HOLIDAZED

 

"HOLY" DAYS 

 

Comparisons of pagan and modern day religious holidays and rituals

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other pages w/ historical similarities @:  

 

Hundreds of feast days of saints, gods and goddesses at Wilson's Almanac Book of Days

Folklore, customs, pre-Christian origins of: 

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)  Ash Wednesday and Lent

Mid-Lent  Care Sunday  Painful Friday  Lazarus Saturday  Palm Sunday

Maundy Thursday  Good Friday  Easter Saturday  Easter  Easter Monday 

Hocktide  Ascension  Rogation Days  Whitsunday/Whitsuntide

Candlemas/Imbolc  May Day/Beltaine  Lammas/Lughnasadh  Halloween/Samhain 

Advent  Christmas Eve  Christmas  Epiphany

 

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It is worth noting the following Argument taken from a Catholic Site:

"The pagan influence fallacy is committed when one charges that a particular religion, belief, or practice is of pagan origin or has been influenced by paganism and is therefore false, wrong, tainted, or to be repudiated. In this minimal form, the pagan influence fallacy is a subcase of the genetic fallacy, which improperly judges a thing based on its history or origins rather than on its own merits (e.g., "No one should use this medicine because it was invented by a drunkard and adulterer").

Very frequently, the pagan influence fallacy is committed in connection with other fallacies, most notably the post hoc ergo proper hoc ("After this, therefore because of this") fallacy—e.g., "Some ancient pagans did or believed something millennia ago, therefore any parallel Christian practices and beliefs must be derived from that source." Frequently, a variant on this fallacy is committed in which, as soon as a parallel with something pagan is noted, it is assumed that the pagan counterpart is the more ancient. This variant might be called the similis hoc ergo propter hoc ("Similar to this, therefore because of this") fallacy.

When the pagan influence fallacy is encountered, it should be pointed out that it is, in fact, a fallacy. To help make this clear to a religious person committing it, it may be helpful to illustrate with cases where the pagan influence fallacy could be committed against his own position (e.g., the practice of circumcision was practiced in the ancient world by a number of peoples—including the Egyptians—but few Jews or Christians would say that its divinely authorized use in Israel was an example of "pagan corruption").

To help a secular person see the fallacy involved, one might point to a parallel case of the genetic fallacy involving his co-religionists (e.g., "Nobody should accept this particular scientific theory because it was developed by an atheist")."

Rebuttal:

The above argument is an invalid attempt to discredit what RID and many others have said about religious holidays, and Christian ones in particular (not too mention what many have said about Jesus as compared to pagan deities). 

The argument presented on the Catholic site is flawed because the premises and conclusions cited by the "heretics" are valid. The connections or "influences" cited are not fallacious because they are post hoc attempts to show a connection. Nor do they beg the question that there could have been other reasons the Christians placed their holidays on pagan ones. It is also not a matter of affirming the consequent. The connections are real and valid, not fantasies. The history is known, and the fact of the matter is that this truth hurts the apologists' faith and destroys their fantasy that their religion is divine, pure, unique, and above the rest. 

The celebration by Christians of "their" holidays on corresponding pagan holy days was a means for them to avoid persecution and eventually try to gain converts and eclipse the pagan rituals and gods. Early Christianity struggled for acceptance in Europe, throughout the Middle East and Roman Empire. The masses were hard pressed to give up the gods of their forefathers for a new one, and only one at that. How could one god be better than twenty, or have the traits that their gods had and be worth revering? In order to gain ground, Christianity had to take on the characteristics of the pagans gods and the holidays that the masses revered. By  blending the old with the new, it was easier for the early Church to convert, survive, and grow. A modern example can be found in the Virgin of Guadalupe. 

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Common Holidays in Relation to Equinoxes, Solstices & Cross-Quarter Days http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/~gibson/cal/

Are you curious about (a) equinoxes and the like, (b) cultural transmission of holiday traditions, or (c) conspiracies of greeting card companies?

Well, you've come to the right place.

For my own amusement, I've put together a list from different sources of the most common national and religious holidays observed in the U.S., along with some older holidays tied rather directly to points in the Sun's annual journey around the sky, and the astronomical dates which underlie many of them.

You've probably heard of the Spring and Fall Equinoxes (times of equal-length day and night) and the Summer and Winter Solstices (longest and shortest day, respectively) before. In current usage these each define the official beginning of a season -- for example, summer ``begins'' around June 21st. However a less-used parallel system holds that June 21st is actually Midsummer's Day, which then requires the start of summer to be in early May. This date and four others like it are known as the Cross-Quarter Days, because they are evenly spaced between the fundamental Quarter Days of the Solstices and Equinoxes. The Cross-Quarter Days thus mark the middle of each season under our current system, or seasonal boundaries under the alternative system. Due to the insertion of a Leap Day on February 29th every four years, the exact dates of these eight astronomical events shift back and forth, with a total range of about 54 hours.

