Brumalia is the ancient pagan festival that is a continuation of celebration and tribute to Saturn. It is a festival of the winter solstice. The day also honors Cronus and Ceres/Demeter, and Bacchus. The festival included night-time feasting, drinking, and merriment. During this time, prophetic indications were taken as prospects for the remainder of the winter. Greet each other with words of blessing at night, "
Vives annos", "Live for years".
The word
bruma meant simply "shortest day," and referred to the Winter Solstice. Brumalia was generally held on December 25th, even though that was not technically the actual solstice.
Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. The date of 25 December for Christmas was selected in order to correspond with the Roman festival of
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun". The Philocalian calendar of AD 354 gives a festival of "Natalis Invicti" on 25 December. There is limited evidence that this festival was celebrated before the mid-4th century.
The important thing with these holidays that correspond with today’s Christmas tradition is that the winter solstice is a time of revelry, remembrance and good will toward the coming year and the return of the sun. Today is a day to be merry, to show kindness toward one another, celebrate the winter and pay homage to the time when one season ends and to embrace with positive prospects for the beginning of a new wondrous year that will give rise to a new time of plenty, filled with spiritual growth and strength in the uncertain future.
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Brumalia is the ancient pagan festival that is a continuation of celebration and tribute to Saturn. It is a festival of the winter solstice. The day also honors Cronus and Ceres/Demeter, and Bacchus. The festival included night-time feasting, drinking, and merriment. During this time, prophetic indications were taken as prospects for the remainder of the winter. Greet each other with words of blessing at night, "Vives annos", "Live for years". The word bruma meant simply "shortest day," and referred to the Winter Solstice. Brumalia was generally held on December 25th, even though that was not technically the actual solstice.
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December 23rd is the Larentalia. A festival to honor the home’s divinities, the Lares, a kind of domestic genii that was worshipped as protectors of one’s home, watching over the family. During this festival, offerings are made to the dead. A symbolic sacrifice is typically offered at the hearth or near the cooking stove (I place my offering on the kitchen counter next to the stove. Larentalia was part of a series of ancient Roman festivals and holidays celebrating the end of the old year and the start of the new.
