The first North American
settlers migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge
approximately 15,000 or more years ago. Others
settlers migrated up from South America through Central America. Some, such as the Pre-Columbian Mississippian
culture, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture and state-level
societies. After European explorers and
traders made the first contacts, the native population declined due to various
reasons including diseases, intermarriage and violence.
With the colonization of Georgia in 1732, the thirteen
colonies that would become the United States of America were established. All had local governments with elections open
to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of Englishmen
and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism. With extremely high birth rates, low death
rates and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly. Relatively small local Native American
populations were eclipsed. The Christian
revivalist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled
interest in both religion and religious liberty.
However, most of the Founding Fathers were
religious radicals who didn't even belong to a conventional church. Thomas Jefferson cut up the Bible to his own
liking, and shared gibes about the absurdity of Orthodox Christian doctrines
with John Adams, a fellow Unitarian. Ben
Franklin was a follower of Deism, an Enlightenment philosophy that is close to Agnosticism.
James Madison, the architect of the
Constitution's separation of church and state, penned a famous protest against
a Virginia state tax to support Christian clergy. George Washington was a Freemason — a devout
member of a mystical order that traces its Spiritual roots to magic.
The American Revolutionary War was the first successful
colonial war of independence against a European power. The British insisted on administering the
empire through Parliament and the conflict escalated into war. The Congress adopted the Declaration of
Independence, on July 4, 1776, proclaiming that humanity is created equal in
their inalienable rights.
Independence
Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States
commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776,
declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with
fireworks, parades, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family
reunions and ceremonies.
The Declaration of
Independence is the usual name of a statement adopted by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the Thirteen American
colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly
independent sovereign states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a new nation — the United
States of America (US or USA).
Britain recognized the independence of the United States
following their defeat at Yorktown. Nationalists led the Philadelphia Convention
of 1787 in writing the United States Constitution. George Washington, who had led the
revolutionary army to victory, was the first president elected under the new
constitution. The Bill of Rights,
forbidding federal restriction of personal freedoms and guaranteeing a range of
legal protections, was adopted in 1791.
The federal government criminalized the international slave
trade in 1808, after 1820 cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop
exploded in the Deep South, along with the slave population. The Second Great Awakening, beginning about
1800, converted millions to evangelical Protestantism. In the North it energized multiple social
reform movements, including abolitionism; in the South, Methodists and Baptists
proselytized among slave populations.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees
the free exercise of religion and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting
its establishment. Freedom of religion
is also closely associated with separation of church and state, a concept
advocated by Founding Fathers. Christianity
is by far the most common religion practiced. After Christianity, Unaffiliated and Judaism are the next
largest religious affiliations in the USA.
Witches have been hanged.
News reports debate having the Ten Commandments posted
on their doors. Native Americans have
been removed from their homes. "In
God we trust" has appeared on most US coins since 1864 and on paper
currency since 1957. During the early 2010's many
lawsuits based on religious freedom resulted from conflicts between employees
of conservative religious schools and the employer. The Supreme Court has ruled that companies
with strong religious ties can be exempt from Affordable Care Act requirements.
Many Americans generally believe that their Constitution
guarantees their freedom to worship as they please. It is sadly not always the case. Ancient Americans
came to this country seeking many things including religious freedom. It is a battle that continues today for Wicca,
Islam, Amish, Native Americanism and more.
Yet
the Pagan Roots in America still run deep. Let's look at the Declaration of Independence words directly: "...among the Powers of
the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's
God entitle them...". Thomas Jefferson
thought of himself as a scientist more than he did a politician. Consider that the 'Laws of Nature' describe a
materialist viewpoint, many times referred to as Newton's Laws in the years
following Newton's discovery of the laws of gravity, light and calculus
mathematics. And Jefferson intended 'Nature's
God,' not to refer to the personal God of Christianity, but of a physical God
of Nature and the laws of physics. In
1809 Jefferson wrote, "Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science,
by rendering them my supreme delight."
Jefferson thought of Nature as God.
