Bonus Re-Release: The Pagan Origins of Christmas

Christmas comes early this year with the bonus re-release of one of our favorite episodes exploring the strange, pagan, occasionally twisted origins of the Christmas holiday. How is Santa Claus connected to cannibalism? Which Christmastide holiday commemorates the slaughter of children? How should you decode the cryptic numerology message 20+C+M+B+22? And what's with all of those airborne reindeer? 

Welcome to Ghosts of Christmases Past, in which Shane and Duncan explore how tree-worship and animal sacrifice evolved into the bizarre, festive, highly commercialized holiday we know today. So whether you're feeling the Christmas spirit or just feeling jaded and grinchy, grab a cup of heavily-spiked eggnog, get cozy by the yule-log, and join the boys as they unpack the fascinating pagan history of Christmas.

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In this episode:  

• Christmastide
• Christmas Eve
• The Feast of Saint Stephen, Protomartyr
• Childermas, The Feast of the Holy Innocents
• Herod the Great
• The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, Octave of the Nativity, Solemnity of Mary
• The Feast of the Holy Family
• 12th Night, Epiphany Eve
• Chalking the Door
• Saturnalia
• The Holiday of Yule
• Yule Boar, Yule Goat, Yule Log
• Anglican Revelers vs. Puritan Grinches
• The Story of the Nativity
• December 25th Becomes the Arbitrary DOB
• Christenmas, Christ Mass, and Xmas
• Christmas Trees
• Saint Nicholas of Myra, aka Saint Nick, aka Nicholas the Wonderworker
• Sinterklaas 
• Christmases Around the World
• Reindeer
• Thomas Nast
• Haddon Sundblom and Coca-Cola

 

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Episode Transcript