SATURNALIA / CHRISTMAS
Christ’s birthday was picked to honor the Roman Saturnalia, which was a licentious orgy representing free sex, not prostitution.
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, Jobes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 332, “Christmas”:
Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the Universe, Cavendish, 1995, p. 418, “Christmas”:
Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, Hastings, 1908-1927, vol. ?, p. 558, “ORGY”:
Okay, how do I get tickets?
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (Unabridged), 1986, p. 2018, “saturnalia | saturnalian”:
Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Adkins, 1994, p. 281, “Festivals”:
P. 287, “Festivals | List of Festivals | December”:
New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language: Modern Desk Edition, 1976, p. 460, “saturnalia”:
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, 1972, pp. 229-230, “Christmas”:
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1997, p. 1038, “saturnalia”:
Webster’s Universal Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged), 1909, p. 1475, “Saturnalia | Saturnalian”:
An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1856, p. 982, “SATURNALIA | SATURNALIAN”:
http://home.swbell.net/dndylion/paganreligions.html, Roots of Christianity:
The Babylonians celebrated their "Victory of the Sun-God" Festival on DEC-25. Saturnalia (the Festival of Saturn) was celebrated from DEC-17 to 23 in the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Aurelian blended Saturnalia with a number of birth celebrations of savior Gods from other religions, into a single holy day: DEC-25. After much argument, the developing Christian church adopted this date as the birthday of their savior, Jesus.
http://www.answers.com/Aurelian, “Aurelian”:
Emperor of Rome (A.D. 270–275)
Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999, p. 1594, “saturnalia”:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology, Warner, 1975, p. 167, “Appendix | Saturnalia”:
…except for that particular one that I’m talking about here.
The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Barbara G. Walker, 1983, p. 743, “Orgy”:
The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture, 1996, p. 104, “Christmas”:
The Roman Banquet: Images of Conviviality, by Katherine M. D. Dunbabin, 2003, p. 13, “Romans, Greeks, and Others on the Banqueting Couch | The Reclining Banquet”:
P. 255, “Glossary”:
This tells that the normal way of the pagan Roman was not with the ways of free-sex.
The Story of Christianity: 2,000 Years of Faith, Price and Collins, Tyndale, 1999, p. 47, “Defending the Faith | The Apologists’ Achievement”:
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1992, p. 1605, “saturnalia”:
A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. Being a continuation of the ‘Dictionary of the Bible’, 1877, Vol. 1, p. 41, “Agapae”:
http://nireland.humanists.net/handbk/12myths.html (Humani: The Humanist Association of Northern Ireland), The 12 Myths of Christimas:
THE
EIGHTH MYTH OF CHRISTMAS - Christians invented Christmas:
Quite wrong, of course: Christians hijacked a pagan festival and tried to turn
it into their own. It was originally a celebration of the return of the sun god
on earth. The ancient Romans, for example, exchanged gifts at Saturnalia.
Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary, 1898, p. 545, “Saturnālia”:
I think they mean “a wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people” by “riot,” rather than “a violent disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled for a common purpose.”
http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/deities/words.htm, Heathen Words, “Holy”:
Saturnalia was the winter festival honoring Saturn. This was the forerunner to the Christian holiday of Christmas. (See Christmas.)
http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/deities/chris25.htm, Christmas Traditions, “Twelve Days of Christmas”:
"The sinister aspect of Saturn; the winter solstice...birthday of the unconquerable sun...The dead return during the twelve nights of the duration of the Saturnalia...The twelve days of Chaos symbolize the pattern of the coming months of the year. The period of Chaos is governed by the Lord of Misrule...Transvestism (q.v.) is a feature of the time of Chaos in Saturnalia, orgies, carnivals etc. and signifies a form of return to chaos. Babylon held the twelve days of duel between Chaos and Cosmos; in Christianity, these are the twelve days of Christmas." (Cooper, under Saturnalia).
Free love is a kind of “chaos,” opposed to where prostitution is organized, order, and regulation.
Cliffs Notes on Mythology, 1973, p. 137, “Saturn”:
http://80-www.xreferplus.com.ezproxy.jocolibrary.org/entry/773972 (subscription required), Saturn:
An ancient Italian rustic god, usually equated with the Greek Cronos. He differs from Cronos, however, in that he was regarded as an early king of Latium, whose reign was a Golden Age when life was easy and happy. He taught men how to till the fields and enjoy the gifts of civilisation. He was believed by the Romans not to be native to Italy but a foreigner who, after fleeing from Jupiter (Zeus), had taken refuge in Latium. His festival, the Saturnalia, which took place in late December, was the merriest of the year.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aid%3Dsaturnalia, Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), “Saturnalia”:
Many of the peculiar customs of this festival exhibit a remarkable resemblance to the sports of our own Christmas and of the Italian Carnival. Thus on the Saturnalia public gambling was allowed by the aediles, just as in the days of our ancestors the most rigid were wont to countenance card-playing on Christmaseve; the whole population threw off the toga, wore a loose gown, called synthesis (q. v.), and walked about with the pilleus on their heads, which reminds us of the dominos, the peaked caps, and other disguises worn by masques and mummers; the cerei were probably employed as the moccoli now are on the last night of the Carnival; and lastly, one of the amusements in private society was the election of a mock king ( Tac. Ann.xiii. 15; Lucian, Saturn. 4), which at once calls to recollection the characteristic ceremony of Twelfth Night.
