Cartaz para o VI Retiro Espiritural da PIBC, no período de carnaval em 2008.

Primeiro Logotipo que desenvolvi, em Março/2006. É usado pela JUBAC (Juventude Batista de Ceres) da PIBC (Primeira Igreja Batista de Ceres).

Ceres 1811 – 1936

As I write, I can hear the wind hammering the trees in front of the house.

The inshore waters forecast for here gives southwesterly 6 to gale 8.

For the Bristol Channel it gives:

Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel

The outlook for the 24 hours following 1200 Tuesday 24^th November

Strong winds are forecast

Wind: Southwesterly 6 to gale 8, increasing severe gale 9 at times, perhaps storm 10 later in west

Sea state: Rough or very rough, occasionally high in west

Weather: Squally showers.

Visibility: Moderate or good, occasionally poor in west.

I mention this because 73 years ago today, off Baggy Point on the north coast of Devon at the western end of the Bristol Channel, on a quieter, fog-ridden day, the Ceres foundered.

The report in the Bideford Weekly Gazette on 1st December 1936 is recorded below.

~~~

The following year, my grandfather commissioned Pelham Jones to commemorate her on canvas (above). The painting is a wonderfully optimistic depiction of a coasting ketch, albeit with her competition lurking in the background. It is a painting for her owner to enjoy.

I find John Chancellor’s painting of the Ceres to be equally optimistic. I suspect he painted her purely because he enjoyed painting ships and boats. This is a painting for the artist himself to enjoy.

Taking Bude After a Blow, by John Chancellor

~~~

Taken from an article in the Bideford Weekly Gazette dated December 1st.1936.

“FATE OF THE “CERES”

The 125 years old “Ceres”, veteran of the merchant service, her course now run, lies at the bottom of Bideford Bay, somewhere off Baggy Point.

The “Ceres” sprang a leak on Tuesday night while on a voyage from South Wales to Bude, and foundered after her crew had put off in her boat and had been picked up by the Appledore lifeboat. The Captain is Mr Oswald Jeffery, a married man, whose home is in Richmond Road, Appledore, and the mate Mr Walter Ford, a married man of Irsha Street,, Appledore. They reached Appledore in the lifeboat at about 11 o’clock, and on arrival the Rev Muller offered a short prayer of thanksgiving for their safety.

Captain Jeffery said,” We left Swansea on Tuesday bound for Bude with a cargo of slag. Because of the weather we intended to go in over the Bar for the night as it was to rough to venture on to Bude. At 8 o’clock I went below to rest for an hour, leaving the mate in charge. An hour later he told me there was water in the engine room. We manned the pumps. We tried to get the ship over the Bar, but the water made her roll badly, and I gave the order for the ship’s rowing boat to be launched. I fired two rockets, and we abandoned the vessel. We lay in the shelter of the “Ceres” which was sinking, and were taken onboard the lifeboat.

Dr. Valentine stood by in case medical assistance was needed, but although wet through, neither the captain nor his mate appeared any the worse for this ordeal.

The “Ceres” was owed by a Bude firm of coal merchants, and was built in Salcombe.

Ketch Ceres 1811 – 1936.

Built in Salcombe, Devon in 1811.She carried stores as a revitaling ship at the blockade of Brest during the Napoleonic wars. Was the oldest sea-going vessel afloat until she sank in Croyde Bay one November evening in 1936. My late father Walter Ford always maintained that she sank because the vessel had recently had a new timber set in, and this had swollen and had displaced the much older timbers which surrounded it.

The night she sank was flat calm and the sky clear.”

For further posts on the Ceres here.

History According to Wikipedia:

In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. It is the only other country outside of the United States that officially observes the day as a holiday.

Thanksgiving involves a group of people commonly known as the Pilgrims.

They were a dissenting religious group considered to be outside of mainstream “Christianity”.  The Pilgrims felt that the only way freely to practice their religion was to physically separate themselves from the Church of England that had persecuted them*. First to flee persecution, these “Separatists,” moved to the English Midlands. Then they went to Amsterdam in 1607. In 1609, they moved to the more religiously tolerant Netherlands. But they decided that this would not do.  Finally, they began their voyage to America in 1620. It took months to cross the sea and they lost many during that voyage as well as after coming to America.. In spite of all their sufferings and the death of half of their company, in October 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest.  In 1863, US President Lincoln made a proclamation that ultimately led to Thanksgiving becoming a US holiday.

*Was this a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy?

Deu 29:24 “And all nations shall say, ‘Why has יהוה  done so to this land? What does the heat of this great displeasure mean?’
Deu 29:25 “And it shall be said, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of יהוה  Elohim of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Deu 29:26 ‘And they went and served other mighty ones and bowed themselves to them, mighty ones that they did not know and that He had not given to them,
Deu 29:27 therefore the displeasure of יהוה  burned against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book.
Deu 29:28 ‘And יהוה  uprooted them from their land in displeasure, and in wrath, and in great rage, and cast them into another land**, as it is today.’
The Puritans and most Americans of the 1600’s believed the above Scripture applied to them.  They believed they were Israelites who were being led to a new promised land by the hand of Providence.

**Eretz acharet…America was called the ‘New World’ which could be translated roughly from this Hebrew phrase.
2Sa 7:10 “And I shall appoint a place for My people Yisra’ĕl, and shall plant them, and they shall dwell in a place of their own and no longer be afraid, neither shall the children of wickedness oppress them again, as at the first,
This prophecy was told to David while Yisrael was dwelling safely in the Land.  Ultimately, this is a prophecy of the Kingdom of Messiah but a partial fulfillment may be America.

2 Esdras 13:34 And an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as thou sawest them, willing to come, and to overcome him by fighting.
35 But he {Messiah} shall stand upon the top of the mount Sion.
36 And Sion shall come, and shall be shewed to all men, being prepared and builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without hands.
37 And this my Son shall rebuke the wicked inventions of those nations, which for their wicked life are fallen into the tempest;
38 And shall lay before them their evil thoughts, and the torments wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which are like unto a flame: and he shall destroy them without labour by the law which is like unto me.
39 And whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him;
40 Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land.
41 But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt,
42 That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land.
Here we see an amazing prophecy of the 10 tribes, which are represented by the Christians that left Europe to travel to the New World.  There is much historical evidence that the 10 tribes migrated to Europe and later accepted the Gospel.  It is these ‘lost tribes’ that purposed to go to a land where mankind had not known to keep the Torah that they didn’t keep while in the Land of Yisrael.

The Vine in the wilderness

Isa 5:1  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Isa 5:2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
Isa 5:5  And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
Isa 5:6  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Mat 21:33  Hear another parable: There was a certain man, a house master, who planted a vineyard and placed a hedge around it; and he dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. And he rented it to vinedressers and left the country. Isa. 5:1, 2
Mat 21:34  And when the season of the fruits came, he sent his slaves to the vinedressers to receive his fruits.
Mat 21:35  And the vinedressers, taking his slaves, they beat this one, and they killed one, and they stoned another.
Mat 21:36  Again he sent other slaves, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
Mat 21:37  And at last he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son.
Mat 21:38  But seeing the son, the vinedressers said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and possess his inheritance.
Mat 21:39  And taking him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Mat 21:40  Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?
Mat 21:41  They said to Him, Bad men! He will miserably destroy them, and he will rent out the vineyard to other vinedressers who will give to him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42  Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, “A Stone which the builders rejected, this One became the Head of the Corner? This was from the Lord, and it is a wonder in our eyes?” Psalm 118:22, 23
Mat 21:43  Because of this I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and it will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.*

*This is the role that America was/is to fulfill.  No single nation has spread the Gospel more than the USA/America.  The problem is that when believers fled from Europe to escape religious persecution, there was also those from the side of darkness that came along with them to escape that same religious intolerance.  There has always been this power struggle in this country between those who wish to worship YHWH according to the dictates of their hearts versus those who hate Him and wish to bring about a new world of antichrist. click here

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida

The traditional “first Thanksgiving” is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621. The Plymouth celebration occurred early in the history in one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States, and this celebration became an important part of the American myth by the 1800s.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God,[1] and is still celebrated as such by many families, but it is now also considered a secular holiday as well.
“Thanksgiving Day”. Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590003/Thanksgiving-Day. Retrieved 2009-11-03.

The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. Although half of the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had already died, many more would have had it not been for the native Americans teaching the pilgrims to harvest foods. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three whole days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these items. On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted. Pumpkin pie wasn’t on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin. Cranberries weren’t introduced at this time. Due to the diminishing supply of flour there was no bread of any kind. The foods included in the first feast included duck, geese, venison, fish, lobster, clams, swan, berries, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, and many more vegetables.

Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned English as a slave in Europe and travels in England). The Pilgrims set apart a day to celebrate at Plymouth immediately after their first harvest, in 1621. At the time, this was not regarded as a Thanksgiving observance; harvest festivals existed in English and Wampanoag tradition alike. Several colonists gave personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims, most of whom were Separatists, are not to be confused with Puritans who established their own Massachusetts Bay Colony nearby (current day Boston) in 1628 and had very different religious beliefs*.

There were two different camps of believers that came out of the Protestant reformation.  The Pilgrims were considered ‘Separatists’ who did not seek to reform the church but to separate from it.  The Puritans sought to ‘purify’ church and state.

The Pilgrims did not hold a true Thanksgiving until 1623, after a switch from communal farming to privatized farming finally resulted in a larger harvest.[9] Irregular Thanksgivings continued after favorable events and days of fasting after unfavorable ones. In the Plymouth tradition, a thanksgiving day was a church observance, rather than a feast day.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony (consisting mainly of Puritan Christians) celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in 1630, and frequently thereafter until about 1680, when it became an annual festival in that colony; and Connecticut as early as 1639 and annually after 1647, except in 1675. The Dutch in New Netherland appointed a day for giving thanks in 1644 and occasionally thereafter.

