Easter and Sun Worship
By Mriana
The Truth
Not too many people, especially Christians, can handle the truth and it was through studying such things as this topic, that Christianity became as real to me as Egyptian mythology.
Jesus is no more real than Horus and God no more real than Ra. I often find it amazing that many people, especially Christians, do not know where or how their holidays originated. They do not even realize sun worship in their rituals and I can only skim the surface, as I point to the celebration's origins- sun worship- with the use of my own thoughts from various resources concerning the solar-theology in Easter. The subject is vast and deep, an abyss which cannot be covered completely in a short article as this. The saying, “And how deep the rabbit hole goes!” comes to mind.
I am sure I probably have some Christian visitors attention by now, so let us get to the matter at hand. Of course, I also realize that I maybe preaching to the choir with the regular Ex-Christians here, but I am sure there are some new people arriving all the time, seeking some answers to their questions.
The Crucifixion and Resurrection stories cannot be interpreted literally or taken factual. Stories, such as Easter, are purely mythological and not at all historical. Jesus is no more real than Helios- the Greek god of the sun or even the Roman sun god- Sol, of which the origins and rituals are also similar. In this case though, we will deal with Easter, sun worship, and a couple vernal equinox rituals dating back to Egypt.
Fr. Tom Harpur, of the Anglican Church, who was not misguided at all, also uses various resources for his research, besides the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which I will use as a resource. The only reason it is said by the Church that he is misguided is to keep the Vulgar under control. The Church does not want people to know what is behind the curtain or rather the origins of Christianity, because if people knew they might not stay. I am a case in example and was also told to shut about it, among other things.
In the quote above, Fr. Harpur is probably referring to the cosmic battle between Horus, the sun, and Set, the moon or at least it is one of the stories in which he may be referring to in his account. Incidentally, Horus and Set are also not much different from the Cain and Abel story. It is an good versus evil story, with one brother killing the other. In the end, Oser (Osiris) defeats Set, just as the god of the Bible defeats Cain. Set became the dark side of the human psyche and basically that is what the story of Easter is all about- good versus evil, with the use of symbolism for good winning over evil. It is yet another Horus/Set story in a long list of such stories, but keep in mind, it is not real. It is actually symbolic or allegorical. The Christos is symbolism for the sun defeating evil in the Easter story.
The most damning of all for the Church is found in the BCP and the more research one does in the area, the more damning and unreal it becomes. Easter is "dated" by the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. To be more precise, I'll quote what is in the BCP p. 880:
Of course, an Episcopal priest told me she just goes by the calendar. Shows how much even some priests pay attention and chose to wear rose coloured glasses in favour of avoiding “atheism”. However, this does not mean that other sects of Christianity do not practice the same thing. They most certainly do and it is clearly sun worship or rather solar theology.
As for the dating, and although it is not canon, the Pistis Sophia shows some of where the BCP, which is Anglican/Episcopalian, as well as other Christian sects may possibly get the rules for dating Easter:
From Chapter Two of Pistis Sophia:
Now, take what is said in the Pistis Sophia and the Rules for finding Easter, and apply them to how many Christians do Easter Sunday- They have a Sun Rise Service, in which it is said that Jesus has risen.
Picture it: The month of Tobe, would probably been around the Spring equinox, in which it started on the day that there was a full moon previously. The Jesus/Sun rose from the horizon and was extremely bright, which it generally is around the Spring Equinox, and made it's way towards the sky. The "disciples" watched Jesus/The Sun rise up into the clouds on that morning.
What I am not sure of, is if the 15th moon is the 15th month or what. I cannot picture what the 15th moon maybe be, but I do know the calendar back then was different than we have now. Be that as it may, I cannot fathom why people cannot picture any of this in their heads. It is so simple a preschooler could see it in their minds and not knowing what the 15th moon is, in no way diminishes the fact of how Easter is dated.
