Today is our final day of feasting before we bind the feet of Saturn once more, we have been drinking and feasting, and frolicking for 6 days now, the poor have been subsidized by the rich and all of our desires are met. Our minds are hazy, and I have no doubt that some of us are running out of wine and feel a little concerned regarding the return of the courts tomorrow.
Today we fill the large idol that stands in the middle of the Templum Saturni with ‘oil,’ (we shall stretch our imaginations by hoping that by this time it was a pleasant scented oil, or at least an attempt at masking the stench of the ‘mammals’ fat,) and we set the remaining alight in honour of the new born sun. Candles light the city on mass.
We purchase or make Sigillaria which are small doll like effigies made from pottery or ‘wax’ (we shall not imagine that the wax of today is of similar chemistry as the wax of yesteryear.) The singular doll was known as a Sigilla. The Sigilla would be made in the image of Saturn for this occasion, it would become the host for the spirit of Saturn.
Would the receiver of the Sigilla bind it for a year? One wonders if the Sigilla would be brought out from time to time during the year when it was felt that the host was needed. You may connect this to the word sigil and you will be correct in its origin if you do. If you are under the enchantment of modern day magus practice, then we can recognise the symbols are a form of this, the sigil is the logo of the logos.
Some say that the Sigillaria effigies were used as an alternative to a much more emotive practice from a much older time, the Romans that we read about at the time of the Sigillaria appear to take a dim view towards human sacrifice in their writings, but, we can speculate on the ‘what if,’ the ‘if so’ and the ‘why’ in accordance to the little evidence we have (link to be added.)