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Does anyone else notice specific people in their lives having a specific scent? Or being able to identify people's belongings based on who they smell like? Is this a thing that others experience or not?
For example my gran has a sweet, rich scent like dates or figs - and her stuff smells like that too. But my best friend has a much more subdued kind of sweetness, closer to something floral and overall lighter.
a close friend of mine who I have a major crush on currently came down to spend some of the Christmas break with me, my friends and my family, and we shared a bed. iâve missed him like hell since heâs been gone, and one of the things Iâve caught myself doing is sniffing the pillow he slept on because it still smells like him. sort of distinctively salty that reminds me of burying my face in his neck and his arms around me. i do pick up easily on scents especially from close friends, family members and places, but also from people i particularly dislike (iâll get a whiff of what smells like someone whoâs wronged meâs BO and itâll throw my whole mood off for a bit). i donât know whether itâs therianthropy or sensory stuff with autism, or an inherent overlap between both.
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Saturnalia is coming on soon, so I'd like to speak some more on this peculiar, interesting festive occasion.
It is an Ancient Roman holiday of abundance, feasting, and celebration of harvest, which was supposed to be over by the time the festivities began. After the farmers gathered the crops, they'd celebrate Saturn, God of seed and sowing, for His generosity and richness of the harvest.
The festival, known for its abundant feasts and the peculiar tradition of switching roles of masters and servants, has a complicated history. It laid basis for the modern-day celebration of Christmas with its fairs, markets, street festivities, and gift-giving.
The origins of Saturnalia are much of a mystery as the festival appears to be so Ancient that Roman sources mark it to be older than the city of Rome itself. Saturnalia existed in both Greek and Roman tradition, though it corresponded to the Greek Kronia, which was a similar, but not an identical festival.
Sources speak on different possible origins of the holiday: some mention the temple of Saturn, the largest of the recorded by the pontiffs, being erected in Rome, and thus starting the tradition; whereas others speak on the festival being brought from Greece. Either way, this Ancient tradition is associated with the liberation of the God of harvest.
Saturnalia was officially celebrated on December 17 and, in Cicero's ties, lasted for a week (inclusively), until December 23. The length of the celebration varied depending on the time period as Augustus shortened it to three days only for the sake of letting the civil courts stay closed for less, while Caligula extended the celebration to five days. The original festival, according to Macrobius, appeared to have lasted for only a day; fourteen days before the Kalends of January. The Julian reform shifted the date to the 17th, thus making it into sixteen days before the Kalends. Some believe that the timing for Saturnalia was symbolic, as next followed Winter Solstice, or symbolic Death of the Sun and Birth of the new one.
Regardless, even after the limiting of the festival, Saturnalia seemed to still be celebrated for a full week with the last day being dedicated to Sigillaria, named so after sigillaria, the small earthenware figurines sold in the cities on that day. The original day of celebration was in turn given to Ops, the consort of Saturn and the Deity of abundance and the fruits of the Earth. The celebration in Her honor was called Opalia, and two festivals tended to mix together with Ops' worshippers sitting down during prayer to touch Earth, mother of all.
Saturnalia involved various activities akin to feasts, parties, gift-giving, and ritual rites. The party traditionally started with the guests exclaiming, i Saturnalia, believed to be a shortening from ego tibi optimis Saturnalia auspico, or 'i wish you a happy Saturnalia'.
It is believed to be one of the most delightful periods of the year and one of the most beloved Roman festivals. People went into the streets celebrating, marching, setting up shows and street markets. People of all backgrounds could participate in it.
Among the general aspects of Saturnalia were activities such as gift giving, as people exchanged things such as candles, walnuts, dates, and honey. Masters served slaves, whereas slaves became free men as in memory of Saturn's reign when slavery did not exist. Servants walked the streets masked, in Frigio hats, or hats of liberation. The Saturnals were also celebrated in the army; the party was called the Saturnalicium castrense, when the low-rank soldiers sat next to the generals as equals and toasted together. Dice games and public gambling were allowed, but became prohibited again once Saturnalia ended. Mourning was abolished, while courts and schools were closed; starting war or enforce capital punishment was strictly prohibited. The festivities took such a great degree of chaos that some authors of the time report moving to remote suburban houses for the week of the Saturnalia to avoid the noise.
Saturn was one of the few celebrated Deities, as, in Roman times, Dis Pater and Proserpina were also believed to join the festive processions in winter time. They were to be appeased by gifts, festivities, and food; which was believed to make Them return to the Underworld where, as the Gods of subsoil, They would protect the crops and make them sprout in spring.
