One of the most worshipped Gods in the Ancient World was Zeus. Zeus was known by the name Jupiter by the Ancient Romans. He was also considered the King of the Gods and the Chief God of Mount Olympus. In all honesty, for those of us who worship Zeus, he still is. Zeus is the God of law, weather, fate, the sky and order. The symbols for Zeus are the lightning bolt, the eagle, the bull, and the royal scepter.

Zeus was born to the leader of the twelve Titans, Cronus and his wife/sister Rhea. The story of Zeus begins long before he is born, with the birth of his father Cronus, God of Time and Ages. Also known as Saturn (Roman), Cronus was born to Ouranos (Uranus) the God of the Sky and Gaia (Terra), the Goddess of the Earth. Gaia and Ouranos had six boys and six girls, known as the twelve Titans. Gaia also gave birth to three giant children known as the Kyklopes (Cyclops) and three giant children known as the Hekatonkeires. The latter three are the Gods of violent storms.

When the six giant children were born, Ouranos was disgusted with them. He banished the Hekatonkeires and the Kyklopes to Tartarus. This is the stormy pit that is located beneath the Earth and is ruled by Tartaros. Tartaros is a protogenos (primordial) God. This means that he was one of the first Gods in existence. He is also the brother of Gaia. It should be noted that while the primordial Gods have been described in human form, the primary belief is that each is a representation of their elemental form (i.e. Gaia is the Earth, Ouranos is the sky, Tartaros is Tartarus). Ouranos left the care of his six children in the capable hands of Tartaros not realizing that his wife Gaia’s discontent would lead to his downfall.

With Gaia guiding Cronus on the path towards overthrowing his father in order to free his six, giant brothers, Ouranos was first castrated and then deposed of by his son, who became the ruler of the Titans in what was known as the “Golden Age”. Unfortunately for Cronus, he feared his brothers, the Kyklopes and the Hekatonkeires so much that he kept them in Tartarus, much to the displeasure of his mother, Gaia.

The disgruntled Gaia took great pride in informing her traitorous son Cronus that he would be overthrown by one of his children in a similar manner to the way he overthrew Ouranos. To prevent this from happening, every time Rhea gave birth to one of their children, Ouranos swallowed them whole. Rhea was not very happy about her husband eating their children. Together, with Gaia, Rhea formed a plan to sneak her youngest child, Zeus, to a safe location. The two women vowed for retribution at the loss of their children, at the hands of their husbands.

Zeus was born on Crete and was hidden by his mother in a cave on Mount Ida. Though myths vary upon whom or what raised Zeus, the major consensus is that he was brought up by his grandmother, Gaia. When Cronus asked Rhea if he could see his son, she had swaddled a rock in blankets and without even looking at his son, the fearful Cronus swallowed the rock whole, assuming it was Zeus.

Zeus did not act with stealth force the way Cronus had with his own father. Instead, with the help of Gaia, Zeus poisoned his father, forcing him to regurgitate the rock as well as his older brothers and sisters. In all, Poseidon (Neptune), Hades (Pluto), Hestia (Vesta), Demeter (Ceres) and Hera (Juno) emerged. Zeus released his giant uncles from Tartarus. The Titanomachy was fought and Zeus, along with his siblings and the giants defeated the Titans. This is how Zeus became the Father God and how he came to rule, making his home with the Twelve Olympian Gods on Mount Olympus.

The stone, which had been used to trick Cronus into believing it was his son, was set down upon the Earth, in the glens of Mount Parnassus. This was done as a reminder of the story of Zeus and his defeat of his greedy father, Cronus, for mortal men to learn from and so they could avoid such greed in their own lives. In thanks, the the Kyklopes forged the thunderbolts that Gaia had hidden away and presented them to Zeus as a gift. Zeus was also given rule over the skies and the weather thanks to the giants.

Zeus was a lover of many things. Though he was considered to be married to his sister, Hera, he had many love affairs with both mortals and Gods alike. He also was known for having male lovers, as well, and for many other things, including being the Father (Chief God) of the Olympics.

Who is Zeus? He’s the greatest of Gods and one I am proud to worship. Though I’ve just touched briefly upon his life in this article, stay tuned for more information on Zeus as I explore his loves, losses, and children in part two of my series on the Greek Gods.

