An ancient custom which stretches back to 497 BC is the festival of Saturnalia. The festival was officially sanctified with the dedication of the Temple of Saturn, but its origins are far older than the 2511 years we know of. At its height, Saturnalia ran from the 17th to the 23rd of December (under the Julian Calendar, based on a prior one!) The festivities enjoyed during Saturnalia included the following:
- Cutting down a tree and decorating it
- Having feasts of food and drink
- Giving and receiving gifts
- Helping the poor
- Wearing the Phrygian Cap (similar to the Santa Clause Hat)
- Role Reversal, with Bosses waiting on the workers whilst they enjoyed the freedom of the day
- All shops, schools and places of work being closed
- Peace on Earth - as no Wars could be declared
- Dressing in party clothes
- Playing games for bets of nuts
- Having fun, including being a bit naughty
- Singing songs door-to-door (although at Saturnalia, the singers were often naked!)
- Having someone dress up as Saturn in a fur-trimmed hooded costume
- Eating a suckling pig (festive ham)
In AD 312, the Roman Emperor, Constantine, officially remade the Roman Empire into a monotheistic one, jettisoning the old Gods in favour of a new one. At that time, the deity Mithras, was gaining much support across the Empire. Mithras was a Sun God based on the Greek solar deity, Helios (a deity which was worshiped in Greece at the same time as Saturn was worshiped in Rome). In the First Century BC, Mithras had gathered the following characteristics:- When he was born, three wise men from the Persian East brought him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
- He had a celibate life, preaching and performing miracles
- He died on a Cross and was entombed in a cave at the time of the Spring Equinox (Easter), before ascending into Heaven
- He held a Last Supper with his Twelve Disciples
- His Birthday was celebrated on the 25th of December
When the Roman Empire adopted monotheism, Saturnalia was moved to the 25th of December and its name changed to link up the Empire-wide festivities with the mandatory monotheism of the population. However, rather than making Mithras the single deity for the Roman Empire - perhaps due to the ancient Greek Helios, (upon which Mithras was founded) being a part of a pantheon himself - Constantine chose the deity Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that on the 25th of December, the people of Europe came to celebrate Christmas with all the ancient festivities which were practiced long before the Christian religion was founded, and why the Nativity Plays feature scenes which those who worshiped Mithras would have understood.
The end of Mithraism came through a brutal suppression of that faith by the Imperial Roman Church, with bloodshed which would have rivaled the later persecution of 'heretics' in the bloody massacres of the Inquisition. The official state religion of Rome was pushed out to every corner of the Empire, with all other systems of belief suppressed by force - including versions of the State religion which went against the State-worshiping edicts of Saul of Tarsus: the Jewish apostle who was the chief architect of Christianity and through his Rabbinical writing, demanded respect for Earthly Authority as a duty of all Christians.
Not content with misappropriating Saturnalia, the Roman Church misappropriated other traditions belonging to people who had their own ways which they continued to practice in private. Some of these included:- The Druidic rite of cutting the sacred Mistletoe at Alban Arthan (Winter Solstice) as a part of a fertility rite: Kissing (and more!) under the Mistletoe
- Odin the All-Father riding his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, though the northern sky: Father Christmas and his flying reindeer at the north pole.
- Dies Natalis Solis Invicti: the Birth of the Sun after the mid-Winter pause as a Holy Day, 25th December
festive period to remember the Golden Age of Plenty; an Age without Social Classes, Hunger, War, Sickness etc etc; an Age of the Gods; a time before the Descent of Man. Interestingly, this Golden Age is referred to in every culture. The Golden Age goes by different names: Eden, Atlantis, Hyperborea, Gullaldr, Satya Yuga, to name a few. With great irony, considering that the Pagan Traditions were co-opted by the Judaic infiltrators of Rome, the Jews themselves refer to a Golden Age; even to the point of claiming that Saturnalia was stolen from them!
The Church of Rome thrived because it absorbed the traditions of the European people; adding them piece-by-piece to the Roman system of government, using the Christian faith as the spiritual justification for their power. The massacre of the Druids, the Verden Saxons, the Cathars, the Nestorians, indeed of Pagans across Europe, did not destroy the European spirit. The fact that the Church had to resort to stealing our festivals and murdering dissenters in order to make us obedient, is evidence of the validity of our traditions, rather than theirs.
1 comment:
I hope you have a good Christmas Rufus and a happy new year,
Sven
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