Day 5 - Hossenfeffer Is Served This Easter

The Easter Bunny

What about the Easter bunny? Yes, the cute, cuddly, child-like creature which hops its way into your homes to deliver brightly colored eggs and goodies to your little children on Easter is pagan as well. Here are two quotes from Francis Weiser (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs) about the origin of the “Easter bunny”: “In Germany and Austria little nests containing eggs, pastry and candy are placed in hidden spots, and the children believe that the Easter bunny, so popular in this country, too, had laid the eggs and brought the candy” (p. 235) and “The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore…The Easter bunny has never had religious symbolism bestowed on its festive usage…However, the bunny has acquired a cherished role in the celebration of Easter as the legendary producer of Easter eggs for children in many countries” (p. 236).

“The Easter bunny is not a true Christian symbol” (John Bradner, Symbols of Church Seasons and Days, p. 52), and “Although adopted in a number of Christian cultures, the Easter bunny has never received any specific Christian interpretation” (Mirsea Eliade, The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 558).

Consider this last quote: “The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was kept later in Europe…Its place has been taken by the Easter rabbit” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333).

From a pagan, “Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny were both featured in the spring festivals of Ostara, which were initially held during the feasts of the goddess Ishtar, Inanna. Eggs are an obvious symbol of fertility, and the newborn chicks an adorable representation of new growth. Brightly colored eggs, chicks, and bunnies were all used at festival time to express appreciation for Ostara's gift of abundance.

 “Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet or, as some versions have it, her lover. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly (in some versions, it was because she wished to amuse a group of young children), Ostara turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters.

“In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs (in all the colors of the rainbow, no less), but only on one day out of each year.

“Eventually the hare managed to anger the goddess Ostara, and she cast him into the skies where he would remain as the constellation Lepus (The Hare) forever positioned under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He was allowed to return to earth once each year, but only to give away his eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter bunny had begun.”

A Pagan Resurrection

From a pagan, “Ishtar, goddess of romance, procreation, and war in ancient Babylon, was also worshipped as the Sumerian goddess Inanna. One of the great goddesses, or "mother goddesses", the stories of her descent to the Underworld and the resurrection that follows are contained in the oldest writings that have ever been discovered. . . the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish and the story of Gilgamesh. Scholars believed that they were based on the oral mythology of the region and were recorded about 2,100 B.C.E.

“The most famous of the myths of Ishtar tell of her descent into the realm of the dead to rescue her young lover, Tammuz, a Vegetation god forced to live half the year in the Underworld. Ishtar approached the gates of the Underworld, which was ruled by her twin sister Eresh-kigel, the goddess of death and infertility. She was refused admission.

“Similar to the Greek myths of Demeter and Persephone that came later, during Ishtar's absence the earth grew barren since all acts of procreation ceased while she was away. Ishtar screamed and ranted that she would break down the gates and release all of the dead to overwhelm the world and compete with the living for the remaining food unless she was allowed to enter and plead her case with her twin.

“Needless to say, she won admission. But the guard, following standard protocol, refused to let her pass through the first gate unless she removed her crown. At the next gate, she had to remove her earrings, then her necklace at the next, removing her garments and proud finery until she stood humbled and naked after passing through the seventh (and last) gate.

“In one version, she was held captive and died but was brought back to life when her servant sprinkled her with the "water of life". In the more widely known version of the myth, Ishtar's request was granted and she regained all of her attire and possessions as she slowly re-emerged through the gates of darkness.

“Upon her return, Tammuz and the earth returned to life. Annual celebrations of this "Day of Joy", were held each year around the time of the vernal equinox. These celebrations became the forerunners of the Ostara festivals that welcomed Oestre and the arrival of spring.”

From Christians P. Taylor and R. Woodrow, “Nimrod (the grandson of Ham, son of Noah) built and organized major cities. The Bible notes that these included Babel, Asshur, Nineveh and Calah (Genesis 10:10-12)….these were cities of great, almost unimaginable practices and perversion.

“When Nimrod eventually died, the Babylonian mystery religion in which he figured prominently continued on. His wife (and apparent mother) Queen Semiramis saw to that. Once he was dead, she deified him as the Sun-god. In various cultures he later became known as Baal, the Great Life Giver, the god of fire, Baalim, Bel, Molech, etc.

