PURITAN NEWS WEEKLY

www.puritans.net/news/

12/30/02

 

 

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONS : AN ANCIENT TRADITION

 

 

By J. Parnell McCarter

Puritan News Service

 

Many people are aware of the pagan origins of Christmas celebrations.  But fewer are aware of the pagan origins of New Year’s Eve celebrations.   Actually, New Year’s Eve celebrations go back millennia, in honor of events associated with Sirius, the Dog Star.

 

Here is what we read at http://www.siriusrising.com/sirius.htm :

 

“Even today, unbeknownst to most of the people of the world, our News Years Eve celebration is a continuation of a most ancient ritual honoring the return of Sirius to the midheaven position at midnight. Occurring down through the ages around January 1st, this midnight alignment marks the moment when the energies of Sirius, directly overhead, most closely touch our lives in her most singular purity. For countless thousands of years and all around the world, without knowing the hidden reason, we have marked this midnight moment by jumping for joy as the rush of this vital connection surges through us.”

 

The article goes on to describe some of the unique qualities of the star Sirius, including its use for determining years:

 

“The star of Isis, called Sothis, or Sirius, is the brightest star in our night sky. Modern astronomy has determined that it is only 8 1/2 light-years distant, and traveling directly towards Earth at many thousands of miles per hour. The Ancient Egyptians believed that Sirius had a tremendous effect upon life on our planet.   The system of Sirius contains two known stars, the first binary star system discovered. The larger  and brighter of the two, Sirius A, is three times the mass of our sun, and over ten times as bright. Shining with a brilliant blue-white radiance, Sirius A easily overshadows her darker companion  star. Sirius B is a "white dwarf" star, invisible to the naked eye and packing the equivalent mass of our sun into an incredibly dense globe only 4 times the diameter of our Earth…

 

By coming directly towards us, Sirius creates an axis of rotation with Earth relative to the stellar background. Because of this, of all the stars in the sky, only the annual heliacal rising of Sirius exactly matches the length of our solar year, 365.25 days.  The Ancient Egyptians were somehow aware of this unique relationship between our system and      Sirius and marked the heliacal rising of Sirius as the first day of their calendar year.    Sirius B traces an elliptical orbit around Sirius A, and their common center of gravity, directly face onto the Earth like the dial of a clock. Taking 50 years to complete their orbit, the period of closest connection, called the periastron, is a time when the radiated energies of these two great stars is especially intense.

 

Sirius B spins on it's axis at an incredible 23 times a minute ( 23 rpm!!), generating an enormous magnetic field. As it approaches periastron, it begins to pull huge amounts of gas and material away from its less dense companion. The gravitational attraction of these stars for each other and the energies they release at this time of closest communion is difficult, if not impossible for the human mind to comprehend. Vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays and beyond, are thrown into space. The extra gas and material Sirius A provides for her    companion re-ignite fusion reactions within Sirius B, and once again, her eternal lover, now blazing brightly, is reborn.  As Sirius B moves past periastron, the light generated by their shared energies begins to diminish until eventually, it resumes its role as her "Dark Companion".  As Robert Temple has shown in his book "The Sirius Mystery", the Ancient Egyptians were aware of Sirius B and the orbital dynamics of the Sirian system… “

 

We should not be surprised that a star like Sirius would provide man with his most accurate annual calendar, for we read in Genesis 1:14: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night: and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.” Nor should we be surprised that it was the pagan peoples that discovered and knew this quality of Sirius, for the pagan peoples like the Egyptians were noted for being star-gazers, as opposed to the people of the book.  This put the pagan peoples like the Phoenicians in a distinct advantage in sea navigation, where astronomical knowledge was crucial for charting a course on the high seas.

 

 

 

Who Does Sirius Represent?

