and you make wonderful contents about contacting Odin and North gods. I hope we will meet some someday lovely greetings from your best fan. Andrew from Switzerland and happy Yule❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
I was wondering about Father Christmas,( an English version of Santa.) Charles Dickens has the Ghost of Christmas past looking very like a typical Father Christmas. His name is very commercial and I think very recent.
With regards to Christmas trees, according to numerous Roman and Greek sources - including Julius Caesar himself - Celts would take the entrails, heads, and hands of their fallen enemies to their sacred groves and decorate their trees. So the next time you put garland or ribbon on your tree, just remember that you are echoing stringing, the intestines of a fallen foe across the sacred tree.
So the only things I've found to be Christian in origin with Christmas are the candy cane, stockings, and Rudolph. For Santa you forgot that one name of Odin is Yule Father, aka Father Christmas. And of course Sleipnir is an 8 legged horse, and prior to a Chicago store inventing Rudolph, Santa was pulled by 8 reindeer. Reindeer are key to the Sami people, where the Norse went for help with magic and religion.
Biblically, the only tradition that can possibly be attributed to the birth of Christ is the star. But everything else done to celebrate Christmas, including celebrating Christmas, is non biblical in origin, which means they originally came from pagan beliefs and practices.
That's a complete and utter non-sequitur. "If it's not explicitly in the bible, it must mean that it comes from paganism". The conclusion doesn't follow the premise.
@@caseycardenas1668 Ok, let me put it another way. Most of the traditional Christmas celebrations are non biblical in origin, including the belief that Christ was born December 25th, which ancient people celebrated as the Yuletide/solstice holiday. The Christian church took many non Christian holidays and ‘christianized’ them so the people, who were literally being forced to convert to Christianity, would be more accepting. Christ was not born in the middle of winter. He most likely was born in the spring, during lambing time and that’s why the shephards were in the fields, to assist with the birth of lambs.
@@SeaTurtle515 there's literally zero academic or scholastic evidence of that assertion. Each Christian holiday is uniquely Christian in origin in terms of what it fundamentally represents. Christians in the first two centuries were celebrating the birth of Christ on what would be December 25th. The claim is not that he explicitly was or was not born on that day. Ironically, all the holidays of the Christian calendar existed prior to the mass spread of the religion itself. "Being forced to convert to Christianity" like whom? Be historically consistent, who was being forced to convert? It's quite obvious you have no basis in history, if you did you would see there was no practice in the ancient church used to swoon converts by repackaging their holidays, since the Christian holiday already existed. Many practices of the church are not explicitly in the bible because the church predates the complication of scriptures.
Might be interesting for you to research Didukh, a Christmas time tradition from Ukraine. Didukh is a wheat „bouquet“/„tree“. Only later (influenced Germany,etc) the fir tree became a symbol as well. But we have Didukh until now too. One of its meanings it to represent ancestors.
What I'd be interested, if someone would research, is the number of Dark Ages/ Medieval Christian practices that likely got adopted from Celtic & Germanic pagans- some of which later became outlawed by the church. Two I can think of off the top of my head are contemplation trails & an old spring festival where people would attend completely naked. They would do a maypole, then have a feast consisting pretty much entirely of salads to commemorate new growth, with the entire ritual and feast done in the nude.
King Bread seems to be another one originally likely attributable to Germans. Originally, someone would hide a bean which later turned into a Christ effigy in a bread & everyone would divide it up. Whoever got the bean was crowned "king of Christmas."
My view on this will always be that it's more Pagan than the average Christian thinks and less Pagan than the average Pagan (that thinks about this topic at all) or Antitheist thinks
I would have said 100%. "Ancestral Worship" predates Christianity by some 10,000 years - going from the last big "reset". We have known - and acknowledged - the changing of the seasons, the solstices, and the equinoxes for millennium.
Hey Brother. I love your content and this video as well but it’s so freaking funny when you try to speak Dutch (Zwarte Piet). I will never forget when we tried to teach you the G in Dutch at the first Gathering here in the Netherlands😅🤣. Keep up the good work miss you a lot man, hope to see you see soon 🙏🏻
An increasing number of Christians have come to believe that Christmas is derived from paganism. They’ve heard that the timing of Christmas may have been borrowed from Roman sun god worship. Or that Christmas trees come from German paganism. Or that the star on top of the Christmas tree comes from astrological worship. But these myths are all so wrong. Christmas-the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord-is a thoroughly Christians celebration. Here’s why.
I wonder if We Wish you a Merry Christmas is a wassailing song. Because the song verse in song please bring us some figgy pudding we won't go until we some.
Jeremiah 10:3-5 teaches to not go into the Forrest and chopping down a tree. It states that pagans would bring it to their house and decorate them with gold or silver. They would worship the tree. I have had people tell me that they don’t worship their trees. Yet, there is that song,” Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches!” Singing to a tree and worshipping it, is pagan and sin!
This is such a funny coincidence. My younger brother is Christian and I am from Australia. He coincidentally is at the Ark encounter right now (Has been for the past two few weeks to a month). I have tried talking to Christian family members about the origins of christmas and all except one have said stuff to the effect of 'why do people sing christmas carols if they're not christian?'. My one relative that is Christian and agrees it's not christian believes that it comes from coca cola and capitalism, which is something.
