25th of December. What is the significance?
By Rev. Dr. Catherine W Dunne MSc.D, RGN, WMA, ACHH, RGMT, RMP, RHP, Healing Minister, Reiki 20th Degree GMT, Lemurian Seed Reiki GMT, Chakra Master Practitioner, Master Pendulum Practitioner. Co-Founder of Aumvedas Academy and Teacher. Owner of Holistic Health Care Wexford. Author of Reiki Grandmaster Series Attunements numbers 19&20.
Most Christians understand the significance of this date: 25th December of any year.
Disclaimer: To begin with, before I receive rude remarks, I just want to point out from a Metaphysical aspect, Astrological facts and from a Religious perspective. The last thing I want to do here, is to denounce Christmas or Jesus, Yeshua Ben Joseph; for he did exist, but perhaps not in a time, the Bible wants us to believe.
Did you know? Pope Julius I declared 25th December as the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ around 350AD.
Most Christians today tend to agree with the idea that Jesus was not necessarily born on December 25th, AD1. Joseph Fitz Myer, a Professor of emeritus bible studies, stated that “…though the year of Jesus’ birth is not reckoned with certainty, his birth did not occur in AD1…” as generally believed. In other statements for example, the Deaschen, believed to be written in 243AD, puts Jesus’s birthday on March 28th. Bishop Clement of Alexandria ca 215 AD, decided on November 18th. Fitz Myer himself chose September 11th, based on historical records.
But it was Pope Julius I who had declared, around 350 AD, the 25th December as Jesus’s birthday. He saw the date coincided with the winter solstice and the Jewish Hannukah, which were already times of celebration, so let the festivities be enhanced during this period.
Besides, cattle had been slaughtered and wine and beer had fermented during the winter, so everyone was ready to consume fresh produce in abundance. Having converted many Pagans, the Universal Church then began to change certain pagan festivals, like the brutal Saturnalia, which was part of the Pagan Winter Solstice Festivals, into Christian “Holy Days” = Holidays. The Church also promised the converted Pagans that they could continue to celebrate their festivals, with the intentions of eventually replacing them with Christian versions. And even though there was nothing Christian about these “End-of Years”, weeklong festivals, the Church named the final day of festivities, which is 25th December, “Christ-Mass” day.
The first recorded celebration of Christmas took place in 336 AD under the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine, who had slowly converted to Christianity, with Pope Julius making it official around 350.
In 529, Christmas Day was declared an official holiday. https://thenewdaily.com.au/religion/2017/12/14/12-days-of-christmas-day-three/
Let’s begin with Paganism.
Paganism is a broad term for any religion not centred on the Bible – it includes Buddhism and Hinduism, both of which are exceedingly main religions. And since chimps have been observed displaying a basic form of ritual behaviour, paganism probably goes back well before anything we would clearly recognise as human.
What is modern-day Pagan religion? Pagan religion today grew from the new outlooks of the Renaissance period (1500) and the Reformation (the 1600s), through the revival of Druidry and folk custom in Europe, the witch-hunts of the 19th Century, and the explosion of interest in world religions in the sixties and seventies.
Paganism has grown in popularity greatly during the last hundred years. When did pagan religion start? Paganism (from classical Latin pāgānus “rural”, “rustic”, later “civilian”) is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism or ethnic religions other than Judaism.
The word “paganism” has come to refer to various pre-Christian religions belonging to a number of ancient cultures—those from Greece, Rome, Egypt, Scandinavia, and so on. It has come to also represent, in some circles, the modern ideology of Wicca and the followers of revived versions of the old practices.
Is paganism older than Christianity? Yes. Pagan practices are much, much older than the comparatively recent upstart Christianity. The oldest pagan stone circle yet found was dated at approximately 2,030,000 years BCE. The pagans who built it were hominoids, not even human yet. Paganism was an important part of human evolution.
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So, now that we grasp the idea that it was the Church, who decided that the Ancients are wrong, and they are right, we now look at the evidence, that Yeshua Ben Joseph, aka Jesus, was actually born on September 11th, 3 BC (Before Christ).
3 BC? How is this possible? This would mean our Calendars are wrong, well at least the years. So we are already looking at the end of 2025 and moving in to 2026. How is that for fast moving time since lockdowns?
Remember back then, they only had Stars in the sky for their compass. This was their way to orientate, their way to understand foreboding/prophecies, reading what the Universe was telling us. Today our Universe seems to be a Search Engine.
But thanks to this search engine, we can locate things from way back when (providing someone done the research….) but also with the tools of Apps we can “turn back the clock” in Astrology terms and see what the stars’ positions were, let’s say, on September 11, 3 BC.
Why this date? In the Book of Revelations 12:1-2 it reads the following: Revelation 12:1-2 1 And a great sign was seen in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, 2 and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, and she being with child screamed, travailing in birth, and agonised to be delivered. Revelation 12:5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre.” And her child was snatched up to God, and to his throne.
On the 11th September 3 BC (Day 1 Month 7 – Tishri) God used the constellation Virgo to give us a sign in the heavens:
That evening, from Bethlehem, as the constellation of Virgo became visible just above the horizon towards the west, it appeared as if sun set had ‘cloaked’ Virgo’s body. The crescent moon was positioned right under her feet, whereas the day before, and after, the moon was not under her feet. Also, above Virgo’s head are nine stars that form the constellation of Leo, which represents the Lion of the tribe of Judah who is Jesus. That night however Mercury, Venus and Jupiter were also in Leo, making a total of twelve stars above Virgo’s head. Planets were considered as stars in ancient days, and the word planet literally means wondering star. The book of Revelation describes a great sign in the Heavens, with the sun, moon, and stars, and describes that the child being born was Jesus.
Furthermore, it is interesting to learn that: The prophet Isaiah also made a prophetic allusion to this sign over 700 years before. Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel. The best time to have witnessed this momentary display was between 5:53 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. that evening, and Jesus was born at about 6:12 p.m. It’s possible to be confident that this was the time of Jesus’ birth because it was also at this precise time that the brightest star in Virgo, called Spica, which represents an ear of corn being held in Virgo’s left hand, appeared to ‘touch’ the horizon, or ‘alight to the earth.’ The name of this star in Hebrew is Tsemech which means ‘branch,’ and is the subject of prophecy by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. Spica is actually Latin for ‘ear of corn’ or ‘a kernel of wheat’, and Jesus Himself alluded to this sign: John 12:23-24 23 And Jesus responded to them, “The hour is come that the Son of Man should be magnified. 24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat alights to the earth and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it bears fruit.”
Note to self: there are only some 3,761 “years” difference in the calculations of years: Today is 28th day of the Month of December in the Gregorian calendar year 2022. Same date in the Hebrew calendar looks like this: 4th day of the month of Tevet in the year 5783.
It is also note worthy that the Hebrew calendar only has a 355 day cycle.
èso by all accounts, by whose calendar did we determine what happened when, when we read the Bible? Especially the Old Testament!?!
The Hebrew Calendar
The Hebrew Calendar, also called the Jewish Calendar, is a type of Lunisolar Calendar (The Lunisolar Calendar combines the Lunar and Solar Calendar to form another method of timekeeping.) based on the cycle of the earth around the sun (yearly) and the moon around the earth (monthly).
The Hebrew months vary between 29 and 30 days as follows:
Tishrei (30 days) (תשרי) – between September to October.
Jeshván (29 or 30 days) (חשוון, also called Marjeshván – מרחשוון) – October to November
Kislev (30 or 29 days) (כסלו) – November to December
Tevet (29 days) (טבת) – December to January
Shevat (30 days) (שבט) – January to February
Adar (29 days) (אדר) – February to March
Nisán (30 days) (ניסן) – March to April
Iyar (29 days) (אייר) – April to May
Siván (30 days) (סיוון) – May to June
Tamuz (29 days) (תמוז) – June to July
Av (30 days) (אב) – July to August
Elul (29 days) (אלול) – August to September
Hmmm, it seems being sick this Festive Season has given me way too much time on my hands, with all that thinking I have been doing. I sincerely hope, I haven’t offended anyone. I have not intended to have a go at Belief systems, nor disputing the existence of Christ, the Lord’s earthly self. I merely had been pondering on the idea, why we celebrate Jesus’ birthday on 25th December, when it also clear that December was not his birth month. No worries, I’m back to work soon enough and then, will be distracted again for a while 😉.
Thank you for taking the time reading this. I wish you a magical, prosperous, and healthy 2023 or 2026 or which ever Year you live in 😊.
CWD 28/12/2023 Ireland