![lo saturnalia meaning lo saturnalia meaning](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eSZ7ZUVW1nc/TvfHG41iNFI/AAAAAAAABWc/gBiwv2nKldQ/s1600/isis_osiris_horus.jpg)
What is clear, however, is that the ancients rejoiced in the returning light and that the astronomical phenomenon of the solstice is undoubtedly the reason for the season. Unfortunately, the sources cited by Usener to support his argument are now shown to be unreliable.
![lo saturnalia meaning lo saturnalia meaning](http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_band/3198.jpg)
It was Usener who proposed that Christians adopted December 25 as the birth of Jesus to capitalize on the popularity of Sol Invictus. The original proposal of these merged festivals came from the History of Religions School’s methods of comparing religions and was mostly favored by German Protestant scholars in the 19th Century, particularly philologist Hermann Usener. However, new research questions these assessments. The solstice festivals are believed to have merged to become the festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the days of the birth of the unconquered sun. by Jfishburn įollowing Saturnalia and Kronia, there were birth celebrations honoring Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) on or about December 25. These were eventually adopted as Christmas traditions.Īnalemma photo taken from 1998 to 1999 from Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill. From Saturnalia, we can see the traditions of exchanging gifts and decorating evergreen trees indoors. The festival honored the god Saturn and featured lavish parties and role-reversals.
![lo saturnalia meaning lo saturnalia meaning](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AX_2Nbr4ZYY/VJHrhxqut8I/AAAAAAAAN_I/9NxsGHkbONQ/s1600/Saturnalia.png)
The ancient Pagan Romans celebrated Saturnalia, which typically ran from Dec. The Oak King is at his zenith of power in the north while the Holly King is within his peak in the south. Some Pagans, especially those honoring Celtic traditions, see the solstices as the biannual battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. Yalda Night is an equivalent Persian festival. Today is the beginning of the Dōngzhì Festival (冬至) or Winter’s Extreme in many East Asian cultures. The annual movement of the sun to and from each tropic forms an analemma, an infinity-shaped loop in the sky.įor the Northern Hemisphere, it is a joyous time of the year, celebrating the cessation of the growing dark and the promise of the returning light. Like equinoxes, the solstices remind us of the great balance of our world as the sun seemingly moves from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. Our friends in the Southern Hemisphere marked the Summer Solstice with equal fervor and merriment. Today, many Pagans, Heathens, and Polytheists in the Northern Hemisphere are marking the Winter Solstice with celebrations, feasts, and rituals. TWH – The December solstice occurred this morning at 15:59 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and with it many celebrations.