Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Unwrapping Christmas
What’s behind festive decorations, Santa Claus, stockings and other symbols?
FAKE snow, a chubby man with a long white beard donning a red and white costume, and tall decorated triangular trees are a common sight in shopping malls and other public spaces at this time of the year. Christmas, the biggest holiday around the world, is upon us.
Children line up to meet and greet Father Christmas with the hope of getting a gift for good behaviour, as legend goes, and green Christmas wreaths adorn front doors.
But where do these symbols come from and what do they mean?
The Bible asserts in the Gospels that Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter.
How, then, is it that the birth of Jesus became known as Christmas and celebrated on December 25?
Depending on which History channel documentary you watch, a number of versions of the birth of Jesus and origins of Christmas exist.
While Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, the creator of everything and the only god, European nations which existed long before the birth of Jesus and before Christianity had deities and practices which seem to have formed the basis on which some Christian beliefs have evolved.
In Nordic countries, a deity named Balder was the son of a god called Odin; while in Rome Sol Invictus was the god of the sun, and in Persia, Mithras was the deity associated with protecting the truth.
All these deities and many others were celebrated around the Winter solstice by pagan nations or what the Bible refers to as Gentiles.
The celebrations included festivals of feasting, lighting of candles and using evergreen plants to bring hope in the middle of winter. The festivals were aligned with the northern hemisphere winter solstice and ran for a few days from December 20. In 350 AD, it was Pope Julius who declared December 25 as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
In northern Europe, where winter days were short and filled with darkness, men gathered evergreen plants to brighten their homes.
Some were used to make wreaths in early Greece and Rome as a sign of hope that spring would dawn. This is where the Christmas tree came from.
Historians say it was Queen Victoria, who was married to a German, who in 1848 took to decorating the family’s Christmas tree with fruit and candles, a German tradition, and the idea spread throughout the Western world.
And what of that beautiful mistletoe belief about kissing and eternal love?
According to Greek mythology, mistletoe was dropped from heaven by the gods and had sacred powers which chased evil away.
The plant, a parasite which has no real roots of its own but thrives on the nutrients of its host, was also believed to have fertility powers, and kissing under its branches guaranteed marriage and everlasting love.
But it is the chubby fellow, Father Christmas or Santa Claus, who has become synonymous with Christmas in the modern world. Santa evolved from St Nicholas, a 4th century Turkish saint who was wealthy and loved children.
Legend goes that St
Nicholas dropped gold pieces through the window of poor families, and these landed in stockings drying by the fireplace. Today, stockings are hung in anticipation of Father Christmas bringing gifts.
Clement Clarke Moore, a professor of Oriental and Greek literature in New York, who in 1823 wrote a poem titled The Night before Christmas.
He reimagined St Nicholas and gave him eight reindeer, and warm fur clothes to wear while flying through the night delivering gifts to good children.
A few years later, cartoonist Thomas Nast gave Santa
Claus a chubby physique, the colours red and white and a pipe to smoke while doing the deliveries.
Catching up to the craze of this big character, advertisers gave Santa a big belly laugh, ho ho ho, and put him in every shopping mall around Christmas.
While it may have its roots in various north European traditions, Christmas and its symbols has made its home in Africa where December falls in summer and snow is unimaginable.
Today, though, Christmas has come to symbolise a worldwide celebrated holiday of family gatherings, gift giving and togetherness. It is a public holiday in South Africa and in many other countries. Typically, families of Christian and other beliefs spend the day feasting on dishes such as turkey, gammon, roast vegetables and Christmas pudding. Today, salads, trifle and malva pudding may also be on the menu.
noloyiso.mtembu@inl.co.za