Fancy a month-long party?According to Pagan Calender, today is the start of Brumalia - 30 days of feasting in the run-up to December 25.
In Rome, Brumalia was a feast of Bacchus, the god of wine. It was celebrated for 30 days, starting on on November 24 and ending just after midwinter solstice. The name Brumalia comes from the Latin word bruma, which means "shortest day".
Although Brumalia was based on an earlier Greek festival that took place on December 25, the Romans liked to do things bigger and better - particularly when it came to parties - and decided to have a month-long feast.
Information website About.com states that features of our modern Christmas celebrations originated in the feast of Brumalia. The website isn't specific about which features - but I'd hazard a guess it is something to do with consuming quantities of booze :)
The I Love Bacchus Mug
pictured above is available from AmazonNote: Please don't drink and drive - having an accident wouldn't be much fun
Links
http://www.pagancalendar.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brumalia
http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_brumalia.htm
I Love Bacchus Mug
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