Veneration of the Virgin and Child
This may come as a stretch to some, but the nativity’s primary imagery, the “Madonna and Child” is actually worship of the “heavenly mother”, the goddess Cybele (also Semiramis and Tammuz). Don’t you find it odd that the United States Government wants God’s name out of the Pledge of Allegiance and other forms of law; but they happily celebrate Christmas, take Sunday’s off, and make a postage stamp for the “Madonna and Child”?
The cult of the Virgin Mary arose in the fourth century as a result of the forceful Christian triumph under Constantine, and blossomed about 100 years later in the fifth century. The Collyridians were, according to Epiphanius in his Panarion, a Christian heretical sect which began in Thrace and, by the time he wrote in 375 AD, had spread to the whole of the area north of the Black Sea and also to Arabia. It was mainly a female sect whose priestesses led the worship of Mary as Queen of Heaven. Their ritual was to cover a throne with a linen cloth, place bread upon it and consecrate it to Mary, and then consume the bread as a communion.
Epiphanius castigated them for their presumption because God had not given Mary any rights of blessing or baptism. His protests show the Collyridian women must have been claiming these rights. The goddess began powerfully reasserting herself in the fifth century. A feminine presence was added to Christianity by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD when the Virgin Mary was named Theotokos the Mother of God. The Emperor Zeno rededicated the temple of Rhea at Byzantium, not to the son or a saint, but to the Virgin Mary. Gradually she was to be heaped with all the titles of the goddess of old, including that of Queen of Heaven. When the church began to suppress the cults of the goddesses, Roman goddess worshippers turned to the cult of the Virgin to replace Isis and Cybele. Why? Because Cybele's son was hung on a pine tree, and the husband and brother of Isis, Osiris, was found in a tree. These images, together with the huge sense of loss of civilization and growth of pessimism with the fall of Rome and the barbarity of Christianity, promoted the crucifixion images and so, the cult of the Virgin continued under the guise of Christianity. From this time, pictures of Christ on the cross began to appear, specifically in a pine cross or mounted on a pine cone. Earlier, Jesus had been shown as the Good Shepherd; an androgynous youth carrying a lamb in his arms or across his shoulders. The Western Empire fell to the Goths in 476 AD and the northern tribes were fond of the cross as a magic symbol. From then on, the Jesus typical of Catholic crucifixes became increasingly common. Paradoxically Bishop Cyril, murderer of Hypatia, was a passionate advocate of the reverencing of the Virgin Mary and 15 years after the butchery of Hypatia was instrumental in defeating Nestorius and asserting Mary worship within the church. Theoretically the outcome was a compromise but in practice the Nestorians were outlawed and became a deviant sect of Christianity which gradually lost ground. Nestorians believed that Jesus was a man who served as a container for the god, Christ. Jesus died and corrupted but the god ascended to heaven where he had dwelt for all eternity. In Greek, Christ simply means “anointed” and was a common name for all gods including Zeus, Mithra, etc. So claims of the god, the Christ, being separate from the man, where not that uncommon. Cyril was canonized for his efforts and the Ephesians rejoiced, able once more to worship a goddess now called Mary instead of Diana. The Church of Mary was opened in Ephesus for the flourishing cult of Theotokos. Ephesus had been the home of the cult of Cybele the Great Mother in the guise of Diana or Artemis (Ashtoreth in Hebrew found throughout the Old Testament). But the role of the new Mother Goddess was heavily restricted and included none of the fertility components (sexual initiations) present in Pagan religions. Once the veneration of the Virgin was accepted, the old temples and shrines devoted to goddesses were given over to churches dedicated to Mary. The church of Santa Maria Maggiore replaced the temple of Cybele on the Esquiline hill. Another church to Santa Maria replaced the temple of Tanit, a Phoenician goddess, on the Capitoline hill. Temples to Isis near the Pantheon and to Minerva (Athena) also became churches to Mary. Elsewhere the temple of Athena at Athens had the same fate and another at Syracuse. Lesser shrines everywhere were converted and re-dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, Mary Theotokos, Mater Dei, Mother of God. And in the process Mary took the attributes of the goddesses she replaced. Like Juno she was the patron saint of pregnant women and their unborn children, like Isis, the Stella Maris, she protected sailors. An edict of 754 AD from Constantinople condemns any orthodox Christian who does not: “Confess the holy Ever-Virgin Mary, truly and properly the Mother of God, to be higher than every creature whether visible or invisible and does not with sincere faith seek her intercessions, as one having confidence in her access to our God.”
