Christmas is actually a latecomer to year end revelries

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/story/james-veverka-12-5

To the editor,

I was sincerely hoping to get through the holidays without any Christmas Wars. But Barbara J. Perry insists otherwise. She tells us holiday fairs are not holiday fairs; they are Christmas fairs. Continuing, she tells us that without Christmas and December NOTHING would be happening.

Nothing could be farther from the truth about December celebrations. They have been around for thousands of years and specifically in late December. There was no official Christmas holiday until the 4th century when the Emperor Constantine decreed that all the pagan holidays around the Winter Solstice and the New Year would become the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Previous to this in the Roman Empire and the northern tribes, late December to the new year was a time of excessive partying, get-togethers and a good deal of drunken revelry. People celebrated the Solstice and the Sun God because "the long nights" were over and the Sun with its life giving rays had returned to begin the renewal of life. Some folks took most of the month of December to Celebrate Saturnalia, too. It was a very festive period of family get-togethers and feasts, intoxication, singing, artful decorations, the lighting of candles and the tradition of exchanging gifts. AND THE GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

The Birth of Mithrais, Son of the Sun God, was celebrated for centuries before Christianity on December 25th. At that time the calendar was a little off with the Winter Solstice being on December 25th. Mithras was a "saviour" who was born of a virgin and shepherds witnessed this. He healed the sick and even said in order to be saved we had to drink of his blood and eat of his flesh. He was called the Son of God, the way, the life and the truth. He even interceded for the righteous in Hades. In the northern parts of Europe is where evergreen trees and red berries were used in solstice renewal celebrations. Gifts were placed under them, too. Kissing under the Mistletoe is an ancient Celtic tradition far older than Christianity.

So really, its none of anyone's business what other's decide to celebrate. In historical terms, Christmas is a late comer to the year end revelries. December's family gatherings, feasts, exchanging of gifts, festive intoxication, candles, decorations, dancing and the rest of it would still dominate December even if there had never been a Jesus. Nobody OWNS December. December celebrations are in our DNA because of the sun and the seasons!

We have our pagan lights and candles, our heathen Tree and Celtic Mistletoe, our Saturnalian drinking, our exchange of gifts, our Roman family feasts and we celebrate the Solstice, a far more ancient celebration that is rooted in the cycles of nature and our bodies.