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Let's talk about the history of Christmas. As Christianity spread through the empire, so did the observance of Christmas. The Yule cat, a giant beast that would wander the lands in search of food. Its favorite meal was children. People were still being punished for being Christians. There's a strong persecution at this time across the Roman Empire. The Egyptians considered this the Sun's rebirth, making December 25 the birthday of the sun. It's not about presents. It's not about getting what you want. It's about doing drugs with your family. When we think of Christmas, images of red and white often come to mind. Santa suit, candy canes, festival decorations. But what if I told you that the iconic Amanita muscaria mushroom might have played a role in shaping these traditions? Just remember that again this year on Christmas that if you got a present, it's because Santa doesn't want you to be a. What's up, people? And welcome back to religion camp. Yes, and Happy holidays. More importantly, Merry Christmas to all my Christians out there. This is a very special season. It's Advent. It's the time of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And to all my Jew friends, Happy Hanukkah. Shout out to y'all. A gift giving holiday doesn't really seem like it was in the history, but y'all wanted to get presents, so. Respect to all my Muslim friends. Sorry, not really anything for you guys right now, holiday wise. Y'all should do something. Y'all should do a. I don't know, shout out to the prophet Issa, right? He was born. We could do a holiday for that. Today we're going through the history of Christmas. If you're like me, you probably love Christmas. Great time of the year. You hang out, get presents, walk around. You know, it's kind of cold out sometimes. I grew up in Florida, it was never even really that cold. I used to read books and it'd be like, oh, snowy Christmas. And I was like, this shit is wrong. This is a lie. Charles Dickens, Is that who wrote it? I think it was Dickens. Anyway, let's talk about the history of Christmas. Apparently, Christmas is not all about Santa and gift giving. Apparently it's about Jesus. And then apparently before that there was some pagan stuff going on. There was some kind of some insane, insane pagan holidays that maybe got co opted, okay, to help, you know, get the masses on board. Okay, Masses, get it. That's a pun. Shout out to the Catholics. Anyway, let us begin. Christmas occurs every year, December 25th. You guys already knew that. And it occurs at A very specific time of the year, not only in the Gregorian calendar, but also on the celestial calendar. The winter solstice. That's right. It's the day with the shortest amount of sunlight hours in the year. This is also known as the longest night. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter Solstice happens around 21st December every year. After winter solstice, the daylight hours gradually get longer and the hours of darkness at night get shorter until the summer solstice comes back around June 21st. All right, this is just basic. I don't even know what you call it. Astronomy. Yeah, sounds like astronomy. Just that. It's just basic astronomy. The pagans saw the winter solstice as a turning point in the year, right? You can imagine if they're working their crops around this one specific day. This is the day where the light is the shortest and the night is the longest. It seems pretty significant. And, you know, cultures all over the world had a specific holiday around the winter solstice. Historically, the winter solstice was a time to celebrate farming, nature, and life over death. Many ancient pagan cultures hosted festivals to celebrate the winter solstice. That includes the Celts, the Norse, the Romans, and. And even as far back as the Mesopotamians. Basically, as long as people have been looking at the sky, they're all like, hey, this is pretty, pretty weird. It gets, you know, it's real dark, real early. There's like no daylight time. We can't even, you know, kick it with each other and hang out, do stuff. I actually went to Newgrange, which is like an old, basically. I don't want to call it a pyramid. It's more of like a rock mound. That's in the uk and they have a summer solstice holiday every summer on the 21st, where people basically, like, buy tickets for, like, years in advance. Like, it's like super hard to get. It's a lottery. And they go there, and girls will go there, like, charge up their crystals. I say girls, that's sexist. But a lot of women. A lot of women, not only women, but a certain. I would say above 50% women charging up their crystals. Guys are not into the as much in the crystal charging, I've noticed. But regardless, people go there to charge up their crystals in the light of the summer solstice. And ostensibly, I'm sure they do something for winter solstice, but it's not as dramatic, you know what I mean? When that light first breaks through, that's like Stonehenge. All this stuff is built around, you know, obviously the solar calendars trying to line up with the summer and the winter solstice. Now let's go back all the way to ancient Mesopotamia. You ever heard of something called Zagmuk? Zagmuk, It's a funny word. It's one of the oldest known winter solstice celebrations. It literally means the beginning of the year and dates all the way back to 2100 B.C. ancient Mesopotamia. That's a long time ago. The feast fell around March and April, which is the beginning of the Mesopotamian year, and lasted about 12 days. Oddly similar to our 12 days of Christmas. It was a celebration in honor of Marduk, the God of creation and marked the victory of light over darkness. Marduk was the patron deity of Babylon and his victory over light and darkness describes his battle with the forces of chaos. Chaos was this mythological void state preceding the creation of the universe. It's often depicted as a serpent or some sort of dragon type thing. It's a shame that the rep that dragons get back in the day, it's crazy, right? Like I remember as a kid being like Komodo dragon. It's crazy. We have dragons. Turns out that's just a lizard. I don't know, it just feels like bearded dragon. That's not, it's not even a dragon, it's just another lizard. I just feel like naming wise, we just need to get kind of on the same page with what really, you know, really what that is. And then also just the serpent in the Garden of Eden just being the depiction of Satan. That just seems like a bummer for all time. People just hate you if you're snakes. Like you just have the worst PR person in the world. You're just getting absolutely cooked day and night. I'm actually pretty sure if you look at nightmares around the world, they've done research on this, look this up. Nightmares around the world. In America it's like, oh, your teeth fell out, oh, you're falling. Basically everywhere else in the world it's snakes. So I don't know what started it. I don't know if people are afraid of snakes. And though it becomes like this thing and ancient mythos is like sort of the epitome of evil or if the underpinning of the serpent being in the Garden of Eden also kind of being persistent throughout many world religions, all the Abrahamic ones basically, you know, perpetuates this idea that snakes are bad. At my Christian school growing up, we couldn't get a pet snake because there's like sort of this vibe that there's a, you know, satanic element. Regardless, back to Marduk. All right. Chaos was this mythological void state preceding the creation of the universe and is often depicted as a serpent. The battle between Marduk and chaos lasted 12 days, which is where we get the 12 days of celebration. In Babylon, the battle was acted out in the royal court, with the king obviously playing, you know, Marduk and his son playing Nabu. Not Mabu, not. Not the white rapper, but Nabu, the God of writing. Once freed from the powers of the underworld, the king would enact the rite of heroes, Gamos or Horizon, on the 10th day of the ceremony. What is the heros Gamos, you might ask? Hey, guys, we're gonna take a break really quick because we got camp updates. That's right. We have amazing stuff going on here at the campsite and all sorts of crazy things going on in history. 