Saturday, February 12, 2011

Holy-Days (author unknown)

Christian "Holy-days" are ancient pagan feasts that were ushered in by the Roman Catholic Church during the rule of Emperor Constantine (a lot of them). Constantine was a pagan sun-worshipper who had a "Christian experience" that wanted to unite his empire, both Christian and pagan together. He achieved this by re-writing history and re-naming pagan feasts with Christian names. Most if not all of the rituals and symbols that take place during these days have a paganistic background. This is a very general summary of the origins of each festival:




Sunday Services:

Early Christians kept Saturday as the Sabbath until March 7, 321 CE when Pope Constantine passed a law requiring believers to worship on Sunday, the day the pagans worshipped the sun-god. Christians still kept Saturday as the Sabbath until another law was passed eleven years later. This law signed into decree by Pope Constantine forbid believers to worship on the Sabbath (Saturday) and it was punishable by death by the Catholic Church. Many believers were burned to death by the Catholic Church for keeping the Sabbath.

So many holidays rooted in pagan sun-worship including Father's Day, Mother’s day and Easter, always fall on the Sun-day, the day named in honor of their most powerful god -the Sun! ('A'oodhoobIllaah!)


Birthdays:

Origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating-complete with lighted candles - in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom.

New Year's Day, January 1:

The Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B.C. Romans worshiped "god Janus" who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. The month of January was named after this Roman god and it gave an idea to the emperor to establish January as a gate to the New Year.

April Fool's Day, April 1:

The most commonly accepted theory among historians is that the holiday was first officially introduced with the changing of the pre-Christian calendar of thirteen months to the Gregorian calendar of twelve months. In 1582, Pope Gregory III ordered a new calendar to replace the old Julian calendar. In this new calendar, New Years Day was shifted from April 1, to January 1. Those that continued to celebrate New Years Day on April 1 were referred to as April Fools and were subject to ridicule being taunted by their neighbors.

Ground Hog Day, February 2:

Groundhog day goes back to Imbolc, a pagan festival, celebrated by witches, druids and other pagans as part of the wheel of the year. Imbolc is the special day of Brighid, the Celtic "goddess of fire", and thus is deemed a fire festival, celebrated between the 31st of January to sunset on the 2nd of February.

Its transformative powers of the flame signify change and the setting of new goals. As the Crone of winter gives way to the Maiden of spring, this festival of light cleanses to make way for the new. Nature starts to come back to life, and the new agricultural season begins. Basically it refers to the turning of winter to spring.

It is traditionally a time for new witches and druids to be initiated into the Craft, falling in with its association of change and dedication to new goals.

The name February comes from the Latin februare, which means “to purify.” For the Romans, February was a time of cleansing and purification. They prepared themselves for various activities that were coming in the Spring, making a fresh start.

Valentine's Day, February 14:

The Romans celebrated a holiday on February 14th to honour Juno Fructifier, "Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses" as well as "goddess of marriage".

In 469, emperor Gelasius declared February 14th a holy day in honor of Valentinus instead of the pagan "god Lupercus". This allowed Christianity to take over some of the celebrations of love and fertility which had perviously occurred in the context of paganism.

Family day in Canada & President Day in America, February 15:

On February 15, Romans celebrated Luperaclia, honoring Faunus, "god of fertility". Men would go to a grotto dedicated to Lupercal, the "wolf god", located at the foot of Palatine Hill and where Romans believed that the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were suckled by a she-wolf. The men would sacrifice a goat, don its skin, and run around, hitting women with small whips, an act which was supposed to ensure fertility.

Easter Sunday, Always Falls on a Sunday Between March 22 and April 25:

Easter or Ishtar, also known by her biblical name Semiramis and later called the "Queen of heaven" was the widow of Nimrod and mother of Tammuz. Easter is the bare breasted pagan "fertility goddess of the east". Legend has it that she came out of heaven in a giant egg, landing in the Euphrates river at sunrise on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox, busted out, and turned a bird into an egg laying rabbit.

To honor this event, pagan sun-worshippers would go out early in the morning and face to the east to watch their "sun-god" arise over the horizon before having a mass (sacrifice) in which the priest of Easter would sacrifice three month old human infants and take the eggs of Easter and die them in the blood of the sacrificed infants. The blood-red colored Easter eggs would later hatch on December 25th, the same day her son Tammuz the reincarnate "sun-god" would be born. Sound familiar? Reincarnate of "sun-god" (son god) born on Dec. 25.

Easter married her son Tammuz who was by legend the reincarnate "sun-god". Tammuz went pig hunting and was gored to death by a wild boar and that is why pagans eat ham on Easter. Because Tammuz was killed when he was forty years old, pagans fast one day for each of the years that he lived leading into Easter. This practice is known as Weeping for Tammuz by pagans but called Lent by Catholics.

Mother's Day, Second Sunday of May:


Mother's Day dates back to ancient cultures in Greece and Rome. In both cultures, "mother goddesses" (Queen of Heaven), were worshipped during the springtime with religious festivals. The ancient Greeks paid tribute to the powerful "goddess Rhea", the wife of Cronus, known as the "Mother of the Gods" (Queen of Heaven). Similarly, evidence of a three-day Roman festival in Mid-March called Hilaria, to honor the Roman "goddess" Magna Mater, or Great Mother, dates back to 250 BCE.


Thanksgiving, 2nd Monday in October (Canada), 4th Thursday in November (United States):

The pagans in Rome celebrated their thanksgiving in early October. The holiday was dedicated to the "goddess of the harvest", Ceres, and the holiday was called Cerelia. The Catholic church took over the pagan holiday and it became well established.


Halloween, October 31:

Halloween is a pagan holiday to honor the dead and evil spirits. They did this by dressing up like the evil spirits and giving offerings to the evil spirits. This is why candy is given out on Halloween, as offerings for the evil spirits. The phrase trick or treat was attributed to this practice because pagans believed the evil spirits would do something bad (trick) to them if they did not leave an offering (treat) for them. ('A'oodhoobIllaah!)

Christmas, December 25:

Every "sun-god" was born on December 25th. Amun-Ra, Horus, Mithra, Tammuz, and Zeus were born on December 25th. If there was one day that the Messiah was not born, it was December 25th. In fact the Bible is quite clear that Messiah was born late September or early October on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Author Unknown

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