Merry Christmas(?)

Hello Friday. Merry Christmas! Or, if we still used the Julian calendar of ancient Rome, Happy Solstice . "a document written by a Christian scribe later in that century explains that the authorities chose December 25 for the feast of the Nativity because people were already accustomed to celebrating on that date. Moreover, some Christian leaders found celebrating Jesus' birth at the time of the winter solstice especially appropriate as they considered him "the sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2) and the "light of the world"(John 8:12). With the new festival date in place, Christian leaders exhorted the populace to dedicate their midwinter devotions to the birth of Jesus rather than to the birth of the sun."  It's great to know the whys of common practices, like the names of the months and days of the week to determine the "day of rest". Our ancient ancestors were learning the "motions of the planets around the earth" and moving from an 8-day to a 7-day week around the time of "year zero" supposed Jesus birth year. Where the Julian calendar was lunar based on the 8-day week, calculations were known even at that time to be off. There was also the Hebrew calendar (lunar-based but not resetting years, begins with biblical creation of earth) to consider. "There is the Chinese calendar, dated from the founding of the Chin dynasty. There is the Muslim calendar, dated from the time Muhammad left the city of Mecca." 

I found an interesting essay with some of that history, and the similarities of pagan Mithraism to fledgling Christianity of the early 1st century (as we now call it). At that time you have local tribes' gods (like Mithra or Bal/Bel), the Roman gods (the planets and elements, along with the deified rulers), and the new sect of the Hebrew YHWH god called Christianity -- all vying for dominance in the same area. Constantine's "Sunday law" was an attempt to unify his people (to solidify his power). He supposedly said "It would indeed be absurd if the Jews were able to boast that we are not in a position to celebrate the Passover without the aid of their rules". Everyone in society should use the same calendar. It makes political sense. However, Constantine's edict "opened the door for religious persecution of Christians, by Christians" not to mention prohibiting even calculating the Jewish holiday dates. 

I've before mentioned the calendar oddity where Sunday is the "first day" of the week, but actually the 2d day of the weekend on our calendar. Whether Christian Protestants admit it or not, they are following the Christian Catholic church edict concerning the day of worship, the 7th day of the week. The Catholics of ~300CE adopted the day of the Sun, known ever as 'Sunday', as worship day. Maybe it should be Moon Day in honor of the lunar calendar at the time of Christ. I could certainly get behind a 3-day weekend! Or maybe Friday, as I think the Islamists use. Maybe even throw Friday into the weekend, too... a 4-day weekend and a 3-day work week, hmmm.