Is Christmas A Pagan Holiday?

I grew up in a home where we celebrated a “traditional” Christmas every year. My parents and I would go into the hills and cut down a tree at a Christmas tree farm. We would bring it home and put it in the Christmas tree stand and then decorate it with glass ornaments, tinsel, colored lights, and a star at the top. We would meet with my grandparents and other extended family and share a meal and exchange gifts. My dad would put on a record of old Christmas music and I would sing along. My sister and I would wake up early on Christmas morning and wait for my dad to tell us we could come out of our room. We were giddy with excitement when we saw the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree, and the stockings filled to the brim with treats. I have many found memories of Christmas as a child. There is just something about the nostalgia of the traditions of Christmas that warm my heart.

It was not until I was a young adult and I became heavily involved in the occult and witchcraft that I changed some of my opinions about Christmas. I did not grow up as a Christian and I don’t remember talking about Jesus on Christmas very often. I remember a beautiful nativity scene my mother would set out every year, one that I would lovingly play with. I can’t really say whether I understood what the nativity was really all about. As a child there was more talk about the birth of baby Jesus being born on TV, so it was something that was a part of my small world. But I doubt the meaning of it registered with me, the way it does now.

As a pagan or witch, Christmas lost most of it’s meaning to me as I traded it in for Yule or Winter Solstice. As a pagan, most of the traditional holidays (except Halloween) were not celebrated or important. As I studied more about the ancient roots of paganism and the traditions that it brought into our world, I began to have more disdain for Christians. It turns out that Christians stole all of their holidays and celebrations from pagans. So the Roman Catholic church tried to take Winter Solstice celebrations, a deep and meaningful night of celebration, and tried to change it to celebrate their God instead. In doing so they hoped to convert the pagans to Christians. It wasn’t just Christmas/Winter Solstice they were trying to use to convert pagans, but also Easter. I was absolutely sickened by the audacity of these Christians. I had never liked them before because I found them judgmental hypocrites, but this just took the cake. As a pagan, the ancient roots of our ancestors were of the utmost importance to me. And I was determined to learn more about the truth of paganism so I could uphold these ancient traditions.

 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21

Winter Solstice is not actually on December 25th, so I did end up celebrating both, because my parents still celebrated Christmas. It was hard to completely walk away from Christmas without pushing away my family during that season. So as angry as I was about the Christmas rip-off, I still celebrated it, but knowing the truth of where it came from at least. Winter Solstice is a few days before, and it is the longest night of the year. It was a time to celebrate the birth of the sun god and the changes in the earth. The nights are long and the days shorter up until the Solstice, but now the nights would be getting shorter and the days longer. It was symbolic when paired with the birth of the sun god and the changes he brought to the earth. You light a Yule log and let it burn all night long, to represent the rising of the sun god.

As I got older and my life changed, I stopped actively practicing witchcraft, but did not stop my beliefs. I still reminded myself about the ancient traditions and roots of paganism and studied them when I had time. I still added in some practices where I could. But as my life changed in many ways, I gravitated more towards traditional Christmas celebrations again, to give my children the same traditions I had while growing up. I did teach them about Winter Solstice and some of the origins of it, because it was important to me. I wanted them to have an understanding. I never taught them about Jesus or His birth, because it meant nothing to me, except a lie to trick pagans. So when my husband and I came into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you can see why I had some conflict about celebrating Christmas. I understood the pagan roots of Christmas and I had never used Christmas to glorify any god except the ones I previously believed in.

My husband and I prayed a lot that first year and what we took away was a great lesson. Simplify what we had been doing for Christmas. Which for us was huge. Previously we were going broke giving our kids gifts that we could not afford and glorifying Santa. We started teaching our kids about giving instead of receiving by supporting ministries such as Operation Christmas Child and Angel Tree and spent much less on our children. I was worried that we were doing something wrong by celebrating Christmas, especially after being so convicted about Halloween. I prayed fervently along with my husband and felt that God indeed wanted us to continue to celebrate Christmas.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

I have heard many Christians say that it is wrong to celebrate Christmas, because it is a pagan holiday. This statement in itself is not accurate. Christmas was never a pagan holy day. Yes, it is derived from a pagan holy day, but Christmas was never celebrated by pagans. Christmas  does have many traditions that are from pagan practices. But so do many other things we do in this world. For instance, did you know wedding rings are pagan? There is nowhere in scripture that talks about wearing wedding rings. This tradition comes from ancient Rome, as do many of the other practices of weddings we use today. Funerals are also pagan, and come from the ancient Egyptians. Flowers for the grace, embalming and more, and based on the belief that the body was going on into the afterlife. Our U.S. money has pagan symbols on it. Some coins have the goddess Liberty on them. Calendars are also pagan, as well as the names of the days of the weeks and months. Church steeples are also pagan in origin, coming from the phallic obelisk of fertility gods from ancient Egypt. And don’t get me started on the pagan idol worship in the Catholic Church. I could keep writing pages about the many things that we have adopted from paganism. It started back in Rome when Constantine the first Christian Emperor in Rome came into power and gave Christians the rights to freely worship God and believe in Jesus openly. Many pagan customs and traditions were adopted into Christianity and have stuck for centuries.

