Spirituality from all faiths pull from each other and from all, eventually. I applaud the effort of writing the piece. All faiths used psychedelics in St. Nicks time, including the young Roman Catholic faith, that was banned from Rome until shortly after St. Nicks time. The Immortality Key does a fantastic job of outlining psychedelics and faith. The book is written from the perspective of classic Greek and Latin education, archeology combined with biochemistry finds, theological writings of Christians & others, and researched by an attorney with a passion for each discipline.
The desire to understand the journey between life and death is what we are wired to do as human beings. This is the base desire for spirituality or defiantly refusing to acknowledge it. Effort is required for both. It is a universal thread that pulls on us all.
The idea that Christmas is an appropriation of the ancient Roman winter solstice has a lot less to it than you might expect. In fact calculating from specific information in the New Testament (like the fact that Zechariah, father of John the Baptist served in the Abijah division of the priesthood) it is fairly probable that Jesus Christ was born in late fall/early winter, likely even December. Early Christian writings (from before emperor Constantine affirm this. In short, the church was celebrating Christmas at that time of year well before Constantine made it a legal, official holiday.
Additional note to self: being buddies with Bari and Nellie may get you a spot on their substack but is no guarantee of meaningful, well reaearched joirnalism. Just as with any news outlet, I must vet the individual writers for quality, depth of thought, and research capabilities.
I found this just stupid. And maybe it has to do with my age, having left “it’s funny and cool to be wasted” and “drugs bring wisdom” myths behind long long ago. Not my experience, not anything I’ve seen over the years, just not funny.
Great piece, but as a games writer, I feel obligated to point out that the red Mario mushrooms are Friends, not foes. The poisonous shrooms are purple 😄
The part about the Finns/Lapps/Saami is very interesting. I had never heard of this connection. I have an Estonian friend I'll have to ask. (Estonians and Finns are close cousins, with closely related languages.)
The theory that Christmas falls on December 25th because of a pre-existing pagan holiday -- a theory dating from the Renaissance and still used by radical Protestants to reject the holiday -- is almost certainly wrong. Surprisingly, the pagan festivals of Saturnalia and Sol Invictus (the Undefeated Sun) date in Roman history as official holidays in the city and empire of Rome no earlier than the late third century, well after the establishment of the date of Christmas, before the end of the second century.
In fact, it's likely that the authorities in late pagan Rome, in a desperate attempt to stave off the "new" religions from the East (including Christianity), promulgated these holidays as rivals. Classical paganism was in full collapse at that point in any case. It was only a matter of which of these "new" religions would fill the resulting void. There were others, like Mithraism (popular in the Roman army, featuring Sun worship) and Manicheanism, both strongly influenced by the Persian religion of light and darkness (Zoroasterianism).
The connection of the birth of the savior to the darkest day of the year is unlikely to be accident, but it has no clear connection with any existing pagan holiday. The most likely original reason was that Jesus was commonly assumed to have been conceived around Passover, in late March, just after the vernal equinox. Nine months later is the winter solstice.
(Note this does not jibe with the account in the Gospel of Luke, which speaks of shepherds in the fields and the birthing season for lambs -- of theological significance -- which sounds like March or April in Israel. The implication is of Jesus being *born* in the spring, not conceived. Nonetheless, the later Christian church did not accept this line of reasoning, but instead the aforementioned.)
This made me smile. Nice call. In this case, yes. But not always. Historically, religion has often been an academic and spiritual pursuit. But when it comes to complaining about the 'tone' of an article not following some kind of predetermined expectation on a fairly pagan holiday, I'd suggest the reader look for 'happy happy joy joy' Christmas'y spirit where they are more likely to find it.
But yes- much presumption on my end based on the comment appearing to find offense in an article that didn't pander to a set idea of Christmas. Then again, there are probably brilliantly academic articles on the spirit of generosity or the neurological benefits of gift-giving ceremonies that could have been posted instead.
However, it's my suspicion that the kind of complaint I responded to was based on a religiously conservative idea of Christmas being spoiled by this article not being 'on topic' enough for an observant Christian.
I believe that the roots of Christmas and all things Christmas, are in ancient Persia. The Magi (wise men) traveled from Persia and brought gifts to Mary for the baby Jesus, and had predicted his birth. In Persia, the Magi was a person who brought gifts for children and hope at the beginning of the Nowruz celebration. In Iran, he is called Father Nowruz, Uncle Nowruz, or Baba Nowruz. It is believed that this concept spread west to the Christian world, and the Baba Nowruz or Magi concept was converted to Santa Claus. Santa wears the same cape and robe that Baba Nowruz wears.
