History of Christmas and Celebration the Christmas Holiday - Part 1

LAFAYETTE, La. - Sept. 26, 2013 - PRLog -- History of Christmas and its Growth in Popularity

The celebration of Christmas is all a commercial phenomenon and worldwide cultural and a sacred religious holiday. For two thousand years, people throughout the world have observed it with practices and traditions that are both secular and religious in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the birth anniversary of Jesus of Nazareth, their spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of these Christians' religion. For this holiday, it is customary to decorating Christmas trees, exchanging gifts, attend church services, sharing meals with friends and family and, for the kids early awaiting Santa Claus' arrival. In more modern times, it has become customary to have party celebrations of varying sizes and send our colorful and personalized Christmas party invitations from http://www.invitationsbyu.com/christmas-invitations.htm. Christmas day, December 25th, was voted a federal holiday in the U. S. since the 1870s.

Christmas as the Ancient Holiday

Throughout the world, celebrating the middle of winter has long done for centuries. Long before the days of the person called Jesus, the Europeans of those days celebrated birth and light in the cold and dark days of winter. It was quite common for the people of those times to rejoice during the winter solstice after the darkest and coldest days of winter had passed, and they could begin looking forward to those longer days with more sunlight with each passing day.

The Scandinavian Norse Christmas

In Scandinavian Norse would celebrate their winter solstice Yule from December 21st all the way through January of the next year. In anticipation and recognition of the return of the brighter and warmer days, fathers and sons would cut and bring home large logs to burn into a big fire. The bigger the logs and fire the better, as the people of those days would feast until all the logs had burned out. Early tales are that it could take as many as 12 days before they were all burned out. The people of these days thought that each spark from the fire was representative of a new calf or pig that would be born during the upcoming year.

European Christmas Development Throughout the Ages

During these times, most of Europe celebrated around the end of December, as it was when most of the cattle were slaughtered to keep from having to feed them during the approaching winter. This time of year was eagerly awaited and celebrated for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it was the only time of year when many people had fresh meat to eat. Also, the winter months was when most beer and wine produced during the year was fermented and finally ready for drinking.

Honoring Christmas with the Germans

The Germans honored Oden, the pagan god, during the winter holiday. During these times the Germans were horrified of Oden and believed he made nocturnal flights through the skyways observing the people, and deciding who would perish or prosper. Since Oden could not see them from the sky when they were in their houses, many people simply chose to stay inside their homes.

The history of Christmas over the centuries and worldwide has been one of growth while all the while, changing. From the early acceptance, the holiday has developed into the most popular holiday throughout the entire world and in the U.S. For those planning a Christmas holiday party, you'll definitely want to make sure your Christmas party invitation wordings from http://www.invitationsbyu.com/wording-christmas-invitations.htm are as special as this favored holiday, and that is definitely achievable when you shop at http://www.invitationsbyu.com

Read History of Christmas Part 2 at
Read History of Christmas Part 2 at http://www.prlog.org/12217118-history-of-christmas-and-it...