Old Time Religion IS Good

See, I was thinkin' about Christmas. And then I was thinkin' about Christians. And I then was thinkin' about Jews. And then I started thinkin' about Romans. So the following is just to point out some ways you might choose to swing with the Romans the way the Romans used to do, back then. Happy holidays...

Saturnalia--began winter solstice, Dec. 17th. Honored Saturn, the Roman God of peace and plenty, of sowing seed, protector of fields, guardian of wealth. During Saturnalia, work was abandoned. Great indulgences of untold freedom were explored, reversals of authority in which slaves were free, men dressed as women, fools were regarded as wise men.

And here's one for man, woman, beast, and lycanthrope alike:

Lupercalia--the festival of the Great She-Wolf, first festival of the New Year, Feb. 15th. A celebration of the two pagan entities related to wolves. It was originally dedicated to the Goddess of the primitive Roman cult of Lupa, or Feronia, inherited from Sabine matriarchy. Her temple priestess celebrated orgiastic rites for bountiful harvests, concluding with naked young men draped in wolfskins sent travelling to "purify" Palatine towns. The festival was also associated with the mother of the orphan wolves that founded Rome, Romulus and Remus.

If you choose to indulge in any of these activities during the holiday season, God(s) bless you. As a project, it'll beat knitting a sweater, as far as pure prurient kicks go. Then again, different fetishistic strokes for different folks.

--JTD