Charlestown, Massachusetts held the first recorded Thanksgiving observance June 29, 1671 by proclamation of the town’s governing council.

During the 18th century individual colonies commonly observed days of thanksgiving throughout each year. We might not recognize a traditional Thanksgiving Day from that period, as it was not a day marked by plentiful food and drink as is today’s custom, but rather a day set aside for prayer and fasting.

Later in the 1700s individual colonies would periodically designate a day of thanksgiving in honor of a military victory, an adoption of a state constitution or an exceptionally bountiful crop. Such a Thanksgiving Day celebration was held in December 1777 by the colonies nationwide, commemorating the surrender of British General Burgoyne at Saratoga.

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale,[3] proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.”

Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863.

Interestingly, Thanksgiving was proclaimed as a national holiday after the north and south came back together as one nation.  The Scriptures speak of the northern tribes and the southern tribes coming back together as a time of Thanksgiving as well.

Jer 30:18  So says YHWH, Behold I will turn the captivity of Jacob’s tents and will have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built on her ruin heap; and the fortress shall remain on its own ordinance.
Jer 30:19  And out of them shall come thanksgiving and the voice of those who are merry. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few. I also will honor them, and they shall not be small.

Isa 51:3  For YHWH comforts Zion. He comforts all her desolations, and He makes her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of YHWH; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of singing praise

Hodu – Turkey

In excavations near Salem, Massachuseets an old Hebrew manuscript was found that sheds light on why turkey is eaten on Thanksgiving.
b’chag hahodaya
On holiday/feast Thanksgiving

Hodu sheain atem
Give thanks that not you are

tarngol hahodu asher lfaneikhem
the fowl indian/turkey that is before you

This manuscript was called Haggada Shel Hodaya…similar to Haggada shel Pesach.  At Passover it is said:

leshana ha’ba’a b’yerushalayim

Next year in Jerusalem

Haggada Shel Hodaya instructs Thanksgiving day meal be concluded with:

Hodu=give thanks

India = Hodu
The other name for turkey in those days was Indian chicken because Columbus thought he was in India when he saw turkeys for the first time.

The Hebrew word for Turkey is

Benjamin Franklin proposed that turkey be the national bird of the USA arguing that the turkey was more honest, honorable, diligent and smarter than the bald eagle.

Puritans, Yisrael & The Torah

Marvin Wilson’s book,  Our Father Abraham
explains (pp. 127-128):

During the period of the Protestant Reformation (16th century), some signs of the re-Judaization of the Christian faith began to surface, as certain Hebrew categories were rediscovered. The Reformers put great stress on sola scriptura (Scripture as the sole and final authority of the Christian). The consequent de-emphasis on tradition brought with it a return to the biblical roots. Accordingly, during the two centuries following the Reformation, several groups recognized the importance of once again emphasizing the Hebraic heritage of the Church. Among these people were the Puritans who founded Pilgrim America, and the leaders who pioneered American education. We shall comment briefly on the first of these groups before concentrating on the second.

The Puritans came to America deeply rooted in the Hebraic tradition. Most bore Hebrew names. The Pilgrim fathers considered themselves as the children of Israel fleeing “Egypt” (England), crossing the “Red Sea” (the Atlantic Ocean), and emerging from this “Exodus” to their own “promised land” (New England). The Pilgrims thought of themselves as “all the children of Abraham” and, thus, under the covenant of Abraham. (Feingold p. 46.)

The President of Yale College used these words before the Governor and General Assembly of the state of Connecticut in 1783: “Their influence on American society was not soon forgotten: more than a century and a half after the first Puritan settlers reached New England, the American people were referred to in a State Assembly as ‘God’s American Israel.’” (Feldman p. 5)

The seeds of religious liberty for the American Church did not come from New England leaders such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson-as noble as they and others were. Rather, it came from the Hebrews themselves, whose sacred writings inspired the Puritans. Accordingly, many of the Puritans in seventeenth-century England were learned Hebraists. William Bradford (1590-1657), prominent early American and Governor of Plymouth Colony for more than three decades, maintained an intense interest in Hebrew. Bradford stated that he studied Hebrew so that when he died he might be able to speak in the “most ancient language, the Holy Tongue in which God and, the angels, spake.” Cotton Mather (1663-1728), a well-known Puritan minister and scholar from Massachusetts, had a similar deep respect for the Hebrew language. Concerning its importance, Mather once observed, “I promise that those who
spend as much time morning and evening in Hebrew studies as they do in smoking tobacco, would quickly make excellent progress in the language.”click here (Rosovsky)

So popular was the Hebrew Language in the late 16th and early 17th centuries that several students at Yale delivered their commencement orations in Hebrew. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Pennsylvania taught courses in Hebrew—all the more remarkable because no university in England at the time offered it.

Many of the population, including a significant number of the Founding Fathers of America, were products of these American universities—for example, Thomas Jefferson attended William and Mary, James Madison Princeton, Alexander Hamilton King’s College (i.e. Columbia). Thus, we can be sure that a majority of these political leaders were not only well acquainted with the contents of both the New and Old Testaments but also had some working knowledge of Hebrew. Notes Abraham Katsh in The Biblical Heritage of American Democracy (p. 70):

At the time of the American Revolution, the interest in the knowledge of Hebrew was so widespread as to allow the circulation of the story that “certain members of Congress proposed that the use of English be formally prohibited in the United States, and Hebrew substituted for it.”

Many of the earliest “pilgrims” who settled the “New England” of America in early 17th century were Puritan refugees escaping religious persecutions in Europe.

Over the next century, America continued to be not only the land of opportunity for many people seeking a better life but also the land of religious tolerance. By the middle 1700’s, the east coast of America was settled by a virtual “Who’s Who” of Christian splinter sects from all over Europe. Among them were:

* the Puritans, whom we already know so well
* the Quakers, an extremist Puritan sect who did not believe in ministers and for whom a Society of Friends meeting together was good enough to bring down the Holy Spirit
* Calvinists, who early on had challenged the Catholic belief that the bread and wine became the body and blood of Jesus in the celebration of the mass
* the Huguenots, or French Calvinists
* the Moravians, followers of John Hus, the protestant martyr from Bohemia
* the Mennonites, a Swiss sect of Anabaptists who rejected infant baptism
* the Amish, the most stringent of the Mennonites

These were just some of the numerous groups who arrived in America in search of religious freedom.

The majority of the earliest settlers were, of course, Puritans. Beginning with the Mayflower, over the next twenty years, 16,000 Puritans migrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and many more settled in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Like their cousins back in England, these American Puritans strongly identified with both the historical traditions and customs of the ancient Hebrews of the Old Testament. They viewed their emigration from England as a virtual re-enactment of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. To them, England was Egypt, the king was Pharaoh, the Atlantic Ocean was the Red Sea, America was the Land of Israel, and the Indians were the ancient Canaanites. They were the new Israelites, entering into a new covenant with God in a new Promised Land. Thanksgiving—first celebrated in 1621, a year after the Mayflower landed—was initially conceived as day parallel to the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur; it was to be a day of fasting, introspection and prayer.

After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest. During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November, which he may have correlated it with the November 21, 1621, anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod.

Other believe that the Pilgrims were celebrating Sukkot

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm

Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This may not be entirely coincidental: I was taught that our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from Sukkot. The pilgrims were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found Sukkot. This is not the standard story taught in public schools today (that a Thanksgiving holiday is an English custom that the Pilgrims brought over), but the Sukkot explanation of Thanksgiving fits better with the meticulous research of Mayflower historian Caleb Johnson, who believes that the original Thanksgiving was a harvest festival (as is Sukkot), that it was observed in October (as Sukkot usually is), and that Pilgrims would not have celebrated a holiday that was not in the Bible (but Sukkot is in the Bible). Although Mr. Johnson claims that the first Thanksgiving was “not a religious holiday or observance,” he apparently means this in a Christian sense, because he goes on to say that the first Thanksgiving was instead “a harvest festival that included feasts, sporting events, and other activities,” concepts very much in keeping with the Jewish religious observance of Sukkot.

Gabriel Sivan, in The Bible and Civilization, (p. 236) observes:

“No Christian community in history identified more with the People of the Book than did the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who believed their own lives to be a literal reenactment of the Biblical drama of the Hebrew nation. They themselves were the children of Israel; America was their Promised Land; the Atlantic Ocean their Red Sea; the Kings of England were the Egyptian pharaohs; the American Indians the Canaanites; the pact of the Plymouth Rock was God’s holy Covenant; and the ordinances by which they lived were the Divine Law. Like the Huguenots and other Protestant victims of Old World oppression, these émigré Puritans dramatized their own situation as the righteous remnant of the Church corrupted by the “Babylonian woe,” and saw themselves as instruments of Divine Providence, a people chosen to build their new commonwealth on the Covenant entered into at Mount Sinai.”

The earliest legislation of the colonies of New England was all determined by Scripture. At the first assembly of New Haven in 1639, John Davenport clearly stated the primacy of the Bible as the legal and moral foundation of the colony:

Scriptures do hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties which they are to perform to God and men as well as in the government of families and commonwealth as in matters of the Church … the Word of God shall be the only rule to be attended unto in organizing the affairs of government in this plantation. (See Abraham I Katsch, The Biblical Heritage of American Democracy, p. 97)

Subsequently, the New Haven legislators adopted a legal code—the Code of 1655—which contained some 79 statutes, half of which contained Biblical references, virtually all from the Hebrew Bible. The Plymouth Colony had a similar law code as did the Massachusetts assembly, which, in 1641—after an exhortation by Reverend John Cotton who presented the legislators with a copy of Moses, His Judicials—adopted the so-called “Capitall Lawes of New England” based almost entirely on Mosaic law.