“Later, when this adulterous and idolatrous woman gave birth to an illegitimate son, she claimed that this son, Tammuz by name, was ‘Nimrod reborn.’[In his reincarnated form (Nimrod/Tammuz), has been known as Horus (Egypt), Attis (Italy), Crishna or Iswara (India), Deoius (Asia Minor), Janus (Rome), etc.] Semiramis ‘claimed that her son was supernaturally conceived [no human father] and that he was the promised seed, the 'savior'’ - promised by God (as) in Genesis 3:15. ‘However, not only was the child worshipped, but the woman, the MOTHER, was also worshipped as much (or more) than the son!’ Nimrod was deified as the god of the sun and father of creation. Semiramis became the goddess of the moon, fertility, etc.
"In the old fables of the Mystery cults, their 'savior' Tammuz, was worshipped with various rites at the Spring season. According to the legends, after he was slain [killed by a wild boar], he went into the underworld. But through the weeping of his mother… he mystically revived in the springing forth of the vegetation - in Spring! Each year a spring festival dramatically represented this supposed 'resurrection' from the underworld.[The resurrection of Tammuz [Nimrod] through Ishtar's grief [Semiramis] was dramatically represented annually in order to insure the success of the crops and the fertility of the people… Each year men and women had to grieve with Ishtar over the death of Tammuz and celebrate the god's return, in order to win anew her favor and her benefits!]

“Thus, a terrible false religion developed with its sun and moon worship, priests, astrology, demonic worship, worship of stars associated with their gods, idolatry, mysterious rites, human sacrifice, and more….”

In closing these postings on the pagan holiday of Easter, I must comment as to how sad it is to see how far Christians have strayed from God through their compromising with things pagan. No excuse for these actions is justifiable, even if the outcome results in saved souls. The ends never justify the means. One Christian has commented that it is like they have compartmentalized their lives. Some parts of their lives are Christian while other parts are “do as thy wilt,” something which occultist Aleister Crowley widely taught to his followers, one of whom was Anton LaVey, founder and high priest of the Church of Satan. The choice is a clear one. Which choice, though, will people make?

Whatever the choice, we can all rest assured that Jesus Christ did resurrect from the grave. He is risen! He lives! Praise be to God!
 

Day 4 - Easter Is Not What It's Cracked Up To Be

Popular Practices of Easter

Hot Cross Buns

Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons: “The popular observances that still attend the period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The ‘buns,’ known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens--that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. ‘One species of sacred bread,’ says Bryant, ‘which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun.’ Diogenes Laertius, speaking of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingredients of which it was composed, saying, ‘He offered one of the sacred cakes called Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey.’ The prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of offering when he says, ‘The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven.’ * 

* Jeremiah 7:18. It is from the very word here used by the prophet that the word ‘bun’ seems to be derived. The Hebrew word, with the points, was pronounced Khavan, which in Greek became sometimes Kapan-os (PHOTIUS, Lexicon Syttoge); and, at other times, Khabon (NEANDER, in KITTO'S Biblical Cyclopoedia). The first shows how Khvan, pronounced as one syllable, would pass into the Latin panis, ‘bread,’ and the second how, in like manner, Khvon would become Bon or Bun. It is not to be overlooked that our common English word Loa has passed through a similar process of formation. In Anglo-Saxon it was Hlaf. 

“The hot cross buns are not now offered, but eaten, on the festival of Astarte; but this leaves no doubt as to whence they have been derived.” 

The Easter Egg

Alexander Hislop, “The origin of the Pasch eggs is just as clear. The ancient Druids bore an egg, as the sacred emblem of their order. In the Dionysiaca, or mysteries of Bacchus, as celebrated in Athens, one part of the nocturnal ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg. The Hindoo fables celebrate their mundane egg as of a golden colour. The people of Japan make their sacred egg to have been brazen. In China, at this hour, dyed or painted eggs are used on sacred festivals, even as in this country. In ancient times eggs were used in the religious rites of the Egyptians and the Greeks, and were hung up for mystic purposes in their temples. From Egypt these sacred eggs can be distinctly traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic poets are full of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; and thus its tale is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the time of Augustus, who was skilled in all the wisdom of his native country: ‘An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian Goddess’--that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of the symbols of Astarte or Easter; and accordingly, in Cyprus, one of the chosen seats of the worship of Venus, or Astarte, the egg of wondrous size was represented on a grand scale.

