Beyond Christmas
This text is offered as a seasonal reflection — not to argue history or belief, but to remember what humans across cultures have always known about darkness, light, and belonging.
Ever heard of Yule, Saturnalia, Yalda, Tōji, the Dongzhi Festival (冬至), or Capac Raymi?
They are just a few names from different cultures for the same magical time around the solstice — a moment when time seems to stand still, when the year holds its breath.
Looking beyond our familiar traditions into other cultures — and into our own pagan roots — we find the same core truths appearing across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Independent of geography, language, or belief system, humanity has always paid attention to this turning point of the year.
From the old Romans to the Chinese Empire, from European tribes to the peoples of the Americas, winter festivals shared common elements:
Darkness reaches its peak and new light emerges from it
Life withdraws inward and downward into the earth to be renewed
Fire becomes sacred
Community matters more than hierarchy
And because the solstice happens everywhere on Earth — even in the Southern Hemisphere, where it marks the brightest day of the year — the message is universal:
Time turns. It does not end.
Christmas: a translation, not an invention
Christmas as we know it is a Christian festival, centered on the birth of Jesus and the meaning this event holds within Christian theology.
At the same time, it emerged within a world that already marked midwinter as a significant moment in the yearly cycle. Across cultures, the days around the solstice had long been associated with reflection, renewal, and the relationship between darkness and light. Christianity developed in dialogue with this existing landscape of winter festivals, not outside of it.
Historical research suggests that Jesus was likely not born on December 25. The date was instead chosen because it resonated symbolically: the return of light after the darkest time of the year provided a meaningful framework for expressing the Christian message of hope, incarnation, and renewal.
Many elements that are now closely associated with Christmas were already present in earlier winter traditions and were later reinterpreted through a Christian lens:
Fire, Light and Candles were used in solstice celebrations across Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of Asia to mark the turning of the year. In Christianity, light became a central symbol of spiritual presence and guidance.
Evergreen plants and trees, valued in northern cultures for their ability to remain green through winter, where brought into the house. These qualities of endurance and life through darkness, are later aligned with Christian ideas of eternal life.
Gift-giving, practiced during festivals such as Saturnalia and Yule, strengthened social bonds and reciprocity. Within Christianity, this practice was connected to generosity, charity, and the Nativity story.
Shared meals and feasts, common to nearly all winter festivals, is the expression of gratitude and mutual support.
Stories of birth and renewal, often associated with solar cycles or divine figures, were widespread in the ancient world. Christianity expressed this universal theme through the specific story of the birth of Christ.
Messengers and guiding figures, known from many religious and mythological systems, appear in the Christmas narrative as angels, linking heaven and earth.
Seen this way, Christmas can be understood neither as a continuation of pagan festivals nor as a replacement of them. It is one distinct tradition that developed alongside many others, sharing symbolic language while offering its own interpretation and meaning.
There is no “older Christmas” - there are many!
There are many winter festivals, solstice observances, and cultural practices — Christmas is one of the ways humans have chosen to mark this turning of the year.
Why Christmas follows the solstice
The winter solstice usually falls around December 21. So why is Christmas celebrated on the 24th–25th?
This is not symbolic or accidental - its just a calendar flaw …
For many centuries, Europe followed the Julian calendar, which slightly miscalculated the length of the solar year. Over time, this caused a drift between calendar dates and the actual movement of the sun. By the Middle Ages, the solstice had already slipped several days away from its original position (the 24-25th) to the 21st.
When the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 to correct this drift, dates were adjusted — but major religious feasts like Christmas remained where they had already been culturally established.
In simple terms:
Christmas falls a few days after the solstice not because of meaning, but because timekeeping lagged behind the sky.
A perfect flaw, leading to the freedom for all who want to celebrate solstice in their own interpretation.
Happy Yule ;)
What about other cultures?
Looking into history, other cultures and even across continents, this turning point has been honored in surprisingly similar ways:
Persia – Yalda Night
Families stay awake through the longest night, lighting candles, sharing food, reading poetry, and telling stories. Darkness is not feared — it is kept company.Ancient Rome – Saturnalia
A festival of reversal and renewal: hierarchy was loosened, gifts were exchanged, laughter and excess were allowed. Order was suspended so life could be renewed.China – Dongzhi Festival (冬至)
Yin reaches its extreme and begins to transform into yang. Families gather, eat round foods symbolizing wholeness, and restore balance. Darkness is not wrong — it is necessary.Japan – Tōji
Purification rituals, hot yuzu baths, and warming foods protect life force. The body itself is honored as the year turns inward.Northern Europe – Yule
Fires are lit, evergreen branches are brought indoors, and stories are told. The World Tree, Yggdrasil, stands firm while everything else sleeps.Ancient Egypt
The rebirth of the sun god was marked as the days slowly lengthened again — light emerging from the underworld.Andes – Capac Raymi
In the Southern Hemisphere, the solstice marked initiation, purification, and solar strength. Young people were symbolically reborn into responsibility.
Different expressions — one understanding.
What about our far ancestors?
For our far ancestors, this season was likely far less romantic than it is for us. It was more immediate, more real. When nothing grew, daylight dwindled, and cold crept into the huts, hunger, darkness, and death were close companions. The solstice, I imagine, needed to be celebrated to remember — and to embody — that light, warmth, and life itself would rise again.
I can sense them following Mother Hulda (Hel, Holle, Freya) in their dreams, descending into her winter quarters beneath the roots. Witnessing the Wild Hunt moving through the twilight skies. Winter spirits and demons roaming the dark — not only frightening, but also bearing gifts of seeds and nuts. Their prayers and calls upon the ancestors and ancients gods, reminding the living of what lies beneath and beyond.
Around the darkest night, in the days when time seems to stand still, I see elders telling stories
About the darkness, that has reached its limit - and how through darkness new light emerges.
Of grandfather Fire who needs to be tend with sacred respect.
Of belonging to one another to endure.
Of what sleeps within the earth is not dead — of its resting, transforming, waiting to be reborn.
Of ancestors that walk close with us every time we tell their stories
And how sharing keeps the circle alive
This hope, born in utterly deep in darkness, does not deny fear or loss.
It is medicine against despair!
To tend the fire, tell the stories, hold each other — and let life return!
Enrich your Christmas!
We don’t need to abandon Christmas, nor replace it with something else. Traditions always change — and most beautifully when we allow them to be enriched by remembering what this season has always asked of human beings.
Christmas, at its heart, speaks of light entering darkness, of vulnerability, of life choosing to arrive quietly rather than triumphantly. When we hold this alongside older winter wisdom, the feast becomes deeper rather than diluted.
Perhaps enriching Christmas today could look like this:
Lighting fires and candles with intention, not just for atmosphere
Making space for silence as well as song and story
Gathering without performance or productivity - simply hygge
Sharing food and gifts with gratitude for warmth and survival (not only to the human world)
Speaking of what has been lost, not only what is celebrated
Allowing rest, darkness, and the journey inward without guilt
Marking the turning point: What is ending? What is beginning?
Christmas does not demand constant joy. It invites us into presence, trust, and love.
May the light find you.
And may you tend it well.
Merry Christmas
fröhliche Weihnachten
Glædelige jul
Good Yule
Happy Solstice
Shab-e Yalda Mobarak
Happy Dongzhi (冬至快乐)
A quiet Tōji
And a peaceful turning of the year!