The word "Christmas" means "mass of Christ" which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ whose life and messages powerfully influenced western thought and culture beyond any other person in history to this day. So much so that we date all history from the date of his birth. Of course "BC" meaning before Christ was born and "AD" (Latin for "anno domini") referring to after his death. While some say he was real others such as historians Peter Gandy and Timothy Freke say their research concludes that he was not a real flesh and blood man and the stories surrounding him were just that - stories. In fact teaching stories that were around long before the story of Christ was born. However no matter what one's beliefs there is no doubt that the teachings associated with him are enlightening and transformational.

Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th century AD. Prior to this Easter was the main holiday in the early years of Christianity and Christmas was originally called "Feast of the Nativity" and by the Middle Ages Christianity had almost replaced pagan religion. During the Middle Ages, on Christmas day after believers attended church, they celebrated raucously and it has been documented to suggest in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere and as part of the festivity a beggar or student each year was chosen and crowned "Lord of Misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. It was also common for the poor to go to the houses of the rich calling on them for gifts of food and drink, which was given by the upper classes and was seen as their way of repaying their "debt" to society by giving to the less fortunate.

However, religious reform in the early 17th century in Europe changed Christmas celebrations. In 1647 British Parliament officially abolished the celebration of Christmas. Oliver Cromwell vowed to rid England of decadence. Cromwell cancelled Christmas and banned Christmas carols and parties up until 1660. It was not until Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 that Christmas was returned. Also, English puritans who came to America influenced Christmas to be outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. At this time if caught in a festive spirit of any kind you were fined five shillings! While Christmas was practiced joyously in other parts of America after the American Revolution, English customs including Christmas fell out of favor and we saw on the first Christmas under America's new constitution in 1789, the holding of Congress in session on this once sacred and celebrated day. It took until more than a hundred years later for the popularity of Christmas to resurface in all its might with the declaration of a Federal holiday declared on June 26, 1870.

One of the greatest influences towards Christmas popularity was the writings of Charles Dickens. In 1843 he published "A Christmas Carol" which greatly influence this period with an important message of charity and good will towards all while it advocated the benefits of celebrating Christmas.

It's been said that America re-invented Christmas celebrations to be what we know them as today. It was the American's who adopted a more peaceful, warm-hearted, family orientated approach unlike the raucous partying of earlier times in Europe. Also a great focus was on gift giving especially for parents to give to their children. So, Christmas become the perfect family holiday in America as well as in many other parts of the world.

Today Christmas is the most universally recognized holiday in the world. It has become a celebrated affair of part magic, myth and religion and with approximately 2.1 billion Christians in a total world population of 6.6 billion, it's the largest religion worldwide. And for many people that are non-religious it's a festival of light, of generosity, good-will, a coming together of all people in community celebration and good spirit towards each other especially in the spirit of generosity synonymous with the figure of Santa Claus.