It’s the “most wonderful time of the year” again. That bright and sparkling holiday spirit descends, enlivening our entire mental atmosphere. People are so much happier, and busy themselves wishing further happiness on each other. It’s a generous spirit, too. In fact, you never saw people in such a rush to give. They can’t buy enough presents, but it doesn’t stop there. Holiday fundraisers abound in response to every imaginable need, and the glorious din of charity lifts the spirits of givers and receivers both. By Jove, people are actually practicing the religion they profess to believe! Yes, the Sun in Sagittarius is truly the most wonderful time, so rejoice while you can. The Sun moves on into restrictive, rules-oriented, Scrooge-like Capricorn soon enough, when the bills for all this merriment will come due.

The Holiday Spirit of Jupiter and Sagittarius

As the natural home of the planet Jupiter, the fire sign Sagittarius embodies Jupiter’s expansive and benefic qualities. It’s a dashing, high-energy sign, and events accelerate under its influence. We get caught up in it every year, and somehow it never grows old. The Sun enters Sagittarius right after Thanksgiving, and we collectively rush back into the holiday spirit with the same old enthusiasm. And why not? As signs and planets go, Sagittarius and Jupiter are the good guys; full of faith and optimism, honest, outgoing and generous. This whole Christmas thing just wouldn’t work at any other time of the year.

Jesus, Mithras and the Winter Solstice

Ironically, there is little to no evidence to suggest that Jesus was born on December 25. Think about it—Christ as a businesslike, materialistic, structure-oriented Capricorn? I don’t think so. I can see it now. “Father, I would love to go and drive the money changers out of your temple, but what would the neighbors think? I promise I’ll talk it over with my attorney. But in the meantime, I can get you a really good rate on these drachmas from Saul there, over by the tabernacle...”

If Jesus wasn’t born on December 25, his old rival, the god Mithras was, at least according to his devotees. Jesus and Mithras had a lot in common, and their cults grew and prospered in the same era. Mithras had a history as a bit player in the Indo-Iranian pantheon, but his worship really took off when he was promoted as a solar deity, Sol Invictus, the invincible Sun. His was an exclusively male cult and was particularly popular with the Roman legions.

The birthday of Sol Invictus would naturally be celebrated at the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, or more specifically, immediately following the Solstice. Through November and December, the light and power of the Sun visibly diminish. With each passing day, Sol sinks lower into the South, eventually taking a feeble short cut across the bottom of the sky and never rising very high at all. The days get colder, the nights grow longer. The Sun reaches its lowest, darkest point at the Winter Solstice, around December 21, where like a creaky old man on his last legs, it slows to a dead stop.

This standstill, the Solstice, strikes a timeless chord of terror in the human heart. What if Sol is dead, and the light and warmth never return? How can we survive the winter? These are the chilling questions behind Capricorn’s materialism and insecurity, an ancient fear of cold and darkness that has driven man, from time immemorial, to light the Yuletide fires and awaken our star, for we must have another year. Sure enough, Sol awakes, reborn after three days of deathlike slumber. Like a newborn, he crawls before he walks, increasing in strength and light with each new day, climbing higher and higher in the northern sky to finally reach that epitome of light and warmth that is the Summer Solstice.

Newgrange and the Winter Solstice

The followers of Mithras were not the only ones to annually commemorate the glorious rebirth of the Sun at the Winter Solstice. The magnificent chambered mound of Newgrange (Bru na Boine), built in Ireland over 5,000 years ago, broods in quiet darkness all year, waiting for the light of the rising Sun on the Winter Solstice. This massive, Stone-Age structure is engineered just so the sunlight at that special time, on that special day, shines directly through the entrance, penetrating the entirety of its long passage and illuminating the cruciform chamber deep within. The builders, whoever they were, must have thought that light was very precious, to go to such pains to channel and capture it. The mound on the Boyne has captured the Solstice light for 5,000 years now, and continues to this day.

A Merry Capricorn Christmas?

So it was a good choice for the early Church to celebrate the birth of their infant god on the birthday of the Sun, the return of the Light of the World. But it leaves us with a unique dilemma. For with all its Sagittarius buildup, the ho-ho-ho and high spirits, Christmas is actually a Capricorn holiday. Isn’t that kind of a contradiction in terms?

Perhaps that’s why many feel that the true meaning of Christmas has been cynically co-opted by Capricorn’s crass commercial interests, while others find Christmas lonely and depressing. Capricorn Christmas involves rigid family traditions, obligations and expectations. The very next day, we rush back to the stores to buy even more! It’s no longer a wonderful time, it’s a mess to be cleaned up and paid for. So let’s enjoy that holiday spirit while we can, while faith and charity rule, as we prepare to welcome again the Light of the World.

Note

The Gift of the Magi, a fascinating book by StarIQ's Rick Levine, is an ideal holiday gift that sheds more light on the metaphysical meaning of this season.