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Celtic Samhain or Catholick Helloween?

27/10/2019

1 Comment

 
Two very different events for two very different traditions.

Celtic Samhain


Celtic Samhain simply means the ‘end of summer for the Celts in Ireland’. It was not and could not be celebrated on a catholick calendar because Samhain existed thousands of years before the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great created the catholick (universal) church to instill spiritual fear into his subjects in 325ad.

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Samhain is the third of three cattle harvest festivals when breeding stock were selected for next the year and gifts of prime quality bulls were given to kings from their sub-kings and the final slaughter of cattle happened. Everyone was involved because everyone had input into ‘growing the herd’ and so they were all entitled to a share of the harvest too. Hides were harvested for tanning into leather, horns and hooves were separated for glue, meat was selected for smoking, salting and for feasting and specialty meats such as hearts, livers and kidneys were were most likely given to the free hospitals for the old and sick.

What was left over during the processing of this harvest, i.e. that which had no use, was burned. This is where the term BONE FIRE comes from. This fire of bones may have been called “Tine Cnámh” in Celtic Ireland. Ashes from these bone fires were put back on the land to guarantee the fruitfulness of the land. Think it through - open air slaughter of 1000’s of beasts, huge gatherings of people involved in many aspects of processing the bounty of the land, billions of flies, thousands of crows, vultures, eagles, wolves etc etc - of course they had big bone fires! They would have been foolish not to have multiple fires for waste control... These bone fires would probably have been ritually started and supervised by the Druí and tended by their daltaí (students) but everyone would find safety from the flies etc simply by being near these fires. It is my guess that the first fire for the third harvest at Samhain was the most symbolic or ritualistic and may have even been made with wood specially brought from each area that was to supply beasts for slaughter. Bear in mind that cows were used to pull carts back in the day and they could not arrive empty because they expected to go home full...

The timing for this first of the Samhain fires was on the Dark Moon of Samhain. This happens during an alignment of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun with the star Antares. Antares is one of the four royal stars in the zodiac and we call this star Tlachtga after the Earth Goddess in Meath whose sacred temple is on the Hill of Ward near Athboy. This temple was desecrated by the ‘wiccan burning cult’ on catholick helloween 2018. (see https://www.celticdruidtemple.com/ home page for details). When the Earth, Dark Moon, Sun and Star alignment happens it is on the south western horizon and the star appears as a bright light for only a few seconds after the Sun and Moon have set together. You check this out on the website Stellarium or keep watching until we get a year without clouds on the horizon... https://stellarium-web.org/

The week long bone fires had strong odor and were kept going day and night to reduce waste and defend the clans from flies etc, different and separate fires were made for cooking, there were beacon fires too because the cattle herders would not be allowed to arrive all at once. A lot of fires with different purposes all of which were probably lit from the first fire and tended or overseen by the Druí and their attendants. So we know what the sacred fires of Samhain were and are about, we know they were celebrated regionally and we know the exact timing for these ceremonial fire is too. The Celtic New Year is honoured at dusk on the Dark Moon of Samhain.

Catholick Helloween

Catholick Helloween has a confused dating history from various Popes, Abbots, Martin Luther (Reformation Day) and commercialization in America! The date for celebrating catholick helloween was originally set when Pope Boniface IV reconsecrated the Pantheon in Rome on May 13th, 609ad, renaming it the “Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs,”. Pope Boniface IV established May 13th as a day of remembrance for all the Church’s martyrs. Pope Gregory III (died 28th November 741) later changed the date of remembrance to November 1 when he dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to “all saints.” This became All Saints Day, also called ‘All Hallow’s Day’. The night before became All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween. While Halloween began as a localized celebration, Pope Gregory IV extended its observance to all of Christendom in the 9th Century AD. In Ireland, All Saints Day in 998ad was set as Nov 1 by the Abbot ‘Odilo of Cluny’. By the 13th century, even though the Celtic Samhain rituals persisted because of the 3rd harvest tradition, November 1st had also become an established catholick festival.