PART 1 - Yule, for the ancient Germanic people, typically referred to the Winter Solstice and celebrations were held around that time. Yule was subsequently placed on 25 December by King Haakon the Good in the 10th century AD to coincide with Christmas. This goes back to the early historian Snorri Sturluson, and his book "Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway." Snorri says before this, “Yule was celebrated on a midwinter night (the Winter Solstice), and for a duration of three nights". He gives no specific dates, but St. Bede in “The reckoning of Time,” opined the Northmen calculated their seasons according to the cycles of the moon, so the date of Yule probably changed every year to align with the Winter Solstice. Pliny the elder also says the Gallic tribes calculated their months according to the moon. Last, according to the Chronicler, Theitmar, the Danes sacrificed to pagan gods in January after the 6th. So, Yule kind of gets moved around. One thing associated with pagan Yule is of course the Yule Log. Yule Logs however do not go back to paganism, despite the name. Yule is also an English word to mean "mid-winter period." The first mention of yule logs is in Robert Herrick’s, "Hesperides” a poetry collection, and he calls it a Christmas log. It wasn't called a yule log until Aubrey's work “In the West-Riding of Yorkshire on Christmas Eve” which dates to 1686. So, the Yule Log is really a more recent concept and has zero connections back to some pagan antecedent. Most people have heard the story about how the ancient Germanic people brought evergreen trees into their houses around Winter Solstice (Germanic ‘Yule’) and typically hung them upside down from rafters. It leaves us with images of a Viking long house bedecked with several trees hanging from the rafters while those gathered inside made merry with fire, feasting and mead. Except that never happened. There is no historical evidence from any of the eddas or sagas or any writings, that offer a shred of historical evidence to support the idea that pagan Germanic peoples brought evergreen trees into their homes at Yule. There was no borrowing of this Germanic custom from the Romans who borrowed it from blah, blah, blah, who borrowed it from blah, blah, blah. This custom has absolutely zero ties to any supposed Biblical reference. Many Christian denominations take the above origins as truth and are quick to site Jeremiah 10: 1-5; however, most people who do so are jumping to unfounded nonsense conclusions - the Biblical account is of a tree cut down and its _trunk_ fashioned into an idol and adorned with gold and silver. The passage refers to the making/carving of a wooden idol from the trunk of a tree and then applying gold/silver leaf to it - a popular technique to adorn wooden objects - think of the funerary objects found in King Tut’s tomb; many were wood with gold leaf applique. The Biblical reference has absolutely nothing to do with an actual tree or Christmas trees in general. Trees were brought into homes _are_ a Germanic custom, but one that originated in the Middle Ages, and were certainly not decorated with gold and silver. But the real origins of Christmas trees appear to be rooted in present-day Germany and date to the 16th century in Germany. The first mention of Christmas trees is in an Alsace ordinance in 1561. Almost no early Germanic pagans thought pine trees were sacred, let alone associated with Christmas. Germanic tribes believed the oak was sacred, not the evergreen tree. The most likely explanation is that the Christmas tree morphed over from so-called paradise trees. There were many allegorical-type plays done in the Middle Ages at various markets. One such play was called the Paradise Play, performed to celebrate the feast day of Adam and Eve, which fell on Christmas Eve. In the dead of winter, not a lot of trees are available, so the “tree of knowledge” was represented by an evergreen fir with apples tied to its branches. There is documentation of trees decorated with wool thread, straw, apples, nuts and pretzels. After the play, the treats would be eaten. The practice likely gave way to having trees in the house at Christmas. In 1419 for example, a guild in Freiburg put up a tree decorated with apples, flour-paste wafers, tinsel and gingerbread. The Christmas tree is not historically attested any earlier than this time period and, as seen, has absolutely zero correlation with the oft quoted passage from Jeremiah. Christmas Carols themselves are quite ancient - some of the fist ones can be traced to 4th century Rome - these were all sung in Latin. Secular carols first started appearing around the 1400’s - the custom of singing them going door to door comes from English wassailing (Wassail is from the Anglo-Saxon “wês hâl - be (thou) healthy! (hâl is modern English “hale”)). A custom of going around wishing everyone health for the new year - typically in exchange for a cup of waissail - a mulled alcoholic punch (think German Glühwein or Scandinavian glög). Though mentioned in Beowulf and in the Anglo-Saxon account of the Battle of Hastings, it doesn’t necessarily equate to a “pagan” custom, at least not a religious one - you’re just toasting someone wishing them good health; not sure I necessarily see that as inherently “pagan”. Kind of pushes the envelope. The name “Santa” is simply a corruption of the Dutch “Sinter” (Saint) - nothing more, nothing less. “Clause” a corruption of the Dutch “Klaas” - a common nickname for Nicholas. Dutch Sinter Klaas, was brought to the US by the Dutch who settled in what they called New Holland (i.e. New York) and was subsequently Anglicized to “Santa Claus”. St. Nicholas was, of course, real person. He was a bishop in Myra, in what is now Turkey. His feast day is celebrated on 6 December. It is on that date that children in Europe would receive treats and gifts. His association was later moved to 25 December to help make Christmas a family holiday. Newspapers promoted it and encouraged to give gifts on Christmas instead of St. Nicholas Day or New Years like it traditionally was. Sinterklaas was rebranded from a bishop to look like a traditional Dutchman from around the 1800’s, which included a big red suit. After this, people started attributing all sorts of myths and legends about him adding new spins. And, of course, poems such as T'was the Night Before Christmas, and advertisers , particularly Coca Cola, more or less cemented his image to what we have today. Really no ties to anything pagan, but the stories that arose about him may have some origin in northern Germanic tales of elves/dwarves, etc.
