At the beginning of the winter, when the days were short, the Teutons thought heavily of their sun God Odin. They asked for its assistance for defeating winter and winter death. They also tried to reconcile the Winterdaemonen by dancing around the fires, humming, sacrificing people under the large oaks and practiced many other religious customs. They also ate and drank a lot and decorated their houses with laurel, Mistel and branches of fir. Annually they waited diligently for the victory of their sun God over bad powers and the new strength of the sun, the warmth and the light. This time of year the sun was celebrated, always reverenceful and friendful, particularly at the longest night of the yearly, December 22.
             Sun Turning Celebration of The Teutons
             Most Romans did not believe in God and Christ. From the 17th to the 24th of December they celebrated the birth of the Roman God Saturn with large rejoicing after the style of the Germanic winter sun turning celebration. The Romans decorated their houses with laurel, branches of fir and candles, and drank and ate much. The Roman celebration Saturns was called Saturnalien.
             Another part of the Roman winter celebration was celebrating the new Roman year with sports, cheerful plays, drinking, loud music, giving of branches of fir as luck symbols and forecasts of the future.
             In Rome there were Christian churches, in which one celebrated the birth and the baptism Christ and another the appearance of the holy three kings in Bethlehem every 6th of January. Although the Christians celebrated the birthday Christ at during the Roman Saturalien, the tendency of the Christians was quite different than those of the remaining Romans. They committed the celebration quite calmly and honorably. They celebrated with fairs, in which they honored and sang of God and its son. In the 4th Century it was the first song for the praise of God. They asked heartfulness for humility, and for g...