The time Measurement names adopted by Christians have a pagan origin!
1. The time Measurement
names adopted by
Christians have a
pagan origin!
Prepared by: Abo Karim El Marakshy
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2. The time Measurement names adopted by
Christians have a pagan origin
Christian should learn that the names of the 12 months are
named after 12 mythical pagan gods.
The seven celestial bodies identified by the
Egyptian astronomers
Let's go back to the Egyptian astronomers who identified
seven celestial bodies: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun,
Venus, Mercury, and the Moon.
The Egyptian astronomers divided the daylight time
into 12 hours; a convenient number which divides cleanly by
2, 3, 4 and 6. The night time was also divided by 12, but the
length of day 'hours' and night 'hours' would differ according
to the season.
They named each hour after a particular celestial
body:
1st hour: Saturn
2nd hour: Jupiter
3rd hour: Mars
4th hour: Sun
5th hour: Venus
6th hour: Mercury
7th hour: Moon
The 8th hour would recycle to the Saturn hour, as would the
15th and 22nd. Following this pattern, the 23rd hour would be
Jupiter, the 24th Mars, and the 1st hour of the next day would
be the Sun.
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3. From this method, the first hour of each day was named
after:
1st day: Saturn
2nd day: Sun
3rd day: Moon
4th day: Mars
5th day: Mercury
6th day: Jupiter
7th day: Venus
Each day was consecrated to the celestial body of its first
hour, which has resulted not only in us having seven days a
week, but also the names of those days.
The first day of a week was Saturn's day (Saturday), but on
their flight from the Egyptians, the Jews changed this and
made Saturday their Sabbath, the last day of the week.
Christians later moved observance of the Sabbath
from Saturday to Sunday as part of their theological and
historical split from Judaism, even though they respect the
Hebrew Scriptures2.
So following the Jewish day numbering system, with
the last day of the week being Saturday, the first day of the
week became: Sunday.
Sunday: Day of the Sun
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4. Latin: dies solis - Helios, god of the sun
Saxon: Sunnandaeg - god of the heat and light ball in the
sky.
Sun worship has always been popular and for obvious reasons
Ancient sun worship
It's easy to understand how ancient man would look at
the sun as the most powerful god. Today, we are more
enlightened and know that the sun is just an enormous
ball of gas.
On the right is a photo of a stele from Ur
of the Chaldees, with the symbol of the
Babylonian sun god Shamash within the
crescent of the moon goddess Nanna.
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5. We also now know that it's not unique - there are
countless other stars visible to the naked eye, some of
which are much brighter than our sun.
The use of Halos
The word 'halo' comes from the Greek halos, which means
the ring of light shown around the sun.
The Sun halo disc on the head of Ra
Other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism
use halos in iconography.
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6. The Japanese Buddhist statue as
shown with a kouhai or gokou (halo), holding a trident weapon
to protect babies & young children.
The Hindu god Shiva as shown
with Parvati, both with a halo. Shiva has a Third Eye, a necklace
made of skulls, a trident and a few snakes.
Halos and Christianity
The Consecration Cross, like the sun, is circular. And it's
not only the shape of this cross that makes Christianity
appear to revere the sun.
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8. It's easy to understand why some people have written
articles supporting their firm belief that Christianity is
actually a Pagan form of sun worship.
The halo seen in Christian icons,
The The Last Supper (In Simon Ushakov's icon 1685)
Eleven of the twelve apostles have haloes: only Judas
Iscariot does not.
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9. In the past man believed there were a countless number
of gods, we now have the intelligence to reason that there
is only one supreme God (Allah), the creator of this
universe.
Jesuit IHS symbol
Yes, the Jesuits use the sun as the symbol of Jesus Christ.
The Jesuits are pretty conservative on cosmological issues
and like all Christians, they believe that Christ is the Light
and the Life. So why not depict this using an object we
are all familiar with? Their choice of the sun is
appropriate: When Jesus appeared before his disciples,
"his face shone like the sun, and his garments became
white as light."4. The sun is used to remind us of the glory
of Christ.
And of course there is the homophone 'the sun' and 'the
Son' (Jesus), the Light of the world.