You absolute madlad, Odin approves of the sharing of knowledge, and Loki approves of the cheeky way you deliver it 😂
Mary and a Logan can confirm I was walking around like a very mischievous elf 😂
lol yes can confirm
Growing up in a home full of German traditions, I was told that live fur trees were brought into the homes around yule to: 1-cut down on the yucky smells that being in a closed house could sometimes bring. 2-Symbolize the cycles of life and the eternal soul. 3-Encourage fertility for the young couples of the family. There is really nothing "Christian" about the Christmas tree. Wreaths traditionally were fashioned in the shape of the "circle cross" symbol, and were made of natural/green materials to encourage Sunna's return...nothing "Christian" about that either. Wassail vs Caroling is the same difference as "Trick or Treating" at homes and "Truck or Treating" at churches...a captured and tweaked tradition. Santa Claus is a mix of St. Nick and Odin. I have many statue depictions of Santa that look FAR MORE like Odin than the American version of Santa. I grew up hearing NOTHING about Santa, but did hear about Krampus! I was threatened that Krampus would come and take me away if I wasn't good. LOL! The date of Christmas was 100% because of Pagan celebrations that took place at that time of the year...especially in the North! People used the Sun to determine everything they did, and they waited anxiously to see that Sunna was turning back from the south to the north, and when she did, they partied like rock stars! Great video!!!!! ❤ HAPPY YULE!!!! 🎄🕯
I was trying to think of where Christians got the idea of Christmas 🎄 tree is a Christian thing . Maybe a mix of yule log , and Moses burning 🔥 bush and that the Christians stolen everything from the Pagans and druids .
I so agree with you I grew up on Germany
@@Kim-J312 I think they grasped onto the "everlasting life" part of the Pagan ideology, and added the lights to symbolize God's light in the darkness. Moses' burning bush is a good thought too tho. I didn't think of that! ❤
Happy yule! ❄️
also Nickolaus comes on the 6th
You forgot about mistletoe! One of the easiest "Christmas traditions" to trace back to pagan origins
Absolutely love your channel. Thanks for all that you do.
I’m Catholic and enjoyed your video and learned some things. I have friends who are Wiccan and we get along fine.
I’m so grateful for this channel. I actually learn so much legitimate, useful Pagan information lost in the mix of all the trendy ‘witchy’ crap these days. I love learning all of this history 🎄
Thank you 🙏 Glad I have been able to maintain the balance of useful modern practices and historical traditional ones
I Am Happy You Mentioned The Name Of Mitra The Vedic God Guardian Of Oath And Friendship (Mitra=Friend In Sanskrit) Is Celebrated In Vedic Time's And Also In Greece Rome And Persia Because He Was The God Of Winter Solstice Thank You For This Video It Is Really Great To Watch And Learn New Thing's About Indo-European Cultures.
I bought and am almost done “A Yule Story”. It’s a really fun read that has brought some of the magic of the season back for me. Thanks!
I agree with your rating. Though the Christmas tree I also suspect is pagan in origin. My family always says Jesus is the reason for the season and my MIL in particular gets a birthday cake every Christmas for Jesus. So I’m really hoping baby #2 is born on their due date, Dec 25th. Happy holidays Jacob, see you soon!
Hey! Hope we can chat a little more at Yule. Congratulations on #2 so happy for you both ♥️
I'm pretty sure Saturn is the reason for the season lol, let's put Saturn back into Saturnalia.
Jacob, Happy Yule and congrats on how you've grown your channel. I stumbled upon your channel last summer after seeing (and really enjoying) The Northman and going on youtube to learn more about it. I am not a pagan myself but am a fan of history and generally have an open mind. I feel like "pagan" history does not get much mainstream attention in the US and you do an excellent job of breaking it down. It has also been fascinating to learn more about paganism from your perspective, many aspects of which I can get down with such as maintaining a strong connection with nature. I look forward to seeing where things go from here.
Another great vid bud. Wassailing still happens here in the uk. Used to wake the spirits in the orchards for the hopes of a good Harvest later in the year,
Thank you for the grate video! As a Hungarian/German I found the tree thing interesting.
My family only decorated the tree with lights. I never really questioned why. That was our family heritage and I just respected it. And I still remember that the tree for our family was always so important. That was the representation of the circle of life and my grandmother always said that the fresh tree smell and the lights are helping us to start a good and healthy year. They said if you don’t have a tree you’re going to have a bad luck. So interesting to see how long a tradition can stay alive.
I guess as Germany was along with England the first Germanic peoples to be christianized, a lot of pagan ideas were adapted and absorbed into the christian mainstream so they do not appear as pagan anymore. Frau Holle of the fairy tale, the equivalent of Berchta / Perchta of central Germany and the alpine area has a direct connection to winter: when you shake her pillows and bed covers fiercely enough until the feathers fly, it is snowing on earth. Arguably she also is Fria / Frigg and wife of Woden / Odin. Perchta and the perchten are clearly connected to Christmas customs, the Perchten or schiachen meant to scare away demons and devils running amok in the Rauhnachten, the lawless gap between the years, the gap between the solar and lunar calendars. Woden leading the wild hunt ie the winter storms was also active in that time, maybe that’s why Jakob Grimm thought he evolved into Father Christmas. The original German Weihnachtsmann/ Father Christmas had little to do with Santa: he wore a brown, later red furry coat with a big hood drawn into his face and he was a two-edged sword because he dished out both presents and also punishment, similar to Woden’s fickle nature.
