Tag: pagan

Episode 73 Sources: A Not-So-Pagan Christmas Story

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:

  1. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50284202
  2. https://bigthink.com/the-past/no-christmas-not-stolen-pagan-festival/
  3. 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.
  4. https://www.thedailybeast.com/did-christians-really-steal-christmas-from-the-pagans
  5. https://unherd.com/2020/12/the-myth-of-pagan-christmas/
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_syncretism
  7. https://psmag.com/social-justice/a-brief-history-of-the-christmas-controversy-pagan-roots-secularization-97073
  8. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/invictus.html
  9. https://historyforatheists.com/2020/12/pagan-christmas/
  10. https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/
  11. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/12/concerning-yule.html
  12. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-reminder-2017.html
  13. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-and-its-supposed-pagan-links.html

Episode 56 Sources: Make Christmas Spooky Again

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:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_gift-bringer
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_deity
  4. https://www.pagankids.org/post/historyofyule
  5. https://nerdist.com/article/yule-curious-past-and-present-day-importance/
  6. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/winter-solstice-pagan-yule_n_585970abe4b03904470af4c5
  7. https://spookylittlehalloween.com/2022/11/29/spooky-christmas-traditions/
  8. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/krampus-could-come-you-holiday-season-180957438/
  9. https://www.livescience.com/who-is-krampus
  10. https://news.usc.edu/90213/have-you-been-naughty-then-beware-krampus-is-coming/
  11. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/22/572569325/caga-ti-a-catalan-log-that-poops-nougats-at-christmas
  12. https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/the-icelandic-yule-lads-and-gryla
  13. https://www.vice.com/en/article/43989p/perchta-christmas-goddess-demon-woman
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchta