'You run and you run to catch up with the sun'
Pink Floyd, dark side of the moon (1973)

Paganism is a dying art. For the virgin being sacrificed, it's dying artistically.
Before diving into debate, on one hand we've got an established religion, complete with bearded mascot. And on the other hand we've got an entirely practical system built on worshipping the sun.
This initially leads us to the Egyptians. they built the great pyramid of Giza in 2560 BC, which is a long, long time ago (you've got a watch, try winding it back as far as you can).This pyramid is 146 meters high, and the difference in length of its sides is roughly .1% and for a nation run by cats, that’s pretty accurate. The last time i threw a small cat at a group of angry bikers i missed by at least 2%. The Swiss could build watches with their accuracy.
Their ability to build square based structures wasn't limited to that. The pyramids have been aligned so that one side faces due east, and another due west. This means that it can face the birth of the sun in the east, and its death in the west. All the while the north and south facing walls are directed to their circumpolar stars.
Whole societies marry their concepts of time and space with the respective gods that they choose or are introduced to believe in. 
Pope Leo the Great banned Christians from worshipping the sun. (BTW, that halo behind Jesus, the sun).
Pope Vigilius, who was a great disbeliever in the sun, enforced a rule that church doorways couldn’t face the sunrise or sunset. This step was taken to make sure that the sunlight didn’t infiltrate the church. Special clearance was sometimes given for a church to be built with it facing the direction of the summer/winter solstice if it was in relation to a patron saints festival. Pretty sure he would have to have been the patron saint of ‘not being crazy’.
But hey, it’s not just popes. People back in the medieval days would mention ‘walking widdershins’. That’s a funny word. This simply means not walking around a church, in the opposite movement to the sun, as it would bring you harm. Yep.
What a mess. It’s kind of ironic that the word disaster (which is appropriate for those mentioned) has roots in astronomy. The word ‘disaster’ had its beginnings in the Greek word ‘dis-astra’ – the stars are against. 
The reason why? Because people were scared shitless of solar eclipses. Eclipse comes from Greek heritage meaning: abandonment and forsakenness. The Chinese called it ‘rishi’, which roughly translates to ‘sun-eat’. In Asian folk stories, children born on the day of an eclipse will come out mute and deaf. The Thai sacrifice black chickens to Rahu, the sun-devouring demon.
India seems to get into the spirit a bit more. Ten(10) years ago, women in a little village called Jaijai were informed that they shouldn’t leave their house during an eclipse because their baby would be born with a cleft palate and/or blind. Any food you cooked before that eclipse must be binned directly after the eclipse, it’s impure. Cows will be kept indoors. On the plus side, kids don’t have to be stuck at home, they can go to temple.
I think with time and complacency we’ve seemed to lose touch with our inner pagan. If I’m on my deathbed and fearing what’s next, I know who to fear out of respect.
Sol, Rahu, Big Ball Of Fission In The Sky, who do I kill first to appease you?