Technorati Tags: Zeus, King of the Gods, Chief God, the Titans, Mount Olympus, Jupiter, Cronus, Hera, Gaia, Rhea

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Joan was born in 1412 in Domremy, a small farming village in France. Her father was a tenant farmer in the village, which rests on the borders of Bar and Lorraine. When Joan was three, the war began though she would not become involved until much later. The village that Joan lived in, Domremy was in the middle of an extremely unstable environment, especially in the early 1420s. On one side of the village was the Dauphin of France and the other side was home to the Anglo-Burgundians. As if the environment was not dangerous enough, Joan began hearing voices around this time. The voices she claimed to hear were that of Christian saints. Joan said she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine.

Around the time that Joan was 16, the voices became more persistent, telling her that she needed to help the Dauphin capture Reims, which would gain back the French throne.

In 1428 Joan traveled to Vaucouleurs, to tell the captain there, of her visions. The captain did not believe the girl and told her to go home, but she would come back a few months later, in January, when the voices became stronger. When she returned the captain agreed to let her speak with the Dauphin.

Joan arrived dressed in men’s clothing with a group of six soldiers. Despite not knowing anyone in Chinon when she was forced to pick out Charles from a group of people (he was hiding in the crowd), she did so successfully. After Charles had Joan interrogated for weeks it was time to let Joan have what she wanted. She would be given an Army to fight for France.

On April 27, 1429 her Army was taken to Orleans. She came with supplies and inspired those around her that they needed to fight for their city and for France. She would lead numerous battles until May 7, when she was struck by an arrow. Instead of seeking medical care, Joan dressed the wound and went back out to fight. When she returned to the fight, the French won the battle and on May 8, the English left Orleans. Joan continued her assault on the English and for five weeks she won battle after battle over the English.

July 16 saw Joan coming to Reims. On July 17, Charles VII was crowned the King of France and Joan was there. She was proud to call him king, though she would not remain in Reims for long. On September 8, Joan attacked Paris. She urged the Parisians to surrender to the King of France, but ultimately the King would order her to stop the siege as it would prove unsuccessful. Despite that and her war wounds, Joan would trudge on, fighting several other smaller battles, until December when Charles would ennoble Joan and her immediate family.

However, in May of 1430 things would change for Joan. She snuck into Compiegne to help the town’s defense against the Burgundians. Unfortunately, Joan was captured and would later be sold to the English. This sale led to Joan’s trial before the ecclesiastical court in Rouen for charges of heresy. While Joan was charged with a number of misdeeds, her biggest fault was rejecting the authority of the church in favor of the direct word of God. Joan refused to submit to the will of the church and on May 24 the ecclesiastical court decided to turn her over to the secular court for execution. Out of fear, Joan recanted and was condemned to live life in prison, but she would not be put to death.

Days after Joan was locked up in women’s clothes, the judges entered her cell to find her dressed in male clothing once more. She informed the judges that St Catherine and St. Margaret had scolded her for giving into the will of the church when they wished her to do something else. At this point they claimed that Joan relapsed and labeled her a heretic. On May 29 she was handed over to secular officials. The very next day, May 30, a 19 year old Joan was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen.

Joan’s final request, prior to the pyre being lit was for a priest to hold a crucifix up to her so that she could see it. She also wanted him to shout out prayers so that she could hear the prayers over the roaring flames.

Joan of Arc was the turning point in the Hundred Years War. By 1558, all of France had been relinquished to Charles VII. However, most of it had been fully conquered by 1453. The rest was returned in 1558. As for Joan, in 1920, the Roman Catholic Church made her a Saint. The day of her death, May 30, is her feast day.

Technorati Tags: Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Church, Ecclesiastical Court, Heretic, Burned at Stake, May 30, Feast Day, Saint, Charles VII, Rouen, Burgundians

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I know and am friends with many Christian people. However, that being said, I do not believe in the Christian God. I am a reasonable person though and tend to believe that all religions offer some important life lessons. As I am not Christian, I am going to assume some of the most important life lessons (or rules, in this case) to a Christian would exist in the Ten Commandments. The following article looks at the Ten Commandments, what they mean, and if they are even necessary at all.