 

But God did not only place the stars in the sky “for seasons, and for days and years”, but also for signs.   We can understand this historical use of the stars at least in part from what we read in Matthew and Revelation.  In Matthew 2:2 we read: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we saw his star in the east.”  Apparently there was a star that represented the Messiah, and it was so positioned that certain pagan wise men (or Magi) knew the Messiah was born.  In other words, this star served as a sign that the Messiah was come.  We read of another instance in history when the stars will signal an event in redemptive history:  the Second Advent alluded to in Matthew 24:29-30 and Revelation 6:12-13.  These texts describe many unusual astronomical events associated with His coming, and producing a “sign of the Son of Man in heaven.”  In Revelation 22:16 we read how Jesus Christ is symbolized by “the bright, the morning star.”  God has used astronomical analogies to express spiritual truths about Himself.  Hence, Jesus Christ is light, in whom there is no darkness. 

 

It should not surprise us then that pagans have latched onto astronomical symbols, and even engaged in star worship.  This is what they have done with the star Sirius.

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1487.cfm helps us here:

 

 

“Since we have already learned that Washington, D.C., specifically, and America generally, were originally laid out according to the Dog Star Sirius, we need to examine the Egyptian Satanic Mythology about Sirius.  Once we have examined Egyptian belief

of this star, you will gain a far better understanding of the deep spiritual trouble America is in with God.  There has always been an America you never knew existed, but God knows, and that is the key to this discussion, at this End of the Age.

 

In Satanic legend, Sirius is one of the most important stars in the galaxy; but, more to the point, Sirius is Satan!  Let us listen to what Freemason leader and author, Albert Pike, has to say about Sirius, who came out of the Egyptian Mysteries.

 

"Isis was aided in her search [for the slain body of Osiris] by Anubis, in the shape of a dog.  He was Sirius, or the Dog-Star, the friend and counselor of Osiris, and the inventor of language, grammar, astronomy, surveying, arithmetic, music, and medical

science; the first maker of laws; and who taught the worship of the Gods, and the building of Temples."  [Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 376, Teachings of the 24th Degree, Prince of the Tabernacle]

 

Thus, we can see the critically key role that Sirius plays in the world of the Egyptian Mysteries.  He was a counselor of the Messiah figure, Osiris, who died for the good of mankind, and whose body was "nailed up in the ark" [Ibid., p. 377].  Sirius

taught the beneficial sciences, made the original laws, taught the worship of the pantheon of pagan gods, and taught how to build the pagan Temples.

 

Later, Pike tells us that Sirius was the "largest and brightest Star in the Heavens ..."  [Ibid., p. 454, Teachings of the 25Th. Degree, Knight of the Brazen Serpent].  Since Sirius is the most important star during the days of June and July, he is the star at the precise time the Summer is the hottest; therefore, we get our saying "Dog Days of Summer" from Sirius. 

 

However, when we dig into Luciferian lore just a little deeper, we realize that Sirius is just another name for Hell and for Satan !  Listen to occult writer M. Temple Richmond, writing in his book, Sirius, p. 29:

 

"The Euphrateans, Persians, Phoenicians, and the peoples of Vedic India called Sirius, The Leader, while the Romans knew Sirius as Janitor Lethacus, or Keeper of Hell, both of which titles are perhaps reminiscent of Anubis, the Egyptian god who led

the deceased through the underworld.  The Egyptians themselves reverenced Sirius under several other names as well, including Sothis, Sothi, Sept, Sepet, Sopdet, Sot, and Sed."

 

Thus, this occult writer, Richmond, boldly states that Sirius is the Keeper of Hell!  In the Bible, we call this person, Satan.  Richmond further ties together Sirius with Anubis the dog. 

