We watched as a parade of light trailed down the darkened street as we took an after-dinner stroll on the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice. Leading the procession was a white pickup truck adorned with Christmas lights of red, green, and gold, pulling a glowing flatbed trailer upon which were seated individuals of varied shapes and sizes. Trailing behind were moving streams of cyclists, scooters, or strollers, variously lit with headlights or blinking strings of light. Some neighbors sat in their yards watching and playing music as the procession of couples and families rolled by. I wondered about the darkest night, the Winter Solstice, and I remembered the Light of the World, Jesus, God incarnate in man. It was a warm experience.

During this winter Christmas season, we are reminded of several symbols and traditions that have their beginnings in ages past, and we continue to experience them in various ways through the changing cycles of time. Sometimes we become enamored with the colorful light shows and musical productions; we join in with the festive singing and merrymaking; we decorate our homes with Christmas trees and evergreen wreathes; we light up our homes with candles and ornaments; families exchange gifts and celebrate with a special feast; some focus more on the true meaning of Christmas–the Incarnation of God in man.

From where do some of these traditions originate? How did early Christians uplift these ideas? More important, what higher meanings ought we, as Urantia Book students, frame this Christmas season that has been so secularized in the past several decades? To what higher virtues, even divine values, do these meanings point?

Origins–Many of the symbols and traditions we celebrate today have ties to much older forms from Roman Paganism, Mithraism, Norse traditions, among others.

  • Germanic and Norse Peoples celebrated yule, a 12-day winter solstice festival with feasting and drinking, evergreen trees, holly, mistletoes, wreaths and a yule log that burned for the entire twelve days. These must be related to the later-day tree cults that a revelator references in Paper 85.
  • The ancient Roman Pagan Religions of Saturnalia and Sol Invictus (Sun-God) as well as the Mithraic cult from Persia, have influenced our Christmas celebrations with gift-giving, candles and lights, as well as celebrating the rebirth and renewal cycle of the winter solstice. December 25 was already celebrated as a day to celebrate the return of the sun and the triumph of light over darkness.

Christian Christmas celebrations–The Chronograph of 354 records a celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25 in Rome, likely taking place around 336 A.D. So how did the Christians of this time transform and uplift the existing winter celebrations into something higher? The Urantia Book revelators tell us that during the third century after Christ, Mithraic and Christian churches were very similar both in appearance and in the character of their ritual. It is, therefore, no surprise that the first Christians celebrating Christmas adopted many of the traditions and celebrations already taking place among the followers of Mithrism.

  • December 25 had already been established as an annual festival of Mithras and the birthday of Sol Invictus, the SUN-God, and with Christian influence, it has become the celebration of the birth of Christ – the SON of God, the “Feast Day of the Nativity.”
  • Winter’s return of light that had been focused upon the cycle of seasons became a one-time historical event, the incarnation of God in man. Rather than nature renewing itself, God enters to save humanity.
  • Impersonal forces of nature (sun, fertility, harvest) are reinterpreted to light, life, and renewal as personified in Christ. Now God is presented as personal, and the Light of the World actually lived and walked among us.
  • Older traditions emphasized fertility, food security, and surviving through winter. The Christian renewal becomes moral and spiritual, focussing on forgiveness, humility, and peace. The birth of a vulnerable child emphasises inner transformation.

These are just a few examples of how the Christian religion has carried forward, reframed, and uplifted some of these olden Pagan traditions. Many of us carry these traditions on with our own family and friends. How do we uplift this day of celebration that has existed for so long? Are we also remembering the “reason for the season”?

In The Urantia Book, the Revelators narrate a familiar story of the birth of Jesus, with a few clarifications. This author encourages and invites you to read or reread these passages in The Urantia Book about the months before and after the birth of Jesus. (Paper 122). Let me conclude with this quote from The Urantia Book.

The Incarnation–Making Two One

“But make no mistake; Christ Michael, while truly a dual-origin being, was not a double personality. He was not God in association with man but, rather, God incarnate in man. And he was always just that combined being. . . .

“Christ Michael did not progressively become God. God did not, at some vital moment in the earth life of Jesus, become man. Jesus was God and man—always and even forevermore. And this God and this man were, and now are, one, even as the Paradise Trinity of three beings is in reality one Deity.

“Never lose sight of the fact that the supreme spiritual purpose of the Michael bestowal was to enhance the revelation of God. (The Urantia Book, Paper 120:4.2-4)

To hear more listen to the special episode on SymmetryofSoul.org that was recorded on December 23, 2025: The (New) Reason for the Season, aSpecial Christmas Episode hosted by our own Brad and Ruthie.