re: #147 Lidane

Exactly. A lot of the customs of Saturnalia were incorporated into Christmas. That’s the point. It came from somewhere. It’s impossible to deny the influence that Saturnalia had on Christmas, especially since both have their roots in Rome.

Actually mainly one custom was incorporated, gift giving. Somehow I’m not seeing the walking around with little clothing, wearing masks, servants dining with masters, totally liberated free speech where anyone can say what they like about anyone else without reprecusions, everyone wearing a conical cap that common laborers wore, a special place for women, and general fornication in our modern Christmas celebrations. *wink*

And saying that Saturanalia has some influence on Christmas over time is a lot different than saying that Christmas is Saturanalia with modern dressing. And that’s the point. Saturanalia and Christmas were different festivals that happened alongside one another and influenced one another for hundreds of years. Saying Christmass was just to con the Romans out of Saturanalia and that Christmas is Saturanalia is just flat out wrong.