The tradition of holding a special festival in December goes back much further. People in Europe had been making merry during the winter for hundreds of years before Christians got in on the act.

Parties and presents

Yule was the name for the traditional Celtic fire festival which marked the winter solstice, and celebrated the return of the light after the longest night of the year.

Christmas also has its origins in the great year-end festivals popular in the Greek and Roman world.

The customs of giving presents, eating too much and generally having fun comes from the Roman festival Saturnalia which was celebrated around 17 December.

Saturn was the Roman God of agriculture and plenty, and gift giving symbolised the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor during the season of greatest hardship. Big feasts were generally laid on by the rich to feed their poorer neighbours.

During Saturnalia feasts laid on to feed the poor

The next big ancient festival was the solstice feast of Mithras, the Roman God of light on 25 December. This was the one adopted by Christians sometime around the 4th century as the birthday of Jesus. Traditionally, this festival marked the renewal of hope. In fact the cult of Mithras once vied for popularity with Christianity.

In addition to the Roman festivals, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which takes place in late December was also influential. During the festival presents are exchanged and candles lit.

New Year's Eve, originally dedicated to the two-faced Roman god Janus, who looked both forward and back, was big in ancient times too. Romans held torchlit processions, sang songs, gave presents, told fortunes and decorated their houses with greenery to symbolise new life.

Deck the halls

Christmas trees: Popular in Britain during the last century

The closest anyone comes to a Yule log today tends to be through eating the chocolate variety. But in the not so distant past it was the tradition to haul an enormous log into the house so it could be put on the fire on Christmas eve. The log had to be large enough to burn continuously through the 12 days of Christmas.

It was generally regarded as unlucky to allow the fire to go out. The ashes of the Yule log were thought to have magical properties. They were said to be good for toothache and for protecting your house from bad luck.

The tradition of the Christmas tree originated in Germany, where trees have been chopped down and decorated in much the same way, as they are now, since the early 17th century.

But the custom did not make its way to Britain until more than 200 years later. Prince Albert, the German consort of Queen Victoria, helped to popularise the custom in Britain in the middle of the last century.

As well as a tree, it is also traditional to decorate your house with evergreens like holly, ivy and mistletoe. This custom originates with the Romans who though of evergreens as good luck.

Romans thought evergreens brought good luck

Holly is often thought to have religious significance as the berries are said to represent Christ's blood. But this was probably a meaning imposed on it by the early Christian church. Pagans believe that holly is good for warding off witches.

The early church had greater trouble christianising ivy which was always strongly associated with the Roman god of good parties, Bacchus.

The tradition of kissing under a sprig of mistletoe is one that is unique to Britain.