COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:’Winterfest’ actually is the right word

This is in response to Don Mazen’s letter to the Glendale News-Press, complaining that Toll Middle School used the title “Winterfest Concert” rather than “Christmas Concert,” and likened them to Scrooge for the insult to his Christmas cheer (“More violations of Christmas seen,” Mailbag, Dec. 15). In particular, he said that the term “Winterfest” was just a poor substitute for “Christmas” and had no real meaning.

I hate to be the one to say it, but really, he’s got it backwards.

The Christmas holiday, as we know it, was adopted by Christianity as more of a tribute to the birth of Christ than an actual celebration of his birth. Some scholars say that Christ was born in September or October, during the harvest, not Dec. 25.

And, with the exception of Christmas Mass and the Nativity, few of the traditions and symbols that go hand in hand with the holiday have Christian ties.

Early Christian leaders had quite a time getting pagans to conform to Christianity, so they took some of their favorite pagan traditions and gave them a Christian twist. Christmas, for instance, falls around the Winter Solstice, and still has many of the same traditions to go with it.

Hanging a wreath on the door originated in ancient Rome, where people used decorative wreaths as a sign of victory. Evergreen branches were a symbol of strength.

The Christmas tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again.

Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with the Greek festival of Saturnalia and later with primitive marriage rites. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The pagans of northern Europe celebrated their own winter festival, known as Yule. Yule was a celebration of Scandinavian Norse mythology and Germanic pagans. The celebrations included feasts and burning of the yule log. Modern Christmas traditions that stem from Yule include the eating of ham, the hanging of boughs, holly and mistletoe.

Wassailing, or caroling, is Celtic in origin. Originally, wassail was a cup used for beverages made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices. The word comes from the Old Norse ves heill, meaning “be well and in good health.” The tradition of wassailing (or singing for ale) supposedly comes from a Saxon woman named Rowena who presented Prince Vortigen a bowl of wine and toasted him with the words “Waes hael.”

The Celts mimicked this toast by going door-to-door, singing to bless the farmers for the next season of crops. In thanks, the farmers would offer the wassailers a drink, usually mulled wine or hard cider, in return for the well-wishing.

Gift-giving in December is a very old tradition. It dates back to the Saturnalia festival in Rome in the first century A.D. This festival, named for the god Saturn, took place from Dec. 17 to 25. Adults exchanged strenae, boughs of laurel and evergreen. Children were given small clay dolls called sigillaria.

Because Saturnalia took place at the Solstice, it was also known as the Festival of Lights. Many of the presents given were candles, used to summon the sun back to life.

Several hundred years later, the Celts also developed a winter festival they called “Candlemas.” The early Catholic Church allowed the idea of lighting candles in December, eventually adopting the practice into Christianity as birthday candles for Jesus, even though his actual birthday is thought to be months earlier.

So, for those of you who are worried or offended that the birth of Christ and the term Christmas are being overshadowed by politically correct ideals, remember, it’s really the Pagans who should be offended that their solstice celebrations and sun gods were changed into Christmas.

Indeed, the term Winterfest is more appropriate.

No matter what you call it, or why you celebrate it, the greatest part of the holiday season is the spirit of goodwill that abounds this time of year. We’re all a little happier and more charitable, and that’s good no matter what you believe.

Complaining about what a school music concert is called is decidedly more humbug than the spirit in which the concert is given.

And with that, I wish a very happy Christmas, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Holiday and Winter Solstice to everyone.