Ezra Stiles

The following excerpts from Pastor Ezra Stiles’ sermon capture the vision which many of America’s great churchmen had for this planting of God’s vine in the wilderness:

… I have assumed the text only as introductory to a discourse upon the political welfare of God’s American Israel, and as allusively prophetic of the future prosperity and splendor of the United States.
Pastor Ezra Stiles, D.D., “The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor,” election sermon on May 8, 1783, quoted in John Wingate Thornton in The Pulpit of the American Revolution: Political Sermons of the Period of 1776, 1860 ed., reprinted (Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 1970) p. 403.

Already does the new constellation of the United States begin to realize this glory. It has already risen to an acknowledged sovereignty among the republics and kingdoms of the world. And we have reason to hope, and, I believe, to expect, that God has still greater blessings in store for this vine which his own right hand hath planted, to make us high among the nations in praise, and in name, and in honor. The reasons are very numerous, weighty, and conclusive.  Stiles, pp. 438-439

Our degree of population is such as to give us reason to expect that this will become a great people…. This will be a great, a very great nation…. Should this prove a future fact, how applicable would be the text, when the Lord shall have made his American Israel high above all nations which he has made, in numbers, and in praise, and in name, and in honor! Stiles, Stiles pp. 439-440

Any possible ambiguity in Pastor Stiles’ sermon is cleared in the following declaration by Pastor W. B. Record:
LOOKING WESTWARD…

Standing on the western shores of Europe 500 years ago, you could not see nor visualize a great continent that lay to the west; only what seemed to be an endless stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. Yet there was a great continent out there to the west.

Now may I ask you, “Did Jesus Christ know of this North American Continent?” Your only answer could be, “Yes, of course He did.”

Let me ask another question, “Did Jesus Christ know that a great nation would be established here?” Of course He did!

Still another question, please -”Did Jesus Christ know this great nation (yet to be born) would be Christian from its beginning?” Of course He knew that, for He Himself is the source and Author of the faith we call “Christian.”

Now one more question, “Is it possible that this great nation, known to Jesus, was never mentioned, indicated, or foretold in the Bible?”

Consider this, “I will make of thee a great nation” (Gen. 12:2). “The kingdom of God shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). Where is this great nation, which is bringing forth the fruits of the kingdom of God? The answer is quite obvious: you are living in it. See to it that you make your calling and election sure. Pastor W.B. Record, Truth & Liberty Magazine, September 1964

In The Beginnings of New England, American historian and philosopher John Fiske wrote:

The men who undertook this work were not at all free from self consciousness. They believed that they were doing a wonderful thing. They felt themselves to be instruments in accomplishing a kind of “manifest destiny.” Their exodus was that of a chosen people who were at length to lay the everlasting foundations of God’s kingdom upon earth. Such opinions … took a strong colour from their assiduous study of the Old Testament…. In every propitious event they saw a special providence, an act of divine intervention…. This steadfast faith in an unseen ruler and guide was to them a “pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.  John Fiske (Edmund Fisk Green), The Beginnings of New England (Cambridge, MA: H.O. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, The Liberty Press, 1889) vol. 1, p. 308

Samuel Eliot Morison commented on Pastor Cotton’s vision of this New Canaan land:

[Pastor John] Cotton’s sermon was of a nature to inspire these new children of Israel with the belief that they were the Lord’s chosen people; destined, if they kept the covenant with Him, to people and fructify this new Canaan in the western wilderness.Samuel Eliot Morison, Colonial America (1887) p. 25.

John Cotton

Pastor John Cotton, D.D., sermon to fellow Puritans departing for America in 1630, God’s Promise to His Plantation (London, UK: William Jones, 1630) pp. 13-14.
Was it just by coincidence or was it by the providence of God that in 1630 a young Puritan minister by the name of John Cotton chose 2 Samuel 7: 10 as his text for a farewell message to a boatload of fellow Puritans departing for America

2Sa 7:10 “And I shall appoint a place for My people Yisra’ĕl, and shall plant them, and they shall dwell in a place of their own and no longer be afraid, neither shall the children of wickedness oppress them again, as at the first,

In his book New England’s Memorial, Nathaniel Morton demonstrated how perfectly America’s early  settlers fulfilled this passage from Isaiah:

That especially the seed of Abraham his servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen, may remember his marvelous works (Psal. 105.5-6.) in the beginning and progress of the planting of New England, his wonders, and the judgements of his mouth; how that God brought a vine into this wilderness; that he cast out the heathen and planted it; and he also made room for it, and he caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land; so that it hath sent forth its boughs to the sea, and its branches to the river. (Psal. 80.8-9.) And not only so, but also that He hath guided his people by his strength to his holy habitation, and planted them in the mountain of his inheritance, (Exod. 15.13.) in respect of precious gospel-enjoyments. So that we may not only look back to former experiences of God’s goodness to our predecessors, (though many years before) and so have our faith strengthened in the mercies of God for our times….Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial (Cambridge, MA: S.G. and M.J. for John Usher, 1669), reproduced with extracts from other writers (Boston, MA: Congregational Board of Publication, 1854) pp. 13-14.

Cotton Mather

In Magnalia Christi Americana; or, The Ecclesiastical History of New England, Pastor Cotton Mather, writing of the dangers facing the Puritans seeking asylum beyond the seas, pictured America as a desolate wilderness:

… the God of Heaven served as it were a summons upon the spirits of his people in the English nation; stirring up the spirits of thousands which never saw the faces of each other, with a most unanimous inclination to leave all the pleasant accommodations of their native country, and go over a terrible ocean, into a more terrible desert, for the pure enjoyment of all his ordinances.
Pastor Cotton Mather, D.D., Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, 1702 and subsequent editions reprint. (New York, NY: Russell & Russell, 1967) vol. 1, p. 69.
Being happily arrived at New-England, our new planters found the difficulties of a rough and hard wilderness presently assaulting them… Mather, vol. 1, p. 77.

Never was any plantation brought unto such a considerableness, in a space of time so inconsiderable! … an howling wilderness in a few years became a pleasant land, accommodated with the necessaries, yea, and the conveniences of humane life Mather, vol. 1, p. 80

In his foreword “An Attestation to this Church-History of New England” in the above mentioned book, John Higginson also depicted America as an empty wilderness:

It hath been deservedly esteemed one of the great and wonderful Works of God in this last age, that the Lord stirred up the spirits of so many thousands of his [Celto-Saxon] servants, to leave the pleasant land of England, the land of their nativity, and to transport themselves, and families, over the ocean sea, into a desert land in America, at the distance of a thousand leagues from their own country; and this, merely on the account of pure and undefiled Religion [Christianity], not knowing how they should have their daily bread, but trusting in God for that, in the way of seeking first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof: And that the Lord was pleased to grant such a gracious presence of his with them, and such a blessing upon their undertakings, that within a few years a wilderness was subdued before them, and so many Colonies planted, Towns erected, and Churches settled, wherein the true and living God in Christ Jesus, is worshipped and served, in a place where, time out of mind, had been nothing before but Heathenism, Idolatry, and Devilworship; and that the Lord has added so many of the blessings of Heaven and earth for the comfortable subsistence of his people in these ends of the earth. Surely of this work, and of this time, it shall be said, what hath God wrought? And, this is the Lord’s doings, it is marvellous in our eyes! Even so (O Lord) didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name!

John Higginson, “An Attestation to This Church-History of New-England,” foreword to Pastor Cotton Mather, D.D., Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, 1702 and subsequent editions reprint. (New York, NY: Russell & Russell, 1967) vol. 1, p. 13.

Pastor William Gordon was another voice of the early American church. He not only preached concerning what this land had been, but he also preached what it was becoming in light of Isaiah 35:1-2:

They came from a well-cultured kingdom to a savage people and a wild country, enough to discourage the stoutest. However, they ventured to take up their abode in it…. The face of the colony is not less changed for the better since first settled than what is set forth in the language of Isaiah’s prophecy: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it; the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.  Pastor William Gordon, discourse preached on December 15, 1774, quoted in John Wingate Thornton, The Pulpit of the American Revolution: Political Sermons of the Period of 1776, 1860 ed., reprint. (Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 1970) p. 210-211.

Pastor Emry contrasted the new promised land with the old promised land:

A look at the United States, and Canada, reveals a different picture. Here we find the only land on the face of this earth that is truly a land of unwalled villages. Our Christian ancestors left castles, walls, and moats in the “old world” when they came to the “New World,” and our cities are without walls. God who knows the end from the beginning, can be expected to be accurate in His word.
Emry, p. 10.

[Pastor] John Norton, in the Election Sermon of 1661, said that theycame “into this wilderness to live under the order of the gospel”; “that our polity [government] may be a gospel polity, and may be compleat according to the Scriptures, answering fully the Word of God: this is the work of our generation, and the very work we engaged for into this wilderness; this is the scope and end of it … written upon the forehead of New England … the compleat walking in the faith of the gospel, according to the order of the gospel.”

The venerable [John] Higginson, of Salem, in his Election Sermon of 1663, stated the point with great fulness, as follows: “It concerneth New England always to remember that they are originally a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade…. Let merchants … remember this:

that worldly gain was not the end and design of the people of New England, but religion….”

In the [Harvard University] Election Sermon of 1677 … Increase Mather uttered these words: “It was love to God and to Jesus Christ which brought our  fathers into this wilderness…. There never was a generation that did so perfectly shake off the dust of Babylon, both as to ecclesiastical and civil constitutions, as the first generation of Christians that came into this land for the gospel’s sake.”

[Pastor] William Hubbard, the historian, in a Fast-day sermon, preached June 24, 1682, declared that the fathers “came not hither for the world, or for land, or for traffic; but for religion, and for liberty of conscience in the worship of God, which was their only design.”

The historical fact was stated by President [Ezra] Stiles, of Yale College, in 1783: “It is certain that civil dominion was but the second motive, religion the primary one, with our ancestors, in coming hither and settling this land. It was not so much their design to establish religion for the benefit of the state, as civil government for the benefit of religion, and as subservient, and even necessary, towards the peaceable enjoyment and unmolested exercise of religion – of that religion for which they fled to these ends of the earth.”  John Wingate Thornton, The Pulpit of the American Revolution: Political Sermons of the Period of 1776, 1860 ed., reprint. (Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 1970) pp. xviii-xix.

