Let us step back for a second and consider something that (at first glance) seems incongruous. We've swapped a holiday from one deity to another, without batting an eye. Won't this anger the apparently shortchanged Saturnus? To this, we would begin by noting that the practice is now one sanctified by 2,000 years of practice, so if Saturnus was upset, he's since had 40% of recorded history in which to lodge his protest. But, to the question of whether this was right, in the first place, we have to remind the reader of the vast and unavoidable gulfs of our ignorance on subjects of this nature.

We are not unaware of the historical reasons for the transfer - the Church, historically, tended to Christianize pre-existing holidays, in order to facilitate the conversion of the masses. But, it is our contention that the existence of practical reasons for an action, may prove fortuitous, in that they may bring about that which should be. If we believe in a God who acts through History - whose will is expressed on a large scale, through the changes that History brings, rather than through direct intervention - such fortituity is to be expected.

Perhaps Saturnus was simply an earlier manifestation of God the Son, and the story of eating his children was an allegorical account of the attempted absorption of the cults of the newer Olympian deities by his more established cult, which the deities and their cults rebelled against, suppressing his cult as a reaction. Perhaps he was the merciful god of an earlier cult, which was suppressed, and that myth represents a demonization of the otherwise highly non-demonic deity of a suppressed cult. (And given the similarity in temperament and values, it was only natural that one should be honored on the day of the other). Perhaps Saturnus was one of the angels, and his Holy day always was a Christian holiday, even before History made it possible for Man to attach a meaning to the word "Christian".

Which, if any of these, was the case? We don't know. But, regardless, Christ seems quite at home now, in Saturnus' role, and it must be said, the Golden Age does sound an awful lot like the Garden of Eden except that it is not human failing that drives man from this paradise, but Divine action. Once again, that which we can not resolve, we do not yet need to know, though it can be fun to speculate. It does, however, fit in with our image, as found in "Constructing God", of the higher, more complex divinities awakening later than the lesser divinities. A removal of Christ from his proper office will become harder, as the Almighty (who he represents) gains focus.

We have indicated, in the past, that there was a Judaic component to our practices, and surely nothing is more Jewish than the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, or more misunderstood. Yom Kippur, a day of absolute fasting (when neither food nor water may be taken from sundown one day to darkness on the next) is imagined by some to be a punishment or burden, when in fact, those of us who have practiced it, look forward to it each year as a time of renewal. For 25 hours, one can focus on the year that has passed - truly without distraction of any kind - pondering what was done right, what one has done wrong, how one could do better, and what one has learned from it. The clarity and focus that comes from this, carries on into ones daily life and what follows is the happiest and most productive time of the year. We would miss this day.

But, when to hold it? Rosh Hashanah begins on the first day of the traditional Jewish calendar. (The greeting offered, L'shon tovah, means "happy new year"). Yom Kippur follows nine days later. (In this coming year, 2000, Erev Rosh Hashonah, Rosh Hashonah Eve, will begin at Sundown, on September 29, and Erev Yom Kippur at Sundown, October 8). Here, we get to the first suggestion of a possible innovation in practice, as opposed to a change in how we view established practice. The calendar we most live by, in the West, begins in January, not late September, and so we might take January First as our equivalent of Rosh Hashanah. (Let us note that this day was sacred to Janus, the Highest of the Gods of the Romans, who was in all things, who was the primordial chaos before the beginning of time, implying that he exists outside of time. Sounds a little like the God of Abraham, doesn't he?). This would put our Day of Atonement on Jan. 10, four days after Epiphany.

This is ideal, in a variety of ways. We've been eating heavily, and are well prepared for a fast, as we should be on the Day of Atonement. Yes, it is to be an ordeal that helps us gain self-control toward the end, but if we are starving or dehydrated from the beginning, we will lose focus, and the Day will never become anything more than an unloved ordeal. Before we come before the Almighty, and ask Him to forgive us for those vows we made to Him that we broke, it is the tradition that our unfinished business with each other be concluded. With our fellow human beings, what better time to do so, than during one of the largest parties of the year, when people are so easily found, and being in good spirits, so ready to forgive? When could it be more appropriate, or more natural, to ask what it is that we should do to make amends for that which we did wrong, than on a day when we put ourselves in the role of the other ?

Let us be clear, though, that on this day, even Christ himself is a penitent. We do not conceal our crosses, as we do those symbols sacred to the Olympians, for the crucifixion came in the service of God the Father (who we identify with the Greek Moros and the Roman Janus, tentatively). But we do not offer our prayers to him, or his saints, or to anyone save God the Father, or, as some would say, Adonai, or "The Lord".

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