Ecclesiastes 7:29 “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”
I hope to illustrate just how evil Easter truly is. If you are one that celebrates it, or calls it “Resurrection Sunday,” I implore you to investigate the facts laid out here. All too often we accept traditions merely because they are so old, or because they have “Christian” names placed upon them, even if we know of their Pagan origin. Christmas is proof of this fact. We all know Christ was not born in winter, we all know that Christmas trees have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, we also know that telling our children about Santa is a bold-faced lie. Yet, we do it for the sake of tradition. We openly allow the mixture of truth with lies and then call it acceptable Christian tradition. Yet, it is written,
1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”
Easter is no different than Christmas. In fact, it’s worse in many ways. It actually affords us the opportunity to expose it with childlike ease. Yet, still, many call it a holy day and clamor to the churches to celebrate that which was solely invented by Satan to pay homage to him and him alone.
I ask the Christian that sees no wrong in celebrating this Pagan festival of re-birth, how can you see no wrong in mixing Satanism with Christianity? How can you do this and still call it a day of worship for the Creator God when He clearly states to have no union with things of the world?
Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
How can you tell your children about an Easter bunny that symbolizes sexual prowess to the Pagan Sun worshipper? How can you claim the egg that this bunny supposedly lays represents Christ, or some aspect of His resurrection, when it is well known to first have been used to represent fertility to the Pagan?
Mr. and Mrs. Christian, how can you allow your children to take part in the sexual games played by the Pagan’s of old, and now re-named “Spring break” by the many young people during the Pagan festival of “Easter Week?” The children flock to the warmer climates this time of year from all over the world just for this purpose. Are you aware of what they do there? If not, ask anyone that has watched MTV during this time of year. This sinful broadcast revels in making all aware of the sexual decadence that is encouraged, and then embraced by our young people. They make it look acceptable, fun, and exciting. And for those that choose not to “go that far,” they ridicule and use the old favorite methods of peer pressure to get them to join in. The amazing thing is, they video tape all of it! And still parents are unaware?
In this writeup, I have numerous documented facts proving that EVERY aspect of Easter is evil. Below is a large list that will continue to grow as research continues. And before viewing, understand this: If you are still unsure as to the true origin of Easter, try this simple test. Ask any Roman Catholic priest, or Pagan priest how the date for Easter is calculated. They will BOTH tell you the same thing. The date for Easter is calculated by the first full moon of Spring. When that date is realized, they then declare the following Sunday will be Easter! Just look at how wildly the dates change throughout time:
April 21, 2019. April 12, 2020. April 4, 2021. April 17, 2022. April 9, 2023.
| Date of Easter 1170 At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox. Because of the different methods of calculating the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the date of Easter in the Western and Eastern Churches is not always the same. For this reason, the Churches are currently seeking an agreement in order to, once again, celebrate the day of the Lord’s Resurrection on a common date. To verify this is indeed Roman Catholic ritual, see below at the Vatican’s website here… http://www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/easter/2003/catechism_en.html or here… http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P39.HTM (On this page look for item # 1170) | ||
If this evil celebration had anything to do with the resurrection of Christ, it would be on an affixed date each year. Yet, every single year the date of Easter changes! How, I ask, can that represent the Lord’s resurrection? It’s no different than saying I was born on January 1, but every year I will celebrate my birthday in accordance with how the moon orbits the planet. Therefore, my birthday would never be the same date from year to year. Sounds ludicrous, right? Yet, people still think Easter commemorates the DAY Jesus rose from the dead?
The true gift of Babylon is confusion. And sadly, Christians the world over are very happy to embrace this confusion as if it is some time honored acceptable practice of which the Creator Himself approves. Why do people grasp at the gray areas instead of looking upon the simple truth? It’s so black and white for those that simply open their eyes to see.
Be prepared to SEE that which His children see. And I pray that you are one that would choose to put away such evil activity as this and do whatsoever saith the Lord.