On December 8, 2003 Pope John Paul II publicly prayed:
"Queen of peace, pray for us!
“Our gaze is directed toward you in great fear, to you do we turn with ever-more insistent faith in these times marked by many uncertainties and fears for the present and future of our planet. Together we lift our confident and sorrowful petition to you, the first fruit of humanity redeemed by Christ, finally freed from the slavery of evil and sin: hear the cry of the pain of victims of war and so many forms of violence that bloody the earth. Clear away the darkness of sorrow and worry, of hate and vengeance. Open up our minds and hearts to faith and forgiveness!" -Pope John Paul II
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." -Acts 4:10-12
The Pagan sea goddess was called Marian (i.e., Stella Maris) and wore the blue cloak and pearl necklace which gave the normal artistic inspiration to painters of the mother and child and other such graven images. The sea goddess by then was Aphrodite who rose from the surf in a scallop shell. Aphrodite was the Babylonian Ishtar (Easter) and she was also the Phoenician mermaid goddess, depicted as a sea goddess. The moon goddess Eurynome was depicted at Phigalia in Arcadia as a mermaid (So yes, the Little Mermaid is a devil too!). Aphrodite is Venus and therefore the morning and evening stars, and as the sea goddess she is the Stella Maris or Star of the Sea. A pun on this is Stella Maris which is Myrrh of the Sea; myrrh is sacred to the goddess and to Mary.
The crusaders found some heretical Mary worshipping Christian sects in the Middle East that where tolerated by the Muslims, perhaps because they were respected for having influenced Mohammed? The Ebionites might have been among them. Some of them had a cult of Mary and it was brought back to Europe via Santiago de Compostela in Spain and ultimately to Britain as the cult of St Mary of Egypt, or Mary Gypsy. She was dark skinned and dressed in the blue robe of Marian, the sea goddess. She appears often in the ballads of Robin Hood because she was adopted by Richard Lion Heart.
It’s also interesting to note that Starbucks Coffee uses the image of the sea goddess in their logo. So, whose coffee are you really drinking?
The 'Madonna and Child' theme is thought of as exclusively Catholic Christian, but it was in fact adapted from earlier pagan religions, notably the much older Egyptian cult of Isis and Horus. Pictured at far left, an Ancient Egyptian statue from the 19th Dynasty (1295-1186 BC), predating Christianity by well over 1000 years, showing the 'Madonna and Child' theme with Isis and Horus. Center, this Classical Greek mosaic, predating the advent of Christianity, shows the Greek mythological character, Dionysus, as a holy child. This theme was taken up into Roman Catholicism, as per the 'Madonna and Child' portrait, at right.
"Among all the women who have ever lived, the mother of Jesus Christ is the most celebrated, the most venerated...Among Roman Catholics, the Madonna is recognized not only as the Mother of God, but also, according to modern Popes, as the Queen of the Universe, Queen of Heaven, Seat of Wisdom, and even the Spouse of the Holy Spirit." -Time Magazine, "Handmaid or Feminist?", December 30, 1991, p. 62-66
Jeremiah 7:18 "... the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger!"
Jeremiah 16:19 “…. Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage, for they worshipped worthless idols…”
What say the Pope?
Pius IX, Ubi Primum, 1849: "For God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that THROUGH HER are obtained every hope, every grace, and ALL SALVATION. For this is his will, that we obtain everything through Mary."
Paul VI, Christi Matri. "The Church ... been accustomed to have recourse to that most ready intercessor, her Mother Mary ... For as St. Irenaeus says, she 'has become the cause of salvation for the whole human race"
John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 1980, quoting Lumen Gentium, "In fact, by being assumed into heaven she has not laid aside the office of salvation but by the manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation."
John Paul II again said, "Membership in the Militia means complete dedication to the Kingdom of God and to the salvation of souls through Mary Immaculate."
"By awarding the Virgin a central place in the cathedral's narrative, the archdiocese is keeping faith with a long, if fluctuating, Catholic and Orthodox tradition of devotion to Our Lady, a tradition enjoying resurgence under Pope John Paul II. (The pope's personal motto, "Totus tuus sum, Maria," or "I am all yours, Mary," reflects his belief that the Virgin intervened to save his life from an assassin's bullet in 1981 so that he could help defeat European communism.)" -LATIMES.com Sept 1, 2002 by REED JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
What does the Nativity Represent?
