Is Christmas a pagan holiday? It’s a question that has long intrigued those contemplating the origins of the festival.With the holiday season right upon us, it’s time to unpack this timeless query and understand the non-Christian roots of some of the popular customs including gift-giving, the image of Santa, decoration of Christmas trees that we’ve come to associate with Christmas.

PaganismA pagan is a person who practises a polytheistic religion as against the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The term was first used in the fourth century for people in the Roman empire who didn’t follow Christianity. Popular Christmas traditions with pagan origins Celebration of the solsticeMost of the customs typically observed on Christmas actually relate to the winter solstice, which was celebrated in ancient Rome on December 25.The solstice marks the day the Sun begins to rise and the days start getting longer again in the northern hemisphere.A feast called Saturnalia celebrated this solstice in ancient Rome, told CBS.“So when Christianity became the official religion in a sense, in Rome, they were able to fix this date,” he explained. “There's a little discrepancy about it but there's no question that the fact that it was celebrated in Rome as an important day with gift giving, candle lighting, and singing and decorating houses really cemented Christmas as December 25.” Santa ClausSt. Nicolas, also known as Father Christmas, was a patron saint of children and sailors in the fourth century. A generous bishop, he sported a long beard and a cloak, similar to the contemporary idea of Santa Claus popularised by Coca Cola in the 1930s.However, lores of an old man giving gifts to children date much earlier than St. Nicholas, back to the paan times.A bearded old deity called Odin, portrayed in the pagan culture as an old man with a long, white beard, is believed to have inspired the image of Santa. Much like Santa, he rewarded children with presents and had an eight-legged horse for a reindeer to fly through the skies. Christmas treesChristmas tree decoration, too, was a tradition practised by pagans. Romans didn’t just feast, drink and exchange gifts during Saturnalia but also hung small metal ornaments on trees they put up outside their homes, according to Each of these ornaments represented a God. Kissing under a mistletoeMistletoe was considered a highly sacred plant in Roman, Celtic and even Norse cultures. In ancient Rome, people performed fertility rituals under the mistletoe to appease the god Saturn.To the Druids, it symbolised peace.The tradition of kissing under a mistletoe is a far tone-down adaptation of the original custom. Christmas carolsWhile the carols sung during Christmas are indisputably Christian, the tradition of going door-to-door and singing to your neighbour was derived from another pagan tradition called wassailing, which was aimed at wishing “good health” to people and keeping evil spirits away.