Let me start by explaining why Christmas and the Bacchanalia are celebrated on Dec 25th
After the summer solstice the sun , from the point of view of the ancients, starts it's descent into the grave. The ancients, as far as I know, thought they earth was flat, and the place that the sun went every night …
Let me start by explaining why Christmas and the Bacchanalia are celebrated on Dec 25th
After the summer solstice the sun , from the point of view of the ancients, starts it's descent into the grave. The ancients, as far as I know, thought they earth was flat, and the place that the sun went every night was the underworld or the grave.
After the solstice they days got progressively shorter, and by Dec 21st there is the winter solstice All of this you and everyone else knows.
However the ancients, neolithic peoples, who were farmers knowing nothing of celestial mechanics and thinking that the sun, moon and stars were gods. (ex: Mercury the messenger, has, what appears from earth, a retrograde orbit, meaning that it appears to move between Mars and Jupiter hence messenger of the gods). Were fearful that the sun was dying and descending into the grave. This would occasion pleas, sacrifices (sometimes human). To prove that they loved "god".
Then on Dec 21st the sun stopped it's descent, lay three days, in it's grave, then praise ye Ia (Ya) or Halleluia , the son arose from the grave and started it's ascent again And there was tthe promise that so long as the son rises, there will be everlasting life. So every Dec 25th there was a massive celebration, the Greeks called Dionysia and the Romans the Bacchanalia.
Originally Dionysus was the Greek god of fertility. Later, he came to be known chiefly as the god of wine and pleasure. The Romans called him Bacchus. Dionysus was the son of the supreme god Zeus and Semele, the daughter of a king.
In Greek Dionysos (Dionysus) means son of god (god being Dios, (familiar huh, as in Gracia Dios) we know Dios as Zeus.
The Roman's chief god was named Jupiter, not Zeus, I guess there is a limit to how much you can crib from another culture, so you integrate theirs with yours.
There is one characteristic that Dionysos and Jesus have in common. Dionysos was the god of wine, and both are said to have changed water into wine. (Actually the Greek philosopher Heron invented a vessel that you could fill with water, then pour at as wine, via a hidden chamber.
And there you have the reason behind Dec 25th. I agree though that the cult of Rome needed something to supplant the Bacchanalia, so it preempted it with Christmans, leaving them a quandary later on, as to how to celebrate the birth.
The polytheists providedd a solution, coopt the fertility rites of the Greeks, Celts, Germans, a rite that often included human sacrifice, and took place in late spring, when the ground warmed enough to sow seed. The hare (Easter bunny ) was the totem of the fertility rite, because of its prolific reproduction. The Goddess that brought fertility was Easter in the north of Europe, Also known as Astarte, Astar, Ashera, Esther. and to the pre Islamic Arabs as al Uzza.
Different names for the planet Venus, besides fertility she was the most fearsome and feared goddess of War in the pre Roman world.
I want nothing to do with the Catholic cult. I spent 7 years as a trad Catholic. I too converted to marry, at first cognitive dissonance took over and I became a traditional, ()Latin mass) Catholic even joined the Catholic Truth, subscribed to the Wayfarer (a trad Catholic paper, that called Pope John Paul II, the anti Christ.
It took some time for the nonsense to wear off. I must confess I enjoyed Latin Masses, sang in a choir even, (Latin songs), but when the priest, after finishing his homily, said "That is the word of god". my prefrontal cortex was being nudged into awakening, and I realized that these people who stood in front of a congregation lecturing them were using something they called God as a marionette, I prefer the modern term of sock puppet.
Seems we share experiences somewhat
Let me start by explaining why Christmas and the Bacchanalia are celebrated on Dec 25th
After the summer solstice the sun , from the point of view of the ancients, starts it's descent into the grave. The ancients, as far as I know, thought they earth was flat, and the place that the sun went every night was the underworld or the grave.
After the solstice they days got progressively shorter, and by Dec 21st there is the winter solstice All of this you and everyone else knows.
However the ancients, neolithic peoples, who were farmers knowing nothing of celestial mechanics and thinking that the sun, moon and stars were gods. (ex: Mercury the messenger, has, what appears from earth, a retrograde orbit, meaning that it appears to move between Mars and Jupiter hence messenger of the gods). Were fearful that the sun was dying and descending into the grave. This would occasion pleas, sacrifices (sometimes human). To prove that they loved "god".
Then on Dec 21st the sun stopped it's descent, lay three days, in it's grave, then praise ye Ia (Ya) or Halleluia , the son arose from the grave and started it's ascent again And there was tthe promise that so long as the son rises, there will be everlasting life. So every Dec 25th there was a massive celebration, the Greeks called Dionysia and the Romans the Bacchanalia.
Originally Dionysus was the Greek god of fertility. Later, he came to be known chiefly as the god of wine and pleasure. The Romans called him Bacchus. Dionysus was the son of the supreme god Zeus and Semele, the daughter of a king.
In Greek Dionysos (Dionysus) means son of god (god being Dios, (familiar huh, as in Gracia Dios) we know Dios as Zeus.
The Roman's chief god was named Jupiter, not Zeus, I guess there is a limit to how much you can crib from another culture, so you integrate theirs with yours.
There is one characteristic that Dionysos and Jesus have in common. Dionysos was the god of wine, and both are said to have changed water into wine. (Actually the Greek philosopher Heron invented a vessel that you could fill with water, then pour at as wine, via a hidden chamber.
And there you have the reason behind Dec 25th. I agree though that the cult of Rome needed something to supplant the Bacchanalia, so it preempted it with Christmans, leaving them a quandary later on, as to how to celebrate the birth.
The polytheists providedd a solution, coopt the fertility rites of the Greeks, Celts, Germans, a rite that often included human sacrifice, and took place in late spring, when the ground warmed enough to sow seed. The hare (Easter bunny ) was the totem of the fertility rite, because of its prolific reproduction. The Goddess that brought fertility was Easter in the north of Europe, Also known as Astarte, Astar, Ashera, Esther. and to the pre Islamic Arabs as al Uzza.
Different names for the planet Venus, besides fertility she was the most fearsome and feared goddess of War in the pre Roman world.
I want nothing to do with the Catholic cult. I spent 7 years as a trad Catholic. I too converted to marry, at first cognitive dissonance took over and I became a traditional, ()Latin mass) Catholic even joined the Catholic Truth, subscribed to the Wayfarer (a trad Catholic paper, that called Pope John Paul II, the anti Christ.
It took some time for the nonsense to wear off. I must confess I enjoyed Latin Masses, sang in a choir even, (Latin songs), but when the priest, after finishing his homily, said "That is the word of god". my prefrontal cortex was being nudged into awakening, and I realized that these people who stood in front of a congregation lecturing them were using something they called God as a marionette, I prefer the modern term of sock puppet.