Beyond the Veneration of the Madonna and Child, the nativity represents the Babylonian trio of Nimrod, Great Grandson to Noah, his mother/wife Semiramis, and their illegitimate child Tammuz. In Genesis 10 and 11 we read of how Nimrod was the world’s greatest hunter and the leader of what seemed at the time to be the entire human race. He orchestrated the planting of cities such as Babel, Asshur, Nineveh and Calah (Genesis 10:10-12). Now if you know any history you’ll know these where some horrid places known for their idolatry and pagan practices.
In Babel we know Nimrod has a Tower constructed which reached high into the heavens. This ziggurat or pyramid like structure can still be found all over the world in cities such as Rome, London, Paris, New York, and Washington D.C. in what we now call an obelisk. The obelisk represents the uncircumcised phallus of Nimrod. This may seem odd to Westerners, but the phallus is a symbol of power to those in the East. Take for instance this quote from Isser Harel, founder of Mossad, Israel’s Intelligence Agency. When asked where terrorism would strike first in America he responded “New York is a symbol of your freedom and capitalism. It’s likely they will strike there first at your tallest building, because it’s your greatest fertility symbol, and a symbol of your power.”XX
This came true on September 11, 2001 when the tallest buildings in America fell.
XX. The Final Move beyond Iraq by Mike Evans, Interview with Isser Harel, Page 2
When Nimrod eventually died, the Babylonian mystery religion in which he figured prominently continued on. His wife Queen Semiramis saw to that. Once he was dead, she deified him as the Sun-god. In various cultures he later became known as Baal, the Great Life Giver, Baalim, Bel, Chemosh, Molech, etc.
When the beloved Queen gave birth to her illegitimate son because of adulterous affair, she claimed that her son, named Tammuz, was actually Nimrod reborn. She claimed that the son was supernaturally conceived, which lead to them both being worshipped. Nimrod became the sun god and father of creation, Semiramis became the moon goddess and mother of fertility, while Tammuz took the role as the savior of man-kind.
When Tammuz was killed by a wild boar in a hunting accident, Semiramis proclaimed that he passed to the underworld, but through the weeping of his mother he would spring forth as the vegetation each spring season. Thus, Semiramis wept 40 days each spring at the completion of which the spring harvest came forth- a supposed resurrection from the underworld.X
X. The resurrection of Tammuz [Nimrod] through Ishtar's grief [Semiramis] was dramatically represented annually in order to insure the success of the crops and the fertility of the people… Each year men and women had to grieve with Ishtar over the death of Tammuz and celebrate the god's return, in order to win anew her favor and her benefits! [Homer W. Smith, Man and His Gods, p. 86, as cited by Woodrow, p. 157.]
In Ezekiel we read:
“The angel brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord and I beheld women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said to me, you shall see greater abominations. And he brought me into the inner court where about twenty five men had their back to the Temple, they faced east and worshipped the sun.”
- Ezekiel 8:14-16So, all religious systems and practices in the world have their foundation in the Babylonian Mystery Cults, except for Judaism which is the branch from which true Christianity sprouted. God called a man named Abraham and it was his descendents that would carry the key to knowing the one true God. So, what is a Modern Christian to do? Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
We should forsake all the traditions and practices we have that were not taught by Christ or the apostles in scripture. As it says in Jeremiah 16:19- we have inherited nothing but lies and pagan gods from our forefathers, and Jesus has redeemed us from that empty life we have inherited from our families (1 Peter 1:18).
Mark 7:7-9 “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
This verse spells it out for us. We’re still trying to keep mans traditions over what God said.
Galatians 4:9-11 “9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.”
The Galatians where Gentiles brought to Christ through the teaching of the apostle Paul; they fell back into their old pagan worship patterns after hearing the Gospel of Truth preached. We have done the same thing! We are free of the old pagan ways and requirements. It’s the legalistic pagans that demand we celebrate their days, times, and years instead of God’s.
If you wish to become a disciple of Jesus Christ or think you’re a disciple but are practicing these pagan rites; repent for taking part in these practices. Turn from this season of sin and falsehood and follow the word of God only.James 1:22 “Be ye doers of the word and not just hearers only; deceiving your ownselves.”
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