The Feast

The final feature of Christmas and the Yuletide Season to be considered is by no means an unimportant one - it is food. Whatever else we may be prepared to give up at the time of year, we will not give up our traditional feast!

Just as the sacrificial offerings were the focus of the Jewish and pagan feasts, and the Last Supper was the culmination and symbolic centre of Jesus’ ministry on earth, we have made our Christmas meal the high spot of the celebration, although the religious aspects of it have diminished to the point of non-existence. Now we simply have an enjoyable meal to look forward to and, like the Apostle Paul, "we are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do". (1 Cor 8:8)

Because of changed eating habits, inflation and commercialisation, the Christmas feast no longer reflects the idolatrous practises of the past. Yet, it is instructive to know these practises for what they are to those in the camp of Antichrist and for what they say to us in symbol about Christmas.

The greatest dish of Christmas in the Middle Ages was the boar’s head, and goose was served until late Victorian times. Traditional pastries include mince pies, and the ‘burnt offering’ of the day, if we are not careful, is the flaming Christmas pudding topped with holly. Something can be said about all of these.

Goose and Boar

The goose and the boar reflect the sacrificial practises of ancient times. The goose was a favourite offering to Osiris and it was said that "he could only be pacified by a large goose and a thin cake. This, again, is a form of self-sacrifice on the part of the god, for his father Seb (or Geb) from whom he takes his characteristics is shown in the form of a goose.

In Babylon, likewise, geese were offered in sacrifice, for an ancient monument shows a priest with a knife in one hand and a goose in the other.

In many other countries, geese were held sacred. It is well known that the sacred geese of Juno saved Rome by cackling at the night intruders, and in Asia Minor, the goose was the symbol of Cupid, the son of the ‘virgin mother’ Venus. In India, as in Egypt, the goose was the creator god who laid the ‘cosmic egg’ out of which was hatched the sun god and the world.

The symbol of Brahma, therefore, was the goose and he is shown riding one in illustrations. Others gods associated with the goose are Apollo, Hermes and Mars, the Roman god of war; it was also a symbol of the Queen of Heaven, as the swan is of Mary, for the two are interchangeable.

Why the Goose?

Why the goose? Once again, it is a mystery symbol to denote the pagan messiah, for the word, in Egypt, meant a child or son, as this quote shows:

The symbolic meaning of the offering of the goose is worthy of notice. "The goose," says Wilkinson, "signified in hieroglyphics a child or son;" and Horapollo says (i. 53~ p. 276), "It [the goose] was chosen to denote a son, from its love to its young, being always ready to give itself up to the chaser, in order that they might be preserved; for which reason the Egyptians thought it right to revere this animal." (from Wilkerson's Egyptians, vol. v. p. 227.) Here, then, the true meaning of the symbol is a son, who voluntarily gives himself up as a sacrifice for those whom he loves -viz. the Pagan Messiah.

The Boar

The boar is a major religious cult animal right round the world.

It was the boar’s head, decorated and garlanded with evergreens and with an orange in its mouth, that was the high point of the Christmas feast for many years. It is still served at Queen’s College, Oxford. The ancient carol which is sung as the boar’s head is carried in with great ceremony says that the head is offered "in honour of the King of Bliss".

As if to emphasise that the boar is more than a ritual meal, and to make the connection between it and the false Seed, the Yule Boar in Europe is often made of straw, or baked as a loaf. The last sheaf of corn left standing in the field is used to make this centrepiece which is not eaten, but left standing on the table until the Christmas season is over, and is then mixed with the seed for sowing in the Spring in the same way as are the ashes of the Yule Log.

A Swedish custom points plainly to the original ceremony of sacrificing a man as the annual Yule Boar, for there a man is dressed in a bristled skin and an old woman with a knife pretends to kill him. It seems clear that the god was closely identified with the boar and sacrificed as such, even though the story of his death, in many cases, seems to indicate that the boar was his enemy and slayer.

The identification of an animal with a god meant that the particular animal was treated as sacred and untouchable (as the cow and bull in India today), and it was not eaten except in sacrifice.

