Please be aware the stories, theories, re-enactments and language in this podcast are of an adult nature and can be disturbing, frightening and in some cases offensive. Listener Discretion is advised – there is very adult content ahead and you have been warned.

Welcome heathens welcome to the world of the weird and unexplained. I’m your host, Nicole Delacroix and together, we will be investigating stories about the weird, wonderful, unexplained, eerie, scary and down-right unbelievable. There will be tales of ghosts, murder, supernatural beings and unexplained mysteries. So, sit back, grab your favorite drink, relax and prepare to be transported to today's dark Enigma....

And on today’s Dark enigma we have a very special Christmas episode since, well, it’s Christmas! On a little side note, thank you all for the hot toddy recipes you sent me, I tried several and they were very good, but I’m calling out Linda, hers was fruity and delicious and had so much alcohol it knocked me on my ass. And when I finally woke up 17 hours later, I felt much better and had my voice back, so thank you guys so much! As always, we will be playing our drinking game but remember the drinking game is only for those of you that are at home and have nowhere else to go tonight. Sorry Santa, no egg nog for you; but for my egg nog, no egg and no nog and double the bourbon. Yum! Alright, now for the game part… every time I say holiday that will be a single shot and every time I say Jesus, that’s going to be a double shot. Now that we have the business end out of the way we can jump headfirst into today’s dark enigma… and the Real Story of Christmas and the dark history of it’s traditions

History doesn’t record when the first Christmas was celebrated, but it was probably sometime in the fourth century CE, in the Roman Empire. What's sure is that the first historic record of the holiday is a calendar dating from 354 CE, belonging to a rich Roman Christian named Philocalus. That calendar tells us that on the same date - December 25 - another holiday was celebrated, marking the birth of Sol Invictus, “the Unconquered Sun.” That was a new pagan cult, worshiping a new sun deity. Both these holidays coincided with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which had been celebrated from December 17 to December 24th. That was a festival celebrating the god Saturn, which – as we will see - contributed heavily to latter-day Christmas traditions.

That’s right folks, Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory is correct, it’s Saturnalia, not the birth of Jesus. So then why December 25th? Scholars differ on why December 25, was chosen as the birth of Jesus, because it really wasn't. So this is your warning Bible thumpers, I’m about to piss you off with facts which will challenge your faith. Hippolytus, in the second century, was probably the first to propose this date. The New Testament doesn’t tell us when the birth took place: and the only clue the text gives us - "some shepherds staying out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2:8) actually implies that the birth took place in the spring or summer, as sheep would have been kept indoors during the cold winter nights.