The Origin of Christmas Tree
一、圣诞树的由来。
Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”. Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.
早期基督徒将圣诞节和古罗马农神节（Saturnalia）结合在一起，以此来招募罗马的异教徒为基督教信徒，因此Asheira的崇拜者及其党羽信徒就被基督教会招募了进来，并且认可了他们的“圣诞树”。当时异教徒们一直都崇拜森林中的树木，他们还把树木拿进自己家里、将其装饰起来，后来教会就吸收采纳了这一仪式，把它变成了基督徒的习俗。
The Origin of Mistletoe
二、槲寄生的由来。
Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna. Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim. The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.
北欧神话讲述了神巴尔德在和其对手神霍德尔争夺一名女性南娜的时候，前者被后者用一支槲寄生箭射死。德鲁伊的仪式会用槲寄生毒死他们用来祭祀的活人。“在槲寄生下接吻（kissing under the mistletoe）”这一基督徒习俗是后来将农神节的性许可和德鲁伊祭祀崇拜综合之后的产物。
The Origin of Christmas Presents
三、圣诞礼物的由来。
In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January). Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace. The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas.
在基督之前的罗马，皇帝会迫使他们最受鄙视的公民在农神节（12月）和初一节（1月）的时候带来祭品和礼物。后来，这一仪式扩大成为普通民众之间送礼物的活动。天主教教会给这一习俗披上了基督徒的外衣，重新设定起源，认为这是圣尼古拉斯设立的送礼物活动。
The Origin of Santa Claus
四、圣诞老人的由来。
Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 CE on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century.
公历270年，尼古拉斯出生于土耳其帕拉拉（Parara），随后成为迈拉的主教。他死于公历345年12月6日。他在19世纪才被任命为圣人。
Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament. The text they produced portrayed Jews as “the children of the devil” who sentenced Jesus to death.
尼古拉斯是在公历325年召开尼西亚会议、并创作《新约》的最高级别主教之一。他们创作的文字将犹太人描述为将耶稣判处死刑的“魔鬼的孩子”。
In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children’s stockings with her gifts. The Grandmother was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult. Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.
1087年，一群崇拜尼古拉斯的水手将他的尸骨从土耳其运到了意大利巴里的一个圣所。尼古拉斯取代了一名被称为“奶奶（或者帕卡主显节）”的赐恩女神，后者曾经用她的礼物装满了孩子们的袜子。这位“奶奶”被赶出了她在巴里的神殿，后来那个神殿成为了尼古拉斯崇拜者们的中心。这群人将每年的12月6日定为尼古拉斯逝世纪念日，每年在这场盛会上组织成员都会互相赠送礼物。
The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.
这种对尼古拉斯的崇拜传播到了北方，被德国和凯尔特异教徒所吸收接纳。这些人崇拜的是由沃登（日耳曼神话中的主神，托儿、巴尔德尔、北欧战神Tiw的父亲）所领导的众神。沃登留有长长的、白色的胡须，每年冬天的一个晚上都会骑着马飞过天空。当尼古拉斯和沃登融合之后，他摆脱了自己在地中海时候的外貌，留起了胡子、骑着一匹飞马、将每年的飞行日改到了12月份、还穿起了厚厚的冬装。
