Today, it remains an occasion for families to join together to celebrate the year that has passed and share good wishes for the year to come. The celebration may have begun as a harvest festival, when farmers and fisherman took time off to celebrate with their families. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days.ĭong Zhi: The Chinese celebration of the winter solstice, Dong Zhi (which means “Winter Arrives”) welcomes the return of longer days and the corresponding increase in positive energy in the year to come. They would set one end of these logs on fire. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which became known as Yule logs.

Yule: The ancient Norsemen of Scandinavia celebrated Yule from the winter solstice through January.

Some theorists believe the early Roman Catholic Church may have chosen the same date for Christmas in order to supplant pagan rituals, though many Christian scholars dispute this. In the later Roman Empire, Mithra blended with Sol Invictus, god of the “unconquered sun.” For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. Mithra was an ancient Persian god of light. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, on December 25. Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome.

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