“The occult meaning of this mystic egg of Astarte, in one of its aspects (for it had a twofold significance), had reference to the ark during the time of the flood, in which the whole human race were shut up, as the chick is enclosed in the egg before it is hatched. If any be inclined to ask, how could it ever enter the minds of men to employ such an extraordinary symbol for such a purpose, the answer is, first, The sacred egg of Paganism, as already indicated, is well known as the ‘mundane egg,’ that is, the egg in which the world was shut up….

“The egg floating on the waters that contained the world, was the house floating on the waters of the deluge, with the elements of the new world in its bosom. The coming of the egg from heaven evidently refers to the preparation of the ark by express appointment of God; and the same thing seems clearly implied in the Egyptian story of the mundane egg which was said to have come out of the mouth of the great god. The doves resting on the egg need no explanation. This, then, was the meaning of the mystic egg in one aspect. As, however, everything that was good or beneficial to mankind was represented in the Chaldean mysteries, as in some way connected with the Babylonian goddess, so the greatest blessing to the human race, which the ark contained in its bosom, was held to be Astarte, who was the great civiliser and benefactor of the world. Though the deified queen, whom Astarte represented, had no actual existence till some centuries after the flood, yet through the doctrine of metempsychosis, which was firmly established in Babylon, it was easy for her worshippers to be made to believe that, in a previous incarnation, she had lived in the Antediluvian world, and passed in safety through the waters of the flood. Now the Romish Church adopted this mystic egg of Astarte, and consecrated it as a symbol of Christ's resurrection. A form of prayer was even appointed to be used in connection with it, Pope Paul V teaching his superstitious votaries thus to pray at Easter: ‘Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance unto thy servants, eating it in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c’ (Scottish Guardian, April, 1844).”

One pagan wrote, “The history of Easter Eggs as a symbol of new life should come as no surprise. The notion that the Earth itself was hatched from an egg was once widespread and appears in creation stories ranging from Asian to Ireland….”

“Chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs, marshmallow chicks in pastel colors, and candy of all sorts, most of which are given out as personalized gifts during Easter . . . these have pagan origins as well! To understand their association with religion we need to examine the meaning of food as a symbol.

“The ancient belief that, by eating something we take on its characteristics formed the basis for the earliest "blessings" before meals (a way to honor the life that had been sacrificed so that we as humans could enjoy life) and, presumably, for the more recent Christian sacrament of communion (sic) as well.

“Shaping candy Easter eggs and bunnies to celebrate the spring festival was, simply put, a way to celebrate the symbols of the goddess and the season, while laying claim to their strengths (vitality, growth, and fertility) for ourselves.”

A Christian, P. Taylor wrote, “The egg was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. They believed an old fable about an egg of wondrous size which was supposed to have fallen from heaven into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous egg - according to the ancient story - the Goddess Astarte (Easter) [Semiramis], was hatched. And so the egg came to symbolize the Goddess Easter.”

“The idea of a mystic egg spread from Babylon to many parts of the world. In Rome, the mystic egg preceded processions in honor of the Mother Goddess Roman. The egg was part of the sacred ceremonies of the Mysteries of Bacchus. The Druids used the egg as their sacred emblem. In Northern Europe, China and Japan the eggs were colored for their sacred festivals.

“The egg was also a symbol of fertility; Semiramis (Easter) was the goddess of Fertility. The Easter egg is a symbol of the pagan Mother Goddess, and it even bears one of her names.”

One person writes, “Painting Easter eggs is an especially beloved tradition in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches where the eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal vigil and distributed to the congregants. The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ, and cracking the shell represents Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Moreover, historically Christians would abstain from eating eggs and meat during Lent, and Easter was the first chance to eat eggs after a long period of abstinence. (Orthodox Christians continue to abstain from eggs during Lent.)”

Painting eggs is a tradition in churches? It seems that tradition trumps everything else once again in some churches. But what also is apparent looking at history is that both the Easter and the Pasch eggs are rotten to the core.

Tomorrow we will close our small study on the roots of the Easter celebration with the connection of bunnies with the holiday as well as with a "resurrection" contrived by Satan long before The Resurrection.

Was It Really A Good Friday?

Once again we have another Catholic Church tradition which has become deeply engrained in the minds and habits of nearly all Christians. Today is commonly called Good Friday, the day that most Christians worldwide commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. But knowing that the Catholic Church has its fingerprints on naming and starting this observance on this particular day gives rise to ponder their accuracy. After all, the Catholic Church eats, drinks and sleeps in a pool of error. Therefore, let us do what the Catholic Church for nearly two millennia has discouraged Christians from doing -- that being to turn to the Holy Scriptures for our answers.

