Putney Friends Meeting

Homemade cards in production

Yuletide Greetings,

Do you have a Christmas tree in your home? If so, then you are celebrating an ancient ritual called Yule or Jul, dating back to prehistoric Germanic and Celtic pagans. You are honoring  the Spirit in the trees. Isn’t it fascinating how Christianity absorbs and incorporates earlier pagan rituals into its celebration of Jesus’ birth? It has done this many times in history with other cultures and celebrations such as; the winter solstice, Saturnalia, etc.

Jesus was probably not born on this day, contrary to what some Christmas carols say (Mary’s Boy Child, Jesus Born On This Day, etc…). The actual date is unknown. The early Church leaders aligned it with the pagan solstice celebrations, either to blend in or take advantage of the parties, I’m not sure which. Jesus, being Jewish, celebrated Hanukkah, which is itself aligned with the winter solstice, coincidence?

The early Protestants…