Literary Illusions

Ashtyn and I have been tossing around the idea of learning Ancient Greek. One of the most common types of Ancient Greek that actually has Ancient documents is Koine. This is also the language the original New Testament was written in. While the Greeks do not have any religious book that is to them what the Bible is to the Christians, the Torah is to the Jews, and the Koran is to the Muslims, it is said that during the Byzantine conversion, many religious texts were believed to have been destroyed.

We must rely on history to follow Hellenismos (the polytheistic, ancient, Hellenic religion). We can only do that by what texts are available. One way to access these texts in their original form is by learning Greek. This is why learning Greek is important to us. Since the original New Testament is one of the few books we have, whether we believe in it or not, the source material is a teaching tool we can use. Not only that, but this is the original Biblical text. This does not contain all the dogmatic connotations that the past 2,000 years of leadership (both church and state) have applied to the text. I would rather learn through this kind of text (and take the New Testament for what it is – a bunch of fables/stories) so I can be able to read other Greek documents that have managed to have been preserved.

To learn Greek, I’ve joined a Yahoo Group that accesses a University of Houston online class website to self-teach Greek. The class is an Introduction to Ancient and Biblical Greek. I look forward to learning this way, but I’m also looking into purchasing a course in Ancient (Koine) Greek that Ashtyn & I can teach our son.

There are three years worth of lessons. You can find the courses at the Open Texture website. I’ve emailed the staff at OT and they are very nice. Their materials are highly recommended for beginners. While they use the Bible as the course material, it is from an original version of the New Testament. It isn’t English text that has been turned into Greek so you can re-translate it into English.

No matter what religion you are, would you be willing to learn an Ancient Language? Feel free to respond in the comment section and tell me your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Koine, Ancient Greek, Studies, Courses, Open Texture, Biblical, New Testament

If you like this post, buy me a latte!

It’s Christmastime again. The tree is up and the lights are lit. The house is filled with decorations that sparkle and shine. The presents are wrapped (for the most part) and the celebration is ready to begin. The celebration, for many these days, is now something that is entirely commercial in nature. I, like many, have never viewed the Christmas holiday as something that was supposed to be about Jesus or any of the stories behind the Christian faith.

While there are stories of the birth of Jesus and the relation to Christmas trees because of Saint Boniface, I realized that even if these myths were true (they aren’t by the way)the spirit of Christmas really has little to do with these ideas. Christmas trees are decoration and presents are material goods that do not make a person’s life better or worse.

As a believer in Hellenic faith, I am not one to consider Christmas my celebration. It’s mainstream. I tend to celebrate Winter Solstice instead because that makes more sense to me. The Christmas tree and decorations may be considered a Christian concept, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, much like Jesus’ December birthday, it’s a fallacy.

Some believe that Jesus really was born on December 25 and others have looked to January 6. Others tend to look towards the spring and feel that those dates are more relevant. The Bible does not offer an actual date. However, I find December 25 and January 6 interesting for a number of reasons.

While Winter Solstice is no longer on December 25 according to the new calendars, in Ancient times the old calendar had Solstice set on the 25. This, the day of Invincible Sun, was celebrated as far back as the third century during the reign of Aurelian. In 273, the Christian Church chose the same day. Many believe that it was an attempt to Christianize the day. Whatever the reason, it was the original Winter Solstice. January 6, the other option many look to, is known as Epiphany. However, the Ancient Egyptians observed this date as Winter Solstice.

The fact that the birth date of Jesus cannot be proven was not always celebrated by Christians. From 1659-1681 the Puritans in Massachusetts made celebrating Christmas illegal. The reasons for this included the fact that the celebration was formed from “Pagan” roots and therefore it was ungodly in nature. They determined this because the birth of Jesus was not written in the Bible, which meant that it was a date that was not meant to be celebrated. The Puritans also rejected the idea of drinking, feasting, and not working. The Christmas holiday had a tendency to get rowdy back then and they wanted nothing to do with it.