(For time’s sake, I will put in the biblical references for you to look up when time allows.)

When studying the Scriptures out -- both Old and New Testaments, here is what one will discover regarding the likely period of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection:

1. Jesus died on the “preparation day” of the beginning of Passover* (John 19:14, 31). His body had to come down from the cross before the starting of the “sabbath day” (which was a “high day” - John 19:31). (Leviticus 23:2-5, Numbers 28:16).

* Passover is a term used for the evening meal or feast held on the fourteenth day of the first month. Passover is also the term used for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Luke 22:1).

2. The next day is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – a day which is also called a sabbath and a “high day” (Leviticus 23:6-7, Numbers 28:17-18, 25, Exodus 12:15-16). The Feast of Unleavened Bread was for 7 days. The first and seventh days were days of rest (sabbaths).**

** Exodus 12:18 - unleavened bread eaten for 8 days – first evening at Passover Feast and the next 7 evenings for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

3. The next day is the weekly sabbath.

4. The next day is the first day of the week. (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1, John 20:1)

Using God’s biblical description of “a day” -- “…And the evening and the morning were the first (second, third…) day.” (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31), this is what we can conclude:

1. Wednesday day - Preparation Day for the Passover Feast (Jesus is crucified and entombed.)

2. Wednesday evening/Thursday day - Passover Feast is Wednesday evening

3. Thursday evening/Friday day - first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a high sabbath

4. Friday evening/Saturday day - weekly Sabbath 

5. Saturday evening/Sunday day - first day of the week (Jesus rises Saturday evening - Mark 16:9.)

Jesus said, in Matthew 12:39-40, that as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights, so would Jesus be in “the heart of the earth.” Other references give his raising up as occurring on the third day (Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:17-19, 27:62-65; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 18:31-33, 24:6-8,20-21,44-46; John 2:19-21; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4), with two references stating “after” the third day (Matthew 27:63, Mark 8:31) -- which from a way of calculating time does not conflict with the other references.

Thus, it can be concluded that Jesus likely was crucified and buried on a Wednesday.

All of this aside, what is reassuring to know and to speak is that we serve a risen Saviour.

HE LIVES !!!!!!

Day 3 - The Bent On Lent

Lent

Lent is a word used by the Catholic Church to label the fasting period of forty days which leads up to Easter. This period is preceded by a day (Mardi Gras) of fulfilling the carnal lusts before commencing on this period of supposed spiritual discipline. As usual with the vast majority of the Catholic Church's traditions and observances, the Bible does not mention the custom of Lent. What does history inform us about the roots of Lent?

From a pagan, “In anticipation that the arrival of spring with its emerging plants and wildlife would provide them (the pagans of Northern Europe) with fresh food in abundance, it was customary for many pagans to begin fasting at the time of the vernal equinox, clearing the "poisons" (and excess weight) produced by the heavier winter meals that had been stored in their bodies over the winter. Some have suggested that the purpose of this fasting may have been to create a sought-after state of 'altered consciousness' in time for the spring festivals. One cannot but wonder if this practice of fasting might have been a forerunner of 'giving up' foods during the Lenten season.” Interesting. Notice the New Age connection with a possible origin and purpose of the fast......"to create a sought-after state of 'altered consciousness'."

Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons adds, “Whence, then, came this observance? The forty days' abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, ‘in the spring of the year,’ is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: ‘Three days after the vernal equinox...began a solemn fast of forty days in honour of the sun.’ Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson's Egyptians. This Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god. At the same time, the rape of Proserpine seems to have been commemorated, and in a similar manner; for Julius Firmicus informs us that, for‘forty nights’ the ‘wailing for Proserpine’ continued; and from Arnobius we learn that the fast which the Pagans observed, called ‘Castus’ or the ‘sacred’fast, was, by the Christians in his time, believed to have been primarily in imitation of the long fast of Ceres, when for many days she determinedly refused to eat on account of her ‘excess of sorrow,’ that is, on account of the loss of her daughter Proserpine, when carried away by Pluto, the god of hell. As the stories of Bacchus, or Adonis and Proserpine, though originally distinct, were made to join on and fit in to one another, so that Bacchus was called Liber, and his wife Ariadne, Libera (which was one of the names of Proserpine), it is highly probable that the forty days' fast of Lent was made in later times to have reference to both. Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the ‘month of Tammuz’; in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity--now far sunk in idolatry--in this as in so many other things, to shake hands.

