Did you know that today, 5 December, was the Roman holiday called Faunalia? A holiday in honor of Faunus, god of forests, plains and fields - equating roughly to Pan in Greek mythology. The holiday was celebrated by peasants bringing the god gifts, besporting themselves by dancing.... a bit of debauching and X-rated stuff too, I wouldn't wonder!
Faunus, half man, half goat reminds me a bit of Sagittarius the Archer, half man, half horse. I wonder whether there was correleation at some point, seeing that Faunalia does fall within the realm of Sagittarius. Saturnalia, another Roman festival later this month falls within the realm of Capricorn - the seagoat, who though still a hybrid creature has, by that time, lost his humanity, no doubt as a consequence of all that debauching!
It seems that these half human/half animal beings from Roman or Greek mythology were meant to represent two sides of human nature, the better part and the baser part. Hybrid beings, fauns, satyrs, centaurs usually had the reputation of glorying in excess of one kind or another, they were drunken, orgiastic, cruel. Interesting then that Sagittarius, the zodiac sign, has 'excess' as one of its keywords.
So, if you're out for a frolic tonight, give a thought and raise a glass (or two) to Faunus.
Faunus, half man, half goat reminds me a bit of Sagittarius the Archer, half man, half horse. I wonder whether there was correleation at some point, seeing that Faunalia does fall within the realm of Sagittarius. Saturnalia, another Roman festival later this month falls within the realm of Capricorn - the seagoat, who though still a hybrid creature has, by that time, lost his humanity, no doubt as a consequence of all that debauching!It seems that these half human/half animal beings from Roman or Greek mythology were meant to represent two sides of human nature, the better part and the baser part. Hybrid beings, fauns, satyrs, centaurs usually had the reputation of glorying in excess of one kind or another, they were drunken, orgiastic, cruel. Interesting then that Sagittarius, the zodiac sign, has 'excess' as one of its keywords.
So, if you're out for a frolic tonight, give a thought and raise a glass (or two) to Faunus.
