What a Beautiful Story! Skip, I had heard about Saturnalia before,
but not the rest and as the Nuns taught us, Christmas was celebrated
as you told in your posts, that Dec. 25, was set aside, (by the
church), to incorporate pagan and christian traditions, in order to
convert the pagans to christianity. According to scientists, Jesus
was actually born in the spring, mid March, I think, according to
where the Planets were aligned, at the time of His Birth! I have
never deviated from saying "Merry Christmas" and because we started
out as Jews, who call themselves Christians, or "followers of the
teachings of Christ", I find myself most fortunate. I always light a
Menorah, to remind me that, I too, am Jewish, but follow the New
Testament, of the writings of the Apostles and of the letters written
from prison of St. Paul. Yeah, I read the latter posts after yours,
but just wanted to thank you for posting this. No one has to agree,
but as a Christian, I hear you and appreciated this post. To
all, "Merry christmas", "Happy Hanukah", "Happy Kwanzaa" and any
Holiday, you may also be celebrating. "Peace"!
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "Skip Bernstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> By all means let's put Christ back into Christmas; while we're at it
> let's put Marduk, Kronos, Saturn and a curious Jew who believed in
> giving and protecting the weakest among us; they say his name was
Jesus.
>
> However, while we're rewriting history, let's call Christmas Xmas,
> after all if you turn the "X" 45 % it's a dead ringer for a cross.
>
>
>
> ""The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our
> Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ
child
> was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log,
> the giving of gifts, carnivals (parades) with floats, carolers who
> sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the
> church processions can all be traced back to the early
Mesopotamians.
>
> The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god -
> Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk
would
> do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his
struggle
> the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk,
> the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.
>
> Early Europeans believed in evil spirits, witches, ghosts and
trolls.
> As the Winter Solstice approached, with its long cold nights and
short
> days, many people feared the sun would not return. Special rituals
and
> celebrations were held to welcome back the sun.
>
> The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the
> Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle
> the god Zeus and his Titans.
>
> The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called
> Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st.
> With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include
> masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and
> the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).
>
> "Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the
> Christians though it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The
early
> Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a
solemn
> and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the
pagan
> Saturnalia.
>
> But as Christianity spread they were alarmed by the continuing
> celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts. At
> first the Church forbid this kind of celebration. But it was to no
> avail. Eventually it was decided that the celebration would be tamed
> and made into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God.
>
> Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was
> invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The
> 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose
> religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that
time.
> The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment,
lights,
> and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the
> celebration of Christmas.
>
> The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed.
> Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In
> 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child
> celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome,
Julius
> I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas."
>
> http://www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htm
>
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