How to Best Understand the Ancient Meaning of Christmas
Behold the Sun At midnight hour And build with stones In lifeless clay. So find in world decline And in the night of death Creation’s new beginning And morning’s youthful strength. Let heights above reveal The Gods’ eternal word, May depths preserve and seal The peaceful treasure-hoard. In darkness living O now create a Sun! In substance weaving O know the Bliss of Spirit. The Christmas Mystery translated by Henry B. Monges The origins of Christmas can be traced back to pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Then people celebrated the return of the sun and the end of winter. The ancient meaning Christmas goes back to that time. The winter solstice Many cultures celebrated the winter solstice, including the Norse, Romans, and Egyptians: The Norse: Celebrated Yule from December 21 to January, and brought home large logs to burn in a feast that could last up to 12 days. The Romans: Celebrated Saturnalia, a feast in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. They decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. The Egyptians: Filled their homes with green palms and papyrus reeds to symbolize the triumph of life over death. What is the ancient hidden esoteric meaning of Christmas? What did the wise men of history see expressed in the Christmas Festival? The essence of the following article comes from The Christmas Festival: A Token of the Victory of the Sun by Rudolf Steiner an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. The celebration of Christmas occurred in Asia and Egypt thousands of years before the birth of Christ. On the longest darkest day of the year, the celebration heralded the victory the Light/the Sun over darkness rather than a wholly materialistic focus on receiving gifts.









