Although the sun is stationary; from our perspective it rises and lowers in the sky, it travels north and south, and (as shown here) it also appears to get closer and further away from us. If we break it down step by step, a very familiar story begins to surface - The Greatest Story Ever Told!

Our sun appears to travel from North to South as we approach winter. In other words, each morning at this time of year the sun rises further and further to the south. As it does this, the sun begins to appear smaller and smaller at the same time of day, it gets colder and colder, and our days get shorter and shorter.

Celebration of the Winter solstice was a rather important event to our ancestors because this day (Dec. 21st) marks the final day of the suns apparent southerly journey. Consequently, these events are reflected in the anthropomorphized deity.

Instead of appearing to rise further to the south, the sunrise on the morning of December 22nd, 23rd and 24th will be in the same location...i.e. it will appear to idle or "die" for three days. Up in Russia near the artic circle, where these Christmas traditions originate, the sun will literally disappear from the horizon for three days. It is literally below the horizon for three days or rather; below the earth for three days - the mythological take on this is to say, the deity is in hell for three days.

Our Savior (the sun) quite literally dies for three days; our savior is also born on December 25th every year. From this day forward, the sun grows in size, our days get longer, and warm weather is right around the corner. But there is more; notice the star above the baby Jesus? And what about the three kings from the east (the Magi / Wise men)?

Both are easily explained...

This popular Christmas song tells us that:

Three kings from far away are following a very bright star. These Kings were from the East if they were being led westward by the star. And finally, they were being led to "thy perfect light" (sounds to me like they were following a bright star to the Sun).

During late autumn (at around 10:00 pm), go outside and look to the east and you will see the three wise men. Also known as Orion’s belt, these three kings are in a line, as if to be following a yonder star.

Take another look in that direction a couple hours later and you will see Sirius, the most brilliant star in all the heavens. Sirius will appear almost directly in line with these three kings, as if they were pointing to its location long before it became visible to us.

Sirius is the Star of Bethlehem and the three stars of Orion's Belt are the three wise men.

These three stars begin their journey across the night's sky at different times of the night during this holiday season. Before Christmas, these stars appear on the horizon after dusk. After Christmas, these stars rise above the eastern horizon before the stars are visible. However, on Christmas Eve, these three stars begin their journey across the sky immediately as the sky is dark enough to expose the stars; visibly traveling across the night’s sky further than they do on any other night.