countries: International ; religion: Christianity
Christmas is more a day honoring the birth of Christ than it is a birthday celebration on the precise date, as the real birthday of Christ is unknown.

December is the rainy season in Judea, and a time when shepherds would not have been in the fields of Bethlehem. Even the year is not certain, and could not have been later than 4 B.C, the year of King Herod`s death.
Furthermore, the early Christians did not celebrate birthdays, and the celebration of Christ`s birth is not as religiously significant as his ressurection, celebrated with Easter.
It is most likely that the observance of Christmas was established to replace existing pagan festivals of the time.
Pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice were common in pre-Christian times, the most significant at the time being the Roman Saturnalia, and the Mithraic birthday of the unconquered sun.
Much of our current Christmas lore comes from these ancient customs. Saint Nicholas inherited his reindeer from the Nordic god Odin, chief of the wild hunt, who rode with them through the sky.

To congratulate friends