This is certainly the case with the pig. The Egyptians were forbidden to eat pork and held it in supernatural awe, but at Yuletide they would sacrifice a pig to the moon and to Osiris. It was looked upon as an embodiment of Set or Typhon who killed Osiris in the form of a boar, yet the facts bear out that the boar represented the god himself in his war-like, destructive character; the boar was both slayer and slain, just as the Lord Jesus was put to death by satan’s agency, yet in His death He destroyed satan.

The name of the Babylonian boar god was Nin-shach, incorporating our old friend the Hebrew ‘Shachath’ the Destroyer, and indeed this god was seen as a destroyer, as the sun in its destructive character and as a war deity. Similarly, Ber, an early form of the Roman Saturn, was called "lord of the wild boar" and was a solar divinity of war, the spring and fertility. Saturn, himself, received an offering of a boar at the Saturnalian feast.

Another Assyrian god of the boar, one spoken of in the Bible as Rimmon (Pomegranate) has been identified as the elder builder of Babylon, ie. BEL or Cush, and this is borne out by the Hindu myth of the god Varahi who, in the form of a boar, saved the world from the waters and was the first to till the soil. Rimmon was known among the Hebrews under a name which links him with "Abaddon" or the Destroyer of Rev 9:11.

Ares, the war god and lover of Aphrodite who adopted a boar form to kill Adonis (Tammuz) was identical with Mars, the god of war and ‘red planet’ of evil, plague and death.

Boar Gods of the North

Our ancestors made much of the boar, and the animal was sacrificed annually to Freya at Yule. It was also sacred to the warrior god Odin, or Woden who was the leader of the Wild Hunt. Because of the association of the boar with war gods, it was used as an emblem on shields and helmets. The Celtic version of Odin was called Cernunnos, who was antler-horned and who became ‘christianised’ as St. Ciaran. He is supposed to have made a boar his first convert!

The Boar as Slayer

It was the boar who killed not only Osiris, but Adonis, Attis and the Celtic Diarmid. Also the much lamented Tammuz was supposed to have been slain by a winged boar.

Another account suggests that his death was caused by Ishtar, who seems to have had many of her numerous lovers killed. This is interesting in view of the fact that some legends of Ninus and Semiramus have the king slain by his powerful and ambitious wife.

The death of the Celtic god Diarmid, too, was by a boar of the herd belonging to "Grey Eyebrows", the mother goddess in her evil form.

The mother goddess was indeed a ‘destroyer’ in some aspects - she was the Queen of Hades, the ‘annihilating lady’ and goddess of death. In any case, the gods’ wives’ jealousies and adulteries are well known in legend and may provide at least an outward motive for the death of the gods.

There is certainly evidence to support that the wife/mother goddess was identified with the boar. The last sheaf used for the Yule Boar is called the ‘Old Mother’ and in France, ‘Ceres’. which is the Roman name for the Earth Mother. Diana, too, is often shown accompanied by a boar, and in almost every country of the world the sow is the symbol of the Great Mother. Because of this, the Holy Abbess of Lamaseries in Tibet is known as Dorje Phagmo - Eternal Sow.

The ‘Trinity’ of Destroyers

It may be possible to unravel some of the tangled threads connecting the false Seed (the fertility gods), the Destroyer and the Earth Mother by referring back to the original great prophecies of the Messiah. Before Semiramus, Ninus and their son came to be worshipped as the salvation of mankind, it was known that the ancient serpent, or satan, would be overthrown by the Seed of the Virgin.

Thus, not only was the Messiah the Seed and Branch, but also the Serpent-Slayer or Destroyer of satan. These elements were made into the basis of the legends surrounding satan’s host of false gods, often the father-god being the war-like storm god and dragon slayer and the son being the love and fertility god, although each shared the characteristics of either.

The third member of this ‘trinity’ was made out to be the Virgin and she was elevated to equal rank as Saviour, Destroyer and Love Goddess.

In support of this, the approved Roman Catholic translation of the Bible used to run, "SHE shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise HER heel" (Gen 3:15)

Pudding, Pie and Cake

The traditional sweetmeats at Christmastime are mince pies, plum pudding and iced cake, and in this respect the feast has changed very little down the years. Though we might find it hard to fathom, the most passionate attacks by Puritans and other Protestants were made against such fare, for they had not lost sight of the idolatrous significance of these Christmas delicacies.

