It is interesting to see how far Christian holidays have drifted away from their original purpose. For instance, this weekend many families celebrated Easter. When I was young, the first things that came to my mind when I heard it was Easter, was eggs, candy and bunnies. It was not until I was much older that the concept of Christ being reborn was even brought to my attention. The same thing can be observed in commercials around holidays, religious aspects are put away and instead we are flooded with commercialism. It begs the question how characters and traditions like the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause became intertwined with events like the death and birth of Christ.
Another question that arises is whether or not it is right to celebrate such diluted holidays. Of course it has become obvious that such holidays are becoming over run by unnecessary commercials and products, but all traditions still have value. Whether religious or not, holidays, however celebrated, have the power to bring together families and remind people of what they are thankful for.
So, interestingly, the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter are basically stolen from the Pagans. The vernal equinox is celebrated in honour of Ishtar, and the idea of the ceremony revolves around rebirth and fertilization and sprouting flowers and so on. Christmas comes from celebrating the winter solstice. People would gather to celebrate because it was cold and because they wanted food. The families would all get together to feast. The Catholics came along sometime in the 4th century CE and in order to make Christianity more appealing to both Christians and Pagans, they started to incorporate the celebrations.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned in your post, these holidays have become, more than before, capitalist holidays, wherein people feel obligated to buy gifts for others. The tradition is still there, I suppose, it's just slightly more non-thoughtfully completed; done without challenge or desire.