The official part of the feast consisted of a solemn sacrifice in the temple attended with bare head and during which the wool bandages that wrapped the feet of Saturn's simulacrum melted. A public banquet followed where all the guests exchanged toasts and wishes.
Further celebratory activities were split into days, and precise rites were done on each day of the festival.
At the beginning of Saturnalia, a rite of lectisternium was held. During the ritual, statues of Jupiter and 12 Olympians were seated in a dining position upon a special bed, or couch, and offered food, prayers, and gifts. They were spoken to with due respect and asked for protection of Rome and its people as well as for help with current affairs. After the first step, a procession was sent off to the Temple of Saturn and animal sacrifices were made at the site.
A banquet with cheeses, focaccia, olives, and wine was held, to which everyone was invited - all provided by the state.
Starting day one, no-work days began, and gifts as well as greeting cards were exchanged between the citizens. Myrtle, laurel, and ivy - symbolic elements of the Saturna - were given; the trees were respectively sacred to Venus, Apollo, and Bacchus. The first day was signified by banquets, during which the Princeps of Saturnalia, the ruler of the festivities, Princeps Saturnalicius, was elected. During the first day of the festival, people changed from togas to synthesis and pileus; a casual home robe and a cap like headdress.
On the second day of the festival, Rome was still abundant with noise and feasts, to which everyone invited everyone. Stalls and juggles were in the streets alongside dancers and musicians. Celebrations were accompanied by the feast in honor of Epona, Celtic Goddess of horses, much adorned by the equites, whose importance during Saturnalia was due to Her connection to fertility and richness of feasts. The second day of Saturnalia, the 18th of December, marked the beginning of the triad of days of Mercatus, much similar to today's city fairs.
The third day of Saturnalia was the initial day of the celebration (before the reform of the calendar) and was devoted to the Goddess Ops, Deity of Sabine origin introduced to Rome under Titus Tatius. She was praised as the Deity of abundance, protector of rich harvest, giver of fruits of the Earth, and respected consort of the God Saturn. Her Temple at the Capitol hill was erected on that day, and thus received attention and became a center of worship of the Goddess as it was the anniversary of its establishment. Ops was prayed to and asked for blessings of harvest.
The fourth day of the Saturnian festivals, December 20, was dedicated to gift-giving and worship of the Lares, house guardian Deities of Ancient Rome. Terracotta figurines, sigillaria, were made out of paste, wax, or terracotta. Bronze statues were a rarity as bronze was expensive, while sigillaria made out of sweet dough were meant for the children. These statuettes were exchanged as gifts between the citizens as well as given to Saturn as offerings. He was seen as the God of time, and, thus, Death, and the figurines were to be given to Him as ways to redirect Death from coming for the giver, instead letting the figurine take it.
On the fifth day, Rome was filled with visitors from all across the Empire who came to see the city at its peak, blooming with festivals and street activities such as shops, shows, and a multitude of banquet spots. Fod, souvenirs, sigillaria (sigillaria<sigillum<signum+illum), clothes, ornaments and jewels were sold on the street. Artisans from all over the Empire offered goods made of leather, wood, terracotta, bronze, brass, silver and a special alloy of gold and silver, electrum.
On day six of the festivities Rome welcomed dancers, singers, and other performers from across the Empire who came to join the celebration as the entirety of the Empire was involved in it. Gift-exchanging with the guests, also known as xenia, was performed. Marcus Valerius Martialis wrote Xenia and Apophoreta for the Saturnalia, both of which were published in December and intended to accompany the "guest gifts" that were given at that time of year.
On the seventh - and last - day of the celebrations the Gods were thanked for everything given. The streets were full of torches and braziers, and the day passed between banquets and the baths decorated with ribbons and garlands for the occasion. Aulus Gellius relates that he and his Roman compatriots would gather at the baths in Athens, where they were studying, and pose difficult questions to one another on the ancient poets, a crown of laurel being dedicated to Saturn if no-one could answer them.
Saturnalia is an ancient Roman religious festival honoring Saturn, who was pardoned after his expulsion from Olympus by Jupiter and subsequently regarded as a benevolent god of agricultural abundance.