One Puritan writer in 1656, Fletcher, wrote of mince pies as:

"Idolatry in crust! Babylon’s whore
Raked from the grave and baked by hanches, then
Sewed up in coffins to unholy men;
Defiled with superstition, like the Gentiles
Of old, that worshipped onions, roots and lentils!"

What was his objection, and why did he picture the contents of the pie as "Babylon’s whore.. .sewed up in coffins"? We shall see.

In 1733, another writer, this time a Quaker, calls Christmas pie, "an invention of the Scarlet Whore of Babylon, an hodge podge of superstition, popery, the devil and all his works." We have difficulty today in understanding his horror and disgust, and unfortunately much of the Puritan literature was destroyed by more ‘enlightened’ people, but is there something indicated here to which we should pay attention?

Plum pudding was, in early years, a sort of broth. It was first recorded in 1573 as plum pottage or porage, a thick soup taken at the beginning of the meal, consisting of beef, raisins, currants and bread. A recipe from Mrs Beeton was included in the section on soups, and is given as beef broth. It used eight gallons of water (!) thickened with bread, dried fruits, wine and spices. Not many foreigners could stomach this delight. Along with this broth, the guests enjoyed brawn made from boar and seasoned with rosemary.

Mince Pies

We have come to see mince pies as a traditional once-yearly treat; they are more often eaten on Christmas Eve than on the day itself, and this gives an indication of their origin. It has been said that the earlier version of the mince pie was indeed made of minced meat and was a savoury dish. Before the invention of pastry, the meat would have been dished up on a slab of bread, and - later on -a covering of goose feathers decorated the ‘pie’.

Early records show the pastry case to be boat shaped, and this is significant, for the mince pie is meant to represent the coffin or boat of Osiris (and thus the grave of Nimrod).

One story of the death of Osiris says that Set, the wicked brother of the god, had a coffin brought into the feast and tricked Osiris into it, whereupon he nailed down the lid. The coffin was floated down the river to the coast and was beached, and a tree grew up around it. Later this tree-bound coffin was discovered by the distraught Isis who cut out the coffin and brought it by boat back to her own land. Eventually, Set in the form of a boar found the coffin, dismembered the body and scattered the pieces.

In the Christmas Mummer’s play which re-tells this story in a symbolic way, the assailant is made to say of his victim:

"I struck his body in ten parts,
and sent him o’er the sea
to make mince pies"

This, however, was by no means the end of Osiris, for Isis sailed up and down in a papyrus boat collecting (or, some say, burying) the pieces of his body. In some legends, Isis conceives her son Horus by restoring the body, and in others, she conceives while fluttering over the corpse in the form of a hawk. The revived Osiris then ruled as King of the Underworld.

So it was, on the feast day of Osiris in mid-winter, the people fixed rows of oil lamps to their houses which burned all night long to guide Isis and Osiris back home, or - figuratively - back from the dead. Later in the festival, the priests would carry the casket of Osiris down to the sea and fill it with water. They used vegetables, spices and incense to mould an image of Osiris which they robed and ornamented and, after a period of intense lamentation, smiting of breasts and slashing open of their bodies, their cries turned to joy as Osiris was reckoned to have returned again to life.

In some places, the image of Osiris was floated down river in a boat made of papyrus, gloriously illuminated. Little vegetable and grain effigies of Osiris have been found at numerous tomb sites, fitted inside pottery or wooden ‘coffins’.

Likewise, in the rituals for the god Dionysus, or Bacchus, the worshippers carried a casket supposed to contain the ‘sacred heart’ of Dionysus; in one version of his myth, he descended to Hades through a lake and he was annually celebrated at that spot where the worshippers would summon him back from the dead by trumpet blasts and the sacrifice of a lamb.

The god Balder, when he had been killed by the dart of mistletoe, was laid on a funeral pyre aboard a ship, together with his wife who had died of grief at his loss. The ship was pushed out to sea and drifted to the land of the dead where the price for his return was that all things were to weep for Balder, even stones and metal. Eventually he had to be released by force of arms. In any case, he too was resurrected from the dead.

