As per the usual custom of Christianity expropriating Pagan rituals, the current celebration of the Christian holiday called Christmas was based primarily on "Yule", a mostly Germanic ritual which took place during the Winter Solstice.
It was also celebrated by other northern peoples, including Norse, Scandanavian, Icelandic and Faroese cultures. In the southern climates, the Romans, as well as Greeks, used to perform similar ceremonies with "Saturnalia", which occurred during that same time of year and celebrated the god of agriculture, Saturn.
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| Yule was celebrated well after the harvest, in and around the Winter Solstice |
As Christianity and the church started to rise and gain power, they usurped the traditions that were already established and interjected their own ceremonies and rituals. Basically a hostile takeover of what was a very benign belief in nature, with the church labeling Pagans as "ungodly", "idolaters" or "infidels".
The definitions are still used in our modern day dictionaries, so this belief became well entrenched. Basically, Pagans were a threat to the power of the church and all it's factions as the latter worked in tandem with the monarchy to control the people.
Eventually, there were things like the Inquisition and wide spread witch hunts that used fear to eradicate those who opposed the churches and Christianity.
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| Certainly an influence for the character Santa Claus |
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| Despite the Christian takeover, old customs such as the Yule Log were maintained |
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| Paganism is alive and well in this modern era |
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| This gives you an idea of how Paganism was tied to nature (also note Samhain, as discussed in my post about Hallowe'en) |
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