I agree very much with everything. I don't feel like there is a lot that is original to Christianity in a whole. Thank you for all your videos. I have loved every one.
That was so nice! Beautiful lighting, good location choice, fun birds... Happy Yule season!
I’ve been enjoying all the (good natured) jokes online about specifically how pagan Christmas is.
We bring a tree into our homes and ritualize decorating it with the whole family, top it with a star or a mythical creature (Angel) and according to pop culture, dance around it.
Then we set out a food offering on a special plate (alter) for the spirit that magically enters our home to bring us special gifts.
There’s several others but it all just makes me grin.
Merry Yule and Blessed Be!
Wonderful video. Obsessed with the font you used for the titles.
Its the Font I used for my Yule Book cover :)
I like to say thank you for your guidance! You've been a great help to me and inspiration on continuing my pagan path!
Happy Yule... blessings
I love this video, thank you ❤ Happy Yule, much love, honor and blessing to you. 🎄
Jacob the Yule goblin infiltrates the Ark😂 Hey we love pretty lights too! Enjoyed this. 🎄
I am a practising Catholic and I love Christmas.
Christmas is for everyone. Christmas 🎄 is the most wonderful time of the year.
hello from Friborg in Switzerland for us the Yule log is a real log which burns during the twelve days preceding Christmas or jøl Yule and we make blessings for the harvests or for the health of the inhabitants of the house at home it is a ancestral tradition which dates back to pagan Celtic and Germanic times.... best regards from Friborg Switzerland 🙏👍
I love the information provided here… I learned a couple of things today, including the proper pronunciation of “wassailing”. I also guess I didn’t realize that the Yule Log was burned potentially for divination. That’s kind of amazing; I found myself staring into the coals at Ohio Fall in the early hours with Logan and a couple others and seeing things that took my breath and made my stomach flip so I can believe it. I just never considered it to be a possible form of divination.
We enjoyed this video as we do all of them. You are a great storyteller. And funny. We have your book. I'll start reading it tonight.
Hi Jacob, Odin is one of your spirit guides, he walks with you and he wants you to create an altar for him and a separate altar for your Norse & Celtic ancestors. He is proud of what you are teaching on this channel. He is with me as we watch your videos. I am tapped into the spirit realm and receive messages from spirit. Odin wanted me to deliver this message to you. Thank you for providing this information for many who don’t know or understand the proper history in Paganism, Celtic and Norse culture.
Like all “Christian” holidays, they’re 100% Copyrighted from the better more fun Religions
To stay close to nature during the winter it was common to bring a tree into ones home and the smell would liven up the place.
Gift giving is also a common practice in paganism, giving food, toys, and stories, the idea was to share your hospitality with your neighbors during the cold months.
Krampus is also said to be Loki in different forms creating mischief amongst men and women and to ward him off people would fill their socks with goodies and leave it at their doorsteps.
Happy Yule!
Always a treat Jacob ❤
Hope the security guards didn't give you too much trouble. Glad you're getting over that cold. Blessings 😊
I moved to south central Kentucky about 8 years ago because I thought I wanted to experience living in a rural area. It's been challenging For sure! But I have learned a lot About a many things that I took for granted. Having grown up in the northeast I pretty much thought that open mindedness was an American thing but, well, you know...
But I absolutely love that you are at the ark filming this! I really appreciate your content And wish you all the best!
Wassailing was also something done for abundance ceremonies. People would wassail their orchards by dumping some apple cider on their trees and singing to them to appease the spirits and encourage a good harvest the following year. Not sure but I think it predates the drunken meanderings of neighbours. But even then, they were likely toasting with something made from that year's crops and wishing for a bountiful harvest the next year. Great vid as usual!
Winter Solstice Pagan Mother's Night 24th Dec Pagan. Is a Pagan festive era which the Christian took on when they took over in our countries. So the aprox 80-84 per cent pretty spot on 🙂👍 And folk song "Wassail wassail all over the land" sung in this period - "Wassail" exists in English/British folk traditions
Really makes me wonder what the hell this Goatman/ Krampus thing was before Christianity. Christmas Eve, in some cultures, he brings up the people dressed as Krampus going door to door and being sent away by offering schnapps. That should line up with Mother's Night, then. And Krampus punishes the bad kids on Christmas, instead of giving gifts.
Yes - I agree that Christmas is mostly Pagan with a little bland Christian seasoning. I also agree that we should 100% bring back Wassailing (I particularly like how the Welsh do it with the Mari Lwyd). And as someone who lives in the buckle of the Bible Belt, my petty little pagan heart giggles that you made this video in the location that you did.
Side Note: After reciprocating that bird's mating dance, I think you are now officially its boyfriend.
Other than that date, and the fact that celebration concided with festivals that time.
Christmas tree, Santa claus( created by Dutch immigrant), meeting with your families, and above all nativity plays are 100% christians.
I was almost…ALMOST….hoping for someone tackling you and dragging you out, Jacob. That would have been pretty funny. Great video and excellent points. It does bring a smile to my face. Happy Yule and Solstice!
Tree decorating goes all the way back to Zoroastrian celebration of the Solstice called Yalda - decorations are for wishes asking Mother Earth to grant them.
I've been saying we need to bring Wassailing back for a while now.
I highly agree with Santa being a representation of Odin.
Eight reign deer/eight legged horse...
Knows if you're sleeping, or awake. Knows if you've been bad or good/ the two ravens, thought and memory, flying around and reporting back to Odin.
We've inherited beautiful traditions with deep roots!
