This high spirited festival engendered many of our own holiday traditions such as extravagant feasting, kissing under the mistletoe, lighting candles, wearing silly hats, exchanging gifts and the odd orgy.
#Merry saturnalia free#
You know, way, way, way back in mythic times, when everyone was equal and free and the "man" wasn't around to keep us down. Janus (the two faced fella who gives his name to next month) supposedly started the tradition in remembrance of the Golden Age of Saturn's rule. His fertile wife, Ops, goddess of plenty, was also celebrated around this time. It was a winter solstice festival in honor of the merry old god of the seed and its sowing, and if he was cranky, the blighting of crops. In antiquity, the feast of Saturn or “Saturnalia” was celebrated from about December 17th through the 23rd.
#Merry saturnalia how to#
Yet, you must admit they did know how to PARTY, especially during those barren winter months. Usually marked by gift-giving, feasting and general merriment, Saturnalia took place on 17 December and was stretched to three and then seven days long. Because many of our most treasured Christmas traditions are in fact, borrowed.
by gift-giving (neither really was the Saturnalia) nor merry-making. ITS A MOTHER-FUCKING SATURNALIA TREE So there. The Romans are often bagged on as being the Borg of the ancient world: assimilating barbarian cultures left and right, stealing the style and grace of the Greeks, tossing the odd Christian to lions. Saturnalia, a Roman festival which took place in the winter, celebrated Saturn the god of agriculture, liberation and parties. Saturnalia ran from December 17 to December 23, so it ended before December 25.
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