Hey!, Wanna See Some Sin?
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and . . . their sins." Isa. 58:1
22. Lies
22.7. A holiday celebrating liars and lying.
April Fool's Day
Our annual celebration of lying and tall-tale telling is known as April Fool's Day. Two weeks later will be the April 15 tax deadline, a time when more than 10,000,000 Americans will cheat [by lying] on their taxes to the tune of a $200 billion annual loss to the government, according to the March 5, 2001 Forbes magazine cover story.
The Catholic Church contributed indirectly to the creation of April's Fool Day when Pope Gregory I modified the calendar in 1582. The Roman Pontiffs exercised authority over the Roman calendar for 1,000 years (753-337) before they adopted "Christianity".(1)
Even though the Roman Empire is long gone, much of the world stills conforms to the (Pope) "Gregorian calendar".
Although the man-made calendar drifted away from the spring equinox, by order of the Catholic or "Universal" Church, spring was according to the calendar, not according to the "universe" or astronomical reality.(2)
When the (Roman) "Julian" calendar was adjusted by ten days to return "Easter" closer to the spring equinox, January 1st was also declared to be the first day of the calendar year, in place of April 1st. Those who refused to accept this new tradition, were ridiculed as "fools of April".--------------------
"History of the Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar resulted from a perceived need to reform the method of calculating dates of Easter. Under the Julian calendar the dating of Easter had become standardized, using March 21 as the date of the equinox and the Metonic cycle as the basis for calculating lunar phases. By the thirteenth century it was realized that the true equinox had regressed from March 21 (its supposed date at the time of the Council of Nicea, +325) to a date earlier in the month. As a result, Easter was drifting away from its springtime position and was losing its relation with the Jewish Passover. Over the next four centuries, scholars debated the "correct" time for celebrating Easter and the means of regulating this time calendrically. The Church made intermittent attempts to solve the Easter question, without reaching a consensus.By the sixteenth century the equinox had shifted by ten days, and astronomical New Moons were occurring four days before ecclesiastical New Moons. At the behest of the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V introduced a new Breviary in 1568 and Missal in 1570, both of which included adjustments to the lunar tables and the leap-year system. Pope Gregory XIII, who succeeded Pope Pius in 1572, soon convened a commission to consider reform of the calendar, since he considered his predecessor's measures inadequate.
The recommendations of Pope Gregory's calendar commission were instituted by the papal bull "Inter Gravissimus," signed on 1582 February 24. Ten days were deleted from the calendar, so that 1582 October 4 was followed by 1582 October 15, thereby causing the vernal equinox of 1583 and subsequent years to occur about March 21. And a new table of New Moons and Full Moons was introduced for determining the date of Easter.
Subject to the logistical problems of communication and governance in the sixteenth century, the new calendar was promulgated through the Roman-Catholic world. Protestant states initially rejected the calendar, but gradually accepted it over the coming centuries. The Eastern Orthodox churches rejected the new calendar and continued to use the Julian calendar with traditional lunar tables for calculating Easter. Because the purpose of the Gregorian calendar was to regulate the cycle of Christian holidays, its acceptance in the non-Christian world was initially not at issue. But as international communications developed, the civil rules of the Gregorian calendar were gradually adopted around the world."
Calendars, by L. E. Doggett
http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html-----------------
"April Fool's Day"
". . .
Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory I in 1582 AD, New Years Day was on March 25th with celebrations which lasted for about eight days! These ended on April 1st, possibly at 12 noon. This may be why trick playing is supposed to cease at 12 noon on April 1st.The custom appears to have originated in France, where people traditionally exchanged New Year gifts on April 1st. After the adoption of the new calendar, many people held on to the old traditions in spite of ridicule by the more progressive members of society. They became the butts of jokes, which gradually extended to the whole community playing tricks on each other such as sending apprentices on useless errands.
April Fooling gradually spread from France, reaching Britain in the 18th century.
Some researchers link the development of April Fools day with the medieval Feast of Asses or Feast of Fools. The latter was certainly very popular in France. It was not, however, associated with New Year as sometimes stated. The Feast of Fools occurred at the time of the Feast of the Circumcision on January 1st. Remember that in medieval times, under the Julian calendar, New Year was in March.
