Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year when the sun is at its lowest and weakest point. It is celebrated because after this day the light will grow stronger and the sun brighter thus in Roman times it was also known as the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.
People all around the world have mid-winter celebrations between today and January including; festive merry-making, hanging lights, burning Yule logs and decking homes with boughs and evergreen trees. Sweet fruit cakes are eaten and warm sweet wine is served as part of the celebration.
It is also the time when the mistletoe is hung. Celtic Druids regarded mistletoe as sacred because it mysteriously grew on the most sacred tree, the oak. It was ceremoniously cut with golden sickles and hung above doorways where you pledged your friendship or love to visitors with a kiss. Because of its pagan nature, mistletoe is still forbidden in most Christian churches but still widely used in homes as décor.
The date December 25 was adopted in Rome as the date for the Christian Christmas in 350 AD because it coincided with Winter Solstice, the Yule and the Saturnalia which made it easy for everyone to observe their religious and/or pagan beliefs at the same time year. By 1100 Christmas was the peak celebration of the year for all of Europe and today the feasting and merrymaking is celebrated with seasonal worldly and religious traditions relating to “light”.