The idea of Christmas trees being a Christian concept is due to the story of Saint Boniface splitting the oak tree that the German Pagans were worshipping. When this happened and the fir tree sprang from its center Boniface informed everyone that the evergreen, with branches pointing to the heavens, was a holy tree. He deemed the tree a Christ Child, meant to symbolize the purity of the faith. From there, he ordered the tree be taken from the wilderness and to be surrounded by gifts in the homes of the people.

In truth, evergreens had been used in Ancient celebrations long before Saint Boniface came into play. In Ancient times, evergreens were used as a representation of fertility, reproduction, agriculture, and even sexual potency. During the winter celebrations, people would bring evergreens into their homes and decorate them with fruits, candles, and small metal pieces, depending on the area you were from and the celebration that you participated in. The trees were used to help honor and celebrate the Gods.

These are just some of the reasons why Christmas has never been about mangers and baby Jesus in my house. Like the holiday, it remains a word without the implied meaning. Solstice is celebrated with good food, drinks, presents (in this case), a tree, and lots of love for the whole family. The name of the activity has never been as important as the activity itself.

While the Christians of old may have attempted to take that from the Hellenics and Pagans what they did not realize is that you can rename the holiday, but you cannot take away the meaning and purpose of the day, even if you want to change the story.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Meanings, Legends, Debunk, Myths, Pagan, Hellenic, Ancient Greek, Evergreens, Jesus, Birthday

If you like this post, buy me a latte!

I have been thinking a lot about the holidays lately. The more research I do into the subject of religion and celebrations, the more I realize that Christianity has taken over polytheist celebrations. It is said this was done to try and wipe out polytheist celebrations and make those who were not so keen to convert to consider changing religions or participating in the new religion more actively.

As Christmas approaches, I find that I want to celebrate actual Christmas, less and less. You see, the Greeks were not the first to observe the Winter and Summer Solstices. The Winter Solstice occurred on the shortest day of the year. The date of the solstice was recorded by astronomers in Babylon and Africa, who were able to find out when it was by observing it as the darkest day of the year. The day is the shortest on the solstice. So, when the Ancients celebrated, they did so in honor of their Sun God. By appeasing the Sun God, the sun wouldn’t disappear for too long and spring would come with plenty of crops to feed the hungry populations after the winter had ended.

The day of the Solstice is generally celebrated on December 21, but in Ancient times it fell anywhere between what we know as December 21 and December 25. The Romans called their celebration of the solstice Saturnalia. December 25 also happened to be the birthdate of a Babylonian figure known as Nimrod. After Nimrod died, his wife/mother, Semiramis, claims that Nimrod was resurrected in the form of an Evergreen tree. The tree was sprouted miraculously from a spot where a dead stump rested. Semiramis said every year, on Nimrod’s birthday, he would leave gifts upon his tree for others.

Another Babylonian celebration on December 25 was the feast of the son of Isis. The Ancient Greeks celebrated the Solstice with festivals for Poseidon. Both Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans had performers traveling from home to home during the Solstice, singing, dancing and having a good time. You could say these were the ancestors of the first Christmas carolers.

Followers of Mithras, the sun God who coincidentally was born close to the supposed birth of Jesus, celebrated with Yule celebrations. Mithras was actually said to have been born of a virgin birth (remember this was before Jesus’ time). When he died, he was resurrected. Some might say Jesus’ life paralleled Mithras’ life significantly.

Even the mistletoe was an Ancient symbol and tradition. Couples would kiss under this “holy” plant in order to promote fertility and the birth of prospective children. While mistletoe was hung, Evergreens were kept inside during the Solstice. It was done for an agricultural reminder. Since Evergreens did not die in the winter like other plants, the thought that crops would soon be sprouting and new food could be distributed after the long winter, was comforting.

In all honesty, there is no proof Jesus was born in December. Many theologians believe if he was born, then it was probably in the Spring. Nevertheless, Christianity, thanks to Pope Julius who declared the 25th of December was Jesus’ birthday in 350 AD, has taken over many of the polytheist and early Ancient, religious traditions. It’s bad enough that Easter and Valentines were original celebrations of the Ancients, did they have to take our Solstice celebration, too?

Technorati Tags: Ancient Greek, Polytheist, Christmas, Celebrations, Holidays, Christmas, Winter Solstice

If you like this post, buy me a latte!