Side note to Christians or whoever may want to contradict this... I may have left the Church, but I still have my own personal copy of the BCP and I used it as a lay minister. So I know it fairly well. The BCP is derived from the old RC (Roman Church around the Reformation) as well as includes the historical documents of Christianity. However, I am not just pulling this stuff out of my hat, but I am talking about the Church liturgical calendar, not the common calendar. Secondly, it is Christian and it is how Easter is dated for all Christian sects. Thirdly, while Pistis Sophia is not canon, keep in mind, that before the books of the Bible were canonized, people were using all these texts and today, little to people's knowledge, some of it was kept within Christianity, as well as paganism being added.
However, take chapter 28 of Matthew. At dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb of Jesus. In Mark Chapter 16, verse two, “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Verse 9: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week...” Even in Luke 24 verse 1 the women arrived early in the morning and in John 20 the women go just before sunrise (while it was still dark). This contributes to Sunrise Services and to the idea of sun worship. It is no different from previous motifs and the idea of the morning sun is very important to the Resurrection story.
Yes, I hear some people saying, “Oh, but this is not the sun. It is Jesus, a real person, who rose from the dead at sunrise.” Only if one anthropomorphizes the story, which makes it dreadfully disturbing, as well as sickening, due to the barbarism. Originally, the story was animistic, involving the sun and fertility worship. In my honest opinion, the story is more beautiful if left in animistic form, in which the sun sits on the Southern Cross for three days and then rises again anew. The longest night of the year is around the Winter Solstice, in which it was said the sun died and then rose again anew, bringing longer days with it. The days become longer and the sun begins to reach its full strength and power around spring and it was around the vernal equinox that people had fertility rituals and planting crops. The sun is strongest and most powerful around the summer solstice. They depended on the sun for their survival, just as we do, if not more so, and various cultures created stories about it, with the most recent ones being anthropomorphic.
The earth is alive with new life around the spring equinox and in some of these rituals, primitive people sacrificed an animal or even a human to the gods, so that their crops would do well. These fertility rituals most often surrounded the sun and sometimes the moon, as seen in the Egyptian texts and other sources. Yet these people, from the Greeks to the Egyptians and beyond, knew their stories used a great amount of symbolism in order to convey a lesson or message. None of it was taken literally.
Long story short, Easter is a modern day anthropomorphic version of ancient sun and fertility worship. Yes, “Jesus” is the light of world (John 8:12), especially if viewed as the sun and the sun is our source of life, because without it we would all parish. The sun also walks on water, metaphorically, not literally.
Even in Egyptian texts, Ra was symbolic of the sun. “The light of the Sun, or the giver of life, is symbolized by a circle, in the center of which is a point of polarization. The circle represents God, since it has no beginning, no end, and no middle, while the center represents the point of polarization, which is God's idea or thought to create.” ~ p 40 Egyptian Book of the Dead, by Dr. Ramses Seleem.
Who or what am I talking about? No, it is not Jesus. Those words come from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written centuries before the Bible and the Torah. It is symbolic of the sun and the only thing I am omitting is what would without a doubt give the text away, because it speaks of Oser.
You find some of this in the Nicene Creed, first section:
Even in the second section, the Son is the light of light and what is the greatest light of all? The sun, which many Christians go and have Sunrise services on Easter Sunday, not having a clue as to what is really going on, much less admitting it to themselves. They are oblivious to the reality of what they are doing and even more so to the origins of the ritual. The origins of which are very much like that found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and other pre-Christian texts.
Oser is also the light, for the Book of the Dead says in 8:6, “I am the light, which rose in the beginning of time and created His own authority.” He is yet another “I AM”, just as Krishna/Vishnu and Christ/God were and just like them, he is the beginning and the end, which is found in Revelations 21:6 and in The Bhagavad-Gita, the tenth teaching verse 32.
