For how long Christmas been celebrated for now?

Actually, the term christmas originated from catholicism and means "Mass of Christ". As for the origins of the traditions, I personally believe they are pagan traditions pertaining to the winter solstice. Possibly explaining the death of the sun ( shortest day of the year) and the rebirth ( three days later , 24th or 25th, when the days become longer).

Traditional solstice celebrations existed in many cultures. The Roman feast of Saturnalia, honoring the God Saturn, was a weeklong December feast that included the observance of the winter solstice. Romans also celebrated the lengthening of days following the solstice by paying homage to Mithra—an ancient Persian god of light

Is the question being asked about when did the Winter Solstice make it's transition to Christmas, or is the question when did Christmas begin being celebrated as baby Jesus birthday.

The holiday timing of the winter solstice is rooted in ancient religions. Throughout history, humans have observed this seasonal milestone and created spiritual and cultural traditions to celebrate the rebirth of sunlight after the darkest period of the year

Scholars don't agree about the exact origins of Christmas. "In the early years of the Christian church, the calendar was centered around Easter," said Yeide. "Nobody knows exactly where and when (perhaps in Egypt) they began to think it suitable to celebrate Christ's birth as well as the passion cycle (the crucifixion and resurrection)."

From this source

news.nationalgeographic.com...










[edit on 28-12-2007 by interestedalways]

reply to post by interestedalways


Interestedalways, nice find. Everythign in the article is true, to the best of my knowledge.
I will add that Winter Solstice was celebrated since ancient times not only because of it being the shortest day of the year, but also because it is the time of the year when the days are dark and cheerless. Hanging evergreens in the home and having an evergreen tree with lots of colorful things on it, helped to cheer them up. The celebrations went on for 12 days, hence the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

reply to post by forestlady



I should take some more time to google, I have read some interesting ideas on the meaning of the props!

What you said makes sense as well, the bright, colorful, living images reinforce the power of the sun to return life to that which is underground.

Christmas has been celebrated ever since the birth of Christ in approximately 1 C.E.