I WRITE the WONDERS of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION , flying from the depravations of Europe, to the American Strand; and, assisted by the Holy Author of that Religion, I do with all conscience of Truth, required therein by Him, who is the Truth itself, report the wonderful displays of His infinite Power, Wisdom, Goodness, and Faithfulness, wherewith His Divine Providence hath irradiated an Indian Wilderness.  Pastor Cotton Mather, D.D., Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, 1702, subsequent ed. reprint. (New York, NY: Russell & Russell, 1967), vol. 1, p. 25.

The people in the fleet that arrived at New-England, in the year 1630, left the fleet almost, as the family of Noah did the ark, having a whole world before them to be peopled … but where-ever they sat down, they were so mindful of their errand into the wilderness, that still one of their first works was to gather a church into the covenant and order of the gospel.  Mather, vol. 1, pp. 78-89

In the year 1643, after divers essays made in some former years, the several colonies of New-England became in fact, as well as name, UNITED COLONIES. And an instrument was formed, wherein having declared, “That we all came into these parts of America with the same end and aim -namely, to advance the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and enjoy the liberties of the gospel with purity and peace….”  Mather, vol. 1, p. 160.

The ministers and Christians by whom New-England was first planted, were a chosen company of men; picked out of, perhaps, all the counties in England, and this by no human contrivance, but by a strange work of God upon the spirits of men that were, no ways, acquainted with one another, inspiring them, as one man, to secede into a wilderness … a reasonable expression once used by that eminent … lieutenant-governor of New-England … “God sifted three nations [England, Scotland,and Ireland], that he might bring choice grain into this wilderness.”

The design of these refugees, thus carried into the [North American] wilderness, was, that they might there “sacrifice unto the Lord their God:” it was, that they might maintain the power of godliness and practice the evangelical worship of our Lord Jesus Christ, in all the parts of it ….Mather, vol. 1, p. 240

In “An Attestation to This Church-History of New-England,” the foreword to Magnalia, Christi Americana, John Higginson wrote:

It hath been deservedly esteemed one of the great and wonderful works of God in this last age, that the Lord stirred up the spirits of so many thousands of his servants, to leave the pleasant land of England, the land of their nativity, and to transport themselves, and families, over the ocean sea, into a desert land in America … and this, merely on the account of pure and undefiled Religion … seeking first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof… Surely of this work, and of this time, it shall be said, what hath God wrought? And, this is the Lord’s doings, it is marvellous in our eyes! Even so (O Lord) didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name [Isa. 63:141]  John Higginson, “An Attestation to This Church-History of New-England,” Foreword to Pastor Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, 1702, subsequent ed. reprint. (New York, NY: Russell & Russell, 1967) vol. 1, p. 13.

Daniel Webster

…if God prosper us, we shall here begin a work which shall last for ages; we shall plant here a new society, in the principles of the fullest liberty and the purest religion; we shall subdue this wilderness which is before us; we shall fill this region of the great continent, which stretches almost from pole to pole, with civilization and Christianity; the temples of the true God shall rise, where now ascends the smoke of idolatrous sacrifice ….Daniel Webster, discourse at Plymouth Rock, 2 December 1820, The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1858) vol. 1, p. 10.

Patrick Henry

America’s Christian foundations could not be affirmed any more emphatically than they were by Patrick Henry:

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Patrick Henry, quoted in David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilders Press, 1992) p. 117.

David Josiah Brewer

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Josiah Brewer provided additional evidence that America began as a Christian nation:

We classify nations in various ways, as, for instance, by their form of government. One is a kingdom, another an empire, and still another a republic. Also by race. Great Britain is an Anglo-Saxon nation, France a Gaelic, Germany a Teutonic, Russia a Slav. And still again by religion. One is a Mohammedan nation, others are heathen, and still others are Christian nations….

This Republic is classified among the Christian nations of the world. It was so formally declared by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the case of HOLY TRINITY CHURCH vs. UNITED STATES, 143 U.S. 471, that Court … added, “these and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation….”

Nathaniel Morton also observed:

In the year 1602, divers godly Christians of our English nation … entered into covenant to walk with God, and one with another, in the enjoyment of the ordinances of God, according to the primitive pattern in the word of God .

1639 – FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT OF THE COLONY OF NEW HAVEN [Connecticut]: … We all agree that the scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in duties which they are to perform to God and to man, as well in families and commonwealth as in matters of the church; so likewise in all public officers which concern civil order, as choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, we will, all of us, be ordered by the rules which the scripture holds forth; and we agree that such persons may be entrusted with such matters of government as are described in Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1: 13 with Deuteronomy 17:15 and I Corinthians 6:1,6 & 7.

1639 – CONNECTICUT HISTORY: In June 1639, however, a more definite statement of political principles was framed, in which it was clearly stated that the rules of Scripture should determine the ordering of the Church, the choice of magistrates, the making and repeal of laws … that only Church members could become free burgesses and officials of the colony … and in 1644 the general court decided that the judicial laws of God as they were declared by Moses should constitute a rule for all courts ….

1776 – DELAWARE CONSTITUTION: … officeholders were required to make and subscribe to the following declaration: “I … do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, and the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. “

1776 – NORTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTION: … no person who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within the State.

1777 -VERMONT CONSTITUTION: …required of every member of the house of representatives that he take this oath: “I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the Protestant religion. “

Alexis de Tocqueville recognized the uniqueness of our beginnings and wrote of the Scriptural, moral and civil code which was the foundation for those early laws of New England:

… in studying the earliest historical and legislative records of New England. They exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates, concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted laws as if their allegiance was due only to God. Nothing can be more curious and, at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now present[s] to the world is to be found.

Amongst these documents we shall notice, as especially characteristic, the code of laws promulgated by the little State of Connecticut in 1650. The legislators of Connecticut begin with the penal laws, and … they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ. “Whosoever shall worship any other God than the Lord,” says the preamble of the Code, “shall surely be put to death.” This is followed by ten or twelve enactments of the same kind, copied verbatim from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy, sorcery, adultery, and rape were punished with death ….

The 1879 McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader clearly illustrated how early America’s Christianity influenced her government:

Their  form of government was as strictly theocratical … insomuch that it would be difficult to say where there was any civil authority among them entirely distinct from ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Whenever a few of them settled a town, they immediately gathered themselves into a church; and their elders were magistrates, and their code of laws was the Pentateuch]….

God was their King; and they regarded him as truly and literally so ….

James Madison, “the Father of the U.S. Constitution” and our fourth President, understood that the future of our American civilization was (and still is) dependent upon the Laws of God:

We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.

Jewish Encyclopedia

UNITED STATES: … the early forms of government and laws were fashioned in a manner upon Old Testament times. This was particularly the case in Massachusetts (whose first criminal code [in 16411 gave chapter and verse from the Bible as its authority), as also in Connecticut. The records of the colony of New Haven, founded in 1638, have distinctly Old Testament character, and Biblical precedent is quoted for almost every governmental act. One can form some opinion of the measure of Old Testament influence when one considers that in the code of colony laws adopted in New Haven in 1656 there are 107 references to the Old Testament....

But Jews as individuals contributed little or nothing to direct the trend of colonial legislation of this early period.

Forefathers of the Puritans & Immigrants to America believed they were Israel

Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, England
During his reign from 871 to 899 the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great declared:

Be ye kind to the stranger within thy gates, for ye were strangers in the land of the Egyptians

Scottish Declaration of Independence
In 1320 the Scottish Declaration of Independence was drawn up by King Robert (the Bruce) and twenty-five Scottish nobles in which the Scots are addressed as Israelites. This great document states the following regarding their migrations:

…the Scots … passing from the greater Scythia … and coming thence one thousand two hundred years after the outgoing of the people of Israel … acquired for themselves the possessions in the West…

Adam de Houghton, Bishop of Saint David, Wales
In 1377 Adam de Houghton, the Bishop of Saint David, Wales, delivered a speech before the British Parliament in which he recognized England as Israel:

…you may embrace your noble King … there is through him [King Edward III] that peace over Israel which the Scriptures name – Israel being the heritage of God, and that heritage being also England. For in good truth, I believe that God would never have honoured this country by victories such as had given glory to Israel, had He not intended it for His heritage also.

William Tyndale, English Reformer and Martyr
In 1530 the great English religious reformer, William Tyndale, who translated the New Testament and the Pentateuch into English announced his amazing discovery:

…the properties of the Hebrew tongue agreeth a thousand times more with the English than with the Latin. The manner of speaking is both one; so that in a thousand places thou needest not but to translate it into the English, word for word; when thou must seek a compass in the Latin, and yet shall have much work to translate it well-favouredly, so that it have the same grace and sweetness, sense and pure understanding with it in the Latin, and as it hath in the Hebrew. A thousand parts better may it [the Hebrew tongue] be translated into the English, than into the Latin.

Sir Francis Drake, English Navigator and Admiral
In 1587 Sir Francis Drake, an explorer for Queen Elizabeth I, wrote to the religious writer John Foxe beseeching his prayers:

God may be glorious, His church, our Queen and country preserved, the enemies of truth vanquished, that we may have continued peace in Israel…. Our enemies are many, but our Protector commandeth the whole world….

King James VI of Scotland and I of England

King James VI of Scotland (James I of England) (1566-1625), who commissioned the King James Bible, claimed that the Lord had made him King over Israel; the gold coin of his day, bearing his head was called the “Jacobus” and James had the reverse inscribed in Latin the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:22, “I will make of them one nation.”

Pastor John Cotton, Puritan Clergyman
In 1630, prior to the departure of the ship Abrella for America with Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop and his fellow Puritans aboard, the young Puritan minister John Cotton preached a stirring farewell message taken from 2 Samuel 7:10:

I  will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed….

