The real reason for winter holidays is quite simple and explains why they are widespread.
Christmas, Hanukkah, the pagan holiday which Christmas came out of, Saturnalia, all were made to regroup with Friends and Loved ones, because odds were you weren't going to see some of them again.
It was a time where you overate, danced, told stories around the camp fire and sleeped in. It was a time to make memories. The odds are that someone on this thread will lose a relative soon. This is a time to make memories, so make the best of it. It is practically inevitable that you will eventually be the lost relative, so give your friends and loved ones the memories you would want them to have with you.
This is a perfectly secular reason to celebrate winter holidays, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah or Saturnalia.
Christmas, Hanukkah, the pagan holiday which Christmas came out of, Saturnalia, all were made to regroup with Friends and Loved ones, because odds were you weren't going to see some of them again.
It was a time where you overate, danced, told stories around the camp fire and sleeped in. It was a time to make memories. The odds are that someone on this thread will lose a relative soon. This is a time to make memories, so make the best of it. It is practically inevitable that you will eventually be the lost relative, so give your friends and loved ones the memories you would want them to have with you.
This is a perfectly secular reason to celebrate winter holidays, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah or Saturnalia.