Cakes and Puddings

Jesus said, "Unless an ear of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (Jn 12:24) He was speaking of his own death and resurrection, and the re-birth of his converts.

Long before Jesus spoke these words, satan had arranged for his own religion to embrace the same truth and corrupt it into the sacrificial slaying of the ‘corn-man’ or the Seed.

In England, we have a folk song "John Barleycorn" which is based upon this personification of the grain as the one who dies on behalf of the people.

Thus, the grain and fruit effigy of Osiris or Dionysus in his coffin ‘rose’ to life again by fermentation or sprouting, as did the seed in the ground, and the cakes and dough buns offered to the god were meant to represent the god himself. This is why the ‘Yule Boar’ loaf is ploughed into the land at seed time.

But the cakes were not only offered as sacrifices. They were used to determine who should actually die as a representation of the god at the festival. It has already been noted that at the fire festivals of Hallowe’en a special cake would often be baked, one piece of which would be blackened or marked. The unlucky person who chose this piece would be treated as a victim.

Especially at the time of the winter solstice, the time of the dying and re-birth of the god, one would be chosen to reign as mock king for a certain time, in some cases as long as a year.

The Substitutionary Death

Folk customs in which a mock king or god-figure is put to death and greatly mourned are very numerous.

In the Ardennes, a young man used to be dressed up in straw, tried, condemned to death and shot at with blank cartridges, but the custom was stopped when, one year, the victim was accidentally killed.

Often, instead of a real person, an effigy is used (like the Salisbury Giant or Guy Fawkes) and this is publicly burnt at the end of the festival.

In Italy, a huge figure called ‘Carnival’ was used; in one region the procession would include the mourning ‘wife’ of the god-effigy who would address her laments to the crowd.

The ancient practise was more cruel. The representation of the god would be a specially chosen individual who was put to death when his ‘reign’ came to an end (for he was often treated as a ‘king’ during the festival). At the Roman Saturnalia, the chosen man would be King of the Feast and able to issue any command during the season. The Aztec victim reigned a whole year and was treated to every kingly honour during that time.

Sometimes the actual king was put to death at the end of a fixed term, and his ‘divine’ nature was passed on to his successor. (27)

Even in our own history there are traces of the belief that the death and rebirth (coronation) of the king was best done at the time of the winter solstice. William the Conqueror and King Edmund were crowned on Christmas Day, and two of the pagan Plantagenet kings were murdered at the time of the solstice.

The death of Thomas a Becket is particularly worthy of note, for he was killed on 28th December, and many believe that he deliberately chose to die as a substitute for Henry II, and arranged for his death on the cathedral steps to coincide with the setting of the solstice sun.

King Bean and Queen Pea

To return to the subject of Christmas cakes, however, it is certain that the original use of the cake and pudding (which is only a hot version of the cake) was in choosing the ‘king’ of the feast. It is still a tradition to hide a small coin in the pudding for one lucky person to find, and our iced cake used to be that used on Twelfth Night to choose ‘King Bean’ and his consort, ‘Queen Pea’ . A bean and a pea were hidden in the cake for that very purpose.

Until recently, the Twelfth Night cake was a very grand affair. In Jonson’s "Christmas Masque" it was called ‘Baby Cake’ for its links with the baby messiah had not been forgotten. Later, the bean and pea were replaced by coins, and later still the lots were drawn from a hat so as not to spoil the cake, which had become a triumph of the baker’s art, richly iced and decorated.

Still, however, King Bean was elected to preside over the feast and he was often crowned and royally robed just like the ‘Man of Wantonness’ in Babylon.

In Italy, the baker would give away a tinsel crown for the lucky finder of the bean to wear, but today we all wear a paper crown, and no one person is specially honoured. It may be supposed that our term ‘bean feast’ comes from these customs.

CONCLUSION

Having looked into the facts of the festival and its history, it seems only too clear that what we know as ‘Christmas’ is a thinly disguised version of the pagan celebrations known as Yule or Saturnalia, which themselves are leftovers from even more ancient and sinister satanic rites rejoicing in the death and resurrection of his substitute messiah.

Even as late as Victorian times, the base elements of the festival - the Yule Log, the goose, the kissing bough and the superstitious customs pervading every area of Christmas and its associated feast days - were an eloquent testimony to the true meaning of Christmas. It is only on our own day, the day of plastic snowmen and fairy lights, that this meaning has been obscured.

