Let's spend a little bit of time on this conversion of Sabbath to the day of Saturn worship. We will come back and discuss the keeping of Sabbath and its importance in a true walk of faith in a later blog. The idea of converting the day of YAH’s rest to the worship of Saturn, however, is a particularly egregious offense.
Roman pagans were the first to practice the holiday of Saturnalia. This feast was a week-long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The feast began when Roman authorities chose the “Lord of Misrule.” The Lord of Misrule was appointed in the guise of the god Saturn. During this time the ordinary rules of life were subverted as masters served their slaves, and the offices of state were held by slaves. The Lord of Misrule presided over all of this, and had the power to command anyone to do anything during the holiday period. At the conclusion of the feast on December 25th, the Lord of Misrule would be brutally murdered in order to destroy the forces of darkness that were responsible for shorting the daylight hours, usually by having his throat was cut on the altar of Saturn. The British Lord of Misrule was appointed as a temporary sacrificial king who later would be put to death for the benefit of all. (Frazer, The New Golden Bough, Ed. Theodor H. Gaster, part 7 "Between Old and New: Periods of License," New York: Criterion Books, 1959; rpt. New York: New American Library, 1964. pp. 643–44; 645-50).
There are ancient sources which agree with these descriptions. One Greek historian, Lucian, described the practice of Saturnalia as including human sacrifice, widespread intoxication, the going from house to house while singing naked, rape and other sexual license, and the consuming of human-shaped biscuits in reminiscence of cannibalism. These kinds of cookies such as gingerbread men are still produced even now during the Christmas season. Eventually, the concluding festival of Saturnalia – the day the scapegoat Lord of Misrule was sacrificed, was designated as Christmas or the Mass of Christ, and declared to be the birthday of Christ. During the transition period, the earliest Christmas revelers celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, and singing naked in the streets. Eventually, these carolers put on some clothes.
So, let us conclude this lengty discussion with a quick review of the “holiday” season. In America, the season begins on Black Friday, at midnight – an artificially created beginning of the day in the middle of the night, which is the first minute we can forget about giving thanks (yada) to YAH for his blessing (kee tov, kee la’olam chesed – for He is good, and His mercy endures forever) in the previous year. Black Friday is celebrated by indulging in the acquisition of material goods at discount prices. This pursuit is followed on a daily basis (no longer merely a week) until Saturnalia day. Thereafter, begins the count of eight days in anticipation of the Feast of Circumcision (now forgotten) which is the reason the New Year was changed to January 1 from March 1. And so, the blending of human-sacrificing, sexually-indulgent pagan festivals together with the timing of sacred scripture gives us a kind of simcha torah (the eighth day of Sukka’oth celebrating the joy of the Torah) on the arbitrarily assigned, converted pagan calendar day of the 1st day of the month of Janus, this year being celebrated on Thor’s day.
Chag semeach, simcha torah tamey. Blessed feast of the joy of the Torah (unclean).