Christmas vs Xmas vs No Mas

I thought that it may be fun to discover the politically correct origins of what the majority of today’s society would consider a most holy festive season.

The holy day December 25, is several millenniums old. It's beginnings go back to before the bible story, the Tower of Babel. It is a multi-faceted story about Babylon and its King. Parts of the story can be found in the Book of Jasher which the Old Testament refers to in Joshua and Second Samuel.

Nimrod (the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah) was King of the known world approximately 5000 years ago. He was a wicked man and when he was killed, his wife Semiramis was pregnant. It would appear that the Phoenicians called Semiramis, “Ishtar”, and the Hebrews recorded her name as “Asherah”. At his death, she consoled the people of Sumer by saying she carried Nimrods child, and named him Tammuz. Nimrod, she explained, had gone into the heavens and was now the sun and that Tammuz was in fact the re-born 'sun/son' Nimrod.

In ancient Babylon, the Pagans began to worship a trinity of father Sun, mother Earth, and the re-born 'son', who was interpreted to also be the father, come back to life at each winter solstice, called Saturnalia...the beginning a 'new year'. The Sun was thought to be 'dying' as it rose lower and lower on the horizon, until it 'stopped' ( sol-stice means sun-stop). By December 25th, it was evident that it had reached it’s stopping point, and in the ancient world this was the solstice. December 25th was celebrated by Pagans from all over the world, and has been the 'birthday' of Nimrod, Baal, Moloch, Dagan, Hercules, Atlas, Mithras, Krishna, Zeus, Osiris, Tammuz, Horus, Apollo, Amon, Ra, Bacchus, Jupiter ( Zeus-father), Hermas, Indra, and Buddha ( Guatama Sidhartha was born on a different date, but as Buddha, his birth is celebrated on Dec 25). The principle deity was the sun, worshiped for its life-giving warmth. The ancients pictured the Earth Mother Ishtar ( Easter) being impregnated in the spring near the Vernal (Venus) equinox. Then 9 months later, the gestation period, the Sun was said to be “re-born” at the winter Solstice, also called Paganalia.

In 274 C.E., Emperor Aurelian sought to unite the Roman Empire around the cult of the “Unconquered Sun” ( the Persian god of light, Mithras) and fixed December 25 as the sun's birthday. Some sixty years later, the Christian Church borrowed this date to commemorate the birth of Christ as the new prince of light.

Our culture today has lost its roots with understanding the symbolisms of the past. Many symbols and ideals are carry-overs from by-gone generations.. Lets consider some of the other Christmas Traditions that we have inherited.

The 12 Days of Xmas
Saturnalia is the birthday of the “unconquerable sun” and is also, the passage from chaos to cosmos, the suspension of time. The dead return during the 12 nights of the duration of Saturnalia. It is also the time of the sacrifice of the old King, or his scapegoat, as waning fertility and instigating, the enthronement of the new king as virility. The 12 days of chaos symbolize the pattern of the coming months of the year. Transvestism is a feature of the time of chaos in Saturnalia, orgies, carnivals etc and signifies a form of return to chaos. Babylon held the 12 days of duel between Chaos and Cosmo; in Christianity these are the 12 days of Xmas.

Yule Log
The Celtic and Germanic centerpiece of the 12-day mid-winter festival which influenced Christmas and New Year customs. The ritual burning of a sacred oak log symbolized the dying of light at the December Solstice and celebrating the warmth of it's return.

Another meaning has been assigned to the Yule-log.....you judge for yourselves if there is a ring of truth here. Life for a Pagan under the Druids was a nightmare. Parents had to endure risking their children's lives because the Druids demanded sacrifices. After a child was appointed to be the sacrificial victim, this child was tied up and burned alive as an offering to the sun. One of my resources suggest that one meaning to the term ‘yule log’ is ‘child log’.

Mistletoe
The life essence; divine substance; the all-healing. As neither tree nor shrub it symbolizes that which is neither one nor the other, which, by extension, is the realm of freedom from limitations, so that anyone under the mistletoe is free from restrictions, but also free from protection, and re-enters the world of chaos. Mistletoe is the Golden Bough of the Druids and Aeneas, and represents the sacred feminine principal with the oak as the male. It symbolizes new life and rebirth at the winter solstice. It was believed to be the result of lightning striking the branch of the oak tree and thus imbued with special spiritual qualities. The mistletoe is just a parasite to a tree, but the custom of hanging it up and collecting kisses comes from Druidism. A Pagan spell surrounds its ritual use too.

The Pine Cone
Uprightness, straightness, vitality, fertility, strength of character, phallic (phallic/phallus: an image of the male reproductive organ, symbolising in certain religious systems the generative power of nature). The pine cone is both flame-shaped and phallic, and represents the masculine creative force, fecundity...the producing or capable of producing offspring, and good luck. It is the emblem of Confucius, Zeus, Jupiter, Venus, Diana, Mithras, Attis and Cybele

The Gingerbread Man
It is the representative of the victim, a prisoner or an unliked person, who was burned alive in wicker cages, hanging from trees. This too was ultimately to pay homage to the Sun.

Santa Claus
Our mythology of Santa Claus comes from England, Holland, and Germany. It is interesting to note that he wears a wizard cap and that his costume is red in color, the ancient color of fire, our cultural color of danger. His history is quite colorful, but as to him coming down the chimney, it too has its Nimrod connection.

The Turkey
A traditional thanksgiving food in Mexico long before it acquired the same symbolism in Massachuetts. Native North Americans linked it with female fertility as well as male potency (suggested by its neck swelling). The jeweled food (turkey, peacock and pheasants) are the food for ritual occasions. They are also associated with thunder and rain.

Elves
Mischievous and often feared spirits of the woods, hills, and streams. Elves could be helpful or detrimental to the individual. The original elves, said to be of Norse origin, are called Alfar.

Holly
Good will, joy, and attribute of sun gods. In Rome the holly was sacred to Saturn and used in the Saturnalia as a symbol of health and happiness. In Christianity it transposed to be depicted as the tree of the cross, its spiked leaves signifing the crown of thorns and the passion and its red berries being the blood of Christ.