Ramadan
September 23, 2006 – October 23, 2006
Ramadan is the ninth month of
the Islamic year and is the holy month of fasting for all adult
Muslims. According to the Koran, Ramadan is said to be when
Muhammad received the first revelations from Allah and fasting
is observed so believers may “cultivate piety.” Compiled after
Muhammad’s death in 632, the Koran is the earliest known Arabic
prose and contains sacred Islamic religious, social, civil,
commercial, military and legal codes. Muslims believe when
humankind turned from truth, god sent prophets to lead the
people back. Those prophets were Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.
The fast during Ramadan begins
each day at dawn, when the “white thread becomes distinct from
the black thread,” and ends at sunset. During the fast, Muslims
are forbidden to eat, drink or smoke. Before sleeping, long
passages of the Koran are recited. The Night of Determination
occurs between the 26th and 27th days of
Ramadan when the first revelation occurred. This is the night
God determines the course of the world for the following year.
The day after Ramadan or the Fast-Breaking, is celebrated with
special prayers and festivities.
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The Christian Mythos
Christians celebrate this time
as they believe this is when the Virgin Mary traveled with her custodial husband to
the town of Bethlehem and gave birth to the savior of the world.
Biblical accounts explain that Mary was visited by the angel
Gabriel while Joseph was away on a carpentry job. Gabriel
explains, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of
the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God." Joseph returned to find Mary pregnant and was naturally
suspicious until the Lord came to him in a dream and confirmed
that her child was indeed conceived "of the Holy Ghost."
The story of the virgin birth is
hardly unique to Christianity. Long before Mary, Isis was
regarded as the “Virgin of the World” and considered the
Egyptian Madonna. She is veiled, symbolizing her virginity and
that her mysteries are hidden from mortals. Modern brides
continue the practice of to wearing veils to
symbolize their virginal state. Her son Horus was born of a
virgin birth. Horus is a sun god and the lord over time and
mortal existence. Many forms of sun worship were practiced
throughout the ancient world. Structures were built on every
continent to mark the Winter Solstice, a celebration of darkness
giving way to light - the great mother giving birth to the
divine sun king who returns to give us life.
One theory suggests that Mary
and Joseph were members of a Jewish religious order known as the
Essenes. They existed from the second century BCE to the second century AD in Syria along the
Dead Sea and are the purported
authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The fundamentals of their
teachings were love of god, virtue and one’s fellow humans.
Central to Essene culture - and surrounding Roman culture - were the shrines and temples of
worship. The guardianship of these temples was in the hands of
vestal virgins, who were vowed to thirty years of service - 10
of learning, 10 of performance and 10 of teaching.
An ancient ritual known to be in
practice was the Sacrificial King Rite. It encompasses the more
taboo practices intrinsic to early Christianity - human
sacrifice and cannibalism. Humans were sacrificed to act as
messengers, relaying the injustices of the world directly to
god. Initially, actual bluebloods were sacrificed, but
aristocracy soon replaced itself with “mock kings.” It was
important that the sacrifices embrace their fate willingly. The
village took care of all their physical needs and the villagers
in turn could join the bloodline by ingesting the earthly
remains of the sacrifice.
The sacrificial king could
return to earth, bringing instruction directly from god, though
the practice of artificial insemination. Vestal virgins were
ritually inseminated with the contributions of at least three
men superlative in their field of study. Matthew tells of three
Persian alchemists attending Jesus’ birth; three wise kings “who
journeyed from the East to Jerusalem and inquired of the ruler
Herod where they might find the child king. Herod gave no
assistance, but insisted that they return with any news. They
continued their quest using a star as their compass until they
located the infant Jesus.”
The ancient priests were divided
into three castes, – apprenticeship, mastership and finally
perfect mastership. The eldest king Melchior of Arabia, 60,
brought gold coins and a golden apple. Balthasar, 40-year-old
king of Sheba, brought frankincense, a fragrance associated with
divinity. Gaspar, 20, from Tharsis brought myrrh, an embalming
unguent. A seventh century text, the Book of Adam,
associates these ingredients with “alchemical resurrection.”
Each religion is based on the
sacred doctrines that came before it. Christianity is no
exception. Early Romans, Babylonians, Egyptians, invading
Greeks, and the Roman Catholic Church have all left their
indelible mark on Christianity.
“Christ Mass” was
officially designated as December 25 by Pope Julius I in the
fourth century to displace the pagan rituals celebrating the
return of the sun at Winter Solstice. While it may seem the days
of pagan lore and magic are eons behind us, a closer inspection reveals the
rites and symbols of the old Yuletide celebrations
are very much alive and in practice.
