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The history of our modern day christmas celebrations. essay
The history of our modern day christmas celebrations. essay
The Victorian age
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Holiday Customs in Victorian England
Although Christ's Nativity has been celebrated since the 4th century, most of the English customs we are familiar with today are as recent as the mid-19th century. Many of the early ceremonies were started with pagan beliefs.
“The Protestant Reformation condemned most of these pagan customs as superstitious and banned public celebrations of Christmas.” Michelle J. Hoppe. It wasn't until Prince Albert married Queen Victoria and brought many German customs with him that Christmas began to gain popularity again.
“One of the first signs of Christmas was the arrival of the Christmas card in the post. John Calcott Horsley designed the first Christmas card in 1846 for Sir Henry Cole, Chairman of the Society of the Arts. Only 1000 cards were printed that first year and were expensive, but the pattern for the future was formed.” Encyclopedia. Then in 1870, postage was reduced. Thus began the real spread of the Christmas card. By the early 1870s, the custom had reached the United States. Christmas decorations sometimes appeared well before the holiday, also, but many still held to the old superstition that it was bad luck to put up a evergreen (Christmas Tree) before Christmas Eve. ”The most favored plants were all 'magical' because of the mid-winter berries they produced--mistletoe, holly and ivy. The red berry of the holly was believed to protect one against witchcraft.” Encyclopedia. The sprig had to be carried into the house by a male, as the berry is on the 'male' holly plant. One use for holly sprigs was to decorate the Christmas pudding. The 'female' ivy symbolized immortality. “Mistletoe, because of its pagan origins, was not allowed in any church. Kissing under the mistletoe was English custom and only as many berries as were on the mistletoe, could there be kisses. For after every kiss, a berry had to be removed from the sprig.” English Customs.
The Christmas tree can truly be called a Victorian innovation. The custom of a lighted tree began in Germany then made its way to America. “It wasn't until Prince Albert, of German descent, brought the Christmas tree to England in 1840 that it gained popularity there. By 1847, the trees at Windsor Castle were laden with presents as well as wax candles.” Michelle J. Hoppe. The tradition spread as English citizens followed the Royal example. The trees and other decorations were removed on Twelfth Night (January 6).
Many Elizabethan holidays were related to their church, so Elizabethans attended church every Sunday so that they would be aware of which holidays and festivals were coming up. The Elizabethan Christian holidays are the Twelfth Night and Swithin’s Day. The Twelfth Night is celebrated on January fifth and this holiday marks the twelfth and final night of the Christmas season. During this holiday there are many festivals and feasts celebrating this religious holiday, on this night the Wise Men, or Magi following the birth of Jesus, come and visited them. Swithin’s Day is celebrated on July fifteenth, and celebrated Saint Within, a legendary bishop. When Saint Swithin’s died his bones were messed with, causing it to rain for forty days. Elizabethans used this holiday to predict weather outcomes for the next forty days.
Few people can confidently say why the United States celebrates Christmas on December 25. And I imagine even fewer people know why we give gifts, or why we pucker up when we find ourselves under some mistletoe. The answers to these questions are under a thick layer of rich human and mythological history. For me, the majority of these discoveries were absolutely shocking—Christ was never in Christmas.
Christmas was originally supposed to be a celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Modern historians suggest that Christ was actually born sometime in April, but that is hardly the point; the point is that a day on which to celebrate his birth and life was needed, and so one was chosen. During the season surrounding this holiday -- especially since it coincided with that of other, similar holidays -- it was thought right to honor Jesus by acting as he did, i.e., in a kind, generous, and forgiving manner. Out of this sprung the custom of giving gifts to loved ones on this holiday.
The Christmas holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith has expanded beyond its religious significance and transformed into a cultural phenomenon observed by both believers and non-believers. According to a Pew Research study conducted in 2013, 92 percent of Americans and 96 percent of Christians participate in Christmas festivities. The same study also revealed that 81 percent of non-Christians, including atheists, Buddhists, and Hindus, also observe the holiday.
