by Valerie Williams

Created on: October 24, 2008

Is Thanksgiving a holiday that can be found in the Bible? Is it a holiday that anyone in either the Old or New Testaments kept? Or is it simply a tradition that has been adopted and handed down throughout the centuries? Many people would say that, no, one cannot find the keeping or celebrating of Thanksgiving within the pages of the Bible, but it is simply a day of thanks that God has given to us. Christianity has defined the holiday as a religous holiday, the day we're to thank God for all of our blessings. However, is this really so?

All holidays, Thanksgiving included, has its origins in paganism. We were all taught that Thanksgiving came into existence in America at Plymouth Rock in the 1600s, however, though Plymouth Rock was the origin of the first Thanksgiving in this country, it was not the first Thanksgiving ever celebrated. Thanksgiving and all of its accompanying traditions began as a pagan feast, honoring agricultural gods, and dates back thousands of years. It was proclaimed as an annual day of giving of thanks in 1789 by the Protestant Episcopal Church in America although the custom had long been practiced in New England. The Roman Catholic Church formally recognized the holiday in 1888, and it has been touted as a religious holiday, a harvest festival, and as a holy day. The questions beckons: whose holy day?

Today Thanksgiving has become a fixture and a tradition in our culture. However, it was also a tradition in many other cultures thousands of years ago. In ancient times, celebrations were held in honor of the bountiful harvest. The Greeks honored the god Demeter, the goddess of agriculture with a 9-day celebration. The Romans honored Ceres, the god of the harvest. Ancient people of the Mediterranean Basin held festivals at harvest time in honor of the earth mother. The goddess of the corn ('corn' being the European term for any grain; Indian [or American] corn is called 'maize') was always one of the most important deities in the hierarchy of gods. The ancient Semites called the earth mother Astarte, the Phrygians called her Semole; all of these local deities were absorbed by the Greeks into one great goddess, Demeter.

In Peru, the ancient Indians worshiped the 'Mother of Maize', their objective to persuade her to bring in another good harvest each year. In Europe, the Austrians had a 'Corn Mother' doll, made from the last sheaf of grain cut in the field. Interestingly enough, the Corn Mother doll was derived from the Roman version of the harvest

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