THE NAME (EASTER) can be traced back to the name “Astarte,” the Syrian sun goddess, known as the “queen of heaven”
At the end of the winter, the season changes because the earth tilts as it rotates on its axis. Spring arrives when the sun is over the equator. On the first day of Spring, known as the vernal equinox (which means “spring equal night“), both day and night are an equal twelve hours long. Which meant that the long winter nights were over, and that the sun again began to take control. This time was marked by celebrations and festivals to thank the pagan gods. These ancient rituals were fertility festivals, observed in hopes that the gods would bless them with fertile flocks and fields. Animal and child sacrifices were offered to the gods to receive this favor.
Venerable Bede, an eighth century Christian historian, indicated that the name Easter came from the festival of “Oestre” (also found as “Ostere,” “Ostara”), the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring and fertility. There was also a Teutonic (Germanic) goddess known as “Eostre” (also found as “Eastre,” ” Estre“), who was the goddess of dawn and light, fertility, and Spring. It is from these deities where the name Easter actually originates. The festival in her honor, was held during the vernal equinox. – Controlled by the Calendar p 42
EASTER THE ORIGIN OF EASTER: The English word Easter and the German Ostern come from a common origin (Eostur, Astur, Ostara, Ostar), which to the Norsemen meant the season of the rising (growing) sun, the season of new birth. The word was used by our ancestors to designate the Feast of New Life in the spring. The same root is found in the name for the place where the sun rises (East, Ost). The word Easter, then, originally meant the celebration of the spring sun, which had its birth in the East and brought new life upon earth. This symbolism was transferred to the supernatural meaning of our Easter, to the new life of the Risen Christ, the eternal and uncreated Light.” -Francis X. Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1958), p. 211. Copyright 1952 by Francis X. Weiser.
OSTARA (around March 21st, but date may vary by more than two days) also known as: Spring Equinox, Ostara, Alban Eiler, Esther, Eostre, Ostarun, startag’, Eastre, Eoastrae, Oestre. The first true day of Springtide. The days and nights are now equal in length as the young god continues to mature and grow. We begin to see shoots of new growth and swelling buds on the trees. Energy is building as the days become warmer with promise.
What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears the Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. That name, as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments is Ishtar. -The Two Babylons, by the Rev. Alexander Hislop, published 1943 and 1959 in the U.S. by Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, page 103.
The 11th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica’s “Easter” article states, “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic church Fathers.” The ecclesiastical historian, Socrates, is quoted in the same article as he points out that neither the Lord nor His apostles enjoined the keeping of this day. He says, “The apostles had no thought of appointing festival days, but of promoting a life of blamelessness and piety“. He attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of an old usage, “just as many other customs have been established.” Early Church reformers such as Calvin and Knox protested strongly against Easter because of its pagan origins. Observance of the holiday was not widely celebrated in America until well after the Civil War. (Easter: Its Story and Meaning by Alan Watts; Babylon, Mystery Religion, Ralph Woodrow; Calvin Tracts; Knox’s History)
Easter has long been known to be a pagan festival! America’s founders knew this! A children’s book about the holiday, Easter Parade: Welcome Sweet Spring Time! by Steve Englehart, p. 4, states, “When the Puritans came to North America, they regarded the celebration of Easter—and the celebration of Christmas—with suspicion. They knew that pagans had celebrated the return of spring long before Christians celebrated Easter … for the first two hundred years of European life in North America, only a few states, mostly in the South, paid much attention to Easter.” Not until after the Civil War did Americans begin celebrating this holiday: “Easter first became an American tradition in the 1870s” (p. 5).
Remarkable! The original 13 colonies of America began as a “Christian” nation, with the cry of “No king but King Jesus!” The nation did not observe Easter within an entire century of its founding! What happened to change this?