I heard someone say something about an Evergreen tree (Pine, Fir, Cedar etc) being a pagan fertility symbol because they represented life, even in the Winter months when most other tree's are dormant, or maybe they used to believe dead. Someone correct me on this if I'm wrong.
“Tree worship, common among pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the Devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.” (The New Encyclopedia Britannica)
Excited to watch this video but I have a question........ What do people think about someone creating new holidays on the solstice's, equinoxes and the cross-quarter days... but that are not centered in historical practices, but rather, focus on the changing of the seasons?
historical practices, were focused on the changing of the seasons: plant grow harvest fallow , Jack Frost bespoils the garden
I think because we are not a mostly agrarian culture, they would have a harder time sticking.
Santa certainly seems to be an amalgamation of multiple figures both historical and mythical. We’ve even added new aspects to his myth pretty recently with the red suit, the reigndeer, and rudolf specifically being all created out of pop culture.
Dude I love love your videos.. and ill be getting me that book
Nice info, thanks.😊
Hi Jacob! Greetings from Maryland! Loved the video! I think the Christmas tree is Pagan!! The lights are beautiful! Happy Yule! 🪵🎄
Love the scenery!
1.) Yule Log: The origin of the folk custom is unclear, like other traditions associated with Yule. The first mention of a log burned around Christmas comes from Robert Herrick's poetry collection of 1648 where it is called a "Christmas log". It is not referred to as a "Yule log" until John Aubrey's work from 1686. Prior to that century, there has been no evidence of Yule logs let alone evidence that can be traced back to the holiday of Yule.
2.) Christmas Trees: Is there any sources that connect a ''pagan'' tree worship to the Christmas Tree? What would be the definition of tree worship? Jacob says of the evergreens: ''This is something that POSSIBLY...'' but he doesn't say it is. Many pictures depicting the Roman celebration of Saturnalia show evergreen decorations. This may be very possible, but no ancient sources describe how they decorated for the festival. And thus the question, so what if they did?
Many of the accounts of tree worship center around groves, which is not a Christmas Tree. Roman senator Tacitus in his first century CE work Annals, the Frisians dismembered 900 Roman soldiers in a ''grove'' dedicated to the goddess in 28 CE. - Sacred pillar-like objects, perhaps tree stumps, held sacred by the pagan Saxons, -The sacred tree at Uppsala was a sacred tree located at the Temple at Uppsala, Sweden, in the second half of the 11th century. It is not known what species it was. It is even more sparsely documented than the famous temple by which it stood.
3.) Santa Claus: Sinterklaas, there's not enough information to conclude that he's Odin. Jason again says it's ''possible.'' which can be construed as ''not probable.'' One thing that can be agreed is Santa has been integrated with a lot of secularistic virtues and god like powers.
4.) Saturnalia was a one day agricultural festival, then extended to three days, then to seven, Dec. 17-23 base on the Julian Calendar and not the Gregorian Calendar which is what is used today. There is no evidence that the early church fathers rebranded this festival and called it Christmas.
Yeah, the Bible verse about decorating an idol made of wood was written long before Jesus or Christmas was even a thing.
Thank you for making this video.
🎄greatings from Austria, great for pagen information: Wolf Dieter Storl ( books and youtube )💕 thanks for your work !
Happy Yuletide Everypagan!
About Christmas trees: All Nordic Pagans were very much into sacrifices, from the bronze age until the end of the Viking era. During the winter solstice sacrifice (midvinterblot), humans and animals were hung from trees (oaks). It's pretty easy to see how the thought process worked. It's cold and dark, so during the coldest and darkest day of the year you sacrifice to the gods so they will bring light and warmth (and food) back. And how do you tell the gods to make the trees live again? You tell them by hanging (previously) living things from the branches of a leaf-less tree. To kick-start the process, so to speak.
The red baubles on xmas trees were in the very recent past actual apples. So people would remind the gods that "hey, this is how we want our trees to look, they should be full of fruit". The decorated indoor trees are more recent (1600-1700s), and was mainly for rich people at first.
As you know, Christians wall-papered over all pagan traditions. The spring equinox on Easter is now about the death and resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate with... bunnies and eggs. Very logical. The autumn equinox is "all saints day", which we celebrate with... pumpkins. Which saints love, apparently.
The only thing they gave up on is midsummer, which is the most important holiday in Scandinavia. They just managed to make the pole into a cross instead of the obvious phallus (some regions still do the phallus, though). But there's no Christian holiday that magically coincides with midsummer.
Santa Claus: In the nordic traditions it wasn't Santa Claus (Sinterklaas, Saint Nikolaus) who gave you presents. It differs from country to country, but in Sweden it was either a "julbocken" (the yule goat, hence the straw goat ornaments) or "jultomten" (the Yule gnome). A "Tomte" is a small, immortal humanoid who lives on your plot of land (tomt). If you treat him well, he'll make sure your animals are healthy. If you ignore him or displease him, he might cause horrible things to befall you. The YULE gnome is just your regular gnome but during yuletide. The artist Jenny Nyström made some famous paintings of these creatures. Iceland has a whole bunch of these creatures, all under the employ of an evil witch.
I don't think Odin has anything to do with Santa. Odin was not a god you'd WANT to get a visit from. (Oh what a cozy evening, let's hope the god of war and human sacrifice shows up later!) His name is rarely present in toponyms, unlike all the other gods. He's the type of god whose name doesn't get mentioned, as you don't want to attract his attention. Much like trolls.