1941, Hitler took command of the German army. Whoa. 1997, Titanic premiered in the theaters. 1777, George Washington led troops into the winter quarters of Valley Forge. All of this stuff is fascinating. There's all these explanations for everything that's going on in our newsletter. That's right. That's where I learned all this. And I just drop this information anytime I'm hanging out. Maybe you could do it. You go on a first date, and you're talking to a girl, you're like, hey, did you know 1941, Hitler took over Germany today? Whoa. And she's probably like, that's you. You're an awesome guy, and you're an interesting dude. I appreciate you brought that up on our first date. I know I was talking about my family and how many siblings I have and that my sister is doing pills. But thanks for bringing up that interesting fact about Hitler. You could be the most interesting person on every date, get laid easier and make more friends if you subscribe to the newsletter. Not only that, I'm sure you've seen I've been wearing merch. I've been wearing sick brand new merch on episodes of Flagrant. I'm sitting right next to 50 cent in this picture right here wearing brand new merch. And you're gonna get first dibs if you subscribe to the newsletter. That's right. You're gonna be finding out about all the merch. And on top of that, 20, 25, I'm going on the road. Mm. I'm gonna be torn all over the United States of America. Continentally. Sorry, Alaska, but if you want to get first access to those tickets, go to the Newsletter. Everything that's going on in the camp world, in my world, and in our world is going on in the newsletter. Smore Camp. Click on the link in the description below and I'll see you there. Let's get back to the show. Hierogamy is the sacred marriage that takes place between gods. It's often seen as a sacred sex ritual and is described as the prototype of. Of most fertility rituals that we see throughout the world, even today. It's also one of the themes that Carl Jung deals with in his book Symbols of Transformation. During this ritual, the king, or N, as he was known in ancient Sumer, would perform sexual intercourse with his spouse, normally a high priestess who had been chosen from among the natytum. A special class of priestesses who had not taken a vow of celibacy, precisely. But of the refusal to bear children. So they're still busting it open for a goon, you know, one time, but they weren't actually having kids, all right? Which is what ultimately, you know, the king cares about. The high priestess is known as Entu. And her ritual act of intercourse with the king was thought to, I guess, you know, regenerate the cosmos through a reenactment of this primordial coupling of the cosmic parents, an and Ki, who had brought the world into being at the dawn of time. Now, the Mesopotamians, they were on some wild shit, all right? This is what it took to be a Mesopotamian. Back in the day, you had to bang out a priestess. Strangely enough, if an eclipse of the sun fell on any of the 12 days of the ceremony, a substitute for the king was put in his place, since it was thought that any evil which might have fallen upon the king would accrue to the substitute instead. So it'd be a bad day to be substitute, but, you know, anything for the king. On the last day of the festival, the king was killed so that he could battle at Marduk's side against chaos. But they didn't actually kill their king. To spare him, the Mesopotamians would use a fake king played by a criminal who was anointed as king before the start of Zagmuk and was killed on the last day. That is wild, right? Think about that. You're in prison, did something wrong, you stole some shit. And now they're like, hey, we got great news for you. You're gonna become king. He's like, dude, the come up of the century. I'm in prison right now. I'm tatted up. I'm blasted. You know what I mean? I'M looking crazy and you're telling me I'm gonna become king. It's like, yeah, yeah, you're king. I bet you they don't even tell him. He's just like, dude, I'm fucking king. This is sick. And then a week goes by and they're like, you're, you know, the king has to die at the end of the ceremony. He's like, what the fuck? No one told me that. So if you're in prison and they try to make you president or king or something, don't take it. It's probably a trap. All right, let's move on from Mesopotamia and looking at the solstice holidays into ancient Egypt. You ever heard of Horus and Ra? Let's dive in, shall we? Between 2000 and 1500 BCE, which again, I'm not a BCE guy. I'm not. I'm a BCE guy. This is before Christ. All right, the common era. What does that even mean? We're talking about Jesus here. All right? Of all the episodes, this is one where we're saying B.C. all right? The ancient Egyptians celebrated a festival around the winter solstice, which typically falls, like we said, on December 21. This celebration lasted about 12 days and was deeply connected to their solar deities, particularly Ra, a composite God combining the aspects of Ra and Horus. This God technically was known as Ra Horakhty. Ra Horakhty. I think I pronounced that perfect. And again, this was a composite combining Ra and Horus. Ra was the sun God and Horus was the sun, sky and moon God. So you can see how there's, you know, little overlap here. Right. So starting on December 21, each day was filled with rituals, offerings, and festivals, all honoring Ra, Horakhty, and the promise of light and renewal. The winter solstice was one of the most important moments in the Egyptian solar cycle. It marked, as we said before, shortest day of the year, the beginning of the sun's rebirth and the symbolic victory of light over darkness. So again, Mesopotamians onto the Egyptians all kind of having similar semblances of things. Big solstice holidays, 12 day, you know, 12 day victory feasts, and the celebration of good versus evil. On December 25th, the sun would visibly rise again after being at its lowest point for three days. The Egyptians considered this the sun's rebirth, making December 25 the birthday of the sun. That's right. If it goes down the 21st or the 22nd, it's down, you know, it's laying low for a couple days and then it's rebirthed again after roughly three