There are many links from the ancient Zoroastrians to Christmas that we celebrate today. Beginning with the Yuletide or Yalda, (night of December 20th), December 21 is the beginning of the Yalda season in Persia ending with Nowruz (end of the winter solstice), which is still celebrated today. The ancient Persians decorated a Yalda tree, an evergreen cypress tree to represent the solar system. On the top of the tree was the sun, and around the tree were decorations of the stars and planets. Persians also put two silver/gold ribbons around the tree, representing galactic dust. While the Yalda tree was a part of Yalda celebration in Iran, the Christmas tree became a tradition in Germany during the reformation. In ancient Persia, in both Yalda and Nowruz celebrations, family gathered together and gave gifts, especially to children. December 25th, the birthday of Mehr/Mithra/Messiah was celebrated by Iranians going back as early as 5,000 bc. Even the word Sunday, goes back to Yalda birth of the Sun, with Day. Yule, Yalda, Juldag also means birth of the Day and light.
It is believed that the three 'wise men' in Persia who were priests (Magi) from the Zoroastrian religion predicted the birth of Jesus and according to their belief, he would be the messiah, or the Mithra of the time, and will become the King of the Jews and the Son of God.
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Blessings to All.
“That theory starts with the Amanita muscaria, the most famous mushroom on Earth.” .... sorry but as fascinating as this proposed origin story is, mushrooms don’t start theories, and the writer doesn’t really fill in the gap.
Back in the seventies I was living in a group household in Ferndale, in Northern California. Several of us were college students. One couple (he was studying geology and she nursing) decided they were going to eat some amanita muscaria one Sunday morning after reading the latest Carlos Castenada psychoepic. They had been out the day before gathering some in the nearby redwood forest. They ate measured amounts around ten in the morning. They were going to take notes.
I was mostly outside that day - rebuilding the engine in my car so I wouldn't have to keep hitch-hiking 30 miles to the college. Every time I came in they were in the bathroom, retching. One or the other. Or both - Susan was over the bathtub at one point while Frank hugged the toilet. We only had one bathroom. At one point I had to go into town to find one. I asked them later if they had experienced euphoria? an expanded sense of awareness? entered an altered state of being? Frank was unclear but made vague positive noises. Susan was ruthlessly clear: it had been pointless and stupid and she was angry with Frank for having talked her into it.
Spirituality from all faiths pull from each other and from all, eventually. I applaud the effort of writing the piece. All faiths used psychedelics in St. Nicks time, including the young Roman Catholic faith, that was banned from Rome until shortly after St. Nicks time. The Immortality Key does a fantastic job of outlining psychedelics and faith. The book is written from the perspective of classic Greek and Latin education, archeology combined with biochemistry finds, theological writings of Christians & others, and researched by an attorney with a passion for each discipline.
The desire to understand the journey between life and death is what we are wired to do as human beings. This is the base desire for spirituality or defiantly refusing to acknowledge it. Effort is required for both. It is a universal thread that pulls on us all.
The idea that Christmas is an appropriation of the ancient Roman winter solstice has a lot less to it than you might expect. In fact calculating from specific information in the New Testament (like the fact that Zechariah, father of John the Baptist served in the Abijah division of the priesthood) it is fairly probable that Jesus Christ was born in late fall/early winter, likely even December. Early Christian writings (from before emperor Constantine affirm this. In short, the church was celebrating Christmas at that time of year well before Constantine made it a legal, official holiday.
Additional note to self: being buddies with Bari and Nellie may get you a spot on their substack but is no guarantee of meaningful, well reaearched joirnalism. Just as with any news outlet, I must vet the individual writers for quality, depth of thought, and research capabilities.
I found this just stupid. And maybe it has to do with my age, having left “it’s funny and cool to be wasted” and “drugs bring wisdom” myths behind long long ago. Not my experience, not anything I’ve seen over the years, just not funny.
Perfectly stated, better than I could have.
Great piece, but as a games writer, I feel obligated to point out that the red Mario mushrooms are Friends, not foes. The poisonous shrooms are purple 😄
The part about the Finns/Lapps/Saami is very interesting. I had never heard of this connection. I have an Estonian friend I'll have to ask. (Estonians and Finns are close cousins, with closely related languages.)
The theory that Christmas falls on December 25th because of a pre-existing pagan holiday -- a theory dating from the Renaissance and still used by radical Protestants to reject the holiday -- is almost certainly wrong. Surprisingly, the pagan festivals of Saturnalia and Sol Invictus (the Undefeated Sun) date in Roman history as official holidays in the city and empire of Rome no earlier than the late third century, well after the establishment of the date of Christmas, before the end of the second century.
https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/48/4/6
In fact, it's likely that the authorities in late pagan Rome, in a desperate attempt to stave off the "new" religions from the East (including Christianity), promulgated these holidays as rivals. Classical paganism was in full collapse at that point in any case. It was only a matter of which of these "new" religions would fill the resulting void. There were others, like Mithraism (popular in the Roman army, featuring Sun worship) and Manicheanism, both strongly influenced by the Persian religion of light and darkness (Zoroasterianism).
