Which god is saturn

Also, people were allowed to wear casual clothes and the masters and slaves reversed roles, the masters waiting on the slaves. It was all in good fun, and people enjoyed being released from the usual strict rules of Roman society. The first Roman Christian leaders replaced Saturnalia with Christmas and carried over some practices, like feasting and exchanging gifts.

Both Christmas and Saturnalia are near the gloomy days of the winter solstice. The god Saturn is still with us today, as a planet and a weekend day. Another theory is that, in ancient times, Saturn was the farthest known planet from the sun. So the Greeks made it sacred to Cronus, and the Romans made it sacred to Saturn.

The Romans named Saturday after their beloved god sometime before the 2nd century CE. So, although the days of Roman rule are long gone, we still have reminders of Saturn that have comes down to us through the centuries. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. Home » Saturn. The Roman god Saturn has a long history and a festival all of his own.

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Jupiter persuaded the fifty headed monsters to fight with him which enabled him to make use of their weapons of thunder, lightning and earthquake. He also convinced the Titan Prometheus , who was incredibly wise, and his brother, to join his side. With his forces, Jupiter was victorious and the Olympians reigned supreme.

Saturn was, again depending on the source, either castrated or sliced into a thousand pieces with his own sickle as he had done to his father and cast into the darkest and deepest part of Tartarus , the underworld. His brothers were imprisoned in Tartarus as well except for Atlas , the strongest Titan, who was given the burden of holding up the sky. In Roman mythology , [1] when Jupiter ascended the throne, Saturn fled to Rome and established the Golden Age , a time of perfect peace and harmony, which lasted as long as he reigned.

In memory of the Golden Age, the Feast of Saturnalia was held every year in the winter at the winter solstice. During this time no war could be declared, slaves and masters ate at the same table, executions were postponed, and it was a season for giving gifts. This was a time of total abandon and merry making. It refreshed the idea of equality, of a time when all men were on the same level.

When the festival ended, the tax collectors appeared and all money owed out to government, landlords, or lenders had to be accounted for. Hesiod [2] wrote of the five ages of mankind: Gold , Silver , two ages of Bronze and an age of Iron. The Age of Gold was the purest age, when no labor was required and weather was always pleasant. It was virtually a place of pleasant surroundings and of abundance. Death was not an unpleasant eventuality and people occupied their time in pleasant pursuits.

Medieval and Renaissance scholars associated Saturn with one of the Four Temperaments of ancient medicine, melancholy. Physicians, scholars, philosophers and scientists, were rationalised to have a strong Saturn placement which gives them a tendency toward melancholy, but also wisdom.

Astrological Saturn has always been associated with the letter of the law. Gnostics have identified Saturn with the God of Early Scripture , whom they regarded as a tyrannical father, obsessed with rigid enforcement of the law. Saturn's Day, the seventh day of Scripture, the holy day of rest. Saturn's function is contraction, which gives Saturn called since ancient times "The Greater Malefic" a somewhat polarized role against Jupiter called "The Greater Benefic" in astrology.

In Vedic astrology Saturn and Jupiter are considered natural neutrals, but under closer relations become enemies although William Lilly disagrees with this and considers them both friends. Similarly, Saturn is considered cold slow and dry separate whereas Jupiter is considered warm speedy and moist inclusive.

Where there is light Saturn brings darkness, where there is heat Saturn brings cold, where there is joy Saturn brings sadness, where there is life Saturn brings death, where there is luck Saturn brings misfortune and sometimes heavy consequences for bad judgment or mistakes , where there is unity Saturn brings isolation, where there is knowledge Saturn brings fear, where there is hope Saturn brings skepticism and stalling.

However these effects are not always negative. Saturn's properties of contraction and "crystallization" are said to create solidness in the world and give lasting form to everything physical and principle. Saturn is considered the only planet that doesn't cause over-expansion when negatively aspected with Jupiter, but rather causes Jupiter's expansion to remit. Death, particular in old age, has been associated with Saturn since ancient times.

At times the freedoms created by the other planets are abused so that remorse follows. Saturn's color is black. The element associated with Saturn is lead. Saturn often stands for the father in the natal chart, as does the sun, however with Saturn it usually indicates problems with the father.

This interpretation of him is representative of time passing and the bringing forth of new generations. On a wall in Pompeii , a painting displays Saturn wearing a white robe and a veil of the same color over his head.

He holds a sickle away from his body in his right hand, appearing ready to spring into action. According to legend, Saturn fled his angry father, Coelus , and took up residence in Latium , Rome. His arrival was blessed by Janus , the god of gateways, birth and death, past and future, and beginnings and ends. Along with Janus , Saturn ruled over Latium during its Golden Age , during a lengthy period of affluence and harmony.

According to legend, Saturn was an immigrant god, but he was welcomed by Janus with open arms. He educated the Romans about how to farm and produce grapes and he trained them how to be civilized. Consequently, this also made Saturn the god of wealth. Under his rule, the Romans were able to enjoy the bounties of life free of labor. The Romans believed that if they made sacrifices to the gods, then the gods would reward them with favors.

Saturn was one of the most frequently worshipped gods, and he often received sacrifices at his temple. During these sacrificial ceremonies—and in contrast with the sacrifices to other Roman gods, where the head of the person sacrificing would be veiled—the head of the worshipper would not be covered.

Gladiatorial offerings were also made to Saturn during the month of December over a period of ten days. These were sponsored by funds from the treasury, found in the Temple of Saturn Latin: Templum Saturni. The Saturnalia festival, which was one of the most fundamental, popular and liveliest events in the Roman calendar, was named after Saturn.

It was originally celebrated on December 17, but it was later extended to last seven days, starting on the same date but ending on December This yearly festival was based on a pagan festival and was therefore held during the winter solstice. The festival consisted of all the most enjoyable aspects of other festivals—games, eating, free speech and drinking.

A Mock King watched over the festival, and was known as the King of Misrule. The jovial nature of this festival led to the cessation of labor and inverted social norms. In these inverted norms, slaves were given certain freedoms, and they would reverse roles with their masters.

Later, the Roman Christians replaced the Saturnalia with Christmas.