Holydaze - the Origins of the Holiday Season Part 5

hol·i·day  /ˈhäləˌdā/

Origin: Old English hāligdæg ‘holy day’

Symbols of Life, Fertility and Triumph over Darkness and Death

A common, almost ubiquitous pagan belief is called Pantheism. Pantheists believe that God, or rather a spiritual force, is in everything. They believe that these spiritual forces can be tapped into for our benefit. Druidic pantheists believe that there are spirits in the evergreens which help them survive the winter. That is why they are central to this season and why they are brought indoors and worshiped. You are bringing that "life" into your home as a symbol of vitality and fertility - Fertility of the land and fertility of the womb to conceive. 

As mentioned earlier, the Virgin Kore gave birth to Aion on January 6^th according to later Roman tradition. Aion is the embodiment of a new beginning, as well as an immense amount of time characterized by certain modes of thinking and behaving. The meaning of the word aion in Greek is “age.” The birth of the god Aion marked a “new age.” In modern times there are “New Age” practices that teach remarkably similar things, even if the names and practices surrounding these ideas have changed somewhat. In the 19^th century a Luciferian cult called Theosophy gained much popularity. Another one arising around the same time was called Thelema, a satanic new age cult started by Aleister Crowley. Both of these movements draw from ancient occult beliefs, and both have had a tremendous influence on the world in the 20^th century, especially through Hollywood, the UN and major universities. Students and artists, especially in the 60’s, soaked up these satanic ideas disguised as intellectually and spiritually stimulating philosophies. These philosophies gained a far-reaching stranglehold on the western world and they have spread like wildfire throughout the world.

In ancient Babylon there was a similar belief to the Greek myths of Kore. They were centered around the goddess Ishtar and the god Tammuz. Here is an excerpt from Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria By Morris Jastrow (Jr.):

 

“The sun-god of the spring was pictured as a youthful warrior triumphing over the storms of winter. The goddess of vegetation—Ishtar, under various names—unites herself to this god, and the two in unison—sun and earth—bring forth new life in the fields and meadows. But after a few months the summer season begins to wane, and rains and storms again set in. The change of seasons was depicted as due to the death of the youthful god; according to one tradition he was deserted by the goddess who had won his love; according to another, he was slain by a wild boar. An old Sumerian designation of this god was Dumu-Zi, abbreviated from a fuller designation, Dumu-Zi-Ab-zu, and interpreted as “the legitimate [or “faithful”] child of the deep." The allusion is apparently to the sun rising out of the ocean, which was supposed to flow about and underneath the world. The name passed over to the Semites of Babylonia, and thence spread throughout and beyond the borders of Semitic settlements under the form Tammuz. With the name, went the myth of the youthful god, full of vigour, but who is slain, and condemned to a sojourn in the lower world, from which he is released and revivified in the following spring. 

Solstices and seasons are a natural part of God’s creation, a sign of His wisdom and skill as an artist and craftsman. Perhaps the religious fabrications man seems to keep coming up with are all an elaborate excuse to place religious significance on something that would be quite normal without it. It profanes something that is already sacred by attempting to make it more sacred. When we start assigning our own meanings to different parts of God’s creation, we venture down the path of idolatry. This is why worshiping God with the works of our own hands is unacceptable to Him. If we genuinely want to please Him, we will do as He, the Source of all things good, tells us. That is the purpose of His Spirit coming to indwell us. This is why Tertullian says, “Call out the individual solemnities of the nations, and set them out into a row, they will not be able to make up a Pentecost.” Pentecost was the giving of the Spirit of God to man as an inheritance through Christ.

If we are to continue comparing ancient Roman holidays to modern holidays it should be no surprise that women, especially mothers in the Roman Empire were honored just a couple of months later in the March festival called Matronalia. Is there anything wrong with honoring women and mothers? No, but the man-made tradition and veneration is still idolatry. It’s interesting to me that just about every holiday tradition we have in America is from the Roman Empire. The Romans had Matronalia. We have Mother’s Day near the same time of year. Not only are our holidays similar but politics and philosophies, too. Just look at all the Roman statues and symbols used in our government buildings and institutions. The Statue of Liberty is the Roman Goddess Libertas. So is the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol dome, which is an amalgamation of Roman and American Native style. Who can say that the Roman Empire fell? It still lives in the heart and soul of America, and not only America, but Europe and even the whole world. 

What we have looked at so far are but a few examples of how traditions and customs of different peoples mix and meld to form new traditions and customs or echo one another through cultural influence. For this very reason it is sometimes difficult to draw conclusive, “smoking gun” correlations between cultural icons as convincing evidence of syncretization for those who are skeptical. Man’s tendency to assemble his own set of customs and beliefs has created a huge historical mess for us to sort through. Many people take advantage of that fact, saying these connections are merely coincidental or innocuous. It isn’t always possible to convince a skeptic to see the correlations. What is possible, however, is to examine the evidence in prayer. In doing this with a sincere heart towards knowing the truth God often opens our eyes to some of these connections, uncovering the root of wickedness that has embedded itself in this world. It is not hard to see, but when your eyes are opened to it you might wonder how you never saw it to begin with, or why you might have been too stubborn to accept it. 