It is difficult now to distinguish between the Feast of Fools and the Feast of Asses, which may also have been held in January. Many of the churchmen had specific feast days during the Christmas season: the deacons on December 26th (St Stephen’s Day), the priest on December 27th (St John’s Day), the choristers and mass-servers on December 28th (the Day of the Holy Innocents) and the sub-deacons on January 1st (the Feast of the Circumcision).
The feast of the sub-deacons was later taken over by the Guild of Fools. The customs and buffoonery which then became associated with this feast probably had their origins in earlier pagan customs such as Saturnalia (held in December), when slaves were given temporary equality with their masters.
During the Feast of Asses, the preacher impersonated the Hebrew prophets while arguing the Divinity of Christ. This sermon evolved into a drama, with 28 actors taking the part of prophets, leading a procession into church. This parade included Balaam riding an ass (a wooden or hobby horse) and this was enjoyed so much by the congregation that it developed separately until the festival became known as the Feast of Asses.
The Feast of Asses gradually became incorporated into the Feast of Fools. Owing to the licentious behaviour of the congregation during the Feast of Fools, it was outlawed by the Council of Basle in 1435 but it no doubt persisted in some areas.
It is possible that, deprived of the outlets provided by these two celebrations, some elements were transferred to April Fool’s Day.
Various sources have even claimed that April Fooling may have originated in the Hindu festival of Huli or Holi. This is held in March and originally lasted for five days but in modern times only covers two days. On the first day a bonfire is lit and on the second day people throw coloured powder and water over each other. Holi is associated with the demoness, Holika.
Prince Prahlad worshipped Vishnu despite being persecuted by Holika, who was immune to fire. Holika tried to kill Prahlad by holding him while a bonfire was lit around them. But Holika was consumed by the flames and Prahlad emerged unscathed. The feast commemorates the defeat of evil."
This article first appeared on suite101 on March 30 2001
by © Linda Campbell 2002
http://www.2camels.com/destination44.php3
--------------------"April Fool's Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send people on fool's errands, and fool the unsuspecting. . . .
In the sixteenth century, New Year's was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Year’s Day as changed from March 25 to January 1st . . . there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools.
Each country celebrates April Fool’s differently. In France, the April Fool’s is called "April Fish" (Poisson d'Avril). The French fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends’ backs and when some discovers a this trick, they yell “Poisson d’Avril!” .
In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played on you, you are a "noodle". In Scotland, April Fools Day is 48 hours long and you are called an "April Gowk", which is another name for a cuckoo bird. The second day in Scotland’s April Fool's is called Taily Day and is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taily Day's gift to posterior posterity is the still-hilarious "Kick Me" sign.
In Portugal, April Fool's is celebrated on the Sunday and Monday before Lent. The traditional trick there is to throw flour at your friends.
In America, Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. . . ."
http://www.computingcorner.com/holidays/aprilfool/aprilfool.htm
-------------------"In Italy, as in much of the world, April 1st is traditionally a day of practical jokes, pranks, and silliness. The origin of this custom is ancient and ambiguous, but one thing is certain: much buffoonery and hilarity will take place."
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa032801a.htm
-------------------------------------
". . .
This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French.
. . .
Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"
Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees."
http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm
--------------------------April Fool's Day Has Serious Origins
"Fools" Ignored the New Calendar
by David Johnson
"April Fool's Day is one of the most light-hearted days of the year, yet it stems from a serious subject—adoption of a new calendar.A Traditional New Year's
Ancient cultures, including those as varied as the Romans and the Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.)
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar, (the Gregorian Calendar ), to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar changed the order of the months and called for New Year's Day to be celebrated January 1.
In France, however, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1.Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false.
The French came to call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered."
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
----------------------------But people lie every day of the year:
"I guess that's why we don't need a national holiday to celebrate falsehood; for liars, it's Christmas every day of the year."
