Valuable quotes

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~~



"The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you've already lost." ~~



Cree Prophecy - "When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money." ~~


Sunday, December 02, 2012

My merry ancient Christmas, conventional in the most unconventional way!

Thomas Nast's first illustration showing Santa Claus 1868
People are always chiding me about Christmas because I do it up to the nines! I adore this time of year so much & I can hardly wait for the season to roll around so I can get started! Decorating, shopping, making out cards, baking, candy making, practicing carols on the guitars, gift making & all the peripherals that go into making merry. Years ago, when more of our friends were nearer & not scattered across two countries & overseas, we'd have a house full of merry at this time of year. Friends knew what I was all about & loved being a  part of it.                                                                                        

But people I've met in more recent years don't get it...don't get me. They think, 'Oh no Ginger, you must be religious, otherwise how can you love Xmas so much?' Or...Ginger, you must be a Christian & you just don't know it (huh?) because otherwise you wouldn't feel the way you do about this season...sigh.  And besides, if you're not religious, then you're just one big ol' hypocrite!


Really?


Well, let's tidy up some facts of this holiday right here, okay? I don't say I subscribe to any of these things, but to claim boldly that Christmas belongs solely to the Christians is also more than a little bit arrogant as I'll point out.

Christmas need not have anything to do with either Christianity or any other organized religion, really. What it does have are origins in the midwinter festivals, almost to a one, pagan rites. Since much of it is a celebration of nature rather than religion, everyone should be able to enjoy it & be happy together in spite of their reasons to celebrate!!


As we already know, the ancient European pagans celebrated the midwinter festival & a number of other festivals long before Christianity ever existed!

Babylonians celebrated the feast of the Son of Isis with gluttonous eating & drinking, giving gifts to the goddess of fertility, love & war.

The Romans held a festival on 25 December called “Dies Natalis Solis Invicti", celebrating their own god Sol Invictas - PAGAN.


The Persian god Mithras, the Syrian sun god Elah Gabal, the German Sol, the Greek Helios & the Mesopotamian Shamash. But also Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. This was a celebratory time of year for them all - the law courts & schools were closed & no public business could be transacted. All these celebrations or rites were but a fraction of the things which this holiday we call Christmas originated - ALL PAGAN!!!


In Rome, groups of costumed went from house to house, singing, dancing & entertaining people. And this was where the caroling Christmas tradition originated PAGAN!!


Statues of the Mother & lover or the Mother & son were paraded through the streets, not only in Italy but also in Africa, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany & Bulgaria. Thus, the symbolism of the Heavenly Virgin & the infant child paraded on a yearly basis are not of Christian origin. They stem from the Mother goddess religion, which is very ancient & ENTIRELY PAGAN!!


The Scandinavian countries celebrated Yule honoring Thor- PAGAN. Yule is the time when Pagans honor the Goddess for giving birth to the sun (the God). Yule is celebrated on the night of the Winter Solstice. The yule log...


In Germania (not Germany) they celebrated midwinter night followed by 12 wild nights of eating & drinking. Born is the 12 days of Christmas - PAGAN!!


And so the traditions began. Wax tapers were given by the more humble to their superiors. The origin of the Christmas candle - PAGAN!!


The Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer pointed out that the Christian church absorbed almost all of the Pagan practices when it found the population unwilling to give up the festivals. Thus, a lot of what Christians now see as Christians practices are, in fact, pagan!!!


The church under Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25 in 350 AD in order to try & hijack the PAGAN symbolism & festivals, but it was largely ignored. Christians did not really celebrate Christmas until 378, but it was then dropped in 381 & not really resurrected again until 400.


The Christmas tree too, stems from pagan tradition & ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of holly boughs ivy & other foliage as an adaptation of pagan tree worship. Holly & ivy represented male & female. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, & the sweet custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual - all PAGAN!!


Santa Claus came from the Dutch “Sinterklaas” who was a tall figure riding a white horse through the air. He was  usually accompanied by Black Peter, an elf who punished disobedient children. Also the origin of the reindeer, sleigh & the elves ALL PAGAN!!


Our modern red coated Santa?  Well, that would be the Thomas Nast creation in 1863, for the magazine Harper's Weekly depicted in my heading picture. Though this illustration was not in color, he did go on to
recreate him in color soon afterwards in all his red and white glory later on.

 
From there of course, Santa went, shall we say viral was then brought to us by just about everyone, the most beloved I guess would be Coca Cola!!

America actually banned Christmas several times & is the originator of the expression “Happy Holidays” which came about because of the pagan origins of Christmas to include all religions & traditions!!
 
Christmas is the time of year Christians strive to prove just how pagan they aren't by proving just how pagan they are...lol! In spite of emphatic declarations to the opposite.

Abundance, charity & good will toward men, celebrating family, love, joy, friendship, giving, sharing & warmth are all part of what the pagans did during their celebrations of this holiday!! It is a sobering thought that nearly every tradition associated with the Christmas celebration is steeped in pagan rituals & heathen god worship. The origins of these practices simply can not be ignored by Christians who wish to have their God’s favor. Those who claim to be followers of Jesus’ way of life must make a close examination of this ubiquitous holiday & ask is Christmas really Christian & do I have any right to criticize those who don't believe as I do?


My advice is, just go, embrace the season, celebrate with the tree, the holly, the ivy & other plants. Make the gifts, buy the flowers, fruit, clothing etc & above all, make it a celebration that includes everyone in a joyous time. Doing that, you will be having a true Christmas!!!

As for me, keep your season as you like, allow others to keep it as they see fit...& for whatever reasons they see fit. Without recrimination, you will learn the true meaning of giving.

1 comment:

da tabbies o trout towne said...

frum R houz two yur houz, we hope everee one haza very merry Chrsitmas and a happee, healthy N blessed 2013 !!!!

loves frum boomer, dai$y, tuna N sauce and gram paw dude two

XOXOXOXO