Christmas and Easter
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Category: General History
Forum Name: Natural History
Forum Discription: History viewed through ecology, geology, paleoclimatology, paleontology & zoology to assist in understanding earth's history
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28949
Printed Date: 07-Jun-2024 at 00:54
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Topic: Christmas and Easter
Posted By: Athena
Subject: Christmas and Easter
Date Posted: 08-Dec-2010 at 12:27
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In resolving our differences, it is always to nice to find what we can agree about. For sure Christmas is the time of winter solstices and Easter is at the time of vernal equinox. Decmeber 25 is the birthday of Mithra, a Perisan god adopted by Rome and spread as far as the British Isle. Mithra is a war god and was favored by Roman soldiers and bureaucrats. It appears because people with power worshipped this god, it was blended with Jesus when Christianity was made the offical religion of Rome.
Easter has more Eygptian roots, with the Easter Bunny and Easter Egg, representing new life in Spring and resurrection of life. This celebration of resurrection and new life being less dependent on Babyolon's astromony than the birth day of Mithra, because the change would so obvious to everyone.
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Replies:
Posted By: Cryptic
Date Posted: 13-Dec-2010 at 12:30
I think eggs and the easter bunny were taken from slavic paganism
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 13-Dec-2010 at 18:49
I think the Christmas and Easter was started by the Paganism. (Paganism means the one who worship sun, people.) Hope this helps.
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 13-Dec-2010 at 20:43
Thank you, there are sites that confirm what you said.
"Eggs were once a part of Polish pagan tradition and still symbolize spring, renewal, fertility, and eternity"
Traditionally mothers and daughters would decorate the eggs. Men were not to participate, because that could lead to bad luck. The Catholic Church forbid the eating of these eggs, because it wanted to separate itself from the pagan tradition.
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 13-Dec-2010 at 21:36
It is incomplete to say the Easter egg is Slavic, and the whole point of this particular thread is that Christmas and Easter are pagan celebrations tied to seasonal cycles, that were Christianized. That is why this thread is Nature instead of myth and theocracy. The following link list several ancient cultures that recognized the Spring as" resurrection of life". Babylon is considered perhaps the first culture to celebrate the Spring resurrection of life, but most sights speak of the connection between Christianity and Egypt.
I just checked native American celebrations and it is interesting that only the Hopi seem to determined a celebration on an astronomical event. The Anasazi in New Mexico wouldn't be that far from the Hopi, and their village was designed to reflect the moons path, to create heaven on earth. They may have had more celebrations recognizing astronomical events, but we don't have good information on them. I think these tribes may have had contact with the Aztec who did studied the skies. Some tribes geared their celebration on the time to sow seeds, but not the cycles of astronomical events.
http://www.brownielocks.com/nativeamerican.html - http://www.brownielocks.com/nativeamerican.html
It would be my guess that cultures that recognized astrological events, had contact with Babylon?
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 14-Dec-2010 at 11:18
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Eat drink and be merry. We are headed into the straving time, but the sun god/goddess will return and bring life back. At structures such as Stonehenge people could observe the winter solstice, and know the course of the sun had reversed. Where winters were bad, this was the time to kill animals that could not be fed during the starving time, and it was when the alcoholic brew would be fermented and ready to drink, so of course this is a great time to eat, drink and be merry.
winter solstice recognized around the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 14-Dec-2010 at 14:22
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Regarding the dating of Easter, there is probaby no question of the past that has been so examined, and argued, as was the dating of Easter?
