Greetings all! I was looking in my “witches almanac” and found that today is not only the beginning of Saturnalia, but it is also called the “day of the fairy queen”. While I’ve found no other resource that cared to delve into the “fairy queen” subject, there was plenty on Saturnalia.
December 17 Saturnalia
The Roman festival of Saturnalia was celebrated for seven days beginning on December 17th. It honored the corn-god Saturn and his consort, Ops, the goddess of plenty. Normal activities were suspended during this time period. No wars were fought. No business was conducted. Schools and courts were closed. People spent their time gambling and feasting. Roles were reversed with masters waiting on their servants. Everyone was free to say exactly what they pleased without fear of the consequences, so this was a time for great ventilation of feelings and political satire. For an ancient account of this day, and the Roman calendar in general, Blackburn and Holford-Strevens recommend reading Macrobius who describes an imaginary debate among pagan intellectuals taking place on Saturnalia, possibly in 383.
A Lord of Misrule was often elected to mock the role of authority and direct his followers in ribald and humorous activities. Some folklorists (Frazer and Graves) believe he was a stand-in for the King, whoand was sacrificed at the end of the time period in the King’s place but during his brief reign of thirty days, he assumed the king’s perogatives, dressing in royal robes, doing anything he wanted and commanding obedience.
Ever heard the phrase “king of the bean”?
The Greek God equivalent to Saturn, is Cronus. Saturn carries a sickle, like the Grim Reaper. Cronos, who ate his own children rather than let them surpass him, gives his name to terms like chronological. Both are Time-Gods, who bring death and limitation and may fight to preserve their reign, even though they know it is time for them to be replaced with new life, just as the old year must die to give way to the new, a struggle depicted in many winter solstice customs .
People gave gifts to each other, usually small items, like candles, terra cotta dolls, sprigs of holly, which symbolized wishes for the new year.
The Candlegrove website has a special section on Saturnalia at www.candlegrove.com
Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999
December 17 Sow Day
In Orkney, a sow was killed on this day. The pig has long been a significant animal at this time of year, a symbol of abundance, especially in the north .
here’s an interesting wikipedia link that i found while researching saturnalia…..
A Kallikantzaros (Καλλικάντζαρος) pl. Kallikantzaroi is a malevolent goblin in Greek and Cypriot folk tradition. They dwell underground but come to the surface from 25 December to 6 January (from the winter solstice for a fortnight during which time the sun ceases its seasonal movement).
It is believed that Kallikantzaroi stay underground sawing the World tree, so that it will collapse, along with Earth. However, when they are about to saw the final part, Christmas dawns and they are able to come to surface. They forget the Tree and come to bring trouble to mortals.
Finally, on the Epiphany (6 January), the sun starts moving again, and they must go underground again to continue their sawing. They see that during their absence the World tree has healed itself, so they must start working all over again. This happens every year.
There is no standard appearance of Kallikantzaroi, there are regional differences on their appearance. Some Greeks have imagined them with some animal parts, like hairy bodies, horse legs, or boar tusks. Others see them as humans of small size smelling horibly.
The Kallikantzaroi are creatures of the night. There were ways people could protect themselves during the days when the Kallikantzaroi were loose. They could leave a colander on their doorstep: if a Kallikantzaros approached for his evildoings, he would instead decide to sit and count the holes until the sun rose and he was forced to hide. The Kallikantzaroi also could not count above 2, since 3 is a holy number, and by pronouncing it, they would kill themselves. Another method of protection is to leave the fire burning in the fireplace all night so that they cannot enter through there.
Legend has it that any child born during the twelve days of the Saturnalia (17th through 26 December) was in danger of transforming to a Kallikantzaros for each Christmas season, starting with adulthood. The antidote: Binding the baby in tresses of garlic or straw, or singeing the child’s toenails.
In Greek language Kallikantzaros is also used for every short, ugly and usually mischievous being. If not used for the abovementioned creatures, it seems to express the collective sense for the English words leprechaun, gnome and goblin.
