Translated from french (please notify us of errors)
Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival celebrated from December 17 to 23 in honor of Saturn, the deity believed to have introduced agriculture and the arts of civilized life. It was the season when agricultural work was completed; a joyful, relaxed, and cheerful celebration. During Saturnalia, ordinary activities were suspended, including those of courts and commerce. For more information, see our article Saturnalia, Roman society upside down.
Here is a small guide to adapt the celebration of Saturnalia to our time.
Preparations
- Decorate doors, windows, and furniture with greenery, for example with wreaths and garlands. Add golden cut-outs of the sun, pine cones, golden nuts, or acorns.
- Also embellish trees outside (or potted plants if needed) with sun symbols, stars, and faces of Janus, the deity who watches over the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one.
- If you have a laraire (household shrine), light a candle or, better, an oil lamp there. Display and decorate a statue of Saturn, or an image if you don’t have a statue! (See the images of the recreation of the laraire from the House of the Vettii in Pompeii by the Nunc est bibendum association.)
- Prepare cookies shaped like symbols of fertility, suns, moons and stars, and shapes of herd animals.
- Get or make some mulsum, a honeyed spiced wine typical of Roman festivities.
For the Celebration!
- Wear the festive colors, which are green and gold.
- Greet people with the traditional cry “Io, Saturnalia!”
- Invite your friends to a festive meal on December 17. Saturnalia was a joyful festival that the Romans shared with friends and family.
- Give small gifts, including food gifts or sweets, candles or lamps, or even terracotta figurines.
- Attach a playful note or a short poem to your gifts. The poet Martial provides many examples in Books 13 (Xenia) and 14 (Apophoreta) of the Epigrams.
- Upset social codes and invert the order of things! During Saturnalia the roles were temporarily reversed. The most enthusiastic might wear a pileus, a conical felt or wool cap inherited from Greek culture (pilos), which represented freedom and was worn by freed slaves.
Emojis for Saturnalia
🎭 for the festivities and the reversal of roles.
🎉🎊 for the festive spirit and collective joy.
🎄 because winter decorations recall ancient traditions.
🔥 for sacrificial fires or lit lamps.
🍷🍇🍗 for abundant feasts.
🎁 for the typical gift exchange of Saturnalia.
🎶 for festive music.
👑 for the “king” of Saturnalia.
⚖️ for temporary equality between masters and slaves.
👩🍳 for preparing the feasts.
🕯️✨ for symbolic illumination in winter.
📜 for recalling inscriptions or written traditions.
🔮 for auguries and omens
🎠 for the playful aspect of Saturnalia.
Voir aussi:
- Saturnalia: the symbolic return of the Golden Age
- Saturnalia, Roman society upside down
- The Saturnalia under Lucian’s critical gaze
Other articles in English from the Nunc est bibendum blog