Regarding "Equin-oxes?", just what is the first part of this word and the last part? "Equin" could easily stand for "Equine" or "horse" and it is obvious what "oxes" means! Thus could it mean the division of the starry sky into two even sides, one being the "horse" and the other the "Ox?" Now, I know that today we could not consider such, because of this; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=equinox And, of course in my lead in sentence, I also made the distinction of "equal" sides, etc.! But, can we really be sure of the currently accepted answer? Perhaps the word has been convoluted, or changed over the centuries? And, perhaps I am full of it?  ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 14-Dec-2010 at 15:19
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The origin of Christmas is in fact from an Irano-Germanic Pagan festival named Yalda/Yuletide, Yalda is already the second most important Iranian festival, after Noruz, I doubt the majority of Iranians know that it was originally the birthday of Mithra, they consider it just as the longest night of the year, families gather together this night and don't sleep until almost dawn, they eat red fruits, like watermelon and pomegranate, grandparents repeat their ancient stories, ... ------------- 
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 17-Dec-2010 at 10:08
I am glad their are people who recognize the date for what it is; the longest night of the year, instead of believing a myth is factual, such as the birth of Jesus and the 3 magi who came bearing gifts.
This is totally the wrong time of the year for us to eat watermelon. Your seaons must be different from ours, unless the watermelon is pickled. I love pickled watermelon rind. We are experiencing cold winter days. What are you experiencing? What are some of the stories told? What is Noruz?
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Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 17-Dec-2010 at 15:35
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As you read here: http://www.news24.com/World/News/Iran-celebrates-longest-night-20081220 - Iran celebrates longest night , Wanting to have stock to sell at Yalda, fruit vendors even keep watermelons and other fruit from the summer harvest refrigerated until the winter feast.
Pomegranate is an early autumn fruit and can't be found these days too but for Yalda, you can find a large number of them in the markets, winter is also cold in Iran, I think one of reasons that Iranians eat these fruits in the longest night of the year is to feel the heat of summer in one of the coldest days of the year.
Noruz is the Persian new year, it is celebrated on the 21st of March of each year. -------------
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 17-Dec-2010 at 17:55
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Cyrus! You wrote; "..they eat red fruits, like watermelon and pomegranate, grandparents repeat their ancient stories, ..."
Do you know of any religious thought that would promote "red fruit?" In other words is it a "blood" symbol, etc.? Certainly the "blood sport" of Mithra, was cutting the neck of the bull!, and the very history of the pomegranate, makes it an interesting fruit! Just look up all of the folk lore and mythology concerning it and its symbolism! The watermelon, is similar, since in nature, it is a fruit bursting with seeds! Regards, ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 18-Dec-2010 at 12:28
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Red can be related to "blood" but also fire and heat, in fact red color is a symbol of fire in Zoroastrianism, of course there is a ceremony which is called the sacrifice of the watermelon in Yalda!!! That is similar to the birthday cake-cutting ceremony, the difference is that sometimes watermelon is not sweet and red on the inside, as it is expected to be. Anyway it is possible that watermelon has been replaced to an animal, like a sheep, or even a bull. -------------
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 18-Dec-2010 at 21:20
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I thought as much! So, in reality, the symbolism of red to blood cannot be denied! At least as it might be related to the "Killing and bleeding of the perfect 'red heffer!"?
And just what religious and pure animal did both cultures revere? ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 18-Dec-2010 at 23:24
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What do you mean by "both" cultures? Lion is revered in different cultures as a symbol of power. -------------
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Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 08:54
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Cyrus wrote-
As you read here: http://www.news24.com/World/News/Iran-celebrates-longest-night-20081220 - Iran celebrates longest night , Wanting to have stock to sell at Yalda, fruit vendors even keep watermelons and other fruit from the summer harvest refrigerated until the winter feast.
I don't know when the tradition started or who started it, but in our family it's always been a tradition to have watermelon on New Years day. Today watermelon can be flown in from any number of warm climes. When I was a child the watermelon was waxed and kept in a root celler.
You can keep a number of vegetables in that manner without refrigeration. But the whys and who have been lost in time.
