Halloween Christmas Easter ALL Worship of Pagan Gods

[Anthea]

In Worship of Pagan Gods
by Mike Wasdin

Someone recently said that he wished people would get back to the true meaning of Christmas. I wondered if he really believed this, because the “true meaning” of Christmas is rooted in Pagan beliefs. Christmas, as well as Easter and Halloween, are Pagan holidays. If we were to get back to the real meaning of these holidays, we would be worshiping Pagan gods. I wonder if most religious people are aware of this?

Halloween is a celebration of hallowed souls on All Saints Day, which is on November 1st, hence the term “Halloween.” Halloween is short for “the eve before All Hallows’ Day,” referring to saints who were “hallowed” spirits. Trying to extinguish the lingering Pagan influence in Europe , the Christian church decided All Saints’ Day should fall on November 1st to make it correspond with the traditional Celtic Pagan Festival of the Harvest.

Some people showed more interest in honoring their dead ancestors than in honoring dead saints. To try to curb this un-Christian tradition, the Church instituted another holiday known as All Souls’ Day, held on November 2nd. Christians were encouraged to pray for souls in purgatory on All Souls’ Day. Prior to that, Pagans celebrated Samhain (celebration of the New Year’s Day for the Pagan Celts). Since the year was divided into only two seasons, Samhain celebrated the end of summer.

Why is Christmas on the 25th of December? The origins of Christmas lie in the Pagan festival of the son of Isis , which took place on December 25th. Partying, drinking and gift giving were traditions of this feast in ancient Babylon . There is evidence to suggest that if such a person as Jesus existed, he would have not been born in December, but sometime in September or October.

Christmas coincides with the winter Solstice (Saturnalia), which honors the God of Agriculture--Saturn. This celebration existed many, many years before the “birth of Christ.” In January they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season is marked by much merrymaking. The tradition of Mummers was born in ancient Rome . The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who would travel from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern Europe , many of the traditions that are considered part of the Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The Pagans of northern Europe celebrated their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the Pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule means “wheel,” the wheel being a Pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all of the northern European winter solstices. It was customary for live evergreen trees to be brought into the homes as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were often carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In the year 350, Pope Julius I declared that “Christ’s birth” would be celebrated on December 25th. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it easy for Pagan Romans (who were the majority at the time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion was a bit easier to swallow, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ-Mass) as it is known today, began in Germany , although Catholics and Lutherans disagree about which church celebrated it first. Not that this is surprising, as they rarely agree on anything. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany .

Easter also has Pagan roots. The name Easter is the English derivation of the name Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love and fertility. As with all mythology, there is always a correlation between the myths of the different cultures. In the Teutonic myth, the goddess is known as Ostern. The Phoenician name for this goddess is Asterte. The Europeans know this story as the resurrection of Christ.

The link between all of these myths is the concept of death, the underworld, resurrection and fertility. One part of the Ishtar myth describes how Ishtar descends into the underworld and is killed (crucified) there. As a result of Ishtar’s death, the earth became infertile and neither birds, beasts nor humans mated. As the story continues, she was resurrected (sound familiar?) through magic incantations. Remember, this story emerged hundreds or even thousands of years before “Christ.”

Uruk was Ishtar’s holy city and was called “the town of the sacred courtesans.” She protected prostitutes there. Is it any coincidence that in the story of Christ, Mary Magdalene was his good friend and a prostitute, and was the first on the scene of the resurrection? Mythology is there to reveal themes in this case, death, rebirth and fertility is the main theme. Christ, like Ishtar, was represented as God, who died into the underworld or tomb of earth, and was later resurrected by some miraculous power. It also describes the seasons of the year where there is no life, no vegetation, then at some point the seasons change, and abundant life springs forth from the fertile earth.

As the myth goes, Christ was crucified, Ishtar was killed by her sister, and Astarte was forced to sacrifice herself as a gift to the sea. In all of these stories, the one sacrificed ended up coming back to life from the womb of the earth and being re-born. Christ was symbolic in that he represented the rebirth of the people.

The early Christians did not celebrate Easter. The church knew the difference between the Pagan holiday and the resurrection of Christ. What has always been celebrated is Pascha or Passover. Only much later did the lines between the myths began to dissolve.

As far as the eggs and bunnies go, they are a celebration of fertility. Eggs were sacred to many ancient civilizations and formed an integral part of the religious ceremonies in Egypt and the Orient. The mystic egg is the symbol of generative life. Babylon hatched the Venus Ishtar, and fell from the heavens to the Euphrates . Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt . Christians have mixed the two stories to achieve what is known as Easter today.

Many Christians understand that Halloween is a Pagan holiday but never considered the same about Christmas and Easter. It is ironic, really, that they never really questioned things like Santa, trees, gifts, eggs, and bunnies and how these things relate to their religion. Like most people, they did it because their parents did, and their parents before them. As for the person who said he hoped we would get back to the real meaning of Christmas, all I can say is, watch what you wish for, you just may get it.