Easter is set by the spring equinox and dates back to pre-Christian mythology of fertility and sun worship, something that should be obvious by the manner in which the day for Easter is found. It is solar theology. This is no work of the devil. A lot more came out of Egypt than just the children of (Is)is-Ra-El (Exodus 3:10) and Evolutionary science has discovered humans came out of Africa and adapted to their new environments. They brought with them some of the myths and rituals of Egypt and adapted them to their own tribal culture. The Israelites sacrificed a lamb during Passover and placed the blood on their doors so that no harm came to the first born child and likewise Christians do similar with “the blood of the Lamb of God”. It is no different and is similar practices can be found in Egyptian and pagan fertility rituals in which they made sacrifices to the gods.
Another ritual that is similar is The Night of the Erecting the Djed column, which represented the dead body of Oser (Osiris) and was placed on the floor. It was then pushed until it was erect- representing the resurrection of Oser in the form of his son, Heru, the Egyptian king. This is basically no different than the stauros (Greek for an upright pale or stake, in which people were executed). During the Stations of the Cross, we see basically the same sort of ritual happening with the Cross/Stauros and in the end, the Sun rises anew. Same song and dance.
There is a old spiritual called “Let Us Break Bread Together” and the chorus goes “When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord have mercy on me.” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIq9GQ9ZinY full song with images of the sun). Seems to me the slaves had a clue as to what was going on within Christianity, probably because they had a similar religion back in Africa. However they noticed it, what better way to hide the knowledge than with talk of bread (wheat) and wine (grapes), which keeps within the confines of Christianity. Yet many of today's Christians do not seem to have a clue, even with such songs, of which there are many. They blow off any relationship to previous motifs, rituals, and any idea of sun worship, yet it is there, plain as day.
While this is only the very tip of the iceberg, into the origins of Easter, there truly is nothing new under the Sun. I also understand this is not enough evidence for some, especially for true believers in Christianity, but the fact remains, that Easter is set by the spring equinox and dates back to pre-Christian mythology of fertility and sun worship, something that should be obvious by the manner in which the day for Easter is found. It is solar theology.
However, I suggest we just drop all the stories, celebrate spring, the warm sun, singing birds who celebrate the new life on the earth, the beautiful colourful flowers, and other things within nature that are so vibrant around this time of year. We do not need any of these primitive stories, not even the Resurrection story, to celebrate Spring, but we do need to see nature renewing itself and coming alive again as the sun becomes powerful enough to bring about all this wonderful splendor of life. It has nothing to do with any dying and rising god-man, not even Jesus Christ. It is just nature doing what it does and it has done it so beautifully for centuries.
Oh yes! Of course enjoy the chocolate! For the sun has risen indeed and it will melt it quickly.
“So rather than be just another mindless religious robot, mindlessly and aimlessly and blindly believing that all of this is in the hands of some spooky incompetent father figure who doesn't give a shit, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on.
And immediately, I thought of the sun. Happened like that. Overnight I became a sun-worshiper. Well, not overnight, you can't see the sun at night. But first thing the next morning, I became a sun-worshiper. Several reasons. First of all, I can see the sun, okay? Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun. I'm big on that. If I can see something, I don't know, it kind of helps the credibility along, you know? So everyday I can see the sun, as it gives me everything I need; heat, light, food, flowers in the park, reflections on the lake, an occasional skin cancer, but hey. At least there are no crucifixions, and we're not setting people on fire simply because they don't agree with us.
Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I'm unworthy. Doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don't pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn't presume on our friendship. It's not polite.” ~ George Carlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOfurmrjxo around 3:48
The Truth
Not too many people, especially Christians, can handle the truth and it was through studying such things as this topic, that Christianity became as real to me as Egyptian mythology.
I am sure I probably have some Christian visitors attention by now, so let us get to the matter at hand. Of course, I also realize that I maybe preaching to the choir with the regular Ex-Christians here, but I am sure there are some new people arriving all the time, seeking some answers to their questions.
