Not everyone knows that the history of Christmas had started much earlier than Christianity itself appeared. Although the day is widely known as the birth of Jesus Christ these days, a lot of traditions have been developed from much older traditions, which have nothing in common with Christianity. In fact, such
celebrations as Zagmuth, Yuletide and Saturnalia make a lot of influence on the Christmas that we know today.
This celebration was in support of Marduk and his battles, and it is believed that this is where the story of the 12 Days of Christmas originated.
As a fact, Zaghmud was an important festival, which lasted 12 days in Mesopotamia. It was believed that the main aim of the celebration was to support Mesopotamian god Marduk. These days, a lot of people claim that the celebration is the begging of the 12 Days of Christmas.
Yuletide is another celebration that influenced Christmas. It was celebrated at the time of the darkest days of the year in Scandinavia. In fact, the event symbolized the light. It is the reason why Scandinavians burned a Yule log in a fire. It is also important to mention that they hung apples on trees and it is believed that this is where the tradition of using Christmas tree ornaments originates.
The celebration to honor god Saturn taked place in an ancient Roma and it usually lasted from December to the begging of January. At that period of time, Roman decorated their homes with garlands and visited each other not forgetting to carry a gift.
Actually, the tradion of decorating trees have began in the 16th century. The devout German used to do it to celebrate Christmas and used Glass Christmas Tree Toppers and other as a decoration. However, the tradition of a tree with Christmas balls at home was not popular in U.S. until the 19th. In fact, puritans prefered to commemorate about Christ's birth without any festities.
All in all, the day of Christmas has always played an important role in our life. Even though it was developed from the traditions of different cultures, it make everyone feel happy and joyfull even nowadays.
