The 6th and 7th of January is Christmas for the Orthodox Church. Unlike the Catholic and Protestants, the Orthodox Church adheres to the Julian Calendar, established by the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Cæsar. Therefore, allowing for the adjustment from Julian to Gregorian, tomorrow is the 25th December under the old system, and is thus the date of Christmas/Sol Invictus/Saturnalia/Yule. That the Church of Rome failed to shift the date of Christmas to allow for the change from Julian to Gregorian time, is worthy of note insofar as it shews a staggering lack of respect for a date which is of profound importance in Christianity and indeed in the pre-Christian traditions as well.
In the Catholic nation of Spain, the 6th of January is known as the day of the Three Kings, in which three Magi from the East are said to have brought gifts to the infant Jesus. As further proof of the political nature of the Church of Rome, the three Kings as they are known in Spain, represent the Orient, Arabia and Africa - although this nonsense cannot be found anywhere in Biblical texts. The 'Kings' are actually recorded as Wise Men (Magi) and are written as having come from the East exclusively. Research into the origins of the Three Wise Men (who were definitely not Kings of anywhere), shews that the manipulation of the characteristics attributed to them is but another distortion of other people's traditions in order to give the political religion of Rome a more substantial basis than it really has.
The use of the 'Kings' in place of 'Wise Men' is clearly an attempt to raise Jesus to the status of 'King of Kings'. This thereby justifies the political concept of the 'Divine Right of Kings' which the despicable Windsor Mafia still use to justify their subjugation of the peoples of the UK and the British Commonwealth. The affirmation of the Class System and the Right of 'Royalty' to rule over the rest of us contradicts everything said in the Sermon on the Mount, and is clearly yet more political obfuscation on the part of the Established Ruling Class of Rome, which has been eagerly swallowed by their counterparts ever since this myth was created. What may appear to be an insignificant detail, really is the foundation of the despotism of the UK Ruling Class and one which needs to be addressed. There is no Divine Right of Kings, only Establishment propaganda to excuse and sanctify their tyranny.
The number of Magi isn't recorded in the Bible. The idea of Three Magi is most likely a confusion of the idea of the three gifts given by the Magi. The three gifts were Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds, which is the motto of the followers of Zarathustra. Again, the Church of Rome is simply plagiarising other peoples' beliefs. The Jews believed the the Zarathustrians (Zoroastrians) had prophesied the coming of Three Messiahs - so naturally, in order to appeal to the Jews of the Middle East, the idea of Magi visiting Jesus to bestow their gifts, was a very powerful one which indicated the fulfillment of prophesy.
The Nativity which we are all familiar with, features the Three Wise Men visiting Jesus in his Manger, but again, this is erroneous. According to Christian mythology, the Magi arrived after following a star. The story of when Jesus was visited changes from text to text, with some placing him as an infant, some as a toddler and some as older still. The discrepancies further point to tinkering with the texts to give more political power to the Imperial Roman Church.
So what are we to make of all this? I would say that the most striking point is the failure of the Church of Rome and the Protestants who split from it to bother to keep sacred the date of the birth of the founder of the entire Christian religion. The fact that the Orthodox Church took the easy step of moving the date on the new calendar is laudable, whereas the failure of everyone else is an astounding display of carelessness and lack of respect.
The shift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar has to be taken note of. Those who celebrate Yule, just as those who celebrate Christmas must be careful that they are not keeping sacred a day which has no significance, and likewise ignoring one which has.
Happy Christmas and a Good Yule to everyone. The Gregorian Calendar is an improvement on the Julian one, but for those who wish to keep observance to the correct Holy Days, relying solely on the Gregorian Calendar is not good enough. Nor is swallowing information handed down by those with power, without taking a moment to ask for whose benefit is the information crafted?
2 comments:
Snake Oil comes in many different containers
Very interesting research Rufus. I didn't actually know that about the Orthodox Church. Pagans generally look to the solstices as the markers for these high festivals - a date which cannot be altered as it would noticed that the days and nights have not grown shorter correctly.
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