Winter Solstice. The real reason for the season. Woden's Day 21st December '2022' #WinterSolstice #WinterSolstice2022

The #WinterSolstice '2022'. We have arrived. The depths of winter. 2147hrs on Wednesday 21st December.

'Woden's Day' December 21st . For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Winter Solstice. The time of year when daylight is at its shortest. From this point on, the days will start to become longer, a consequence of the sun appearing higher overhead in the sky. It is literally 'the coming of the light'. This is why our ancestors held this time of year as an important marker in their calendar. They had made it to the darkest point in the season and could look forward to increased daylight from now on. It would have meant a new start, a new growing season and the prospect of new food. Celebrated by fire, lights, decorated trees, the giving of offerings/gifts and feasting on livestock.

This has been hijacked, bastardised and used by politically religious power-mongers to spread their

American Thanksgiving. Thu 24th Nov 2022. Celebrating Nature & our place in the Solar System. #Thanksgiving2022 #Thanksgiving.

The fourth Thursday of November in the USA is 'Thanksgiving', their fixed celebration of seasons, harvest and plenty. Based on ancient, pagan, seasonal celebrations. Now, high-jacked for religious / political gains, it wasn't always a fixed date. For millennia, early peoples would have been aware that the summer growing season was over and their journey into winter was beginning, and food stores would have to last them through the colder period. The global and solar reality of the Winter Solstice and the Northern Hemisphere return to Spring. This happens worldwide through history.

Early settlers from other lands brought with them the harvest rituals that they observed. In these new lands, the end of the growing season would vary in time and severity depending on location, the more northerly 'states' having an earlier and harsher onset of winter. Canadian Thanksgiving harvest rituals are much earlier. This movable feast, however, didn't foster the 'United' feeling that the 'States' were looking for. Abraham Lincoln fixed the date on which all the states would celebrate in order to a give the people a sense of unity (1863). Various tales and unsubstantiated myths

surround the modern version and its origins including the 1621 Pilgrims giving thanks for a good harvest but, in reality, it is another ancient celebration of human existence and seasonal change. Observing our place in the solar system through festivals and feasts .( For e.g ) Versions of a harvest festival came to the land, brought by travellers from Europe, Mexico, the north of the continent and further. These added to the rituals no doubt observed by the indigenous people. Thanks to be nature. 

'Christmas Adverts' It is that time of year again. Sickly sweet, plastic consumer manipulation. Winter.

It is that time of year again. The sickly, manipulative adverts have begun. People are gearing themselves up to spend too much money on a bunch of made up, zombie nonsense. Eating, drinking and buying too much plastic tat that makes them feel like they are part of something. Walking mindlessly through the shopping and eating 'traditions' like something undead.

I am talking, of course, about 'Christmas' and 'New Year'. At the risk of being called 'a humbug' or a 'party-pooper,' it really is the worst time of year. The depths of a Northern Hemisphere winter spoilt by overly commercialised, overly religious festivals that nobody thinks about and that should have limited place in a modern society. Think about it. Creationism, prophecies, virgin births, angels, wise men, magical moving stars, stables, donkeys, trees, turkeys, crackers, reindeer, chimneys and gifts. Really? What a load of absolute hokum. Nothing more than a mixed up, patchwork quilt of Pagan,

Halloween. Shorter days. Longer nights. Darkness. Death. Autumn. #Halloween #Samhain. The Day of the Dead.

Monday (Moon Day) 31st October '2022'. Here we are again. Halloween.

Treats, costumes, lanterns, spiders, bats, blood, horror, death, ghosts. 

'Halloween' has its origins in the ancient, pagan, pre-Christian, Celtic festival known as Samhain ("sah-win"). The Feast of the Dead. A time when humans had much less knowledge of the world around them. Later, hijacked and assimilated by the religious ceremony of All Hallows Eve & All Saints Day. A day to celebrate the onset of Winter. Look it up. It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season, a recognition of the lengthening nights, worsening weather and the harsh winter season running up to the winter solstice ( Dec 21st aka Christmas. Here ). It represents the point in the calendar when livestock were moved to lower level farmland from the higher, summer feeding grounds and when animals were slaughtered for the winter larders.  In the northern hemisphere, the reduced daylight, winter temperatures and sparse food supply meant that our ancient, pagan ancestors felt the icy grip of winter tightening and closer to their (made up) spirit world, disease and death. The coming of the Light. Humans have always feared the things that they hadn't worked out.

Mon 10th October '2022' - Canadian 'Thanksgiving'. Thanks be to nature.

The second Monday of October (10th -2022) in Canada is Canadian Thanksgiving', their fixed celebration of seasons, harvest and plenty. Based on ancient, pagan, seasonal celebrations, now, high-jacked for religious / political gains, it wasn't always a fixed date.(1879). For millennia, early peoples would have been aware that the summer growing season was over and their journey in to winter was beginning and food stores would have to last

Until regressive, religious slaughter of meat products is banned, we need good labelling.

Until regressive, religious exemptions are banned, we need clear, concise and truthful labelling of all produce on sale in supermarkets and shops so that people can make informed choices about what to buy. All religiously slaughtered meat on sale in the UK should be labelled as such regardless of where it came from. Labelling that clearly shows the whole-of-life process and methods used in slaughter so that people can make an informed choice about what to support.. There is no argument.

