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Think Christmas has always been wholesome and holy? Think again.
In A Very Pagan Christmas, we rip the halo off the holiday and dive headfirst into its messier origins — from the boozy chaos of Saturnalia, to bonfires, goat symbolism, and the general “let’s survive winter” vibes of Yule. We even take a detour into the nightmare fuel that is Perchtenlauf — because nothing says seasonal cheer like demon masks and public terror.
We unpack how Christianity quietly rebranded all of this into Christmas, why the joy-killing Puritans literally banned the holiday, and how the Victorian era dragged it back from the dead, added mistletoe, and told us all to behave.
It’s festive. It’s forbidden. It’s historically unhinged — and it’ll make you question everything you were taught about Christmas.
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Paid supporters on Patreon, Join us for Macabre Movie Nights and Game Nights : Macabre Patreon
Send in your stories for a future listener episode!
Email us at [email protected]
Join our private Facebook Group at : MacabrePodcast
Get Macabre Exclusive Merch @ www.gothiccthreads.com
SOURCES:
🎄 Pagan & Pre-Christian Traditions
Saturnalia
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html
Yule
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yule
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-winter-solstice-was-feared-by-ancient-cultures
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
Perchtenlauf
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/perchtenlauf
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Perchta
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/perchtenlauf-alpine-winter-festival-180979394/
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas.shtml
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/christmas-history-pagan-origins
https://www.history.com/news/when-christmas-was-banned
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-christmas-was-banned-boston-180973403/
https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/christmas-is-banned-in-boston.html
https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/christmas-in-victorian-britain
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas/Victorian-revival
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/christmas_01.shtml
By Macabre Podcast4.7
4545 ratings
Think Christmas has always been wholesome and holy? Think again.
In A Very Pagan Christmas, we rip the halo off the holiday and dive headfirst into its messier origins — from the boozy chaos of Saturnalia, to bonfires, goat symbolism, and the general “let’s survive winter” vibes of Yule. We even take a detour into the nightmare fuel that is Perchtenlauf — because nothing says seasonal cheer like demon masks and public terror.
We unpack how Christianity quietly rebranded all of this into Christmas, why the joy-killing Puritans literally banned the holiday, and how the Victorian era dragged it back from the dead, added mistletoe, and told us all to behave.
It’s festive. It’s forbidden. It’s historically unhinged — and it’ll make you question everything you were taught about Christmas.
EXCLUSIVE FEED Spotify subscribers get ad free content, early access and exclusive bonus episodes .
Paid supporters on Patreon, Join us for Macabre Movie Nights and Game Nights : Macabre Patreon
Send in your stories for a future listener episode!
Email us at [email protected]
Join our private Facebook Group at : MacabrePodcast
Get Macabre Exclusive Merch @ www.gothiccthreads.com
SOURCES:
🎄 Pagan & Pre-Christian Traditions
Saturnalia
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html
Yule
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yule
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-winter-solstice-was-feared-by-ancient-cultures
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
Perchtenlauf
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/perchtenlauf
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Perchta
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/perchtenlauf-alpine-winter-festival-180979394/
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas.shtml
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/christmas-history-pagan-origins
https://www.history.com/news/when-christmas-was-banned
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-christmas-was-banned-boston-180973403/
https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/christmas-is-banned-in-boston.html
https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/christmas-in-victorian-britain
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas/Victorian-revival
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/christmas_01.shtml

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