"The instrument in accomplishing this amalgamation was the abbot Dionysius the Little, to whom also we owe it, as modern chronologers have demonstrated, that the date of the Christian era, or of the birth of Christ Himself, was moved FOUR YEARS from the true time. Whether this was done through ignorance or design may be matter of question; but there seems to be no doubt of the fact, that the birth of the Lord Jesus was made full four years later than the truth. This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Church the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition in connection with the abstinence of Lent. Let any one only read the atrocities that were commemorated during the ‘sacred fast’ or Pagan Lent, as described by Arnobius and Clemens Alexandrinus, and surely he must blush for the Christianity of those who, with the full knowledge of all these abominations, ‘went down to Egypt for help’ to stir up the languid devotion of the degenerate Church, and who could find no more excellent way to ‘revive’it, than by borrowing from so polluted a source; the absurdities and abominations connected with which the early Christian writers had held up to scorn. That Christians should ever think of introducing the Pagan abstinence of Lent was a sign of evil; it showed how low they had sunk, and it was also a cause of evil; it inevitably led to deeper degradation. Originally, even in Rome, Lent, with the preceding revelries of the Carnival, was entirely unknown; and even when fasting before the Christian Pasch was held to be necessary, it was by slow steps that, in this respect, it came to conform with the ritual of Paganism. What may have been the period of fasting in the Roman Church before sitting of the Nicene Council does not very clearly appear, but for a considerable period after that Council, we have distinct evidence that it did not exceed three weeks....The words of Socrates, writing on this very subject, about AD 450, are these: ‘Those who inhabit the princely city of Rome fast together before Easter three weeks, excepting the Saturday and Lord's-day.’ But at last, when the worship of Astarte was rising into the ascendant, steps were taken to get the whole Chaldean Lent of six weeks, or forty days, made imperative on all within the Roman empire of the West. The way was prepared for this by a Council held at Aurelia in the time of Hormisdas, Bishop of Rome, about the year 519, which decreed that Lent should be solemnly kept before Easter. It was with the view, no doubt, of carrying out this decree that the calendar was, a few days after, readjusted by Dionysius. This decree could not be carried out all at once. About the end of the sixth century, the first decisive attempt was made to enforce the observance of the new calendar. It was in Britain that the first attempt was made in this way; and here the attempt met with vigorous resistance. The difference, in point of time, betwixt the Christian Pasch, as observed in Britain by the native Christians, and the Pagan Easter enforced by Rome, at the time of its enforcement, was a whole month;* and it was only by violence and bloodshed, at last, that the Festival of the Anglo-Saxon or Chaldean goddess came to supersede that which had been held in honour of Christ.  

* CUMMIANUS, quoted by Archbishop USSHER, Sylloge Those who have been brought up in the observance of Christmas and Easter, and who yet abhor from their hearts all Papal and Pagan idolatry alike, may perhaps feel as if there were something ‘untoward’ in the revelations given above in regard to the origin of these festivals. But a moment's reflection will suffice entirely to banish such a feeling. They will see, that if the account I have given be true, it is of no use to ignore it. A few of the facts stated in these pages are already known to Infidel and Socinian writers of no mean mark, both in this country and on the Continent, and these are using them in such a way as to undermine the faith of the young and uninformed in regard to the very vitals of the Christian faith. Surely, then, it must be of the last consequence, that the truth should be set forth in its own native light, even though it may somewhat run counter to preconceived opinions, especially when that truth, justly considered, tends so much at once to strengthen the rising youth against the seductions of Popery, and to confirm them in the faith once delivered to the Saints. If a heathen could say, ‘Socrates I love, and Plato I love, but I love truth more,’ surely a truly Christian mind will not display less magnanimity. Is there not much, even in the aspect of the times, that ought to prompt the earnest inquiry, if the occasion has not arisen, when efforts, and strenuous efforts, should be made to purge out of the National Establishment in the south those observances, and everything else that has flowed in upon it from Babylon's golden cup? There are men of noble minds in the Church of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, who have felt the power of His blood, and known the comfort of His Spirit. Let them, in their closets, and on their knees, ask the question, at their God and at their own consciences, if they ought not to bestir themselves in right earnest, and labour with all their might till such a consummation be effected. Then, indeed, would England's Church be the grand bulwark of the Reformation--then would her sons speak with her enemies in the gate--then would she appear in the face of all Christendom, ‘clear as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners.’ If, however, nothing effectual shall be done to stay the plague (idolatrous, pagan holidays) that is spreading in her, the result must be disastrous, not only to herself, but to the whole empire.

