![]() ![]() But if you went back in time, stumbled on a nobleman holding a feats near his grandfather's grave and asked him whether he was a Christian, and whether there was anything un-Christian about what he was doing, he would reply "yes" and "no", respectively. In the early Middle Ages, many leaders of the Church like Gregory the Great thought they knew, and they thought that what they were seeing in the countryside-harvest festivals, feasting at the ancestor's tomb, throwing objects into rivers and the like were clearly heathen practices. What is a Christian? What is a pagan? Where does one stop being a Christian and start being a pagan? How can you tell. I think in order to understand this you need to interrogate what you actually mean by "religion". There is also the Yule Goat which I'm not sure I can adequately explain other than it's vaguely connected to Odin which forms part of the inspiration for Santa Claus. This is the origin of the Boar's head feast In pre-christian celebrations, the Board was a sacrifice to Freyr known as Sonargolter with the sacrifice itself being a sonarblot. Spiced hard cider and mead were the drinks of choice.Ī traditional feast meal would have been the Yule Boar. The ashes were also occasionally mixed with the feed for livestock, purportedly making the livestock fertile in the coming year.īonfires and feasts were a common Yule tradition as well. The log would then be burned, traditionally lit by the head of the family, and the ashes from the log would be scattered by the door and around the house, to protect the house from evil spirits. The branch would be carried into the house, ornamented with evergreen (holly usually), be sprinkled with oil, salt and mead, and toasts would be drunk (at dawn! - a nice head start on the celebrating). The head of the family would wake at dawn on Yule and cut a branch from a living tree. Different traditions have a three day festival and a twelve day festival. Yule was a festival, beginning on "Midwinter" (The winter solstice, December 21)- although the exact date is fuzzy and may not have been consistent. The thing is that a really significant number of original practices got folded into the christian celebration. Suetonius, Life of Augustus 75 Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," citing Suetonius and Cato Horaces, Satires 2.7.4, libertas Decembri Mueller, "Saturn," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome Other general sources for the info I provided are as follows: Augustus himself was apparently quite fond of gag gifts during Saturnalia.Ī fun source to read that details Saturnalia is Lucian of Samosata's Cronosolon. ![]() These gifts went by the non-proper noun sigillaria, which points to the ubiquitousness of them on that day. Giving gifts of value ran contrary to the classless spirit of the season, so a typical gift would be a small piece of pottery or a wax figurine. ![]() Modest gift-giving on the Sigillaria (December 23rd). Gambling and general drunken rowdiness: My favorite quote from the Cronosolon: "No discourse shall be either composed or delivered, except it be witty and lusty, conducing to mirth and jollity." Now, if you don't have ready access to slaves, here are some other traditional activities you can participate in: Higher-status individuals might also wear a pilleus, though normally wearing one would be far below their station. Slaves could also wear a pilleus - a funny-looking hat typically worn by lower-class freedmen. Horace called the season the "December liberty" - slaves could disrespect their masters to a certain extent, yet avoid punishment. Slaves were also generally allowed to flout the normal rules they had to abide by. Slaves still had to prepare the meal though (but no official word on who had to do the dishes!). masters serving slaves), but at the very least they would dine together, or slaves would have the honor of eating first. Sources aren't consistent on whether it was a full role reversal (i.e. In Rome, for example, slaves would get to enjoy the kind of meal their masters would normally enjoy on such a day. Saturnalia is probably the most famous holiday where role reversals were a primary form of celebration. ![]()
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