Happy Saturnalia Yule Xmas Winter Festival!
Ahh, Saturnalia, my favourite Roman pagan holiday! As an atheist, I respect (but don’t believe) in all the religious aspects like worshipping the god Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time. But I otherwise enjoy all the festivities and rich traditions, such as getting drunk and eating too much.
In case you didn’t know, Saturnalia was a festival that started centuries BC, lasted for seven days, and ended in a mass piss-up on the 25th December. It sounds fun:
During Saturnalia, work and business came to a halt. Schools and courts of law closed, and the normal social patterns were suspended.People decorated their homes with wreaths and other greenery.
Instead of working, Romans spent Saturnalia gambling, singing, playing music, feasting, socializing and giving each other gifts. Wax taper candles called cerei were common gifts during Saturnalia, to signify light returning after the solstice.
(That was from the History website.)
I’m obviously being purposefully annoying in not acknowledging the proper holiday on the 25th and I apologise.
The winter festival and many of its traditions originate considerably before Saturnalia. Pagans across Europe celebrated over the winter solstice period for thousands of years. It was just stolen by the Romans, who just put a new name on it. Thieving bastards.
Since then it has been stolen multiple times and rebranded. Don’t even get me started on Yule or Christmas. As long as we all drink mulled wine, listen to Slade, and watch Doctor Who, it’s all good.
So – happy winter festival or whatever you call it wherever you are. Nearly every culture that has a cold winter celebrates it and it is all about gifts, pigging out, and being nice to each other. Sounds good to me.
