PAGAN FESTIVALS
Rituals and festivals existed long before written language. The rituals around the astronomical observatories (Stonehenge is the most well known but there were many others) which predicted the seasons, were very important. The observations were not as accurate as they are today but they were close enough to be very useful, especial in the northern climates where the differences in the seasons are much greater than in the tropics. The first estimates of 360 days in a year still echoes today in the number of degrees we divide the circle. If the seasons drifted too far, special days to bring the year back in sync with the observations were rituals to appease the gods and bring good luck to the new seasons.
“Christmas” was a festival that existed long before the Christian religion adopted this “pagan” ritual and was celebrated around the shortest days of the year to entice the sun to come back and lengthen the days again. This “Return of the Sun“ festival in much of Europe used the evergreen tree as a symbol of survival of life during the winter. Prayers to the Pagan God of the North (now Father Xmas or Santa Claus) would entice him to come down with the gift of renewal. We still use the Xmas tree, which has nothing to do with Christianity, to celebrate this festival, which was adopted in a clever move by the christian church to become the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Easter celebrations are also easily explained in Pagan terms. The spring heralded new life and fertility and therefore the symbols were rabbits and eggs. They still are. What better symbols about fertility and resurrection of new life than rabbits and eggs. Again this festival pre-dates Christianity for many, perhaps thousands of years. Again the Christian religion smartly adapted this pagan festival for their own purposes. The church however, could not get rid of the ancient symbols which are still in use today.
Doesn’t it strike you odd that the symbols for these very important Christian celebrations have absolutely nothing to do with the biblical events they are purported to represent? As you can see they are easily explainable, as these festivals were originally held for entirely different reasons.
“Christmas” was a festival that existed long before the Christian religion adopted this “pagan” ritual and was celebrated around the shortest days of the year to entice the sun to come back and lengthen the days again. This “Return of the Sun“ festival in much of Europe used the evergreen tree as a symbol of survival of life during the winter. Prayers to the Pagan God of the North (now Father Xmas or Santa Claus) would entice him to come down with the gift of renewal. We still use the Xmas tree, which has nothing to do with Christianity, to celebrate this festival, which was adopted in a clever move by the christian church to become the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Easter celebrations are also easily explained in Pagan terms. The spring heralded new life and fertility and therefore the symbols were rabbits and eggs. They still are. What better symbols about fertility and resurrection of new life than rabbits and eggs. Again this festival pre-dates Christianity for many, perhaps thousands of years. Again the Christian religion smartly adapted this pagan festival for their own purposes. The church however, could not get rid of the ancient symbols which are still in use today.
Doesn’t it strike you odd that the symbols for these very important Christian celebrations have absolutely nothing to do with the biblical events they are purported to represent? As you can see they are easily explainable, as these festivals were originally held for entirely different reasons.