The Crucifixion and Resurrection stories cannot be interpreted literally or taken factual. Stories, such as Easter, are purely mythological and not at all historical. Jesus is no more real than Helios- the Greek god of the sun or even the Roman sun god- Sol, of which the origins and rituals are also similar. In this case though, we will deal with Easter, sun worship, and a couple vernal equinox rituals dating back to Egypt.
“Easter occurs on different dates each year because, like the Jewish Passover, it is based upon the vernal equinox, that dramatic moment when the hours of the day-light and the hours of darkness at last draw parallel and then the light finally and triumphantly wins out. Thus Easter is always fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. It's a cosmic, solar, and lunar event as deeply rooted in religious traditions originating from sun-god worship as one could conceivably imagine.” ~ Tom Harpur “The Pagan Christ”.
Fr. Tom Harpur, of the Anglican Church, who was not misguided at all, also uses various resources for his research, besides the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which I will use as a resource. The only reason it is said by the Church that he is misguided is to keep the Vulgar under control. The Church does not want people to know what is behind the curtain or rather the origins of Christianity, because if people knew they might not stay. I am a case in example and was also told to shut about it, among other things.
In the quote above, Fr. Harpur is probably referring to the cosmic battle between Horus, the sun, and Set, the moon or at least it is one of the stories in which he may be referring to in his account. Incidentally, Horus and Set are also not much different from the Cain and Abel story. It is an good versus evil story, with one brother killing the other. In the end, Oser (Osiris) defeats Set, just as the god of the Bible defeats Cain. Set became the dark side of the human psyche and basically that is what the story of Easter is all about- good versus evil, with the use of symbolism for good winning over evil. It is yet another Horus/Set story in a long list of such stories, but keep in mind, it is not real. It is actually symbolic or allegorical. The Christos is symbolism for the sun defeating evil in the Easter story.
The most damning of all for the Church is found in the BCP and the more research one does in the area, the more damning and unreal it becomes. Easter is "dated" by the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. To be more precise, I'll quote what is in the BCP p. 880:
Rules for Finding the Date of Easter Day
“Easter Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the Spring equinox on March 21. This full moon may happen on any date between March 21 and April 18 inclusive. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday following. But Easter Day cannot be earlier than March 21or later than April 25.”
Of course, an Episcopal priest told me she just goes by the calendar. Shows how much even some priests pay attention and chose to wear rose coloured glasses in favour of avoiding “atheism”. However, this does not mean that other sects of Christianity do not practice the same thing. They most certainly do and it is clearly sun worship or rather solar theology.
As for the dating, and although it is not canon, the Pistis Sophia shows some of where the BCP, which is Anglican/Episcopalian, as well as other Christian sects may possibly get the rules for dating Easter:
From Chapter Two of Pistis Sophia:
“It happened, however, on the 1st of the moon in the month of Tôbe, which is the day on which the moon becomes full, now on that day when the sun had risen on its path , there came forth after it a great power of light, giving a very great light, and there was no measure to its accompanying light , for it came forth from the Light of Lights, exceedingly, with (a) light to which there was no measure.
And the disciples gazed after him, and not one of them spoke until he had reached heaven, but they all kept a great silence. Now these things happened on the 15th of the moon, on the day on which it is full in the month of Tôbe.”
Now, take what is said in the Pistis Sophia and the Rules for finding Easter, and apply them to how many Christians do Easter Sunday- They have a Sun Rise Service, in which it is said that Jesus has risen.
Picture it: The month of Tobe, would probably been around the Spring equinox, in which it started on the day that there was a full moon previously. The Jesus/Sun rose from the horizon and was extremely bright, which it generally is around the Spring Equinox, and made it's way towards the sky. The "disciples" watched Jesus/The Sun rise up into the clouds on that morning.
