Christ taught in Mark 7:6 that man "honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." He showed our kind is often guilty of vain worship, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (7:7); of "laying aside the commandment of God in favor of tradition of men,"(7:8) and that the word of God was made of "none effect through your tradition" (Mark 7:13)

To get a feel for the overlapping and mixing of beliefs that go into these holidays, and the danger of judgement upon all who refuse to hear the commandments of God on these subjects, this monograph will examine each in some detail, identifying the sources, beliefs and rituals that started the observance of these "traditional" holidays. The focus is on how the Christian should view and/or receive things pertaining to them.

Of the "great" religions of the world, those that have had the most impact on the United States and Western Society in general include Christianity, Judaism, and the "mystic" religions of Celtic origin. The Pagan gods and godesses of ancient times were a predominant belief system during the time of Christ, and the Roman Empire helped export them from their Norse and European roots. Included within this structure of beliefs were "earth worship" and Wicca (witch), assorted Irish and German lore and myth, and the more familiar Baal worship creeds.

It was the Roman Emperor Constantine (about 340 A.D.), a Christian, who attempted to lace the dominant "mystic" (or Pagan) rituals with Christianity, and to both "consolidate" holidays into something "everyone could agree on," and to "make peace" between differing value systems. The church of Rome under Constantine, in their attempt to be "all things to all peoples" imported a hegemony of beliefs, and "christened" them into Christianity.

One would think, if any mixing between holidays would have occurred, it would be the Jewish and Christian structures. Upon identification however, the only correlation between today’s orthodox Jewish holidays, and those of the Christian, are time periods, rather than celebrations. For example, most Chanukkah and Christmas "seasons" overlap on the Gregorian calendar, however Christians as seldom "light the menorah" as Jew’s bring trees into their homes.

Let’s first look at the historical "major holidays" of the major religions. Information sources for this article include (other sources as noted):

• Imbolc (Feb 2 - Rebirth)
• Ishtar or Ostara (Mar 21 - Spring Equinox)
• Beltane (May 1 - Summer/Fertility Festival)
• Litha (June 21 - Summer Solstice)
• Lammas or Lugnasdh (Aug 1 - 1^st Harvest Festival)
• Mabon (Sept 21 - Autumn Equinox)
• Samhain (Oct 31 - All Hallow’s Eve/Halloween)
• Yule (Dec 21 - Winter Solstice)

• Passover (April)
• Rosh Hashana (New Year)
• Yom Kippur (Day of Attonement)
• Chanukkah (Festival of lights)
• Sukkot (Wandering)
• Shavu’ot (Torah)
• TishaB’Av (Temple)

Christian

• Easter (Resurrection)
• Thanksgiving (Nov 25)
• Christmas (Dec 25)
• Groundhog Day
• Valentine’s Day

There are, of course, many more holidays of significance to both Jews and Christians of assorted denominations, such as assorted "fasting" days in Jewish culture, and "Saint" days for Catholics. But for purposes of this monograph, we will constrain ourselves to those most "prominent" from the standpoint of overlapping observances of times, where faiths have been "mixed" together, and where Protestants and Catholics celebrate concurrently.

For the Christian, there are many reasons we should err on the side of caution when participating in even "established" holiday rituals that have been linked to Christianity–as often these links are false teachings that have no place in a true Christian life.

Easter, and Christmas are the two "biggies," as will be soon explained. Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day and Halloween are also "festivals" that should be avoided by believers in God, and keepers of his commandments. Information on the origins of each, and what various symbolisms that are observed today & pertain to them are further expounded upon. Also note that "witching" days linked to Wicca have been substantially Americanized and are so well disguised today that one would never know that the observance of these events have spiritual significance opposed to Christian morals.

EASTER

Under a variety of names, including Eostre, Ostara, Ishtar, Austron, and others, the festival of spring equinox has, as its Pagan root, the "Great Mother Goddess." Those who worship "earth" (the creation, instead of the Creator), the spring festival symbolizes fertility, the return of the sun, planting season and similar symbols of rebirth. The very word "Sunday" from our calendar is derived from "Sol" (Roman sun god), and Easter festivals have nearly always included some form of "sunrise service," facing East, along with alter offerings and sacrifices (originally to the Pagan god Baal, of the Babylonian era). Because the Pagan worship of Attis was occurring 250 years before Christ, it is quite clear that if any "copying" of religious traditions occurred, it was Christianity that copied from the Pagans. (History of the conquests of the Roman Empire bear out the Emperor Constantine as the source of this religious hybriding.)

Indeed the festival is mentioned in Acts 12:4, because Peter was in prison at the time. The goal of the Pagan Roman leader Herod was to bring Peter out after his Easter party was over. Yet the Jews, even after Christ, and the followers of Christ, maintained the celebration of Passover for centuries--not any festival connected to Easter.

Tammuz, the son of Ishtar (so the story goes) was fond of rabbits, and after Tammuz was killed by a wild pig, the Pagan Queen Ishtar proclaimed a 40 day annual time of sorrow (which melded into Catholicism’s "Lent"). No meat was to be eaten during this time (nothing in the scriptures relate to that as a mitzva or commandment from God), and that ham would be eaten every year on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox (obviously there is no scriptural blessing on the consumption of ham). Worshipers were to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshiped Tammuz (mistakenly conceived by Catholics today as the sign of the cross).

Even the date of the "Christianized" Easter celebration shows its roots in sun and moon worship–being calculated each year by the first full moon after March 21.

With God’s word so explicit about the dangers of being associated with those who are "observers of times" and astrology (Leviticus 19:30-31; 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:9-13; Isaiah 8:19-22; 19:3-5; 28:9; II Kings 21:6; 23:5; 23:24, etc.) it behooves the Christ believer to rebuke and repent of their participation in any celebration so closely intermingled with pagan and earth-worshiping religions.

Sunrise services, following the moon around, bunnies & eggs (fertility symbolism), hot cross buns (with the "T" on top of them) and the like are all things the Christian should avoid. Doing these things "for the kid’s benefit" is simply teaching them Pagan rituals and doctrine. Whether we layer a celebration of Christian beliefs on top of the party is a moot point. While victory over death is indeed the message of the Cross at Calvary, early Christians, until at least three centuries after Christ, continued observing Passover. Only when "peace" was the goal of a Roman ruler did these holiday mergers begin. The "state religion" of the Roman Catholic Church used an "open arms" approach to expand the influence of both the government & clergy by a combination of religious belief system mergers. Only the Jews remained uniformly steadfast to Passover–the holiday actually observed by Christ himself.

If Christians are to take up their cross and follow him, what holiday should a Christian observe in that general spring time frame? There can be only one: Passover!