Well done video, this integrated perfectly with my own research as I’ve been digging into this topic as a Christian for the last couple years.
Appreciate you being cordial and honest about your conclusions and I tend to agree very much with you, I’d have scored it much higher on the ranking of how pagan it is. Practically 💯
Any possibility of your book hitting audible? Love the videos btw! My daughter and I enjoy them
😂😂😂 what a location for the video! Must of gotten some looks from people hey? Happy Yule Jacob 🌲🪵❄️
Happy Yule 2 u as well, Christmas will always belong to what others call pagans. We witches know these awesome things, it's in our blood.🎄🤗❤️
As another comment already said, Nickolaus (Saint Nicolas) in Germany arrives on the 6th of December.
Furthermore, in German Santa Claus is called "Weihnachstmann" which can be translated as Holy night's man. I don't know if Santa Claus and Saint Nicolas are connected in any way in their origin but in Germany at least there's a clear distinction between the two. Basically, they celebrate Saint Nicolas on his death day
I’m Christian and I love Christmas I see it as time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as a time to get together with family and friends and I know the Christmas has pagan origins and a lot of the customs were pagan including the Christmas tree which was pagan in origin it represented life and fertility but Christmas got Christianised and a lot of the customs and traditions were changed to represent Jesus and the holiday is pretty Christian in nowadays theres no much paganism in it anymore and Christmas is also celebrated by non Christians as a secular holiday and the verse in the bible about cutting down trees was talking about people cutting down trees to make wooden idols to worship pagan gods and not Christmas trees
Lol at the Pagan alarm bells going off in the security staff x)
Although I think talking to a camera, these days, also sets off security staff alarm bells. Too many pranksters.
I think replacing “Pagan” with “rustic” might get you off the keyword-specific radar. X)
Need to plant many large hardwood trees for future Yule logs
The Bible says "take not the trees of the forest and adorn them with gold and silver as the Pagans do".
I'm quoting this from memory, so I might be slightly off.
You should go and read the Bible first to come to the realization that the verse, which you misquoted, is not referencing the decorating of trees whatsoever. It's in Jeremiah 10 and it's in reference to the creation of wooden idols.
As a Swede, I honestly thought the yule log was more of an American thing... I've never heard it mentioned in Swedish, I wouldn't even know how to translate it. 😅
you should check out Religion for Breakfast's video he posted today- much of what Pagans claim as appropriated material turns out to maybe not have been theirs in the first place
@JacobToddson I’m loving what you are offering. I just bought your book but, Dude, the past tense of drag is dragged, not drugged.
If you want to get a feeling for south German, especially alpine Christmas traditions and potentially pagan influences I recommend a movie from 1934: Der verlorene Sohn / The prodigal son by Luis Trenker about 64 minutes in when the protagonist returns to his south Tyrolian homeland from America. The movie is on UA-cam but I only found the German version. I think this part of the movie is right up your alley!
Not just Evergreens, but Holly and Mistletoe. Wreaths are also pegan
You truly picked a wonderful location. Its so beautiful.
Having come from a country that is mostly Christian/Catholic, it's sad not many would know the pagan origins of Christmas. This is why I can celebrate Yule like it is here with family, fun, feasts and other festivities taking place. Sure, we're not Scandinavian, but that doesn't mean we or I can't celebrate it like it is with the spirit of Yule.
That being said, from Philippines by someone fascinated by Norse Paganism, I greet you Skal and a merry, blessed Yule.
The pagan origin of Christmas? Christmas existed in the first two centuries as can be historically seen and documented. This is 700 or more years before any Christians came into contact with any Scandinavians.
Wassailing was to give thanks to the Apple Trees, it just became about ppl getting drunk.
The trees are still honoured in many places here & buttered toast left for the birds.
The Veiled one of Wind & Wilderness, Queen of Winter should also be honoured at this time.
I absolutely love the choice to deliver pegan history with a touch of chaos at the ark 😂
The winter solstice was closer to the 25th of December in Roman times due to the wobble of the earth’s rotation.
Christianity took a lot of pagan traditions and molded them in their perspective. Blessed Be to all pagans!
have you ever been able to tie Santa to aminita mushrooms? i have seen a few times there may be a connection but nothing definitive.
Damn you were about an hour away from me wish I'd know to meet you!
Hey Jakob, I wish you a happy Yule and I like your videos use it so interesting about North paganism. I am huge interested in North paganism and you make wonderful contents about contacting Odin and North gods. I hope we will meet some someday lovely greetings from your best fan. Andrew from Switzerland and happy Yule❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
Happy Yule Jacob 🎄 Skøl🍻
I was wondering about Father Christmas,( an English version of Santa.) Charles Dickens has the Ghost of Christmas past looking very like a typical Father Christmas. His name is very commercial and I think very recent.
Thank you for this video loved the lighting and subject I believe Christmas 🎄 trees are also pagan and Christmas is pagan. ❤
With regards to Christmas trees, according to numerous Roman and Greek sources - including Julius Caesar himself - Celts would take the entrails, heads, and hands of their fallen enemies to their sacred groves and decorate their trees. So the next time you put garland or ribbon on your tree, just remember that you are echoing stringing, the intestines of a fallen foe across the sacred tree.
So the only things I've found to be Christian in origin with Christmas are the candy cane, stockings, and Rudolph.
For Santa you forgot that one name of Odin is Yule Father, aka Father Christmas. And of course Sleipnir is an 8 legged horse, and prior to a Chicago store inventing Rudolph, Santa was pulled by 8 reindeer. Reindeer are key to the Sami people, where the Norse went for help with magic and religion.