Pastor Cotton further exhorted his audience:

Go forth … with a publick spirit … have a tender care … to your children, that they doe not degenerate as the Israelites did….

American historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote the following concerning Pastor Cotton’s sermon:

Cotton’s sermon was of a nature to inspire these new children of Israel with the belief that they were the Lord’s chosen people; destined, if they kept the covenant with Him, to people and fructify this new Canaan in the western wilderness.

B. Woodbridge concluded his epitaph for Pastor John Cotton with the following words:

Though Moses [referring to Pastor John Cotton] be [dead], yet Joshua is not dead: I mean renowned [Pastor John] Norton; worthy he, Successor to our Moses, is to be. O happy Israel in America. In such a Moses, such a Joshua.

Edward Johnson, English Historian
In 1630 historian Edward Johnson, writing of those early Puritan and Pilgrim settlers, often made reference to them as being Israel:

…the Lambe is preparing his Bride … yee the ancient Beloved of Christ, whom he of old led by hand from Egypt to Canaan through that great and terrible Wildernesse.

…you the Seed of Israel both lesse and more, the rattling of your dead bones is at hand, Sinewes, Flesh and Life: at the Word of Christ it comes.

…you  People of Israel gather together as one Man, and together as one Tree. Ezekiel 37 and 23.31

Then judge all you … whether these poore New England People, be not the forerunners of Christ’s Army, and the marvelous providences which you shall now heare, be not the very Finger of God, and whether the Lord hath not sent this people to Preach in this Wildernesse, and to proclaime to all Nations, the neere approach of the most wonderful workes that ever the Sonnes of men saw. Will not you believe that a Nation can be borne in a day [Isa. 66:8 – a Scripture that can only be fulfilled in Israel]?

This year the great troubles in our native country encreasing, and that hearing prophane Esau had mustered up all thye Bands he could make to come against his brother Jacob, these wandering race of Jacobites deemed it now high time to implore the Lord for his especial aid in this time of their deepest distress.

As Jacob professes, I came over this Jordan with my staff, and now have I gotten two Bands; so they came over this boisterous billow-boyling Ocean, a few poor scattered stones raked out of the heaps of rubbish, and thou Lord Christ has now so far exalted them, as to lay them sure in thy Sion … the seed of Christ’s Church in the posterity of Israel should be cut off, and therefore pleaded the promise of the Lord in the multiplying of his seed; so these people at this very time, pleaded not only the Lord’s promise to Israel, but to his only son Christ Jesus.

Pastor Jonathan Mitchell, Puritan Preacher
On October 4, 1649, Pastor Jonathan Mitchell wrote in his diary:

…God will humble me before the sun, and in the sight of all Israel

On August 8, 1667, at Pastor John Wilson’s funeral, Pastor Mitchell included the following in his eulogy:

Ah! Now there’s none who does not know, that this day in our Israel, is fall’n a great and good man too

Nathaniel Morton, New Plymouth Court Secretary
In 1669 in New England’s Memorial, Nathaniel Morton wrote of God moving the seed of Abraham to New England:

That especially the seed of Abraham his servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen, may remember his marvelous works (Psal. 105.5,6.) in the beginning and progress of the planting of New-England, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; how that God brought a vine into this wilderness; that he cast out the heathen and planted them in the mountain of his inheritance (Exod. 15.13.) in respect of precious gospel-enjoyments. So that we may not only look back to former experiences of God’s goodness to our [Israelite] predecessors, (though many years before) and so have our faith strengthened in the mercies of God for our times

I shall close up this small history with a word of advice to the rising generation…. God did once plant a noble vine in New-England, but it is degenerated into the plant of a strange vine. Jer. ii, 21. It were well that it might be said that the rising generation did serve the Lord all the days of such as in this our Israel …Josh. xxiv, 31.

Pastor James Keith, American Clergyman
On October 30, 1676, in a letter to Pastor John Cotton, Pastor James Keith wrote the following:

Let us join our prayers, at the throne of grace, with all our might, that the Lord would so dispose of all of public motions and affairs, that his Jerusalem, in this wilderness, may be the habitation of justice and the mountain of holiness

Pastor Increase Mather, American Clergyman and Author
In 1681, in a preface to a discourse on Urian Oakes, Pastor Increase Mather wrote the following:

…[Urian Oakes] at last called to the head of the “sons of the prophets” in this New-English Israel

Pastor John Bunyan, English Preacher and Author
Regarding the beliefs of Pastor John Bunyan (1628-1688), author of Pilgrim’s Progress, Rabbi Louis Finkelstein commented:

…Bunyan actually fancied himself an Israelite

Pastor Cotton Mather, American Clergyman and Historian
In 1702 a Boston minister Cotton Mather wrote the following concerning New England and some of her earlier inhabitants:

…in our hastening voyage unto the History of a new-English Israel

…I am going to give unto the Christian reader an history of some feeble attempts made in the American hemisphere to anticipate the state of the New-Jerusalem

These good people [the first settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts] were now satisfied, they had as plain a command of Heaven to attempt a removal [from England, Ireland and Scotland], as ever their father Abraham had for his leaving the Chaldean territories…

Among these passengers were divers worthy and useful men, who were come to seek the welfare of this little Israel…
The colony might fetch its own description from the dispensations of the great God, unto his ancient Israel, and say, “O, God of Hosts, thou has brought a vine out of England…

whilst he [Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Governor John Winthrop] thus did, as our New-English Nehemiah, the part of a ruler in managing the public affairs of our American Jerusalem … he made himself still an exacter parallel unto the the governour of Israel…
Make room, then, for Urian Oakes, ye records of New-England. He was born in England … whose liberal education in our College have rendered the family not he least in our little Israel…

Dean Jacque Abadie, French Educator and Author
In 1723 Dean Jacques Abbadie of Killaloe, Ireland, wrote regarding the whereabouts of the “lost” Israelites:

Unless the Ten Tribes of Israel are flown into the air, or sunk into the earth; they must be those ten Gothic Tribes that entered Europe in the fifth century, overthrew the Roman Empire and founded the ten nations of modern Europe.

Alexander Cruden, Scottish Bible Concordance Compiler
In 1761 on a page addressed “TO THE KING” in the well-known Concordance of Alexander Cruden, the author renders this prayer:

May the great God be the guide of your life, and direct and prosper you, that it may be said by the present and future ages, that King George the Third hath been an Hezekiah to our British Israel.

In 1773 the men of Marlborough, Connecticut, made this proclamation:

Death is more eligible than slavery. A freeborn people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny, but may make use of such power as God has given them to recover and support their laws and liberties… (they) implored the Ruler above the skies, that He would make bare His arm in defense of His church and people, and let Israel go.

Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut Governor
In a letter dated July 13, 1775, to George Washington (then Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army) Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, wrote in part:

…be strong and very courageous, May the God of the Armies of  Israel shower down the blessings of His Divine Providence on You

George Washington

[Almighty God] Endow with the spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be peace and justice at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth….

One may wonder at whether Governor Trumbull was referring to the Continental Army as one of the “armies of Israel.” There appears no question as to his intent when one reads another exhortation written in his own hand later that same year. In a public proclamation concerning Thanksgiving, dated October 14, 1775, Governor Trumbull proclaimed:

That God would … guide our affairs in this dark and difficult Day; and make them know what Israel ought to do … that He would confirm and increase Union and Harmony in the Colonies, and throughout America…

Great Seal of the United States of America
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to design a seal for the emerging new nation. The committee was composed of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. Both Franklin and Jefferson proposed designs related to ancient Israel. While John Adams’ contribution is not recorded here, he wrote to his wife, Abigail, on August 1, 1776, and described in part what the committee had thus far accomplished:

Dr. F[ranklin] proposes a Device for a seal. Moses lifting up his Wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh, in his Chariot overwhelmed with the Waters … The motto: Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.

Mr. Jefferson proposed. The Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a Cloud by day, and Pillar of Fire by night, and on the others Side Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon Chiefs, from whom We claim the Honour of being descended and whose Political Principles and Form of Government We have assumed.

Following are later depictions of these ideas by Franklin and Jefferson:

Pastor John Clark, American Preacher
In 1781 in his election sermon, Pastor Jonas Clark spoke of the children of the captivity who came to this new land to serve God:

Under this happy [Massachusetts] constitution we have seen, to universal satisfaction, that blessed prophecy concerning GOD’S people after their return from captivity, literally fulfilled unto us “There congregation shall be established before me – their nobles shall be of themselves, and their Governor shall proceed from the midst of them.” (Jer. 30:20-21)

May we not – yea, rather, ought we not, upon this joyful occasion, in a deep sense of our obligations to heaven, to ascribe the glory of all to GOD, and devoutly acknowledge that this is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes!

On this joyful day we are invited to see God, the Supreme ruler, on the throne of his holiness, the favour and defence of an afflicted land; “The princes of the people of the God of Abraham gathered together”: And ‘The Shields of the earth.” (Ps. 47:9) The rulers of every department, devoting themselves to the service of God and their country, in devout acknowledgement of his government, to the end, that God might be greatly exalted, in the good of his people, by their administration.

Noah Webster, American Statesman and Lexicographer
In 1783 Noah Webster wrote The Elementary Spelling Book, better known as the Blue-Back Speller. Following “Lesson Number 123” we find Mr. Webster’s sentiments regarding our Israelite relatives:

All Israelites are brethren, descendents of common parents. How unnatural and wicked it is to make war on our brethren, to conquer them or to plunder and destroy them

George Washington, American General and President

In 1785 George Washington referred to America as the “second land of promise,and in his first inaugural address in April, 1789, he accredited Providence for advancing the affairs of this new nation:

No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency

Thomas Jefferson, American Statesman and President
In 1814 in a letter written to Dr. Walter Jones regarding the death of President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson conveyed his belief in an American Israel:

I felt on his [George Washington’s] death, with my countyrmen, that “verily a great man hath fallen this day in Israel.”

