Twas The Month Before Christmas

[Iowegian]

Mr. Erdner asks:
Is anyone aware of any day out of all 365 that wasn't celebrated as a holiday by some culture or civilization at some time in history?

I respond:
May 17.

Excuse me? Even I, without a drop of Norwegian blood, know that is Syttende Mai, Norwegian constitution day. You, sir, are an ignorant or malicious Swede, slandering one of the most important days of the year! For shame! 

We (the Swedes) have regarded it as the day that we graciously let the Norwegians begin to govern themselves. 

... and not even that, you bozos.  ;-)

[revjagow]

Christians were syncretic when they adopted the pagan holiday to the sun-god as the day to celebrate the nativity of our Lord.

Dr. William Tighe, Associate Professor of History at Muhlenberg College, begs to differ in his article, "Calculating Christmas."

He begins,

Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ's birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus' birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals.

Rather, the pagan festival of the "Birth of the Unconquered Son" instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians. Thus the "pagan origins of Christmas" is a myth without historical substance.

Read the rest here.

spt+

Excellent article, Steven.  Thank you!

[James Gustafson]

The phrases in the quotes: (the winter solstice according to the astronomical calculations of that time) and the inaccuracy of the calendar indicate to me that according to the astronomical calculations of our time, and the accuracy of our calendar, they were wrong. Perhaps  you understand those phrases differently.

I trimmed your quote down to just the discussion you had with me, I have not addressed the reason for December 25 so I'll not address those and leave it to others to argue.  

I only pointed out that you said the articles stated that the Romans got the the solstice wrong, but the Romans DID know when the solar solstice was.  The astronomical calculations of the solar calender of our time are not different than their time, the name of the date on the proverbial wall calender changed.  We have changed the wall calender, the wall calender we use is more correct than theirs was.  When we changed the calender, Christmas stayed with Dec. 25, but the solar calender of the astronomical calculations refused to recognize the authority of Gregory to change the calender and stubbornly kept the winter solstice right where it had always been, so now the winter solstice falls on what we call  Dec 21st or Dec. 22nd, depending on which year it is.

The Romans could very well determine, accurately, when the solar calender's winter solstice occurred, and your articles said the same thing I said.

[Richard Johnson]

Yes, Dick, but do you celebrate it.  And, are Norwegians a culture or civilization?


Frid och allt gott, fader Steven

Well as a Swede, of course I celebrate cutting the Norskes loose.

Besides, my wife is one. 

[Charles_Austin]

I had my own reasons for picking that date, one of them being a desire to see just how much dust would be stirred up by the stomping of Scandinavian feet.

(Fading away now, happily singing Nu är det jul igen.)

[Richard Johnson]

I had my own reasons for picking that date, one of them being a desire to see just how much dust would be stirred up by the stomping of Scandinavian feet.

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion Wikipedia

[Brian Stoffregen]

I had my own reasons for picking that date, one of them being a desire to see just how much dust would be stirred up by the stomping of Scandinavian feet.

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion Wikipedia

I just can't stand it when people quote from Wikipedia. It's such an unreliable source that only bozos who won't take the time to do research for themselves are the ones who use it -- and then inflict the rest of us with the garbage from that website.

Is that kind of what happens when someone gets hooked by a troll?

[Charles_Austin]

In case you didn't notice, on very rare occasions, I shape-shift. It's nice today under the bridge, hearing the trip-trap trip-trap overhead.

[Erme Wolf]

In case you didn't notice, on very rare occasions, I shape-shift. It's nice today under the bridge, hearing the trip-trap trip-trap overhead.

But will the Norskies set out any Christmas pudding for you?