But it has not been lost. An increasing number of those who are ‘in the know’ are secretly rejoicing at the honour given to the pagan Antichrist under the cover of pretty and innocent ceremonies, and as time goes on we can expect the revival of the more blatantly idolatrous practises, for satan never wastes an opportunity when the Church is unawares.

Satan has always been the master of deception and his works take place in the darkness of ignorance. Often that darkness is disguised by seemingly delightful and enjoyable things - the television magician who smilingly entertains us with his psychic ability; the exciting children’s games of dragons and witches; the sugar-sweet alien ‘ET’, who is preparing the world to revere and trust incarnate demons in the endtimes. [Note: this booklet was written in 1984 - since then films and children's games have moved even further into the occult!].

Discernment with Liberty

It is good to remember, and to proclaim, that our faith is one of liberty. We are neither bound to observe religious ceremonies nor to avoid them, for we have not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear (Rom 8:15).

The apostle Paul maintained a unique and God-inspired balance in his faith, for he was not afraid to eat what was set before him, whether previously offered to idols or not, yet he was conscious of the risk of causing others to stumble by his liberty.

We must be careful not to over-react, and fall into the equal but opposite error of judgementalism and condemnation of others. Nor should we become killjoys. We shouldn't refuse to make use of a public holiday simply because its origins are rooted in paganism. It is possible to spend the Christmas week relaxing in the company of family and friends, eating a special meal of some kind (whatever you really like, not just the Christmas traditional meal) and spoiling the children somehow without participating in the pagan festivities.

My own Personal Choices

Personally, I do not refuse absolutely to eat mince pies or Christmas pudding, even though I know their origins. I consider that they are not now made for idolatrous purposes. But I do not eat them in a ritualistic way, that is, at special times or for special purposes. I do not like to eat the "sacrificial" animals such as pork (boar) or turkey (goose) on Christmas Day, but I do eat something special that I would normally not buy (such as salmon or veal.)

I also send letters or neutral cards to close friends and family (anyone I really do want to correspond with) to remember them at the holiday season - I send them out a while before Christmas to distance myself from the actual day, and I use cards that perhaps show a winter landscape. I never buy cards showing Santa, the Tree, or even Nativity scenes (since Jesus was not actually born at Christmas, this would be inaccurate.)

I am perhaps "blessed" in not having small children to cater for at Christmas. For those struggling with the problems of how to teach children about Christmas, I believe that "honesty is the best policy" and that children appreciate your telling the truth much more than creating a silly myth about a man who is coming down the chimney. Children are better off for not being lied to. Also, if they are accustomed to your own special version of Christmas from toddlers, they will not think to question it when they grow up.

Let joy and truth be your guide, and pray about how to present an alternative to the traditional mythology. Perhaps you could take the opportunity to do something special for the children during the holiday period - a visit to a theme park, theatre, pantomime, circus or something like that.

And if you really want to buy "birthday" presents for Jesus, why not do that at the time of year He was actually born - the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. You don't HAVE to wait for December 25^th in order to buy new toys for your kids!

As for decorations, I do refuse to buy or take into the house anything that has to do with Father Christmas, the Christmas Tree or any of the overtly pagan symbols. Today we are seeing a return to idolatry, and Christmas decorations often portray the sun and moon, and five-pointed stars. We can expect this to become more blatant as time goes by. Candles and angels are a religious turn-off in any case, and it would be better to do without them.

I don't need to look at candles, hang up little reindeer or kiss under the mistletoe in order to enjoy myself! I make the house look clean, bright and pleasant enough with fresh or potted flowers, and there are plenty of non-Christmas-related ornaments to make an attractive new display on the fireplace or table.

As for Christmas carols - well, I have never been a great fan of them, but on grounds of biblical accuracy I prefer not to sing them. If you examine the words of most carols, you will find they do not tell the truth. (Many of the popular Christmas songs are also ill-disguised homage to the ancient gods.)

