The
#Saturnalia (which means '
#sunstop') is the week-long
#pagan festival of the
#wintersolstice which began on December the 17th(The festival originally ended on December 19 and was later extended to December 23.) as the
#sun was seen to be rising further to the south and thought of as "
#dying". By December the 25th, the ancient world's solstice, it could be recognised as beginning to turn northwards again and was said to be "
#reborn" and therefore was proclaimed to be the birthday of the sun-deity. It is also important to note that these dates reference the
#Juliancalendar, not the
#Gregorian (which we currently use). The actual days Saturnalia was celebrated correspond to December 30-January 5. All of the known
#sundeities were 'born' on December the 25th, these include
#Mithra,
#Krishna (
#Vishnu),
#Osiris,
#Horus,
#Hercules,
#Dionysus (
#Bacchus),
#Tammuz,
#Indra,
#Buddha as well as the Scandinavian goddesses.