Sunday is the day Christians set work aside so they can
worship and we must thank old Egyptian astrology for
naming this day for us. They identified seven planets and
named the greatest of these 'sun'.
Each day was named after a planet and the first day of
the week, according to the Jews, was labelled after the
greatest planet, the sun. Hence we have Sunday.
Saturday became the seventh day for the Jews, and that
was their day of rest (Sabbath).
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10. Monday: Day of the Moon
Latin: dies lunae - Luna or Selene goddess of the moon
Saxon: mona - god of the light ball in the night sky, and tide
maker.
Crescent Cross
This combination is used predominantly by the
Catholic Church: Catholic Crescent and Cross
Here's another symbol used by the Catholic
Church: Marian Cross
This cross has no particular Christian
association, except in heraldry. It is also often
used in Pagan art: Lunate Cross
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11. Tuesday: Day of Mars
Latin: dies martis - Mars or Aires, god of war
Saxon: Tiwesdaeg - etymologically related to Zeus. Tiw lived
on a high mountain and guided warriors who worshipped him.
If a warrior died in battle Tiw would come down to earth with
his angels and take the dead warrior to heaven.
Wednesday: Woden's day
Latin: dies mercurii - Mercury or Hermes, Messenger of the
gods
Saxon: Wodnesdaeg - Woden's day (King of the gods).
Woden was the god who controlled all the other gods. His
number-one mission was to gain all knowledge and wisdom.
He visited all four corners of the world to gather information.
Nothing could be hidden from him. In fact(!) he even wore out
one of his eyes from seeing so much wisdom.
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12. Woden's Cross / Odin's Cross
Woden's Cross
To cover the rather messy dead eye, he wore a large floppy
hat and compensated for his sightlessness with blackbird on
each shoulder. These birds were his extra eyes and could fly
off to spy on people, and then report back to Woden. In this
way, Woden knew everything that was going on and people
had to be very careful how they behaved in case Woden was
watching. After all, as king of all gods, he could wreak havoc
on dissenters in any way he chose.
Thursday: Thor's day
Thor's Hammer
Latin: dies jovis - Jove or Zeus, god of thunder
Saxon: Thuresdaeg - Thor's day (god of thunder). Thunder
was the sign that Thor was angrily throwing his large hammer
across the sky.
It's a good idea not to annoy this god. When he comes
storming after sinners, the sparks of his chariot wheels create
the lightening we see.
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13. Thor's Cross
Thor's Cross
Thor's Cross is a misnomer: The symbol is not supposed
to represent a cruciform, rather it is a hammer and
seldom seen in a Christian context.
Christian symbol
In Christian iconography, a hammer represents that used
to drive nails through the hands and feet of Jesus prior to
His crucifixion. (See Hammer Cross.)
Masonic symbol
In a Masonic context the heads also represent a hammer
or an axe, and may be referred to as an Axe Head Cross
or Brick-axe Cross, representing bricklayers and other
construction trades. (See Axe Cross.)
Heraldic symbol
Capital Cross
In heraldry it might be referred to as a Corniced,
Cornished or Capiteau Cross composed of four columns
with capitals.
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14. Friday: Fria's day
Latin: dies veneris - Venus or Aphrodite, goddess of love
Saxon: Frigedaeg - Freya's day (goddess of love). Frigg was
a kind and beautiful Norse goddess and wife of Odin, the most
powerful god. Their job was to oversee everything that
happened in the world and Frigg's specialty was love and
marriage. (Interestingly, 'frig' is a modern coarse euphemism
for 'sex'.)
Saturday: Saturn's day
Latin: dies saturni - Saturn, god of agriculture
Saxon: Seterne's day (god of agriculture). People believed
that the god named Saturn controlled the weather and hence
the success or failure of crops. Sacrificing a farm animal to
Saturni would increase the chances of pleasing the god,
resulting in favourable weather and a good crop.
Although our days are named after gods, the names were not
regularly capitalized until the 17th century. (Relating this
boring fact will do you no favours during dinner conversation,
unless your companions are drunk.)
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15. Origins of the month names
The word 'month' stems from 'moon', and 'calendar' stems
from calare (to call out), just as the ancient priests did when
they announced a new moon. The month names we use were
chosen to celebrate Roman deities and emperors. (Similar
names are used in other European languages, such as French,
German, Italian and Spanish.)