More and more discerning Christians are backing off from Christmas and all its associations. I believe Christmas observance is important for the religious world, and to dissent will become almost a crime in time. God is showing us that we have to draw a line in the sand, and go thus far and no further. As Paul says, let each one be convinced in his own mind. This means, also, that each one will be led by God to react to the Christmas season in his or her own way, working out a series of compromises that do not harm our faith, but also do not harm the feelings of others.

Be Aware; Be Fair!

Paul would not judge those who observed one day as better than another, yet he made it clear that their attitude stemmed from weakness and an incomplete knowledge of God (Rom 14:1-2 and 1 Cor 8:7) What he did advise was that each one be fully convinced in his own mind, each acting upon the faith he has and refraining from prideful and judgmental attitudes.

However, Paul and other early Christian writers were one in their condemnation of any involvement in the practises of idol worship, and we can be sure that those Christians who were saved out of such a pagan inheritance were very quick to abhor and reject what reminded them of their old ways. It was only a Church that had ‘forgotten its first love’ (Rev 2:4) that could return to the superstition and magic of the past and embrace the religious practises of unbelievers as if they were merely harmless shadows of the truth.

It is the task of the Christian to expose the works of darkness and bring them to the light where they can be examined and judged by all. Having done that, this study must come to an end, with the last word coming from the One who is all Truth:

"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Therefore,"Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (2Corinthians, 6:14)

NOTES:

(1) Constantine was supposed to have seen the sign of the cross in the sky, just before his decisive victory over his rival for the throne in AD 213. The Christian tradition was that he had the "Chirho" sign the first two letters of the word Christ, put on the shields and banners of his troops, but this sign had been used for centuries as a symbol of the sun-god, and Constantine himself remained a sun-worshipper all his life.

(2) Tertullian: c160-220 African Priest and Church Historian.

(3) Semiramus, the wife of Ninus/Nimrod: The mother goddess wears a turreted crown, Ovid says, "because she first erected towers in cities", a clear reference to Babylon which was the first city to be fortified in this way. Both Semiramus and Ninus are said to have made these walls and towers. Rhea was one goddess with a turreted crown, and her husband was Cronos, whom we know to be Ninus/Nimrod. Modern writers tend to accept the inscriptions referring to Sammu-rammat, who lived around the time of Israel’s exile, as indicating that she is the only Semirairnis who existed, but this is plainly wrong. Many of the same writers will agree that mother-goddess worship and the myths of Astarte and Ishtar were influenced by Semiramus, and that these have existed from the beginning of history. Indeed, the very name Astarte means "the woman that made towers" and Ashtoreth (the Hebrew version) means "the woman that made encompassing walls" (Two Babylons, Hislop; p.308). Eusebius writes of a historical Semiramus who lived "around the tine of Abraham", and others place her even earlier. However, since it has been established that she was the wife of Ninus, first king of Babylon, then the time of her reign is fixed.

(4) Ninus = Nimrod: Ancient historians say that Ninus was the first king of Babylon, that he was the first to wage war on his neighbours and that he trained soldiers for warfare. This agrees with the biblical account of Nimrod. Ninus and his wife are reported to have built and ruled Ninevah, which takes its name from Ninus (the son). In Genesis, however, we are told that it was Nimrod who went forth out of his kingdom of Babel to Assyria to build Ninevah (RSV and modern translations) and a great part of its ruins is called Nimrod to this day. Furthermore, we are told that Ninus was the son of Belus or Bel; Nimrod was, of course, the son of Cush and it is possible to show that these two were the same man for they both bore the title of "The Confounder". This was because of his part in the building of the tower of Babel which resulted in the ‘confounding’ of language (Gen 11 .9) So it can be seen that Nimrod is the historical figure Ninus.

(5) Professor Pinches has shown that the name of the god Merodach, or Marduk, is a rendering of the name Nimrod. In Sumerian the name was Amaraduk, which in Babylonian was Marad (meaning bold, or rebel) and the ‘niphal form’ in Hebrew gives the name Ni-marad, or Nimrod. See Jer 50:2 for an interesting reference to this ‘god’ and his father, Bel and their respective fates. In this context, also see following note

(6) Shem and the death of Nimrod: The death of Nimrod is likened by ancient historians to that of various gods who were cut or torn into pieces, and this became the mystic rite in their worship. There is also a strong tradition of beheading or cutting in two, and this may well have been the formal execution before the dividing asunder took place. The name, in Egypt, of the man who destroyed their ‘mighty one’ was SEM. For this act he was immortalised as the "evil one". The name Shem in one of its senses means the Destroyer, and this title is given to the evil god of Egypt who was portrayed as a crocodile.