days of being at its lowest point. Over time, the solar symbolism became associated with mythological figures. Horus, in particular, became closely linked with this solstice celebration. He was sometimes referred to as the Son of Ra, representing the visible manifestations of the sun God. During their festivities, the Egyptians decorated their homes with palm fronds, papyrus reeds, and evergreen bows. They specifically used plants that stayed green throughout the year, believing that these items again symbolized eternal life and resilience in the face of death. Some sources even suggest that Egyptians may have decorated not only their homes, but also their temples. The solstice was so important that the Egyptians placed buildings in accordance with the sun's placements. For example, Al Karnak Temple, during the winter solstice, you can see here the sun is rising up between the pillars, just like they would have seen it in ancient times. I mean, obviously the pyramids, you know, a giza, these are all, you know, placed very specifically with the celestial movements. So again, we're getting little hints that are placing us through these 12 days. Going down on the 21st, a rebirth on the 25th, you know, using green and sort of evergreen, you know, plants to symbolize everlasting life. Again, you can see these sort of, you know, mystery religions, religions from antiquity, these different types of traditions that maybe have even carried over until today. Now let's move on to England. Well, it's not England, really, at the time that all this is going on. This is just sort of the, you know, general land plot known as Britain, Ireland, respectively, the Celtic and the druid traditions. All right, let's get out of the desert, shall we? For the Celts, the solstice wasn't merely an astronomical event. It was a moment of immense spiritual significance, marking the delicate balance between darkness and light. The time of year symbolized the rebirth of the sun, a powerful moment in their annual cycle of life, death, and renewal. Again, sounds very similar to Mesopotamia. At the heart of the Celtic solstice celebrations were the Druids. A highly respected spiritual leader, class of philosophers and healers of Celtic society. The Druids viewed the solstice as a sacred turning point. To them, the darkest day of the year was not an ending, so to speak, but a promise of a new beginning, a moment when the sun began its slow return, breathing life back in to the world. One of the most revered symbols of this was the mistletoe. Yes, you know, the mistletoe, the, you know, an excuse for guys to get laid. I always thought the mistletoe was kind of creepy, right? I don't know. Maybe I'm a. Maybe I'm a feminist, but it's just this thing of like, oh, we're under the mistletoe. You have to kiss me. It's like, I'm. No, I'm your brother. I'm not going to kiss you. This is. I don't know. That just crossed a line for me, and maybe I have some childhood stuff I need to unpack. But regardless, it just always seemed a little creepy. I don't know. That's a topic for a different video, but. The mistletoe is a plant often found growing, you know, high on oak trees. Both the oak and the mistletoe held special significance in Druidic tradition. The oak tree, known as the King of the Forest, symbolized strength, endurance, and stability, while the mistletoe, which grew parasitically on its branches, was considered the original roofie. No, that's not true. It was considered a divine gift from the gods. The mistletoe represented fertility, healing, and protection. Its evergreen leaves served as, I guess, a reminder of life persisting even in the harshest conditions. The Druids believed that the mistletoe possessed magical qualities, and it. It did for some people. You know, you're nine years old, your aunt comes over. Anyway. It was said to hold the power to heal illnesses, protect against evil spirits, and ensure fertility in the year ahead. Harvesting mistletoe was a sacred act performed with great care, and there's, like, a ceremony built around it. Druid priests would climb the oak trees while barefoot and use golden sickles to cut the mistletoe from its perch. The mistletoe was never allowed to touch the ground because it was believed that it would be drained of its divine powers. Instead, it was caught in, like a. Like a white blanket or like a cloth symbolizing its purity. Once gathered, the mistletoe was used in rituals to bless homes, livestock, and even entire communities during the solstice. Another central element of Celtic solstice celebrations was the lighting of bonfires. Oh, yeah, you know about the bonfires. A little wintertime celebration. Again, this is one of those things. It's like, all right, it's probably just cold as hell. You know, it's probably freezing. It's like. No, it's symbolic. Let's see. All right, let's discuss the fire. Obviously, a universal symbol of warmth and light played a significant role in. In marking the sun's rebirth. During the long, dark night of the solstice, communities would gather around bonfires, which were believed to aid the sun in its struggle to reclaim the sky, the fires not only provided physical warmth, but also served a spiritual purpose. They were thought to banish darkness and evil spirits protecting the community. During this transition period, in addition to the mistletoe and the bonfires, the Celts incorporated other evergreen plants into their solstice traditions, such as holly, ivy and yew. Yew that's watching right now, but yew like you're. These plants had the ability to remain lush and vibrant even in the wintertime, causing them again to symbolize this eternal life, this resilience. Just like the Egyptians believed in their evergreen. The prickly leaves of holly were believed to protect against malevolent spirits, while its bright red berries symbolized fertility and renewal. Ivy, with its climbing vines, you know, the one that you'll see growing on, like a wall and stuff, was associated with the connection and the intertwining of life and death. And yew trees, often found in sacred forests, symbolized immortality and were used in ceremonies to honor ancestors and the cycle of life. Though the Celts celebrated the solstice with practices deeply rooted in their unique worldviews, many of these traditions persisted and evolved over time. With the spreading of Christianity, druidic rituals and symbols were absorbed and basically repurposed into the emerging Christian Christmas customs. The use of the mistletoe, for instance, you know, transition from a sacred Druidic rite to a light hearted holiday joke where you would just make out with family. Similarly, holly and ivy became fixtures in Christmas decorations as their ancient meanings were reinterpreted within a Christian context. So there you have it. The ivy, the holly, the mistletoe, all that coming from the ancient druids. I guess they were onto something, you know, it's just crazy to think of these people back in the day even just being like, oh, this shit is fire. Like, this is, you know, I couldn't imagine someone being like, why are we lighting a fire? And they're like, oh, well, it symbolizes, you know, helping the sun. They're like, also, it's cold as shit. Yeah, we're freezing. And it's