 

The Egyptians also called him Set, or Seth.  New Age author and founder of the Luciferian secret society called House of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, writes of the god, Set.  "... Hermes, the god of wisdom, called also Thoth, Tat, Seth, Set, and Sat-an, and that he was, furthermore, when viewed under his bad aspect, Typhon, the Egyptian Satan, who was also Set." [Isis Unveiled, Vol. I, Science, New York, Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company, 1877, p. 554, xxxiii.; Emphasis was in original]

 

Christian author, Bill Schnoebelen , former practicing Satanist, says that the Egyptian worship of Set was truly abominable.  He says, "in ancient Egypt, Set was worshipped with obscene, homosexual rituals". These rituals performed for Set/Sirius were so

horrible and debased that "later rulers of Egypt defaced their temples and obelisks and tried to drive them from the land." [Schnoebelen, Twice The Child of Hell , p. 9]

 

Further, we discover that Sirius married his sister, Nephthys, according to the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Prometheus Press, 1972, p. 21.  Thus, Sirius committed the sin of Incest.

 

Christian author, Texe Marrs, says "Throughout the centuries Sirius has been recognized by most occultists and esoteric teachers as the location were Lucifer and his hierarchy dwell.  In Christian terminology, Sirius is simply a secretive codeword for 'hell'. {Marrs, Book of New Age Cults and Religions, 1990, p. 299]

 

Occult author, Veronica Ions, boldly states that Anubis [Sirius as the Dog] was a god of divination and magic [Egyptian Mythology , England: The Hamlyn Publishing Group, Ltd., 1965, p. 83]; and Albert Pike notes that the "Egyptian Anubis is the god guarding the gates of death". [Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 430]

 

Set/Sirius is portrayed by Black Magick Satanists as the "Devil of Darkness" and the Lord of the Underworld", according to New Age author, M. Esther Harding, in her book, Woman's Mysteries: Ancient and Modern , New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the C.G. Jung Foundation For Analytical Psychology, 1971 Edition, p. 48, and 168 respectively].

 

Further, Harding reveals that this "Underworld' over which Set/Sirius is charge is not Hades, but Tartarus, for "Tartarus is the hell of the damned and it was of this world that Set was the Lord".  Schnoebelen then adds the caveat that Set's symbol is the

Inverted Pentagram!  Thus, the filthy Satanic Pentagram represents Sirius/Set , by whatever name the occultist uses.

 

Finally, Masonic author, Albert Pike, reveals in his book, Morals and Dogma, that the Pentagram Masons call the Blazing Star of their Lodges represents Sirius, the Dog Star!   Pike even blasphemously refers to Sirius as the "Guardian and Guide of our Souls ... which to the Ancients was the Sun." [Page 15-16]  This is Sun Worship at its very worst!”

 

 

It should not surprise us that Sirius, the Dog Star, symbolizes Satan.  Does not even scripture itself say, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” (Rev 22:15)  Dogs are commonly associated with the wicked, and the stars are often used as metaphors for the angels.  So it is quite natural that the wicked would choose to celebrate that great Fallen Angel, Satan, at a time astronomically associated with him.  (It is interesting to note as well how the White Pope and the Black Pope - Satan’s chief representatives on earth- so match the interaction of Sirius A and Sirius B.)  Cain, Sirius, and dog (i.e., canine) are all rooted in a similar idea and term:

 

Cain - Biblical name, from Heb. Qayin, lit. "created one," also "smith."

 

Cain was like his father, the devil, who has been represented by the dog and the star Sirius:

 

dog days - 1538, from L. dies caniculares, from Gk. (the star was also known as kyon seirios) are around the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius (q.v.), the Dog-star, noted as the hottest and most unwholesome time of the year; usually July 3 to Aug. 11, but variously calculated, depending on latitude and on whether the greater Dog-star (Sirius) or the lesser one (Procyon) is reckoned. The heliacal rising of Sirius has shifted down the calendar with the procession of the equinoxes; in ancient Egypt c.3000 B.C.E. it coincided with the summer solstice, which was also the new year and the beginning of the inundation of the Nile. The "dog" association apparently began here (the star's heiroglyph was a dog), but the reasons for it are obscure.

 

 

New Year’s Eve celebrations are often associated and marked by drunken revelry, which is certainly consistent with its history and the identity of its ancient honoree.