Historical context would suggest
that the story of the birth and crucifixion of Jesus is a
continuation of the “Sacrificial King” mythology. Jesus was born
to a virgin, a willing sacrifice and ritualized the consumption
of the God man at the Last Supper in the offering of the
Eucharist. Osiris, Dionysus, and Attis were also ritually
consumed. Also notably
relevant are the symbolic “crown” of thorns Jesus was made to
wear and the banner commonly depicted at the head of the cross.
The Hebrew letters I.N.R.I. - Yod, Nun, Rish, Yod, are said to
represent the inscription “Jesus, King of the Jews,”
further implying Jesus was a “mock king” figure.
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Pagan
Traditions
Santa
Claus
Christmas Tree
Mistletoe
Gift Giving
Lord of Misrule
Yule Log
Santa
Claus
Odin, the Norse god rode his
horse across the winter skies of Germany and Scandinavia with a
host of elves and spirits. Any mortal offering him reverence was
rewarded with gifts. As Christianity spread, Odin’s horse, elves
and gifts eventually became the accoutrements of a Christian
saint named Nicholas. Children set out their shoes on the eve of
his feast day, filling them with hay and carrots for his white
horses. They believed Nicholas would ride over the rooftops in
the night with his elf companion Knecht Ruprecht, who carried a
switch for naughty children while Nicholas carried bags of toys
and sweets to be left in the shoes of all good children.
Nicholas first became the patron
saint of boys by miraculously restoring life to three murdered
young boys. He then saved three desperate maidens from slavery
after overhearing a father explain to his daughters he could no
longer afford to keep them. That night, Nicholas spotted their
wooden shoes through an open window drying on the hearth into
which he threw three gold balls, or bags of dowry gold. When
they awoke, the girls were overjoyed to find they didn’t have to
leave. This is how Nicholas became the patron saint of girls as
well. You may spot Nicholas’ 3 golden balls on modern pawnshop
signs, emblematic of an exchange of money to avoid a harsh
consequence.
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Christmas
Tree
The evergreen is an ancient
symbol of life much older than Christianity. Egyptians brought
green palm branches into their homes on the winter solstice as a
symbolic gesture of life’s triumph over death. Romans adorned
their homes with evergreens during Saturnalia, a winter festival
in honor of Saturnus, god of agriculture. Druid priests
decorated oak trees with golden apples for their solstice
festivities and in the Middle Ages, the Paradise tree, an evergreen hung with red apples, was symbolic feast of Adam and
Eve held on December 24th.
The first recorded reference to
the Christmas tree dates back to the 16th century. In
Germany and France, families decorated fir trees with colored
paper, fruits and sweets. The practice was brought to America by
German settlers and by Hessian mercenaries paid to fight in the
Revolutionary War. In 1804, U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn hauled trees from
surrounding woods to their barracks at Christmas.
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Mistletoe
Mistletoe, also known as Allheal,
was used in folk medicine to cure many ills. Native Americans
used it for toothaches, measles and dog bites. Scandinavians
regarded mistletoe as the plant of peace. If enemies met beneath
it in a forest, they maintained a day-long truce. Five days
after the new moon following the Winter Solstice, Druid priests
would cut mistletoe down from sacred oak trees with a golden
sickle. The branches were divided into many sprigs and
distributed among the people. The sprigs were hung over doorways
as protection against thunder, lightening and other evils. A
sprig placed in a baby’s cradle was protection against fairies.
The kissing tradition comes to
us from the Vikings. The Norse god Balder was loved by all the
gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. To
protect her beloved son, she secured promises from the four
elements that they would never harm him. But Loki, a clever evil
spirit, made an arrow from mistletoe wood. Loki gave the arrow
to Balder’s blind brother Hoder, who shot the arrow and struck
Balder’s heart, killing him. Frigga’s tears became the white
berries. In some versions, Balder returns to life and a grateful
Frigga reverses the offensive reputation of mistletoe, making it
a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss on anyone
passing under it.
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Gift
Giving
Gift giving is associated with
the Magi on the Epiphany, but the custom of exchanging gifts
harkens back to the Roman Saturnalia. Saturnalia began on the
winter solstice and lasted for seven days. Rituals began in the
Temple of Saturn when the god’s statue was filled with olive oil as a symbol of his
agricultural functions. Gift giving, feasting, drunkenness,
merry making, attempts to conceive more children, pranks and
role reversals were popular activities. Children and slaves were
waited on and allowed to participate in rituals as if they were
in charge. Traditional gifts were wax tapers and little dolls,
although gifts of silver later became tradition.
