Is Christmas really Pagan?

If you have come anywhere near the modern Pagan revival, you’ve heard about it. And if you attend a conservative evangelical church, you’ve also heard about it. There aren’t that many things both Pagans and conservative Christians like to harp on, but the Paganism in Christmas is one of them.

Many modern Pagans claim most Christmas traditions are mere mimicry of ancient Pagan practices, citing the Roman celebration of Saturnalia involving greenery brought indoors, a wreath of leaves or evergreens often used as a symbol of the sun and rebirth across the ancient Pagan world, the Druid veneration of mistletoe as a symbol of friendship and fertility, Germanic customs involving decorating evergreen trees, the folkloric origins of Yule logs as a good way to get a fire through a particularly long night, and the similarities between Odin and Santa Clause (rides through the sky at night, has either eight reindeer or an eight-legged steed, and has a long white beard).

A yule tree next to candles, decorations, a mother and child figurine, a pie with star cutout cookies and a boy holding up cookies in place of his eyes

You might think Christian uneasiness with the Pagan elements of Christmas stemmed primarily from having run across these crowing Pagan accounts laying claim to most of Christmas, but it’s much more the other way around. What little we know of ancient Pagan Winter Solstice traditions, at least in Europe, comes primarily from Christian sources. Many of the traditions modern European-based Pagans claim as authentic would have died out along with their last surviving purveyors of oral history centuries ago, if it were not for the efforts of Christian scribes who wrote about them—often in a disparaging manner but nonetheless.

I’m not exactly saying we owe them. Our traditions wouldn’t have needed to be saved from the abyss of forgetfulness had it not been for the forced and bloody spread of Christianity, but still much of the information we have about ancient Pagan traditions has come through Christian writers.

The Christian uneasiness with the Pagan side of Christmas is also nothing new. The Puritans saw Christmas as frivolous, raucous and disrespectful of their somber and serious god. Many Puritan leaders tried to dissuade their followers from observing the holiday, and celebrating Christmas was completely illegal for twenty-five years under the Puritans of England during the 1600s.

While the Bible does describe the birth of Jesus, it makes no reference to his followers celebrating his birthday, and early Christian writers placed his birth in March and September as well as possibly in December. In the middle ages, some Christian scholars were concerned that an emphasis on Jesus’ birth would encourage believers to see him as too human. They had dispensed with the whole conceived-by-sex part of being human, but the bloody mess of birth was still clinging to his image. Thus, some put forward theories that the story of Jesus’ birth was merely a metaphor.

And yet, Odin is not Santa Claus. He rides through the sky on winter nights as part of the terrifying Wild Hunt. He doesn’t give gifts to children in traditional lore and is a formidable god demanding respect and decorum, rather than a spirit of joy and caprice. Santa Claus as we know him today is an amalgamation of legends about a generous and kindly Catholic St. Nicholas and the early nineteenth century poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” written by (with think) the Dutch poet Henry Livingston Jr..

Still, Santa Claus fits in nicely with Pagan Winter Solstice celebrations and seems like a figure ancient Pagans could have conceived, even if they didn’t. There are multiple ancient Pagan myths about spirits, both kindly and malicious, entering homes through the chimney. Moreover, a red-clad denizen of the hearth, who might reward those who make offerings of baked goods and milk products, is a common theme in Pagan folklore across northern Europe. And the whole riding across the night sky thing is a widespread trope in Pagan myths.

The choice by Livingston of reindeer to pull the sleigh—and eight of them to boot—may have been no more than a Central European’s stereotyping of the far north or it may have been based on a deeper knowledge of northern lore in which reindeer were symbols of abundance and generosity for thousands of years.

Still, St. Nicholas is a clearly Christian entity who is the most direct ancestor of Santa Claus, so Pagans cannot take all—or even the most important parts—of the credit. At best, we can say Santa Claus is an offshoot of St. Nicholas with a lot of Pagan symbolism and trappings added on by a very imaginative Dutch guy.

It has always been my view that no one can take Christmas away from the Christians or claim it is inauthentic to Christianity. Jesus, in the Bible, doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would have wanted his followers to spend much time obsessing over his birthday, but he does seem like the kind of guy who would want the legacy of his birth to be people giving gifts, preparing good food to share together, taking special care of children and people in need and much of the rest of what Christmas is still about today. I wish my Christian friends full steam ahead in celebrating it.

