Don't forget the Sumerian story of liberation by Mises (sound familiar?).
My college major/minor was Psychology/History of Religion. I love this
stuff. A great book to pick up for this kind of history is Myths &
Misconceptions of the Bible. Just don't read the last 3 chapters where the
author rambles on shows that he only did all this research to justify his
hate for the Catholic Church. The rest of the book is a fairly
well-done and full of comparative data. It traces many religions and their
"histories" both thematically and regionally.
Have fun,
Tom
Temorris@pacbell.net
When branding irons were first invented
the cattle were really impressed.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 2:22 AM
Subject: Pagan Christians (was Re: GM: A new calender)
> > > Actually, both Christmas and Easter were originally
> > > pagan holidays that the Catholic church co-opted and
> > > re-formated to represent major events in the life of
> > > Christ (namely is birth and death).
> > >
> > > -- Chris J. Whitcomb
> >
> > The celebration of Ister, a fertility goddess & the origin of the eggs
and
> > bunnies.
>
> I know, I know...(that's why I put the little thingy in there about it).\
>
> Easter: Just about every "pagan" religion had a Spring Solstice holiday,
and
> the eggs and bunny thing came from Latvia or Estonia or Rus or some such
> north-eastern wilderness. The concept of a resurrected god originated
with
> Osiris in Egypt (of which the holy writings that have survived are
remarkably
> similar to biblical stories of Jesus).
>
> Christmas: Saturnalia or Mithras' Day was on December 25, and the
Christians
> decided to make it Christ's birthday during the Roman persecutions so that
> they could celebrate without getting busted by the religion-cops (lets
just
> call them "Inquisitioners").
>
> St. Patrick's Day: Goodness...St. Patrick was originally pagan himself.
> Clovers and leprechauns and such...need I go on?
>
> St. Valentine's Day: Erato/Cupid plucking at his bow...another
no-brainer...
>
> Halloween: This one's turned about quite a bit. Originally Samhain, a
Celtic
> celebration of their predisposition towards ancestor worship. Then All
> Hallowed Eve, the day before the supposed holiest day of the year, when
the
> lives of the saints were celebrated. Then Halloween, an evil, sinister,
> non-Christian holiday with *gasp-in-shock* PAGAN roots!!! (I'm so glad
the
> Church is there to inform us sinners about this stuff).
>
> Did I miss any of the big modern Christian holidays?
>
> Oh, and Merry Christ's Mass. ;)
>
> Lucifer >:} who's getting dangerously close to sparking yet another
religious
> debate...
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