http://www.sfmission.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Italy/Art_and_History/Saturnalia&image=saturnalia-artisti.jpg&img=&tt= (via http://www.carnaval.com/saturnalia/), Saturnalia, “The Carnaval Celebration that became Christmas & New Year's Eve”:
Dress: The whole population threw off the toga, which left you with only one free arm, and instead wore a loose gown, called a synthesis which was like a fancy tunic and much better for uninhibited days of frolic.
Debauchery A time of wine, women, song, and letting loose your sexual impulses
…
Among Christians the (lower case) word "saturnalia" came to mean orgy
Orgy = Orgia = Secret Worship
"The word "orgy" comes from the Greek word "orgia" meaning "secret worship". Since most secret worship involved sexual rituals, and Christians were opposed to anything sexual the word orgy came to have the debased meaning it has today, rather than the noble, spiritual meaning of the original word (wishful thinking).
Many words that are used to describe extreme religious fervor are also used to describe great sex, such as passion, bliss, and ecstasy. There were many orgies throughout the year as celebrations in the religion of the Goddess. Many of these celebrations have been taken over by the Christians who removed their sexual nature (wishful thinking). The best known is undoubtedly Christmas taken from the pagan festival of Saturnalia......
In Roman times, Bacchus, the god of wine, became the lord of these festivals. During the Bacchanalian festivals the everyday rules were turned topsy-turvy. The masters waited on the servants. All sexual prohibitions were lifted. It was a time of true good will towards all men. Even dresses were exchanged with men dressing as women. Erotic dances were performed with a large erect phallus being carried around in the dancing processionals.
A “phallus” is a penis.
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/9f0/cd8/9f0cd882-e9f5-4ce1-995f-735afc0c97eb (via http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listing/1208-Primal-Saturnalia-a-queer-trans-celebration/san-francisco-ca/be2db6af-3cbe-4610-a19f-1536bb14877f), Primal Saturnalia, a queer / trans celebration:
http://www.beriato.com/music/nl/shop-detail.asp?ProdID=1808, “Saturnalia [CD]”:
http://mrentropy.wordpress.com/2007/12/25/merry-christmas/, Merry Christmas - Garden of Entropy:
I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and also a happy holiday whatever it is you happen to be celebrating this year. Personally, I wouldn’t mind doing a little Saturnalia celebrating. It’s been getting a lot of press this year.
http://mnorton.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/merrysat.jpg (via http://mnorton.wordpress.com/), The Word of the Day, “Saturnalia (n.)”:
1. Saturnalia The ancient Roman seven-day festival of Saturn, which began on December 17.
2. A celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and often licentiousness; an orgy.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/Sat_cal4.html, Saturnalia Advent Calendar 2005:
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~Mclennan/BA/Saturnalia.html, Saturnalia or Brumalia: A Winter Solstice Ritual:
http://bp3.blogger.com/_zCU7QXiweWY/R3AZapCXI1I/AAAAAAAAADg/zwKP2spQQHw/s1600-h/CIMG55977.jpg (via http://sunking420.blogspot.com/search?q=saturnalia), “Happy Saturnalia!”:
I believe that’s Jesus, lower center.
http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/saturnalia.htm, Saturnalia (by Lindsey Davis):
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/46547, Christmas and Saturnalia:
Yes, I’m here and ready for the party! (Especially if it misrules the marriage standard.)
Oxford Greek-English Learner’s Dictionary, Stavropoulos, 1988, p. 630, “οργιο” (orgio):
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, Jobes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 1403, “Saturnalia”:
Divry’s English-Greek and Greek-English Desk Dictionary, 1996, p. 287 (English-Greek), “Saturnalia”:
“όργια” is “orgia” / “orgy” in Greek; and “βακχ…” is a form of Bacchus.
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Unabridged), 1987, p. 149:
P. 1705, “Saturnalia”:
Random House Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, 2001, p. 557:
Harpers’ Latin Dictionary, Lewis / Short, 1879, p. 1635, “Sāturnus | Sāturnālĭa”:
“Vinalia” means “Wine-Festival.”
http://www.answers.com/debauchery, “debauchery”:
1. a. Extreme indulgence in sensual pleasures; dissipation.
b. debaucheries Orgies.
