Io, Saturnalia!

The real “Reason for the Season”

“It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is in a bustle. Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations” ~Seneca

Along with all the griping going on about the so-called “War on Christmas,” we’ve been seeing a lot of wagging fingers reminding us at every opportunity to remember the “Reason for the Season,” and inevitably, these folks are referring to Jesus. The truth is, not very many of the traditions associated with Christmas are Christian- or have anything to do with the birth of Jesus.

The world’s oldest and most universally popular holiday celebration has always centered around the winter solstice- marked by the ancients as the birthday of the sun- after which the days get progressively longer, warmer, and more temperate. In cold climates, this celebration was a very welcome break from the monotony of cramped quarters, lean meals, and frayed nerves. In ancient Rome, the largest Solstice holiday was the Saturnalia, in honor of the harvest god Saturn. Not many people today have heard of Saturnalia, or know that most of our popular holiday customs are directly descended from the ancient holiday season.

Saturnalia was a big holiday- businesses and courts closed for days. The halls were decked with holly branches and evergreen wreaths. People visited family and attended lavish banquets and holiday parties. Gifts of silver, candles, figurines, and sweets (often tied to evergreen wreaths) were exchanged. It was also customary to light candles and roam the streets singing holiday songs – often in the nude. Even the “Christmas Tree” was a common sight.

(Another popular custom at Saturnalia involved slaves and their owners swapping roles. The (temporary) equality of all was emphasized by the wearing -even by the emperor- of the red felt ‘pileus’ cap of the freed slave- headgear that has long gone out of fashion, except for the character of Father Christmas, aka Santa Claus, who sports a slightly fuzzier model today.)

So how did a raucous Pagan celebration become associated with Christianity? Very intentionally.* Pope Liberius officially threw in the towel in 354 A.D., ordering the date of December 25th be observed from that time on as the birthday of Christ- citing the Pagan festival of Saturn. John Chrysotom, a fourth century Bishop, wrote: “On this day also the Birthday of Christ was lately fixed at Rome in order that while the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies, the Christians might perform their sacred rites undisturbed. They call this, the Birthday of the Invincible One (Mithras); but who is so invincible as the Lord? They call it the Birthday of the Solar Disk, but Christ is the Sun of Righteousness.”

At the time the date of Jesus birth was officially assigned as Christ’s birthday, Rome was pretty thoroughly Christianized, but the former pagans were more reluctant to give up the holiday than they were their gods. After brushing aside inconvenient facts (such as the bible’s own accounts placing the birth of Jesus in the spring), the names were changed- but the holiday remained the same. Elements of popular Pagan nativities were borrowed to create a backstory fit for the new god, from the heralding star to the shepherds visiting the newborn in his cave.

Before that time, Christians had one holiday- Easter-and no reason to celebrate the birth of their god, a very pagan tradition (indeed, a number of nativities were celebrated at Christmas-time, including that of Mithras, known throughout the empire as ‘the light of the world,’ and the nativity of Sol Invictus, the birthday of the sun) Before then, Christians avoided any birthday celebrations as inappropriately pagan.

These facts are not recently discovered (or re-discovered). Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan reformer, was so disgusted by the decadence and debauchery (including the naked caroling, which hadn’t entirely died out yet) of the holiday in England that he banned it outright.** This ban continued in America’s Puritan colonies as well, where one could be fined simply for being inappropriately jolly! Fortunately the Puritans didn’t get their way, and the holiday crept back in, rising in popularity until declared a federal holiday in 1870.

So, the next time you’re quizzed over the “reason for the season,” just toss off a cheery “Io, Saturnalia” and leave them to scratching their heads.

** It didn’t last long- England liked Christmas better than it liked Oliver, who was poisoned. Self Righteous fundamentalists were about as popular then as they are now.

See also: The Customs of Christmas