First we need to consider the fact that there were two original sets of these commandments. One set was smashed and one was kept whole. Further, there are at least three versions that range in rules and wording. The Protestant, Catholic, and Hebrew versions are all different. However, in the effort of time saving and relative ease we will use the Protestant (King James) version of the Commandments. In all cases, the punishment of breaking a commandment is either death or damnation, so keep in mind that according to the Bible these are some pretty strict rules.

Commandment 1: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

As I am not a Christian and instead am a polytheist this one confuses me somewhat. Having not read the Bible may be impeding my understanding of God and the works, but I was to understand that God was it. If he was fully aware of this (as he should be, since he is God) then why is this rule necessary at all?

Was it just that the writer of the Commandments was insecure and wanted to emphasize the importance of God or was it something else? Naturally, if you believe in History you know that other people did believe in other Gods before the Christian one, so is this the reason for the hatred against other possible Gods?

Furthermore, if God forgives you and allows you into heaven if you repent couldn’t you just worship who you want, find out your wrong, and repent to get into heaven when the time came? This commandment just seems like God was an attention slut. The first rule has to be about him being the most important and only valid God…or else. Really, I thought he would be more mature than that.

Commandment 2: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

You’re seriously kidding me with this right? God sure was a baby! So if I don’t like him, and right now, I am not about to join the fan club, he’s going to punish my children’s children’s children because of me? I think God needs anger management personally. What happened to all that crap about him being a forgiving and loving God? No one told me that you had to like him for him to be cool. What if I don’t like him now, but change my mind on my death bed? Does this mean he only messes with my great-grandkids for part of their lives? Inquiring minds want to know, Oh Holy One. If you could give me a sign I would appreciate it.

Commandment 3: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Simple definition for those who don’t get this one is that you are not allowed to use God’s name falsely stating that he endorses something that he doesn’t, thus defiling his name. It also means that God will punish you for it, as you will not be cleansed. Fine, I can see where this is the case. I don’t want people taking my name in vain either. However, I have questions.

Say God doesn’t believe in premarital sex and I am not married and am…you know…doing it. So, in a heat of passion I scream out the name God or Jesus Christ (I am only human…it happens). Does this mean I am in deep shit because I am advocating something that he doesn’t like?

What about Fundamentalist Christians that blow up Gay people and Abortion Clinics? They often cite God for their reasons. You know, this and that was in the Bible and this led me to Google to learn how to make a bomb. Why doesn’t God make the bomb blow up in their face or something? Is it necessary to allow them to live long lives and torture us when we only talk about God when we are….ya know? I get that he has other things to do, but he’s whipped up plagues in the past. If he is going to create a rule he should enforce it. Otherwise, no one will take him seriously. That’s all I’m saying.

Commandment 4: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor they stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

I will lay this one out simply even though I will be scratching my head on the inside. The week starts on Sunday. Six days later it is Friday. Saturday is the seventh day. The seventh day is the Sabbath. However, Sunday is the day of celebration and Saturday is often a day of work. Considering God did the work, don’t you think he will know which day the Sabbath really is and will wonder why people don’t take it off? I am normally pretty lazy on Saturdays, so I feel I will be safe here, but it has nothing to do with God so he might still get me on his other commandments listed above.

Commandment 5: Honor they father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord giveth thee.

So, in simple terms I need to listen to my mother and father. I see the basic importance to this rule, but shouldn’t there be some amendments or something. For instance, it’s okay to say no if your mother wants to pimp you out (no commandment against that from what I have seen…) or if you’re dad’s an alcoholic and puts Budweiser in your bottle thinking it’s his, is it okay to refuse it? What if your mom’s a feeder and you can’t get through a meal without looking like a stuffed turkey? Can you refuse the extra biscuits or do you need to eat those, too?

I also wonder about how long we need to listen to them? Is this a lifelong commitment? I like my mom, but I didn’t ask to be born to her specifically. I think it’s pretty cruel of God to pick your parents AND make you listen to them for life. Can you imagine if Norman Bates were real? He listened to his mother and it just made him a single, weird guy who owned a deadly motel when he wasn’t in prison for killing anything in a skirt that shared a bologna sandwich with him. That’s just no way to live. No way at all.

