The Beauty of Paganism at Christmas
Yes, even for Christians.
While I was at Lee University, someone who practiced Messianic Judaism liked to argue why it didn’t make sense that Christians would celebrate Christmas or Easter. At our Christian school, the great majority of us celebrated Christmas, and with religious intent, too. So we found it interesting to engage in debates on the subject with this person. In one such argument, he showed us a picture of Jesus with elements of other religious figures superimposed on him: Arabic writing in the background, blue and with multiple arms for Hinduism, a Santa hat, pagan symbols, Buddhist symbols, etcetera. “If you want to celebrate Christmas, okay, but that only makes sense if this image doesn’t offend you.” (I have in vain tried to find this image or a similar one; alas, I did not.)
And you know, he’s right. That photo obviously DOESN’T offend me. It’s more accurate of a depiction than white Jesus, anyway. But that is absolutely what Christmas is. It’s a mishmash of a lot of different traditions and shit. It’s Coca-Cola Santa Claus, it’s St. Lucia Day, it’s St. Nicholas Day, it’s Charles Dickens, it’s the joy and horror of American capitalism. And for people who want Christianity to be fully based on Biblical texts (a nearly impossible feat that almost zero Christians manage, but okay) or assume what Jesus might have done in his tiny circle of influence in one singular region thousands of years ago, maybe modern Christmas isn’t for you. Maybe you don’t like to share Jesus. Maybe you think that single perspective is the only one that could possibly be accurate.
Pagans, of course, make the same argument to conservative Christians who talk circles about their faux offenses for their fake, nonexistent problems, like having to hear “happy holidays” out of respect to those who don’t celebrate Christmas, or the removal of nativities and Christmas trees from government-funded spaces, or even Starbucks not having a red and green cup. So on and so forth it goes. Rightfully, people point out that many “Christmas” traditions are pagan, based in solstice rituals or Yuletide ceremonies. That the “X” in the oft-derided “Xmas” actually is a reference to the koine Greek letter for Christ. That virginal birth stories existed already in other cultures’ mythologies. That Jesus wasn’t even born on December 25, and it’s, ya know, actually Saturnalia or whatever. A lot of times, evangelical Christians genuinely aren’t aware of any of that. The Biblical illiteracy of American Christians continues.
Funnily enough, people assume that I, myself, am pagan, despite that fact that I label myself a “Christian” on every platform and talk about Jesus all the time. When you walk into my house, there are immediately references to Christianity: religious icons, religious books, and my grandma’s blanket with Bible verses all over it. At the very least, people seem to assume I am pagan-adjacent, perhaps a syncretist of some sort. And actually, I’m not. I’m -just- a Christian. If I was gonna switch teams for anybody, I’d probably just go for secular humanism at this point.
Sure, I engage in other religious and cultural traditions personally, but not more than anyone else in America. I do yoga, I’ve dabbled in Ayurvedic foods and supplements, I glance at astrology-related things from time to time for fun, I obsess over Islamic art, and I occasionally observe Jewish holidays on my own in order to find connection with the deeper traditions of Christianity, but do so privately as not to offend actual Jews to whom the traditions are more profound. I definitely employ pagan traditions in my observations of holidays, as do almost all Americans, knowingly or not. I particularly enjoy herbology-ish pagan concoctions as I get more into cottagecore, eco-friendly, natural bullshit in my personal life. Elderberry syrup and four thieves’ vinegar and indigenous American medicines and candles, sign me up for that.
But yes, despite the fact that I am a heavily tattooed, fat, polyamorous, goth-ish, Anglophile, bisexual, depressed, marijuana-smoking, gardening, white girl who loves Ren Faires — I’m not pagan. My own ancestors almost exclusively come from the British Isles and other parts of northwest Europe, so I guess the traditions I would be more drawn to would be more Celtic, Druid type shit. I don’t know much about paganism; the people I know who call themselves pagan often don’t seem to align specifically with one type of tradition like Wicca or Heathenism or Norse, though some do! So not only do I not practice it, but I’m not even all that educated on the various ways people practice it.
As a universalist, I already believe there are multiple paths to finding God and that all will know the love expressed through Christ. So, I obviously don’t have a problem with people who practice some of the oldest religious traditions in the world, the ones that pre-date Christianity by a lot and helped us decipher the meaning and order of our world before intensive, structural religion came along and er… changed things. For better or, more often, for worse.
But one thing I dislike about the “gotcha” argument that the pagan traditions of Christmas (and many other holidays) is that people on both sides disregard that… this is actually a good thing, not a bad thing. When Christianity was at its most brutal, it devastated communities and forced them to abandon their own culture and traditions, erasing their languages and customs through force and threat. Like I said in my last post, this is one of the worst things about the religion: the need to destroy the customs and cultures of others in order to practice and celebrate our own.
When we look at Christmas, though, we see the result of thousands of years of compromise, of honoring others’ cultural traditions, of finding common ground. Poinsettias became part of Christmas after Aztecs of the Mexico region used them in traditional medicine. The joyous singing of Christmas carols and decorating our homes with evergreens, holly, and mistletoe are directly related to the celebration of Yule in honor of Germanic pagan traditions. Constantine started celebrating Christmas on December 25 to weaken the traditions on that same day relating to Roman mythology, but in that way, it also sustained that connection in the first place. Christmas is now forever affiliated with the winter solstice.
Celebrating Christmas is a giant fuck you to the Puritans of the world who told us we couldn’t have caroling, or fun, or shared joys with different cultures, or wassail, or ties to our historical customs. Did you know that? Puritans who came to America originally tried to ban Christmas, and their hatred of the holiday was probably part of the reason they wanted out of traditional Anglicanism (and England) so bad.
I want everyone to fucking celebrate Christmas if they want to. With whatever traditions they want to use. I can’t speak for non-Christians in why they celebrate Christmas (I would refer you to my atheist friend Beth Presswood, proclaimed atheist Christmas queen, for this) but tons of people do. I observe Christmas in a secular sense; I also observe the religious time period of Advent and incorporate religious observance of the birth of Jesus in my own traditions. But hell, I don’t want to gatekeep Christmas. It feels like you’re gatekeeping the same fun, love, and warmth that everyone on this planet craves and wants. And if you’re really an observant Christian, that’s basically the same thing as gatekeeping Jesus himself.
Maybe this is the inherent, fiercely Protestant streak in me (in spite of my hard-on for Catholicism) but in my opinion, you don’t get to determine how other Christians celebrate holidays, or how they worship Jesus. And with a holiday with so many different cultural elements to it, you definitely don’t get to say who does or doesn’t get to celebrate it.
The elements of pagan tradition have made so many aspects of our lives beautiful — and every time you wear a wedding ring on your ring finger, color Easter eggs, wear a flower crown or make wreaths, light incense, knock on wood, or celebrate an old man giving people gifts, you’re honoring that. And if you want to celebrate the birth of Christ too, go for it. It seems cliché for a progressive Christian to say some shit like “Jesus would have been all about inclusivity” because I don’t know, man. But I think he would have had a really good time making cookies and watching Home Alone either way.