Pastor B. Murphey, Canadian Preacher
In 1817 Pastor Murphey provided evidence for the Israelites’ migrations into Ireland:

Israelites came from Egypt into Ireland.

Washington Irving, American Essayist, Novelist, and Historian
In 1824 in his story “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Washington Irving wrote the following about a man whom he named “Absalom Crowinshield” who lived in New England in the 1700s:

It was announced in the papers with the usual flourish, that “A great man had fallen in Israel.”

Sir Walter Scott, Scottish Poet and Novelist
In 1830 in his novel Woodstock, Scottish author Sir Walter Scott had Oliver Cromwell using these words:

…as my soul liveth, and as He liveth who hath made me [Oliver Cromwell] a ruler in Israel

United States District Court for the District of Maine
On November 5, 1840, in a case titled “The Huntress, 12 F. Cas. 984, 993” regarding Constitutional neglect, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine declared:

…we may well ask, with some feelings of surprise, where during these seven years, were slumbering the watchmen of our American Israel.

Charters & Constitutions

In several colonies and States a profession of the Christian faith was made an indispensable condition to holding office. In the frame of government for Pennsylvania, prepared by William Penn, in 1683, it was provided that “all treasurers, judges, and other officers, and all members elected to serve in provincial council and general assembly, and all that have right to elect such members, shall be such as profess faith in Jesus Christ.” And in the charter of privileges for that colony, given in 1701 by William Penn and approved by the colonial assembly, it was provided “that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, shall be capable to serve this government in any capacity, both legislatively and executively.”**

**Similar requirements can also be found in the Delaware Constitution of 1776; the New Hampshire Constitutions of 1704 and 1792; the Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas; the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780; the Fundamental Order of Connecticut for its Governor; the Vermont Constitution of 1777; the Maryland Constitution of 1776; the current Maryland Bill of Rights, Article 37; the Mississippi Constitution of 1817; and the Arkansas Constitution of 1874 with 1963 supplements – most of which are listed in Justice Brewer’s speech.

1606 – The Charter for the Virginia Colony read in part: “To the glory of
His divine Majesty, in propagating of the Christian religion to such people
as yet live in ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God.”

1606 – JAMESTOWN CHARTER – Purpose: “…in propagation of the Christian religion.”

1606 – FIRST VIRGINIA CHARTER: “…tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God….”

1610 – NEW ENGLAND CHARTER – Aims in settling America: “…to increase the knowledge of the Omnipotent God and the propagation of our Christian faith.”*
*”First, it will be a service unto the Church of great consequence, to carry the Gospel unto those parts of the world, and raise a bulwark against the Kingdom of AntiChrist….” Pastor Cotton Mather, D.D., “General Considerations for the Plantation of New England,” Magnalia Christi Americana or The Ecclesiastical History of New-England quoted by Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America (New York, NY: The Colonial Press, 1899) Vol. 2, p. 360.

1609 – Second Virginia Charter – Purpose: “to live in fear and true worship of Almighty God, Christian peace, and civil quietness.”

1610 – New England Charter -Aims in settling America: “to increase the knowledge of the Omnipotent God and the propagation of our Christian faith.  Walter S. Remmie, “This Is a Christian Nation,” Kingdom Digest (Irving, TX) July 1981, p. 28.

1620 – MAYFLOWER COMPACT (the first legal document in America): “In the name of God amen … having undertaken for the glory of God, and [the] advancement of the Christian faith….”

1620 – King James I granted the Charter of the Plymouth council. “In the
hope thereby to advance the enlargement of the Christian religion, to the
glory of God Almighty.”

1620 – The Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact aboard the Mayflower, in
Plymouth Harbor. “For the glory of God and advancement of ye Christian faith.
doe by these presents solemnly & mutually in ye presence of God and one of
another, covenant & combine our selves together into a civil body
politick[sic].”

1623 – “But God gave them health and strength in a good measure; and
showed them by experience the truth of the word, Deuteronomy 8:3: ‘Man does
not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the
Lord.’” (William Bradford, in BHOPP, p. 175).

1624 -SWEDISH CHARTER OF DELAWARE COLONY: “In the first place God’s glory, which above all must be especially cared for and promoted, can be increased thereby, His blessed Word and Holy Gospel planted and spread among all kinds of people and many thousand souls be brought to the true knowledge and understanding of God.”

1629 – The first Charter of Massachusetts read in part: “For the
directing, ruling, and disposing of all other Matters and Thinges, whereby
our said People may be soe religiously, peaceablie, and civilly governed, as
their good life and orderlie Conversacon, maie wynn and incite the Natives of
the Country to the Knowledg and Obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of
Mankinde, and the Christian Fayth, which in our Royall Intencon, and The
Adventurers free profession, is the principall Ende of the
Plantacion….”[sic]

1632 – MARYLAND CHARTER: [our Celto-Saxon forefathers were] animated with a laudable and pious zeal for extending the Christian religion … Cecil Calvert [founder of Maryland] wrote in a letter at the time: “At the place prepared we [Celto-Saxon Christians] all kneeled down and said certain prayers; taking possession of the country for our Saviour and for our sovereign Lord.”  Nathanial Morton, New England’s Memorial (Cambridge, MA: S.G. and M.J. for John Usher, 1669), reproduced with extracts from other writers (Boston, MA: Congregational Board of Publication, 1854) p. 20.

1630 – Settlement of Massachusetts published under the subtitle of “Wonder-Working Providence of Zion’s Saviour.”

1636 – Harvard, which was the first college in America, whose name-sake and benefactor* stated in his provision for a fund to build a college: “Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.”  1636 Harvard University document, quoted in John le Boutillier, Harvard Hates America: The Odyssey of a Born-again American (South Bend, IN: Gateway Editions, 1978), quoted in Walter S. Remmie, “This is a Christian Nation,” Kingdom Digest (Irving, TX, July 1981) p. 29.
John Harvard (1607-1638) was the namesake and benefactor of Harvard University, founded in 1636 and still operating undera 1650 charter

1638 – The towns of Hartford, Weathersfield, and Windsor adopt the
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. “To mayntayne and presearve the liberty
and purity of the Gospell of our Lord Jesus, which we now professe….” [sic]

1639 – The governing body of New Hampshire is established. “Considering
with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity, that we should not
live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are
altogether destitute, do, in the name of Christ and in the sight of God,
combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us such government as
shall be, to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of God….”

1639 – Fundamental Orders of Connecticut states as a part of its purpose: “to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess…Walter S. Remmie, “This is a Christian Nation,” Kingdom Digest (Irving, TX, July 1981) pp. 28-29. Additional documents, charters, constitutions, etc., are quoted in this same article.

1643 -ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION: “Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and ye same end and arms, namely to advance the Kingdom of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to enjoys ye liberties of ye Gospell in puritie with peace….”
1775 – In Patrick Henry’s speech: “We shall not fight alone. God presides
over the destinies of nations, and will raise up friends for us. The battle
is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains
and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

1787 Article III of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: “Religion, morality,
and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

1789 – George Washington said “Let us with caution indulge the
supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.” (Schroeder
ed. p. 106)

1794 – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, in a
letter to his wife, stated “God’s will be done; to him I resign-in him I
confide. Do the like. Any other philosophy applicable to this occasion is
delusive. Away with it.” (Johnston ed. vol. 4, p. 7.)

In addition to the nation’s united expression of faith in God, each individual state has separately acknowledged God as Sovereign and as the Author of liberty. The Legislative Service of the Library of Congress has compiled the provisions of State constitutions relative to the Supreme Being.  Pat Brooks, et.al., “50 Evidences that the U.S.A. is ‘Constitutionally Christian!,” Appendix D, Freedom or Slavery! (Fletcher, NC: New Puritan Library, 1990) p. 159. Pages 159-165 contain the pertinent portion of all 50 state constitutions.

ARIZONA, BILL OF RIGHTS, Section 12: The liberty of conscience shall not be construed to excuse acts of licentiousness….

CALIFORNIA, DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, Article 1, Section4: … The liberty of conscience does not excuse acts that are licentious….

DELAWARE, BILL OF RIGHTS, Article 1, Section 1: …it is the duty of all men to frequently assemble together for public worship of Almighty God; and piety and morality, on which the prosperity of communities depend are hereby promoted….

MARYLAND, BILL OF RIGHTS, Article 36: …it is the duty of every man to worship God; and piety and morality, on which the prosperity of communities depend are hereby promoted….

MASSACHUSETTS, DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, Article 2: It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly and at stated sessions, to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe.

Article 3: As the happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon the piety, religion and morality…. And every denomination of Christians….

MINNESOTA, BILL OF RIGHTS, Section 16: … The right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed … the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness….

MISSISSIPPI, BILL OF RIGHTS, Section 18: … The rights hereby secured shall not be construed to justify acts of licentiousness injurious to morals or dangerous to the peace and safety of the state, or to exclude the Holy Bible from use in any public school of this state.

NEBRASKA, BILL OF RIGHTS, Article 1, Section 4: All persons have a natural indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience…. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceful enjoyment of its own mode of public worship….

NEW HAMPSHIRE, BILL OF RIGHTS, Article 6: As morality and piety, rightly grounded on high principles, will give the best and greatest security to government, and will allay, in the hearts of men, the strongest obligations to due subjection; and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through society, therefore, the several parishes, bodies, corporate, or religious societies, shall at all times have the right of electing their own teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance, or both….

OHIO, BILL OF RIGHTS, Section 7: All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience…. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government….

VIRGINIA, BILL OF RIGHTS, Article 1, Section 16: That religion or the duty which we owe our Creator… it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other….

On the 20th September, 1776, the first constitution of the Delaware State was adopted, the 22d article of which provided, that “every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat or entering upon the execution of his office, shall take the following oath … to wit: I … do profess of faith in God, the father, and Jesus Christ his only son, and in the Holy Ghost, on God blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the old and new testaments to be given by divine inspiration.  Clayton, pp. 565-566.