Ancient peoples were very attentive to seasons and the Sun's position in the sky, because their livelihood depended on planting and harvesting at the proper times. All eight of the above-listed Days were observed as pagan holidays of one sort or another; a few, like Halloween, have survived to modern times in (somewhat) recognizable form. What is more interesting is the number of supposedly modern holidays which lie in close proximity to the same dates. Christmas (Winter Solstice) and Easter (Spring Equinox) are two obvious examples; one may make the argument that these holiday times were inherited. Others are quite surprising -- like Father's Day (Summer Solstice)! What are the folks at Hallmark hiding from us? Of course, not everything lines up, and the nearness of Election Day to All Saints' must be pure coincidence. Right?

  

  January 1          - New Year's Day
  January 5          - Twelfth Night
  January 6          - Eastern Orthodox Christmas
  	             - Twelfth Day 
  	                 or Epiphany
                         or Old Christmas
  January 20  	     - Inauguration Day
                     - Saint Agnes' Eve - woman dreams of future husband
  2nd New Moon after
     Winter Solstice - Chinese New Year (lunar calendar)

February 2-6	   1st Cross-Quarter Day

  February 2         - Groundhog Day
		     - Candlemas
  	                 or feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary
  		               or of the Presentation of the Child Jesus
  	             - 40th Day of Christmas
		     - Imbolg / Imbolc (other Celtic names)
			 or Brighid
			 or Oimelc
  February 14        - Valentine's Day
  March 15           - Ides of March - 1st month middle, Roman calendar
                         also assassination of Julius Caesar
  March 17           - St. Patrick's Day - sowing of peas in Ireland

March 19-21	   1st Quarter Day - Spring (Vernal) Equinox

  March 21	     - Ostara / Eostre (Saxon goddess of Spring)
  Full Moon after SE - Passover
  Following Sunday   - Easter
  Previous Friday    - Good Friday
  April 1            - All Fool's Day (old new year's day)
  April 1st Sunday   - Begin Daylight Savings Time (clocks 1 hour forward)
  April 30           - May Eve 
  	                 or Walpurgisnacht (witches' Sabbath)
                         or Walpurgis Night (after St. Walpurga)
  May 1              - May Day - May Poles, May Queens, May-dew, etc.
                     - Beltane / Bealtaine - Celtic bonfire festival

May 4-7		   2nd Cross-Quarter Day

  May 5		     - Cinco de Mayo (Mexico)
  May 2nd Sunday     - Mother's Day
  May last Monday    - Memorial Day ("Decoration Day", officially May 30)
  June 14            - Flag Day
  June 3rd Sunday    - Father's Day

June 20-22	   2nd Quarter Day - Summer Solstice

  June 21	     - Litha (Norse/Anglo-Saxon for "longest day")
  June 23            - St. John's Eve - European Midsummer celebration
  July 1             - Dominion Day (Canada)
  July 4             - Independence Day (U.S.)
  August 1           - Lammas ("loaf mass") - harvest festival
  	                 or festival of St. Peter's Chains
  		                  or of the Maccabees
  		                  or of the Gule ("mouth") of August
  	             - Lugnasad - Gaelic summer "games of Lug" (sun-god)
			 or Lughnasada
			 or Lunasa

August 5-8 	   3rd Cross-Quarter Day

  September 1st Mon  - Labor Day

September 21-24	   3rd Quarter Day - Fall (Autumnal) Equinox

  September 21	     - Mabon (Welsh for "son")
  New Moon after FE  - Rosh ha-Shanah (Jewish New Year)
  10 days later      - Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement")
  October 2nd Monday - Thanksgiving (Canada)
  October last Sun.  - End Daylight Savings Time (clocks 1 hour back)
  October 31         - Hallowe'en
  	                 or All Hallows E'en
  	                 or Hallowmas Eve
  November 1         - Dia de los Muertos
                         or Day of the Dead (Mexico)
                     - All Saints' Day
  	                 or Hallowmas or Allhallowmas or Allhallows
  	             - Samhain - Celtic feast of departing Sun & new year
  	                 or All Souls' Night
  November 2         - All Soul's Day - prayer for souls in purgatory
  November 1st Tues
       after 1st Mon - Election Day

November 5-8	   4th Cross-Quarter Day

  November 5         - Guy Fawkes Day
  November 11        - Veterans' Day (World War I Armistice Day)
                     - Martinmas (death of St. Martin)
	  	         or Martinmas-in-Winter
  November 4th Thurs - Thanksgiving (U.S.)
  December 13        - St. Lucy's Day ("the year's midnight")
  December 19        - Saturnalia - Roman midwinter festival, 7 days long

December 20-23	   4th Quarter Day - Winter Solstice

  December 21        - Yule (Norse for "wheel") - Germanic 12-day feast
  December 24        - Christmas Eve
  December 25        - Christmas Day
  December 31        - New Year's Eve

Notes

  1. Exact determination of dates for Chinese New Year, Easter, and Rosh Hashanah is a bit more complex than given here; see Explanatory Supplement reference below for details.

