Some Important Personages Born on 25 December

© Copyright 2024 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.

Jesus ben Joseph isn't the only important being whose birthday coincides with the rebirth of the sun on the Winter Solstice.  

Mithra, the chief Iranian god before the reformer Zarathustra, and an important deity in the 2nd and 3rd century CE in Rome, is a sun god who overseas oaths, contracts, and the covenant between soldiers and national leaders.  He is also a god of justice, and is mentioned as far back as the 15th century BCE in cuneiform writings in Iran.  

He is represented in Roman art as sacrificing a white bull, which later becomes the moon.  Reinactment of this sacrifice was the central act of His worship, but was outlawed under Zoroastrianism and Christianity as those religions took hold in areas of Mithraic worship.

(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mithraism)

Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, festivity, and vegetation, is the son of Zeus, the chief god, and the human princess Semele of Thebes.  He is also a god of madness and frenzy, and tends to inflict those on people who try to kill him, making them kill their families and kill or maim themselves.  As a god of vegetation, born at the turning of the year, He is connected to the rebirth of the Earth after the harshness of winter.  He is depicted in art as either an old, hoary bearded man, or a beautiful, effimenate youth.

His worship was often reported as a drunken orgy, although most modern pagans probably keep it at least semi reasonable if in public, and always consensual.  Though His birthday is December 25, the party sounds more like New Year's Eve!

(https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Dionysos.html

Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun, was elevated to status as a chief Roman god in 274 CE by Roman emperor Aurelian.  Scholars continue to debate whether He actually predates Christianity, which had not yet assigned a birthday to Jesus ben Joseph, or is a bootleg version of the god whose name became synonymous with our current American midwinter holiday.

In the third century, He was hailed as the protector of Rome's imperial might, which was on the wane after martial defeats.  His image was impressed on coins, and temples were erected.  

The Sun remains an object of reverence and worship today, although this face of the deity hasn't regained the strength He had before being outlawed by Constantine after that ruler's conversion to Christianity.

(https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sol-invictus

Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, but reared in Mobile, Alabama, and found a large part of his voice in Key West, Florida.  His most famous song, Margaritaville, came out in 1977, and introduced the world to a new form of calypso/rock/country.  His style influences Country music still, with its laid-back, live life to its fullest message and simple, catchy rhythms.

Buffett released 27 studio albums and played sold out shows, both under his name and under his alias Freddy and the Fishsticks, giving money to charity the whole time, and famously paying back the convenience store he sings about ripping off in The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy.

 His lesson for us is to see the funny side of life, live it to the fullest, and love every minute of it, as well as our family and friends, and to take a good look at ourselves and see if it could be our fault.  Also, remember to grow older but not up!

(https://www.jimmybuffett.com/about, Rolling Stone)

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