Commandment 6: Thou shalt not kill.

What if our mother’s tell us to? I sense a catch-22 in here. Damned if I do kill and damned if I don’t. Whoever wrote these for God should have been clearer about what they meant. Maybe it should say something like, “Thou shalt not kill even if your mother tells you to do so“. This would let us know if our mother’s put the knife in our hand that it was okay to say no. What if someone takes God’s name in vain in a really bad way. Can we stab them as a messenger of God or is that not allowed either?

Commandment 7: Thou shalt not commit adultery.

I could go into this big elaborate comment here, but with a divorce rate of over 90% and one of the most common causes for it being adultery, let me just say, I think a lot of you will be screwed on this one, in a literal sense, of course.

Commandment 8: Thou shalt not steal.

So, my best friend from high school is a Christian. She’s basically a good person. She has nice kids and a good life. However, when we were in middle school she used to steal things from Claire’s Boutique in the mall. They weren’t big things. They were like key chains and hair ties and stuff. Now according to this, she is automatically damned for stealing. Is there a way to get her out of this? Can I send a check for the $17.98 she stole to a Christian foundation to save her soul or is there no way out of this?

Commandment 9: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

So, in simple terms, you cannot lie about your neighbor. This unfortunately is phrased weakly, as well. Can I lie to him directly, but not about him? I mean can I tell him I like him if I don’t or do I have to be honest to and about him? Also, what if I think something is true, like I’m almost positive that he’s a mass murderer and that his wife is in the garden (buried in the garden) and he’s living out his life with his true love, his lawn mower, but it’s not true? Is it okay to tell people this without digging through his bushes for his wife’s bones?

Commandment 10: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

First let us look to the definition of covet. In Webster’s dictionary the main definition of covet is to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others: to covet another’s property. Now we have to ask ourselves why was the writer of the Ten Commandments so thorough for this particular commandment? Do I really need to be told not to wrongfully desire someone’s ox or donkey? First off, I don’t even know anyone with these animals.

Next, if the gay thing isn’t allowed why do we need to mention the manservant thing? Isn’t just mentioning this torture for the guy who is trying to ignore certain tendencies in the name of the Commandments? Give that guy a break. Just be like you shouldn’t want anything that isn’t yours. That would be easy enough.

In short, most of these are common sense. Don’t kill, don’t steal, and don’t sleep with someone if your wife will find out. All of the others are just plain unnecessary or so basic that they shouldn’t be required in the first place.

Technorati Tags: Ten Commandments, God, Humor, Sarcasm, Steal, Kill, Covet, King James, Christianity, Church, Catholic, Hebrew, Moses, Dissecting the Ten Commandments

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I went to Sunday school with my friend and considered going to church camp because those things were fun. It never was about God. It was about entertainment. Unfortunately, as time moves on and the political climate has changed so has the ability to see things through the eyes of an adult without the comfortable ignorance of a child.

Religion has become a business almost as powerful as oil, and it is ruining every facet of our general and social lives. Once upon a time, religion was something thought about on Sundays and when you prayed because something was going wrong in your life. Today, God is a vengeful God you simply cannot escape. He is everywhere you turn.

God is brought up as being the reason for movies, media, and natural disasters. Just look at the fundamentalists, they will tell you all about how God is pissed. For example, Fred Phelps has websites all over the internet concerning how natural disasters occur and how God made them happen because we allow homosexuals (not what he calls them mind you) to run rampant and free without tying their genitals in a bow and shipping them off to a warmongering nation.

I have to believe that the issue here is with Fundamentalists. It’s an issue of brainwashing apparently, because what once was a quiet religious nation is now a raging river of “My God is right and your God needs to get out of my country and take you with him”. Today, there are people that truly believe that the nation should be and IS a Christian one.

Let’s ignore the fact that our President (using this term loosely of course) is a coke peddling, born-again prophet of oil drilling. While we are at it, let’s ignore that this country was founded on the ability to live without religious persecution.

