Saturnalia vs Christmas
In response to an article that proposed that the date for Christmas was derived by calculating 9 months ahead from crucifixion date.
Interesting read, but the idea that the
Conception date is calendrically connected to the Passion date,
while it appeals to my personal fondness for symmetry and the
superiority of "Spiritual Time" over "Human Time", nevertheless
seems to have about the same amount of evidence as the "takeover"
theory, which is to say, conjectural at best. It also seems unlikely
that any "takeover" of Saturnalia (or any of the other feast days)
would be something we would find detailed in early church writings.
"Memo to Origen: Howsabout we come up with All Saints Day and make
that the same as Samhain? And we make Saturnalia the same day as
Christ's Birthday? And you'll love this one: let's calculate the
date for Easter in the most paganesque way we can! I'm telling you,
this will make our prostelyzation targets a heckuva lot easier to
meet. Let me know what you think." Much more likely that it would
have followed a more organic, unplanned evolution.
I think there well might have been a motivation as Christianity
moved into more northern climes. The dramatic effect of the winter
solstice, and the turning of the year, would, it seems to me, be
much more pronounced in the colder, darker north than in the balmy
Mediterranean lands. Consider how much more apocalyptic and
pessimistic the Norse religion is compared to pretty much everything
where olive trees grow. Frost giants and Ragnarok vs. gods chasing
nymphs through the groves. The solstice was a matter of life and
death the further north you went. What better time to associate with
the birth of a Savior?
One last (and almost non-sequitur) thing: I have often wondered
about the conflation of "Son" and "Sun". I feel pretty confident
there is no etymological connection: Son and Sun are both Germanic,
Sol is Roman (in which "son" is "filius"). But there has, I believe,
historically been an enormous connection of metaphor and meaning.
© 2010 Chuck Puckett