Christmas – Winter solstice in the life of ancient Hungarians

Celebrations of major natural phenomena were of outstanding importance for steppe riders in nomadic cultures, so in the case of ancient Hungarians. Among them, one of the most important celebrations was the Winter Solstice. Our Christmas word is related to it (karácsony ~ Co-rah-chonj).

The meaning of the word is kara (turkish, or hara in some altaic languages) = black, dark; and chun, chunks = turning from word composition. So the turning of darkness into the light (growth) of spring, the new year. In almost all modern European languages, Christmas was somehow related to Christianity (usually the birth of Jesus Christ);