like, yeah, all right, let's also tie some other stuff into it. I don't know, I don't even know if the fire, when you need an explanation for it's just cold. And you got to see stuff too. It's, you know, lights and things. All right, let's move away from Britain. Let's go to Scandinavia. Let's talk about the Yule. You ever heard of that? The Yule log is a thing that I Never really got again. This was never part of my personal family's Christmas tradition, but I always hear the term Yule. Yuletide carol. Is that the lyric? I don't even know if that's the lyrics. Yule time. Anyway, let's go to Scandinavia. All right. Where the Norse people celebrated Yule. At its heart, Yule marked the return of the sun, just like all the other ones we heard about. It was rooted in both practicality and spirituality. The Norse viewed the solstice as, I guess, like a liminal time, a period when the boundary between the natural and the supernatural worlds was at its thinnest. One of the most iconic Yule traditions was the lighting of the Yule log. Unlike today's decorative fireplace logs that are, you know, fire starter that you buy from Home Depot or something, these Yule logs were enormous pieces of wood meant to burn for several days. The logs symbolized light conquering darkness and were often imbued with ritualistic significance. Before being put in the fireplace, the Yule logs were sprinkled with sacred wine or adorned with herbs or something like that, you know. The log embers were considered powerful symbols of protection, and the ashes were sometimes kept as good luck charms or even used to fertilize the fields and the springs. The Norse also used this thing called wassail. Wassail is a strong drink often made with ale, honey, spices, or mulled apple cider. This sounds delicious. In pagan traditions, when people went to the forest to cut down, like a great oak for a yule log, they would often anoint the tree with. With wassail and hang wassail soaked cakes from its branches. At home, wassail was served in a large bowl during feasts, and the host would greet guests by raising a drink and saying, was haiel. Now, I have no idea how to pronounce it, because the toast wais if you're Norse. If any Norse people are listening. Any Scandinavians that tuned in to this program, just tell me how the hell do you pronounce that Was highel. I'm going with wassail. Still, the guests would then respond, drink hyel, meaning drink and be well. One particularly symbolic tradition was the sacrifice of animals to gods like Thor and Freyr, the God of fertility. After the sacrifice was basically done, the meat would then be consumed as a part of the communal feast. The Norse clans even brought. You're not going to believe this. Evergreen branches indoors to decorate their homes. Just like the Egyptians, just like the Druids, believing that they carried protective and magical properties they would hang these branches over doors or windows to ward off evil spirits during the solstice's magical mystical period. Over time, this tradition evolved into the Christmas tree. Oh, shit. Yeah, that's what time it is. Christmas tree time. Even though the roots ultimately are in the Yule log, and it's still evident today, you go out there, you hang stuff on the branches, you got some cakes, you're drinking ale, you're being merry. One of the most intriguing aspects of the Yule was the legend of the wild hunt. This is a ghostly event led by Odin, the chief deity in Norse mythology. This event was said to happen during the second night of Yule. Nowadays, you know, we might leave out feed for, like, the reindeer, which. Which my parents tried to get us to do. They'd be like, oh, we'll put on stuff for the reindeer. I'm like, they didn't bring food. Like, what did they used to do as a kid? I was like, the reindeer is going to come on our roof and be like, oh, we're so hungry. We're a long way from the North Pole. You're in Florida, dude. You're not even close. Like, this is completely climate. The climate is, oh, you have magic to fly, but not enough magic just to not be hungry. Come on, Santa. Anyway, you might have done this as a kid. You leave out feed, but. But in the times of our ancestors, if you're Scandinavian, children would leave stockings filled with grain for Sleipnir, Odin's eight legged horse. Yeah. Anyone who found themselves outdoors at night during this time might spot his ghostly procession or be spotted by it, which might involve being carried away and dropped miles from where you were taken. Another creature that was wandering in the night at this time was the Yolatkanuran, the Yule cat, a giant beast that would wander the lands in search of food. It's said that its favorite meal was children who did not receive clothes for Yule. The Yule cat was originally used as a threat and an incentive for farm workers to finish processing the wool collected in the autumn before Christmas. Those who took part in the work were rewarded with new clothes, but those who did not would get nothing and thus be preyed upon by the Yule cat. I mean, that's like, crazy, right? Like, all these things, like, there's so much folklore that's like, oh, there's this beast in the woods that eats kids. Like, this is terrifying. Like, Santa's one thing, which I have a whole issue with that. We can talk about Santa when we get to that section but the Santa thing is just like lying to your kids just to force them to be good people. It's like, dude, just teach them to not be scumbags. Oh, no. Don't beat the shit out of your brother or else you won't get anything for Christmas. It's like, how would you just tell them, hey, don't assault people. All right. Anyway, I have a weird thing with Santa. I gotta unpack that. I'm not exactly sure what that is, but the Yule cat is just. That's messed up. And they're preying on kids. They didn't get clothes. Like, that's not even the kid's fault. Like, this is because what is this myth really saying? This is like, hey, this is to scare kids kind of, but mostly to scare like the wool processor. Hey, make the clothes for the kids or else they're gonna get eaten. And then some like 30 year old dude making wool is like, dude, Yule cat terrifying me. This is just crazy. All right, but this is where we get the Christmas tree, the Yule log, this eight legged horse, he was a part of it. I mean, this thing is crazy looking. I don't even know how this would work. Like, it just seems like anatomically just a nightmare. Like horses like barely can move good. You ever seen a horse try to like sit down? So this thing is not meant to be like doing eight legs. I mean, come on now. All right, let's move on a little bit, shall we? When we think of Christmas, images of red and white often come to mind. Santa suit, candy canes, festival decorations. But what if I told you that the iconic amanita muscaria mushroom with its red cap and snowy white spots might have played a role in shaping these traditions? While it's not for certain, and certain people have disputed this point, it's a fun thing to explore. I'm also pretty sure this is what Mario eats. I'm pretty sure. And Luigi, not the assassin, but the guy from the video game Imagine. Bro, if Luigi was off of. Off a little chocolate candy, a little mushroom, and then went shot a