The Glass Character: 2019

Not a big surprise that everything is pagan at this time of year, even the supposed "birthday" of Jesus! Yet Christ still remains in Christmas. This is taken from an atheist webpage:

Christmas Tree: It is a 17th-century, pagan, German tradition, of bringing greenery into the home, as a symbol of the spring yet to come.

Yule Log & Mistletoe: The Celts and Gaels burned logs as a druidic solstice ceremony to cleanse the past year and welcome the new. And they gathered mistletoe for the festival of Alban Arthuan (or Yule) ~ First described in writing by Roman historian Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus AD 23 – August 25, AD 79).

Father Christmas or Santa Claus: He is a mashup of the tale of the Turkish Saint Nicholas and the German, Kris Kringle or the Dutch, Sinterklaas.

Midwinter festivals: “If you happen to live in a region in which midwinter brings striking darkness and cold and hunger, then the urge to have a celebration at the very heart of it to avoid going mad or falling into deep depression is very, very strong.” ~ Ronald Hutton, a historian at Bristol University.

Christmas Day: The Bible gives no reference to when Jesus was born. It was marked on at least three different dates: 29 March, 6 January, and sometime in June. It wasn’t until Pope Julius I, in 340 AD, who moved it to 25 December. This was conveniently used to convert pagans, since it coincided with two major pre-Christian festivals: Roman Bacchanalia, or Saturnalia, and various Yule celebrated by the Norse, Gaels, & Celts.

Stockings and Gift-Giving: A mashed up tradition of St. Nicholas tossing coins down the chimney of the needy families and of setting out shoes with hay in so Odin’s horse Sleipnir would leave them treats.

Caroling: It started in Victorian England, every holiday had door-to-door singing well-wishers.

Every, single, Christmas tradition was taken from a pagan tradition or religion. For fun, read about Isis & Horus; Devaki & Krishna; and Anahita & Mithra…all which predate christianity, and detail immaculate births of a savior. And, 16th Century Protestants in England and New
England even forbade celebrating the holiday.