![]() Here are a few reflections from my own journey during these dark days. We learn about the value of a resource or skill by experiencing the discomfort when it is not available and yet dearly needed. In light of this the Saturnalia, the period we are entering each year on the 17th of December is a wonderful opportunity to recall lessons on strength and power we learned through their absence. ![]() Thus to the powerful the Saturnalia were a painful lesson in what it truly meant to hold power – through the experience of its (temporary, ritually regulated) absence.Īnything we learn the hard way follows the same pattern: We learn of its value by precisely NOT achieving it. That means new skills or virtues are best trained through the experience of their extreme absence. The underlying pattern, however, remained intact and is deeply connected to the forces of Saturn: Learning in the magical realm always happens the hard way. The Saturnalia simply picked up on this pattern of magical learning – and ritualised it in a public social setting. It's here we come across an essential mechanism in which magical virtues, skills and powers are taught to humans. In which case the Saturnalia do not hold the promise of gaining anything, but rather the one of losing everything. – Taking possession of all things freely is great fun – unless they were yours already. Our modern day interpretation of Saturn (silence, restriction, limitation, death, withdrawal, essence, structure, meaning) comes to the foreground in these wild celebration when we aim to understand what the Saturnalia meant to people in positions of social power: Suddenly they lost their status as masters, their sole access to their villas, their private property, as well as all their privileges and powers. the temporary assumption of alternative identities formed an essential part in the status reversal during the festivities. ![]() Usual social identity was hidden behind masks and role-playing, i.e. Games otherwise prohibited or frowned upon such as gambling or dice-playing were permitted even to slaves and nuts were commonly used as stakes. Pottery or wax figurines were offered as common gifts – as their plain nature would not reveal social status but they were affordable to everyone. The most marked characteristic of the Saturnalia was a ritualised liberation and social inversion: Masters were made to serve lush banquets to their slaves, for the duration of the celebrations private property was made public and the ranks of all people were made equal. No ancient record gives a complete descriptions of these celebrations from beginning to end yet references to them are abundant and their influence continued long after their abandoning from the official calendar and all across the vast region of the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire the Saturnalia were the seasonal celebrations from 17th to 22nd of December, preceding the 'Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun' ( Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) on 23rd of December.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |