<diacritize> Anthropologists Christian Ratsch and Claudia Muller - Ebeling , coauthors of the book Pagan Christmas , write : Like many pre - Christian customs and beliefs , the old feast commemorating the yearly return of the sun was rededicated to the birth of Christ . <yor>Anthropologists Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller - Ebeling , coauthors of the book Pagan Christmas , write : Like many pre - Christian customs and beliefs , the old feast commemorating the yearly return of the sun was rededicated to the birth of Christ . 