1st frame - coupon stating FREE CHEESE PIZZA ON YOUR BIRTHDAY 2nd frame - Jesus Christ is laughing happily 3rd frame - Pizza place is closed on Christmas 4th frame - Jesus’ face is looking tormented
Most come from the pagan yule festival actually. Bonfires (now in fireplaces usually), decorating with holly, mistletoe, and evergreen trees, feasts, and gift-giving are all from yule (we’re missing ritual sacrifices from Christmas though, unfortunately). Saturnalia is primarily feasting, drinking, and gift exchanges. There’s definitely some overlap between the two, but yule has a much bigger influence (which isn’t surprising since almost all the other Christian holidays are also pagan based rather than Roman)
Saturnalia was likely not the holiday that became Christmas. Or at least that's not the complete story.
Part of it is that solstice celebrations were pretty common. Modern Christmas just owes most of its pomp to more Celtic and Norse traditions.
Also, the timing of picking December 25th as Christmas has more to do with a bit of rabbinical superstition than anything else. See, there was this firmly held belief (based on nothing) that great men would die on the date of their conception.
So since Jesus died in late March or early April, he had to have been born nine months later, or at the end of December, Because that's how the logic went.
And yes, it's the exact same sort of logic that Monty Python made fun of with the "does she weigh as much as a duck?" scene.
Fun fact: Here in Estonia we don’t celebrate Christmas but it’s called Jõulud, which translates to Yule. It’s a 3 day celebration where you eat a lethal amount if food on the 24th with your family and then exchange gifts and use the following days to recover from the deadly amount if food.
The influence of the Saturnalia upon the celebrations of Christmas and the New Year has been direct. The fact that Christmas was celebrated on the birthday of the unconquered sun (dies solis invicti nati) gave the season a solar background, connected with the kalends of January (January 1, the Roman New Year) when houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and presents were given to children and the poor.
Christians already demand today that only their holiday be recognized at the same time that several other prominent holidays are celebrated by other religions and cultures. The fact that that holiday itself is plagiarized and displaced a previous wholly unrelated holiday is the least surprising thing.
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