“Such is the history of Easter.”

Let me close by saying that this post on Lent was to purely show you its historical roots. Fasting is a true biblical teaching and one I promote. Do I observe Lent? No. Do I condemn the principals behind Lent's fasting so as to prepare the mind and the heart for Resurrection Day? No. Simply do with this knowledge as the Spirit leads.

The next postings will be on some of Easter's popular pagan practices, some of which you likely do.

Day 2 - Words Mean Things

Let’s get right to it when it comes to looking into the pagan holiday of Easter. Information has been garnered and, for time’s sake, condensed (a little) from both Christian and pagan sources.

The following edited information is from a book by Alexander Hislop titled The Two Babylons, a compilation of a massive amount of research material on various subject matters related to the ancient city of Babylon and it’s connections, in both spirit and practices, to the Roman Catholic Church:

“What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people Nineveh, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country (Britain). That name, as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar (pronounced Easter). The worship of Bel and Astarte was very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids, ‘the priests of the groves.’...From Bel, the 1st of May is still called Beltane in the Almanac; and we have customs still lingering at this day among us, which prove how exactly the worship of Bel or Moloch (for both titles belonged to the same god) had been observed even in the northern parts of this island…. If Baal was thus worshipped in Britain, it will not be difficult to believe that his consort Astarte was also adored by our ancestors, and that from Astarte, whose name in Nineveh was Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April, as now practised, are called by the name of Easter--that month, among our Pagan ancestors, having been called Easter-monath. The festival, of which we read in Church history, under the name of Easter, in the third or fourth centuries, was quite a different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that time was not known by any such name as Easter. It was called Pasch, or the Passover, and though not of Apostolic institution, was very early observed by many professing Christians, in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ....That festival agreed originally with the time of the Jewish Passover, when Christ was crucified, a period which, in the days of Tertullian, at the end of the second century, was believed to have been the 23rd of March. That festival was not idolatrous, and it was preceded by no Lent. ‘It ought to be known,’ said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth century, and contrasting the primitive Church with the Church in his day, ‘that the observance of the forty days had no existence, so long as the perfection of that primitive Church remained inviolate.’  

From a self-professed witch, “Easter is named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name derives from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east….

“Ostara was, of course, a fertility goddess. Bringing in the end of winter, with the days brighter and growing longer after the vernal equinox, Ostara had a passion for new life. Her presence was felt in the flowering of plants and the birth of babies, both animal and human. The rabbit (well known for its propensity for rapid reproduction) was her sacred animal."

From a Christian, P. Taylor, “Basically, almost every vile, profane and idolatrous practice you can think of originated at Babel with Queen Semiramis, the Mother Goddess and Nimrod. As the people scattered from Babel with their different languages, they, of course, used different names for Nimrod (Tammuz) and Semiramis. Some called the Mother Goddess “ISHTAR” (originally pronounced “Easter”). In other lands, she was called Eostre, Astarte, Ostera, and Eastre. Other names for Semiramis, the Mother Goddess include: Wife of Baal, Ashtaroth or Ashtoreth, and Queen of Heaven. [The names Ashtaroth or Ashtoreth, and Queen of Heaven where used for Semiramis by the Israelites and the ungodly peoples around them, see Judges 2:13, Jeremiah 44:17-19, etc. Other names for Semiramis include Astarte (Cyprus), Diana (Ephesus and throughout Asia Minor), Cybele (Asia Minor), Isis (Egypt), Aphrodite, Ceres (Greece), Venus or Fortuna (Romans), Shingmoo (China), Disa (Scandanavia), Nutria (Etruscans), Virgo-Paritura (Druids), Isi or Indrani or Devaki (India).] The Mother goddess was frequently worshipped as the goddess of fertility - and as a sort of Mother Nature and goddess of Spring and sexual love and birth. She was also worshipped as a mediator between god and man (as the Roman Catholics do with Mary). Sexual orgies and temple prostitutes were often used in her worship and in attempting to gain her favor.”

