1/2/2023 0 Comments Saturnalia 2018![]() ![]() In the Saturnalia, Lucian relates that "During My week the serious is barred no business allowed. Slaves were treated as equals, allowed to wear their masters' clothing, and be waited on at meal time in remembrance of an earlier golden age thought to have been ushered in by the god. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. Slaves were permitted to use dice and did not have to work. The Encyclopedia Romana has a helpful description of Saturnalia:ĭuring the holiday, restrictions were relaxed and the social order inverted. But, by blogging standards, that's a truly ancient tradition indeed. Admittedly, it's only a tradition in so far as I have put up a post about it every December 17 for the last several years. Hes accompanied by another figure called Amoo Norooz (Uncle New Year) a old man with a long white beard, he could pass for Saturn if you’re stretching a bit.Today is Saturnalia, an ancient Roman holiday with a long tradition here at the Volokh Conspiracy, which we are now continuing at our new home with Reason. He’s kind of a comical clownish figure who either paints his face black or uses ashes/soot to paint it black. He wears bright red clothes like a caftan or robe with a funny red hat. He’s the herald of the new Year/spring equinox. There’s no king of saturnalia but for our other big festival in Iran, Persian New Year’s or No-rooz there’s a colorful figure called Haji Firooz. Apparently gift giving or at least giving dry fruit & sweets use to be common practice too for engagements & still might be in Tajikistan… Older traditions use to include: lighting candles both outdoors & in court yards, & lighting bonfires, as well as a special in-door brazier called a korsi. The parties don’t quite reach Saturnalia levels raucous because of Iran’s alcohol ban’ but lots of Iranians drink to celebrate anyways. Stories Jokes & poetry, music, dancing and singing are pretty common as you’re staying up late. Just like in Saturnalia, Dry fruits nuts are very traditional for this holiday which i believed the Romans also ate with gusto on Saturnalia. We throw a party & light candles and stay up past midnight or maybe all-night-long. On this night families gather together to celebrate the end of the long nights and the bringing back of the sun (like Sol Invictus). I’m Iranian-American so parts of Saturnalia sound familiar to our winter solstice holiday Shab-eh Yaldaa (sometimes called Shab eh chelleh) This ancient holiday is celebrated all across the Persian-speaking world & has traditions that date all the way back to the pre-Islamic days of Zoroastrianism (*I’m technically not sure if that makes it pagan) though it maybe even older than that! (think Babylonian). ![]() (*pronunciation note: 1 a is short like ‘apple’ & 2 aa’s make the long sound as in ‘father’) Anyways you guys asked us listeners to write in if we had any non-western customs that are similar to Saturnalia So here I go! Glad I remembered to comment tonight because I think tonight is the actual Winter Solstice. We’ll be back with a new episode in 2019! Here is a handy article with all the tips for celebrating Saturnalia.Īnd for those of you who don’t know what SantaCon is (lucky lucky people) here is an image to haunt your holiday dreams. We had a lot of fun researching the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia and we wanted to share that fun in the show notes. ![]() Tis the season to Praise Saturn, eat too much, drink too much, and celebrate with friends and family. ![]()
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