Christmas In Ritual And Tradition Christian And Pagan Microform

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Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan is a study of the history and folklore surrounding Christmas holidays in several countries. It is an amazing collection of Christmas-related traditions from the first introductions of Christianity to the early 20th century. The book covers the history of Christmas as a Christian feast day and how that developed. It also discusses pre-Christian festivals and observances and how a lot of them survived by being given a Christian veneer although the overt paganism disappeared. Clement A. Miles (1881-1918), an author and translator, was a member of the Folk-Lore Society. He had been for many years on T. Fisher Unwin's literary staff and he was the author of an important work: Christmas in Ritual and Tradition. Miles possessed a wide knowledge of European languages, and translated numerous works from French and Italian.

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This volume tries to show how Christmas is or has been kept in various lands and ages, and to trace as far as possible the origin of the pagan elements that have mingled with the Church's feast of the Nativity. It is full of bits of little-known Christmas lore and its aim is to build a rough outline map of the field of Christmas customs, and to bring together materials hitherto scattered through a multitude of volumes in various languages.

Book Excerpt: , the subjective aspect of the matter would come increasingly into prominence, until in the festivals of the Christian Church the main object is to quicken the devotion of the believer by contemplation of the mysteries of the faith. Yet attached, as we shall see, to many Christian festivals, are old notions of magical sanctity, probably quite as potent in the minds of the common people as the more spiritual ideas suggested by the Church's feasts.In modern England we have almost lost the festival habit, but if there is one feast that survives among us as a universal tradition it is Christmas. We have indeed our Bank Holidays, but they are mere days of rest and amusement, and for the mass of the people Easter and Whitsuntide have small religious significance--Christmas alone has the character of sanctity which marks the true festival. The celebration of Christmas has often little or nothing to do with orthodox dogma, yet somehow the sense of obligation to keep the feast is very strong, and there are fewRead More

Excerpt from Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan The French Nil - Latin Hymnody in Eighteenth-century France Spanish Christmas Verse - Traditional Carols of Many Countries Christmas Poetry in Protestant Germany - post-reformation Verse in England - Modern English Carols. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Christmas in Ritual and TraditionClement A. Miles