The word Easter is undoubtedly pagan in his roots and meaning. Why Christians continue to associate this word with the day of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour can likely be attributed to ignorance on the subject. May Christians let their yea be yea and their nay be nay and stop calling a duck an elephant.

Day 1 - Bewitched By Easter

"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth..." (Galatians 3:1a)

What is the celebration of Easter all about? Have any of you ever researched the history of Easter, or can you be likened unto the Jews who ignorantly and without question blindly followed the traditions of the Pharisees? Have any of you ever questioned how Easter became connected with Christianity? In short, let me just say that it was (and still is) the Catholic Church’s modus operandi to combine paganism with Christianity. Like with Christmas, Easter became connected with Christianity by the Catholic Church’s taking of pagan celebrations and putting Christian meanings, names and/or people in place of pagan ones. Let me simply state it here that when the Catholic Church is involved with or in the starting of something, watch out. Christianizing something pagan does not make it right or acceptable in God’s eyes, no matter what the heart may be. The Apostle Paul thought that he was doing the work of God by persecuting and even putting to death Christians. Was that acceptable to God? Never. In fact, Christianizing something pagan is as wrong and corrupt as taking the music of Madonna and putting Christian lyrics to it. But that is another topic for discussion.

Most, if not all, of us have grown up celebrating Easter with bunnies and decorated eggs. We innocently accepted the notion that Easter was particularly the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As innocent as these things are, I found myself asking that if Easter is supposed to be the celebration of our Lord and Saviour’s resurrection, what does a bunny and decorated eggs have to do with it? Where in the Bible do we find these holiday additives to our Christian celebration? The answer to that is we don’t. And after further study of the scriptures and history itself, we find that Easter is in and of itself a pagan holiday. What Christians are actually celebrating when it comes to Christ’s resurrection is Resurrection Day. Many have grown so ignorant of Easter’s true nature that – with no thanks to the Roman Catholic Church – the most holiest of Christian days has been given the name of a pagan observance.

Where I come from, words mean things. Things should be called and labeled for what they actually should be called and labeled. Thus, the day for celebrating the resurrection of my Lord and Saviour should never be called by a pagan name. Unfortunately, almost all Christians and church leaders have grown lazy in their attitudes to where it does not bother them that the name of our most holiest celebration bears the name of a well documented pagan holiday.

You may ask, “But what about the celebrating of Easter? We don’t recognize or worship the goddess for which it is named. We don’t give tribute and honor to the pagan rituals. What harm is there to dying eggs and having egg hunts? The story of Peter Cottontail delivering Easter eggs in a basket to boys and girls is an innocent story......isn’t it?” The scriptures are clear in Romans 14 that one may observe a day and another not, and if both do it unto the Lord, so be it. But is that an allowable excuse for Christians to adopt pagan practices and to say that they are doing those practices unto the Lord? As Paul would say, “God forbid.” All through the holy scriptures, God warns his people to shun the pagan practices of those around them and to be separate. “But come on. It’s harmless fun and entertainment.” You may say that, but Satan makes his ways cute and fun, innocent and feel good. After all, he regularly transforms himself into an “angel of light”, making his ways seem alright to do.

“Well, I’ve done this all my life, and my parents did it, and their parents did it, and we all turned out alright.” I don’t now about you, but I want to turn out better than alright. And as it always happens, what one generation does in small amounts, future generations will end up doing in excess. Take, for example, the supposedly harmless 1960's television show Bewitched. What may have started out to most as something cute and funny and innocent in the 60's has surely grown into the societal cancer of the Harry Potter movies, the Twilight series and the acceptance of witchcraft and the Wican religion as being on par with and as acceptable as Christianity.

It is so disheartening to see how many Christians have become so morally corrupt and desensitized to sin and paganism and things which God hates, despises and detests. They have become that proverbial frog which has sat comfortably in the pot of water as the increasing heat is slowing cooking them to death. When are you going to jump out of this death pot?

Before closing this first day of postings on the pagan holiday of Easter, let us hear from a professed witch, Heather B., in an August, 2009 blog article she wrote titled “For A Religion So Opposed to Paganism, You Sure Stole a Lot of Our Stuff!”:

“Ah, yes Christians. Fascinating creatures they are.