What I am not sure of, is if the 15th moon is the 15th month or what. I cannot picture what the 15th moon maybe be, but I do know the calendar back then was different than we have now. Be that as it may, I cannot fathom why people cannot picture any of this in their heads. It is so simple a preschooler could see it in their minds and not knowing what the 15th moon is, in no way diminishes the fact of how Easter is dated.
Side note to Christians or whoever may want to contradict this... I may have left the Church, but I still have my own personal copy of the BCP and I used it as a lay minister. So I know it fairly well. The BCP is derived from the old RC (Roman Church around the Reformation) as well as includes the historical documents of Christianity. However, I am not just pulling this stuff out of my hat, but I am talking about the Church liturgical calendar, not the common calendar. Secondly, it is Christian and it is how Easter is dated for all Christian sects. Thirdly, while Pistis Sophia is not canon, keep in mind, that before the books of the Bible were canonized, people were using all these texts and today, little to people's knowledge, some of it was kept within Christianity, as well as paganism being added.
However, take chapter 28 of Matthew. At dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb of Jesus. In Mark Chapter 16, verse two, “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Verse 9: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week...” Even in Luke 24 verse 1 the women arrived early in the morning and in John 20 the women go just before sunrise (while it was still dark). This contributes to Sunrise Services and to the idea of sun worship. It is no different from previous motifs and the idea of the morning sun is very important to the Resurrection story.
Yes, I hear some people saying, “Oh, but this is not the sun. It is Jesus, a real person, who rose from the dead at sunrise.” Only if one anthropomorphizes the story, which makes it dreadfully disturbing, as well as sickening, due to the barbarism. Originally, the story was animistic, involving the sun and fertility worship. In my honest opinion, the story is more beautiful if left in animistic form, in which the sun sits on the Southern Cross for three days and then rises again anew. The longest night of the year is around the Winter Solstice, in which it was said the sun died and then rose again anew, bringing longer days with it. The days become longer and the sun begins to reach its full strength and power around spring and it was around the vernal equinox that people had fertility rituals and planting crops. The sun is strongest and most powerful around the summer solstice. They depended on the sun for their survival, just as we do, if not more so, and various cultures created stories about it, with the most recent ones being anthropomorphic.
The earth is alive with new life around the spring equinox and in some of these rituals, primitive people sacrificed an animal or even a human to the gods, so that their crops would do well. These fertility rituals most often surrounded the sun and sometimes the moon, as seen in the Egyptian texts and other sources. Yet these people, from the Greeks to the Egyptians and beyond, knew their stories used a great amount of symbolism in order to convey a lesson or message. None of it was taken literally.
Long story short, Easter is a modern day anthropomorphic version of ancient sun and fertility worship. Yes, “Jesus” is the light of world (John 8:12), especially if viewed as the sun and the sun is our source of life, because without it we would all parish. The sun also walks on water, metaphorically, not literally.
Even in Egyptian texts, Ra was symbolic of the sun. “The light of the Sun, or the giver of life, is symbolized by a circle, in the center of which is a point of polarization. The circle represents God, since it has no beginning, no end, and no middle, while the center represents the point of polarization, which is God's idea or thought to create.” ~ p 40 Egyptian Book of the Dead, by Dr. Ramses Seleem.
“You are Lord of heaven and earth... Maker of heaven and earth.”
Who or what am I talking about? No, it is not Jesus. Those words come from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written centuries before the Bible and the Torah. It is symbolic of the sun and the only thing I am omitting is what would without a doubt give the text away, because it speaks of Oser.
You find some of this in the Nicene Creed, first section:
“We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
'maker of heaven and earth',
of all that is, seen and unseen.”
Even in the second section, the Son is the light of light and what is the greatest light of all? The sun, which many Christians go and have Sunrise services on Easter Sunday, not having a clue as to what is really going on, much less admitting it to themselves. They are oblivious to the reality of what they are doing and even more so to the origins of the ritual. The origins of which are very much like that found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and other pre-Christian texts.
