Happy December 25th Day!

Pacey says:

One of the most common features in human mythology is the rising of the sun on December 25^th. Ancient societies have mythologised the ‘birth’ of the sun on December 25^th for centuries.

The sun, of course, brings light, warm temperatures, and life to the planet, and worshiping the sun is the most common form of worship in humans. Humans have also tracked the stars in the night sky in order to anticipate the sun’s rise and fall over the seasons. One of the earliest maps of the night sky is detailed in the Zodiac (pre-2000 B.C.), where star constellations were given earthly qualities by humans. The signs of the Zodiac map the sun’s travels throughout celestial sky.

One of the earliest sun gods was Horus of ancient Egypt (~3000 B.C.) He was born on December 25^th of the virgin Isis. His birth was accompanied by a star in the east, and at the time of his birth he was adorned by 3 Kings. He was crucified and was resurrected after three days.

In ancient Greece, the god of light Attis (1200 B.C.) was born on December 25^th, crucified, dead for three days, and resurrected. In 900 B.C., the god Krishna was born on December 25^th accompanied by a star in the east. Another Greek god, Dionysus, was born of a virgin on December 25^th in ~500 B.C. and was crucified. The Persian god Mithra was born December 25^th 1200 B.C., was dead for three days and was resurrected. In Israel, Jesus Christ, too, was born on December 25^th of a virgin, adorned by three kings, was crucified, and resurrected after three days.

The commonalities among these sun gods are compelling. The prevailing theory is that what these ancient societies were doing was mapping the lowering of the sun in the daytime sky in the winter which was resulting in shorter days. On December 22^nd, the sun was at its lowest point in the daytime sky, where it remained (perceivably) for three days. On December 25^th, the sun moved higher in the daytime sky, signaling the end of short, colder days, and the return of warmth, longer days, and the rebirth of plant life. Thus, the birth of the sun takes place on December 25^th after three of the darkest days.

The links between the sun gods and the constellations are also highlighted in other common details. When the sun god is ‘born’ on December 25^th, it rises into the Zodiac constellation of Virgo, thus the sun god was born of a virgin. On this day, the sun rises into the Southern Cross (Crux) constellation, and thus the sun god was crucified. This probably explains why Christians, Pagans, and followers of the Zodiac share the cross as their symbol, with the sun in the middle. A cute metaphor in Christianity is that their sun god had a “Crown Of Thorns”, which resembles sun rays.

Another interesting link between the sun gods is the trend of having being adorned by three kings under a bright star in the east. The stars of the belt of Orion was termed in the ancient world “The Three Kings”, and if you follow the three kings from right to left the next star in the sky happens to be the brightest star in the eastern sky, Sirius. If one follows the trajectory from the three kings through Sirius, they align with the spot on the horizon where the sun breaks dawn on December 25^th.

A deeper look into the commonalities between these ancient sun gods is the number 12. Many of these gods had 12 disciples, 12 virgins, 12 shepherds traveling with them. These 12 disciples can be traced to the 12 signs of the Zodiac, where the sun travels over the course of a year, or 12 months.

It appears that these ancient mythologies were mapping the sun (the son of god, the light, the risen savior, defender against darkness) in the sky and assigning elaborate mythologies to them, personifying the sun.

Thus, December 25^th day signals to us that summer is on its way. Whether you are celebrating the birth of Horus, Krishna, Jesus, Attis, Dionysus, Mithra, the Great Pumpkin, the sun itself, or Santa on December 25^th , we should all hold our loved ones close and feel happy about the longer days and warmer temperatures that are to come.

Pacey would like thank Penny for providing visual aids and conceptual consultation on this post.