------------- "Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces". Unknown. |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 11:10
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I just read an interesting article about different festivals in these days: http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article820978.ece/The-List--December-Festivals - http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article820978.ece/The-List--December-Festivals The List: December Festivals HANUKKAH: Falls this year from December 2 to 9 and is also known as The Festival of Lights. It is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. BODHI DAY: December 8 - celebrates the day the historical Buddha, Siddhartha, experienced enlightenment, forsaking years of ascetic deprivation to sit under a Pipul tree and meditate, discovering the Four Noble Truths and finally reaching Nirvana. Buddhists observe it with additional meditation, the chanting of texts and performing kind acts. YALDA: December 21 - is an Iranian festival dating back to the pre-Christian Mithraic religion: Mithras, the Persian god of light and truth, was born of a virgin mother (sound familiar?) and his birth on the longest night of the northern winter was seen as a victory over evil. More recently, the Zoroastrians adopted the feast, turning it into a social occasion when the last fruits of summer - water- melon and pomegranate - are served. PANCHA GANAPATHI: December 21 to 25 is a period celebrating the Hindu Lord Ganesha, patron of arts and guardian of culture, during which a shrine is erected in the main room of the house and redecorated in a different colour every day. Offerings of fruit and incense are made and children receive gifts which they put around the shrine . KWANZAA: December 26 to January 1 is a time during which African Americans celebrate their African heritage. It was created in 1966 by Ron Karenga, who urged black people to shun Christmas as a white festival . It has been transformed into a holiday Christians can also enjoy and is marked by the lighting of candles and the pouring of libations, culminating in the exchange of gifts and a feast of foods seen as originating from Africa. -------------
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Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 11:39
I don't know about the history of watermelon but I doubt it could be found in Iran or Europe in the ancient times, I think the importance of it in the Yalda festival is just because its red color, anyway it really tastes good to eat some summer fruits in a warm place in one of the coldest days of the year. -------------
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 12:03
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The pomegranate represents righteousness and life. I am now totally convinced, much of what is Jewish was Zoroastrian, as it is Jewish to hold the pomegranate represents righteousness, and this had to be a Zoroastrian concept. If you google "pomegranate represents life" you will get several offerings. The basic symbolism is shared by many cultures, as Cyrus makes evident.
We also know of the pomegranate through the Greek story about Demeter and her daughter who was stolen by Hades. Because the daughter ate 6 pomegranate seeds, Hades gets to keep her 6 months out of the year, and her mother gets her the other 6. Because Demeter is unhappy when her daughter is in Hades, we have winter, when Demeter is in mourning for her daughter. When her daughter returns to her, Demeter is happy she returns to making plants grow.
Opus, pointed out the red of the friuts would represent blood, and I will add to this, the bible tells us life in the blood.
I love all this symbolism. Hades is the dark place, the Lie. The pomegranate is righteousness and life. Can you imagine all these people sharing basically the same ideas but putting their own twist on them, and many years later we have forgotten the connections and argue things like, no this isn't a Zoroastrian god but a Roman one. Hey, it is everyones Gods and everyones understanding and everyones holiday. We need to get over our imagined differences.
Thanks Red Clay for the method for saving the fall harvest. Next fall I will wax my squashes and see if they keep better. I have marveled at how some squash naturally stays good for months, and others decay rapidly. Obviously organisms play a role in the decay, and cleaning and waxing the squash, now makes sense. Part of my love of gardening is a love for the mysteries of life.
I google for a meaning attached to watermelon and a recent one created by an interesting person points out watermelon is hard on the outside and sweet inside. I am starting a thread with his point of view about the difference of opinion between the rich and poor.
Shalom
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Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 12:28
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On Roseta stone ,they celebrate 18th of march like equinoxes .They called this day Festival of Deities Fire.. Hmm...Festival of Live...literary... |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 13:40
As I mentioned in another thread, Pomegranate has been always revered as a holy fruit in the Iranian culture, for example you can see a pomegranate flower in the hand of ancient Persian kings in the bas-reliefs of Persepolis:
   -------------
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Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2010 at 14:13
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Athena, it was good that you mentioned the name of the daughter of Demeter which was Persephone, it is said her name meant "Persian-speaker" in Greek, you probably know that the pomegranate is native to Persia, the Greek story could be certainly related to Persians. -------------
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 20-Dec-2010 at 11:51
A google search of "Roseta stone day Festival of Deities Fire.." comes with so much garbage it appears futile to find any good information. Can you provide more detail or possibly a useful link?