In 1517ad on October 31 we get ‘Reformation Day’ because Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenberg, Germany. This started the Protestant Reformation. Bear in mind that calendar they all used was chaotic and was only secured as the current (fake time) version long after all the dating events given above. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the prevailing current commercial calendar in October 1582. This is the ‘calendar’ that has one extra day every four years... Gregory XIII’s biggest mistake was that he did not start his calendar with year zero as that concept did not exist - he started it at year 1 so every one using the current commercial calendar (fake time) is off by one year... plus one day every four years... plus no one can prove exactly when Jesus was born... lol.

On catholick helloween in American every year people spend billions of dollars on costumes, decorations, sweets, and other items. For example - in 2017, Halloween spending reached $9.1 billion compared to the $8.4 billion spent in 2016. This makes it second when compared to xmas revenue... It emerged as a tradition in America following mass emigration of Irish people in response to An Gorta Mor (the great hunger) of the 1850’s in Ireland but it has these days lost all connection to the pope’s efforts to displace Samhain as the current celebrations are ‘trick or treat’ witches, pumpkins and skeletons...

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Chaos is celebrated at helloween in Ireland these days because tyres are burned, fireworks are used as attack weapons and in many places in the cities it is unsafe to wander... The ‘wiccan burning cult’ attacked and displaced the 17 year tradition of a native pilgrimage on helloween last year in 2018, most of the wiccans wore masks - “fools dressed as she-devils and he-devils” to quote one observer. They also burned a 14 foot high Eight Spoke Sun Wheel on the ground inside a national monument using paraffin – see pic above.

So we know what the fires of helloween were and are about, we know too that they were always celebrated by the catholick church and we know what the exact timing for their ceremonial fires are. We also know that the ability of the church to regulate their event has long gone into chaos. We know that the ‘wiccan burning cult’ seeks to stand in where the priests of the church used to be.
A choice

The Celtic New Year is honoured at dusk on the Dark Moon of Samhain while Helloween is a profitable event on the commercial calendar shrouded in fear disconnected from the ways of our ancestors. Which do you honour?




1 Comment

Exposing the Michaelmas fake history.

1/10/2019

0 Comments

 
In the many well known paintings of the young knight stabbing a downward spear or sword thrust in to a Dragon there are anomalies to be considered. Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and almost all academics will tell you that 'no Dragons existed in the medieval era'. Ok, so no Dragons existed for the painter to paint – yet there are many paintings of dragons, often attacking a young scantily clad maiden. Why?
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Bear in mind the absolute power the church had in the medieval era and that they commissioned many incredible works of art, senior wealthy lay persons would follow this trend and as usual most craftspersons will follow the money. The client would specify the contents of each image including details and the painter then hand made paint, painted and framed a canvas and held an opening day event for the client. Often, big money was involved and follow up commissions.

Below = Marduk - the vatican seal

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The vatican is a treasure trove of dragon images on public display. Marduk is their male dragon from the Sumerian era who killed his mother and took control over all other dragons – some say this was the start of monotheism. The papal crest has a dragon, the chair, the wall, the floor and many sarcophagi .... all have dragons. So it is clear that the church believed and still believes in Dragons. Keep in mind that their dragon Marduk is the supreme commander of dragons and to perpetuate their absolute control they must erase all other dragons to prove their might. Even and idea of dragons that was not in line with church teaching had to be destroyed.

Below = Marduk on the floor of the vatican museum

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But there are two main Dragons for the northern hemisphere and both live in the stars – Draco and Hydra. The church could not and cannot hide the stars from us – they can hide the stories but not the actual stars. Draco is the northern fire breathing dragon that gets closer to us in winter as the earth tilts away from the Sun. 
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Hydra is the southern flying water dragon that appears above the horizon during Summer.
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Draco has a star called Thuban and it was the pole star approx 7000 yeas ago – these days this pole star duty has shifted to Polaris in Ursa Minor / the smaller bear. In thousands of years Thuban will once more be the north pole star. In Summer it is high in the sky over Ireland almost directly overhead. In Winter as the earth tilts away from the Sun Draco grows in size because earth tilts towards Draco. This meant that the Fire Dragon was visiting... He is a fire dragon because of the Meteor showers that come from his region in Winter. Draco has two fire effects...
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In early October, just after Sunset we get the Draconids – a meteor shower of shooting stars issuing from the head of Draco = this makes Draco a fire breathing dragon. To best see this get to a place of low light pollution on a night without clouds or a bright Moon. This year 2019 – Draco breathes fire between October 6 and 10... before midnight, peaking on the 8th.  The waxing gibbous moon will hide some of the fire show but Draco produced thousands of meteors per hour in 1933 and 1946, and in Europe we saw over 600 meteors per hour in 2011. The Scandinavians and the ancient cultures from northern Europe all honour the Fire dragon of the north.