CEO, that'd be wild. I mean, it could be a good alibi. I'd be like, dude, I was crazy. I don't know. I took the grow bigger mushroom. My bad. Anyway, hundreds of years ago, it was found that the winter solstice ceremony of the indigenous people of the North Pole, specifically the Koryaks of Siberia and the Kamchadales, had similar traditions to our Christmas today. Yeah, get this. In the ancestral communities of the Arctic. At the start of solstice, again around December 21, rituals were conducted that were guided by shamans who collected the Amanita muscaria mushroom, also called fly agaric, which was a powerful hallucinogenic mushroom. It grows on the ground near trees such as birch and pine. And for the indigenous people of the north, pine are seen as the tree of life. Therefore, the place where the fly agaric mushroom grew was a place of particular value. The toxicity of the Amanita muscaria when ingested is high, so before taking it, they had to dehydrate them on the branches of the pines as if they were, I don't know, ornaments on a Christmas tree. The second possibility was to put them in in socks and spread them over a burning fire to dry them out. I'm just saying, guys, look at this picture here of a, you know, Christmas chimney. Seems a little crazy. A sock. Imagine you got that as a stocking stuffer, right? Oh, mom, what did I get? Oh, drugs, fire. Dude, Christmas is about to be crazy. New Year's is going to go off the fucking rocker. I mean, that's wild. You get a whole stocking. I mean, stocking stuffers generally suck. Like, I don't even get the point of the stocking. It's like, oh, get a stocking. You're gonna get like M and M's. Like, what? I'll just go buy. Like, this is dumb. But imagine this Christmas. You have a kid, 8 years old, unpacks a stocking. What does he find? An eight ball of cocaine. What? Oh, Christmas is awesome. We're about to have a white Christmas. Dude, we're going skiing. I mean, it's just crazy, right? They would hang these things over the fire, cook them out, dry them out a little bit, and then you could pop a little amanita mascara. Additionally, the reindeer were of great help in reducing the toxicity of the mushroom. Imagine this. Reindeers can eat amanita mascara without suffering the effects of the venom. I didn't mean venom. I meant poison. Okay, venom is what animals have. So a frog, when you ingest it, that's poison. But a snake, when it bites you, that's venomous. 1. It's the ingestion cycle. If it's being sort of put into you, it's venomous. If you're ingesting it, then it's poison. Regardless, they can eat the amandita muscaria without suffering the effects of the poison. That sort of toxic effect that you're also going to get with the hallucinogen and this is common with many hallucinogens like ibogaine, ayahuasca. These things, depending on how you dose it, can have effects of nausea and potentially even worse toxic effects, depending on if it's used incorrectly. So when the reindeer would consume the Amanita muscaria, the urine of the animals was then used. Shamans would then drink the urine since it had already been filtered through the kidneys of the reindeer and taken out the harmful components and the toxicity of the mushroom. But most importantly, it still maintained its hallucinogenic effects. After the shaman had ingested the mushroom or drunk the urine of the reindeer, the hallucinations of the Amanita began. The legend says that during their trips, the shamans would manage to see the future of the community. They could turn into animals and fly towards the North Star in search of knowledge, to search with the rest of people. At the end of their hallucinogenic experience, they would return to the great group in their yurt, and they met with the important men of the town to begin the solstice ceremony, in addition to sharing their visions with the community. I mean, imagine that, dude, you're drinking deer piss and then you're like, dude, these things were flying everywhere. Like, that's crazy. That's what Christmas is all about. It's not about presents, it's not about getting what you want. It's about doing drugs with your family. Okay? That is what the holidays at its core, I think are really all about. Okay? Just remember that this year when you're sitting around the fire and you're just looking at your loved ones, just be like, man, I wish we were fucked up right now. I wish we were all just, let's get. Let's just do. Let's do heroin. That's what you should be thinking during the holiday time. All right? If you want to be technically correct, if you want to be a traditionalist, if you want to be, you know, old hat about it and do it the way people have done it for thousands of years. The shamans psychotropic journeys were believed to be related to the idea that Santa Claus travels with his sleigh and reindeers through the sky to deliver gifts. People have drawn these connections. The gift given by the shamans was the knowledge that the mushrooms gave them, in addition to sharing portions of the mushrooms among those present. Another similarity to Christmas as we know it today is that the entrance of the yurts was a hole in the roof. Because, you know, generally the doors might be covered with snow again. We're talking about the Arctic. Thus, the shamans made their appearance by climbing through the hole in the top of the yurt. Does that sound familiar? Anyone have an idea? Yeah. Santa Claus coming down your chimney. And the clothing is another similarity since to honor the amanita Mascaria. The shamans, what did they wear? Well, let's take a look at the amanita Mascaria. What does that look like? Oh, what does Santa wear? Are you guys not picking up what I'm putting down right now? The amanita Mascaria is this red and this white. And San is dressed in wet red and white. And we know that the shamans of this time were dressed in red and white clothes. And to protect themselves from the snow, they used large reindeer leather boots that over time, turned black. Over time, the shamanic archetype changed. And it is said that with the travel of the Druids, this tradition spread to Great Britain. Then, through cultural exchange, it was combined with Germanic and Nordic myths. While none of this is explicitly called Christmas, and obviously there's no Christian element to it, each of these traditions helped shape how we celebrate it today. I mean, that's just wild. Okay, do that. If you go see a Santa this year, just go sit on his lap. Just be like, you look different than how I imagined you. I imagined you, Santa. I thought you'd be a lot chiller, to be honest with you. I thought you'd be off a bean right now. I thought you'd be just cook, just sitting here, just absolutely toasted, giving out shrooms. And right now, all I got is an Xbox. This shit sucks. You remember an elf. You remember that When Buddy looks and says, you sit on a throne of lies, you're not the real Santa. Do you know what that was actually referring to? It's not referring to his relationship with the true Santa at the North Pole? No, it was his deep occult understanding that Christmas is actually a shamanic tradition based in the Arctic about doing mushrooms. Just rewatch that movie. It has a whole different meaning when you realize that Buddy the elf is. Is