Many decorations involved
greenery – garlands and wreaths adorned doors and hung over
windows. Trees were decorated where they grew. Ornaments
included suns, moons, stars and the faces of the god Janus.
Gilded cakes in a variety of shapes were quite popular. Children
and birds competed to rid the trees of their treats. People were
just as likely to be ornamented with greenery and golden
jewelry. Although the emphasis was on Saturn, the Sun received
its fair share of revelry.
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Lord
of Misrule
The
French call him the Abbott of Misgovernment, the Scots call him
the Abbot of Unreason. To the English he is know as King of the
Bean and in other places, he’s called the Lord of Misrule. In
some lands he reigned from All Hallow’s Eve until Candlemas on
February 2 and presided over the whole winter. In other places,
he only lorded over the 12 days of Christmas. Wherever he was,
he was the master of Christmas revelry.
In
early Europe, Christmas time was
regarded as a time of chaos and craziness. Like Saturnalia, people switched roles – servants
became masters, men dressed like women, people wore disguises
and dressed as animals. The Lord of Misrule was usually draped in ill-fitting
velvet and fur with a crazy hat and from three in the afternoon
until midnight on the Solstice. Minstrels played and a huge feast was served
along with ale and wassail. There were card and dice games and riddles. Old Father
Christmas would make an appearance and an ancient drama involving Saint George, England’s patron
saint, a dragon, a Turk and a doctor was played out. The
celebration went into the night and often ended with the
participants gathering to sing the songs of the season.
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Yule
Log
Yule is the pagan name for the
winter solstice and a celebration of the rebirth of the Sun
King. The Yule log’s sacred origins are all associated with
health and protection. In the blaze of the Yule log burned the
joy at the returning of the light, and the log itself bore
within it the fires of spring. The Yule log must never be
bought, but received as a gift or found. In England, it was
decorated with evergreens and sometimes sprinkled with grains or
cider before it was lit. In Yugoslavia, where the log was cut
before dawn on the solstice and carried into the house at
twilight, it was adorned with flowers, silk and gold, and then
doused with an offering of wine and grain.
The burning of the Yule log
protected the household against witchcraft and the ashes were
spread over fields to make them fertile or cast into wells to
purify the water. The ashes were used in various charms to free
cattle from disease and to bring good weather. In Germany, the
remnants of the log were thought to protect the house from
lightening. When the burning is complete, a fragment of the wood
is saved to light the next year’s log and bring back the light.
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Kwanzaa
December 26, 2006 – January 1, 2007
Kwanzaa begins on December 26
and lasts for seven days. It’s a relatively new, non-religious
tradition that’s celebrated in this country by African
Americans. Conceived by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is
a time for African Americans to reflect on their rich, enduring
heritage since being in
America. Kwanzaa, a Swahili word, translates to “first fruit of the harvest” and
is a meaningful, colorful time. There is feasting, music,
dancing, stories, history and a celebration of the ancestors.
The seven days of Kwanzaa and their
meaning are: 1. Umoja meaning unity. 2. Kujichagulia
is self-determination. 3. Ujima means working together and
helping each other. 4. Ujamaa means to support each
other. 5. Nia stands for maintaining the dignity of
ancestors. 6. Kuumba means creativity. This is the day of
Karamu, the great feast to be celebrated with family and
friends. 7. Imani means having faith in oneself and the
ancestors. A ceremonial kinara is used to hold seven candles.
Three green candles representing new life, a middle black candle
representing the face of the African people and three red
candles representing the blood of African people. Some light all
of them every night, others light one a day.
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Winter
Solstice
December
21, 2006 7:22 PM EST
The Earth's axis runs north to
south, but is tilted 23.5 degrees in relationship to the plane
of the solar system. That slight tilt of our planet as we orbit
the sun dramatically affects our relationship to our star. Even
though we are 93 million miles away, it changes the amount of
surface area absorbing the sun's rays. This is literally the
reason for the seasons.
On the Vernal and Autumnal
Equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west directly over
the equator. The length of night and day on an equinox is
"equal." On the Summer Solstice, the sun rises directly over the
Tropic of Cancer, located exactly 23.5 degrees north of the
equator. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the
longest day of the year. On the Winter Solstice, the sun shines
directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, located 23.5 degrees south
of the equator and is the shortest day of the year. After the
Winter Solstice, the sun rises a little further north each
successive day, giving our ancestors cause for great celebration
and thanks that the “sun was returning.”
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©
2006 Wendy Brinker