Victorian dinner parties where associated with the upper class, not usually the middle class, and were attended by eminent guests of status. Lord Steyne, a character from the novel Vanity Fair, would have been invited to many such parties were he a real person who lived in that Era. The Victorian hostess had to consider three main things:
Despite the fact that the idea of giving presents developed from St. Nicholas in the fourth century, the first characters that resemble our modern day Santa developed in the seventeenth century A.D. We acquire these figures from the English and the Dutch. Although this man is not the same as the modern Santa Claus, it is evident that these are his origins. “When the Dutch lost control of New Amsterdam to the English in the seventeenth century, Sinterklaas gradually became anglicized into Santa Claus and acquired some of the features of the English Father Christmas” (Myers 321).
The Bible provides no guidelines that explain how Christmas should be observed, nor does it even suggest that it should be considered a religious holiday. Because of the lack of biblical instructions, Christmas rituals have been shaped by the religious and popular traditions of each culture that celebrates the holiday.
Popular culture was mixed with ecclesiastical culture in many ways. The story of St. John the Baptist is a good example of this. The ancient ritual of bathing and lighting fires during Midsummer's Eve was a remnant of a ritual from the pre-Christian period. Fire and water, symbols of purification, could be seen as the tools of St. John the Baptist, and therefore a combination of the two elements of popular and ecclesiastical culture was obvious. It looks as if the Medieval Church took over the festival and made it theirs. The same thing happened to the Midwinter Festival, which became linked with the birth of Christ, on 25 December.
As December approaches the air all around becomes filled with the smell of Christmas. Without thinking, people get out their trees, put up their decorations, and start buying their gifts. To do all these things is normal; almost a force of habit. These habits are customs that people look forward to and treasure. For some, though, holidays have deeper meanings. They hold a deeper meaning, and are sacred and pure, in a way. To them, they have deep religious roots that span over generations and generations. What most people do not realize is that their beloved holidays often have pagan roots, and unpure beginnings.
According to William Muir Auld’s book Christmas Traditions, the Christmas tree found its way into the hearts and homes of Christian people with their thoughts and sentiment. Auld writes, “On the night in which Christ was born, all the trees in the forest, despite snow and ice, bloomed and bore fruit” (Auld 138). This story was first told by a geographer of the tenth century named Georg Jacob. This story was as highly believed as the birth of Christ. Christmas trees can be dated back through writing, specifically songs and are associated with the Church, specifically to post-Reformation times. The trees, which decorate homes worldwide, are linked to a spiritual tradition practiced by a variety of religious groups. (The Fir Tree, page 241 in
The Washington Post article was about Columbian coffee. The people in Columbia have just in recent years tasted good Columbian coffee. The main reason for that is the best arabica coffee beans in Columbia were being exported leaving citizens bad, cheap imported coffee. Because of globalization and foreign investors the domestic coffee is becoming better. There are columbian people that have traveled and has had the opportunity to taste quality Columbian coffee. When these people come back to Columbia they are giving the people better coffee and coffee that they can afford. There has also been a spike in the number of cafes in Columbia. Another reason for the rise of quality coffee is the end of the war with the left-wing FARC guerrillas.
Although it was never celebrated in biblical times, Christmas is celebrated in local churches here in Visalia, California in praise of the fact that God loved us so much; he sent his one and only son to earth. He was wholey god and wholey man. Whereas we have succumbed to the temptations of this earth, Jesus was able to overcome all temptations and live a sinless life. He was then crucified as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. One cannot understand why we celebrate the birth of Christ without seeing the other end of his life. He was crucified for our sins and resurrected.
Christmas is filled with traditions, from gifts wrapped under the tree to mistletoe hung in doorways; there is a story behind most of our Christmas traditions. For centuries the Christmas tree has become eponymous as symbol of Christmas throughout the world. In the majority of households that display a Christmas tree each year the majority will be displayed upright, as it would be found in nature. But have you ever considered displaying your Christmas tree upside down? According to the history books there was a time when this was how a Christmas tree would be displayed. In our time, some might consider this strange idea as sacrilegious. In actuality, that could not be further from the truth as at one time it was considered a symbol of
The Traditions and Holidays of Great Britain Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are old-fashioned and many people remember them, others are part of people’s lives. Some British customs and traditions are known all over the world. From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions.
celebrate Christmas on January 6 (the date of the baptism of Jesus as well as