ASHTAROTH—THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN: Astarte (Easter)-worship was always associated with the worship of Baal or sun worship. Astarte was Baal’s wife. Notice that another name for Astarte was Ashtaroth. The following quote makes this point clear: “What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven … Now, the Assyrian goddess, or Astarte, is identified with Semiramis by Athenagoras (Legatio, vol. ii. p. 179), and by Lucian (De Dea Syria, vol iii. p. 382) … Now, no name could more exactly picture forth the character of Semiramis, as queen of Babylon, than the name of ‘Asht-tart,’ for that just means ‘The woman that made towers’… Ashturit, then … is obviously the same as the Hebrew ‘Ashtoreth’” (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 103, 307-308).
Notice this conclusive quote from Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia: “Ishtar was the Great Mother, the goddess of fertility and the queen of heaven.” So, in actuality, Ashtaroth (Ishtar) was Nimrod’s harlotrous, mother/wife widow, Semiramis, as many other ancient historians attest! Easter is now established as none other than the Ashtaroth of the Bible! We can now examine the Scriptures that show how God views the worship of this pagan goddess—by any name!
Judges 2:11, 13 “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth (Easter!).”
1 Samuel 7:3-4 “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.”
EGG – A sacred symbol of rebirth and fertility among the Babylonians, Druids, Egyptians and other pagan cultures. Dyed eggs were used as sacred offerings during the pagan Easter season and were also used as symbols of the Goddess Oestre or Ishtar in various cultures. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Babylon Mystery Religion)
During the rule of Caesar Augustus, Hyginus, an Egyptian who was the librarian at the Palatine library in Rome, wrote: “An egg of a wondrous site is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian goddess (Astarte).” Part of their worship to this goddess was the ritual involving the “golden egg of Astarte.” This was where we got the tradition of the Easter egg.
Pope Gregory (590-604), forbade the followers of the Catholic Church to eat eggs during Lent, so they became a treat at Easter. The people in Poland said that the Virgin Mary dyed eggs in various colors for Jesus to play with when He was a child. The Ukrainians incorporated blue dots in the design of their eggs, which they say represent the tears of Mary. They believe she took a basket of colored eggs to Pontius Pilate as a gift, in hopes of convincing him to have mercy on Jesus. As she was making them, she began crying and the tears fell on the shells, making the dots. The orthodox of Romania dyed their eggs red, because they believed Mary left a basket of eggs at the cross during the crucifixion to appease the soldiers, so they would treat Jesus better. They were not accepted, and his blood dripped on them. In Russia, there is a tradition that Mary Magdalene gave an egg to the Roman emperor as a symbolic token of the resurrection of Jesus. –Controlled by the Calendar p 45
The egg was a mystical symbol to the pagan religions of Egypt, Japan, Greece, Persia, Phoenicia, India, and Babylon. On page 496, he wrote: “The serpent entwined round the egg, was a symbol common to the Indians, the Egyptians, and the Druids. It referred to the creation of the universe. A serpent with an egg in his mouth was a symbol of the universe containing within itself the germ of all things that the sun develops. The property possessed by the serpent, of casting its skin, and apparently renewing its youth, made it an emblem of eternity and immortality.” Thus, we see an indication that the egg initially represented serpent worship, and, by extension, Satan worship. – Albert Pike, an Illuminati member, in his Masonic treatise “Morals and Dogma,”
Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning. The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children. Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklop die, s. v. Ei). Both coloured and uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as “egg-picking”. Another practice is the “egg-rolling” by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
RABBIT or HARE –A pagan symbol of fertility and new life. (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs) Bede, the eight century English monk and scholar related that the Tutonic goddess of spring and fertility, Eastre, had the hare as her symbol. (The American Book of Days, ed. by Jane Hatch, 1978, p. 302)
To begin with, it is actually the hare, and not the rabbit which is Easter’s main character, because according to ancient tradition, the hare was a symbolic representation for the Moon, since they only came out at night to eat. Also, the Egyptian name for the hare was “Un” (which means “open“), because they are born with their eyes open, while a rabbit’s eyes are not. Legend has it, that the hare never blinks or closes its eyes. To some pagan cultures, the Moon was the “open-eyed watcher of the skies.” The hare is associated with the goddess Ishtar and was the symbol of fertility because they reproduce so quickly.
