Emre Barlah

06/05/2021

12/02/2021

GONG XI FAT CAI

09/01/2021

https://youtu.be/quzBks7SKLA

06/01/2021

Epiphany, also known as Theophany in the east, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings' Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide.

Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. The spot marked by Qasr el Yahud in the West Bank, and Al-Maghtas in Jordan on the east bank, is considered to be the original site of the baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist.

The traditional date for the feast is January 6. However, since 1970, the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1. Those Eastern Churches which are still following the Julian calendar observe the feast on what, according to the internationally used Gregorian calendar, is January 19, because of the current 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

In many Western Christian Churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve). The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday. Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having one's house blessed, consuming Three Kings Cake, winter swimming, as well as attending church services. It is customary for Christians in many localities to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve (Twelfth Night), although those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas, the conclusion of Epiphanytide. According to the first tradition, those who fail to remember to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave them untouched until Candlemas, the second opportunity to remove them; failure to observe this custom is considered inauspicious.

31/12/2020

24/12/2020

Merry Christmas from Spiritual Journeys Travel Family

20/12/2020

Nardoqan or Nardugan (Turkish: Nardogan or Nardugan, Azerbaijani Turkish: Narduqan) was a Turkic holiday concept. Nowadays, it is most commonly used to refer to the winter solstice in many Central Asia languages. It is also used as an equivalent name for the Christian holiday Christmas.

Nardoqan or Nardugan was celebrated by Turks on December 21, the longest night of the year and the night of the winter solstice. On this night, symbolizing the old sun becomes smaller as the days become shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, and dies on December 22, the winter solstice. It is said to be defeated by the dark and evil powers. On December 23 becomes the new sun.

While some scholars trace the origins of the Christmas tree to pagan rituals in pre-Christian England, others suggest the tradition was borrowed from ancient Germanic peoples. Now, however, veteran Turkish archaeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Cig provides a new voice to the long-standing debate: ''The Turks were the ones who invented the Christmas tree.''

The Christmas tree, a brightly adorned symbol for Christians on one of their holiest days, also represents a link to the ancient Turks of Central Asia, according to a Turkish archaeologist.

Its origins are not in Norse myth or British isle paganism, as most Western historians believe, but in the Turkic tradition of the “wish-making tree.”.

Europeans, Muazzez Ilmiye Cig argues, adopted a rite to their own holiday ritual that stems from an old Turkish custom in which people decorated a special tree to offer their thanks to God. “People put special things under a white pine as a present to God in response to his benefaction during the year,” said Cig, adding that the custom first arose in Turkic Central Asia. “They also tied some pieces of cloth to its boughs to make a wish for the following year.”

Çığ is an internationally renowned expert in ancient Sumerian civilization, which emerged in Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C.

“Adorning the tree is a small part of a festivity that is linked with the holiness of the sun for Turks,” Cig said. “It unites family members in enjoyable activities. They clean homes, sing folk songs, eat special foods, and put on festive clothing.”

According to mythology, the god Ulgen lives atop the special tree extending from the earth’s surface to the sky. His mission is to arrange the arrival of days and nights. Day and Night are continually quarreling about who will be the first to come.

Day, however, finally defeated the Night on December 22. Thereafter, the Turks celebrated this day as a festival of rebirth.

“According to some historical sources, the white pine is planted only in Central Asia, and Palestinians did not know anything about that pine,” she said. “It is another indication that the Christians received this custom from the Turks, although Jesus’ religion emerged from the Middle East.”

“When the first Christian Council gathered in Nicaea (today' s Iznik, Turkey), all bishops accepted this festivity as a symbol for the birth of Jesus, although it was commonly seen as a pagan practice in that era,” Cig said. “They decided to celebrate Christmas Day, the birth of Jesus, on December 24. Thus, the custom began to integrate into the culture of Christianity.”

In A.D. 325, the great Council of Nicaea was called by Constantine the Great, who had converted to Christianity a decade earlier. It was the first worldwide council of the church that is recognized by most Christian denominations as having doctrinal authority.

“At first, the birth of Jesus was celebrated without decorating a Christmas tree. Through the increasing influence of Turkish-origin festivities across Europe, however, the first Christmas tree in the traditional sense was adorned in Germany in 1605. Similar practices were later seen in France. This practice gradually spread throughout the world from France,” she said, claiming it was Hunnish warriors who originally brought this custom into Europe.

A prominent writer strongly backed Cig’s claim that decorating Christmas trees came from an old Turkish custom.

“Turkic tribes had been immigrating to Europe from the northern Black Sea since the seventh century B.C. They gradually became a dominant culture in Europe. While Christianity spread in Europe, the traditional patterns of Turkish culture influenced Christian culture,” said Ibrahim Okur, who is known for his book, “Turks and Europe throughout History.” “Cig has actually sent a message to Europe to suggest how much Turks influenced Europe’s history and culture,” he said. But a researcher known for his works on Christianity, Aytunc Altindal, believes Cig’s argument is a highly sensitive claim that requires more research. “It is impossible to know when or if Turkic tribes first erected a tree for celebration. But if science proves her claim, we should review all we know about Christianity,” said Aytunc Altindal.

10/12/2020

10/12/2020

10/12/2020