actually a drug addict who's just tripping. He's a Wook. He's going to raves. He's the edc, and he's just absolutely toasted out of his mind at all times. That's why he's going around New York City like, oh, what's going on? He's on drugs, guys. Anyway, let's talk about actual Christmas. So far, we've talked about a lot of folklore and pagan holidays relating to Christmas, you know, obviously we know where Santa comes from. He's an absolute insane shaman. He's a crackhead that you've seen under the overpass. But let's talk about the first Christmas. When was it? Let's go back to ancient Rome, shall we? About 800 years before Christmas became the centerpiece of, you know, December celebrations. Shall I say the best holiday? Again, I don't want to create a holy war, but I do think Christmas is like, top in terms of just holiday vibes, the lore, Christmas cheer. I don't think any other religion is even touching Christmas. With all due respect, I just don't think anyone's even getting close. The food, I mean, the movies, the music, like, come on, bro. I mean, it's just. Again, all due respect, you guys got your own thing. Christmas, top S tier. There was another figure born on December 25, however, in ancient Rome. Meet a guy named Mithra. This is the ancient Persian God of light, truth and justice. Mithra comes from Zoroastrianism, one of the early, if not the earliest, monotheistic religions. Mithra was a powerful deity in ancient Persia, revered as a God who brought light and order to the universe. The story of Mithra begins with his miraculous birth. Again, according to legend, and some of this has been disputed by scholars, but this is the way that, you know, my friends and I have kind of organized this conversation. Mithra was born from a sacred rock known as Petra, Genetrix, emerging fully formed and bearing a torch to light the world. Mithra's story didn't remain confined to Persia. By the first century, Mithraism had spread to the Roman Empire, where the gods was then referred to as Mithras, where it became especially popular amongst soldiers. It was a almost like a mystery cult with secret rites and supposedly had seven levels of initiation. Now, let me tell you about Saturnalia. Before Christmas brought its carols and, you know, the stockings full of drugs and sparkly lights and all that stuff, there's this Roman holiday known as Saturnalia. Again, based on Saturn occurring in December, Saturnalia was a time of feasting, gift giving, and a complete societal shakeup. The festival began on December 27 and could last anywhere from three to even seven days. One of Saturnalia's most unique traditions was the reversal of roles. That's right. Slaves were treated as equals and sometimes even as superiors. During the festival, masters would serve their slaves meals, and everyone, regardless of status, wore a festive garment called a synthesis. Setting aside their usual togas for something more relaxed. It's just a fun little Holiday, you know, it's just a goofy time, sort of like a prank. They'd be like, oh, we're gonna. We're gonna be nice to our servants. This is crazy. I mean, this is. This is ancient Rome for, you know, these people were wild and I guess, you know, it's better than the alternative, you know, being mean to them all the time. Having your servants all the time. You had Saturnalia where you're like, hey, let's just switch it up a little. Oh, you want a coffee? I bet you they were just dying, laughing. This actually sounds kind of fun. I don't know. Would you be like, oh, it'd be, you know, see how, see how it is being a. Being an indentured servant. Saturnalia was a time for gift giving. Romans exchanged small items like candles or figurines, like humorous gifts that were supposed to make the person that got it laugh, like a joke gift. The candles in particular symbolized the return of light as the solstice passed and the days began to grow longer. Saturnalia wasn't just about private gatherings. The whole city came alive with these giant, like, public festivals. Markets were overflowing with goods. Merchants were coming into town. Theaters put on comedic plays and shows, and there was even mock king elections where one lucky person was chosen as the Lord of Misrule. The figure presided over all of the chaos, encouraging pranks and, you know, it's basically impractical. Jokers, like, punked or something. This is like the. You would be Ashton Kutcher for a day. You'd be like, oh, I fucking got you. The Romans also decorated their homes with greenery, particularly, as we can imagine, holly and ivy, which, again, as we've seen through all these ancient cultures, symbols of eternal life. As Christianity was spread then through the Roman Empire, many Saturnalia customs were adopted into the emerging Christmas holiday. But these festivities only lasted seven days. So what happened on the 25th? Let's talk about the festival of Dies Natalis. Solus Invictus, better known as the birthday of the unconquered Sun. This was celebrated on the 25th. There was a Roman mystery religion known as Sol Invictus, meaning the unconquered Sun. Sun, S U n, not sun. Playing a significant role in shaping the cultural and religious traditions associated with the winter solstice. Basically had this guy, Emperor Aurelian, officially established this religion around, like 274 A.D. he declared Sol Invictus the primary deity of the Roman Empire, emphasizing unity through a common religious symbol. Aurelian also built a grand temple dedicated to Sol Invictus in Rome, cementing its importance in public religious life, Sol Invictus was often depicted driving a quadriga, a racing chariot with four horses. The festival was celebrated with 30 chariot races in Rome. In some years, 36 races were held. Instead, the race took place in the Circus Maximus, a large oval shaped stadium that could seat nearly 200,000 spectators. The cult of Sol Invictus became widely celebrated across the Roman Empire, particularly among soldiers and those in the urban center of Rome. Sol Invictus was so popular among the citizens that there were even coins with his face on them. Now at this time, Christianity is alive and well in the area and people are converting to Christianity to hearing the Gospels. But people were still being punished for being Christians. There's a strong persecution at this time across the Roman Empire. So this is where we began to see a change in the Roman Empire and its ruling. So this will take us a little bit farther back to the Bible, right? We know the Bible. We love the Bible. It's a great book, the good book. Ultimately, the biblical Christmas story is primarily found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The story begins with the announcement of Jesus's birth. In Luke, chapter 1, verses 26, 33, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, saying, hey, Mary. And this is the Mark version. Hey, Mary. Just don't, don't be afraid because you found favor with God. You will conceive and you're going to have a kid that's going to be awesome. And you're going to name him Jesus. How about that? He'll be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. Matthew's account focuses on Joseph's perspective. When he learns of Mary's pregnancy, the angel appears to him in a dream, saying, joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is not. It's from the Holy Spirit. All right, so she will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save the people from their sins. The birth of Jesus takes place, as we know, in Bethlehem. Luke chapter 2, verses 6 to 7 described the scene. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes. She wrapped him in cloth and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them in the inn. Kind of beautiful, right? I love reading this, genuinely. Every time I hear it, I'm like, this is awesome. You place Jesus, the Lamb of God, Meant to take away the sins of the world who gave his body for all of us in the manger. Doesn't seem like a coincidence. The manger, literally where the animals eat from. Seems like perfect symbolism all the way through. Shout out to God. After Jesus birth, the shepherds received a heavenly announcement. The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said, hey, chill out. Don't be afraid. I bring good news that's going to make everybody super happy. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He's the Messiah, the Lord. Matthew's gospel introduces the visit of the magi, also known as the three wise men, or as I call them, the wise guys. Upon Jesus birth, the wise guys, they pull up to Jerusalem, they're like, hey, where's the one who's been born king of the Jews? That always makes me laugh. I don't know why every time that the Bible's just like, Jews. I'm like, dude, this is because you say Jews now, and it feels different. Like, what's up, Jew? You're like, whoa, you can't say that. But in the Bible, they're just like, yo, where's the guy, the king of the Jews? And everyone's like, oh, he's over there. He's in the. In the barn. He's that way. Everyone's like, all right, that's fine. We see his star and it rose, and we've come to worship him. Shout out to the magi. I also love that in every nativity scene, they always show the wise men as, like, a black guy, which is just sick. I don't know why that is. I would love to do an episode on that. Like, I don't know if it's ever said, like. And then, you know, three wise men, one of which had great rhythm, showed up to get like. Maybe they said that because they were a little bit late, and they're like, well, obviously they're black. All right. The magi eventually found Jesus and presented him with gifts. On coming to the house, they saw the child was with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Myrrh. Probably the shittiest of all the gifts. Myrrh. What even is mirror? Mirror. If you had to spell mirror for a thousand dollars right now. A fragrant yellow resin that comes from a tree. It's used as a medicine, perfume. And incense. All right, mirror sounds good with me, but if you're giving me these three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Which one am I taking? Gold immediately? Not even a question. It's like the dumbest. I guess. Maybe there was value. I don't know. I got to look into the symbolism of why these guys brought that. I don't know. I also. I grew up. I didn't grow up in a black household. Maybe mirror has some. Maybe it has some connection to the black experience. Who's to say? Maybe it was like a lotion or something. Anyway, the first Christmas, this is when Constantine became emperor in A.D. 306. He profoundly influenced the spread of Christianity. I think Constantine should give more credit. He really made that shit pop. After his conversion to the faith, Constantine legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. effectively decriminalizing Christian worship, allowing Christians to celebrate their holy days, including Christmas, openly and without fear of persecution. We love that for the Christians. Constantine's reign also saw the formalization of the Christian calendar. Constantine, after his conversion of Christianity, sought to blend Christians with the pagan traditions that were already popular in Rome at the time. So what did he do? Merged elements from the pagan winter festivals with the Nativity story, contributing to the creation of Christmas as a holiday. This could be why Constantine may have chosen the 25th as Jesus birthday. Again, it's not specifically stated like, oh, it's on this exact day. It's just generally told in like a time and a place. And if you already have this festival kind of popping, let's just do this. We see this kind of in a certain way with like. Like churches, Like, a lot of churches will be built on the place of the form of religion. Way back when that used to be practiced. And they say, all right, there's like a temple here. Let's just get rid of that and then put our church. So I'm assuming something similar happened. Again, this is not in any way discrediting the story of the Christ or the Nativity or the birth of the Savior. This is just saying that these things exist and we need to sort of imbue them into the society and create some type of social cohesion. So let's just add it on to the festival that everyone's already kind of down with. So as we've seen, several pagan traditions revolve around this winter solstice. As Christianity became the dominant faith, many of these customs were absorbed into Christmas celebrations, transforming their meaning to reflect Christian theology. The first recorded formal celebration of Christmas was December 25, 336 AD that's where it all happened. This marked the beginning of Christmas as a recognized feast within the Roman Church. By the time of Constantine's death one year later in 337 A.D. christianity was already firmly rooted in the Roman Empire. The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. which Constantine convened, reinforced key Christian doctrines, including the belief in Jesus, divine and human natures. This theological foundation basically made the celebration of Christ's birth even more significant. As Christianity spread through the empire, so did the observance of Christmas. Bishops and missionaries carried the tradition to new regions where it blended with local customs. Over time, Christmas became a central part of Christian worship. As you can imagine, this led many people to spread the word of God and also Christmas cheer. It's kind of beautiful, right? I mean, I would definitely put that in there. If I'm like an early, you know, like, church leader and I'm going around telling everyone like, hey, dude, convert to Christianity. It's awesome. You get everlasting life. You can forgive everyone. You can get forgiven for all your sins. I mean, like, you know, the churches are sick, you can look at some art. That's awesome. And on top of all of that, for free with your one time subscription, you also get presents every year. I mean, that's like a no brainer, right? Like, that's. Come on. You can see why this thing just caught on like crazy. This was like. This was viral before viral is even a thing now. We've been kind of circling around this. I think we kind of understand. All right, Evergreen stuff, the creepy mistletoe, even Santa and drugs. But what about St. Nicholas, Lil? St. Nick? Who is that? Why does this matter? Well, let me tell you, this was a real person. He was born around 280 A.D. roughly in Patara, a seaside town in what is now known as Turkey. He was raised