-Caveat Lector- Thanks for the clarification. I know some pagans, and I know a bit about it, but I don't know enough about the ritual dates and so forth and the history behind the dates, which is one reason I sent this here - to get feedback on what this site is saying, and its implications with what is happening in the US. I had serious doubts that there was a connection, but you've definitely helped to describe exactly why that particular connection is invalid. Thanks again.
- jt ----- Original Message ----- From: "RevCOAL" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -Caveat Lector- >The festival is primarily a Celtic fire festival, representing the middle of >summer, and the shortening of the days on their gradual march to winter. >Midsummer is traditionally celebrated on either the 23rd or 24th of June, Wrong. The festival that is being described actually occurs on the night of July 31/August 1, which indeed is MID summer, as it occurs 6 weeks after summer commences... Fires are lit on hilltops, using the 'tares' of the first harvests as fuel; it is a thanksgiving festival, giving thanks to the Mother Goddess for the commencement of a fruitful harvest. The festival held in June is the celebration of the summer solstice, and the original pagans never referred to it as anything but that, and wouldn't have set any fires in celebrating it. The incorrect appelation of "Midsummer" for the June festival is a recent development of the last century or so, and indeed is an INCORRECT title for it, as it can in no way be considered to be MID summer when summer is just commencing....what has happened is that two distinct pagan holidays have been combined into one. It's as if Easter were celebrated by decorating hard-boiled eggs in red-white-and-blue, and having cartoon bunnies dress as Uncle Sam, and the day started to be called Memorial Day instead, the original Memorial Day all but forgotten....even that isn't a correct analogy, because at least a vestige of secular Easter remains via decorating eggs and funny bunnies. What we have with the current habit of referring to the Summer Solstice festival as "Midsummer" is that the original solstice celebrations have almost all disappeared, replaced by the July 31/August 1 customs. >For witches the summer solstice forms one of the lesser >sabbats, their main festivals being Beltane (1st May) and Samhain. Wrong again. There are 8 'festivals' that are considered main festivals by wicca and pagans, the 2 solstices, the 2 equinoxes, and Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1, and Nov. 1 (and the eves preceding these days); the minor festivals are the nights of the full and the new moons. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
