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Evergreen
Yak Addict
960 Posts |
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LizT
Fluffy-Esque
USA
1687 Posts |
 Posted - 06/23/2002 : 12:25:59 AM
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quote:
Party on....
Hey girl, I've been doing just that!
Good times my friend, there is a life out there.
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2002 : 09:45:20 AM
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Rew got a new tattoo to celebrate the Solstice. It is quite nice. It has something to do with the Solstice but I don't remember what the name of it is. It is something I have seen before many TIMes but he told me it's name but I forgot. I will ask him again and see if I can find a example of it.
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy          |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2002 : 11:38:01 AM
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History of the Solstice, and also check out Evergreens link to:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/summer_solstice.htm
It is a really great one as well.
Solstice [Fr. from L. solstitium; sol, the sun, and sto, to stand;] The time of year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator. - Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary. The summer solstice occurs on June 21st. It is a time distinctive on an astrological level and also a time of year celebrated by ancient civilizations with their unique traditions to mark the summer season.
Nearly every religion of the world shows traces of astrological influence. The old Testament of the Jews, its writings by Egyptian culture, is a mass of astrological and astronomical allegories. Nearly all the mythology of Greece and Rome may be traced in star groups. The ancient systems of measuring the year were based upon the equinoxes and solstices.
The summer solstice was celebrated when the sun reached its most northerly position. It is regarded as occurring in Cancer (the Crab). It is evident that the constellation of the Crab is represented by this particular creature because the sun, after passing through this house, precedes to work backwards, or descend the zodiacal arc.
As for the history of the summer solstice, for centuries people in Europe celebrated springtime by lighting fires. These might have been fires kindled at hillsides to drive away witches and to help the sun with its task of warming the earth. On May Day the Celts, who had lived in Scotland and Ireland since ancient times, would make a fire out of gorse to burn out the witches. This was part of the Celtic fire festival called Beltane. Beltane means "Bright Fire." When the Celts decided to celebrate the solstice they simply extended their fire rituals to Midsummer Eve. In Sweden a Midsummer Tree was set up and decorated. The villagers danced around it, lit fires and jumped over them. On Midsummer Day it was also the custom for women and girls to bathe in a river. Long ago this bathing was considered magic for bringing the life-giving rain. In a river the water is always moving, always renewed.
The sun, as supreme among the celestial bodies visible to the astronomers of antiquity, was assigned to the highest of the gods and became symbolic of the supreme authority of the Creator Himself.
The Natchez Indians in the southern part of the U.S. worshipped the sun and believed their ruler was descended from him. Every summer they held a first fruits ceremony. No one was allowed to touch the ripe ears of corn in his own field until the ceremony was finished. The Hopi Indians of Arizona would have masked men wearing bright paint and feathers who danced their special rituals. They represented the dancing spirits of rain and fertility called Kachinas. The Kachinas were messengers between man and the gods. At Midsummer the Kachinas leave the Hopi villages to return to their homes in the mountains. While they are there, for half the year, they are believed to visit the dead underground and hold ceremonies for them. The Catholic Church chose Midsummer for celebrating the birth of Saint John the Baptist and called it Saint John's Day. John was the forerunner of Jesus and baptized Him in the river Jordan. Jesus had once called him, "A burning and shining light." The Church told people that Midsummer fires should represent St. John instead of the sun, however the rites and their meaning for the people changed very little until recent times.
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2002 : 11:51:25 AM
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Rew's new tattoo is called a Baphomet. Here is a picture:
The symbol of Baphomet was used by the Knights of Templar to represent Satan. Through the ages this symbol has been called by many different names. Among these are: The Goat of Mendes, The Goat of a Thousand Young, The Black Goat, The Judas Goat, and perhaps most appropriately, The Scapegoat.
Baphomet represents the Powers of Darkness combined with the generative ferility of the goat. In Satanism, the pentagram is inverted, representing a denial of man's spirituality, to perfectly accomodate the head of a Goat--its horns representing duality, thrust upward in defiance; the other three points inverted, or the trinity denied. The Hebraic figures around the outer circle of the symbol (removed from the example at left due to the Church of Satan's claimed trademark) which stem from the magical teachings of the Kabala, spell out "L V Y Th N" (or "Leviathan"), the serpent of the watery abyss, and identified with Satan. These figures correspond to the five points of the inverted star.
For more info check out:
http://www.templarhistory.com/baphomet.html
Peace & Keep the Faith
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Evergreen
Yak Addict
960 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2002 : 11:52:55 AM
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When I think of Solstice I like to think of happy pleasant thoughts with flowers, mountains and butterflies, and that which is warmed and nurtured by nature and the forces in space, NOT the devils hell fires!
HEEHEE!! But thats why we call it religious tolerance!!!
Its a really awesome tattoo design. Part of the beauty of Solstice is its origins and importance in almost all forms of religion. That's a huge message!
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powdrdogdmb
Chatterbox
USA
131 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2002 : 07:56:40 AM
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Wow, it's cool to see such interest in what I thought only existed over here in Europe as a celebration. We just celebrated Johannistag (St. John's Day) last weekend! Hope everybody had as good of a TIMe back home as I did!
Peace Be With
-WBB
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger" Nietzche |
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Happy Solstice