There is also a pagan tradition concerning a bird who wanted to be a rabbit, so the goddess Oestre turned the bird into a rabbit, who could still lay eggs. Every Spring, during the festival dedicated to Oestre, the rabbit laid beautiful colored eggs for the goddess. This tradition is exemplified in the Cadbury television commercial for the filled chocolate eggs. Another tradition, which has been passed down, comes from Germany. According to the legend, during a famine, a poor woman dyed some eggs and hid them in a nest, as Easter presents for her children. When the children found the nest, a big rabbit leaped away, the story that the rabbit brought the eggs. –Controlled by the Calendar p 46
The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility -Simrock, Mythologie, 551 –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
One more thing I would like to mention: If you are still unsure as to the rabbit being used as a method of sexual symbolism, then I suggest you ask Hugh Heffner, the publisher of Playboy magazine why he uses a “bunny” as his main logo.
HANDBALL: In France, handball playing was one of the Easter amusements, found also in Germany (Simrock, op. cit., 575). The ball may represent the sun, which is believed to take three leaps in rising on Easter morning. Bishops, priests, and monks, after the strict discipline of Lent, used to play ball during Easter week (Beleth, Expl. Div. off., 120). This was called libertas Decembrica, because formerly in December, the masters used to play ball with their servants, maids, and shepherds. The ball game was connected with a dance, in which even bishops and abbots took part. At Auxerre, Besancon, etc. the dance was performed in church to the strains of the “Victimae paschali”. In England, also, the game of ball was a favourite Easter sport in which the municipal corporation engaged with due parade and dignity. And at Bury St. Edmunds, within recent years, the game was kept up with great spirit by twelve old women. After the game and the dance, a banquet was given, during which a homily on the feast was read. All these customs disappeared for obvious reasons (Kirchenlex., IV, 1414). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
MEN STRIKING WOMEN, AND VISE VERSA: On Easter Monday the women had a right to strike their husbands, on Tuesday the men struck their wives, as in December the servants scolded their masters. Husbands and wives did this “ut ostendant sese mutuo debere corrigere, ne illo tempore alter ab altero thori debitum exigat” (Beleth, I, c. cxx; Durandus, I, c. vi, 86). In the northern parts of England, the men parade the streets on Easter Sunday and claim the privilege of lifting every woman three times from the ground, receiving in payment a kiss or a silver sixpence. The same is done by the women to the men on the next day. In the Neumark (Germany) on Easter Day the men servants whip the maid servants with switches; on Monday the maids whip the men. They secure their release with Easter eggs. These customs are probably of pre-Christian origin (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr, 118). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
THE EASTER FIRE: The Easter Fire is lit on the top of mountains (Easter mountain, Osterberg) and must be kindled from new fire, drawn from wood by friction (nodfyr); this is a custom of pagan origin in vogue all over Europe, signifying the victory of spring over winter. The bishops issued severe edicts against the sacrilegious Easter fires (Conc. Germanicum, a. 742, c.v.; Council of Lestines, a. 743, n. 15), but did not succeed in abolishing them everywhere. The Church adopted the observance into the Easter ceremonies, referring it to the fiery column in the desert and to the Resurrection of Christ; the new fire on Holy Saturday is drawn from flint, symbolizing the Resurrection of the Light of the World from the tomb closed by a stone (Missale Rom.). In some places a figure was thrown into the Easter fire, symbolizing winter, but to the Christians on the Rhine, in Tyrol and Bohemia, Judas the traitor (Reinsberg-Düringfeld, Das festliche Jahr, 112 sq.). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
EASTER CANDLES: Fire ceremonies had also become a part of Springtime pagan celebrations. In Europe, Easter was celebrated by lighting large bonfires to commemorate the renewal of Spring. A doll, said to symbolize winter, was sometimes burned, which was called “burning the Judas.” Teutonic tradition called for new fires to be ignited during the vernal equinox.
