Happy Winter Solstice
- Thread starter DWise1
- Start date
caityrosey
New Member
Oh dear, I hate to ask, but what is Santurnalia?
DWise1
Well-Known Member
caityrosey said:
Saturnalia (with proper spelling you will Google straight) was an ancient festival honoring the god, Saturn. Was marked by heavy feasting and heavy drinking and heavy partying (even by Roman standards). Also the interiors of homes were decorated with evergreens. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia
Saturn was identified with the Greek god, Chronos ("time"). At least in medieval times he was depicted as an old man with long white hair and beard walking on a crutch and carrying a sythe and an hour-glass. In modern times, he's lost the crutch. You've seen him many times around New Year's (though the traditional New Year's was the end of February, as evidenced by the names of several of the months *).
Saturday is the only day of the week whose English name refers to its Roman god; the others are named after Germanic gods. The Roman gods' names are still used for most of the days of the week in French and in Spanish.
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Shouldn't it read, "Thank Freya! It's Friday!"?
[* Footnote:
September = "seventh", but it's now the nineth month.
October = "eighth", but it's now the tenth month.
November = "nineth", but it's now the eleventh month.
December = "tenth", but it's now the twelfth month.
Also note that when we need to add an extra day to the year, it's added at the end of February, which used to be the last month of the year. BTW, it was the Julian calendar, established circa 48 BCE, that incorporated leap years, but made the error of making every single fourth year a leap year.
]
Think druids, mistletoe etc.
The sun enters the sign of Capricorn on or about 23rd December every year. According to the ancients, every astrological sign has a ruling planet.
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. Hence, the winter solstice was also known as the feast of Saturnalia.
Rosa
The sun enters the sign of Capricorn on or about 23rd December every year. According to the ancients, every astrological sign has a ruling planet.
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. Hence, the winter solstice was also known as the feast of Saturnalia.
Rosa
Swingolder
New Member
And slowly, very slowly, the sun will be setting later. (A whole minute later on Friday compared to today and tomorrow!) But it is a start. This running in the dark after work is really depressing!
caityrosey
New Member
I remember on Buffy there was some sort of demon-holiday that they were celebrating around Christmas time---"some-demon-or-other's" Rising. Anyone remember what that was? I'm curious to know if that's actually a real occulty thing.
Boynextdoor
New Member
I'll say it, Mary Tyler Moore everyone!
Boynextdoor
New Member
DWise1 said:
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Swingolder
New Member
DWise1 said:
Hmmm - is it different in CA? My Nebraska paper has the sun setting at 4:58 today and tomorrow and 4:59 on Friday. Oh, and it is also rising later too -- 7:46 today and 7:48 by Saturday. Now, that seems strange!
DWise1
Well-Known Member
Swingolder said:
My calendar, "Astronomy 2005" edited by Terence Dickinson, states that the Winter Solstice, "Shortest day of the year; winter officially begins at 4:19 p.m. EST". Which was 1319 PST. I posted at about 1400 PST.
I cannot account for what happens in Nebraska.