The connection of the birth of the savior to the darkest day of the year is unlikely to be accident, but it has no clear connection with any existing pagan holiday. The most likely original reason was that Jesus was commonly assumed to have been conceived around Passover, in late March, just after the vernal equinox. Nine months later is the winter solstice.
(Note this does not jibe with the account in the Gospel of Luke, which speaks of shepherds in the fields and the birthing season for lambs -- of theological significance -- which sounds like March or April in Israel. The implication is of Jesus being *born* in the spring, not conceived. Nonetheless, the later Christian church did not accept this line of reasoning, but instead the aforementioned.)
Merry Christmas to all celebrating!
So I've been drinking the wrong piss all along. Dammit!
Great story. Merry Christmas.
This made me smile. Nice call. In this case, yes. But not always. Historically, religion has often been an academic and spiritual pursuit. But when it comes to complaining about the 'tone' of an article not following some kind of predetermined expectation on a fairly pagan holiday, I'd suggest the reader look for 'happy happy joy joy' Christmas'y spirit where they are more likely to find it.
But yes- much presumption on my end based on the comment appearing to find offense in an article that didn't pander to a set idea of Christmas. Then again, there are probably brilliantly academic articles on the spirit of generosity or the neurological benefits of gift-giving ceremonies that could have been posted instead.
However, it's my suspicion that the kind of complaint I responded to was based on a religiously conservative idea of Christmas being spoiled by this article not being 'on topic' enough for an observant Christian.
I believe that the roots of Christmas and all things Christmas, are in ancient Persia. The Magi (wise men) traveled from Persia and brought gifts to Mary for the baby Jesus, and had predicted his birth. In Persia, the Magi was a person who brought gifts for children and hope at the beginning of the Nowruz celebration. In Iran, he is called Father Nowruz, Uncle Nowruz, or Baba Nowruz. It is believed that this concept spread west to the Christian world, and the Baba Nowruz or Magi concept was converted to Santa Claus. Santa wears the same cape and robe that Baba Nowruz wears.
There are many links from the ancient Zoroastrians to Christmas that we celebrate today. Beginning with the Yuletide or Yalda, (night of December 20th), December 21 is the beginning of the Yalda season in Persia ending with Nowruz (end of the winter solstice), which is still celebrated today. The ancient Persians decorated a Yalda tree, an evergreen cypress tree to represent the solar system. On the top of the tree was the sun, and around the tree were decorations of the stars and planets. Persians also put two silver/gold ribbons around the tree, representing galactic dust. While the Yalda tree was a part of Yalda celebration in Iran, the Christmas tree became a tradition in Germany during the reformation. In ancient Persia, in both Yalda and Nowruz celebrations, family gathered together and gave gifts, especially to children. December 25th, the birthday of Mehr/Mithra/Messiah was celebrated by Iranians going back as early as 5,000 bc. Even the word Sunday, goes back to Yalda birth of the Sun, with Day. Yule, Yalda, Juldag also means birth of the Day and light.
It is believed that the three 'wise men' in Persia who were priests (Magi) from the Zoroastrian religion predicted the birth of Jesus and according to their belief, he would be the messiah, or the Mithra of the time, and will become the King of the Jews and the Son of God.
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Blessings to All.
“That theory starts with the Amanita muscaria, the most famous mushroom on Earth.” .... sorry but as fascinating as this proposed origin story is, mushrooms don’t start theories, and the writer doesn’t really fill in the gap.
Mushrooms don't start theories. They do launch trips :)
This is true. It was still a fun read.
What a fun and timely article! Most of it I had never heard before. Thanks!
Back in the seventies I was living in a group household in Ferndale, in Northern California. Several of us were college students. One couple (he was studying geology and she nursing) decided they were going to eat some amanita muscaria one Sunday morning after reading the latest Carlos Castenada psychoepic. They had been out the day before gathering some in the nearby redwood forest. They ate measured amounts around ten in the morning. They were going to take notes.
I was mostly outside that day - rebuilding the engine in my car so I wouldn't have to keep hitch-hiking 30 miles to the college. Every time I came in they were in the bathroom, retching. One or the other. Or both - Susan was over the bathtub at one point while Frank hugged the toilet. We only had one bathroom. At one point I had to go into town to find one. I asked them later if they had experienced euphoria? an expanded sense of awareness? entered an altered state of being? Frank was unclear but made vague positive noises. Susan was ruthlessly clear: it had been pointless and stupid and she was angry with Frank for having talked her into it.
Clearly not in the Christmas spirit
I really loved this article! Nice.
Anyway, we like Christmas, Christmas traditions (my house is the brightest on the block, love led lights) and Christmas movies
“We’re going to need some more FBI guys”
“Bitch hit me with a toaster”
Always gets me in the feels when Linus does his bible soliloquy to help Charlie Brown understand the true meaning of Christmas
Listening to the Vince Guaraldi Trio CB Christmas music
Merry Christmas to all of you, the mostly not insane.