Summary: Christmas Origins Represented In Pop Culture
1944 Words8 Pages
Codi Willhite
Mr. Nickell
Engl. 1213 8:00
1 December 2014
Christmas Origins Represented in Pop Culture Christmas is a religious holiday steeped in traditions that are pagan in origin, which may surprise some people. A Christian holiday that is celebrated on December twenty-fifth in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ or the period of time that comes before and after this holiday. (Webster’s dictionary) Christmas is a celebrated in many different ways all over the world. Some of the traditions that we carry out today that are common are things such as the Christmas tree, mistletoe, Yule log, twelve days of Christmas, and wreath. All of the previously stated topics seem to share pagan roots instead of Christian. Today in pop culture, we continue…show more content… The mistletoe is not as common of a practice done today. The origins of the mistletoe are various. The mistletoe is held sacred by the Norse, and served a purpose for the fertility ritual. Two of the famous gods know as the Queen of heaven and the Sun god had a special love for one another. The white berries on the mistletoe were symbolic of the sperm of the sun god; the red berries upon the mistletoe were symbolic of the menstrual blood of the Queen of heaven. When two people stand underneath a mistletoe and kiss, in pagan terms it was thought to bring together the menstrual blood and sperm to enhance fertility in the couple underneath it. When their lips met, legend says that the two gods entered them and the fertility ritual was carried out as the gods favored them. Today we see mistletoes on sweater, wrapping paper, and…show more content… It is a widely known tradition in pop culture to go from door to door or perform upon a stage and sing Christmas songs involving the birth and celebration of Christ’s birth in the Christian church. Pagan origin legends have it that Christmas carols started as dancing, not singing. These dancing rituals were accompanied by these horrific sites. In 1466CE, Pope Paul the second and the Catholic Church observed a most horrible rite for the amusement of his Roman citizens. Pope Paul the second forced Jews to run naked through the streets of the city. 11 Questions to Ask Your Pastor “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran... amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily (Minor