What type of holiday is Christmas?

Answer 1

It is an ANNUAL holiday. For farming based communities it began as a tradition surrounding the solstice, a combination of less farm work and longer days / shorter nights. In various regions it developed into an observance of relaxation, merriment and forgiveness. Like all holidays it was stolen from the communities by the churches and turned into a faith-biased version of "If you can't beat them, hit them with their own stick," making the modern version a commercialized Religious holiday. The first letter for Christ in Greek is "X," for the shortened Xmas.