The Celts had a May Day celebration for their sun god, because they believed that he had been held prisoner through the winter months by evil spirits, and every year, on May 1st, he escaped, bringing with him sunlight to warm the earth. So, to help him escape, giant bonfires were built on the highest hills in an attempt to scare the evil spirits into freeing the Sun. Some Germans, Dutch, and Swedes still burn these Springtime fires. The tradition of burning special Easter candles is directly connected with these fire rituals. -Controlled by the Calendar p 48
Orthodox Christians celebrate annual miracle in Jerusalem
AARON KEITH HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, April 10, 2004
(04-10) 12:27 PDT JERUSALEM (AP) –A sea of candles and torches illuminated Christianity’s holiest shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, as thousands of pilgrims participated in Saturday’s holy fire ceremony, a key ritual of Easter Week.
At the start of the ceremony, church leaders descended into the underground burial area. The faithful clutched their bundles of unlit candles and torches while waiting in the darkened church for a flame to emerge from the tomb.
Some Christians believe the flame appears spontaneously, as a message from Jesus that he has not forgotten his followers.
When church leaders emerged with a lighted torch, a cheer arose, and the flames were passed around, illuminating the church within seconds.
PROCESSIONS AND AWAKENINGS: At Puy in France, from time immemorial to the tenth century, it was customary, when at the first psalm of Matins a canon was absent from the choir, for some of the canons and vicars, taking with them the processional cross and the holy water, to go to the house of the absentee, sing the “Haec Dies”, sprinkle him with water, if he was still in bed, and lead him to the church. In punishment he had to give a breakfast to his conductors. A similar custom is found in the fifteenth century at Nantes and Angers, where it was prohibited by the diocesan synods in 1431 and 1448. In some parts of Germany parents and children try to surprise each other in bed on Easter morning to apply the health-giving switches (Freyde, Ostern in deutscher Sage, Sitte und Dichtung, 1893). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
BLESSING OF FOOD: In both the Oriental and Latin Churches, it is customary to have those victuals which were prohibited during Lent blessed by the priests before eating them on Easter Day, especially meat, eggs, butter, and cheese (Ritualbucher, Paderborn, 1904; Maximilianus, Liturg. or., 117). Those who ate before the food was blessed, according to popular belief, were punished by God, sometimes instantaneously (Migne, Liturgie, s.v. P&aicrc; ques). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
HOUSE BLESSINGS: On the eve of Easter the homes are blessed (Rit. Rom., tit. 8, c. iv) in memory of the passing of the angel in Egypt and the signing of the door-posts with the blood of the paschal lamb. The parish priest visits the houses of his parish; the papal apartments are also blessed on this day. The room, however, in which the pope is found by the visiting cardinal is blessed by the pontiff himself (Moroni, Dizionariq, s.v. Pasqua). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
SPORTS AND CELEBRATIONS: The Greeks and Russians after their long, severe Lent, make Easter a day of popular sports. At Constantinople, the cemetery of Pera is the noisy rendezvous of the Greeks; there are music, dances, and all the pleasures of an Oriental popular resort; the same custom prevails in the cities of Russia. In Russia, anyone can enter the belfries on Easter and ring the bells, a privilege of which many persons avail themselves. –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
EASTER HAM: – Ham at Easter is also popular among Americans and Europeans because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture” (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, p. 558, “Easter“.)
The pig was sacred to the Greek goddess Demeter, the corn goddess, who represented fertility and abundance, and is another counterpart of Astarte. In various depictions of her, she is either shown carrying, or being accompanied by a pig. So, pigs were regularly sacrificed to her, and it was believed, that by eating what they felt, represented and embodied their goddess, they were in fact, eating of her body. The prophet Isaiah warned of this in Isaiah 65:3-5. Another source says that the pig represents the wild boar that killed Tammuz, and eating ham was done in remembrance of him.
Isaiah 65:3-5 “A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.”