To continue with words in the Declaration: "... that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights...". The Declaration echoes John Locke's
idea that in the 'state of nature,' all human beings lived free and equal. The idea that 'all men are created equal' goes
against Biblical doctrine. The Bible
supports inequality with a top
down hierarchy: God-priest-man-woman-beast. Moreover the word 'Creator' describes a
Deistic term in the 1700s.
What about the
Constitution of the United States? The
Constitution uses words like "Senate," "Justice,"
"Liberty" which describe Greek and Roman concepts, all of them Pagan,
not to mention that our very concept of democracy came from the Pagan Greeks.
There
are also several buildings mirrored after Pagan sites. They were not built from ideas of Temple
of Solomon or Cathedral architecture from the Holy Ages. The Greek Parthenon
and the Roman Pantheon have served as the template for many USA buildings. The Supreme Court Building, the Second Bank of
the United States and the Lincoln Memorial, for example, took their design from
the Parthenon, a religious Greek temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena.
The
Pantheon with its majestic dome has influenced the design of many government
buildings including the Jefferson Memorial and the USA Capitol building. In fact the word 'Capitol' comes from the name
of an ancient temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
What
is on the top of the USA Capitol building? A cross? A menorah? A figure of the Immaculate Mary? No. We
find the Pagan Statue of Freedom. Twelve
stars surround the headdress of the Statue of Freedom which represents the
Zodiac, an ancient Pagan astrological concept. And her headdress holds feathers sacred to
Native Americans. And don't forget what
we find standing in the entrance of the USA Capitol building? A statue tribute to the God Mars, the Roman
God of war and agriculture.
The most famous of
the American depictions, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from France to the
United States in honour of America's 100th birthday. The head of Lady Liberty's statue wears a
crown with solar rays, a monument to the Sun God Helios that once stood astride
a Greek harbour. The torch Liberty holds
in her right up stretched hand is the Flame of Freedom and underneath her feet
are broken chains representing overcoming tyranny and enslavement. The tablet Liberty holds in her left hand is
inscribed with July 4, the date of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence and the birth of the USA as a nation. Her flowing gown and body is similar in design
to depictions of Goddess Libertas in Ancient Rome.
Our
Justice system also derived from Pagan Greek and Roman concepts. Courthouses throughout America honor the Lady
of Justice with statues. Justitia, a
Roman Goddess of justice symbolizes the fair and equal administration of the
law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice or favor. Sculptors often portray her as evenly
balancing both scales, a sword and wearing a blindfold.
The intent of our most influential American Founding Fathers
constructed our country based on Ancient ideals. The first political document, the Declaration
of American Independence, describes Nature's God, a Deist concept; not the God
of Jesus, Moses or Mohammed. The United
States Constitution reflects an exclusion of religion with no reference to a
Judeo-Christian God at all.
Early American currency symbols reflect Pagan Gods and Goddesses
with references to the Goddess of Liberty, Goddess of Justice, Minerva and
Hercules. None of the early American
currency used the motto 'In God We Trust.' American buildings reflect Ancient Greek and
Roman Pagan architectural design with many references to Pagan Gods. The days of the week and months all use Pagan
terms.
America
has become a mixing pot. There are uses
for the word 'Lord', a common dating method.
There are statues of Moses, Confucius and Solon on the Supreme Court. Most modern currency holds images of
presidents. But if anyone points to the Ten
Commandments, the Pledge of Allegiance, or the word 'God' on a coin, and tries
to claim America as Christian, give them a lesson about our Pagan Roots.
Happy Birthday America!
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness." ~ The Declaration of the Thirteen United States 1776
A basic exercise often given is a candle-based one.
Here's one version: Light a candle and
have it stand at your eye-level about two feet away. Look at the flame, inspect and study it, its
movements and colors, how the flame stands out against the dark background. What do you smell? What do you see? Can you feel the heat? (Don't burn yourself or other items around
you!) Concentrate all your attention to
the flame until it's practically all you can see. Then close your eyes, still facing the candle,
and start building up the image of the flame using your mind's eye. 