We have laws to govern the best possible treatment of animals during slaughter, laws that have developed over time in conjunction with many concerned groups. These laws have evolved and advanced through study and collaboration and we should be leading the way in animal welfare throughout the modern world. ( Amongst others, the BVA, Compassion in World Farming, RSPCA, Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and FAWC all support a ban on non-stun slaughter ). We should be practicing the highest of standards when it comes to animal husbandry, welfare and managing the end of life process. There should be no room for religious exemptions and loop-holes like #RecoverableStun. There is always room for improvement and the only way to ensure that animals don't suffer is to not eat meat.

It is important that we employ the best practice during animal slaughter to minimise the stress and

distress caused and the modern consensus is that non-recoverable, pre-stunning should be part of that best practice. There are some groups however, who insist on bypassing these laws, claiming their right to religious freedom. Mumbo-Jumbo has no place in best practices.

The only way to ensure that animal welfare is as high as possible is to enforce the highest of standards across the board and label the products with a standard mark that people can trust. Religious slaughter of previously stunned animals causes no problem as long as it is labelled as such and people have the ability to make an informed choice. If you look at the numbers involved, Halal meat is not the biggest problem, Kosher meat within the market is mostly non-stunned or minimal stun/recoverable stun and a lot of the slaughtered animal is wasted due to religious restrictions on what can be eaten. This is then sold on without labelling properly. Even standard marks like 'RedTractor' do not prevent this.

The debate is not about picking on certain religious groups, it is about best practice, labelling, and respecting the slaughtered animal. There is no excuse for poor levels of animal welfare within the meat industry, we have standards. The idea that shops, supermarkets, restaurants and public outlets are selling religiously slaughtered meat without labelling is a blight on people's ability to make a reasoned choice in the UK. This is not something that should be allowed to happen in a modern, forward thinking country. Backwards practises can only drag us backwards. #moveforward

Tuesday 21st June 2022. SUMMER! Nothing to do with all that man-made, religious nonsense. #SummerSolstice #WorldHumanistDay

Tuesday June 21st 2022. Happy Summer Solstice. Happy World Humanist Day

The Summer Solstice. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 21st '2022' is the #SummerSolstice, the Longest Day of the year. It is the point in our celestial year when the sun appears to reach its highest point in the sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, it represents the winter solstice when the path of the sun in the sky is at its lowest, the shortest day. For many thousands of years our ancestors would have celebrated this time of year and

St George. Who the what the hell now? #StGeorgesDay

 St George's Day. Saturday 23rd April, 2022. Let's face it, the day needs revamping. A celebration of Spring that has become a sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why.

We have a poorly educated, Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs in a made-up, emerging cult nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and then magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. Mumbo-Jumbo. Nonsense. Myth.

This military, religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in the  green and pleasant land.

A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before vomiting in a bin and being thrown out for fighting. 

If you want a really 'Good' Friday, eat your overpriced chocolate and THINK about the symboll*cks. #SpringEquinox #FullMoon #Eostre

Well, here we are again. It is that time of year, "Easter". AKA the Spring Equinox. You could say 'Ishtar' or 'Eostre' or 'Ostara' if you prefer. It's all the same. A bastardisation of a yearly solar event that has importance for all our lives. A moment of solar transition from one season to another. Yet another public holiday based on a religious myth that has nothing to do with it's actual origins.

'Easter' is a laughably movable celebration within the Christian church that is held between 21 March and 25 April. It falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the northern hemisphere spring equinox - how amazingly pagan that all seems to be. Just think about it. Spring equinox, a new growing season, rebirth and the return of the sun (light) to the northern hemisphere, rabbits for reproduction, eggs for fertility, and lots of chocolate because it is tasty and encourages spending - it is all just 'symbollocks'. Even the name 'Easter' is taken from a Germanic Pagan goddess and is related to the fact that sunlight returns ( the dawn ). 

Pancake Day. Leftover. Nature. Celebrated. #PancakeDay #ShroveTuesday

  Pancake Day Some people call it #ShroveTuesday. Another hijacked, residual 'celebration'. Originally a pagan activity, it became part of the Christian spring celebration before loosing all religious meaning to become the bland, over-commercialised, greedy, modern leftover that we have today.

The word SHROVE comes from the old, English word 'shrive', which means to obtain absolution for "sins" by confessing. Thereby being "shriven" before the start of 'Lent'. Pancakes were 'traditionally' eaten on this day to use up perishable goods like eggs and milk before the 40-day fasting of 'Lent'. 'Lent' being invented to give religious control over the uneducated masses. Even the word 'Lent' comes from the Old English word 'lencten' which meant 'Spring Season'.

Before this Christian 'tradition' was invented and tacked on to their 'Oestre/ Easter' hijacking, it is thought that the event might have originated from a pagan observation, when eating warm, round, flour & water flatbreads - symbolising the sun - was a way of celebrating the arrival of spring and the new growing season. Full moon, Spring Equinox - same as Easter. The 1st SUNday after the 1st FULL MOON after the SPRING EQUINOX. How delightfully pagan. Things happen, change & evolve over time and we have many residual celebrations in modern calendars. #Human #Humanism