     

  2. Pagan Quarter and Cross-Quarter Days (Wiccan Sabbats) may be in slight error; some practitioners observe them at the astronomically correct time, while others adhere to rigid dates (e.g., Feb 1 or Mar 21).

References

  • The Astronomical Companion (1979) by Guy Ottewell, Universal Workshop
  • ``Calendars'' chapter in the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, 2nd Edition (1992), by L. E. Doggett
  • American Heritage Dictionary (1965)
  • The Alt.Pagan FAQ

The ERECTION of Trees as a ritual and sacrament

  • The Egyptians

  • The Babylonians

  • The Romans

  • Modern day Christians and the rest of the world that buy into x-mas (although Jeremiah 10:2-5 warns against erecting trees because it was seen as a pagan ritual)

 

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Amen

It's not a holiday, but a saying that ends prayers, sermons, and general statements in conversations: "Amen." It appears 13 times in the Hebrew Bible and 119 in the New Testament. Amen originated around 2500 BCE in Egypt. The Egyptian God Amun or Amun Ra ("the hidden one") was their highest deity. Amun was also worshipped throughout the Middle East due to the vast influence and spread of the Egyptian Empire. The Hebrews adopted the the word, gave it new "meaning" ("so it is" or trustworthy and reliable) and passed it on to Christians and Muslims. It is Ironic that all these religions praise the Pagan God Amun to end their trustworthy religious statements. God lives...Amun lives...

 

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Valentines Day 

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Easter

If  Easter commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, and his rise from the dead into heaven, where do all the symbolism of bunnies, and eggs come from? It's more than coincidence that the early Pagans had a holiday to mark the Spring Equinox, called Ostara, usually celebrated around March 21st. With the return of spring, came the birthing of the farm animals for the year. Which is why we see bunnies, chicks, eggs and little lambs as symbols for this holiday. Part of the Ostara mythology involved the return of various deities from the underworld (symbolic of the end of winter). So it's not surprising that this holiday got enmeshed with the Christian story of the resurrection of Christ.

Dan Barker's Easter Challenge

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Christmas

Even non-Pagans use the term "Yule" around the Christmas holidays. Yule is celebrated on the Winter Solstice (~December 21st/22nd), on the shortest day of the year. Since the days get longer from this point in the year, Yule is a celebration of the returning sun and the rebirth of the God who died at Hallowe'en. As with Easter, the Christian story of the birth of Jesus fits nicely with the Pagan mythology of a God reborn. Traditions such as wreaths and Yule logs are remnants of the original beliefs. Gifts were exchanged at Yule long before the Wise Men offered their gifts to the baby Jesus(wise men brought gifts to Horus, and Krishna, the latter also almost lost his life from a 'massacre of the innocents'). 

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Groundhog Day


Well, it's not specifically Christian or celebrated as intensely as the holidays just mentioned, Groundhog Day is still part of the modern-day year. Candlemas (or Imbolc) is celebrated on February 2nd. Because spring is just starting to show itself at this time of year, there were various superstitions about predicting the weather, and how long it would be until the end of winter. The original idea was to watch for a hedgehog, but as people immigrated to North America, the tradition changed to a ground hog to suit local wildlife.

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Hallowe'en

Everyone knows that Hallowe'en is a Pagan holiday, but there are many misconceptions surrounding what the holiday really means. Pagans call the day Samhain (SOW-en or sow-EEN). The old God dies on this day, and the Goddess mourns him until his rebirth at Yule. We use this day to honour and remember our loved ones who have passed on. In an effort to diffuse the interest in this heathen holiday, the Church created All Saint's Day (November 1) as a holy day to recognize all the Catholic saints. But it wasn't a powerful enough idea to wipe out the traditional Hallowe'en celebrattions. Ironically, many Christians do not approve of the celebration of Hallowe'en because of its Pagan origins, not realizing that almost all of the holidays they observe had Pagan beginnings. They just don't like admitting the other holidays have a connection because they point directly at the issue of questioning the divinity of their god.

 

 

A more elaborate growth of this page is in order, check back (last update 6-25-06)