[Anthea]

The Easter story is symbolic of rebirth and renewal and retells the cycle of the seasons, the death and return of the sun

According to some scholars, such as Dr. Tony Nugent, teacher of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University, and Presbyterian minister, the Easter story comes from the Sumerian legend of Damuzi ( Tammuz) and his wife Inanna ( Ishtar), an epic myth called “The Descent of Inanna” found inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets dating back to 2100 BC.

When Tammuz dies, Ishtar is grief–stricken and follows him to the underworld. In the underworld, she enters through seven gates, and her worldly attire is removed. "Naked and bowed low" she is judged, killed, and then hung on display. In her absence, the earth loses its fertility, crops cease to grow and animals stop reproducing. Unless something is done, all life on earth will end.

After Inanna has been missing for three days her assistant goes to other gods for help. Finally one of them Enki, creates two creatures who carry the plant of life and water of life down to the Underworld, sprinkling them on Inanna and Damuzi, resurrecting them, and giving them the power to return to the earth as the light of the sun for six months.

After the six months are up, Tammuz returns to the underworld of the dead, remaining there for another six months, and Ishtar pursues him, prompting the water god to rescue them both. Thus were the cycles of winter death and spring life.

Dr. Nugent is quick to point out that drawing parallels between the story of Jesus and the epic of Inanna “doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a real person, Jesus, who was crucified, but rather that, if there was, the story about it is structured and embellished in accordance with a pattern that was very ancient and widespread.”

The Sumerian goddess Inanna is known outside of Mesopotamia by her Babylonian name, "Ishtar". In ancient Canaan Ishtar is known as Astarte, and her counterparts in the Greek and Roman pantheons are known as Aphrodite and Venus.

In the 4th Century, when Christians identified the exact site in Jerusalem where the empty tomb of Jesus had been located, they selected the spot where a temple of Aphrodite (Astarte/Ishtar/Inanna) stood. The temple was torn down and so the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built, the holiest church in the Christian world.

Dr. Nugent points out that the story of Inanna and Damuzi is just one of a number of accounts of dying and rising gods that represent the cycle of the seasons and the stars.

For example, the resurrection of Egyptian Horus; the story of Mithras, who was worshipped at Springtime; and the tale of Dionysus, resurrected by his grandmother. Among these stories are prevailing themes of fertility, conception, renewal, descent into darkness, and the triumph of light over darkness or good over evil.

Easter as a Celebration of the Goddess of Spring

A related perspective is that, rather than being a representation of the story of Ishtar, Easter was originally a celebration of Eostre, goddess of Spring, otherwise known as Ostara, Austra, and Eastre. One of the most revered aspects of Ostara for both ancient and modern observers is a spirit of renewal.

Celebrated at Spring Equinox on March 21, Ostara marks the day when light is equal to darkness, and will continue to grow. As the bringer of light after a long dark winter, the goddess was often depicted with the hare, an animal that represents the arrival of spring as well as the fertility of the season.

According to Jacob Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie , the idea of resurrection was ingrained within the celebration of Ostara: “Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the christian’s God.”

Most analyses of the origin of the word ‘Easter’ agree that it was named after Eostre, an ancient word meaning ‘spring’, though many European languages use one form or another of the Latin name for Easter, Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover.

Easter and Its Connection to Passover

Easter is associated with the Jewish festival of Passover through its symbolism and meaning, as well as its position in the calendar. Some early Christians chose to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on the same date as Passover, which reflects Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest Jewish period. Evidence of a more developed Christian festival of Easter emerged around the mid-second century.

In 325 AD, Emperor Constantine convened a meeting of Christian leaders to resolve important disputes at the Council of Nicaea. Since the church believed that the resurrection took place on a Sunday, the Council determined that Easter should always fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. Easter has since remained without a fixed date but proximate to the full moon, which coincided with the start of Passover.

While there are distinct differences between the celebrations of Pesach and Easter, both festivals celebrate rebirth – in Christianity through the resurrection of Jesus, and in Jewish traditions through the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.

The Origins of Easter customs

The most widely-practiced customs on Easter Sunday relate to the symbol of the rabbit (‘Easter bunny’) and the egg. As outlined previously, a hare was a symbol associated with Eostre, representing the beginning of Springtime. Likewise, the egg has come to represent Spring, fertility, and renewal. In Germanic mythology, it is said that Ostara healed a wounded bird she found in the woods by changing it into a hare. Still partially a bird, the hare showed its gratitude to the goddess by laying eggs as gifts.

The Encyclopedia Britannica clearly explains the pagan traditions associated with the egg: “The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of colouring and eating eggs during their spring festival.” In ancient Egypt, an egg symbolised the sun, while for the Babylonians, the egg represents the hatching of the Venus Ishtar, who fell from heaven to the Euphrates.


