In response to Emily - full post here
So, interestingly, the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter are basically stolen from the Pagans. The vernal equinox is celebrated in honour of Ishtar, and the idea of the ceremony revolves around rebirth and fertilization and sprouting flowers and so on. Christmas comes from celebrating the winter solstice. People would gather to celebrate because it was cold and because they wanted food. The families would all get together to feast. The Catholics came along sometime in the 4th century CE and in order to make Christianity more appealing to both Christians and Pagans, they started to incorporate the celebrations.
As you mentioned in your post, these holidays have become, more than before, capitalist holidays, wherein people feel obligated to buy gifts for others. The tradition is still there, I suppose, it's just slightly more non-thoughtfully completed; done without challenge or desire.
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