An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the Celts. This follows this post about modern games.This follows this post about the Pope and immigration. For a free magazine subscription or to get the books recommended for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

 

 

The Label Celt and Celtic Society

 by United Church of God Estimated reading time: 1 minute

In spite of the Celts' characteristic secrecy, enough history was recorded for us to come to the conclusion that the Celts and Scythians came from a common Israelite heritage.

Scholars find a logical explanation for how the word Celt, in reference to the western branch of the steppe people, originated. Some conclude that the ethnic label Celt is another form of the Goidelic Irish word ceilt, which means “concealment” or “hidden.” The Scottish word kilt is of a similar derivation.
This fits the Celts’ strongly held religious prohibition against setting in writing their folk traditions, knowledge and understanding. The traditions were to be communicated only orally, and we can be sure the purpose of the prohibition was not to cover illiteracy. Many Celts spoke and wrote Greek and used it in private and public business. But they staunchly refused to divulge to outsiders any information about their most revered beliefs and traditions.
Even Julius Caesar, during his invasion of Gaul, could only marvel at this strong Celtic religious prohibition. Some scholars conclude the word keltoi, or Celt, is an appropriate label for people who kept much about their past and traditions hidden.
In spite of the Celts’ characteristic secrecy, enough history was recorded for us to come to the conclusion that the Celts and Scythians came from a common Israelite heritage. Their migrations had taken them in different directions.
In the end, however, these descendants would find themselves together again in Europe.

‹ Linguistic Links: What's in a Name? up Prophecies of Israel's Resettlement in Northwestern Europe ›

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May Day, like Halloween, is a Celebration of Evil & World News and Trends: Riots erupt across the globe

Two interesting articles from http://www.ucg.org/  about MAY DAY! This follows this post about Israel and the Syrian Civil War. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown  for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

May Day, like Halloween, is a Celebration of Evil


Halloween: A Celebration of Evil

http://www.ucg.org/booklet/holidays-or-holy-days-does-it-matter-which-days-we-observe/halloween-celebration-evil/



Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious.

Why are such bizarre practices so popular? Why would anyone celebrate a holiday emphasizing the morbid and macabre? Where did such strange customs originate?

As with Christmas and Easter, we can trace the roots of Halloween far back into the pagan past. The Encyclopedia of Religion says, "Halloween, or Allhallows Eve, is a festival celebrated on 31 October, the evening prior to the Christian Feast of All Saints (All Saints' Day). Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain [pronounced sow-en ], a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. The time of Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November)" (1987, p. 176, "Halloween").

Besides Halloween, the Celts observed many other holidays including the winter solstice (later transformed into Christmas), spring fertility rites (reborn later as Easter) and May Day as a harvest festival.

Concerning Halloween The Encyclopedia of Religion continues: "On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.

"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the fertility of the land ... Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (pp. 176-177).

On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits ... The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes" ( Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween").

Ancient practices continued today

As with Christmas and Easter, church leaders adopted this ancient celebration to serve their own purposes. "Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the christianization of Great Britain. The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities" ( The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 177, "Halloween").

Several ancient Halloween practices still exist in modern observances. Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination (fortune telling) to learn of future marriages. The first person to bite an apple was predicted to be the first to marry in the coming year ... The jack-o-lantern ... represent[ed] a watchman on Halloween night or a man caught between earth and the supernatural world" (Jack Santino, All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations in American Life, 1994, p. 26).

The Bible condemns the occult

Although some may dismiss the demonic symbolism and divination associated with Halloween as harmless fun, the Bible reveals the existence of evil spirits, led by Satan the devil, whom God holds responsible for great suffering and sorrow inflicted on the human race. Revelation 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

See All... speaks of "the great dragon ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan ... [who] deceives the whole world ..."

The name given him in the Bible, Satan, means adversary or enemy. The apostle John tells us that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

See All...). Satan and the other fallen angels (demons) constantly try to keep humanity spiritually blinded, turning them aside from their awesome destiny as part of the family of God.

As a loving Father, God commands us to avoid things that can harm us. Concerning the spirit world, notice what God says to His people: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

See All...).