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2001-08-30/outsider.html
--------------------------Footnote 1:
Pontifices: A council of pagan priests in ancient Rome. The collegium, or college of the priests, was the most important of Roman priests and adminstrated the civil law which regulated worship activities of all those pagan dieties officially recognized by the Roman government.
Originally comprising three advisors under the king, they gained prominence during the time of the republic (c. 509-200 BC), under a pontifex maximus, or 'supreme priest', who took over all duties as chief adminstrator of religious law. The number also increased to 16 by the time of Julius Caesar. From the second Punic War (218-201 BC), the office was filled by popular election for life terms. The pontifex maximus appointed his assistants, including the Vestal Virgins who were chosen between the ages of six and ten and served under the pagan priests until age thirty. His functions were partly ritualistic ceremonies but he held real power in his authority over the consecration of all temples, sacred places and objects, the adminstration of all burials and in the worship of the dead, and the superintendence of all marriages, adoptions, wills, state archives and chief national events.
Of particular note is the fact that he had authority over "the regulation of the calendar both astronomically and in detailed application to the public life of the state."". . . for the first three centuries of the republic [c. 509 BC to 200 BC] it is probable that the pontifex maximus was in fact its most powerful member."
"Under the later republic it was coveted chiefly for the great dignity of the position; Julius Caesar held it for the last 20 years of his life, and Augustus took it after the death of Lepidus
in 12 BC, after which it became inseparable from the office of the reigning emperor.
The title pontifex was used of Roman Catholic bishops and pontifex maximus of the pope by the end of the 4th century. In modern usage, both terms generally refer to the pope."
(Source: http://www.britannica.com, "pontifex".)Note that this office of pontiff, its authority over worship services, marriages, burials, adoptions, wills, etc., its supporting "college", its order of "virgins" and its authority over the calendar, both astronomically and in civil use, existed, from the earliest monarchies of Rome (c. 753 BC) until Constantine (c. 307-337 AD), as a powerful organization of pagan worship.
It was Constantine who, in the fourth century AD, "initiated the evolution of the [Roman] empire into a Christian state". (Source: http://www.britannica.com, "Constantine the Great".)
The official Roman religious organization, which had been polytheistic for over 1,000 years, now put on the cloak of "Christianity" and claimed its divine authority from the apostle Peter, who had died two centuries earlier.
It cannot be proven that Peter was ever in Rome, and it is doubtful, since Paul was the one who raised up the churches of God there, wrote the inspired letters to them ("Book of Romans") and never mentioned Peter. However, if he was in Rome, and if the tradition that he was martyred there is true, then his execution could only have been accomplished under the authority of the pagan ponifex maximus of Rome. The same is true for Paul.
----------------------------Footnote 2:
Gregorian Reform of the Calendar
"Our civil method for reckoning time, then has a mixed origin. Our division of the hour into minutes and seconds is derived from the sexagesimal system of the Mesopotamians; the division of the day into 24 hours originated with the Egyptians; the seven-day week originated in the ancient Near East, while the names are derived from a Greek convention developed during the Hellenistic period. Our calendar is based on the motion of the Sun alone, but our various religious calendars are based on a combination of the motions of the Sun and Moon. Our civil calendar derives from the Romans with some alterations. Its origin is described nicely in the "Calendar" article in the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1910), which reads in part:
The civil calendar of all European [and American] countries has been borrowed from that of the Romans. Romulus[3] is said to have divided the year into ten months only, including in all 304 days, and it is not very well known how the remaining days were disposed of. The ancient Roman year commenced with March, as is indicated by the names September, October, November, December, which the last four months still retain. July and August, likewise, were anciently denominated Quintillis and Sextillis, their present appellations having been bestowed in compliment to Julius Caesar and Augustus. In the reign of Numa[4] two months were added to the year, January at the beginning and February at the end; and this arrangement continued till the year 452 BC., when the Decemvirs[5] changed the order of the months, and placed February after January. The months now consisted of twenty-nine and thirty days alternately, to correspond with the