If we stop celebrating Christmas, because it is pagan, then what else are you willing to stop participating in because it’s pagan or rooted in paganism? You would need to leave just about everything in this world behind  and go live outside of society in the woods if that were the case. It would be impossible to completely remove paganism from our lives. The point is not to remove paganism from our lives, but to walk with the Spirit of God, letting Him teach you what His will is. Yes, there are many things in this world we need to remove from our lives, such as TV and media that promotes violence and sexual immorality. That is truly more offense to the Spirit of God then celebrating Christmas. I have also seen the Hebraic Roots movement where they teach not to celebrate Christmas, but to celebrate Hanukkah instead. Hannukkah is not a Biblical mandate and we are not Jewish, so there is no reason that we need to trade in one for the other. If you want to celebrate Hannukkah over Christmas, that is your choice, but don’t do it with the idea that you are glorifying God in one more than the other. We are told to live as sacrifices to God, and to glorify Him in everything we do. We are also told not to make another brother stumble by our judgments of each other. If a Christian celebrates Christmas and glorifies our Lord Jesus in this way, then who are you to tell them they are wrong and practicing paganism? We are to live in unity and peace, and to encourage and love one another.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1

This brings me to the next argument from the opposite side, that it is OK to celebrate Halloween, because it is a perfectly innocent and fun day and it is no longer pagan. Please do not compare Christmas and Halloween. That is like comparing a murder to a birth. They are total opposites. Halloween is a not just rooted in paganism, it is actually a high holy day for Satanists and witches. Christmas is not a holy day for pagans, but simply another day on the calendar to them. Halloween is a time when witchcraft is at an all time high, and human sacrifices are being performed. It is a celebration of death and evil. Christmas is not about any of those things, and neither is it’s counterpart, Winter Solstice. Much like Christmas, winter solstice celebrates light, hope and joy – except it is just misconstrued into a celebration of false gods and earth worship. Although during December there is a higher level of witchcraft than some other times, because of the witches celebrations and rituals during this time.

So this begs the questions, is Christmas evil, and is it wrong to celebrate it? No, Christmas is not evil. There is nothing evil about the day of Christmas or any of the pagan traditions that come along with it. It is a day where families get together with love and gratitude and exchange presents. It is a season where people are geared toward serving others and are willing to open up their pocket books and give to the needy. Compassion is at an all time high and we open our doors to friends and neighbors who would otherwise be alone on Christmas. We spend an entire month focusing on doing good for others and spreading love and joy. Of course there is always the other side of commercialism, but that doesn’t take away from what you can do with Christmas. This isn’t the time to say, what can Christmas do for me, but instead, what can I do for Christmas? I can use Christmas to honor my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I can humble myself and serve those in need around me. I can reach out and give even when I have little. I can talk about the Good News of Jesus Christ, because Christmas is all about Him! I can bring light into the darkness of the winter by shining the light of the Holy Spirit inside of me.

I do not need to do these things with Santa Claus, stockings, reindeer and things that have little to nothing to do with Jesus. But giving gifts is a beautiful thing, and it is very appropriate I feel, because our Father is a good Father who loves to spoil His children. We deserve nothing from Him, yet He gives us so many blessings and gifts in abundance! The best gift of all being His one and only Son! Who came into this world as a helpless baby, making Himself nothing so He could give us an inheritance! Who wouldn’t want to spend an entire season focusing on the selflessness and humility of Christ and His birth? Who cares if He wasn’t born in December – we don’t really know for sure. But what I do know is that the entire world in one way or another is celebrating Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World. So why should I shun Christmas because of paganism in the traditions and push away friends and family? That would cause a huge division in a time of hope and joy and unity.

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

Mark 3:24-26

Division is not of God. Our God is a God of community. God Himself is community as the Holy Trinity. He wants us to partake in community and fellowship. The devil wants to divide us and keep us alone. If we stop celebrating Christmas we are dividing ourselves from the church as a whole, our friends and family that celebrate. for most of December, because that is how long Christmas is celebrated. It is an entire season. Wouldn’t the devil just love to keep Christians from celebrating a holiday that was all about Jesus Christ?? Of course he would! He can convince some Christians to celebrate a satanic holy day such as Halloween, and others to not celebrate a holiday for Jesus. That is absolutely backwards! Enjoy the Christmas season by first asking God how He wants you to celebrate it. You may need to strip some of the things from it that He is displeased with, or you may need to add in new traditions of serving others. The most important thing is to be in connection and intimacy with God, loving Him and honoring Him above all. I am going to continue to write about Christmas as the Spirit leads, as I feel there is more to be said on this subject. Be blessed brothers and sisters!

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2:11