christmasdebt

Christmas is something that means a lot of different things for different people.

For many, particularly those in the West, it is just a way of chilling out with friends and family, opening presents, getting drunk and having a good time.

Others see it as a time of spiritual or religious worship, whereas some see it as a pagan festival designed to celebrate the winter solstice.

However, if you were to ask the average man and woman on the street, very few are aware of how it came to be what it is today.

While there are a lot of theories – some holding more merit than others – little is known about the true origins of the holiday.

Even less is known about much of the occult origins and symbolism surrounding it.

In this article, we will discuss some of these and how more than anything, Christmas has become a symbol of corporate greed and materialism that when one is not careful, does few favours for those who get caught up in some of the hysteria surrounding it.

Debt

christmasdebt1

But before we go too far down the rabbit hole, there is the very real problem of debt that is always exacerbated by national holidays such as Christmas.

Research published by the Debt Advisory Centre revealed that one in ten Brits are still paying off the cost of last Christmas.

This is particularly the case for those aged between 25 to 34, with nearly one in five people of this age revealing that they’re still making repayments towards last year’s Christmas debt.

Two-fifths of those surveyed who’re still repaying their festive debts owe more than £500. Furthermore, nearly a quarter claim they have more than £1,000 left to pay back.

A separate study by uSwitch published last year, showed 17 per cent are still paying off debts from Christmas 2011. On the other hand, one in five borrowers (19 per cent) were left with over £5,000 of credit card debt last year.

This debt is created by a society in which we are constantly made to feel as if we have to have the latest gadgets, technology, iPhones of every number and denomination, toys, fads and designer clothing, in order to keep up with the Joneses.

What we do not realise however, is that the ‘Joneses’ are in just as much debt as us. Then combine that with the latest celebrity craze that most people are conditioned to accept through the TV and we have a society where we are made to feel like ‘bad parents’ or inadequate in some way, if we do not buy into all of this stuff.

Some comprehensive schools in the UK even require parents to buy a tablet for their child in order to keep up with the homework!

Most of us do not stop to ask ourselves why we feel such a great need to have all the designer games, consoles, clothes and jewellery in order to make up for feelings of failure, disappointment with life, or trying to gain acceptance.

After all, what we do not find internally, we will seek to gain externally, even if only in symbolic form. And thanks to the clever tactics by marketers and corporate hypnotists, those symbols come in the form of shiny products and entertainment.

Occult symbolism

popesanta

But none of this gets at the heart of how all this started. After all, businesses and corporations didn’t create Christmas, they simply do what all clever entrepreneurs do – they spotted an opportunity and took full advantage of it.

So how did it all originate?

Christmas has various links to pagan celebrations such as Yule, Saturnalia, and the winter solstice.

Historically, the pagan festival referred to as Yule was celebrated around the winter solstice (Dec. 21-23).

At this time of year, the sun is at its lowest altitude and will begin its trek in rising higher again.

In the bible, the Son of God, is a symbolic reference to the Sun, whereas Lucifer, the lightbearer, is also symbolic of the Sun.

This is why the star has such a significant in pagan belief systems. In mid-December, the sun is directly opposite the point it is at during midsummer (summer solstice).

Eventually, the pagan celebration was merged with the Christian holiday of Christmas.

Christmas also has close associations with the Roman festival known as Saturnalia, which was held in honor of the planet Saturn. Some religions use the mythical figure of Satan as a representation of Saturn – a planet believed to hold energies and frequencies that resonate with what many of us think of as ‘negative’ energy.

The word Satan is closely related to the word Santa, an anagram of Satan, who shares the same colour frequency – red.

In ancient times, this celebration also featured human sacrifices and ran from December 17th-23rd in honour of Saturn. Gifts would also be exchanged during this time.

December 25th

The date of December 25th was adopted as part of the Roman tradition after Julius Caesar changed the calendar to fit around the sun cycle, so that the winter solstice occurred on December 25th. Around the 4th century, the celebration of Saturnalia was merged with Christmas in an attempt to convert pagans to Christianity.

Nowadays

However, in modern times, the meaning of Christmas is slowly changing again, as corporations, media barons and producers slowly chip away at the religious and spiritual origins of the festival and bring it in line with the new religion: money and materialism.

For many, money truly is a religion which is worshipped just as passionately as any Roman God.

After all, as the old saying goes: money makes the world go around. We now live in a society, where no matter where you are in the world, you won’t get very far without it.

Of course, the Roman element of human sacrifice is also still present. While we are no longer sacrificing people in the literal sense, we are encouraged to sacrifice our own financial and emotional well being by racking up extortionate debts and expenses, that for some will never be repaid.

These debts then trap us into a type of enslavement – where we are permanently obligated to those companies or financial institutions we owe money to until the debt is cleared.

After all it is said that ‘he who lends is the master, and he who borrows is the slave.’

In the long term, this affects our health by increasing stress levels, our relationships and our well being.

And the biggest fraud of all is that we still do not find the internal and lasting satisfaction that we are looking for.

Sure, money and material things can fill a void – but only temporarily. At least, until the next void is created by that hypnotic box of illusions in our living rooms – the television.

Of course there is no reason why we cannot enjoy Christmas or any other holidays and take it for what it is. And nor do you have to be particularly religious or even spiritual to participate in the festivities.

However, we must also be wary of sacrificing our health, income and wellbeing for the sake of ‘fitting in’ or feeling the need to show love to our nearest and dearest by buying them even dearer goods that will only come back to bite us in the long term.

Therefore, for a truly merry Christmas, surely it is better to focus on the quality of time you spend with your friends and family, rather than the quality of gifts.

After all, there are many affordable ways to give gifts to the ones you love – such as making your own gifts, making presents together with loved ones, taking advantage of deals – and sticking to a budget rather than splashing out more than you’ve got, because some corporate hypnotist told you to.

In short, the more we can turn the festive holidays throughout the year into an opportunity to celebrate real love, and focus on your bigger goals and objectives, the better off we’ll all be.

Akashic Times is the UK’s only online, fully independent not-for-profit newspaper that brings you real news from across the globe.

If you want to keep ahead of what is really going on in the world, subscribe to our newspaper via the subscribe button and join our Facebook & Twitter pages. Subscription is completely free ofcourse

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

(Spamcheck Enabled)