Freedom of Religion

In 1776 there were approximately 2.5 million people in America. Less than one percent of the population was, represented by 20,000 Catholics, 3,000 Jews, and a few Deists; more than ninety-nine percent were Christian Protestants.

After the Constitution was signed and the Bill of Rights made provision of Freedom of Religion these numbers changed drastically.

In 2007 the percentages were as follows:

Which religion had the most to gain?  Roman Catholicism.  Yah willing, this will be addressed in a future study but it begs the question…who had the most to gain by the American Revolution?  The Puritans and those who sought to follow the Scriptures in peace and freedom had no desire to rebel against the king.  It was these same Puritans that refused to allow Catholicism to take a stronghold in America due to the persecution they saw in Europe.  A good reference to learn about more history on the founding of America is ‘Rulers of Evil’ by Tupper Saussy.

Native American Indians

The Indians that were at the first Thanksgiving were the Wampanoag Indians.

The Wampanoag had their own harvest celebration in which they gave thanks for abundant crops to Kiehtan, the Creator. They believed corn, the most valued crop, was a gift from him. The tribe expressed gratitude to the spirits of the game for the animals they killed for food.

Wampanoagtribe.net

tribal elder Gladys Widdiss has to say about the Wampanoag and thanksgiving:

“With Native Americans you do not separate the spiritual from the rest of your life. You’re very involved with who you are, where you came from , and where you are going. We have special holidays or festivals, but every day is a day of thanksgiving.”

Native American’s & Yisrael connection

Cherokee Indians

18th Century explorer, trader, and researcher, James Adair from London, author of History of the American Indians who spent 40 years among the Cherokees, wrote a book named Out of the Flame, listing 23 hard proofs why he believed the Cherokees were descended from Israel. Among other things, the Cherokees were fiercely monotheistic who observed the Ten Commandments to the letter. Harvard professor Barry Fell cites an ancient carving of the Ten Commandments in North America as further proof, another subscriber to the lost tribe theory. Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, former USAF Chaplain and prominent Jewish historian, also holds that the Indians of the Americas are descendants of Northern Israel’s seafaring tribes, Dan and Zevulun. The additional list is long and exhaustive.

Understanding the Exodus Stephen Barrett Segall
James Adair lived among the Cherokee for 40 years beginning in 1736 and John Howard Payne lived among them in the early 1800’s.  Both speak of Cherokee legends about the creation, the great flood, expulsion from Eden, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, crossing the Red Sea, Moses, wandering in the wilderness and the construction of the tent of worship and sacred ark.
The Cherokee believed in life after death, reward and punishment after death for behavior in life, an emphasis on spiritual and sexual purity and the use of baptism and fasting as a means of purification.
On certain days Cherokee would assemple for worship in obedience to Ye ho waah.  If obedient to Ye ho waah’s commandments they would spend eternity with Him in heaven, if not they would spend eternity in a lake of fire and be tortured forever.
In the Cherokee story of creation, the Great Spirit created the world in seven days.  Man was created from the dust of the earth and the Creator breathed life into him.  The Creator saw that man was loney and took one of his ribs to make a woman.  Initially man could live forever, and snakes were not poisonous.  But to make sure the world was not overpopulated the Creator made snakes poisonous and a member of the first family was bitten by a snake and died.  As a result of this all people were doomed to death.
Cherokees tradition stated that Ye ho waah had commanded the people to rest from work every seventh day.  They celebrated the new moon.  They had crystals for predicting the future like the Urim and Thummim.  They had a sacred ark that represented an everlasting bond between them and the Creator.
SEE Cherokee People by Thomas Mails

Cherokee Corn Feasts Parallel Jewish Holy Days!
Also, one of the more convincing evidences is that the Jews followed a Religious Calendar of 7 main Festivals. And so did the Mediavel Cherokee! Even more so, examination of these Celebrations show that they were basically about the same thing–except that the Cherokee followed the growing cycle of corn, rather than that of barley and wheat, as the Jews did.

And for a brief summary, these Mediavel Cherokee Festivals were:1- FIRST FULL MOON OF SPRING,
which would have been literally the Day of Passover, and was accompanied by the slaughter of a lot of animals to prepare the meat for that Feast Day, and was set by the sprouting of the new grass of Spring (like the Passover Barley)! [Not to mention the intensive Spring Cleaning of the Feast!]

 

2- GREEN CORN FESTIVAL,
which was when the corn first balled, so that it could be cooked and eaten–similar to First Fruits, when the Barley was first edible. (However, for the Cherokee, this occured later in the year, more towards Summer, as the Climate in America was not as warm as in the Middle East).

3- MATURE or RIPE CORN FESTIVAL,
which was set for 50 days after the Green Corn Festival (like Pentecost)–and when the Sacred Fire in the Heptagon (like the Jewish Temple Menorah) was re-lit for the next year!

4- GREAT NEW MOON FEAST,
which was set as the first Full Moon of Autumn, and when Cherokee myth said that the whole world was created (and similar to Rosh HaShannah)!

5- PROPITIATION and CEMENTATION CEREMONY,
for cleansing one’s soul of Sin, and joining in UNITY with the Community as they ALL joined with the Creator–setting their relationship to HIM in cement (and similar to the Day of Atonement, with its earlier Kol Nidre purifications and making ammends.) Moreover, as this ended the Torah Study Cycle, many Jewish boys were often bar mitzvahed here, with an appropriate ceremony for Cherokee lads, also.

6- FESTIVAL OF EXALTING or BONDING BUSH CEREMONY (week long),
or a very loose approximating of the 8 Day Feast of Tabernacles–and in the Fall.

Here we see that the Cherokees followed a festival cycle similar to the Scriptural festival cycle.  Did the Wampanoag also trace their festivals back to the Scriptures?

1- Much of the information for the early or Mediavel Cherokee comes from the colonial works of Payne, Butrick, and Adair, a lot of which is quoted in THE CHEROKEE PEOPLE–The Story of the Cherokees, from Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times; by Thomas E. Mails, published in 1992 by Council Oak Books of Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2- Supplemental information confirming Mails work can also be found in The HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEE INDIANS and Their Legends and Folklore by Emmet Starr from Oklahoma City in 1921 but was reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore, Maryland in 2004.

Pagan Harvest Festivals

Does the holiday of Thanksgiving derive from pagan customs like other holidays in American culture such as Christmas, Easter and Halloweenclick here?

The first feast wasn’t repeated, so it wasn’t the beginning of a tradition. In fact, the colonists didn’t even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast–dancing, singing secular songs, playing games–wouldn’t have been allowed. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds.

History.com

World Book Encyclopedia, 1942 Edition, article entitled, Thanksgiving Day

‘Thanksgiving Day, in the United States and Canada, a day set apart for the giving of thanks to God for the blessings of the year. Originally, it was a harvest thanksgiving, and while the purpose has become less specific, the festival still takes place late in autumn, after the crops have been gathered.’ Indeed, it is probably an outgrowth of the Harvest-Home celebrations in England. Such celebrations are of very ancient origin, being nearly universal among primitive peoples.

The Ancient Greek Harvest festival was called Thesmophora and celebrated Demeter, the founder and goddess of the harvests.  The symbols of Demeter were poppies of ears of corn, a basket of fruit and a little pig.  The Roman goddess of the harvest, Ceres had a festival, which occurred on October 4th and was called the Cerelia.

In ancient China, the 15th day of the eighth month was considered the birthday of the moon. To honor this special occasion, the families held a festival called Chung Chiui trimmed with a meal of moon cakes, roasted pig, and fruit.

Each October the Romans danced to music and watched as parades awed the eyes of onlookers during a celebration they called Cerelia. During the tradition pig and fruit were offered as gifts to the gods, while the people feasted together in thankfulness to their goddess.

Egyptians celebrated fruitful harvest by honoring the God of Vegetation and fertility. This celebration was held each spring and included feasting, music and dancing.

The pagans in Rome celebrated their thanksgiving in early October. The holiday was dedicated to the goddess of the harvest, Ceres, and the holiday was called Cerelia. The Catholic church took over the pagan holiday and it became well established in England, where some of the pagan customs and rituals for this day were observed long after the Roman Empire had disappeared. In England the “Harvest Home” has been observed continuously for centuries.

The ancient Semites called the earth mother Astarte…The Phrygians called her Semele. These deities were absorbed by the Greeks into the one great goddess, Demeter.’ ‘The Roman also had a harvest festival which they called the Cerelia, after Ceres, the Roman goddess of the corn.’

In our own hemisphere, among the Aztecs of Mexico, the harvest took on a grimmer aspect. Each year a young girl, a representation of Xilonen, The goddess of the new corn, was beheaded. The Pawnees also sacrificed a girl. In a more temperate mood, the Cherokees of the American Southeast danced the Green Corn Dance and began the new year at harvest’s end.

We Gather Together: The Story of Thanksgiving, by Ralph and Adeline Linton, 1949.

