Magi, commissioned by Empeoror Valentinian, at work creating SCP-4103

Item #: SCP-4103

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: All radio or television stations playing Christmas music during SCP-4103's active period are to be checked for instances of SCP-4103 by automated memetic detectors. All infected audio is to be seized and contained in storage locker #24 in Site-03.

Particularly attentive surveillance is to be made for radio broadcasts from Christian religious institutions.

Due to the widespread effect and indistinct symptoms of SCP-4103 in popular culture, all complaints1 are to be deflected by spreading the suggestion that SCP-4103 only exists due to the social and psychological aspects of the holiday.

Aberrant versions of Christmas are to be covertly discouraged and harmful celebrators are to be amnesticized.

Description: SCP-4103 is a parasitic cultural meme that is transmitted acoustically through the vector of Christmas music.

The main effect of SCP-4103 is the unconscious aggregation of other holiday's festivities and rituals into Christmas. The practices of celebrations that are observed by an individual infected with SCP-4103 will be merged into that of Christmas, nullifying the practice in the original holiday to an infected individual's perception. The timeframe of SCP-4103 activity increases with the number of holidays affected.

The main symptom for the meme is within the subtle, unintrusive behavioral changes that are associated with the "holiday season." The abstract notion of a “Christmas spirit” or “holiday feelings” that is perceived when listening to SCP-4103 infected music is one major identifier for the transfer of the meme.

Rituals in holidays that do not culturally align with existing festival doctrine are not incorporated. However, as the number of distinct traditions subsumed by SCP-4103 increases, the amount of cultural overlap also increases, allowing for an increased number of holidays to be integrated.

The gradual consequence of SCP-4103 over time leads to Christmas being naturally preferred over affected holidays. This also leads to different interpretations of the celebration throughout the world as a result of the conglomeration of different holidays in a particular region.

While still under debate, some memetic scholars posit a correlation between the consuming nature of SCP-4103 and the consumer culture of modern Christmas. However, a large body of evidence indicates that the "consuming" motif may merely be a trait that has been integrated into the holiday by absorption rather than an innate characteristic of the meme.

Catholic Missionary transmitting SCP-4103 to Native Americans in 1659

The following are the specific mechanisms in which SCP-4103 operates

1. SCP-4103 can only be transported through music containing the theme of the "holidays" — this includes even the passing mention of the holiday in a song or chant.

2. When the time-frame for SCP-4103 activity ends, individuals who were infected with SCP-4103 will no longer contain SCP-4103, but will still believe in the transference of tradition that occurred during the infected period.

3. SCP-4103 begins its active period around two months before and after the regional Christmas celebration starts. For locations not on Earth2 SCP-4103 activates in conjunction with the SCP-4103 instances located in Vatican City. When SCP-4103 operating period begins, random instances will spontaneously generate around places of worship.

SCP-4103 is theorized to have been created on commission by Roman Emperor Valentinian I along with his other anomalous attempts to reunify the Roman Empire after its cleavage in 285 CE. The hypothesized intended purpose was to unite the empire under one ideal. Archbishop Crescentius of Jesi later co-opted the meme for religious purposes in 1278 CE under the direction of the papal state.

Historically, SCP-4103 has been weaponized by various Christian groups to increase the rate of religious conversion. The consumption, and subsequent memetic adoption, of local tradition, eased the adoption of foreign, usually, Christian practices.

Evidence suggests that multiple cultures have experienced widespread religious shifts due to the effects of SCP-4103, including those of the Hallstatt Celts, Indigenous Native Americans, Indo-European Balts, and Melanesians. A reversal of this cultural destruction is currently ongoing. For more information on negating SCP-4103's historical precedence please refer to Project GANYMEDE.

Listed below is an example of the effects of SCP-4103 and its accumulation of holiday traditions.

Holiday affected by SCP-4103
Motif assimilated into Christmas

Yule
"12 days of"

Epiphany
Household Tree

Araw ng Kagitingan
Candle Lighting

Wuwuchim Ceremony
Caroling

Krasnaya Gorka
Wreaths and Mistletoe

Imbolc and Samhain
Saint Nicholas

████████████3
Remebrance of a Holy Figure's Birth

⌬ ⤘♾ ⎌ ⎳Ȿ ^ ꜠ ꜡ ỻ '4
Contagious Insanity5

Venite Celebramus Infernum
Mass Death

For the full list of affected holidays, please contact Site-03.

Footnotes

1. such as the early celebration of Christmas

2. or any such location not in this designated dimension and universe

3. Holiday name contains cognitohazardous effect

4. Celebrated by the Serpent's Hand (annual celebration held in the Nexus)

5. Symptom is able to spread to individuals not affected by SCP-4103