This is what I prepared for this year's Christmas dinner. Nothing too fancy, just turkey with stuffing (my recipe with a lot of goodies in it) .........My "special" cream soup, roasted ham, mushrooms, cranberry sauce, ............. cocktail shrimps, meshed potato..............carrots, broccoli, tomatoes ........
.... and some Polish sausages.
Finally , I just had a piece of fruit cake for dessert, I didn't have room for cheesecake; then again, there is always tomorrow.....
I got some time while waiting for the turkey to be cooked (is still Christmas at where I am), I decided to write this.Jesus was not born in the Winter time, even the astronomy gave hint of when during the year Jesus was born, it couldn't have been in December. Scholars believe that Jesus was born during the late summer or early autumn.It was the Roman who celebrated Saturnalia, celebrating the god, Saturn, a week long period celebrating lawnessless. During this time, innocent people were physically punished and tortured or murdered by the Roman authorities. They believed that this would drive the "dark force" away. The 25 th of Decemeber was the last day of this holiday week and was also the birthday of the pagan deity - Mithra. Mithra's influence became widespread in the Roman Empire in the first few centuries A.D. Pagans are people who practice non Judeo-Christian religions with many deities. There are many definitions for pagan, one would be the believers in non Abrahamic religions; the other would be people who practice polytheistic religions; and many others.In the 4th century CE (Common Era), Christianity imported the Saturnalia holiday hoping to absorb the pagan masses as well, converting pagans into Christians. However, there was nothing "Christian" about this holiday, so the Christian leaders named the 25th of December as the birthday of Christ. Incidentally, the name Christ-mas is from Christ and masses. Initially, the Christian leaders had little success in converting the pagans, eventually, the Church agreed to celebrate the holidays the way it had been celebrated by drinking, singing naked and indulging in sexual pleasure, to promote more conversions.
The Origin of Christmas Tree.Again, this is part of the Pagan tradition, they worshipped trees in the forest , took the tree back home and decorated them.The Origin of Christmas presents (which I don't practice haha )This is a pre-Christian Roman custom. The Roman Emperors forced the most despised citizens to offer gifts to them during the Saturnalia holiday.The Origin of Santa ClausBishop of Myra, Nicholas , born in Parara , Turkey in 270 CE. He was one of the most senior Bishops who were responsible for the New Testament in which the Jews were portrayed as the children of the Devil that were responsible for the death of Jesus. After his death, in 1087, Nicholas was idolised by a group of sailors who moved his bones from Turkey to Bari, Italy where the Nicholas cult was formed.The Nicholas cult was later spread to German and Celtic pagans who worshipped Woden , the father of Thor, Balden and Tiw. Woden had a long white beard and rode a horse in heavens during one evening in every Autumn. The worship of Nicholas was merged with Woden, Nicholas adopted a long white beard and lost his Mediterranean looks. Nicholas was also given a flying horse and traveled the heavens during the winter season instead of Autumn.The name Santa Claus is from Dutch origin. The Dutch spelling of Saint Nicholas is Sint Nikolass which was eventually changed
to SinterKlass . The Dutch colonists brought this to America in the 17th century and the English version of the name , Santa Claus appeared.Whether you are a Christian, pagan or non believer, Christmas should be the time for joy and family. ~~~~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~~~~