“I grew up Christian; I guess you could say, as is the case with the majority of the booming Pagan population today, and yet I always found myself questioning the message. As I deepened my journey into the craft, I soon discovered that most Christian Holidays coincide with Pagan ones. Christmas and Yule, All Saints day and Halloween and Ostara with Easter, just to name a few. Further research tells us that the Roman Catholic Church did this to easily assimilate our ancestors into the church and the ways of Jesus Christ. …

“True, we do not always practice them the same way or even acknowledge where the traditions come from, but you have to realize there is something more powerful that holds these ideas together. With a sly smile and just a hint of sarcasm I can’t help ask of Christians “How’s that whole assimilation thing working out for ya?”

“It looks as if celebrations, or once Pagan holidays, have been an infectious tool, and yet we have not utilized it to the full extent yet!

“Be comforted Pagan Sisters and Brothers that today, in 2009 we are still celebrating our ancestors Sabbats. The face may have changed, but the message remains the same. Instead of fruits and nuts hand picked from trees in mass quantities, candy manufacturers, greeting card companies and retailers report record sales of their products during the holidays. Pumpkins are still being carved, Easter egg hunts commence...

“And even though the packaging is different, I smile as I reminisce on what our forefathers would have thought about some of the basic traditions that still stand today. Those little things such as dying Easter Eggs or lighting a Yule log…

“It’s a beautiful thing.

“I think our ancestors would be proud that our Pagan traditions still so heavily

influence the ways all who acknowledge the holidays celebrate. …

She rounds things out with a prayer of thanksgiving to her "Goddess for the magical celebrations that continue every year within every religion! …”

If any of you truly care about the truth, you will either look into the history of Easter and/or read the following postings about it. Otherwise, continue to be “willingly ignorant” and to allow yourself and those after you to be spiritually and morally cooked to death. The choice is yours.

Pregnancy At 27 Weeks

All About Baby

Baby's lungs and brain are beginning to mature. Although she would have a good chance of survival if she were born now, she could use a few more weeks of growing. Added layers of fat are continuing to form. These layers will help Baby regulate her temperature once outside the womb and help keep her warm.

[Picture and (edited) information provided at http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy-calculator/pregnancy-week-by-week/.]

Pregnancy At 26 Weeks

All About Baby

During this week, Baby will open his eyes for the first time. He'll open and shut them as he gets used to his new ability. He is still on the small side. His body may look fully formed on the outside, but inside there's fine-tuning taking place, including his lungs and his brain. Baby still has some growing to do!

 

[Picture and (edited) information provided at http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy-calculator/pregnancy-week-by-week/.]

Pregnancy At 25 Weeks

All About Baby

Baby-to-be's lungs are developing rapidly, although she'd probably need a little help breathing if she were born at this point. Her respiratory system continues to develop, her nostrils are open, and she can breathe—but she won't take her first breath of air until delivery day. By the 25th week of pregnancy, her reproductive organs are formed (in boys, the testes have descended). Her skin is translucent and wrinkled, and she can hear Mama's stomach when it gurgles and her voice when she sings. Baby is becoming more aware of how she can move—she's wiggling her fingers and toes!

[Picture and (edited) information provided at http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy-calculator/pregnancy-week-by-week/.]

Pregnancy At 24 Weeks

All About Baby

In the 24th week of pregnancy, Baby is filling out. Part of Mama's weight gain goes straight to helping him gain weight, too. Since he's still on the scrawny side, his skin wrinkles on his body, but he looks like a miniature version of what will be seen on delivery day. His face has formed, ears are in place, and eyes are complete (although his lids are still closed). He has eyelashes, fingernails, and may be growing hair. Rapid eye movements (REM) are beginning, too.

[Picture and (edited) information provided at http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy-calculator/pregnancy-week-by-week/.]

Be An Encourager

Opening scene from Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life:

CLARENCE'S VOICE

You sent for me, sir?

FRANKLIN'S VOICE

Yes, Clarence. A man down on earth needs our help.

CLARENCE'S VOICE

Splendid! Is he sick?

FRANKLIN'S VOICE

No, worse. He's discouraged…

The word “encourage” means “to give courage or confidence to”. Thus, to discourage someone means to take away their courage or confidence.

When you encourage someone, you are giving them the gift of courage.

Joses was given the nickname Barnabas by the apostles in Acts 4:36. In like manner, may we all earn the nickname Barnabas, which means “son of consolation or encouragement”.

* Picture courtesy of http://themanorvillage.com/The-Manor-Village-Life-Centers/encourage-the-heart-stories/