Since my magical Malcolms claim to be descendants of Druids, my contribution to our holiday tributes is about the pagan origins of our many traditions. As Jo Bourne told us the original December 25 date comes from the Roman solstice celebrations dating as far back as the fourth century BC. The Roman calendar and ours do not line up, hence the difference in our solstice date and theirs. What matters is that the date was well established centuries before the nativity. Since Jesus was said to have been born during a census, then his birth could very well have been some time in December. The Bible doesn’t list an exact date, so we can also assume the church simply adopted a festive date already established and Christianized it, as they did others.
The Romans used evergreens as symbols of the “return of life” as the days got longer. They hung 
apples on those trees as part of the celebration because who doesn’t want life and pretties in the dark of winter? But the part that interests me, naturally, is mistletoe. The Druids considered it a powerful healing symbol, cut from their sacred oaks, they’d meet (and possibly greet?) in peace under the mistletoe. So a wish for peace on the Christian holiday adopts this pagan symbol.
So the reason for the season is the birth of a new year, new life, and peace to all. Celebrate all your traditions in the interest of a better new year!