A Chicago store invented Rudolph?? I have never heard that before! I’ve gotta look that up now
Biblically, the only tradition that can possibly be attributed to the birth of Christ is the star. But everything else done to celebrate Christmas, including celebrating Christmas, is non biblical in origin, which means they originally came from pagan beliefs and practices.
That's a complete and utter non-sequitur. "If it's not explicitly in the bible, it must mean that it comes from paganism". The conclusion doesn't follow the premise.
@@caseycardenas1668 Ok, let me put it another way. Most of the traditional Christmas celebrations are non biblical in origin, including the belief that Christ was born December 25th, which ancient people celebrated as the Yuletide/solstice holiday. The Christian church took many non Christian holidays and ‘christianized’ them so the people, who were literally being forced to convert to Christianity, would be more accepting. Christ was not born in the middle of winter. He most likely was born in the spring, during lambing time and that’s why the shephards were in the fields, to assist with the birth of lambs.
@@SeaTurtle515 there's literally zero academic or scholastic evidence of that assertion. Each Christian holiday is uniquely Christian in origin in terms of what it fundamentally represents.
Christians in the first two centuries were celebrating the birth of Christ on what would be December 25th. The claim is not that he explicitly was or was not born on that day. Ironically, all the holidays of the Christian calendar existed prior to the mass spread of the religion itself.
"Being forced to convert to Christianity" like whom? Be historically consistent, who was being forced to convert? It's quite obvious you have no basis in history, if you did you would see there was no practice in the ancient church used to swoon converts by repackaging their holidays, since the Christian holiday already existed.
Many practices of the church are not explicitly in the bible because the church predates the complication of scriptures.
Might be interesting for you to research Didukh, a Christmas time tradition from Ukraine. Didukh is a wheat „bouquet“/„tree“. Only later (influenced Germany,etc) the fir tree became a symbol as well. But we have Didukh until now too. One of its meanings it to represent ancestors.
It’s said decorated in silver and gold that that is definitely talking about the tree
Christmas tree is found in the bible, Jeremiah 10, vs 2 to 5. Read it, what other than the Christmas tree could it be?
Yes, definitely the Christmas tree
Read Jeremia 10:22-25 to understand about the Christmas tree as not a good thing to worship as winter season.
Jeremiah 10 is in reference to the creation of wooden idols, not Christmas trees.
What I'd be interested, if someone would research, is the number of Dark Ages/ Medieval Christian practices that likely got adopted from Celtic & Germanic pagans- some of which later became outlawed by the church. Two I can think of off the top of my head are contemplation trails & an old spring festival where people would attend completely naked. They would do a maypole, then have a feast consisting pretty much entirely of salads to commemorate new growth, with the entire ritual and feast done in the nude.
King Bread seems to be another one originally likely attributable to Germans. Originally, someone would hide a bean which later turned into a Christ effigy in a bread & everyone would divide it up. Whoever got the bean was crowned "king of Christmas."
In Sweden I would classify Santa as a tomte, he's even called Jultomten.
My view on this will always be that it's more Pagan than the average Christian thinks and less Pagan than the average Pagan (that thinks about this topic at all) or Antitheist thinks
Santa's sleigh may come from Thor's chariot pulled by goats(??)
Fantastic video!
I would have said 100%. "Ancestral Worship" predates Christianity by some 10,000 years - going from the last big "reset". We have known - and acknowledged - the changing of the seasons, the solstices, and the equinoxes for millennium.
Hey Brother. I love your content and this video as well but it’s so freaking funny when you try to speak Dutch (Zwarte Piet). I will never forget when we tried to teach you the G in Dutch at the first Gathering here in the Netherlands😅🤣. Keep up the good work miss you a lot man, hope to see you see soon 🙏🏻
Friend you should've went to the renfair grounds for the Yuletide festival instead of the ark!
I just cant imagine how to get one log burning for so long, at least not one that would fit into my home!
An increasing number of Christians have come to believe that Christmas is derived from paganism. They’ve heard that the timing of Christmas may have been borrowed from Roman sun god worship. Or that Christmas trees come from German paganism. Or that the star on top of the Christmas tree comes from astrological worship. But these myths are all so wrong. Christmas-the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord-is a thoroughly Christians celebration. Here’s why.
For Christmas trees look up St Boniface and a pagan tree in Germany.
I wonder if We Wish you a Merry Christmas is a wassailing song. Because the song verse in song please bring us some figgy pudding we won't go until we some.
Happy Yule everyone. For me is Christmas 100 % pagan.
Jeremiah 10:3-5 teaches to not go into the Forrest and chopping down a tree. It states that pagans would bring it to their house and decorate them with gold or silver. They would worship the tree. I have had people tell me that they don’t worship their trees. Yet, there is that song,” Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches!” Singing to a tree and worshipping it, is pagan and sin!
This is such a funny coincidence. My younger brother is Christian and I am from Australia. He coincidentally is at the Ark encounter right now (Has been for the past two few weeks to a month). I have tried talking to Christian family members about the origins of christmas and all except one have said stuff to the effect of 'why do people sing christmas carols if they're not christian?'.
My one relative that is Christian and agrees it's not christian believes that it comes from coca cola and capitalism, which is something.
PART 1 -
Yule, for the ancient Germanic people, typically referred to the Winter Solstice and celebrations were held around that time. Yule was subsequently placed on 25 December by King Haakon the Good in the 10th century AD to coincide with Christmas. This goes back to the early historian Snorri Sturluson, and his book "Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway." Snorri says before this, “Yule was celebrated on a midwinter night (the Winter Solstice), and for a duration of three nights". He gives no specific dates, but St. Bede in “The reckoning of Time,” opined the Northmen calculated their seasons according to the cycles of the moon, so the date of Yule probably changed every year to align with the Winter Solstice. Pliny the elder also says the Gallic tribes calculated their months according to the moon. Last, according to the Chronicler, Theitmar, the Danes sacrificed to pagan gods in January after the 6th. So, Yule kind of gets moved around. One thing associated with pagan Yule is of course the Yule Log.
Yule Logs however do not go back to paganism, despite the name. Yule is also an English word to mean "mid-winter period." The first mention of yule logs is in Robert Herrick’s, "Hesperides” a poetry collection, and he calls it a Christmas log. It wasn't called a yule log until Aubrey's work “In the West-Riding of Yorkshire on Christmas Eve” which dates to 1686. So, the Yule Log is really a more recent concept and has zero connections back to some pagan antecedent.
Most people have heard the story about how the ancient Germanic people brought evergreen trees into their houses around Winter Solstice (Germanic ‘Yule’) and typically hung them upside down from rafters. It leaves us with images of a Viking long house bedecked with several trees hanging from the rafters while those gathered inside made merry with fire, feasting and mead.
Except that never happened. There is no historical evidence from any of the eddas or sagas or any writings, that offer a shred of historical evidence to support the idea that pagan Germanic peoples brought evergreen trees into their homes at Yule.
There was no borrowing of this Germanic custom from the Romans who borrowed it from blah, blah, blah, who borrowed it from blah, blah, blah. This custom has absolutely zero ties to any supposed Biblical reference.
Many Christian denominations take the above origins as truth and are quick to site Jeremiah 10: 1-5; however, most people who do so are jumping to unfounded nonsense conclusions - the Biblical account is of a tree cut down and its _trunk_ fashioned into an idol and adorned with gold and silver. The passage refers to the making/carving of a wooden idol from the trunk of a tree and then applying gold/silver leaf to it - a popular technique to adorn wooden objects - think of the funerary objects found in King Tut’s tomb; many were wood with gold leaf applique. The Biblical reference has absolutely nothing to do with an actual tree or Christmas trees in general.
Trees were brought into homes _are_ a Germanic custom, but one that originated in the Middle Ages, and were certainly not decorated with gold and silver.
But the real origins of Christmas trees appear to be rooted in present-day Germany and date to the 16th century in Germany. The first mention of Christmas trees is in an Alsace ordinance in 1561. Almost no early Germanic pagans thought pine trees were sacred, let alone associated with Christmas. Germanic tribes believed the oak was sacred, not the evergreen tree.
The most likely explanation is that the Christmas tree morphed over from so-called paradise trees. There were many allegorical-type plays done in the Middle Ages at various markets. One such play was called the Paradise Play, performed to celebrate the feast day of Adam and Eve, which fell on Christmas Eve. In the dead of winter, not a lot of trees are available, so the “tree of knowledge” was represented by an evergreen fir with apples tied to its branches. There is documentation of trees decorated with wool thread, straw, apples, nuts and pretzels. After the play, the treats would be eaten. The practice likely gave way to having trees in the house at Christmas. In 1419 for example, a guild in Freiburg put up a tree decorated with apples, flour-paste wafers, tinsel and gingerbread. The Christmas tree is not historically attested any earlier than this time period and, as seen, has absolutely zero correlation with the oft quoted passage from Jeremiah.
Christmas Carols themselves are quite ancient - some of the fist ones can be traced to 4th century Rome - these were all sung in Latin. Secular carols first started appearing around the 1400’s - the custom of singing them going door to door comes from English wassailing (Wassail is from the Anglo-Saxon “wês hâl - be (thou) healthy! (hâl is modern English “hale”)). A custom of going around wishing everyone health for the new year - typically in exchange for a cup of waissail - a mulled alcoholic punch (think German Glühwein or Scandinavian glög).
Though mentioned in Beowulf and in the Anglo-Saxon account of the Battle of Hastings, it doesn’t necessarily equate to a “pagan” custom, at least not a religious one - you’re just toasting someone wishing them good health; not sure I necessarily see that as inherently “pagan”. Kind of pushes the envelope.
The name “Santa” is simply a corruption of the Dutch “Sinter” (Saint) - nothing more, nothing less. “Clause” a corruption of the Dutch “Klaas” - a common nickname for Nicholas. Dutch Sinter Klaas, was brought to the US by the Dutch who settled in what they called New Holland (i.e. New York) and was subsequently Anglicized to “Santa Claus”.
St. Nicholas was, of course, real person. He was a bishop in Myra, in what is now Turkey. His feast day is celebrated on 6 December. It is on that date that children in Europe would receive treats and gifts. His association was later moved to 25 December to help make Christmas a family holiday. Newspapers promoted it and encouraged to give gifts on Christmas instead of St. Nicholas Day or New Years like it traditionally was. Sinterklaas was rebranded from a bishop to look like a traditional Dutchman from around the 1800’s, which included a big red suit. After this, people started attributing all sorts of myths and legends about him adding new spins. And, of course, poems such as T'was the Night Before Christmas, and advertisers , particularly Coca Cola, more or less cemented his image to what we have today. Really no ties to anything pagan, but the stories that arose about him may have some origin in northern Germanic tales of elves/dwarves, etc.