Oser is also the light, for the Book of the Dead says in 8:6, “I am the light, which rose in the beginning of time and created His own authority.” He is yet another “I AM”, just as Krishna/Vishnu and Christ/God were and just like them, he is the beginning and the end, which is found in Revelations 21:6 and in The Bhagavad-Gita, the tenth teaching verse 32.
Easter is set by the spring equinox and dates back to pre-Christian mythology of fertility and sun worship, something that should be obvious by the manner in which the day for Easter is found. It is solar theology. This is no work of the devil. A lot more came out of Egypt than just the children of (Is)is-Ra-El (Exodus 3:10) and Evolutionary science has discovered humans came out of Africa and adapted to their new environments. They brought with them some of the myths and rituals of Egypt and adapted them to their own tribal culture. The Israelites sacrificed a lamb during Passover and placed the blood on their doors so that no harm came to the first born child and likewise Christians do similar with “the blood of the Lamb of God”. It is no different and is similar practices can be found in Egyptian and pagan fertility rituals in which they made sacrifices to the gods.
Another ritual that is similar is The Night of the Erecting the Djed column, which represented the dead body of Oser (Osiris) and was placed on the floor. It was then pushed until it was erect- representing the resurrection of Oser in the form of his son, Heru, the Egyptian king. This is basically no different than the stauros (Greek for an upright pale or stake, in which people were executed). During the Stations of the Cross, we see basically the same sort of ritual happening with the Cross/Stauros and in the end, the Sun rises anew. Same song and dance.
There is a old spiritual called “Let Us Break Bread Together” and the chorus goes “When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord have mercy on me.” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIq9GQ9ZinY full song with images of the sun). Seems to me the slaves had a clue as to what was going on within Christianity, probably because they had a similar religion back in Africa. However they noticed it, what better way to hide the knowledge than with talk of bread (wheat) and wine (grapes), which keeps within the confines of Christianity. Yet many of today's Christians do not seem to have a clue, even with such songs, of which there are many. They blow off any relationship to previous motifs, rituals, and any idea of sun worship, yet it is there, plain as day.
While this is only the very tip of the iceberg, into the origins of Easter, there truly is nothing new under the Sun. I also understand this is not enough evidence for some, especially for true believers in Christianity, but the fact remains, that Easter is set by the spring equinox and dates back to pre-Christian mythology of fertility and sun worship, something that should be obvious by the manner in which the day for Easter is found. It is solar theology.
However, I suggest we just drop all the stories, celebrate spring, the warm sun, singing birds who celebrate the new life on the earth, the beautiful colourful flowers, and other things within nature that are so vibrant around this time of year. We do not need any of these primitive stories, not even the Resurrection story, to celebrate Spring, but we do need to see nature renewing itself and coming alive again as the sun becomes powerful enough to bring about all this wonderful splendor of life. It has nothing to do with any dying and rising god-man, not even Jesus Christ. It is just nature doing what it does and it has done it so beautifully for centuries.
Oh yes! Of course enjoy the chocolate! For the sun has risen indeed and it will melt it quickly.
“So rather than be just another mindless religious robot, mindlessly and aimlessly and blindly believing that all of this is in the hands of some spooky incompetent father figure who doesn't give a shit, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on.
And immediately, I thought of the sun. Happened like that. Overnight I became a sun-worshiper. Well, not overnight, you can't see the sun at night. But first thing the next morning, I became a sun-worshiper. Several reasons. First of all, I can see the sun, okay? Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun. I'm big on that. If I can see something, I don't know, it kind of helps the credibility along, you know? So everyday I can see the sun, as it gives me everything I need; heat, light, food, flowers in the park, reflections on the lake, an occasional skin cancer, but hey. At least there are no crucifixions, and we're not setting people on fire simply because they don't agree with us.
Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I'm unworthy. Doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don't pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn't presume on our friendship. It's not polite.” ~ George Carlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOfurmrjxo around 3:48
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