Prehistoric peoples worshipped light
and they had built temples
who helped to understand the arrival of the seasons
for the first European farmers, the Neolithic men.
In the megalithic temple of Newgrange in Ireland,
Sunlight only enters on the day of the winter solstice, December 25.
Likewise at the Stonehenge temple in England,
The sun rises through a pierced stone only on June 21, the day of the summer solstice.
The Egyptians worshipped, during this period, the son of the god Osiris,
Aïnou, nicknamed the Reborn Sun, and marked on the forehead with a golden star.
The Celtes lit great fires at the solstices to fight against the darkness.
They were very afraid of those dark periods with the shorter day.
but at the same time, they knew that the sun would warm the soil and the plants.
On the sixth day following the winter solstice, our January 1st,
they were ceremonially cutting the sacred mistletoe that showed
that nature was reviving on the oaks that seemed dead;
The druid then cried out: “O ghel an heu!”
which meant “may the wheat grow” and has become “On the holly, the new year.”
The Romans celebrated the Saturnalia from December 17 to 25,
Men and women were then wearing garlands around their necks
and gave each other all sorts of gifts.
A little later, under the Roman Empire,
December 25th became the feast of the “Unconquered Sun”
with one of the solar deities depicted as a newborn child.
The Christian religion, which was celebrated until the 3rd century
The birth of Christ on January 6 (the ancient Roman Saturnalia)
decided in 354 that December 25 would become the date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
December 25 is a holiday
which brings together many very ancient beliefs
before becoming one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar