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Have you ever thought about just where we got some of the religious symbols and ceremonies that are commonly practiced around the world? Sometimes I wonder how many people would be shocked to find out that they are Pagan in origin.

First, lets define "Pagan" as anyone who is not strictly Christian, Muslim, or Jew. This is a common dictionary definition.

Now let's look at some of these often used symbols and rituals.

Both the Star of David used by the Jewish faith, and the cross used by Christianity, are Pagan in origin. In the former case, the interlinking triangles signify how all life is intertwined and connected. This is closely related, especially when looking at very old renditions, to both the Celtic Knot and the Pentagram. Some interpret it to mean Life Eternal, never ending. In the latter, the Celtic Cross was used long before Christians thought of the idea. This symbol was changed very slightly by Christians, by elongating the southern most tip. As the name implies, the celtic cross predates Christianity. The four points actually refer to the 4 elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air.

As many other people here have pointed out, the Christmas tree is pagan in origin. The lights and the decorations are also pagan, and were used to celebrate the winter solstice...an important event to Pagan's, signifying the beginning of the new year. There are several articles about this on Helium. Note that most of the trees growing in the middle east are what we would consider as shrubs, and are not evergreen. Few would have even had leaves in December.

A figure that was prominent in early pagan ceremonies during the winter was a fat, jolly old man that had a long white beard, wearing a red suit, who flew about using flying reindeer, and who filled socks hung by the chimney with goodies. Sound familiar? Santa Claus, though this is a corruption of "Saint Nicholas", got his idea start in Paganism.

"Prior to the Germanic peoples' Christianization, Germanic folklore contained stories about the god Odin (Wodan), who would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and the fallen warriors residing in his realm. Children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy [Siefker, chap. 9, esp. 171-173]. This practice survived in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands after the

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