When new religions are introduced in society, existing traditions are often melded with the new religion to maintain a sense of accessibility and familiarity within the new religion. However, the similarities between Christmas and Saturnalia shouldn’t come as any surprise.
People even dressed up in their nicest clothes and drank lots of wine… Sound familiar? Not only did Saturnalia use fir trees, it was actually celebrated around the end of December! A festival for feasting, celebration and helping those less fortunate, gifts were exchanged and lots of food was consumed. During the religious festival of Saturnalia, Roman temples would often be filled with evergreen trees. In fact, the tradition of fir trees actually dates all the way back to the Roman era. In ancient times, the tree is associated with fertility and its evergreen nature was thought to ward off witches and bad spirits. The use of fir trees in celebratory affairs has long been associated with celebrating religious festivals and events: not just Christmas. However, unlike this tradition, the use of fir trees actually predates the birth of Jesus.
A couple of weeks ago, I looked at the origins of the Advent Calendar. I guess what I’m getting at is: Christmas really is just around the corner, isn’t it? We’re about to decorate the fir tree at home… But why do we do this? What exactly are the origins of the Christmas tree? A fir tree is not just for Christmas!Ī puppy isn’t just for Christmas… and neither is a fir tree. Some people grumbled others joined in all in all, it was a pretty festive train ride, to say the least. An impressive feat in of itself! What ensued next were a few extra elbow nudges, numerous giggles, and even more carol singing. This act has led to Saturn being associated with liberation, certainly a prominent feature of the Saturnalia festival, when the stifling Roman social conventions, if only for a week, were thrown to the winter winds.Last Updated on 9th November 2021 by Sophie NadeauĮarlier this evening, a couple hopped on our Clapham Junction bound train with a twelve foot Christmas tree in tow. Within the temple once stood a cult statue of Saturn which became the centre of attention during the Saturnalia when his feet were symbolically freed from the woollen bonds that tied him up for the rest of the year, another manifestation of the role-reversals of the celebrations. Besides its religious function, during the Republic, the temple also housed the public treasury ( aerarium), a role it kept, albeit in a more limited function, through the Imperial period. This structure was itself replaced in the 4th century CE by the Temple of Saturn, eight majestic columns of which still stand at the site today. 497 BCE built by the dictator Titus Tatius. The first shrine to the god was the Ara Saturni. The focal point of the Saturnalia festival was the temple dedicated to Saturn in the north-west corner of the Forum of Rome. He was thought to have ruled when the world enjoyed a Golden Age of prosperity and happiness, hence the general frivolity of his festival. With links to indigenous Italian deities and perhaps, too, a version of the Greek god Kronos, he was regarded as a primordial deity who had taught humanity important agricultural skills. Depictions of the god in surviving art have him wearing a veil and brandishing either a sickle or a pruning knife suggesting a close relation with agriculture and especially seed-growing or seed-corn.
The focus of the Saturnalia and the god who gave his name to the festival was Saturn (or Saturnus), who is something of a mysterious figure in Roman religion. The similarities of some of its features and the timing - pushed later into December over time - suggest a strong influence on the Christian celebration of Christmas. Originating from archaic agricultural rituals the Roman festivities came to include a general round of gift-giving, merrymaking, and role-reversals so that it became one of the most popular celebrations in the calendar and certainly the jolliest. The Saturnalia was an enduring Roman festival dedicated to the agricultural god Saturn which was held between the 17th and 23rd of December each year during the winter solstice.
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