Continuing on with the Holiday lessons, I present to you part 2 of our continuing series in the creation of what has become a cherished family happening. You may not be quizzed on this, but you will most certainly be expected to finish the article. And I have my ways of finding out whether or not you read it. Like a quiz. Maybe.
So in the first blog we delved into the genesis of the earliest human celebrations which became incorporated into our modern Christmas. We found the marauding band of Viking tribes imported their custom of burning a log to ward off whatever it was that was stealing their daylight. This over time became known as a Yule log. Of course there are other very early celebrations that added further to our current holiday. One of the most important is the Roman contribution to this festive season. Roman? Roman, you say?
Yes, Roman. There are two very important contributions that were added by the Romans when they went around conquering the world. The first is a celebration called Saturnalia. This was a wild celebration that happened during the winter months, right around the winter solstice. Saturn, the Roman god of harvest, was the reason for this season, a celebration of the bountiful harvest. Originally planned to be only one day, the revelry soon overtook the entire week. There was music, food, and public merriment everywhere. Masters and slaves switched roles for a day or two, and the wine flowed easily. Everyone in the empire was a part of this, from the very lowly to the super rich. It's important to note that this Saturnalia festival was one of the few Roman festivals that was not solely celebrated by the wealthy. So everyone - young and old, male and female, rich and poor - would look forward to these holiday parties. Saturnalia managed to last for several generations, despite the fact that it was at various times attempted to be controlled and either reduced or banned completely by various Emperors at different times! So even way back then, this holiday was something that could not or would not be snuffed out.
Eventually over time, this holiday lost favor with the Empire, although private celebrations were held at various times. But somewhere around 274 AD, the Roman Emperor Aurelian came into power. Aurelian inherited an empire that stretched out over many lands, several of which had unique or independent celebrations. As a matter of fact, his "Empire" seemed more like a loosely federated union of conquered lands rather than an actual united empire. And so Aurelian "created" a new Roman celebration, including a brand new Sun god, the god Sol Invictus ("The Unconquered Sun"). Many of the conquered Roman territories already worshiped a similar deity known in many regions simply as Sol. Seizing an opportunity to unite the newly conquered lands, Aurelius decreed that the Feast of Sol Invictus would be celebrated every year on December 25th. With the Roman government backing Sol Invictus, many of the older Saturnalia practices now came back into public favor, so the festivities grew bigger and stronger, including the topsy-turvy practice of role reversal between masters and slaves. A "Lord of Misrule" was elected or found somehow, usually from a lowly status and he reigned for the evening or however long the festival went. This feast, since it was now instituted by the Emperor himself became an Empirical Holiday, celebrated by one and all in every Roman province - including one of the furthest provinces in the Roman world: Britannia. And so it was, in the third century, that Sol Invictus was merged with the feast already in place by the ancient Vikings called Jul, thus adding to our origins of the modern-day Christmas time. Now, while Jul - and other pagan rituals instituted by the Celtic peoples living in Anglo-Saxon England were more solemn, Sol Invictus - or more correctly the Saturnalia feast now called Sol Invictus - was much more lighthearted and merry and raucus. And thus began the constant pull of the double-edged holiday between the secular and the sacred.
A couple of bits of Trivia here, just because I find this kind of stuff fascinating. Rome, as you know, is a very Mediterranean city, and as such it tends to not get quite as cold as it does in other parts of the world - say for example in the former Roman province of Britannia. During the time of Sol Invictus (and of course going further back into Saturnalia) it was customary to decorate all homes and dwellings with all manner of flowering plants and tree branches, especially those of the Laurel or Oak variety, which were held in high esteem by the priests and royalty of Rome. However, in Brittania, although the laurel and oak do grow there, unlike Rome those trees go bare during the winter - and subsequently also during the traditional time of Sol Invictus. Because of this, the Roman Legions that were first assigned to the faraway province had a heck of a time finding anything to decorate their homes. On observation of the current celebrations by the conquered pagans in Britannia at the time, the Romans noticed that the Celts and former Vikings would celebrate the festivities with branches of holly, ivy and mistletoe and other evergreens in the area. So what did those old Romans do for Sol Invictus? Why they Deck'd (decorated) their Roman Halls with Boughs of Holly! Fa la la la la, la la la la! (And yes, that's where the song came from: Rome.)
So we've discussed our Norse and Roman origins of this amazing holiday. In the next blog we'll touch upon some of the Celtic influences on this huge celebration.
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