yirzmstrebor t1_j2eb3lz wrote
Reply to comment by Telemere125 in Our timeline is categorized in before and after Christ, but Christ's birthday isn't the day the year changes. by Apo51209
It's also the Birthday of Mithras, an Indo-Iranian god who had become popular with Roman soldiers, and just 2 days before the Birthday of the Egyptian god Osiris. Notably, both of these deities have myths involving their death and resurrection. It's also close enough to the Winter Solstice that Christians were able to syncretize the celebration of Yule/Jule as Christianity moved into Northern Europe. This celebration was often connected with Odin/Woden, who has a myth wherein he sacrificed himself to himself on the World Tree.
Telemere125 t1_j2ee4s1 wrote
Oh yea there’s dozens of religious celebrations around winter solstice, usually celebrated sometime around Dec 20-25. Nothing revolutionary for the Christians to celebrate a major event then
yirzmstrebor t1_j2ejb09 wrote
And, as the shortest day/longest night of the year, it's commonly associated with death and resurrection/rebirth, so the themes fit nicely with Jesus.
SetTheWorldAfire t1_j2f531p wrote
Jesus is the sun, the light of our world, born in the east and the reason for the seasons
thunderchungus1999 t1_j2fbhjj wrote
IIRC it this because in the northern hemisphere December usually tends to be at the height of winter (lack of production or active field plowing) and the longest night is the ideal setting dor a reunion in a holding protected from the elemental dangers of a harsh winter night, especially when you consider that before the development of advanced engineering then all resources would have to be pulled into one fortress since civilian homes couldnt hold that many people.
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