2. Archaic. Seduction from morality, allegiance, or duty.
… a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
Synonyms: orgy, debauch, saturnalia, riot, bacchanal, bacchanalia,
drunken revelry
http://www.answers.com/Bacchanalia, “Bacchanalia”:
Bacchanalia (băkənā'lēə) , in Roman religion, festival in honor of Bacchus, god of wine. Originally a religious ceremony, like the Liberalia, it gradually became an occasion for drunken, licentious excesses and was finally forbidden by law (186 B.C.). … a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity Synonyms: orgy, debauch, debauchery, saturnalia, riot, bacchanal, drunken revelry
http://www.achehtimes.com/wordwealth/a-z/b/bacchanal.htm, bacchanal:
Bacchanalia
Bac·cha·na·li·a 
, n., pl. -li·a,
-li·as. 1. (sometimes used with a pl. v.) a festival
in honor of Bacchus. Cf. Dionysia; 2. (l.c.) a drunken
feast; orgy.
[1625–35; < L equiv. to Bacch(us) + -ān(us) -AN + -ālia, neut. pl. of -ĀLIS -AL1; prob. modeled on volcānālia. See SATURNALIA]
—bac'cha·na'li·an, adj., n.
—bac'cha·na'li·an·ism, n.
Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, Ad de Vries, 1974, p. 352, “orgy”:
The New Comprehensive A-Z Crossword Dictionary, Schaffer, 1995, p. 1010, “saturnalia”:
Modifiers (adjectives), Urdang, 1982, p. 68, “orgy”:
The Doubleday Roget’s Thesaurus in Dictionary Form, 1987, p. 472:
Longman Synonym Dictionary, 1986, p. 331:
Webster’s NewWorld Thesaurus, 1985, p. 531, “orgy”:
Crabb’s English Synonyms, 1945, p. 538, “Orgies”:
Pp. 611-612, “Saturnalia”:
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1992, p. 292, “carnival”:
http://www.answers.com/lent, “Lent”:
The 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter.
Hail Mardi Gras:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-19206230.html, Mardi gras leads to Lent leads to Easter.(Column): From: National Catholic Reporter, 2-28-1997:
Balls, parades, pageants, football matches and horse races also became associated with carneval revelry. The spirit of these observances was one of merriment, even orgiastic indulgence. … The rationale for indulging these excesses is that one "uses them up" in preparation for a season of their absence. But this is hardly the dominant psychology of Christianity where indulgence of the "unruly passions" is presumed to strengthen them, not purge them. Is Mardi gras actually a survival of pre-Christian celebrations, rites of saturnalia and springtime romping, sneaked into the church year under the cover of preparation for Lent?
http://media.www.themichiganjournal.com/media/storage/paper255/news/2007/02/13/MardiGras/Mardi.Gras.Origins.Traced.Throughout.World-2716596.shtml, Mardi Gras' origins traced throughout world:
A time-honored festival that is celebrated in countless squares and streets in Italy, animated with costumes, parades, floats and bonfires, it finds its roots in ancient Latin and Greek pagan rituals. Examples include the Roman Saturnalia and Dionysian cults of ancient Greece, in which the changing of seasons from winter to spring was celebrated with banquets, bacchanals and wild orgies.
Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas (documentary movie), History Channel, 12-15-08:
Synopsis: The season of a pagan holiday (“Saturnalia”) is adopted for the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus.
The video tells that there was a time during the Renaissance when the entire Christmas holiday was halted (“it was done away with altogether”) as the sexual liberties of the “carnival” (the old pagan “Saturnalia”) celebration (“the Christmas scourge”) opposed newer and stricter piety standards. This emanated into early U.S. history until the early 1800s, where: “It seemed as though every vestige of the old Bacchanalian Christmas was gone; but, even the Victorians couldn’t clean up Christmas completely,” telling about the mistletoe allowing one to kiss another that one normally was not allowed to kiss, as “one vestige of that licentious Christmas from earlier times.”
http://samsara-politic.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-christian.html, “Christmas: Christian?”:
Certainly, throughout the Middle Ages, Christmas festivities like the 12 days of saturnalian debauchery, the veneration of the holly and mistletoe, and the Feast of Fools were all continuities from pagan Europe.
For this reason, the Puritans abolished Christmas. As late as the 1860s, Christmas was still a regular work and school day in Massachusetts.
Amen:
http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/deities/words.htm, Heathen Words, “Amen”:
Amen
Commonly, accepted as meaning "so be it." In actuality, "so be it" -- both in Hebrew and Greek -- is amein (pronounced Aw-MANE). (Strong's Concordance)
In Egyptian mythology, Amen/Amen-Ra/Amon, was the god of life and procreation, which was also the same attributes of the Greek supreme sun diety, Zeus, "King of the Gods."
Amen was also known as the bisexual god of the planet, Saturn; (one of the initial primeval pairs representing the air), the god of fertility who merged with the sungod, Ra, of Thebes.