The Romans treated fire as scared, and the temple virgins were responsible for keeping the fire going. Religion at this time not being individualistic but communitist. Prayers were not for individual desires but the good of Rome, and those virgins kept the fire of Rome burning. In Zoroastrianism fire is not just life, it is truth, and of course the Lie is associated with death. What is the value of fire in the Roseta stone mention of Festival of Dieties Fire?
I am beginning to see a more wholistic relationship between past consciousness and Christianity in the celebration of "new life in spring". If we tie this with the Truth, the sun over coming the darkness, the Lie over coming death, the Christian celebration is nothing new
Interestingly, all this is connect with Virgo. The goddess can take two paths, the path of fertility or the path of Truth and Justice.
.http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/virgo-myth.html
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 20-Dec-2010 at 18:48
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I could post a lot of speculation about the fruit/flower in question! I could even suggest that it is the symbol actually shown in the famous "fleur de Lys!"
Just take a look at it? ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 21-Dec-2010 at 01:10
According to this site, there seems to be many connections between Greek mythology and Zoroastrianism. I had not idea the Persian influence could have been this strong. The technology of fire and metal working could have come from Persia. This would then be the foundation of some Greek myths. The pomegranate is often seen in the hand of Hera, Zues's wife.
http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/olympicflame/page2.htm - http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/olympicflame/page2.htm
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 21-Dec-2010 at 15:16
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As written above "The winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 and marks the beginning of winter (this is the shortest day of the year)."
And, surprisingly, last night (the 21st) we witnessed a full eclipse of the Moon, upon the "winter soltice!" And, as I believe it was reported, it was the first one since 1638 CE! In actuallity it is said; "NASA reports that this is the first time an eclipse has coincided with a solstice since December 21, 1638 CE!" The early to mid 17th century was a strange time! An eclipse on this specific date could have been a portend of many things (mostly bad)during this period of the past! ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 21-Dec-2010 at 16:16
Tonight is Yalda, Happy Yalda!  -------------
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 21-Dec-2010 at 17:59
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Cyrus, somewhere above you said, in answer to one of my posts;
"What do you mean by "both" cultures? Lion is revered in different cultures as a symbol of power." I was merely referring to the comparison of Mithra(ism) to Judaism, and other related beliefs! After all, the Bible of the Jews, mentions that a famous Iraninan/Persian King actually suggested that the Jews and the Persians both worshipped the same God! You must note that a "perfect red-heffer" was considered as one of the most perfect animals to be sacraficed before the "God" of both nations! ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 22-Dec-2010 at 02:07
Happy Yalda, Cyrus.
Here is the best explanation of this victory of the sun over the darkness yet.
http://www.farsinet.com/norooz/yalda.html - http://www.farsinet.com/norooz/yalda.html
This Persian celebration and worship of Mithra who protects the morning light, was blended with the Eygptian celebration in Rome. That this day celibrated order with disorder is amusing. Thanks for telling of us of Yalda, Cyrus. It is an important key to our history and religions.
Opuslola, our local news showed pictures of a red moon. The pictures were taken during the eclipse. Man, if people had superstitious notions and didn't have scientific explanations of the event, it must have been terrifying.
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Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Date Posted: 22-Dec-2010 at 08:49
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You are welcome!
More info about Yalda in Iran's news network Press TV: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156494.html - http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156494.html
This part of the article is interesting:
According to Iranian mythology, from Yalda night forward, light triumphs over darkness as days grow longer. This celebration, based on the Iranian calendar, comes in the Persian month of Day, the pre-Zoroastrian creator god (Deity). Later he became known as the god of creation and light. It should be noted that the English word “day,” is derived from this word and its symbolism of 'Good'. -------------
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 22-Dec-2010 at 12:23
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I am too easy move by passion. Cyrus, your little piece of information is as exciting to me, as Red Clay's finds of artifacts!
