>> MIDWINTER (solstice) festivals are/were and always will be the primary celebration throughout the
>> west/Europe, even under the present Christian context; the midwinter festival is firmly ingrained in the
>> western psyche as the prominent event in our annual calendar.
>> And so it would have been with our ancestors.

I have to disagree. Harvest festival was always the big one before the supermarket arrived. That's when people recieved their presents: presents of food for the following year.