synodic revolution of the moon [full moon to full moon], so that the year contained 354 days; but a day was added to make the number odd, which was considered more fortunate, and the year therefore consisted of 355 days. This differed from the solar year by ten whole days and a fraction; but to restore the coincidence, Numa ordered an additional or intercalary month to be inserted every second year between the 23d and 24th of February, consisting of twenty-two and twenty-three days alternately, so that four years constituted 1465 days, and the mean length of the year was consequently 366 1/4 days. The additional month was called Mercedinus or Mercedonius, from merces, wages, probably because the wages of workmen and domestics were usually paid at this season of the year. According to the above arrangement, the year was too long by one day, which rendered another correction necessary. As the error amounted to twenty-four days in as many years, it was ordered that every third period of eight years, instead of containing four intercalary months, amounting in all to ninety days, should contain only three of those months, consisting of twenty-two days each. The mean length of the year was thus reduced to 365 1/4 days; but it is not certain at what time the octennial periods, borrowed from the Greeks, were introduced into the Roman calendar, or whether they were at any time strictly followed. It does not even appear that the length of the intercalary month was regulated by any certain principle, for a discretionary power was left with the pontiffs,[6] to whom the care of the calendar was committed, to intercalate more or fewer days according as the year was found to differ more or less from the celestial motions. This power was quickly abused to serve political objects, and the calendar consequently thrown into confusion. By giving a greater or less number of days to the intercalary month, the pontiffs were enabled to prolong the term of a magistracy or hasten the annual elections; and so little care had been taken to regulate the year, that, at the time of Julius Caesar, the civil equinox differed from the astronomical by three months, so that the winter months were carried back into autumn and the autumnal into summer.
In order to put an end to the disorders arising from the negligence or ignorance of the pontiffs, [Julius] Caesar abolished the use of the lunar year and the intercalary month, and regulated the civil year entirely by the sun. With the advice and assistance of Sosigenes,[7] he fixed the mean length of the year at 365 1/4 days, and decreed that every fourth year should have 366 days, the other years having each 365. In order to restore the vernal equinox to the 25th of March, the place it occupied in the time of Numa, he ordered two extraordinary months to be inserted between November and December in the current year, the first to consist of thirty three, and the second of thirty-four days. The intercalary month of twenty-three days fell into the year of course, so that the ancient year of 355 days received an augmentation of ninety days; and the year on that occasion contained in all 445 days. This was called the last year of confusion. The first Julian year commenced with the 1st of January of the 46th before the birth of Christ, and the 708th from the foundation of the city.
In the distribution of the days through the several months, Caesar adopted a simpler and more commodious arrangement than that which has since prevailed. He had ordered that the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh months, that is January, March, May, July, September and November, should have each thirty-one days, and the other months thirty, excepting February, which in common years should have only twenty-nine day, but every fourth year thirty days. This order was interrupted to gratify the vanity of Augustus, by giving the month bearing his name as many days as July, which was named after the first Caesar. A day was accordingly taken from February and given to August; and in order that three months of thirty-one days might not come together, September and November were reduced to thirty days, and thirty-one given to October and December. For so frivolous a reason was the regulation of Caesar abandoned, and a capricious arrangement introduced, which it requires some attention to remember. [8]
The additional day which occurred every fourth year was given to February, as being the shortest month, and was inserted in the calendar between the 24th and 25th day. February having then twenty-nine days, the 25th was the 6th of the calends of March, sexto calendas; the preceding, which was the additional or intercalary day, was called bis-sexto calendas,--hence the term bissextile, which is still employed to distinguish the year of 366 days. The English denomination of leap year would have been more appropriate if that year had differed from common years in defect, and contained only 364 days. In the modern calendar the intercalary day is still added to February, not, however, between the 24th and 25th, but as the 29th.
. . .