The tradition of the Easter Ham evolved from an English tradition of eating a gammon of bacon to show their resentment and contempt for the Jewish custom of not eating pork. –Controlled by the Calendar p 48
ASH WEDNESDAY: – The first day of Lent. As an act of penitence, palms saved from the previous year’s “Palm Sunday” are burned to ashes and placed in the shape of a cross on individuals’ foreheads on this day. (Webster’s Dictionary, Carnival)
LENT: – A forty-day period of penitence and prayer which begins on Ash Wednesday and prepares for the celebration of Easter. Though previously lasting less than a week, during the seventh century it came to represent the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness. When first initiated by the Catholic Church, some individuals actually fasted much of the time with the exception of Sunday. Presently, most “give up” an item or two during this period.
The word “lent” comes from the old English “lencten,” which means “Spring.” Created by the Catholic Church around 525, under the guidance of Abbot Dionysus the Little, Lent is the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday until Easter, that is set aside for fasting and seeking repentance. The observance is not found in the Bible, so it was not recognized by Jesus, the apostles, or the early Christian Church. However, now-a-days it usually just means “giving-up” something, usually some bad habit, or even just cutting back, in order to please God. This period of abstinence actually originated in Babylon, as a preliminary to the annual day that honored the death and resurrection of Tammuz; and later was observed in Egypt to honor Osiris, the son of Isis, who was the counterpart of Tammuz.
When Nimrod died, and was made the sun god, Semiramis then had an illegitimate son called Tammuz, who she claimed to be the son of Nimrod. She said that he was the “promised seed of the woman,”
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
She then demanded that both she and Tammuz be worshipped. He became symbolized by the golden calf. She became known as the “queen of heaven,” and was the prototype from which all other pagan goddesses came. Her representation can be seen in the Roman Catholic Church’s worship of Mary, who is called the “Mother of the Church,” the “Queen of Heaven and Earth,” and the “Queen of the Universe.” These titles can not refer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, because nowhere in the Bible does it talk about Mary’s role in such a way.
According to Babylonian tradition, when Tammuz was killed, his mother cried so much, that he came back to life. The manifestation of this was the rebirth and blooming of all vegetation in the Spring, which came to symbolize his resurrection, and why Tammuz is honored in the Spring. Very similar, is the story in the ancient writings of the Sumerians, in Mesopotamia, which said that Tammuz was married to the goddess Inanna (Ishtar), the “mother goddess.” When he was killed, she was so overcome with grief, that she followed him to the underworld, and in her absence, the earth began dying, crops stopped growing, and animals stopped mating. Ea, the god of water and wisdom, sent a message that Inanna was to be brought back. This messenger sprinkled both Inanna and Tammuz with the water of life, and they were given the power to return to the light of the sun for six months of the year. Then Tammuz would again have to return to the underworld, prompting Inanna to seek him, and again, Ea would have to retrieve them.
Ezekiel 8:12-14 “Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”
Ezekiel 8:12-14 talks about the women weeping for Tammuz and this actually refers to what became the 40-day Lenten period. –Controlled by the Calendar p 46, 47
According to Johannes Cassianus, who wrote in the fifth century, “Howbeit you should know, that as long as the primitive church retained its perfection unbroken, this observance of Lent did not exist” (First Conference Abbot Theonas, chapter 30).
A forty-day abstinence period was anciently observed in honor of the pagan gods Osiris, Adonis and Tammuz (John Landseer, Sabaean Researches, pp. 111, 112).
“The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, in the spring of the year, is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans … Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt …” -Alexander Hislops, The Two Babylons, p. 104-105
SUNRISE SERVICE: – This too, was an aspect of old pagan customs associated with sun worship. Though the custom no longer celebrates the rising of the sun among Christians, God does condemn the type of service from which it was derived.
Ezekiel 8:15-16 “Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.”
Many years after Christ’s death, the Catholic church began to associate the tradition with Christ’s supposed early morning resurrection in an apparent effort to compromise with their new converts previously held religious traditions. Yet, when the ladies came to Christ’s tomb early Sunday morning, He wasn’t there!