The founding fathers were not particularly Christian by nature, unless you call being members of secret, somewhat occultist societies, and participating in orgies, Christian. This nation, as intolerant and arrogant as we may have become, was founded on freedom. It was never meant to be a place of one God. That, in fact, was what they were escaping from when this country was founded.

It is the fundamentalist way to assume that people should do what you say, not what you do. This apparently includes homework, because a quick Google search and some good research will show you just how religious many of our founding fathers were.

I don’t think anyone could have said it better than Thomas Jefferson when he said, “The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful, and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three-headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes; fools and hypocrites. To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

In short, it is not God’s (if there is a Christian one) fault for this fundamentalist mess. The idea of Jesus was that of a very open-minded and reasonable man. He wanted to help people, not hurt them. Jesus taught love and in many ways, religious freedom. You did not need to believe in him to receive his compassion.

We should all be as wise as our founding fathers and uphold the belief that religion can get you somewhere when you use it to your advantage, but your real beliefs are those that you should hold as truths; to be self-evident.

Technorati Tags: Fundamental Christianity, Fred Phelps, Founding Fathers, Belief System, Catholic, Baptist, Sunday School, President

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We must rely on history to follow Hellenismos (the polytheistic, ancient, Hellenic religion). We can only do that by what texts are available. One way to access these texts in their original form is by learning Greek. This is why learning Greek is important to us. Since the original New Testament is one of the few books we have, whether we believe in it or not, the source material is a teaching tool we can use. Not only that, but this is the original Biblical text. This does not contain all the dogmatic connotations that the past 2,000 years of leadership (both church and state) have applied to the text. I would rather learn through this kind of text (and take the New Testament for what it is - a bunch of fables/stories) so I can be able to read other Greek documents that have managed to have been preserved.

To learn Greek, I’ve joined a Yahoo Group that accesses a University of Houston online class website to self-teach Greek. The class is an Introduction to Ancient and Biblical Greek. I look forward to learning this way, but I’m also looking into purchasing a course in Ancient (Koine) Greek that Ashtyn & I can teach our son.

There are three years worth of lessons. You can find the courses at the Open Texture website. I’ve emailed the staff at OT and they are very nice. Their materials are highly recommended for beginners. While they use the Bible as the course material, it is from an original version of the New Testament. It isn’t English text that has been turned into Greek so you can re-translate it into English.

No matter what religion you are, would you be willing to learn an Ancient Language? Feel free to respond in the comment section and tell me your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Koine, Ancient Greek, Studies, Courses, Open Texture, Biblical, New Testament

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While there are stories of the birth of Jesus and the relation to Christmas trees because of Saint Boniface, I realized that even if these myths were true (they aren’t by the way)the spirit of Christmas really has little to do with these ideas. Christmas trees are decoration and presents are material goods that do not make a person’s life better or worse.

As a believer in Hellenic faith, I am not one to consider Christmas my celebration. It’s mainstream. I tend to celebrate Winter Solstice instead because that makes more sense to me. The Christmas tree and decorations may be considered a Christian concept, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, much like Jesus’ December birthday, it’s a fallacy.

Some believe that Jesus really was born on December 25 and others have looked to January 6. Others tend to look towards the spring and feel that those dates are more relevant. The Bible does not offer an actual date. However, I find December 25 and January 6 interesting for a number of reasons.

While Winter Solstice is no longer on December 25 according to the new calendars, in Ancient times the old calendar had Solstice set on the 25. This, the day of Invincible Sun, was celebrated as far back as the third century during the reign of Aurelian. In 273, the Christian Church chose the same day. Many believe that it was an attempt to Christianize the day. Whatever the reason, it was the original Winter Solstice. January 6, the other option many look to, is known as Epiphany. However, the Ancient Egyptians observed this date as Winter Solstice.

The fact that the birth date of Jesus cannot be proven was not always celebrated by Christians. From 1659-1681 the Puritans in Massachusetts made celebrating Christmas illegal. The reasons for this included the fact that the celebration was formed from “Pagan” roots and therefore it was ungodly in nature. They determined this because the birth of Jesus was not written in the Bible, which meant that it was a date that was not meant to be celebrated. The Puritans also rejected the idea of drinking, feasting, and not working. The Christmas holiday had a tendency to get rowdy back then and they wanted nothing to do with it.

The idea of Christmas trees being a Christian concept is due to the story of Saint Boniface splitting the oak tree that the German Pagans were worshipping. When this happened and the fir tree sprang from its center Boniface informed everyone that the evergreen, with branches pointing to the heavens, was a holy tree. He deemed the tree a Christ Child, meant to symbolize the purity of the faith. From there, he ordered the tree be taken from the wilderness and to be surrounded by gifts in the homes of the people.

In truth, evergreens had been used in Ancient celebrations long before Saint Boniface came into play. In Ancient times, evergreens were used as a representation of fertility, reproduction, agriculture, and even sexual potency. During the winter celebrations, people would bring evergreens into their homes and decorate them with fruits, candles, and small metal pieces, depending on the area you were from and the celebration that you participated in. The trees were used to help honor and celebrate the Gods.

These are just some of the reasons why Christmas has never been about mangers and baby Jesus in my house. Like the holiday, it remains a word without the implied meaning. Solstice is celebrated with good food, drinks, presents (in this case), a tree, and lots of love for the whole family. The name of the activity has never been as important as the activity itself.

While the Christians of old may have attempted to take that from the Hellenics and Pagans what they did not realize is that you can rename the holiday, but you cannot take away the meaning and purpose of the day, even if you want to change the story.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Meanings, Legends, Debunk, Myths, Pagan, Hellenic, Ancient Greek, Evergreens, Jesus, Birthday

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As Christmas approaches, I find that I want to celebrate actual Christmas, less and less. You see, the Greeks were not the first to observe the Winter and Summer Solstices. The Winter Solstice occurred on the shortest day of the year. The date of the solstice was recorded by astronomers in Babylon and Africa, who were able to find out when it was by observing it as the darkest day of the year. The day is the shortest on the solstice. So, when the Ancients celebrated, they did so in honor of their Sun God. By appeasing the Sun God, the sun wouldn’t disappear for too long and spring would come with plenty of crops to feed the hungry populations after the winter had ended.

The day of the Solstice is generally celebrated on December 21, but in Ancient times it fell anywhere between what we know as December 21 and December 25. The Romans called their celebration of the solstice Saturnalia. December 25 also happened to be the birthdate of a Babylonian figure known as Nimrod. After Nimrod died, his wife/mother, Semiramis, claims that Nimrod was resurrected in the form of an Evergreen tree. The tree was sprouted miraculously from a spot where a dead stump rested. Semiramis said every year, on Nimrod’s birthday, he would leave gifts upon his tree for others.

Another Babylonian celebration on December 25 was the feast of the son of Isis. The Ancient Greeks celebrated the Solstice with festivals for Poseidon. Both Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans had performers traveling from home to home during the Solstice, singing, dancing and having a good time. You could say these were the ancestors of the first Christmas carolers.

Followers of Mithras, the sun God who coincidentally was born close to the supposed birth of Jesus, celebrated with Yule celebrations. Mithras was actually said to have been born of a virgin birth (remember this was before Jesus’ time). When he died, he was resurrected. Some might say Jesus’ life paralleled Mithras’ life significantly.

Even the mistletoe was an Ancient symbol and tradition. Couples would kiss under this “holy” plant in order to promote fertility and the birth of prospective children. While mistletoe was hung, Evergreens were kept inside during the Solstice. It was done for an agricultural reminder. Since Evergreens did not die in the winter like other plants, the thought that crops would soon be sprouting and new food could be distributed after the long winter, was comforting.

In all honesty, there is no proof Jesus was born in December. Many theologians believe if he was born, then it was probably in the Spring. Nevertheless, Christianity, thanks to Pope Julius who declared the 25th of December was Jesus’ birthday in 350 AD, has taken over many of the polytheist and early Ancient, religious traditions. It’s bad enough that Easter and Valentines were original celebrations of the Ancients, did they have to take our Solstice celebration, too?

Technorati Tags: Ancient Greek, Polytheist, Christmas, Celebrations, Holidays, Christmas, Winter Solstice

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First, we know the Bible was written by men. It was not written by God. These men claim they were encouraged to write the Bible because God told them to do so. They also claim to be writing the words of God. While this is a fundamental Christian belief, and one I grew up believing to be true, I have to laugh at my foolishness in retrospect. How do we not know these men were lying and trying to manipulate the common public into following their beliefs? The polytheist beliefs of the time prior to Christianity allowed for a lot more freedom for those who were religious. Perhaps it was just one way to try and control the masses?

I wrote a book. The Big Purple Barney Monster told me to write it. He told me to tell people what was right and wrong. He told me to tell people how to live. The Book is called the Mible. Those who don’t follow it will be tortured for all eternity after they die. They will be placed in hot goo to burn for the rest of their existence. Those who believe in the world of the Mible must be benevolent in their beliefs…or else I’ll cast them into the goo as well.

Putting it into perspective at the sheer absurdity of people believing the Bible is the word of God because “some guys said it was” the word of God is just asking for trouble. How does anyone know for a fact that the authors of the Bible weren’t lying? How does anyone know that those who wrote the Bible did so with good intentions? Nobody knows that for a fact. Nobody knows if anything in the Bible is true.

Furthermore, Christianity is all about repression. The polytheist beliefs prior to this were all about embracing life and celebrating. Throwing caution to the wind and living life to the fullest was part of what kept the Greeks so healthy. Then along comes Christianity. No sinning was the new rule. No swearing. No taking the Christian God’s name in vain. No killing anyone, even if they deserve it. No more sex unless it was with the person you ended up marrying. How were the Greeks supposed to know this didn’t include any lovers they had bonded to in a ritual that was the basis for the first marriage ceremony? How did they know this meant no more young, effeminate men could bond to older men?

Many Greeks who would not give up their polytheist beliefs were murdered. The women were raped and impregnated with the future Christian heirs of Greece. The saving grace for many was suicide. It was quite common for polytheists to jump off cliffs, just so they didn’t have to be forced into converting to Christianity. Many of the supposed ten commandments were broken just to convert the polytheists to the new religion. This was done by force and in a non-Christian way. For centuries wars were fought and men were killed as more and more were forced into a new way…the Christian way of life. Yet, none of these early founders truly seemed to espouse the values they claim were Christian. You know…love and respect one another. Don’t cast stones.

I guess that only applied to those who were already Christian.

Technorati Tags: Why, Christian, Christianity, Polytheism, Convert, God, force

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I first heard the word Hellenismos from a member of the YSEE (the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes) and felt that it was the most accurate term for describing all that encompasses Hellenic polytheism. Some may call it Hellenic Reconstructionism. Others may call it Hellenes or the Hellenic religion. Hellenismos includes the culture, religion, language, and every day life of the Ancients. In order to fully understand their ways, it is necessary to use literature from the time period. There is no Bible or guide book, though there is much speculation that many of the books used by the Ancients for religious purposes were destroyed during the conversion in Greece to Byzantine religions.

It was this conversion that destroyed all public displays of Hellenismos. However, some of the ideals of the religion have been passed down from those who truly never gave up their Hellenic polytheistic beliefs. These beliefs had to be kept hidden for centuries because even as recent as just a few years ago, a person could be arrested or harassed for believing in polytheism. It is through the efforts of groups such as the YSSE that Hellenismos is slowly becoming a recognized religion again in Greece, where it was originally founded.

As a follower of Hellenismos, I do not believe in monotheism. There is not one masculine God to whom I devote all of my worship. I do not believe Jesus Christ is my Savior nor do I believe in sin. To me, the world was not created by God some 6,000 years ago. Adam and Eve were not the first man and woman who are the mother and father of us all. Noah’s Ark wasn’t built by Noah nor did it happen quite like the Bible said. I also do not feel it is my duty to convert people to my way of thinking. From this site I merely hope to inform and entertain…nothing more and nothing less. If people choose to investigate further into Hellenismos that is their prerogative.

Hellenismos is an incredibly personal religion. It is not done in a church. You don’t have to attend services once a week to be religious. It’s all about you and the way you choose to live your life. It’s been something that I have been able to share together with my life partner, Ashtyn, in a very special way. So, what do I believe? I invite you to check back often to read about my beliefs as we explore together what life was like…Before Christianity.

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