Although the Julian method of intercalation is perhaps the most convenient that could be adopted, yet, as it supposes the year too long by 11 minutes 14 seconds, it could not without correction very long answer the purpose for which it was devised, namely, that of preserving always the same interval of time between the commencement of the year and the equinox. Sosigenes could scarcely fail to know that this year was too long; for it had been shown long before, by the observations of Hipparchus [ca. 125 BCE], that the excess of 3651/4 days above a true solar year would amount to a day in 300 years. The real error is indeed more than double of this, and amounts to a day in 128 years; but in the time of Caesar the length of the year was an astronomical element not very well determined. In the course of a few centuries, however, the equinox sensibly retrograded towards the beginning of the year. When the Julian calendar was introduced, the equinox fell on the 25th of March. At the time of the Council of Nicea, which was held in 325, it fell on the 21st . . . .The Julian Calendar was naturally adopted by the successor of the Roman Empire, Christian Europe with the Papacy at its head. By about 700 CE it had become customary to count years from the starting point of the birth of Christ (later corrected by Johannes Kepler to 4 BCE). But the equinox kept slipping backwards on the calendar one full day every 130 years. By 1500 the vernal equinox fell on the 10th or 11th of March and the autumnal equinox on the 13th or 14th of September, and the situation was increasingly seen as a scandal. The most important feast day on the Christian calendar is Easter, when the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ are celebrated. In the New Testament we find that Christ's crucifixion occurred in the week of Passover. On the Jewish calendar, Passover was celebrated at the full moon of the first month (Nissan) of spring. In developing their own calendar (4th century CE), Christians put Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. If the equinox was wrong, then Easter was celebrated on the wrong day. Most other Christian observances (e.g., the beginning of Lent, Pentecost) are reckoned backward or forward from the date of Easter. An error in the equinox thus introduced numerous errors in the entire religious calendar. Something had to be done. After the unification of the Papacy in Rome, in the fifteenth century, Popes began to consider calendar reform. After several false starts, a commission under the leadership of the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer Christoph Clavius (1537-1612) succeeded. Several technical changes were instituted having to do with the calculation of Easter, but the main change was simple. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII (hence the name Gregorian Calendar) ordered ten days to be dropped from October, thus restoring the vernal equinox at least to an average of the 20th of March, close to what it had been at the time of the Council of Nicea. In order to correct for the loss of one day every 130 years, the new calendar dropped three leap years every 400 years. Henceforth century years were leap years only if divisible by 400. 1600 and 2000 are leap years; 1700, 1800 and 1900 are not.
The new calendar, although controversial among technical astronomers, was promulgated from Rome and adopted immediately in Catholic countries. Protestant countries followed suit more slowly. Protestant regions in Germany, and the northern Netherlands adopted the calendar within decades. The English, always suspicious of Rome during this period, retained the Julian Calendar. Further, while others now began the new year uniformly on 1 January, the English began it on 25 March (an older custom). Now, for example, the date 11 February 1672 in England was 21 February 1673 on the Continent. After 1700 in which the Julian Calendar had a leap year but the Gregorian did not, the difference was eleven days. The English and their American colonies finally adopted the Gregorian Calendar in the middle of the eighteenth century. George Washington was born on 11 February on the Julian Calendar; we celebrate his birthday on 22 February.
[3]Legendary founder and first king of Rome, ca. 750 BC.
[4]Numa Pompilius, second legendary king of Rome, ca. 700 BC.
[5]Decemviri: any college of ten magistrates in ancient Rome. The most famous college was the decemviri legibus scribendis, or the "composers of the Twelve Tables," who ruled Rome absolutely for a few years around 450 BC.
[6]Roman high priests.
[7]A Greek astronomer and mathematician who flourished in the first century BC None of his writings have survived and we know about him only through the writings of Pliny (d. 79 AD). Pliny tells us that Sosigenes was consulted by Julius Caesar about the calendar (Natural Histories, xviii, 25).
[8]Thirty days has September, April, June, and November . . .Source
Gregorian Reform of the Calendar: Proceedings of the Vatican Conference to Commemorate its 400th Anniversary, 1582-1992, ed. G. V. Coyne, M. A. Hoskin, and O. Pedersen (Vatican City: Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Specolo Vaticano, 1983). Jean Meeus and Denis Savoie, "The history of the tropical year," Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 102 #1 (1992): 40-42
Gregorian Calendar
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/gregorian_calendar.html (emphasis ours)
-----------------------------------------
For a frank description of Rome's move from polytheistic paganism to "Catholic" Christianity, see:
Constantine the Great
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm