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Winter Solstice
Messiah
Failed Experiment
in Zocalo v2.0
Having celebrated winter solstice yesterday, I feel we have to take a few minutes to ponder on the strangeness of modern culture.
[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice]Winter Solstice[/URL] is the logical start of the new year. Our ancestors also celebrated the new year on this day.
Jul (or christmas) was originally celebrated during winter solstice, but during the conversion from the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar]Julian calendar[/URL] to the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar]Gregorian Calendar[/URL], the dates were shifted such that the 25th of December became the 21st of December.
Christmas derives from the Roman holiday of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia]Saturnalia[/URL] a holiday in which similar habits as today were observed by Roman writers (people were very cheerful and handed out presents in the extreme), also [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jul]Jul[/URL] was a big influence on christmas (Jul is celebrated by non-asatrúar on December 25th).
The word Jul is more probably derived from the word Sol (Sun) and have the same root as Öl (Ale), in fact the first historical reference to the word Jul is "Dricka Jul" (to drink Yul).
Noone knows the year that Jesus was born. Most historians of today think he was born around 8 - 4 B.C. In fact for about 200 years after his birth noone was really interested in when he was born.
Even the date is not known. In fact, the bible states that he was born during the tax collecting. In Jewish Galilea, this took place in Mars - April, so the date should be somewhere in spring 8 - 4 B.C.
There you go. Some interesting historical facts to ponder these last days before christmas.
Last but not least, I will be going even further into the wilderness today, so no Internet connection will be possible before January 1st. Merry christmas and a happy new year! (in advance for all of you non-pagans).
:) :) :)
[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice]Winter Solstice[/URL] is the logical start of the new year. Our ancestors also celebrated the new year on this day.
Jul (or christmas) was originally celebrated during winter solstice, but during the conversion from the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar]Julian calendar[/URL] to the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar]Gregorian Calendar[/URL], the dates were shifted such that the 25th of December became the 21st of December.
Christmas derives from the Roman holiday of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia]Saturnalia[/URL] a holiday in which similar habits as today were observed by Roman writers (people were very cheerful and handed out presents in the extreme), also [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jul]Jul[/URL] was a big influence on christmas (Jul is celebrated by non-asatrúar on December 25th).
The word Jul is more probably derived from the word Sol (Sun) and have the same root as Öl (Ale), in fact the first historical reference to the word Jul is "Dricka Jul" (to drink Yul).
Noone knows the year that Jesus was born. Most historians of today think he was born around 8 - 4 B.C. In fact for about 200 years after his birth noone was really interested in when he was born.
Even the date is not known. In fact, the bible states that he was born during the tax collecting. In Jewish Galilea, this took place in Mars - April, so the date should be somewhere in spring 8 - 4 B.C.
There you go. Some interesting historical facts to ponder these last days before christmas.
Last but not least, I will be going even further into the wilderness today, so no Internet connection will be possible before January 1st. Merry christmas and a happy new year! (in advance for all of you non-pagans).
:) :) :)
Comments
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Messiah [/i]
[B]In Jewish Galilea, this took place in Mars - April, so the date should be somewhere in spring 8 - 4 B.C.
There you go. Some interesting historical facts to ponder these last days before christmas.[/B][/QUOTE]
An interesting linguistic fact indicates that the third month Mars (in Swedish) is actually March (in English). :p
I remember that "the Bethlehem star" phenomenon (conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and star Hamal ) took place sometime in 7 B.C. And the shift to the Gregorian calendar was originally ten days, not four (5.-14.10.1582 never happened). I don't know, if [url=http://www.geocities.com/calendopaedia/gregory.htm]the Swedish leap[/url] has something to do with your misinformation...
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Messiah [/i]
[B]Noone knows the year that Jesus was born. Most historians of today think he was born around 8 - 4 B.C. In fact for about 200 years after his birth noone was really interested in when he was born.
Even the date is not known. In fact, the bible states that he was born during the tax collecting. In Jewish Galilea, this took place in Mars - April, so the date should be somewhere in spring 8 - 4 B.C.
[/B][/QUOTE]
I'm still not really interested in when he was born... :p
There are far more other important factors of his life and spirituality that I concern myself with.
I do celebrate Christmas as a family thing because it is a time of good will, but that's about as far as it goes. I also like the wealth of spiritually driven music that has been created over it too...
:)
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Eclecticonaut [/i]
[B]An interesting linguistic fact indicates that the third month Mars (in Swedish) is actually March (in English). :p[/B][/QUOTE]
Ah, yes. :p
And the Swedish leap is a curious thing. I am obviously mistaken about the 25th to 21st leap being part of the Julian/gregorian change, but I remember hearing about it being due to calendar changes..
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by JackN [/i]
[B]I also like the wealth of spiritually driven music that has been created over it too...[/B][/QUOTE]
Clearly written by a man who has not been to Singapore and Christmas time!