A lot of you have probably come across social media posts and even news articles that the holiday we know as Christmas is just ripoff of Pagan mythology and traditions. Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister Tyson Kemp to discuss and debunk many of these claims. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.
You can find Tyson telling wonderful, well-researched spooky and skeptical stories @tysonunkempt on TikTok and Instagram!
To read more about debunking the Pagan origins of Christmas, we recommend you check out blog posts by Spencer McDaniel (https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/) and Dr. Peter Gainsford (https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/12/concerning-yule.html).
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Here are our sources:
- https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50284202
- https://bigthink.com/the-past/no-christmas-not-stolen-pagan-festival/
- https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/december/who-waged-the-very-first–war-on-christmas–.html#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20Christian%20celebration,longer%20after%20the%20winter%20solstice.
- https://www.thedailybeast.com/did-christians-really-steal-christmas-from-the-pagans
- https://unherd.com/2020/12/the-myth-of-pagan-christmas/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_syncretism
- https://psmag.com/social-justice/a-brief-history-of-the-christmas-controversy-pagan-roots-secularization-97073
- https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/invictus.html
- https://historyforatheists.com/2020/12/pagan-christmas/
- https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/
- https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/12/concerning-yule.html
- https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-reminder-2017.html
- https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-and-its-supposed-pagan-links.html
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Good Yule, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays! We’re glad you’re here with us on the other side of the Long Night (i.e., the Winter Solstice). For this year’s Christmas episode, we’re talking about spooky, or just plain quirky, Christmas traditions primarily from across the pond. Listen to hear about the origins of Krampus, the villainization of Frau Perchta, the terrifying Gryla the Giantess and her mischievous sons, and, finally, an oddly adorable pooping log from Spain.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.
Here are our sources from this episode:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_gift-bringer
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_deity
- https://www.pagankids.org/post/historyofyule
- https://nerdist.com/article/yule-curious-past-and-present-day-importance/
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/winter-solstice-pagan-yule_n_585970abe4b03904470af4c5
- https://spookylittlehalloween.com/2022/11/29/spooky-christmas-traditions/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/krampus-could-come-you-holiday-season-180957438/
- https://www.livescience.com/who-is-krampus
- https://news.usc.edu/90213/have-you-been-naughty-then-beware-krampus-is-coming/
- https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/22/572569325/caga-ti-a-catalan-log-that-poops-nougats-at-christmas
- https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/the-icelandic-yule-lads-and-gryla
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/43989p/perchta-christmas-goddess-demon-woman
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchta
We’re keeping the holiday spirit alive for just a bit longer with this listener stories episode all about how people discovered the truth about St. Nick! Thanks to friends, family, and listeners Garrett and Cassie for sharing your stories.
To see our sources and any extras for this episode, head to our website at www.spookysciencesisters.com. Hit subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@SpookySciPod), TikTok (@SpookyScience), and Facebook (@SpookyScienceSisters) for even more spooky content! Help us grow by sharing with a friend and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support the show further by buying us a “spirit”!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is right around the corner and it’s time to talk about everybody’s favorite jolly old man. Santa may not be considered spooky by most, but he is technically a boogeyman, and we had questions about him that needed answers! In this episode, we discuss the effect of Santa (and similar holiday characters) on children’s cognitive development, the plausibility of Santa’s sleigh withstanding speeds many times faster than sound, and how many calories Santa would eat on Christmas night. In the spirit of 2020, we also answer the question concerning us all, “will Santa get sick with COVID-19”? Don’t forget to stick around until the end to hear this week’s Short and Spooky – a cheerful chat about near death experiences.
To see our sources for this episode, head to our website at spookysciencesisters.com. Hit subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@SpookySciPod), and Facebook (@SpookyScienceSisters) for even more spooky content! Help us grow by sharing with a friend and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
Spooky Science Sisters is a member of the Straight Up Strange Podcast Network.