The sheer number of connections we encounter in our research will inevitably draw a picture that becomes clearer and clearer as we scour through history, unveiling and comparing the customs and beliefs of peoples around the world. It is then that we know what worldliness is. Unless we study to show ourselves approved, we may never get the big picture. It is my hope that through a study such as this one that God will at least show you that there is something very wrong with the world, and this “thing,” this spirit, reaches into places we might never even expect it to. It is by seeing the world for what it is that I came to know the goodness of God.

…the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:17–18

…and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Yahshua Christ… Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Ephesians 3:9

The Idolatree

A similar passage to Jeremiah 10 was written in the book of Isaiah. It gives us more insight into the idola-tree of pagan winter celebrations and reiterates that idolatry is the veneration of the works of man’s hands in service to himself.

The craftsman stretches out his rule,

He marks one out with chalk;

He fashions it with a plane,

He marks it out with the compass,

And makes it like the figure of a man,

According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.

He cuts down cedars for himself,

And takes the cypress and the oak;

He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.

He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

 

Then it shall be for a man to burn,

For he will take some of it and warm himself;

Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;

Indeed he makes a god and worships it;

He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.

He burns half of it in the fire; (like a Yule log)

With this half he eats meat;

He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.

He even warms himself and says,

 “Ah! I am warm,

I have seen the fire.” (In other words “I am enlightened” through my own works.)

And the rest of it he makes into a god,

His carved image.

He falls down before it and worships it,

Prays to it and says,

 “Deliver me, for you are my god!” (What he has made for himself will save him.)

 

They do not know nor understand;

For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,

And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

And no one considers in his heart,

Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,

 “I have burned half of it in the fire,

Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;

I have roasted meat and eaten it;

And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?

Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”

He feeds on ashes;

A deceived heart has turned him aside;

And he cannot deliver his soul,

Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
(The right hand is a symbol of the will to act from one’s own power. It is the same symbol used in the mark of the beast described in Revelation 13, describing what you think and do.)

Isaiah 44:13–20

 

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made a huge mistake when he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” God took his kingdom away from him and made him wander like a beast in the wild for 7 years until he repented. I see this same kind of attitude in Christian leaders today. They glorify God with their lips, but they are obviously serving Babylon. If you serve Babylon you serve the world, and by nature of serving the world you serve the ruler of this age, Satan.

 

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Matthew 15:8–9

Enlightenment

Luciferianism is a form of Satanism, often disguised as New Age or Eastern philosophies, and it is centered around the concept of enlightenment. Lucifer means, “Light Bringer.” The story of the Greek God Prometheus echoes the story of Lucifer being cast out of Heaven. He steals fire from heaven against the will of Zeus and brings it as a gift to humanity. This symbol of enlightenment also echoes the Fall in the Garden of Eden when the serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit so she could gain wisdom and be like God, knowing good and evil. Wisdom is then related to enlightenment in the Luciferian mind, but it is not godly wisdom. It is the vain wisdom and philosophies of man. So, ask yourself, what is the star at the top of the Christmas tree? Is it really the Star of Bethlehem? If so, why is it on a decorated evergreen tree, a symbol of ancient and modern pagan philosophy? Or, if instead there is an “angel of light” on top of the tree, what angel do you think it represents? Is the exchanging of gifts really inspired by the wise men who visited the newborn Messiah, or have people been convinced to justify their materialism through generosity?

 

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:13–15 

So apparently, according to Luciferians at least, what Satan did was a humanitarian act. He gave us something that would help us achieve our full potential. He gave us what he said God was holding back from us. He empowered us to take our destiny into our own hands and rise to the height of God Himself. He convinced us that we can manifest our own destiny and become great without the need to listen to God. How many of us just do what we think is best? How many Christians actually stop and pray about something before they do it, seeking a response from God? Is prayer all about you? Is it a one-way phone call to God? No.

 

Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,

and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation,

and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’
So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’

Hebrews 3:7–11

Another Golden Calf

The Israelites made a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai and declared a feast day unto Yahweh. The symbol of the calf was most likely a reinvention of the Hapis Bull they would have encountered in Egypt. Also, Canaanite religion had the bull as a central image in their worship of Baal. The Israelites worshiped Yahweh like the heathen do, just as He commanded them not to do. This displeased Him greatly.

 

And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.  Acts 7:41

 

Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Acts 17:29 

God hates it when we try to worship Him how we want to instead of how He has shown us He wants us to worship Him. When we worship Him in ways that come from our own deceived hearts, He despises it. Consider the following statement:

 

Deuteronomy 31:16-18

Yahweh said to Moses, “... this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.” 

What does “arise” mean but to act out of pride, that sin Satan committed in heaven and the sin which he convinced Eve and Adam to commit in the garden? What does it mean to play the harlot with strange gods of the land? Does a god have to be an entity? Hardly. The gods of today are the same gods as yesterday. Money, power, sex, pleasure, comfort, luxury and all the desires of this world become our gods. In ancient times people merely gave these desires a face and bowed down to them. In Genesis God sent the serpent on his belly to eat the dust of the earth all his days. This is a symbol of the lusting of the beast nature.

 

So Yahweh God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” Genesis 3:14 

Paul referred to this symbol in the following passage, clearly inspired by the Genesis account of the fall of man:

 

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:17–21

(Continued...)

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