Eight women are to be made temporary observer “bishops” in the Church of England in the first steps towards trying to resolve the row over the consecration of women.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, 11 February 2013
i-thorts' i-Faith: Women clergy to be made temporary ‘bishops’ by Church of England
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Metaphysical Munchies:- Caramel Reindeer Noses
When you hear the phrase "food for the soul" do you too think of chicken soup and matzo balls? I'm not even Jewish, and yet it's there in my subconscious. It's comfort from within with a metaphysical twist. That's how you could describe this set of articles - comfort food with that metaphysical twist!
Christmas Sleighed
This time we will look at a Christmas and Yule to find a magical morsel.
Christmas celebrations are both a major festival and a public holiday in countries around the world, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian. Countries such as Japan, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas, such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Pagan Truth:- The Green Santa - In the Beginning
The original Santa, or Saint Nicholas, was green and not red, as we portray him today. Not only that, but he had a totally different meaning to the Santa Claus we know today.
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and simply "Santa", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas...
from Santa Claus page @ Wikipedia
The Santa we see in modern times only came about in the early 1950's, when Coca Cola had a problem with sales in some European countries. They adopted his image at the time for a couple of reasons: The first being Post war depression. But the main reason was Coca Cola was little known to Europeans, and the depression's effects made it harder.
Vintage Cocoa Cola Christmas Advert
One astute salesman (sent to Europe to help sales) -who happened to be studying children's stories- came across the legend of Saint Nicholas. (A character who willingly gave to children - to spread joy into their povity-stricken-lives.)
Deciding to use this fabled character in a world-wide marketing campaign, Coca Cola came up with a sales pitch to capture the market. They increased the sales of cola with a jolly fat man in a red and white suit, which perfectly matched their product colours, and instilled a feeling of joy (about a man like St. Nicholas who gave presents one day of each year to enrich their lives) even just for a while.
The Europeans ate up this American link to their own heritage seeing similarities to their own versions of St. Nicholas; especially as they didn't knowing this was created just to sell a product.
Spirit of Yule
It might be of surprise to realise that Santa's suit was originally green before Cocoa Cola changed it to their logo colours of red and white; and all just to push cola into the depressed European market. So strange, but really true.
The VuDooMan is in the House
When you need a little faith, turn to the VuDooMan
Friday, 30 November 2012
Pagan Truth:- Christmas Pagan Origins
The VuDooMan is in the House
When you need a little faith, turn to the VuDooMan
Few people realize that the origins of a form of Christmas was pagan and; celebrated in Europe long before anyone there had heard of Jesus Christ.
No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter.
So why do we celebrate Christ's birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?
The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honouring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who travelled from house to house entertaining their neighbours. From this, the Christmas tradition of carolling was born.
In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.
Huge Yule logs were burned in honour of the sun. The word Yule itself means "wheel," the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.
In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.
Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy:
"Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ."
The controversy continues even today in some fundamentalist sects.
Friday, 23 November 2012
Pagan Truth: Thanksgiving Roots
The VuDooMan is in the House
When you need a little faith, turn to the VuDooMan
It is taught in American schools that the Pilgrims established Thanksgiving (to share their abundant harvest with local Wampanoag "People of the Dawn" Tribe).
« Most history books would like to convince us that Thanksgiving Day goes back to only Plymouth Rock in the 1600's. Plymouth Rock was not the first Thanksgiving Day though. (Ever wonder why Canada has a Thanksgiving Day also?) This pagan feast, honoring the agricultural gods, goes back thousands of years, in one form or another. »
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Vatican launches Latin academy
Pope Benedict XVI has approved the launch of a new Latin language college in the Vatican.
The Pope said the Church was the "guardian and promoter" of Latin and that a good understanding of it was more important than ever.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Justin Welby urges General Synod to vote in favour of female bishops
Justin Welby, the bishop of Durham, has urged the General Synod to vote in favour of landmark legislation allowing women to become bishops as his appointment as the next archbishop of Canterbury was confirmed by Downing Street.
Welby set to be archbishop of Canterbury
Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, an Eton and Cambridge-educated former oil executive, looks set to be named as the next Archbishop of Canterbury replacing Rowan Williams, who has held the post for a decade.
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