AnnieCarvalho

You're right. I took it personally because you were talking about me. I have no idea what you just said, by the way. Nor do I see any reason to try to continue on this forum. It's been interesting. God bless you all.

I don't consider my saying "Goodnight" rude.The conversation appeared to be over. I didn't see that he had asked a question. Did you see one that I didn't answer?

l thought this was an interesting article on Mitra, the Vedic god, and his association with Mithra and Christ: http://www.truthbeknown.com/mithra.htm If you look past the "wikipedia" references. . .

This is an interesting article and video explaining the difference between All Saints Day and All Souls Day in the Catholic Church. http://www.catholic.org/saints/allsaints/

I like what Estradling said. I am not so concerned with how something USED to be celebrated, but more concerned with what is in my own heart as I celebrate and my own reasons for celebrating.

Since paganism and other religions preceded Christianity, I don't feel it is strange that many of our Christian or secular holidays have pagan roots. I look at some of them more as 'cultural' holidays, personally. It's pretty common knowledge that often, pagan holidays were given a veneer of whatever religions happened to be the religion of the conquerors, in our case, Christians. I know there are many examples of General Authorities speak about holidays such as Christmas, Halloween and characters with pagan roots such as Santa Claus (Krampus!), with fondness. I haven't personally heard of any speaking out against those. What I've learned from my own study is this: Christmas = Yule. The birth of the SUN child after the long dark winter without seeing it Groundhog Day = Bride/Imbolc. The first stirrings of Spring. The beginning of the lambing season. The day the Goddess brings the SUN to the earth's surface and the warming begins. Valentine's Day - Lupercalia Easter = Ostara/Earrach. The first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Ostara's symbols are the hare and eggs. Fertility. Rebith. May Day = Beltaine. In some pagan myths, this is the day the young god and goddess meet, and sparks fly. This is a fertility festival Hoops symbolizing eternal life, flowers, purification by jumping fires or driving livestock through those. The maypole represents the erect penis (can I say penis here?). Thanksgiving = Lammas/Lughnasadh/Foghar combination. Harvest celebrations around the same time of year Halloween = Samhain OR Dia de los Muertes. Several cultures have a holiday around this time of year honoring ancestors. Time of death, animals were slaughtered in the cold weather, the fields were fallow, old and sick people died, it was a scary time. The days were short and dark. This is the time the goddess (pregnant with the new SUN) left the face of the earth, leaving cold and darkness behind her. This is a short list. There are others. For the most part, these are seasonal celebrations, marking astronomical dates such as the Solstices and Equinoxes. To me, they are ingrained in our ancestral memory and many people WANT to celebrate them. As the Church conquered the land, and the people refused to stop celebrating, it was easier to lay a veneer of Christianity on top, than to try to wipe them out. That's my belief anyway, until someone convinces me otherwise. I think it's what is in your heart that matters.

Goodnight Prophet

I see. Well, I"m sorry if my post made you feel attacked and poorly treated. I know how that feels and I sure don't want to do it to other people. I'll try to do better :)

Yeah, I've noticed that. That can be a bummer too. I think it's contagious.

Well, I sorta like venting. It allows me to let off steam so my head doesn't explode. Seriously. I think the key is in what you said, estradling, "Finding a nondestructive outlet." I think we need to take care where we vent and how we vent and who we vent TO. It's probably better to do martial arts, or yoga, or running than to bring down someone else by venting too much, which could be harmful to their spirit. Especially if it puts them in the middle of whatever issue you're venting about. Even a husband or wife can get weary of hearing how bad things are at the office...

I know, huh. She might should read that handbook we're talking about.

I wasn't being vituperative (I had to look that word up!) I was just being silly!

I'm not sure what my thread on bullying had to do with it. As I said, I was just expressing my disagreement. I'm still a little confused about that distinction, but I'm going to try to be more careful and I'll continue trying to take my cues from the rest of the core group here. I do see it triggered your buttons.

Are you venting? I love venting. I need a 'vent" button that lets me type whatever I want but doesn't post it until it asks if I REALLY want to say that. Didn't someone already talk about that idea on this forum? Or did I read it somewhere else...

I am sorry you feel like I'm bullying you, moderator. I'm so sorry if you feel I misunderstood you. And I'm so sorry if you feel I attacked you. I was just expressing my disagreement. From what a lot of people on this forum have TOLD me, expressing our disagreement is ok. I'm so surprised that when I express MY disagreement, it's considered degrading the quality of this forum. I guess I just don't understand the difference. Actually, I'm feeling VERY bullied by your response right now. If people in this forum are feeling I have degraded the experience of it for them, I would like them to PM me private, and I will be happy to apologize to each and every one.