As well as being the Winter Solstice, last night was also Yalda, the Persian celebration of the birth of Mitra. Mitra is one of the most ancient deities we know of, playing a large role in both Zoroastrianism (as the son and demiurge of the God Ahura Mazda) and ancient Hinduism. Although distanced from Zoroastrianism by the time of the Roman Empire, the cult of the sun-god Mithra still helped influence the form Christianity took when Constantine adopted the faith for the Empire, including the date of 25th December for Jesus' birth. Interestingly, Yalda also means 'giving birth' in Hebrew.
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Celebrations/shabe_yalda.htm
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Celebrations/shabe_yalda.htm
katya:
im in my third year of social work degree. it's not a full scholarship that i dont pay for school, it's me giving 200 hours to the community (in my case im at a shelter for bettered women and at a kindergarten) and we get money for it. it is like a job only with a high wage per hour, because we are poor students, and that help us pay the tuition.
nateb:
Thank you for welcoming me back. When I first came back on here I was thinking of hitting the "like" button a few times. I guess I'd been gone too long, playing around on a different social network site.