But, what would this festival be, without its king ?

In antiquity ², the King of the festival would be chosen as the men drew beans from a pot, the drawer of the odd bean being selected the "King". Today, this is done by the serving of a cake, which the host may not partake of, in which a bean, or small figurine is concealed. The man (it must be a man) who finds the bean, or figurine, in his cake becomes the King of the festival. He selects his queen (who, of course, is his wife or girlfriend, if he has one), and is toasted, and payed honors during that night of the Festival. He will be the host on the next, which is one reason why it can only be a man who draws the bean. (The women are on vacation, and hosting is work). Indeed, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first, during this festival. During his night as King, of course, he will preside over the festivities, both religious and secular.

Fowler has no idea of what the significance of the offering of figurines was, and apparently the original meaning was obscure even during the time of the late republic, but one can hazard a guess. Saturnus, who this festival originally honored, began as a deity of farmers, and a bringer of prosperity. Votive figurines, were seen in Greece as symbolic offerings to the Gods, and in Egypt as symbolic goods to be left with the deceased, so that he would have that which was represented in the next life. It becomes easy to picture these figurines, then, as having a magical significance, in the eyes of the early worshippers, and representing an effort to bring those things into the recipient's life, that the figurines portrayed.

Later on, as the influence of Greek religion entered Rome, the cult of Cronus began to absorb that of Saturnus (or Saturn) with whom he was identified. If the appearance of edible figurines appeared then, we would scarcely be surprised. The stories tell us that Cronus, the father of Zeus, swallowed all of his children (except for Zeus, for whom a stone was switched), out of fear that one of them would overthrow him (as Zeus did). The day remained one that honored Saturn, and, by implication, Cronus, and so a recreation of the Divine cannibalism becomes conceivable. As with the ceramic figurines, in time, ritual would become custom, which would become a matter of habit, the original significance of which would have been forgotten.

As strange as it may seem, this significance will not dissuade us from continuing this tradition, if it should be historically accurate, as impious as that may seem. One concept that we hold to, as we have said, is that those to whom a lesser form of worship is offered, are not to brought before those to whom a higher form is offered, in our conscious thoughts, to any greater extent than that which habit makes unavoidable. Some might also suggest that the act carries an added element of symbolism, believing that the gods, like Christ, occasionally became incarnate in human form, and that some of the saints were their incarnations. If we view the gods as starving for the depth of experience needed to help their consciousnesses find form, the value of a series of incarnations to them becomes obvious. Also, one might suspect that if God decided, upon viewing their past actions, that they needed to grow in empathy for their human followers, what better way to insure that they would do so, than by forcing them to live as humans for a while, and know what pain and loss feel like?

Out of honor for the preexisting tradition, we divide the Saturnalia into three parts. The first, on Dec.17, we will call the old Saturnalia, and on that day, we will offer the traditional pastry figures, as will will, throughout. Symbolically, we are taking the gods within us, making them part of us. They are with us, but not in the open, in our thoughts, opening the possibility of confusing adoration or devotion with full worship. During this season, we are in the presence of Christ, and God the Father, who he represents, throughout. The gods will be among us, and within us, in our hearts, adding their worship to our own, during this season. One this day, we offer only the traditional presents - the figures and the candles - out of respect for history. The stage is cleared, for the Almighty to receive our full attention.

The second part, is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (on Dec. 25, as expected). It is too much a matter of established practice for gifts to be offered on that day, for us to seriously consider moving the giving of gifts. However, in Christian terms, it would make far more sense if we did so on Jan. 6, known as Epiphany. (Or Twelfth Night, as it is the twelfth night after Christmas). Traditionally, this is thought of as a commemoration of the visit of the three Magi who presented the infant Jesus with presents, and payed homage to him, while Christmas is merely a commemoration of his birth. But, what is, is, and a traditional Christmas celebration would be sorely missed by those of Western European extraction, and its loss would take life from the festival.

The third part is Epiphany, the feast of the cake described above, with the reversal of expectations, and the crowning of the king of the feast. It is usual for the King of the Feast to offer invitations for the coming month. And thus, it becomes a season of renewal of friendships, anticipating the next year's festivities.

Click here to continue.