Why isn’t Saturnalia a national holiday? Saturnalia was a holiday celebrated by the ancient Romans that honored a God they named Saturn. This is actually where we get the name of our planet from. The Romans believed Saturn controlled agriculture, a.k.a. their food, and Saturn wasn’t the sun god, he was the god of their food. And their food depended on one thing: the sun, so their natural way of thinking was no sun equals no blessing from Saturn. No blessing from Saturn equals no food. And no food equals death.

Now imagine how terrifying that this must have been in the ancient world, especially during the winter solstice when the sun is out at least all year. Well because it was such a fearful and uncertain time, every year in mid to late December, around the December 21, the ancient Romans celebrated what they called Saturnalia They celebrated because to them this marked when the sun stopped getting weaker, and if the sun came back, then they believed Saturn would bless their crops again. Their celebrations were unique unlike anything we have today: evergreen trees because they stay alive in winter, lights to celebrate the return of light, giftgiving–a Saturnalia tradition meant to bring good fortune. Does this sound familiar? That's because the tradition stayed, but the name changed. Christmas is not about Christ, and it never was. Click the link in our bio to learn more.