What is "Christmas?" What does it mean?

[Arvestaked]

Originally posted by patlajan Your honest opinion is misinformed.

Hehe. You must take the short bus to school.

[jahannam]

yeah ummm Egyptians had trees.
and sumerians had trees
and mayans had em too lol
trees are everywhere... just cuz Egyptians liked trees doesn't mean we decorate trees on christmas because of "egyptians" ANILEVE lol
here's a different version.
I dont remember the exact details but it's something like this:
there were three kinds of trees close to Christ's birthplace.
one of the trees had soft leaves, and it was used for covering the baby to keep him warm
the other tree was dry
everytime wind blew the leaves made a khsh khsh sound much like it was celebrating the birth by cheering.
the third tree (I one that we use today) had needlelike leaves and was pretty much useless featureswise. so what to do what to do?
they decorated it with colorful stuff and everytime the baby looked at it, he smiled. so there!

[xBaron Dants]

Re: What is "Christmas?" What does it mean?

Originally posted by Nimrod To make it nice and sufficinct for many people here I will post the article. I feel that the educational origins of what we celebrate as X-mas is more crucial from these several enlightening sources, than rolling over when someone tells us to by celebrating this day in life.



The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god - Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.

The Mesopotamian king would return to the temple of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the god. The traditions called for the king to die at the end of the year and to return with Marduk to battle at his side.

To spare their king, the Mesopotamians used the idea of a "mock" king. A criminal was chosen and dressed in royal clothes. He was given all the respect and privileges of a real king. At the end of the celebration the "mock" king was stripped of the royal clothes and slain, sparing the life of the real king.

The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey.

Early Europeans believed in evil spirits, witches, ghosts and trolls. As the Winter Solstice approached, with its long cold nights and short days, many people feared the sun would not return. Special rituals and celebrations were held to welcome back the sun.

In Scandinavia during the winter months the sun would disappear for many days. After thirty-five days scouts would be sent to the mountain tops to look for the return of the sun. When the first light was seen the scouts would return with the good news. A great festival would be held, called the Yuletide, and a special feast would be served around a fire burning with the Yule log. Great bonfires would also be lit to celebrate the return of the sun. In some areas people would tie apples to branches of trees to remind themselves that spring and summer would return.

The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.

The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).

The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.

"Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians though it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.

But as Christianity spread they were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts. At first the Church forbid this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail. Eventually it was decided that the celebration would be tamed and made into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God.

Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.

The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.

From the same author that brought us the history of Halloween, another great holiday history post.

Boy oh boy! I can't WAIT till easter!!

[sSsflamesSs]

Re: Re: What is "Christmas?" What does it mean?

Originally posted by Baron Dants From the same author that brought us the history of Halloween, another great holiday history post.

Boy oh boy! I can't WAIT till easter!!

I think I seriously burst something from laughing so hard.

Now THAT'S what I'm TALKING about (sorry, I couldn't help but steal this line).

[violette829]

Why do u people quote when the quote is SO FRIKKIN LONG?

[Nimrod]

Originally posted by Anonymouse I'm of the persuasion that all "myths" have some truth to it, in time immemorial, such as the serpent cult.

It depends on what the truth means to you along with everyone else. Lots of times people once again misconceive things then fall victim to skewed history.

[fIReBuRntInHeLL]

I just wanna remind you that armenian X-mas is on January 6!!!!

[Nimrod]

Originally posted by jahannam yeah ummm Egyptians had trees.
and sumerians had trees
and mayans had em too lol
trees are everywhere... just cuz Egyptians liked trees doesn't mean we decorate trees on christmas because of "egyptians" ANILEVE lol
here's a different version.
I dont remember the exact details but it's something like this:
there were three kinds of trees close to Christ's birthplace.
one of the trees had soft leaves, and it was used for covering the baby to keep him warm
the other tree was dry
everytime wind blew the leaves made a khsh khsh sound much like it was celebrating the birth by cheering.
the third tree (I one that we use today) had needlelike leaves and was pretty much useless featureswise. so what to do what to do?
they decorated it with colorful stuff and everytime the baby looked at it, he smiled. so there!

Yes it does mean that the idea of the TREE decorating was all started from them. So in essence not only are we celebrating something so Anti-Christian but we are also accrediting the Egpytians. It seems to me that you did not pay attention afterall.

[Nimrod]

Originally posted by fIReBuRntInHeLL I just wanna remind you that armenian X-mas is on January 6!!!!

I understand that you forbid any sort of education to enter that numb skull of yours but in case you have forgotten THERE IS NO SUCH A THING AS AN "Armenian X-mas" I am tired of that ignorance being spewed. Listen, on Jan.6th IT IS THE CHRISTMAS OF THE APOSTOLIC AND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS. YES ARMENIANS ARE MOSTLY ORTHODOX SO THEREFORE THEY CELEBRATE IT ON THAT DAY AS WELL AS THE SERBS GREEKS AND MANY OTHER CENTRAL EUROPEANS AND YOU NEED TO REALIZE THAT NOW! Geez, how many times do I have to tell you?? It is the Christmas of the Orthodox and Apostolic Christmas and nothing else because it has nothing to do with ethnicity or race.

[Nimrod]

Originally posted by TigranJamharian why dont you calm the xxxx down and stop insulting everyone with your crap. you are a little xxxxxx and piss the xxxx out of me xxxxin jumping on everyones case for this or that word, Do you try specifically to be a xxxxin Nimrod as your name. and no the greeks dont celebrate christmas on the 6th idiot they celebrate it on the 25th with the catholics, go check it up for yourself. and get the xxxx off everyones case. noone likes your raised nose bullxxxx.

Are you a single-celled imbecile? Who was even taking you under consideration? I was not getting on his "case" you dolt. I was just saying a mere fact. I apologize if realistic truthful facts offend you. You are annoying me since the second you started typing and revealing your message board incompetence but do you see me whining like you are about that? And YES they do because some Greeks are ORTHODOX and those people celebrate it then. I mean again, I have taught him and if you'd like I can teach you too, no need to start crying about it. Look, what you get from me is what you give me, mind your own business and learn to make sense. Just because you are flawed and cannot handle anyone challenging your narrow-minded view does not make them anything or any "less" than you are. All of your rubbish you have spouted through the net is basically feelings of failure and it just seems to me that you are blaming your impotence on me. No one gave you the right to judge sit down and SHUT THE xxxx UP.