in a wealthy Christian family. Nicholas, as he was known at the time, he wasn't Saint Nick, he was just Nick. He was known for his deep faith, even as a child. But tragedy struck early in his life. His parents died in a plague. Don't you hate that? Fucking sucks. You're having a great time. All of a sudden a plague comes by and just kills your whole family, leaving you with like a huge inheritance. Damn, that's a. I would hate for that to happen. If the plague happened and I got left with a massive inheritance, ugh. I would probably do what St. Nicholas did, to be honest. Instead of keeping his wealth, what does he do? He chooses to Live a life of generosity. He became a priest and then a bishop in the town of Myra, and his kindness and devotion to helping those in need quickly made him a beloved figure. One of the most famous stories about St. Nicholas tells of a poor man with three daughters. This is wild. In those days, a family needed money for a dowry to marry off their daughters, right? Like, if you were going to marry a girl, the father of the daughter would give you something or give your family a present, which is. I think we could come back. We could do that again, right? I got married and I got shit. I mean, I got a wife. She's cool, but I mean, I had to, like, buy. I bought her a. All right. It wasn't even a diamond. It was a mosanite ring. Regardless, I spent like 800 bucks. I had no money at the time, and I gave her this ring, and I was like, oh, will you marry me? It's like, yeah, all right. I offer you, like, a precious piece of jewelry, and all you have to do is say yes. I don't know. Just seems. I think the dowry thing could be cool. Okay. We could just explore that potentially. I don't know, have an open discussion in the comments. Let's. Let's. Let's see if maybe there's some value, maybe there's a good counterpoint. And I think St. Nicholas is going to tell us why it was a bad idea. So in those days, you needed a dowry, right? Without it, the girls face a grim future of poverty and potentially even prostitution. If a woman couldn't be married, there was very few places for her in society, right? You just. You become, like, just an old spinster or potentially a prostitute or just live a life of poverty. So this man was desperate. He had no money to marry off his three daughters. And you got to imagine this guy, he's been broke his whole life, probably. He has two daughters, and he's like, hopefully this third one's a son and I'll get some money when he gets married. Nope, another daughter. Damn, that must have been a bummer for him. Dude, imagine that gender reveal, right? Like, they do, like, they toss him a baseball, he crushes it. It's pink. He's like, fuck, I'm already so broke, and now I've got to spend money to get each one of these girls married off again. This is bad. I'm not. I'm not a fan of this. This is misogynistic. I am anti that. I'm a. I'm an ally. But anyway, so this is the situation all right, you got this guy. He's got these three daughters. He's trying to marry him off, but he doesn't have the money to do it. His daughters are all going to become prostitutes. Every dad's worst nightmare. To protect his family's dignity, Nicholas secretly drops off a bag of gold through their window. And according to the legend, the bag landed in a stocking left by the fireplace to dry. This act of generosity was repeated for each daughter, saving them all from poverty and potential prostitution. St. Nicholas wasn't just known for his generosity. He was seen as a protector. I mean, that's just awesome. Just. What a great story. Just remember that again this year on Christmas that if you got a present, it's because Santa doesn't want you to be a slut. All right? Just remember that he doesn't want you to be a prostitute. If you get a present this year, just know that that's your dowry and use it wisely. All right, ladies, if you get a present this year, just be grateful. You're like, you know what? St. Nick is looking out for me. I've got to pop it open. One Tom and only fans. I can really just get married and live a regular old life. That's what Christmas is all about. It's about drugs. It's about. It's about Jesus, mostly. But there's also these other things that people should be aware of. Okay, I feel like I'm being. I'm being sacrilegious here. My bad. God. So over time, St. Nick is not only known as a, you know, a generous guy, but also as a protector. He became one of the most popular saints in Christianity because of the stories that sailors would talk about praying for safe voyage, and many of them would invoke the name of St Nicholas to pray for them, and he would help calm the storms and saving lives at sea. That's why St Nicholas today is known as the patron saint of sailors, children, and the poor. Church is dedicated to him spraying up across Europe and. And for centuries, people celebrated St. Nick, St. Nicholas Day on Dec. 6, honoring his generosity by giving gifts to children. But when Dutch settlers brought the tradition to America, things changed. The Dutch called him Sinterklaas. If you've ever seen the office, you're familiar with Sinterklaus, which eventually became Santa Claus. In the 19th century, writers and artists reimagined him with a red suit, a jolly demeanor, and a sleigh that we know today. Although today's Santa Claus is more of, like, a cultural icon than a religious figure, his Origins remind us of St. Nick's enduring legacy of generosity and kindness. So there you have it, folks, with all that. That is the story of Christmas, the true Christmas, the Christmas with drugs and prostitution. And it's continued to evolve into what it is today. A time of celebration, gifts and food and family. And while the old tradition of the winter solstice wasn't necessarily called Christmas, it definitely played a part in some capacity to how we celebrate it today. So whatever religion you are, even if you're not religious, it's hard to deny the parallels in some of these stories. From the deserts of Egypt, the ruins of Rome, the snow of Scandinavia, the celebration of Christmas is everywhere. No matter who, what you call it, or where you think it comes from, one thing is common throughout these stories. It's the tradition. And it's the celebration of good over evil. So next time you're sitting by the fireplace this holiday season, think about the Norse. Get some clothes for your kids so they don't die. Do mushrooms with your friends and your family, and give money to a hooker. All right? But most of all, thank the Lord that Jesus came down to, you know, save humanity from its evil wickedness. Anyway, y'all, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Religion Camp. Genuinely, I implore you. I'll be serious just for one moment throughout this entire episode. Hope you have an amazing holiday season. I hope you have an amazing Christmas. I'm very grateful for everyone that's been listening this year in supporting this channel and also supporting the main channel, Camp Gagnon, and just making it possible and making it what it is. I am overwhelmed by the support and by this awesome community that we're building. And here's to many more episodes in 2025. I'll see you guys there. Thank you for tuning in to Religion Camp. And peace be with.