How Christmas traditions were co-opted from winter solstice celebrations
Many ancient cultures have relied upon the Sun's position in the sky to know when to sow and harvest crops. The solstices were fundamental to survival, and cultures across millennia have been holding celebrations around them. Several Christmas Day traditions we see today were adopted from the ancient pagan tradition of worshipping the Sun and are directly or indirectly related to the winter solstice.
The Celtic tribes celebrated the winter solstice
The Celts, who lived during the Iron Age, from about 600 BC to 43 AD, used to begin their celebrations around the winter solstice, which meant the harvesting season was around the corner. This celebration was then widely known as Yule. Early Christians, who, at that time, were seen as urban, worked hard to try to convert and ban old pagan customs.
Romans celebrated Saturnalia around that time
Romans used to celebrate Saturnalia, a carnival-like feast of gift-giving and merriment where the rich provided alms to the poor. The celebrations, which took place sometime between December 17 and 25, honored God Saturn. Saturnalia began as a rural festival that marked the end of the planting season. In the 4th century CE, Christianity began to draw inspiration from Saturnalia.
Ancient Egyptians celebrated the winter solstice as well
The ancient Egyptians used to honor the winter solstice as the birth of Horus, the god of the sky, which included the Sun and the Moon. Since during the winter solstice, the sun travels the shortest path through the sky, making it appear at its lowest elevation, the concept of the rebirth of the Sun god made sense to them.
December 25 was celebrated as birthday of Sun god
Christians do not know for certain the exact date of Christ's birth since there's no mention of it in the Holy Bible. However, according to one theory by German scholar Hermann Usener, December 25 was adapted by Christians because it had been the birthday of the Sun god, Sol Invictus. Christians took elements from this religion and reinterpreted them, applying them to Jesus Christ.
Many believe the winter solstice was 'hijacked' to spread Christianity
As mentioned above, there's no record of Jesus Christ's date of birth as December 25 in the Bible; the earliest mention of this date is likely in a book—written in the 3rd century—by Hippolytus of Rome. Many believe the date was chosen by early Christians with the intention to encourage the spread of Christianity into places where solstice celebrations were already in full swing.
