Winter Holidays and Their Origins | Page 1 | Pro-Life/Pro-Choice Discussion | Guild Forums

WatersMoon110
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:34 am

Here is a list of winter holidays from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia

Celtic

* Samhain: November 1 - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)
* Winter Solstice: December 21~December 22 - midwinter
* Imbolc: February 1 - first day of spring in the Celtic calendar

Chinese

* Dong zhi: Winter solstice
* Signature of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) : December 25 - a secular national holiday, which due to its date is celebrated in some respects like Christmas
* Chinese New Year (late January - early February) - considered the end of winter in the traditional Chinese calendar

Christian

* Advent: four weeks prior to Christmas - preparing for the birth of Christ.
* Saint Nicholas' Day: December 6
* Christmas Eve: December 24
* Christmas: December 25 - the birth of Christ.
* 12 Days of Christmas: December 25 through January 6
* Saint Stephen's Day: December 26
* Saint John the Evangelist's Day: December 27
* Holy Innocents' Day: December 28
* Saint Sylvester's Day: December 31
* Watch Night: December 31
* Feast of the Circumcision: January 1
* Feast of Fools: January 1
* Twelfth Night: Epiphany Eve January 5
* Epiphany - January 6: the arrival of the Three Magi.
* Eastern Orthodox Christmas according to the Julian Calendar: January 7
* Candlemas: February 2
* St. Valentine's Day: February 14

Germanic

* Modranect: or Mothers' Night, the Saxon winter solstice festival.
* Yule: the Germanic winter solstice festival

Jewish

* Hanukkah: Starting on 25 Kislev (Hebrew) or various dates in December (Gregorian) - eight day festival commemorating the miracle of the oil after the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his defeat in 165 BCE.

Pagan and Neopagan

* Yule: (Winter Solstice) - Germanic Pagan festival of the rebirth of the Sun
* Imbolc : (February 1 or 2) - festival of candles
* Winter Solstice: (December 21) - New Age festival

Persian

* Yalda: (Winter Solstice) - Birth of Sun God Mehr
* Sadeh: waiting for arriving of the summer from 50 days before in the winter.

Polynesian

* Matariki: (Maori New Year, usually early June) - Rising of the Pleiades star cluster before dawn.

Roman

* Saturnalia: the Roman winter soltice festival
* Festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun: late Roman Empire - December 25
* Hedgehog Day, the archaic European version of Groundhog Day, dating back to Roman times - February 2
* Lupercalia, the Roman end-of-winter festival - February 15

Secular

* Quebec City Winter Carnival - February - Annual celebration of winter.
* Yulefest - June - Australian "Christmas in Winter"
* Winterval - secular name for winter festivities coined by Birmingham City Council to encompass all holidays being recognized from October to January
* Agnostica - Celebrating the birth of quantum physics.
* Zamenhof Day - December 15 - Birthday of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto; holiday reunion for Esperantists
* HumanLight - December 23 - recently invented Secular Humanist midwinter holiday originated by the New Jersey Humanist Network
* Chrismukkah - slang term for the amalgam of Christmas and Hanukkah celebrated by religiously mixed families and couples
* Yuletide - December 25 - classic and modern, respectively, terms for the social and federal December 25th holiday
* Boxing Day - December 26 - gift-giving day after Christmas.
* Kwanzaa
* Hogmanay - December 31 - Scottish New Years Eve
* New Years Eve - last day of the Gregorian year
* New Year's Day - January 1 - first day of the Gregorian year
* Burns Night - January 25 - birthday of Robert Burns
* Groundhog Day - February 2

Slavic

* Karachun - the pagan winter solstice festival

Zen Buddhist

* Rohatsu

This is just meant to be a nice, somewhat accurate, list of all the holidays people celebrate around this time of year.

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:42 am

Origins of Christmas (by me):

Ok, it is not very likely that Jesus (Yeshua) the Christ was actually born on December 25th. Shepherds don't lay down with their flocks during the cold winter months (when they bring their flocks to shelter at night), but rather shepherds stay out all night with their flocks during lambing season, so between February and April.

Mithras was born on December 25th. Christmas was most likely moved to coincide with this holiday.

Not that Jesus really plays much of a part in modern Christmas celebrations. One of the main symbols of Christmas are the plants that stay green: evergreens, holly, and mistletoe; all of which were holy to early non-Christian religions.

Santa most likely comes from early Northern traders, who would have come on sleighs pulled by reindeer (which only could have traveled during the winter), were dressed in fur, and brought new interesting things to trade: gifts!

The tradition of Christmas lights is Germanic, and evergreens used to be covered with candles (a horrible fire hazard).

WatersMoon110
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La Veuve Zin

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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:56 am

o_O They're kind of redundant, aren't they?

I love how they mentioned Decemberween though. whee

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:38 am

To clarify: Happy Holidays doesn't annoy me when people say it to me. What annoys me is when people give me a dirty look for saying Merry Christmas and then they go, "Happy Holidays to you..." like I did something rotten.

When I say Merry Christmas, I'm saying it because I want them to have a happy Christmas even if they don't believe in it, if that makes sense. Like, I want them to share in my joy with Christmas as well as what they celebrate, since Christmas is so freaking commercialized, it's not about Jesus for most people and tons of people who aren't Christian celebrate it.

Edit: Meaning, I love it when people say things like Happy Hanukkah to me, or that my brother is planning on giving me my gift on the Winter Solstice because he's Pagan. I like sharing in their joy about the holiday they celebrate. I certainly don't mind people saying "Happy Holidays" to me. It's just when they act like I"m horrible for saying Merry Christmas that it gets to me. I celebrate Christmas, and if it bugs someone so much that I want them to have a happy one whether they believe in it or not, well...it annoys me.

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Tiger of the Fire

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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:54 pm

My beleife is basicly what Lyme said. I got it today at work. I wished one of the costimers a Merry Christmas and she shot me a dirty look and bluntly informed me she was an atheist, and then drove off before I could say anything in return.

"Happy Holidays" dosn't bother me. I say it at the begingin of December, since there are many holidays that take place in this month. During the last week before christmas though, i move to "merry christmas"

What offends me is when people treat the word Christmas like its somthign dirty and shameful, or a slur.

BTW waters, thank you for mackign a sepeate thread.

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:00 pm

This is actually about the poll and "Happy Holidays".

My fiance has worked for Wal Martfor almost 4 years now. As most people know, Wal Mart was the center of the "Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas" debate last year and was even boycotted because some people claimed that Wal Mart associates were forced to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. While it's true that Wal Mart had switched to saying Happy Holidays on it's ads and signs, the associates have always been allowed to say whatever they want! They can even say Happy Yule if they really want to. Even when Wal Mart had switched to the Happy Holiday signs they were still playing very religious Christmas Music during th Holiday season. My fiance listens to songs like Silent Night and the Little Drummer Boy all day long.
Today a Wal Mart associate wished us both a Merry Christmas. Even though my fiance is agnostic he says Merry Christmas to customers because he personally chooses to celebrate Christmas and knows that we live in a predominantly Christian town. A small percentage of the town have other religions, but most of them are very tolerant.
Our little town is still big on Christmas displays too. We live in a valley and the hill of the valley has a huge lit Christmas star. One of our local parks has a Christmas light display that is rated one of the best in the country. We even have a permanent fireplace in the park that pipes our apple pie scent. During easter they even have a big lit up cross on the hillside. No one complains.
I think people just need to relax. Christians need to chill about people using the phrase Happy Holidays. It's just a more inclusive term and I think it's nice to include others. People who aren't Christian serious need to chill about being told Merry Christmas. Face it, the US is mostly Christian and Christmas has a HUGE deal here. It doesn't hurt you to hear the phrase.

I kind of have a hard time believing that people really get dirty looks for saying Merry Christmas, but I guess thats because I've lived in such a conservative Christian town for so long.

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WatersMoon110
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:04 am

Really, dirty looks for "Merry Christmas"? How horrible.

When I worked, I always said "Happy Holidays" and I got some long lectures from Christians who felt offended when I didn't say "Merry Christmas" to them. But I didn't know that people were now getting the opposite, and upsetting people for wishing them a "Merry Christmas".

I usually just say "Thank you, Happy Holidays!" Which is really the best response, in my opinion.

I have always been tempted to say "Happy Kwanzaa" to someone who gets all upset over me not telling them "Merry Christmas"...

*grin*

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:46 am

I could say my peice on kwanza since I've read a few things about it historicly, but i havn't read enough

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WatersMoon110
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:11 pm

Happy Yule/Winter Solstice everyone! It started today at 7:22 (EST?).

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:49 am

WatersMoon110

Happy Yule/Winter Solstice everyone! It started today at 7:22 (EST?).

Right back at ya. 4laugh

My mom's leaving for New Orleans today, so I asked if she wanted her present today or on the 25th. She said today. (She's Catholic.) I asked if she celebrates Christmas or the Solstice. She said both. xp So she opened it today.

La Veuve Zin

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Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:59 pm

where's the 'i don't care' option?

personally i say christmas, because that's what i celebrate, but why on earth would it bother me for someone to say anything else? or visa versa?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:39 pm

MiNdCaNdY

where's the 'i don't care' option?

personally i say christmas, because that's what i celebrate, but why on earth would it bother me for someone to say anything else? or visa versa?

Sorry, those who don't care either have to lie, or do without the gold.

WatersMoon110
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:54 am

Even though it's no longer winter, there's no need to let this die. 3nodding

Personally, though I was raised in a household that performed a secular Christmas, I no longer celebrate it. Instead, I celebrate Osho-gatsu, the Japanese New Year's celebration (which I celebrated before, just not as extensivley and not exclusively). I do so with alcohol, food, women, and at the end of the night, my yearly ritual of purification. I spend all the next day doing purification rituals too.

IT's kind of silly that I do so though, because I'm an atheist. xp

One of my favorite rituals is to go to the local Buddhist temple and help them prepare traditional Japanese Mochi by hand with a mortar. That's right, no machines for me, as atonement for my sins and to harmonize myself with my ancestors and nature, I squat for about 4 hours, flipping really freaking hot blobs of rice as they are mashed to make mochi, and sprinkle flour on them. I am lucky as unlike some of the older guys who have worked there for 20, 30 years, I have yet to slip and get my hand smashed by the hammer. rofl I'm sure I'll get it next year just for saying that though.

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