Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year and also the SEXIEST

YOU might think summer is the naughtiest time of the year.

But in the ancient world, the festival now known as Christmas was just as sexy.

The Winter Solstice on December 21 is the shortest day of the year, with less than eight of hours of daylight.

But that leaves lots of darkness for pagans and other horny winter bunnies to enjoy seasonal sex romps.

It’s the bleak midwinter, so expect to hear some very naughty moans.

Here’s a few reasons why the Winter Solstice is regarded as one of the naughtiest days in the calendar.

Why is December 21 so sexy?

The Winter Solstice marks the point before the weather gets really grim and has been a significant date in cultures throughout history.

Back in Ancient Rome, a festival called Saturnalia was celebrated at this time of year, which was a mighty orgy of booze, sex and general insanity.

This has now been replaced by a rather duller orgy of consumerism and turkey scoffing: but modern pagans still know the score.

It might be the shortest day of the year, but that means it will be followed by the longest night. And we all know what that means!

What did those amorous ancients get up to?

During Saturnalia, the Romans marched around waving great big penis effigies and were also said to enjoy wild sex parties.

Here in Blighty, the horny pagans and druids of old are said to have enjoyed similarly naughty celebrations, which may be where the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe began.

 mistletoe was “thought of as the genitalia of the great God Zeus”.

It added: “The phallic significance of mistletoe stems from the idea that its white berries were drops of the God’s divine semen in contrast to the red berries of the holly, which were equated with the Sacred Menstrual Blood of the Goddess.”

So make you’re using protection the next time you stand under it.

Are sex mad pagans really going to enjoy loads of orgies on December 21?

Undoubtedly, although you’ll probably find it difficult to get an invitation.

Some experts believe the druids of yore enjoyed a good old group bonk to send a message to the Sun (the big hot thing in the sky, we mean, not this news website).

They wanted to make sure it started shining properly again and brought everything back to life during spring.

And there’s no better way of grabbing someone’s attention than having a massive orgy.

Why have we stopped having Xmas orgies?

It’s probably the fault of Christianity, which has a famously strict attitude to matters of the flesh.

All that pagan perviness was considered too naughty by the early Christians, who tried to stop people celebrating the ancient Pagan festivals or Roman Saturnalia.

Some people believe this attempt was unsuccessful, prompting Christian leaders to make their followers celebrate a more sanitised celebration instead of enjoying the usual shagging and boozing.

Although we don’t know exactly how and why religious bosses persuaded people to abandon their x-rated traditions, we are all living with the ramifications of this decision.

There’s nothing sexy about falling asleep all farty and over-stuffed in front of Xmas Eastenders.