The first documented Saturnalia was held in 497 BCE for the dedication of the Temple of Saturn in Rome. An annual festival commemorating the dies natalis (anniversary) of this event was thereafter held on December 17. The celebration proved so popular that it was extended to three days, then to an entire week, from December 17 to 23. There was a 24 hour break to take care of home and business - and then everyone went back to celebrating with the dies natalis of Sol Invictus on December 25!
The Saturnalia recalled the mythical Age of Saturn, when crops grew without human toil and humanity lived in harmony with nature and each other. Elements of the festival included days off from work, gatherings of family and friends, wearing brightly-colored garments, preparing and indulging in copious amounts of food and drink, playing games, attending theatrical and musical performances, giving gifts, decorating homes and businesses with garlands and wreaths of evergreens gleaming with sparkly ornaments, light from candles, lamps, torches, and bonfires - all of which probably sound at least a little bit familiar!Â
The reversal of normal societal roles was emblematic of Saturnalia: the emperor bestowed largess upon soldiers and the populace, employers gave bonuses to workers, families with the means to do so gave food and clothing the poor, owners served their slaves and the wealthy waited on their servants, children were allowed to attend theatrical performances and to gamble.
The traditional greeting during this celebration is âIo, Saturanalia!â (Io is pronounced âee-oâ or âyoâ).
If you're able to do so, I hope you will continue the Saturnalia tradition of gifts and role-reversals by supporting your local food bank, shelter, and/or warming center.
ŕźş*â° â˘.â¨â  â§Â â *â  âśÂ â *â  â§Â â *â° â˘. đ .⢠°â*â  â§Â â *â  âśÂ â *â  â§Â â â¨.⢠°â*ŕźť
Today is the shortest day of the year, in terms of daylight of course. This always causes a debate amongst pagans on how to celebrate this event. Yes we do know for certain that the ancient pagans celebrated this astronomical event but how exactly did they celebrate it? Well if we only look at the ancient Germanic tribes of the iron age, we do not know. There are some written records by the early medieval Scandinavians and some left over traditions that predate Christianity that can give us some clues.
First weâll look at the name, Yule. The word is derived from the Proto-Germanic word Jehwla, meaning either party or celebration, which turned into the old Norse word JĂłl which in turn turned into the old English geol and eventually in the modern English Yule. The festival is called Joel in Dutch, Jul in German, Swedish and modern Norwegian and Joli/NoĂŤl in French.
There is also a debate on the length of the Yulefest and when it exactly starts. The ancient Germanic people did not use a calendar like ours but rather counted the moons, that is why there is no exact starting date but a lot of modern heathens use the 20th of december as a starting date. The same modern heathens that use the 20th as a start, also often use the same length for the holiday, 12 days until 6th of january, this is similar to the Christians who end the Christmas holidays on 6th januari on Epiphany day.
The first written record that actually mentions Yule comes from the Gothic people around the 6th century AD, their calendar mentions the month âfruma jiuleisâ which is the equivalent of our month of december, there is a theory that it could actually be two months, both november and december.
Another written record that mentions Yule comes from the 8th century and was written by Bede, an English monk. Bede wrote about the Anglo-Saxon calendar which includes the month geola, the modern equivalent of december or both december and january.
There is a very good chance that the name actually refered to a month meaning that the celebrations could have lasted for a month or even two. Why do many modern heathens celebrate it at the same time period as the Christians do? This might have something to do with king Haakon I of Norway. In a saga about him, the saga of Haakon the good, he passed down a law which established that Yule celebrations were to take place at the same time as the Christians celebrated their Christmas. This might be the reason why many modern pagans also celebrate Yule in a 12 day period.
So in fact it could very well have been the pagan who stole the whole concept of the '12 daysâ from the Christians instead of the other way around. But where does the Christian christmas come from then? Iâm sure everyone here is familiar with the whole nativity story of Jesusâ birth but it seems that his birth on 25th of december is very coincidental. Almost every religion views the end of december as a special period, a time of death, darkness and rebirth. Where does it all come from? The answer is in fact quite simple, it has to do with the astronomy.
For the people on the northern hemisphere of the planet, the winter months were extremely harsh and rough. Crops wonât grow in the cold, trees wonât provide their fruits and animals are scarce, not to mention of course the cold weather. The days are short and getting shorter and shorter until the winter solstice, at the solstice the sun appears to stop moving for a few days and then it slowly moves up again, the days are getting longer and the much needed warmth for food and survival finally returns.