The Jews during the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel had blended sun worship with the worship of God, as we can see in the Scriptural references in regard to the “queen of heaven.” Ezekiel 8:15-16 talks about men standing with their backs to the Temple of God, facing the east and worshipping the sun. Albert Pike wrote that all pagan religions worshipped the sun. Whether they knew it, or not, they were actually worshiping Satan, because, as an angel, he was known as Lucifer, or the “bearer of light.” The Jewish Temple faced the east, so that when they worshipped God, they would be turned away from the rising sun in the east.
The sunrise service actually stems from the pagan rite of Spring that was held during the vernal equinox to welcome the coming sun. According to pagan tradition, when the sun would rise on Easter morning, it would dance in the heavens, so, those who would congregate, would dance in honor of the sun. – Controlled by the Calendar p 47
The verse that is found in Mark 16:2 is often given to justify the promotion of Easter sunrise services: “And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.”
RISUS PASCHALIS: This strange custom originated in Bavaria in the fifteenth century. The priest inserted in his sermon funny stories which would cause his hearers to laugh (Ostermärlein), e.g. a description of how the devil tries to keep the doors of hell locked against the descending Christ. Then the speaker would draw the moral from the story. This Easter laughter, giving rise to grave abuses of the Word of God, was prohibited by Clement X (1670-1676) and in the eighteenth century by Maximilian III and the bishops of Bavaria (Wagner, De Risu Paschali, Königsberg, 1705; Linsemeier, Predigt in Deutschland, Munich, 1886). –Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm )
THE EASTER LILY: The Easter Lily, the flowery symbol of Easter, which turns up at church altars everywhere that day, is actually not a Spring flower. It was a pagan phallic symbol that represented a sexual reproductive organ. It obviously reflected on the fertility aspect of the celebration. -Controlled by the Calendar p 49
HOT CROSS BUNS: The history of the hot cross bun goes back to the Babylonian queen of heaven (Ishtar), and a reference to it is made in Jeremiah 7:18, which talks about making “cakes to the queen of heaven.” The Hebrew word for “cakes” is “kavvan” and is more properly translated as “buns.”
Jeremiah 7:18 “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.”
At Athens, about 1500 years before Christ, these buns or sacred bread, were used in the worship of the goddess. They were called “boun.” Egyptians made buns inscribed with two horns in honor of the moon goddess, and the Greeks changed it to a cross, so it could be easily separated. The Anglo-Saxons made buns with a cross on them in honor of their goddess of light. -Controlled by the Calendar p 49
EASTER CLOTHING: Everyone knows that Easter is the day that everyone has to wear their new Easter clothing. This mentality stems from the pagan tradition that it was unlucky not to wear some sort of new clothing or personal adornment, because it symbolically signified the end of the old, and the beginning of the new. -Controlled by the Calendar p 49
CARNIVAL and MARDI GRAS: – “In the traditional Christian calendar, it is a period of feasting and merrymaking immediately preceding Lent.” Within Europe, traditions and customs are “especially strong in rural areas where magical rites carried over from pre-Christian times mingle comfortably with Christian ritual and precept.” (Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 5).
“The most important day of Carnival is Shrove Tuesday, the day immediately preceding the first day of Lent. In the past on this day, Christians confessed their sins and received forgiveness.” (A World of Holidays: Carnival, by Catherine Chambers, 1998, p. 6)
“Carnival” means “doing without meat” and as a “Christian” observance, is supposed to remind people of Christ fasting in the wilderness for 40 days – the time of Lent. However, a February 21, 2001 Houston Chronicle article states the following: “Actually, there was a pagan festival in ancient Rome, one called carne levare, levamen, meaning ‘take away the flesh.’ Pagans believed the best way to give up ‘flesh’ (aka meat) was by filling up on it bigtime first, before the sundial brought on abstinence”.