(7) The story re-constructed from the myths of the goddess.

(8) The Roman Catholic trinity has, for centuries, been - in popular understanding - the Father, the Son and the Virgin Mary. The identification of Mary with Semiramus is perhaps most marked in the use of the dove as her symbol, for Semiramus was the dove goddess of Babylon and she was worshipped later as Juno, the Dove in Rome and Venus Urania, Dione, the "Heavenly Dove". The symbol of the Holy Spirit is, of course, the dove; thus the blasphemous identification of Semiramus as the Holy Spirit or third member of the trinity.

(9) [Deleted]

(10) The Venerable Bede, c.673-735, Church Historian, reported that the Saxons called these days ‘Modranicht’ and ‘Kilderdaag’.

(11) The name Cush means, in one sense, to cover or hide, but also to number or count; so Hermes was fabled to have "first discovered numbers, reckoning, geometry and astronomy". As the numberer of the seasons, he was therefore called Lord Moon; Meni was the Babylonian Lord Moon for the same reason. In Daniel %:25,26, there occurs a play on words which would have had great meaning for those engages in worshipping Lord Moon, for God says "Meni, meni: Your kingdom is numbered and finished" Isn't it interesting that, after all these centuries, as children we still invoke the Numberer when we number off our playground groups calling out "eeny, meni, mini, mo…"

(12) An inscription on a statue of Nebo calls him "the son of Nudimmud". This was the name given to the creator god, Ea, the one who taught the people agriculture, defense and religion and who knew all secrets. It appears from this that it is Nimrod who is the father of Nebo.

(13) Father Time, with his sickle, is conjured up at New Year, along with the new-born baby as an allegory of the season. But this figure is, of course, Cronos/Saturn (Gk. CHRONOS, Time) and represents the dying god as Death, the Grim Reaper (or Hooded Reaper, for this is the meaning of Grim) a skeleton with a sickle (which is a moon symbol and ancient attribute of royalty) and the infant messiah, resurrected from the Underworld as a new-born babe.

(l4) In Madonna and Child paintings, especially of the Middle Ages, the child is often seen clutching an apple or piece of fruit, or receiving a piece of fruit from his mother. The pomegranate may have been the original fruit used in religious ceremonies, for it produces many seeds. The great father god, the Baal of Assyrian lands, was called Rimmon, which means in Hebrew pomegranate, for he epitomises the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

(15) Apis, the calf or bull god of Egypt which led the Israelites to sin, was also ‘fire-born’ His conception was from the creator god, Ptah in the form of celestial fire upon a virgin heifer, and the resultant calf, Apis, was taken to be the resurrection of the god Osiris. When an Apis bull was born it was recognised by its black hide and white triangle markings. The name Apis was taken from the Egyptian word for HIDDEN, thus Apis was, like Cush (the dark, the coverer), the hidden god, the god of the occult.

(16) The word for Lucifer in Hebrew is HELEL, shining one, and one of the names of Bacchus, Elelus, comes from this. Isaiah (l4:12) referred it to the king of Babylon (Nimrod) and his prophesy reaches backward and forward in time to the Antichrist, who is satan-possessed. Lucifer is also called, in the same passage, "son of the morning" which is SHACHAR in Hebrew, the same word used for ‘black’ and ‘destroyer’ (See ante, name of Cush).
In Greek, the word is Phosphorus, and this is applied to the Lord in 2 Pet 1:19. It means ‘light-bearer’, as does the name Lucifer, and this title was applied to the Greek god Phaethon, who can be shown to be Nimrod, in an inscription which runs, "Bono Deo, Puero Phosphoro" (The Good God, Son of the Light-Bearer).

(17) That mice were revered and eaten in sacrificial meals is shown by Isaiah chapter 66, verse 17: "to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse..."

(18) In the Hebrew translation of John’s Gospel, the first line (In the beginning was the Word) uses DABAR for ‘Word’.

