Many gods were born on December 25th. It is an important date because the sun begins its journey back towards the light of Spring. These gods are really referring to our spiritual journey not a physical journey, but a metaphorical journey we all have to go through as we travel the highway of life. We move from darkness to light. 

It was a public holiday celebrated around December 25th in the family home. A time for feasting, goodwill, generosity to the poor, the exchange of gifts and the decoration of trees. But it wasn’t Christmas. This was Saturnalia, the pagan Roman winter solstice festival. But was Christmas, Western Christianity’s most popular festival, derived from the pagan Saturnalia?

The first-century AD poet Gaius Valerius Catullus described Saturnalia as ‘the best of times’: dress codes were relaxed, small gifts such as dolls, candles and caged birds were exchanged.

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