That said, there is no doubt in any serious scholar’s mind that ancient European Pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice in many different forms. From the time that Pagan astronomers realized you could actually pinpoint when the sun’s light would begin to return, this became the most obvious moment to celebrate hope and the resilience of life on earth. One thing that is—oddly enough—mentioned much less by Pagans claiming ownership of Christmas is the widespread motif in Pagan lore of a mother goddess giving birth to a sun child or a child who brings light into the world in a wide variety of cultures. I don’t think this means that Christians copied Pagan myths in creating the Jesus story. I think this is such a universal dream that it likely arose spontaneously in more than one place without any mimicry necessary.

To me that’s the most Pagan and animist thing about the story though. My children used to ask me if myths are “real or made up.” I frustrated them with the assertion that, while myths are not factual the way math is factual, they are “true in spirit.” The story of a goddess, whether she is the Earth, an ancient reindeer spirit, Isis, Ceridwen or Mary, giving birth to a shining child who brings hope in the midst of darkness and hardship is one of those things we carry deep in our chromosomes. It doesn’t belong to Pagans alone, but it is absolutely at the core of Pagan spiritual beliefs, as much as it is at the core of the Christian origin story.

So, to the Pagans clamoring that the Christians “stole” Christmas from us, I say “go celebrate and quit yer bellyaching.” There are plenty of real historical grievances many communities have about forced conversions and the destruction of history and ancient beliefs. We should talk about those whenever possible, but Christians having helped preserve a few muddled scraps of Winter-Solstice-related folklore and wanting to participate in a holiday that has recognizable Pagan roots should be the last thing we complain about.

To Christians who worry that Christmas is too Pagan, I say some of their concerns are legitimate. It is important to keep the spiritual side of celebrations. If all a Christian is celebrating this time of year is family togetherness, Santa Claus, presents, lighted trees, mistletoe and wreaths, then I think they may have drifted a bit too far into the Pagan side of the holiday and might want to consider whether or not they are celebrating Christmas or the Winter Solstice. I see both as blessed, but Christmas should retain its unique character.

I spent more than twenty years in Central Europe where the Christian side of Christmas is much more overt. There are huge public nativity scenes in almost every village and many which are intricate works of art. There are special church services, and Jesus is the giver of gifts rather than Santa Claus. I see a lot of value in keeping Christmas overtly Christian. It is a tradition worth honoring and marking.

For that reason, I celebrate the Winter Solstice on the twenty-first or there about, not on the twenty-fifth of December. I reserve that day for wishing Christian friends a merry Christmas and I celebrate my holiday on the day that means the most in my tradition. I think we can share traditions, but we should also have some things that are unique in our traditions because uniqueness and diversity is part of what creates magic and beauty.

To those who want to try to cleanse their holiday of all Pagan influences and claim to celebrate only Jesus at Christmas time, I don’t entirely know what to say, other than “good riddance.” I believe Jesus is likely horrified by many of the things some have done supposedly in his name, but he would approve of Christmas as well as the Winter Solstice when they are celebrated in the spirit of hope, joy, kindness and generosity. To me, you can’t entirely separate Jesus from Pagan Winter Solstice traditions today because I believe they spring from the same primal spiritual truth. If someone wants to try to “get back to Jesus” by avoiding anything reminiscent of other traditions, they’re welcome to try privately, as long as they don’t berate others for celebrating in the universal tradition of joy and hope inherent to the season.

The short answer then is, no, Christmas isn’t Pagan. Christmas is a Christian response to the Winter Solstice. But the Winter Solstice and its Pagan traditions did come first. Christians cannot lay a unique claim to the holiday, the season or the spirit of renewed hope. And many of the traditions and symbols that Christians incorporate into Christmas were passed down from their Pagan ancestors and have historical Pagan roots. Those of us who are Pagan today are happy to share traditions, symbols and celebrations, as long as we are fully accepted and our celebrations are as welcome in society as Christian celebrations.

And so, I am ready to call it a night and snuggle down with some cinnamon tea and a star-shaped almond cookie. May your holiday be bright and full of magic, whatever you call it. May the spirit of the past year’s bounty fly across the moonlit sky and bring joy and warmth to you and yours. And may the spirit of hope and renewal rise shining for you once more.