Joyous and illuminating Saturnalia to all

[AuntPeggy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia
On this lead-in to the winter solstice, may your days be long and your sun return to brilliance.

 

[steingar]

The Yule was around long before the Saturnalia, probably started with the first people who noticed the sun start to get bigger and stick around longer after the Winter Solstice. But yeah, early Christians tapped into an ancient Pagan celebration for their Christmas, and used quite a bit of Pagan symbology, including the Yule log (Christmas trees and mistletoe). Santa Claus is a modern embodiment of Pagan spirits who traveled the world in midwinter. Didn't get adopted by Christianity until Centuries after Christ and was despised by the Puritanical founders of our beloved nation.

Happy holidays for everyone! We'll be eating Chinese (food, not people).

 

[Florida Cracker]

This thread is Gleefully ignored

 

[EdFred]

We'll be eating Chinese (food, not people).

So vegetarianism allows for the eating of dogs and cats?

 

[steingar]

So vegetarianism allows for the eating of dogs and cats?

I doubt there will be too many pets in my tofu.

 

[timwinters]

But yeah, early Christians tapped into an ancient Pagan celebration for their Christmas

And it's come full circle..eh...?

 

[write-stuff]

I'm not going to take the time to look it up, so if I'm wrong, blast away. But I think Constantin's wife (first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity) chose the winter solstice as the celebration time for the birth of Jesus precisely because it was already a pagan celebration date. Kept the date the same, just changed the god it referred to.

 

[Satchmo10th]

This thread is Gleefully ignored

Happy Festivus!