Yes that article feels it was September. I think that sounds reasonable. For one thing, these women were having babies ALONE or with only the care of midwives and other women. It was the most dangerous thing a woman could do in this time period. Delivery in the dead of winter would have been bad.
Yes you are dead on balls correct. Here is a bit more about what actually went down. Also know that it was not only the Yule festival but also Easter and the Maypole celebration.
No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?
The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. 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 was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.
In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the 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 Sun 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 itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes 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 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.
Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”
The controversy continues even today in some fundamentalist sects.
I have to agree that it does seem quite suspicious that these NDE survivors always seem to record having nearly identical experiences. Things like bright flashing lights and lit tunnels and feelings of warmth or floating. That makes me think that its related to the pineal gland perhaps flooding the brain with an excess of hormone to help crate a "calming effect" while the body is physically shutting down. I know we can’t really substantiate this one way or another. People are going to believe what they want and we can’t tell them that there are physiological responses at play because they will actively seek to reject that.
I know. Im just joking. Threats are no good. I had a problem in that direction on another site like this and I deactivated and left. I didnt want to take any chances with it.
The expression means when you are at your wit's end and have reached an impasse with someone usually in a polarized argument situation. It does not literally mean flogging a dead horse.
It would be most upsetting to have to acknowledge that holy spirits are running around on the loose knocking up women. Its all most women can do to avoid unwanted pregnancy when they know what’s happening. I guess the men never thought of that inconvenience.
I agree. They were probably like 6 foot or average height today. These Mediterranean men are shorter in stature. They are tiny now so they were even smaller then. I wouldnt jump to any mythological beast conclusions.
Yes Linda Blair in the Exorcist was quite memorable. They did an excellent job on her makeup and it wasn’t overdone. You could still clearly see the "little girl" face which made it all the more disturbing. I also liked it when she spoke Latin to the priest! That was awesome.
Mrali, how do you explain that many of the stories in the bible are almost exactly the same (barring different names) than the Sumerian tales? The Sumerian civilization and people lived in a historical region located in Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia). It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC.
Genesis was said to have been written by Moses while the Jews were wandering around in the desert for 40 years. (1450 - 1410 B.C.)
The Christ myth theory (also known as the nonhistoricity hypothesis, Christ myth, or Jesus myth) is the contention that Jesus did not exist as a historical person and that the Jesus of the New Testament was created by early Christians based on earlier mythology. Different versions of the theory have proposed many different sources for the New Testament Jesus, including Indian myths of Krishna, myths of dying and rising gods such as Adonis and Osiris, Hellenistic mystery religions such as Mithraism, or a pre-Christian cult of Jesus within Judaism. Some versions of the theory attribute the beginning of Christianity to a historical founder who predates the time Jesus of Nazareth is said to have lived, such as Yeshu ben Pandera or the Teacher of Righteousness.
Oh I do like you sir! Yeah it goes even further than that. The bible is essentially plagiarized from the Sumerian stone tablets which predated it by thousands of years. Moses was based on King Sargon and the parallels are embarrassing.
The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved ancient law code that originated in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by King Hammurabi. This is where the modern day American legal system was inherited from. These people were pagans. The Mosaic Law has NOTHING to do with our court systems thank goodness.
So you consider restricting Christian prayer to outside of the public school environment as being "persecuted?" That’s ridiculous. Why don’t you try walking in an atheist's shoes in this country for once. Or a minority. You whiny b!tch.
I also wasn’t present for WW2 but I’m pretty sure it took place. That’s why we have people that go into the fields of historian, archeology, physical and cultural anthropology.
krimsa Forum Posts (1,345)
How did Mary become pregnant?
Yes that article feels it was September. I think that sounds reasonable. For one thing, these women were having babies ALONE or with only the care of midwives and other women. It was the most dangerous thing a woman could do in this time period. Delivery in the dead of winter would have been bad.