Copyright © 2005 Jonathan Dee It might come as something of a shock to some people that December the 25th isn’t actually Christ’s birthday. Since the real date is unknown, the early church fathers decided to pull a fast one, by nicking a pagan festival called the Birthday of the Sun and substitute Jesus for the sun god. In fact, various solar deities have been thought to have been born on Xmas Day. The Greek god Apollo, who looked after such divers things as prophecy, music, light and, curiously, mice, was said to have been born on the island of Delos at Midwinter. The British King Arthur too, was a Capricorn and the magician Merlin is supposed to have carried the child away from his mother Ygraine in the early hours of Xmas morning. In the ancient world, though, the most potent deity to be associated with this time of year was Mithras. Originally a Persian sun god, Mithras achieved great popularity in the Roman legions, and his worship was introduced into every part of the empire. In the early part of the Christian era, it was a bit of a toss-up as to which religion was going to prove the most popular. To combat this, the first Christian Emperor, Constantine, brought in a series of measures designed to (con)fuse the two leading religions together. Firstly, he moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, to honour Mithras, and then he put a halo around Christ’s head so the two could not be told apart, since the halo represents the sun’s disc. Finally, he decreed that Jesus and Mithras were born on the same day.... December 25th. If that weren’t enough, a little judicious editing ensured that the stories of their respective births were so similar as to be interchangeable. After all, Mithras, too, was born in a stable, the son of a virgin with various shepherds and farmyard animals in attendance. It just goes to show that, when it comes to Xmas, nothing is quite as straightforward as it seems… |
