Besides that, Christmas and Saturnalia are also related to other European pagan festivals that occurred around the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. Saturnalia is a holiday that existed to celebrate Saturn, a god in the Roman Pantheon. For them, it was too pagan and unbiblical. Saturnalia is a holiday celebrated by the Romans that lasted from December 17th until December 23rd, which is a period of the winter season that we now typically, in the modern age, associate as the Christmas season. Because of when the holiday occurrednear the winter solsticeSaturnalia celebrations are. It is probably one of the pre-Christian holidays that affected modern Christmas the most.Ĭhristmas is not associated with revelry today, but it is known that different Protestant Christian groups banned the celebration of Christmas. Saturnalia, held in mid-December, is an ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn. Also, they made them elements of the Christmas celebrations.
Therefore, it is probable that Christians adopted many elements of Saturnalia celebrations. What does it all have to do with Christmas?įirstly, Saturnalia was still popular when Christianity emerged as a major religion in the Roman Empire, in the 3rd and the 4th century. The Ancient Greeks called the celebration dedicated to him Kronia. The Greek equivalent of Saturn is Cronus, the father of Zeus. He ruled the world in the mythical Golden Age, when people lived off the land, didn’t have to work hard and were all equal. YouTube, Facebook and other online platforms are overflowing with videos and memes seeking to tie the origins of Christmas to various pagan gods and holidays all serving to create a rather effective echo chamber.
Christmas saturnalia full#
In Roman tradition, Saturn was a god of agriculture and fertility. This time of year social media is full of claims regarding the origins of Christmas and whether or not Christians should be celebrating the holiday.
According to the poet Catullus, Saturnalia was “the best of days”. Gambling would become legal, and the masters would serve their servants and slaves. During the celebration, the laws of Roman society would be ignored. Besides that, there were public feasts, exchange of gifts, revelry and a carnival atmosphere. The celebration consisted of a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, at the Roman Forum. Originally occurring on December 17th, the Romans later prolonged it until December 23rd. Saturnalia was a festival in ancient Roman Empire, a celebration of God Saturn.
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