Under the Microscope: The term Christmas comes from the Old English words, Cristes maesse, meaning "Christ's Mass" and probably was first celebrated in Rome in AD 336.
According to the New Testament, the three Wise Men (Magi) brought gifts of gold, incense and myrrh to the birth of Jesus and this is credited with starting the tradition of Christmas gifts. Gifts were modest until the late 1800s. The exchange of elaborate gifts is a recent phenomenon promoted by the retailing sector.
In AD 336, Christian leaders decided Christmas would fall on December 25th to supplant a popular pagan Roman holiday that celebrated the winter solstice. Astronomers have tried to come up with the historical date of the birth of Jesus using the gospel story of the Star of Bethlehem to guide them to celestial events of the time. Their best estimate dates the event to the year 7 BC and, probably, Tuesday, September 15th.
It seems the tradition of the evergreen Christmas tree began in Germany about AD 700, moved to England and on to America through Pennsylvanian German immigrants. Martin Luther is credited as the first person to put candles on the Christmas tree in the 16th century, and people started decorating Christmas trees with ribbons, candles and cakes in Victorian times.
Mistletoe has many ancient associations with pagan rituals and has been used as a house decoration for thousands of years. The Christian Church turned against mistletoe because of its idolatrous associations and promoted holly as a substitute. The sharply-pointed holly leaves are symbolic of Christ's crown of thorns and the red berries of drops of his blood.
The term Yule is derived from the Middle English Yollen, meaning to cry aloud, and dates from early Anglo Saxon celebrations of lengthening daylight after the winter solstice. The yule log was a big log used as a base for the holiday fires.
The 12 days of Christmas separate Christmas Day from the Epiphany on January 6th. In the Catholic tradition, January 6th marks the baptism of Christ. In olden days there was a tradition of giving gifts over the entire 12 days, as the song emphasises. Carols originally were dances accompanied by singing, but over time the word changed its meaning to refer only to certain types of songs.
Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas, a minor 4-century saint. He was bishop of Myra in Lycia (Turkey) and attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas had a great reputation for kindness and generosity, and legends grew of miracles he performed for poor and unhappy people. In one story, he left gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed the money for wedding dowries, thereby saving them from a life of prostitution. Thus began the tradition of the Christmas stocking. Nicholas was buried in Myra and a shrine there became well known by the 6th century.
In 1087, Italian sailors stole his remains and brought them to Bari, which now attracted many pilgrims. His remains are still held in the basilica of San Nicola in Bari. Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia and Greece, and of children, unmarried girls, sailors, merchants and pawnbrokers.
The cult of Nicholas vanished from all Protestant countries except Holland after the Reformation. His legend lived on in Holland as Sinterklaas (Dutch for St Nicholas) and Dutch colonists took this tradition to New Amsterdam (now New York) in the 17th century. Sinterklaas, the kindly old man, was adopted by the English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus.
The popular modern view of Santa Claus and his doings (sleigh, reindeer, chimney, etc) comes largely from the poem The Night before Christmas written for his family by Clement Moore in 1822. The first verse goes:
"Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse,
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there."
In this poem, Moore invents the sleigh, names the reindeers, tells about the chimney, the bags of toys and so on. This poem was widely reprinted in magazines and newspapers. Santa's red and white suit is derived from Saint Nicholas's traditional bishop's robes.
Rudolf appeared in 1939 when the Montgomery Ward Stores gave away 2.4 million copies of a booklet entitled "Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer" written by Robert May in the advertising department. In 1949, Gene Autry sang a musical version of the poem and is now second only to White Christmas in popularity. White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin for the film Holiday Inn in 1942 and sung by Bing Crosby. By the end of the second World War, it had become the best-selling song of all time.
And finally a true story: a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap and he asked the usual question, "And what would you like for Christmas?" The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my e-mail?"
William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and public awareness of science officer, UCC - http://understandingscience.ucc.ie