Do you realize you have revealed a deep part of human psychi? In the word "day", we are sharing a wholistic concept of creation, that is order out of chaos, and it is about good (orfer) and evil (chaos) and all this is tied to our emotions. You are saying the word "day" is a complete concept about light being the spiritual good that is repeatedly victorious over the darkness, and death, right? This is same also the Truth that is victorus over the Lie, and this is tied to the belief that virtues are synonous with strenth. All this gets tied to ideas about mortality and immortality, and we most certainly feel emotional about that. As day follows night, if we are virtuous, we are strong too, and rise again. Our immortality is tied to being strong, virutuous and good. Yalda is the lights victory over darkness, and if we live the good life, we too will be victors over the darkness, Lie, death. It all makes perfect sense, now that I see the tie with the sun and natures cycles. Thank you. This is the root of our religions is it not? This is exactly what I hoped would come up when I started this thread. Thank you.
We want to be immortal and question what will hold the order, that which is our individual being, in order when we die? If nothing holds our personality in order, our whole being returns to choas, and the "I" of who I am can no longer exist. So we image an all powerful God that gives the whole universe order, and we image a life after death without evil, the Lie, the darkness. We imagine if we aline ourselves with this God, we will be immortal like the sun who repeatedly is victorous over darkness. Only if we make ourselves one with His order, can we be immortal. If we reject this order and chose chaos, we must die with our body.
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 22-Dec-2010 at 19:40
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Athena, you actually wrote above;
"One of the themes of the festival was the temporary subversion of order. Masters and servants reversed roles. The king dressed in white would change place with ordinary people. A mock king was crowned and masquerades spilled into the streets. As the old year died, rules of ordinary living were relaxed. This tradition persisted till Sassanian period, and is mentioned by Biruni and others in their recordings of pre-Islamic rituals and festivals. Its' origin goes back to the Babylonian New Year celebration. These people believed the first creation was order that came out of chaos. To appreciate and celebrate the first creation they had a festival and all roles were reversed. Disorder and chaos ruled for a day and eventually order was restored and succeeded at the end of the festival." Did not anything in the above seem vaguely familar? Have you ever heard of the "King of Fools" on "all fools day", etc., in the West, and especially in France? Have you ever considered just what part "Quasimodo" played in the famous book? If you want to be considered as "serious" then you must recognize such things! Sorry I erased that little quip since I could not even figure out just what I wrote! If it is not a "ruse", then perhaps you could do some study of Fools Day and see if it is worth sharing? Sorry for seeming like such a smart ass! regards, ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 23-Dec-2010 at 13:59
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Here you are:(translation from phoenician language) http://www.freemaninstitute.com/rosettatext.htm Why is 3 days earlier ?Beginning of spring today starts on 21/22 of march.... And i am still looking for good high resolution copy from roseta stone!?!I am working on demotic text. Will be very gratefully from You!Purpose is pure research.Results that are expected =TRUTH.Thanks. |
Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 24-Dec-2010 at 22:58
| Very nice Medenaywe. There is so much information in your link. Unfortunately, I am too tire to remember it, but I will get back to it. Thank you. |
Posted By: Kanas_Krumesis
Date Posted: 25-Dec-2010 at 04:11
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Merry Christmas to everyone!!!
Christmas tree in Varna, Bulgaria
 Traditional Bulgarian dish for Christmas
 Traditional hand-made decoration for the Christmas tree
 Christmas liturgy in Sofia
 Because of the gifts Christmas is a favorite holiday of the children
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 25-Dec-2010 at 10:38
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Lovely pictures Kanas_Krumesis. I am so envious of the person who made that beautiful pie. I am lucky to heat a bowl of canned soup without ruining the food. But I feel an urge to copy that pie for our next pot luck and impress all our neighbors. What I am saying is there is so much more to the celebration. There is that desire to connect with others and impress them well, regardless of what religion a person is. I am not Christian but enjoy decorating a community room for Christmas. The greens and colored bulbs and lights just make everyone feel happy, except for those who choose to be intolerant, and they create their own hell with their intolerance.