January: Roman god Janus was the god of
doorways, entrances, gateways, thresholds and beginnings,
and therefore used for the opening of the New Year.
February: This used to be the last month of the
Roman calendar. On 15th day of the month was a Pagan
festival of purification called Februa and so this month came
to be known as Februa's month. The day before that, and the
day after (ides), was a holiday to honour Juno. The goddess
Juno was the Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses, and
also the goddess of women and marriage. Was it coincidence
that the nasty Emperor Claudius II arranged for a priest
named Valentine to be clubbed to death and then beheaded
on this day?
March: The Roman god Mars, god of war and
guardian of the state. This was the first month of the ancient
Roman calendar.
April: Considered a sacred Roman month for the
goddess Venus. The name 'April' is probably from Apru, an
Etruscan borrowing of Greek Aphrodite, a fertility goddess.
Alternatively, it may stem from the Latin aperire (to open), as
so many buds and blossoms open in this month (in the
northern hemisphere).
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16. May: This is from Maia a Roman goddess of earth,
honour and reverence. She was wife of Vulcan, mother of
Mercury by Jupiter and daughter of Atlas. It became a popular
girl's name in English.
June: The chief goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and
queen of the heavens and gods.
July: Named after the death of Julius Caesar in 44
BC to deify and immortalize his name. Gaius Julius Caesar
was born in this month, which was formerly Quintilis (fifth)
month of the Roman calendar.
August: Named in 8 BC after Augustus Caesar, the
adopted heir of Julius Caesar and the first Roman emperor
(31 BC - 14 AD). A synonym for the adjective 'august' is
'venerable', and the emperor was known as the Venerable
Caesar. Quite a contrast to the month's original name,
'Weodmonao', which means 'month of weeds'.
Today's gardeners would agree with that.
The next four months are just based on a mundane
numbering system. The year used to begin in March, so
September through to December were months 7 to 10. A
numbering system is still used in many cultures today for the
whole year. Modern Japanese, for example, has 1-gatsu, 2-
gatsu, 3-gatsu ... 12-gatsu. Similarly in Chinese: 1-yuè, 2-
yuè, 3-yuè ... 12-yuè.
(Curiously, when Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar
system in 1582 and established the Gregorian calendar with
January as the first month of the year, he did not rename any
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17. of these months. December, for example, could have been
changed to Christ-month or Jesus-month.)
September: This name comes from the Latin
septem, meaning 'seven'.
October: This name comes from the Latin octo,
meaning 'eight'. (Octopus - an 8-sided cat?) This is the month
when people start thinking of Christmas and New Year
parties. Amaze your friends by telling them the day of the
week for Christmas Day and New Year's Day; these days are
always the same weekday as 2nd October.
November: This name comes from the Latin novem,
meaning 'nine'.
December: This name comes from the Latin decem,
meaning 'ten'.
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18. Origins of the season names
Winter: No mythical god ... just cold! The season of
wind and white snow, hence the name 'winter'.
Spring: The time when new plants spring up after a
harsh winter.
Summer: From Old Norse 'sumarsdag', the time for
lots of sunshine.
Autumn: The time for reaping and harvesting the
main crops of the year. The old English name for this season
of 'harvest' was replaced by the Latin autumnus in the 16th
century. Also known as 'fall' in America, as this is the time the
temperature falls and leaves fall from the trees. (And you've
probably noticed that already.)
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19. The Glorious Qur'an addressed these pagan ideas and dis-
cussed them extensively. After all, pagan beliefs and customs are
generally similar in form and substance.
(1) Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
(2) Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
(3) He neither begets nor is born,
(4) Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
The Noble Qur'an
Surah 112- Al-Ikhlas ( Sincerity )
Sadly, it is the same pagan legacy that has led to Zionism
and the Universal Crusade.
This is just one of the many amazing facts that the Qur'an
enlightens us with. It always puts the whole truth at our
disposal in the clearest and most complete fashion, without
the least ambiguity or complicated arguments.
This is how we find the Glorious Qur'an—inimitable and calm
in whatever it says and mandates. It says nothing but what is
right. It speaks nothing but the truth.
www.islamic-invitation.com
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