>Why are Christian holy days given pagan names?
>Like Christmas? Christ Mass
"Weih" in Weihnacht (Christmas) goes back to the Old High German "wîh", which as an adjective meant 'holy' and as a noun, 'sanctuary, temple'.
The night in which the Sonnenkind (light child) is sanctified.
The winter solstice stands for the rebirth of light and had a strong mystical significance for our 'pagan' ancestors - as well as for other peoples of the world.
The exact astronomical winter solstice is December 24. The sun reaches its lowest point on December 21. It remains at this lowest position on December 22 and 23!
It only rises again for the first time on December 24. The light is born.
Just as the sun promises a new cycle on the outside, a new cycle should also begin on the inside. The night of the winter solstice is the Weihe Nacht (consecration night).
On this "highly sacred" night das Sonnenkind/Lichtkind (the child of light) is born, the new sun that will bring the great miracle of the "resurrection" of nature at Easter.
The Weihe Nacht (Consecration Night) was also called "Mother Night" in pre-Christian times.
For on this night, birth is given by the mother goddess (Christianity put Mary in this place) deep in the dark earth (represented by a cave, later replaced by the manger)
in the stillest of all hours, das Sonnenkind the child of the sun (Christ).