I Googled “Christmas” plus “time of reflection” and got literally hundreds of direct hits. We all know the internet can’t be wrong, so I guess for many of us, Christmas is a time of reflection; reflection, I would add, about what is most important in our lives. Anthropologists are particularly interested in what members of a society find important and how it is represented through symbol and ritual. So in this episode, I want to analyse the way Frazer, Durkheim, and Freud—being among the most influential thinkers for anthropology—would analyse the symbolism of Christmas. Copyright 2012 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.