I am pleasantly amused by people who get so adamant and frustrated about people not remembering “the *REAL* reason for the season.” The REAL one. Did I get enough emphasis on ‘real’? Some people will even get to the point of tears because of the lack of real-ness, apparently. Has it gotten to commercialized? Have we forgotten what it’s REALLY all about?
Really?
Nimrod comes to mind.
According to ancient Babylonian tradition (About 2167 BC), Semiramis (who eventually became known as the pagan goddess Astarte/Asherah/Ashtoreth/Isis/Ishtar/Easter in other pagan religions) claimed that after the untimely death of her son/husband Nimrod (yes she was married to her own son), a full grown evergreen tree sprang up overnight from a dead tree stump. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod would visit that evergreen tree and leave gifts each year on the anniversary of his birth, which just happened to be on December 25th. This was the day each year when the day started to become noticeably longer.Thus it was fitting for the early pagans to designate December 25th as the date of the birth or the “rebirth” of the sun, and about a dozen other pagan gods. It was certainly the style of the time:
The following are just some of the pagan gods that had “birthdays” on December 25th….
Mithras
Horus
Attis
Dionysus the son of Zeus
Tammuz
Hercules
Perseus
Helios
Bacchus
Apollo
Jupiter
Sol Invictus – (The “Unconquered Sun”)
Mithras
Horus
Attis
Dionysus the son of Zeus
Tammuz
Hercules
Perseus
Helios
Bacchus
Apollo
Jupiter
Sol Invictus – (The “Unconquered Sun”)
When the Roman Catholics decided to make December 25th a “Christian holiday” in the fourth century, (There appears to be no doubt that Pope Julius was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans to convert to Catholicism) they simply adopted a long standing pagan holiday of the rebirth (or resurrection of the Sun, and kept most of the same pagan traditions. For example, the ancient Babylonian “Christmas tree” became known as a symbol of fertility throughout the ancient world. The pole, balls, and tinsel represented various aspects of male fertility, while wreaths were always fashioned in a circle to represent female fertility.
The Puritans who came to America seeking religious freedom, banned Christmas trees because it was common knowledge that it was a blatant pagan practice and the evergreen tree, adorned with ordainment and gold and such were blatant pagan symbols. The Puritans followed the bible’s teachings too:
Thus, is the true reason for the season. The origin of the Christmas Holiday!
Of course… I may be wrong, and this may be the REAL reason for the season:
So, in the immortal words of Homer Simpson, “God bless those Pagans”. Happy Holidays everyone!
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