Decorating with ever greens around the winter solstice is at least as old as ancient Rome. Jeremiah wrote of people who cut and decorated trees sometime between 626 to 586 B.C..
I think Jeremiah did not have a good understanding of these people and their reasoning for cutting and decorating trees, because his words are unnecessarily critical, like a tourist objecting to the ways of people who are not known.
This link is even better. http://www.bighistory.net/christmas-tree-a-brid-historychristmas-tree-a-brief-history/ - http://www.bighistory.net/christmas-tree-a-brid-historychristmas-tree-a-brief-history/
It seems almost everywhere people noticed ever greens remained alived in the winter when other plants died or appeared lifeless. My intenetion with this thread is to reconnect us with the cycle of natures. I do not believe religion that breaks us from the cycles of nature is a good thing.
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Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2011 at 12:26
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadjet - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadjet
The Egyptian goddess Wadjet celebrations were also geared to the Solstices and equinoxes events.
The goddess Wadget is associated with the Eye of Horace, which is on the USA dollar bill. The Eye of Horace is both of myth and matheical symbol. Observation of events in the sky and developed math being essential to Egyptian concept of order coming from chaos, and the human effort required to maintain order. Perhaps something we should not dismiss as important to us tody, because it is grounded in reality.
How well grounded to reality are we today in our temperature controlled homes, offices and cars, and artifacial lighting that allows us to confuse night with day? We work the same through ever season of the year, and may not even be aware of the how oribit in space and time effect our reality. We living in an abstract man made reality rather concretely grounded in the cycles of nature? How grounded in math are we, considering how abstract our math is today, compared to using our fingers to compute by 6's and 60', giving us a concept of time, 60 seconds, 60 mintures and 12 hours in a day, and the 360 degrees the circle?
Might we feel like life is out of control because we have become so abstract and disconnected with nature? How about the role Christianity has played in disconnecting us from the earth, our mother, and nature's cycles, by telling us we celebrate Christmas and Easter because of the birth and death of a diety, instead of because of the cycles of nature?
The Egyptians were fanatical about math and order, and perhaps their is a value to the perceptive?
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2011 at 19:49
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In an above post is this Biblical quotation;
"Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (King James Version). First of all, I do not see that the above verse, in the KJ version at least, describes anything like a Christmas tree! It seems more to me that the above quote describes "wood workers" or "Crafts men", or more correctly the New Testament "Carpenter", or more generally a "Mason!", who works the tree into a man made product, much like a statue made of wood, that is then bedecked in Silver and Gold, like many such statues were made! If it took more than one piece of the tree to make the statue, then these pieces were made into a whole via the use of nails and hammers, etc.! There existed no telling how many such wooden gilded statues that were made over the centuries, and then stripped of their silver and gold, and left to rot away! Regards, ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Athena
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2011 at 21:13
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http://www.touregypt.net/museum/tutl10.htm -
You made me curious so I googled wooden gilded statues, and I think you are right.
http://www.touregypt.net/museum/tutl10.htm
The link shows a picture of a gilded cobra, and the cobra is associated with goddesses and protection. It also is associated with helping the sun god safely make his nightly journey past demons in the underworld. Connecting what is said about the signs of heaven with making wooden gilded statues. As the cobra deity would help the sun god, it would help the pharaoh in the underworld, enabling the pharaoh to rise again too. This would be different from the Christmas tree, because it is clearly making an idol, right?
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 16-Jan-2011 at 21:06
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Athena, if you are indeed still reading from this site, you wrote;
"The Romans treated fire as scared, and the temple virgins were responsible for keeping the fire going. Religion at this time not being individualistic but communitist. Prayers were not for individual desires but the good of Rome, and those virgins kept the fire of Rome burning. In Zoroastrianism fire is not just life, it is truth, and of course the Lie is associated with death. What is the value of fire in the Roseta stone mention of Festival of Dieties Fire?" Actually, I could present a very good argument that these so called "Virgins!" were actually temple "prostitutes!" Can you deny it? Regards, ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |