by Rob Drew

Created on: May 09, 2008

I love holidays, and celebrate most with great enthusiasm! Each is a unique mix of traditions and symbols, many retaining hints of memories from our remote pagan ancestors. What makes these days truly special is an understanding their ancient roots. In Western culture, many festivals have been assumed and somewhat repurposed by modern religions. Still, we can happily share these special days with our Christian friends, even if some of the original meaning has been changed or lost. Let's look at a few of the most popular among our American holidays.

Today's Christmas was originally celebrated by a wide variety of pagan cultures, in many parts of the world as the Winter Solstice. In Rome it was "Sol Invictus", the feast of the "Unconquered Sun", rejoicing that nurturing daylight was returning for another year. For several centuries it was also celebrated as the birthdate of the Roman god Mithras. When Christianity became the official religion of Rome, Mithras was out and Jesus' birthday was moved from Spring to December 25th. Today some atheists celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Isaac Newton, who unlike Jesus, was actually born on that day.

Easter of course was a "Spring Solstice" festival. There were many versions of pagan "new life" celebrations featuring symbols such as beautifully painted eggs, baby chicks and baby bunnies. Another festival at this point on the calendar was celebrated by the Jews as Passover, commemorating their exodus from Egypt. Any link between that event and the Solstice has been lost, though the celestial phenomenon was well known to the Egyptians. Christianity replaced the original pagan concept of "rebirth" with the new one of "resurrection", so we now share the holiday. Chocolate is a modern embellishment.

Valentine's Day began as the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a wildly popular fertility festival held in mid February. A Catholic Pope replaced this pagan celebration with a Christian feast day around 500 CE, and changing "passionate love" into "Christian love" as the theme. It is thought that the English writer Chaucer may have been the one to associate it with "Romantic Love" in the 14th century. We can thank him for recovering the original theme of this holiday, as Cupid, Greek Eros, once again fires his arrows at eager young hearts.

St Patrick's Day is not so much a religious holiday as an ethnic one, celebrating the mixed blessing of being Irish! The messages are preserved in this holiday's famous symbols. Shamrocks were pagan icons both of protective magic and the rebirth of spring. The holiday is just a few days before the Solstice Solstice. Leprechauns, of course, are Celtic "faerie folk". A Christian designation came late, sometime in the 17th century. What about the green beer? I have no idea!

These are a few examples of pagan cultural contributions preserved in modern times. As so often happens, the significance is lost on many revelers amidst the festivities and the modern interpretations. Still it's nice to realize that some of the best of ancient ideas and ancient ways live on, even without our noticing.

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