This was such an important event, for the human survival, that it is not strange for humans to view this period, during the shortest days, as sacred or divine. That is per example where the birth of Jesus comes in, Jesus was born on 25th december, the hope and light of mankind. But it is not only Jesus who is connected to this date. It is thought that the life of Jesus is based on multiple pagan Gods, one of which is the Egyptian God Horus, the God of the sky. Both are born on 25th december, both are born of a virgin and both were led by stars during their birth and both were resurrected after death.
Here are some more deities who are connected to the Yule period: Dionysus, Attis, Krishna, Mithra, Jesus, Horus and Wodan. There are in fact more but it would be quite the list if I mention them all. Why are so many important deities connected to the winter solstice and to the concept of birth/rebirth and death? Well all of these deities might simply represent the astronomical event of the sun 'dyingâ during the period of the shortest days and then being 'rebornâ when the days start to get longer again. And since this event was closely connected to our own survival as a species, it is not strange why this was celebrated so fiercely by the ancient pagans.
One famous story, which is more connected to the ancient Germanic tribes of mainland Europe than to the later medieval vikings, is the story of Wodanâs wild hunt. It is said that somewhere around november, Wodan would join the hunt, which consisted of ghostly riders, and ride the skies of midgard looking for souls to take with him. If you were unfortunate enough to see Wodan riding in the sky, you would die and join his hunt. That is the origin of some traditions that are still being celebrated in Europe like the Dutch/Belgian Sinterklaas and Sint Maarten. Also the Dutch tradition of blowing the Midwinterhorn is said to have originated from pre-Christian traditions, a way to greet Wodan and his hunt, the official start of the cold and dark days. Wodanâs hunt curiously lasts about 2-3 months which could be the same length as the ancient Yule celebrations.
Another Germanic tale that is quite similar to the old pagan Gods and the Christian Jesus that I have mentioned just before, is the tale of Baldr. Baldr can be associated with the sun and he is slain by his blind brother, his death could have triggered the darkening of the days but this tale can also perfectly relate to the summer solstice instead. His death at the summer solstice would have been the start of 'the deathâ of the sun which happens on 21th june. So it is possible for modern heathens to honour Baldr on either the summer or winter solstice.
But how did the ancient Germanics celebrate Yule exactly? We sadly do not know why exactly but if we look at the lifestyle of an average Germanic person, it would have involved making offerings and holding feasts. There is in fact a description of the Yule fest written by early medieval Scandinavians:
âIt was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to the heathen temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it, horses also and all the blood from them was called hlaut (sacrificial blood), and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood and hlautteinar, the sacrificial twigs.
These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over the fires. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat.â
The ancient Germanic people did not leave any written records behind on how and when they celebrated Yule so there is no one 'singleâ way to celebrate it. The purpose behind the celebration is clear, they and we still celebrate the returning of the light, by putting lights inside our homes (like yule logs and christmas trees). It is alright if you celebrate Yule in a period of 12 days or, if means allow you to, celebrate it for a full two month period.
It also doesnât really matter what religion you belong to because the message of Yule seems to be universally the same, at least on the northern hemisphere. We celebrate the return of light and warmth so that we can grow our crops again, feed ourselves and our animals and enjoy the warmth of the sun. The december month is synonymous with cold, darkness and death but also gives us hope that the sun will return again. Have a happy Yule everyone.
Here are images of:
Painting of the wild hunt by Peter Nicolai Arbo, 1872.
Another image of the wild hunt by an unknown artist.
Burning of the Yule log and a Christmas tree.
The Dutch tradition of Midwinterhoorn.
How the ancient Germanic people could have celebrated Yule by Angus McBride.
Most people celebrate Yule on the winter solstice. This is not correct. The holiday of Yule was celebrated by the ancient Germanic peoples of Northern and Central Europe on dates that varied slightly throughout the winter. The modern conception of Yule is based on the solar position of the sun, when the days are at their darkest. However, the ancient Germanic peoples reckoned the time by the moon rather than the sun. Major holidays fell on full moons and months began on new moons. In fact âmonthâ and âmoonâ share a common etymological root. Yule was practiced on the first full moon after the first new moon after the winter solstice, or simply the third full moon after Winter Nights. Three is a very important number in Germanic spirituality. Because of the discrepancies between our modern solar-based calendar and the ancient Germanic lunar calendar Yule can fall anywhere between January and early February, depending on the year. So in essence, the Germanic holiday has been shifted away from its original time, taking away from its meaning. We cannot format this ancient holiday onto a consistent modern date because the systems are simply incompatible. Thx for reading<3
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