![]() People decorated their homes with greenery and wore colorful clothes called synthesis during dinner. A common gift was a cerei, a wax candle that signified the sun returning after the solstice. For regular gifts, children often received toys, and adults could get expensive gifts such as a farm animal. On December 19th, the Romans would give each other sigillaria, or gag-gifts. Partying and gift-giving were huge aspects of Saturnalia. Slaves ate with their masters, wars would go on pause, and all political squabbles would cease. During this time, the Romans practice “role reversal” where their usual societal rules did not matter. Saturnalia is widely credited as the origin of “Christmas cheer.” The holiday was created to imitate the rule of the Titan Saturn (Cronos in Greek), who governed a golden age. ![]() There are many interesting facts about Saturnalia, but I’m going to focus on the factors that likely influenced modern-day Christmas and Yule. The ancient Romans had their own solstice festival, Saturnalia, which went from December 17th to December 23rd. Then, they would give parts of the mistletoe to each household to ward off evil. If they spotted a mistletoe, the ancients would let it fall onto a white cloth. During Yule, they would pick orchards and lay them near trees to “wake them up.” Mistletoes were considered to be sacred and a symbol of Freya. They offered their drink in return for gifts.Īncient Pagans also believed that the trees slept through autumn. The bowl was filled with some kind of drink, usually cider, wine, or ale blended with honey and spices. ![]() It was similar to Christmas caroling where people would sing at neighbors’ doorsteps with a wassail bowl. In the Middle Ages, people practiced wassailing. For dinner, communities would traditionally eat boar (ham), wine, and nog. Children would ask their neighbors for treats such as figgy pudding. ![]() The Old Norse practiced a form of trick-or-treating on Yule. One name for Odin, jólfaðr, literally means “Yule Father.” The holiday celebrated the winter solstice, and it was a time to make oaths, such as marriages and rulership. The word Yule comes from the Old Norse jól and Old English ġēol. The ancient calendar did not encompass 365 days, so the 12 “extra” days became the celebration. In the tenth century, Haakon the Good of Norway shortened Yule to 12 days at the end of the year. During that time, the Yule festival began after the first day of autumn. The first written record of Yule we have comes from fourth-century Germany. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |