How many Christian holidays are presumed to correlate with holidays or celebrations of other religions?

I've read that that Halloween, although not Christian historically, has a direct link with the Pagan religion. Are there Pagan traditions (or any other form of religion) that correlate with Easter, Christmas, or any other Christian celebration / holiday? Asked by Angela-N-Jeff 59 months ago Similar questions: Christian holidays presumed correlate celebrations religions Society > Holidays.

Similar questions: Christian holidays presumed correlate celebrations religions.

You've touched on the main ones, but yes there are many Christian holidays that coincide with others Many of the holidays we celebrate today are considered Christian, but the origins of many modern-day holidays are older than Christianity. EasterThe Christian holiday of Easter commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, and his rise from the dead into heaven. Then where do all the symbolism of bunnies, and eggs come from?

It's more than coincedence that the early Pagans had a holiday to mark the Spring Equinox, called Ostara, usually celebrated around March 21st. With the return of spring, came the birthing of the farm animals for the year. Which is why we see bunnies, chicks, eggs and little lambs as symbols for this holiday.

Part of the Ostara mythology involved the return of various deities from the underworld (symbolic of the end of winter). So it's not surprising that this holiday got enmeshed with the Christian story of the ressurection of Christ. ChristmasEven non-Pagans use the term "Yule" around the Christmas holidays.

Yule is celebrated on the Winter Solstice (December 22nd), on the shortest day of the year. Since the days get longer from this point in the year, Yule is a celebration of the returning sun and the rebirth of the God who died at Hallowe'en. As with Easter, the Christian story of the birth of Jesus fits nicely with the Pagan mythology of a God reborn.

Traditions such as wreaths and Yule logs are remnants of the original beliefs. Gifts were exchanged at Yule long before the Wise Men offered their gifts to the baby Jesus. Groundhog DayWell, it's not specifically Christian or celebrated as intensely as the two holidays just mentioned, Groundhog Day is still part of the modern-day year.

Candlemas (or Imbolc) is celebrated on February 2nd. Because spring is just starting to show itself at this time of year, there were various superstitions about predicting the weather, and how long it would be until the end of winter. The original idea was to watch for a hedgehog, but as people immigrated to North America, the tradition changed to a ground hog to suit local wildlife.

Hallowe'enOk, everyone knows that Hallowe'en is a Pagan holiday, but there are many misconceptions surrounding what the holiday really means. Pagans call the day Samhain (SOW-en or sow-EEN). The old God dies on this day, and the Goddess mourns him until his rebirth at Yule.

We use this day to honour and remember our loved ones who have passed on. In an effort to diffuse the interest in this heathen holiday, the Church created All Saint's Day (November 1) as a holy day to recognize all the Catholic saints. But it wasn't a powerful enough idea to wipe out the traditional Hallowe'en celebrattions.

Ironically, many Christians do not approve of the celebration of Hallowe'en because of its Pagan origins, not realizing that almost all of the holidays they observe had Pagan beginnings. Why are major Christian holidays layered on older Pagan festivals? The central reason is that as Christianity was struggling for acceptance in Europe, the country-folk would not give up their age-old traditions.By blending the old with the new, it was easier for the Church to convert the locals.

Sources: http://paganwiccan.about.com/library/weekly/aa032503holidays.htm .

All of them, essentially! One of the great assets of the early Christian Church was a 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' attitude. What they did was take many a pagan or non-Christian festival and graft onto it the fitting Christian celebration.So Easter is the festival of Eastre or Ostara (or a bunch of other spellings, they weren't big on dictionaries then) an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the east/spring.

The Easter eggs are Persian in origin. Christmas was the festival of Saturn/Jupiter (at which time his temple was decorated with greenery, a custom that has continued) or the festival of Sol Invictus, the Undying Sun, part of the Persian Mithraism religion/cult that was popular with Roman soldiers. Christmas trees represent Yggdrasil, the Norse Tree of Time.

That's not all, by a long way - Valentines Day marks a Roman fertility rite, Epiphany or Twelfth Night is the last night of Saturnalia when a special cake is eaten - Twelfth Night cakes are still made in France. Harvest festival has the remnants of the pagan festival of the corn goddess. Sources: Me, my 'Roman life and customs' lessons and Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable annecm's Recommendations Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Seventeenth Edition (Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) Amazon List Price: $55.00 Used from: $28.82 .

At least two that I know of... Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, which is in fact, the date that of the holy day of Sol Invictus, "The Invincible Sun", a God that Constantine worshipped (and believed himself to be) at about the same time that he adopted Christianity as the official Roman religion. Of course, he adopted Christianity because he also believed that he was a new Jewish messiah like Jesus. Storians actually believe that Jesus' birthday would likely have fallen sometime in September.

The Christian celebration of Easter is on a different day every year because it coincides with (I believe) the Spring Equinox, which is the time of year that pagan religions celebrate the holy day of a mother deity. Both the pagan holiday and the Christian holiday are concerned with rebirth/regrowth and fruitfulness, thus the easter traditions of eggs and rabbits. I apologize if any of my statements are incorrect.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but figured these answers may give you a place to start in researching the topic.

" "I am boycotting Amazon because of their attitude towards various religions over the holidays!

How many Christian holidays are in a calendar year.

I am boycotting Amazon because of their attitude towards various religions over the holidays!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.