In rural Europe several of the main features that have endured in the Carnival celebrations are:
1) dramatizations symbolizing the death of winter and the resurrection of life in the spring;
2) customs and rites to ensure fertility and abundance in man and nature;
3) rich food, drink and merrymaking,
4) the temporary suspension or inversion of social roles, rank and superiority (Encyclopedia Americana).
Before giving up their cherished sins during Lent, the pagans always held a wild, “anything goes” type of celebration to make sure that they got in their share of debaucheries and perversity before they had to give them up for Lent. They still do this to this day. Only now we call it Mardi Gras and Spring break. Fat Tuesday = sin in depth the day before Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is well known as Mardi Gras in the United States. The French word “Mardi Gras” actually means “Fat Tuesday.” This was the day that everyone gorged themselves on all their rich foods. They did this before the “Lenten fasting”
VERNAL EQUINOX: – “Vernal” means, appearing or occurring in the Spring. “Equinox” points to the time when the sun crosses the planet’s equator. When this occurs, night and day are of equal length in all parts of the earth for that day. The Vernal Equinox occurs on or about March 21st. This day was significant for Pagan sun worshippers because it marked the point where they believed the sun had been fully “resurrected” from its death during the Winter Solstice. This, of course, is one of the other Pagan festivals, Christmas.
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 11, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II again proposed that Christians in the East and West agree to celebrate Easter on the same day every year … Easter, the central feast of the Christian calendar, is movable, as it is observed on the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox, that is, between March 22 and April 25. -ZE04041105
Cardinal Newman admits in his book that; the “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church. {374}” -An Essay on the The Development of the Christian Doctrine John Henry “Cardinal Newman” p.359
The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the “New Babylon.” -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106
“In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults.” -Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94
“The Church did everything it could to stamp out such ‘pagan’ rites but had to capitulate and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local deity changed to some Christian saint’s name.” –Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57
In Stanley’s History, page 40: “The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM.”
Revelation 17:5 “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
| QUESTION: Should Christians celebrate or acknowledge the death and resurrection of Christ? ANSWER: Yes, but not in the way you think. We celebrate and acknowledge His death and resurrection at Baptism and renew our faith in that loving act of His in Communion. Satan invented Easter to confuse the truth and cover it all up with mind dazzling glitter. Romans 6:3-4 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Colossians 2:12 “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” |
I know that it seems as if there are very few verses in the Bible which directly confront Easter. However, when looking into the Hebrew for the word “grove”, we find that this word (plus the word “groves”) shows up a total of 41 times. With the exception of only a single occurrence, the root meaning of this word is … ASTARTE!!! Check for yourself; I will provide a list of all forty of these verses. All you need is a Strong’s Concordance (or another of your choice) to find the Hebrew meaning of this word together with its proper definition. What follows is EXACTLY what you will find. Still, I encourage you to do your own research and see the truth with your own eyes.
H842
אֲשֵׁירָה אֲשֵׁרָה
‘ăshêrâh ‘ăshêyrâh
ash-ay-raw’, ash-ay-raw’
From H833; happy; asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess; also an image of the same: – grove.
Exo 34:13; Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3; Deu 16:21; Judges 3:7; Judges 6:25-26, 28, 30; 1 Kings 14:15, 23; 1 Kings 15:13; 1 Kings 16:33; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 13:6; 2 Kings 17:10, 16; 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 21:3, 7; 2 Kings 23:4, 6-7, 14-15; 2 Chr 14:3; 2 Chr 15:16; 2 Chr 17:6; 2 Chr 19:3; 2 Chr 24:18; 2 Chr 31:1; 2 Chr 33:3, 19; 2 Chr 34:3-4, 7; Isa 17:8; Isa 27:9; Jer 17:2; Micah 5:14
Combine this overwhelming amount of Scripture condemning the worship of this Pagan goddess named Easter with all the Scripture wherein God condemns the celebration of man-made holidays (traditions) and it becomes crystal clear that it is not for the child of God to celebrate Easter.
This page was copied and pasted by permission from remnantofgod.org
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