Getting into the Xmas spirit with some historical facts :)

Just The Facts

• Christmas was originally a pagan festival dating around 4th century in Germany. It was then known as Yule, which sounds so much better (Coincidentally, the ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was called the Yule Ball and was held during the Christmas period.)
• It has since been absorbed into Christianity to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but is also celebrated by people from many faiths.
• Today, Christmas is celebrated by a lot of the world, but not all of it.
• Coca Cola invented Santa Claus (citation needed).
• Okay okay, they didn't invent him, but there was a rumour that they invented the image of the red suit, you know, for marketing.
• Christmas is now a capitalist holiday that is all about greed and money. It's still the most wonderful time of the year in spirit and abstract concept (like so many other things in the world).

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year :)

History of Christmas

"Christmas is the most magical time of the year, more magical even than four bank holidays glued together and multiplied by Easter!" - Charlie Brooker, UK TV Comedian

Yule has been celebrated for a long time, but the first time it was noted down by anyone was around the year 730AD. It was obviously a winter festival celebrated by Pagans from Germany, and consisted of great feasts, yuletide songs and happiness all around. The traditions of Yule haven't changed much since being converted to Christmas, apart from the inclusion of Jesus Christ.

Today, we follow the same traditions (nearly) as originally carried out during Yule. We eat ridiculously vast meals, sing songs that fill the heart with happiness and drink ourselves into an early depression in preparation for the New Year that's looming on the horizon.

Santa

Santa Claus goes by many names around the world, such as:

·         Saint Nicholas

·         Kris Kringle

·         Father Christmas

·         Pere Noel

·         Baba Chaghaloo

·         Santa Klaus

·         Julemanden

·         Weihnachtsmann

·         And far too many more..

Santa is mainly known for delivering presents over the world to all the boys and girls. Of course, there are lot of skeptical people that say he doesn't exist, but there are factors that they haven't taken into account, like:

• Time Zone differences
•  The fact that not everyone celebrates Christmas (So only believers get presents? Because they've done the shopping...how convenient!)
• He has a reliable airline

We can see from these facts that the chance of Santa getting presents to all of his believers...is still pretty slim. But not completely impossible (for any believers out there, I'm trying to appear unbiased).

The real point of the Santa Claus story is to bring happiness to people at Christmas time. The idea is stronger than the embodiment, as shown in the film "Miracle on 34th Street", both the original and the remake, but more so in the remake. The end states that if the people of America can believe in God without physical evidence, and believe in him enough to print his name on their currency, then surely the people can believe in Santa as well.

Where is my seat? These budget cuts really suck...

Bonus - Just cuz it's hilarious