PAGAN FESTIVALS STOLEN BY CHRISTIANS
Dr. Jai Maharaj
[ From: "G.Subramaniam" <gsu...@comcast.net>
[ Subject: Pagan Festivals stolen by Christians
[ Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004
Link to website
http://geocities.com/christprise/
Pagan Festivals stolen by Christians
Christianity stole Christmas
Despite the wild held popular belief, there is actually
no biblical text that even declares the birth date of
Christ as being the 25th of December, nor will we find
any biblical evidence that gives any indication of a
winter season birth. There is neither any external
historical confirmation for the Story of Jesus outside of
the New Testament, with accounts even being internally
contradictive with also many examples as to how
Literalist Christians have adopted and imitated the
winter festival and birthday's of other pagan gods as
their own in disregard to its own doctrine. Basic
biblical coordinates usually pin point to a mid summer
birth of Jesus which some officals later tried to
correct, seeing shepherds only guarded their flocks day
and night during lambing time. (Luke 2:8) This gives
certain exposure to the unrational mind that its very
obvious that shepherds were never blatantly foolish
enough to keep their flocks out at night in chilly winter
conditions on freezing mountain slopes.
The Winter Solstice
The major winter festival that the ancient pagans
celebrated was held when the Sun reached the point
farthest south of the equator as stated. Beginning Dec
21st, and ending Dec 25th. The winter solstice is the
renewing of the Sun every year. The Sun appears at its
most southerly position, directly overhead at the Tropic
of Capricorn (23 degrees 27 minutes south latitude). The
winter solstice has become the birthday of several pagan
gods: Attis, Frey, Thor, Dionysus, Osiris, Adonis,
Mithra, Tammuz, Cernunnos and so forth. Romans also
celebrated the festival of the Saturnalia from December
17th to the 24th to honor the Greek god Saturn (Saturday)
Saturnalia originated as a thanksgiving celebration to
commemorate the winter planting. which consisted of a
period of goodwill, devoted to visiting friends and
swapping gifts. From December 25th, until the spring
equinox, was the "40 days" (which later became Christian
Lent)
Christ took his birthday of December 25th from Mithra
during the winter solstice that celebrated the Natalis
Solis Invicti (the Birthday of the Inconquerable Sun).
Natalis Solis Invicti signaled the birth of a young Sun
god who sprang from a rock or a cave in the form of a
newborn infant.
It was not until the 4th century that Literalist
Christians actually began celebrating the birth of Jesus
Christ himself. In 313 CE, Constantine declared December
25th, the official birthday of Jesus.
In the year 375 CE, Pope Julius I too declared the
Nativity of the birth of Jesus as December 25th to win
over followers of Mithras. That is why Jesus received his
official birthday of December 25th in alignment of the
ancient sun-gods in the Roman Empire.
Christianity stole Santa Claus
Odin(Anglo-Saxon Woden) in Norse mythology was the
supreme god known for annually sweeping across the land
during the winter solstice, bringing food, wine, and joy
once a year, and by rewarding good children with fruit
and nuts.
The German Odin, was seen as a giant, with a robe lined
with fur, and holly with ivy or mistletoe on his head,
carrying a Yule Log. Odin also rode a horse called
Sleipnir, which had eight legs, able to travel over land
and water. Odin's son Thor, also appeared in a chariot in
the sky as Santa does in a sleigh. It wasnt until the
1920's that it was discovered that there were no
reindeers in the North Pole that had been portrayed, but
were all along flourishing in Lapland, Finland. People
just accepted these popular stories as true. Instead of
the north pole, the legends of Santa today derive mostly
from around Scandinavia
Christianity stole Easter
The actual ancient origins of Easter is when the Sun
rises in the East.
The word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of
fertility "Eostra" (Oestre in latin) Ishtar or Astarte
who appeared about 1430 BCE in Egyptian records.
Oestre was the personification of spring to the early
pagans.
In the Old Testament, Astarte the Phoenician goddess of
fertility is called "Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Sidonians" and Ashtaroth, the plural form of the name, is
used with the meaning "pagan goddesses." The festival of
Oestre, or the dying or rising of the Sun in the East,
occurred during the Vernal (Spring) Equinox.
When Day and Night are in equal length. During the second
century Christian missionaries eager to convert the
Teutonic tribes of northern Rome adopted much of the the
annual features of this event as the Saxons held the
great spring festival in honor of Oestre to mark the
resurrection and the rebirth of nature. Christians later
adopted this into the resurrection and rebirth of Christ.
Yet, no Christian historian has been able to give an
exact date of Jesus' death and crucifixion.
Christianity stole Valentines Day
Valentine's Day comes from the pagan celebration and
ancient Roman holiday of Lupercalia, which was held on
the 15th of February to honor the Roman goddess Juno, the
most powerful moon goddess.
The festival of Lupercalia included banquets, dancing,
sacrifices and sexual mating. During the celebration,
young naked men struck the thongs of women who came near
them.
A strike from the thong was supposed to render the woman
fertile.
The festival also saw young men drawing small "love
notes" from a container composed by eligible young women.
The men, who socialised with them attempted to guess who
had composed the note that they had drawn. In this way,
the festival brought young men and women together, to
ensure the fertility of the people, fields, and flocks.
In CE 496, Pope Gelasius outlawed the Lupercian festival,
but cleverly retained and borrowed, the pagan program
asserts by modifying it with Christian mascots. The
Lupercian festival was then replaced with St. Valentines
Day, and since Valentinus had been martyred on February
14th, the Church was also able to preempt the annual
February 15th celebration of Lupercalia.
Christianity stole Halloween
The festival of Halloween comes from the Ancient Celts
and Druids who date back around 700 BCE to 400 CE that
lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales and northern France. On November 1st, The
ancient Celts started their new year and celebrated the
festival of "Samhain".
(The Celtic lord of death) The celebration marked the
beginning of the season of the cold, darkness, and decay.
(The period of little Sun). Samhain is often named the
"Last Harvest" or "Summer's End". It naturally became
associated with human death. The night before, October
31st, the boundary between the natural world, and the
afterworld was opened and the dead would roam and mingled
freely among the living for one night before winter
began.
In the 700's, Pope Gregory III affirmed the celebrations
of the All Saints' Day, All Hallows Eve" (which became
Halloween) to be officially moved from May 13th, to
November 1 in alignment to the Celtic festival of
Samhain.
It became a observance in honor of Catholic saints. The
Celtic Church and especially the Catholic Church
transformed Cernuous, the horned god and the oldest of
the pagan Celtic deities to symbolise Satan in the
Christian religion. Much of the ancient Celtic culture
was either destroyed or adopted into Christian purposes.
Many Halloween traditions even today have been past down
from the Ancient Celts, such as the Jack-o-Lantern used
during the festival of Samhain, that were carved from
large turnips to ward off evil spirits.
Christians transformed many symbols of the Moon into evil
and satanic also; such as the frogs, bats, wolves, cats
in order to detach people from the Goddess. Words such
as: Lunatic (Moon) Tart (Tarot) Monster (Moon-Star) etc
Christianity is stealing Pongal
Pongal is a Tamil Hindu festival in honor of the Sun God
In order to make converts among illiterate people, the
church is celebrating Pongal as a harvest festival
End of forwarded message from "G.Subramaniam" <gsu...@comcast.net>
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Panchaang for 16 Phalgun 5104, Saturday, March 6, 2004:
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