(19) As from the carcass of Osiris, the child saviour Horus was born. Thus, the Word proceeds from the Father; He is God-begotten.

(20) In Psalm 91, "You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra; the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot." the word used is, unusually, SHACHAL, a roaring, devouring lion - a destroyer. It need hardly be pointed out again that this word is derived from the one used for the black, the hidden, the devouring Cush and his son, Nimrod.

(21) Astarte and Ishtar, in common with many of her type, are shown as holding, or standing upon, a lion.

(22) A recent book, ‘The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail’, has exposed some of the well-guarded secrets of the powerful satanic cult known by various names including the Templars, the Illuminati, Freemasonry, and the Priory of Zion. It is hinted that a renewed attempt to place a king of the Merovingian line (whose sacred symbol is the bee) at the head of the European empire will shortly take place on the (false) revelation that this man is of the bloodline of Jesus, and therefore is the second Messiah.

(23) Bayley derives the word holly from the word used for other plants and trees, and especially the magical linden tree, ie. OLN or OLA.N, from which trees like the Elm, and plants such as Oleander take their names. In Greek, OLUN is the Olive, and in Hebrew, ALLON or ALLAH is the Oak. But the point here is that these words carry a double meaning, for the Hebrew word for tree, or tall one/mighty one, is also used for the gods or for God. AL = Most High, and ALLAH (the Arabian god) is Oak Tree. EL = God, and ELAH is Elm/Oak/Tall Tree or God. Also, ELIM is mighty ones/trees, and ELOHIM (p1) is gods or God.

(24) The ancient Babylonians retained this fact in their creation stories by having the god Bel cut off his own head and having his blood mixed with the earth in order to create man from the RED paste of it. In Egypt, the father-god moulded men out of clay on a potter’s wheel. In Greece, Prometheus did so, and even in Australia the natives say that Pund-jel the creator-god made men out of clay worked by his knife on a piece of bark. In each traditional story, whether from Tahiti, Burma or Melanesia, the clay is made to be red, either naturally or by the mixing with blood. So we see at once the connection between ADAMAH (earth) and ADAM (man/red). Moreover, we can appreciate to a greater degree why so many gods were said to have been ‘born out of a hole in the earth’.

(25) Another, more ancient, derivation comes from the Hebrew MAS He who is afflicted; IL or EL = Mighty One or God; TO = Wild Bull. Thus, Mas-El-To would imply the Bull-god who is afflicted, ie. the dying prince-god.

(26) All the precautionary measures taken by the use or veneration of mistletoe have a relation to the god himself and the wrath he would inflict if not properly worshipped, for he was the world-wide storm-god of lightning and rain, the god of fertility and agriculture and of magic.

(27) Killing the King:. The custom of electing (and formerly, sacrificing) a king at the winter solstice celebration has deep significance. The spiritual meaning is, of course, that the incarnate god and king must be sacrificed on behalf of the people and such is the case in one form or another wherever idol worship is practised. However, the killing of the priestly king has a historical background as well. Frazer has reported that the ceremony of killing the king actually took place in many countries, only later to be modified into the killing of a substitute, a prisoner of war or a temporary king who took the throne for a number of days solely to be put to death in the place of the actual king. This was the case in ancient Babylon, and the details of the ‘king’s’ reign are remarkably similar to those of the Roman Saturnalia, for Frazer quotes Berosus as saying, "the once-yearly feast lasted for five days, during which masters and servants changed places…a condemned prisoner was dressed in the king’s robes, seated on his throne, allowed to issue whatever commands he pleased, to eat, drink and enjoy himself, and to lie with the king’s concubines." During this time, he bore the title Zoganes, ‘man of wantonness’ which is the same as our ‘Lord of Misrule’, but also carried a double meaning for the sake of initiates who knew the ‘king’ to represent the ‘Man of Sin’ or false messiah. (2 Thess 2:3) Since Nimrod was the first priestly king, a re-enactment of his reign, so ingloriously cut short, seems possible here, as well as a reminder of the significance of his death and so-called resurrection, especially as the later kings of Babylon were required yearly to renew their kingship by taking the hands of the image of Marduk (Nimrod) in his great temple of Esargil at Babylon.