Orphic god Phanes emerging from the cosmic egg, surrounded by the zodiac

So where did the tradition of an egg-toting Easter Bunny come from? The first reference can be found in a German text dating to 1572 AD: “Do not worry if the Easter Bunny escapes you; should we miss his eggs, we will cook the nest,” the text reads. But it wasn’t until the tradition made its way to the United States via the arrival of German immigrants, that the custom took on its current form. By the end of the 19th century, shops were selling rabbit-shaped candies, which later became the chocolate bunnies we have today, and children were being told the story of a rabbit that delivers baskets of eggs, chocolate and other candy on Easter morning.

Regardless of the very ancient origins of the symbol of the egg, most people agree that nothing symbolizes renewal more perfectly than the egg – round, endless, and full of the promise of life.

While many of the pagan customs associated with the celebration of Spring were at one stage practised alongside Christian Easter traditions, they eventually came to be absorbed within (stolen by) Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea (325 AD) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox .

Whether it is observed as a religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or a time for families in the northern hemisphere to enjoy the coming of Spring and celebrate with egg decorating and Easter bunnies, the celebration of Easter still retains the same spirit of rebirth and renewal, as it has for thousands of years.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-l ... ter-001571

[Anthea]

We will dream of friends long gone

[Anthea]

Where Demons Come From

Halloween brings a familiar array of spooky characters: ghosts, witches, zombies, goblins, and demons. But what is a demon, anyway? Christians today often describe them as fallen angels, minions of the most famous ex-angel of all, Satan. But New Testament scholar Dale Basil Martin writes that there was no such connection in ancient Jewish thought, or even among the first Christians

According to Martin, the ancient Greeks used the word daimon to refer to gods, especially minor gods or intermediate supernatural beings, as well as the souls of the dead. A daimon might also be a supernatural entity that causes disease, or the disease itself. Daimons could possess humans, causing madness. But philosophers generally saw daimons as exclusively good. And even regular people viewed them not as evil incarnate but as capricious creatures who needed sacrifices to mollify them.

When ancient scribes translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, they used “daimon” for Hebrew terms referring to a number of different concepts, including pagan gods, human-animal hybrids, and diseases. But notably, they didn’t use “daimon” to mean angel, even though supernatural creatures acting as intermediaries between humans and the divine fit neatly with the word’s meaning to ancient Greeks. Why? Martin writes that there are a couple of reasons. First, to Greek-speaking Jews, daimons were gods of other nations, not creatures within their religion. And second, the translators might have wanted to avoid suggesting that angels were anything like minor gods.

There are a few cases in pre-Christian texts in which angels have a connection with something like demons. In the ancient Jewish text of the Book of Enoch, “watchers”—or angels—mate with human women, producing giants. When those giants are killed, their souls become “evil spirits.” And in the Qumran documents—better known as the Dead Sea Scrolls—the “spirit of injustice” is either identified with or led by the “Angel of Darkness.”

In the New Testament, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke begin to equate demons with evil spirits. They also unify the figures of Satan, the devil, and Beelzebul. Luke refers to Satan “falling from heaven,” while Matthew mentions “the devil and his angels.”

“By combining these different references—the fall of Satan from Luke, with the reference to the devil and his angels from Matthew, with the Beelzebul story making Satan the ruler of the demons—we come up with the different elements of the later belief that Satan is the prince of fallen angels who are identical with demons,” Martin writes.

But it was only in the second half of the second century CE that Assyrian Christian theologian Tatian fully identified demons as the “arch-rebel” Satan and the fellow angels who followed him in his banishment.

Martin suggests that understanding how ancient Jews and Christians viewed angels and demons “may spark our imaginations to think anew about the cosmos and cosmic demography.” It might provide inspiration for some new Halloween costumes, too.

https://daily.jstor.org/where-demons-co ... obal-en-GB

[Anthea]

Campers celebrate Halloween in Erbil cave

After an hour and a half hike, the group reached their destination on Sunday evening. As soon as they arrived, they started setting up their tents and decorations

The campers put up Halloween decorations such as skeletons, as well as lamps and candles in an attempt to create a scary ambience to mark the festivity.

They had to trek a scary and dark route to reach the spot. While walking, they started making jokes and scaring one another.

"I love traveling a lot. Traveling is my favorite hobby. I love travel that is full of adventures. These kinds of trips are so special for me," Azeez told Rudaw.

Mahabad Faraj, 62, a camper and a mother of two, had come for the camping trip together with two of her daughters.

"Connecting with nature and other people I think is a must. I am not saying that we have come here for the sake of celebrating Halloween, but the trip itself. If I can, I will go camping every week. I always would love to do it," Faraj said.

Alan Baldwin, a British national, was the only foreign camper among them. Baldwin, 58, has traveled across 40 countries in the world and he is currently on a visit to Erbil. Baldwin believes Halloween is a new thing for the Kurdistan Region and in the future "more scary things" could be added to their celebrations.

Like many other parts of the world, Halloween celebrations are increasingly held in the Kurdistan Region with partiers playing music and dancing along with Halloween-themed decorations and food.

Halloween is celebrated every year on October 31 around the world with outfits of ghosts, ghouls, and other disguised scary creatures competing for the biggest scares.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/people-places/30102023