One of the "best" achievements of Europe's Christian culture was the transformation of various pagan winter festivals into a celebration of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.December 25th occurs about the time of the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The shortening days were taken as a sign that the Sun was getting weaker. After the Solstice, the days begin to get longer and pagan folks thought that was an indication that the Sun was getting stronger. Thus, the Winter Solstice became the birthday of several gods: Attis, Frey, Thor, Dionysus (my favourite:-), Osiris, Adonis, Mithra, Tammuz, Cernunnos and so forth. It is a solar holiday, marking the time that the sun becomes apparently stronger day by day.
Jesus was born on December 25, of a virgin. His birth was witnessed by shepherds and magicians Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar [magi]. The Greek word interpreted as "wise men" is "Magoi." He raised the dead and healed the sick and cast out demons. He returned to heaven at the spring equinox and before doing so had a last supper with his 12 disciples (representing the 12 signs of the zodiac), eating mizd, a piece of bread marked with a cross (an almost universal symbol of the sun).
The Encyclopedia Britannica (1949, article Christmas) says—“CHRISTMAS (the 'Mass of Christ')”. Clement of Alexandria (about 200 AD) mentions several speculations on the date of Christ's birth, and condemns them as superstitious... The exact day and year of Christ's birth have never been satisfactorily settled. When the Fathers of the Church in AD 340 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely (!) chose the day of the Winter Solstice, which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people, and which was their MOST IMPORTANT FESTIVAL.”We have to reverse history.. I hereby kindly reclaim our Teuto paganish festival !
(Adapted from http://www.stevethepro.ukf.net/xmas/ , http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/wisemen.htm, http://atheism.about.com/b/a/051387.htm and http://www.apfn.org/apfn/christianity.htm)
8 comments:
Xmas is more about making money....as is almost all other religous holidays.....
Happy Holidays to U and yours.
Happy Holidays Dimitri!
Jon, Soldier and Lesley-- Thank you and happy Solstice days to you and your loved ones.
Worried American-- Thank you for stopping by. I wasn't aware of any Christian Reconstruction Movement.'Just visited some websites on this theme. To my belief they are not so different from the Muslim fundamentalistic explenation of the old testament. Hope those thoughts will remain within a minority group. Happy Solstice.
Hi DA
An interesting posting and its true many of our religious practices arose from pagan sources. It seems Christs birth is not known but more likely to be closer to Easter.
Bur as you know time is a tricky concept !! we think of time as purely linear as personally our dents are so small during our lifetime they are barely measurable.
But I agree with you. Our universe is shaped by gravity, an expression of time....... the effect of gravity allowing the balloon to bubble out and bend inwards into different shapes -by other objects in our universe, which is our space and time.
Judo Christian religion defined time in purely linear terms whilst Hindu and Mayan religions were closer to our modern day understanding.
Thanks for your comments and I look forward to your company going forward ....in time !!
Happy Teuto Paganish Festival DA! I think just about every symbol is borrowed too - the tree, the candles, the star and the feast...
I did just enjoy a very nice single malt that I received for a present - good reason for pagan rituals!
I have always been a pagan at heart, it was my parents most exasperating problem with me... I did a big 3 day Ritual for the Solstice this year, it was awesome working the energy and being in tune with the Season. It would have only been better if I was at NewGrange or some other megalithic site of great import.. but my land, where I live gave me a great gift. And I hope that the Winter Solstice was great for you too,,, glad to know that you are so open with these kinds of thoughts,, good for you and all around you..
Now we have the Sun Growing in strength each day,,, only 2 full moons til spring!!!
I loved the poem you left for me. It was achingly beautiful.
I was born and raised Christian/Catholic, however, I never believed that Jesus was actually born on December 25.
Thank you for this little history lesson!!!
Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones.
Are you doing anything special for New Year's?
Lindsay--- Thank you for again a special comment and the wishes for company me.
Gary--- The secrets of the Spey Delta are a universal mystery to my opinion :-)
Scot--- I wonder what the three day ritual was about..Think I will find it on your blog once:-)
Nova--- Thank you for sharing your insights on your blog. Lately many things we do turn out to be special in some way. I am confident this will happen for new year as well without having planned anything..
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