Many texts and popular traditions equate spruce with fir and make it the tree of Birth. In ancient Greece, it is dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of the moon and of wild life, a protector of women whom she assisted during childbirth. The god Byblos, the prototype of the predynastic Osiris of Egypt, was also born under a spruce. This tradition of tree of Birth is taken up by the Christians for whom the spruce is associated with the birth of Jesus, celebrated on December 24, at the time of the winter solstice and the sun rebirth.