Dammit, Jesus!

I woke up bright and early this Sunday morning, ready to go forth and re-stock my fridge... Only to find, once I got to my local HEB grocery store, that it was closed, as it is only two days out of the year: Christmas and Easter (the owners are Christian).

I wasn't even irritated. The older I get, the more I appreciate tradition, and I think it's great that this store is sticking by its beliefs. So I drove home and used my morning energy to do some laundry instead.

BUT: Thinking about Jesus's so-called resurrection, I still felt the need to go look up where "Christmas" and "Easter" came from.

First of all: 3 days after the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, Mary, and Salome went to visit the tomb and found his body missing. Look, someone probably stole the body. I don't think, as the women reported, that any angel appeared to them and said "he is risen." I'm a woman, and a feminist, but...they were probably all being hysterical. (Look at how radical people act today---everyone tries to promote their own narrative, regardless of actual truth. There are rational people, and there are hysterical people.)

RE Christmas (historycooperative.org/pagan-origins-of-christmas):

In the first few centuries of Christianity, the Christians wanted to spread their religion around Europe. But they knew that it would be difficult for ordinary people to completely divorce themselves from everything they had always known. This included the celebrations for the winter solstice. They had to give the people something that was familiar and known. Given that Jesus was born around the same time, it was easy enough to incorporate existing traditions into the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

The people of ancient Rome celebrated the winter solstice with the festival of Saturnalia. It was meant as a way to celebrate and give thanks to the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn. By the time the winter solstice came out, the last planting season had been completed. Thus, the ancient Romans could then happily engage in an entire week of festivities. The Saturnalia festival was usually celebrated between 17th December and 24th December. Even now, Christmas is not really a celebration of one day. It is called the Christmas season and festivities start well in advance of 25th December. In the Saturnalia festival, 25th December was considered the climax and had a special name – Brumalia.

Other than Saturnalia, one of the festivals that had a huge influence on Christmas was Yule. Celebrated largely by the Norse people in northern Europe, many of the old Yule traditions have become Christmas traditions today. The celebrations lasted for 12 days and huge bonfires were lit. Feasting and drinking were a big part of the celebrations. The night before Yule was called Mother’s Night. The Yule tree was decorated around the time of the winter solstice and the Yule log would be lit so that families could feast and be merry by the fire all night. The Yule ham was a huge aspect of this celebration since the boar was sacred to the pagan god Freyr. The Christians have appropriated many of these traditions to celebrate Christmas.

Another important pagan holiday during the winter solstice was the birthday of the Greek god Dionysus. The Greek god of wine was celebrated with wild revelry, feasts, drunkenness, and merrymaking over 12 days. His birthday was supposed to be on 25th December. The festival was called Bacchanalia and was one marked by wildness and excess. In Finland, the sun goddess Beiwe was celebrated during this time. She was said to ride on a sleigh made of reindeer bones and pulled by a white reindeer.

RE Easter (christianity.com):

The celebration of Easter does have some connections to pre-Christian, pagan traditions, particularly in the symbolism associated with spring and fertility. The timing of Easter, for example, coincides with the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Many ancient cultures celebrated the arrival of spring as a time of renewal, growth, and fertility.

One notable pagan festival that shares some similarities with Easter is the festival of Eostre or Ostara. Eostre was a pagan goddess associated with spring and fertility, and her festival was celebrated around the vernal equinox. Some scholars suggest that the name "Easter" may have been derived from Eostre. (Editorial note: Ya think?)

Additionally, certain symbols and customs associated with Easter, such as eggs and rabbits, have roots in pagan traditions. Eggs, for example, were often used as symbols of fertility and rebirth in various ancient cultures.

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All of the above ancient beliefs DO take away from the idea that Christianity is the ultimate in Truth. Most likely, the then-newly-in-power Christians borrowed heavily from previous pagan beliefs in order to gain popularity with the public.

But what remains: The core beliefs. The worship/respect of what we have: Sun and seasons and fertility. And the Ultimate Question of where we came from. (Quite a big difference between Neanderthals and the leap to the more advanced.)

You can change the face and rituals of this, but the core belief remains. (A side note: Today, many leftists/elitists/academics have been trying to divorce biology from reality, whether the issue is transgender people or climate change: Communist politics sans biological truth will NEVER take hold. Most people, whatever their education level, know better on an innate, profound level.)