In addition to this command to avoid practices that pertain to evil spirits, God warned ancient Israel to avoid any kind of occult practices: "There shall not be found among you anyone who ... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord " (Deuteronomy 18:10-12 [10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

[11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

[12] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.



See All...).

God has called His people to a different standard. Instead of superstitions and myths, God tells us to look to Him for our blessings, direction and future.

Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious. Fortune-telling, Ouija boards, astrology, voodoo, clairvoyance, black magic and the like can all be related to occult, satanic forces or the worship of natural phenomena and are forbidden in Scripture.

Jesus Christ tells us that "the first and greatest commandment" is to love our Creator "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37-38 [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

[38] This is the first and great commandment.



See All...). God alone is the giver of life and all good things. To give recognition to false gods, and to imitate practices that honored them, is unacceptable and idolatrous.







World News and Trends: Riots erupt across the globe

http://www.ucg.org/news-and-prophecy/world-news-and-trends-riots-erupt-across-globe/



article by John Ross Schroeder, Melvin Rhodes



This may be the year of the riot.

Anarchists across the world have united in street conflagrations. Annual May Day celebrations deteriorated into fistfights. Macedonian Slavs rioted over NATO peace deals. On the island of Jamaica 23 died in riots. Violent protesters marred the EU summit in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Anticapitalist radicals tried to ruin the G8 meetings in Genoa. Three former mill towns in Lancashire, England, sustained three nights of race-inspired rioting. Riots occurred on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus. In Belfast 23 police officers were hurt in riots.

Much has been written about the human right to protest peacefully, but what begins as a peaceful demonstration often winds up as an old-fashioned riot, sometimes with severe injuries to rioters and police. Professional troublemakers travel the globe to protest against capitalism and other imagined evils.

A British journalist remarked on the enjoyment rioters seem to gain from bloody confrontations. Obviously, human nature has a violent downside. It had become so pronounced in the pre-Flood world of Noah that "the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

See All..., 13). Much later Jesus Christ said that, just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

See All...). Are our crimes and violence signs that we may be in the end time? (Sources: The Times , The Observer [London].)

European influences on Christmas customs

An interesting article from www.ucg.org on the way European customs influenced the current Christmas celebration. This follows this post on setting the Christmas date.  For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

European influences on Christmas customs




Although Christmas had been officially established in Rome by the fourth century, later another pagan celebration greatly influenced the many Christmas customs practiced today. That festival was the Teutonic feast of Yule (from the Norse word for "wheel," signifying the cycle of the year). It was also known as the Twelve Nights, being celebrated from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6.



This festival was based on the supposed mythological warfare between the forces of nature—specifically winter (called the ice giant), which signified death, vs. the sun god, representing life. The winter solstice marked the turning point: Up until then the ice giant was at his zenith of power; after that the sun god began to prevail.



"As Christianity spread to northern Europe, it met with the observance of another pagan festival held in December in honour of the sun. This time it was the Yule-feast of the Norsemen, which lasted for twelve days. During this time log-fires were burnt to assist the revival of the sun. Shrines and other sacred places were decorated with such greenery as holly, ivy, and bay, and it was an occasion for feasting and drinking.



"Equally old was the practice of the Druids, the caste of priests among the Celts of ancient France, Britain and Ireland, to decorate their temples with mistletoe, the fruit of the oak-tree which they considered sacred. Among the German tribes the oak-tree was sacred to Odin, their god of war, and they sacrificed to it until St Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded them to exchange it for the Christmas tree, a young fir-tree adorned in honour of the Christ child ... It was the German immigrants who took the custom to America" (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974, p.22).



Instead of worshipping the sun god, converts were told to worship the Son of God. The focus of the holiday subtly changed, but the traditional pagan customs and practices remained fundamentally unchanged. Old religious customs involving holly, ivy, mistletoe and evergreen trees were given invented "Christian" meanings. We should keep in mind that Jesus Christ warns us to beware of things that masquerade as something they are not (Matthew:7:15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.; compare Isaiah:5:20Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!; 2 Corinthians:11:13-15[13]For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.[14]And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.[15]Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.).