In the morning of December 22 or 23 2019 the Ursid meteor shower of shooting stars issues from the crotch of Draco – this makes Draco a male parent. The 2019 Ursid meteor shower is not spectacular when compared to the Draconids. In 1945 and 1986 approx 50 shooting stars per hour were seen but usually there are approx 10/hr. The waning crescent moon may hide some but stay aware that the blessings are given... 

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On the 3–4 Jan 2020, the Quadrantids meteor shower will peak during pre-dawn hours – with up to 100 per hour but only for 1 to 2 hours. These shooting stars come off the back of Draco. As you get used to watching Draco you'll notice that he rotates through the night (it is the earth that rotates but it looks like Draco moves in circles). In time you may connect up many of the legends of the Fire Dragon (not hollywood) and gain personal access to the ways of the ancestors.
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Hydra, which means water dragon, spends winter out of our sight as the earth has tilted north and Hydra only ever rises fully above the horizon in summer. Hydra has a minor meteor shower in mid-December - only producing low activity rates over its two-week activity period. Peak rates occur around December 11th.
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Only the head of Hydra is visible in winter and it is from the head that the fire spews... after midnight, when the radiant is climbing higher in the sky.
The Full Moon is on December 12th in 2019 and although this will hide the fires from Hydra – know that they are there...

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We attended a DruidCon in Scotland many years ago – very bizarre really – there were two tall men selling wands with crystals glued to painted sticks... it was all a bit harry potterish... I presented a talk and slide show on the Eightfold year of the Tuatha Dé Danann and afterwards I was asked to be a part of the closing ceremony. I did not know the man who had asked me so I declined. Turns out he was a monotheistic priest member of obod serving as interfaith minister. In his ceremony he called on Saints Michael, George, Andrew and Patrick to protect the 'druid gathering'! These 4 characters were Dragon Slayers! Nobody knew enough real history to call a halt to his religious fraud and they all partook and clapped afterwards. No true druid would call on 4 notorious dragon slayers to protect a druid circle...

Across the room sat Emma Restall Orr who just like us also had her feet crossed and her arms crossed...

The 4 dragon slayers from the medieval era that were called to protect the 'druid gathering' all do downward thrusts by spear or sword into a dragon with feet and small wings – this is Hydra. The ordinary people of greater Europe would know that with this star groups appearance it was getting close to spring and that at the autumn equinox Hydra goes back into the sea from whence he came.



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Here at the Celtic Druid Temple we call this star group Crom. It is the longest of all the star groups but is composed mostly of faint stars. Crom brings Arrach, our spring equinox and when he dives in the great ocean is is Fomhar, the autumn equinox. Crom is the ancient Irish male God of Fertility and his appearance in the sky brings abundance to the forest dwellers.

As the long standing churches displacement strategy for pagan celebrations locations and dates demanded – they installed Michaelmas (dragon slayer) on the 28th of September. This is one full week after the equatorial equinox or 3 to 4 days after the autumnal equal day and night in Ireland. Go back to spring and see St Patrick chasing Crom into the sea or Patrick chasing Crom down the middle of Ireland creating the Shannon floods...

So these days their Michaelmas has gone from fear of the almighty church to celebrations with kids playing kill the dragon... it has become fun... across the world hand made Dragons appear in parades... I'd like to think that in just one more generation we will see celebrations for the arrival and departure of Crom in our night skies.

Their fake history dissolves when you see the truth.

Crom Abú (Crom for ever)

Ard Druí Con 01/10/2019

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    Authors

    Niamh and Con are founding members of Celtic Druid Temple and walk the path of Celtic Druids in Roscommon, Eire.

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