‘Even before biblical times the 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 corn (American corn), is called maize), was always one of the most important deities in the hierarchy of the gods, and her child was the young god of vegetation.’17

‘The ancient Semites called the earth mother Astarte…The Phrygians called her Semele…The Minoans had an earth mother for each district. All these local deities were absorbed by the Greeks into the one great goddess, Demeter.’18

‘Besides eating, feasting, etc. the married women practiced special rites. Under the cover of night, the women spent the next day bathing nude in the sea and dancing and playing games on the shore. Then they fasted, sang songs, then feasted, sang, and had general gaiety. All this lasted over a period of several days.’19

‘The Roman harvest festival…was called the Cerelia, after Ceres, the Roman goddess of the corn.’20

‘With the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of Rome and the conversion of the barbarians who had invaded the crumbling Empire, these pagan rituals were frowned upon and even forbidden by law. However, the peasants clung to them with a tenacity which has made the word ‘pagan’ (originally meaning simply ‘a villager’), a synonym for ‘heathen.’ As late as the sixth century … St. Benedict … found the local peasantry worshiping Apollo in a sacred grove. Even after conversion, old habits and beliefs died hard, and the church was too busy trying to keep the flame of civilization alive to trouble with minor heresies.’21

‘The benevolent earth mother … blended with the equally benevolent mother of Christ. Folk memory of local deities fused with the Christian tales of saints to provide patrons for villages, and the white robed goddess of grain lived on in various guises. To those who live close to the soil, the harvest has an emotional and religious significance … their gratitude finds expression in rites in honor of the being who they feel is most closely related to fruitfulness; a being of warm earth, rather then cold heaven.’22

‘Even today a half pagan belief in the corn mother still survives among the peasant’s in many parts of Europe.’23

‘The Pilgrims undoubtedly brought memories of such English harvest home celebrations with them when they came to the new world. They had also witnessed ‘thanksgiving’ ceremonies during their sojourn in Holland … The Pilgrims themselves would have denied that the Thanksgiving feast in honor of their first harvest in 1621 was evoked by memories of the profane practices of the old world; however, all revolutionaries, political or religious, once their goal is accomplished, turn back to the patterns of the society in which they have been reared, and the Pilgrims, at the time of the first Thanksgiving, were no exception.’24

‘In Peru, the ancient Indians worshiped the ‘Mother of Maize’ and tried every year to persuade her to bring in another good harvest. In Europe, the Austrians also had a ‘Corn Mother’ doll, fashioned from the last sheaf of grain cut in the field and then brought home to the village in the last wagon.’

Organic Gardening and Farming, Nov. 1975, page 132ff, the article entitled, Thanksgiving Day.

Cornucopia

The cornucopia,a horn-shaped container overflowing with fruit, nuts, and vegetables which is typically seen at Thanksgiving in the United States is a Pagan Symbol.

From Wikipedia,
The cornucopia (Latin: Cornu Copiae) is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology, Amalthea was a goat who raised Zeus on her breast milk. When her horn was accidentally broken off by Zeus while playing together, this changed Amalthea into a unicorn with 17 whiskers. The god Zeus, in remorse, gave her back her horn. The horn then had supernatural powers which would give person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat’s horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, was depicted with the horn of plenty. The cornucopia was also a symbol for a woman’s fertility.

In modern depiction, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket typically filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. In North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest.

Harvest Queen
A name given to Ceres the Roman goddess of agriculture and crops or to a young woman chosen from among the reapers to whom was given a post of honor at the harvest home.  Demeter is the Greek version of the Egyptian goddess Isis and Roman version of Ceres.

Harvest festivals around the world:

* Mid-Autumn Festival: China
* Chuseok: Korea
* Dongmaeng: Korea
* Bon Festival: Japan
* Dożynki Poland
* Erntedank: Germany & Austria (1st Sunday in October)
* Festa e Grurit (Wheat Festival): A festival that used to mark the end of the harvest of wheat in Communist Albania. No longer observed.
* Freyfaxi (Aug. 1st): marks the beginning of the harvest in Norse paganism. Historically from Iceland, the celebration consists of blót, horse races, martial sports, and other events, often dedicated to the god Freyr.
* Harvest festival: United Kingdom
* Lammas or Lughnasadh (Aug 1): celebration of first harvest/grain harvest in Paganism and Wicca spirituality and by the ancient Celts.
* Mabon (Autumnal Equinox): the second of three recognized harvest sabbats in Paganism and Wicca
* Mhellia: Isle of Man
* Mehregan (October 2): Iran, Ancient Persia
* Annual Harvest Festival of Prosser, Washington, celebrated on the 4th full weekend in September
* Samhain (October 31): the third and final of three recognized harvest sabbats in Paganism and Wicca; celebration of the end of the harvest season and beginning of the Celtic New Year.
* Solung: falls between June and July for nine days. The Adi (also Abor) is a major collective tribe living in the Himalayan hills of Arunachal Pradesh
* Sukkot: Jewish harvest festival lasting eight days in the fall, in which time is spent in tabernacles or booths
* Hasyl toýy:Turkmenistan – the holiday on the last Sunday in November.
* Timoleague: Harvest Festival is held every year in August – Tigh Molaige in Irish
* Ikore: celebrated by the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria
* Khuado Pawi: celebrated by the Chin tribe of India, Burma and recently in the USA and many other parts of the world.

North America

* Duneland Harvest Festival: celebrated the last weekend in September in Porter, Indiana, near Chicago.
* Harvest Festival (United States): celebrated by American Christians on October 31st
* Thanksgiving (United States): the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.
* Thanksgiving (Canada): the holiday on the second Monday in October.

South Asia

* Bhogali Bihu: (or Magh Bihu) is a harvest festival celebrated in Assam which marks the end of harvesting season in mid-January.
* Lohri: celebrated in North India esp. Punjab
* Nabanna: Bengal region which comprises West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh
* Onam: celebrated by Malayali people in Kerala (India) and other places
* Pongal: celebrated by Tamil people in Tamil Nadu (India) and other places
* Sankranthi or Makar Sankranti: Celebrated in several regions of India including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
* Vaisakhi (or Baisakhi): celebrated by Punjabi people in Punjab (India), other parts of North India and elsewhere. The festival falls on the first day of Vaisakh month (usually mid-April), and marks the Punjabi New Year.
* Traditional New Year celebrations in Sri Lanka coincides with the harvest festival in mid-April.
* Dree Festival is a agricultural festival of the Apatanis of Ziro valley in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh, which is celebrated every year from 4th to 7th July.

South Asia

* Flores de Mayo :Flower festival in the Philippines
* Gawai Dayak: Malaysia
* Kaamatan (May 30-31), Sabah in Malaysia
* Maras Taun: Belitung in Indonesia
* Mid-Autumn Festival: Vietnam
* Pahiyas Rice festival in the Philippines

Thanksgiving in the Scriptures

Food is associated with thanksgiving

1Ti 4:4  Because every creature of God is good, and nothing to be thrust away, but having been received with thanksgiving;
1Ti 4:5  for through God’s Word and supplication it is sanctified.

Thanksgiving comes from the Hebrew word Hodu which derives from Yadah.

From the root yad (hand)

Thanksgiving used in the Scriptures

Col 4:2  Steadfastly continue in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving,
Col 4:3  praying together about us also, that God may open to us a door of the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which I also have been bound,
Col 2:6  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,
Col 2:7  being rooted and being built up in Him, and being confirmed in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Eph 5:1  Then become imitators of God, as beloved children,
Eph 5:2  and walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.
Eph 5:3  But let not fornication, and all uncleanness, or greediness, be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
Eph 5:4  also baseness, and foolish talking, or joking (the things not becoming), but rather thanksgiving.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for you, that the grace may superabound through the greater number, and may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Jer 33:11  the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying, Praise YHWH of Hosts, for YHWH is good, for His mercy endures forever; those who shall bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving into the house of YHWH. For I will bring back the captivity of the land, as at the first, says YHWH.

Jer 30:17  For I will give health back to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says YHWH, because they called you, Outcast; saying, This is Zion; no one is seeking for her.
Jer 30:18  So says YHWH, Behold I will turn the captivity of Jacob’s tents and will have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built on her ruin heap; and the fortress shall remain on its own ordinance.
Jer 30:19  And out of them shall come thanksgiving and the voice of those who are merry. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few. I also will honor them, and they shall not be small.

Isa 51:3  For YHWH comforts Zion. He comforts all her desolations, and He makes her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of YHWH; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of singing praise.
Isa 51:4  Hear Me, My people; yea, give ear to Me, My nation. For a law shall go out from Me, and My justice I will make rest as light to peoples.
Isa 51:5  My righteousness is near; My salvation went out; and My arms shall judge peoples; coastlands shall wait on Me, and they shall hope on My arm.

Psa 100:1  A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the land.
Psa 100:2  Worship YHWH with gladness; come before His face with joyful singing.
Psa 100:3  Know that YHWH, He is God; He has made us, and not we ourselves, His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psa 100:4  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him; bless His name.
Psa 100:5  For YHWH is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His faithfulness to generation and generation.

Psa 107:1  Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.
Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of YHWH say so, whom He redeemed from the hand of the foe;
Psa 107:3  and gathered them from the lands; from east and from west; from north and from south.
Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert way; they found no city of dwelling;
Psa 107:5  hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them;
Psa 107:6  and they cried to YHWH in their distress; He delivered them from their straits.
Psa 107:7  And He guided them in the right way; to go to a city of dwelling.
Psa 107:8  Let them thank YHWH for His mercy, and His wonders to the sons of man.
Psa 107:9  He satisfies the thirsty soul, and He fills the hungry soul with good.
Psa 107:10  Those who live in the darkness, and in the shadow of death, being prisoners in affliction and iron,
Psa 107:11  because they rebelled against the Words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High;
Psa 107:12  and He humbled their heart by toil; they stumbled, and none were helping;
Psa 107:13  and they cried to YHWH in their distress; He saved them out of their distresses;
Psa 107:14  He brought them out from darkness and the shadow of death; and He broke their bonds apart.
Psa 107:15  Let them thank YHWH for His mercy, and His wonders to the sons of man.
Psa 107:16  For He has broken the gates of bronze; and He cut bars of iron in two.
Psa 107:17  Fools are afflicted from the way of their rebellion, and from their iniquities;
Psa 107:18  their soul hates every food; and they touch the gates of death;
Psa 107:19  and they cried to YHWH in their distress; He saved them from their straits;
Psa 107:20  He sent His Word and healed them; and delivered them from all their pitfalls.
Psa 107:21  Let them thank YHWH for His mercy, and His wonders to the sons of man.
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and recount His works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They who go down to the sea in ships, who work in the great waters;
Psa 107:24  these see the works of YHWH, and His wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For He speaks, and He raises stormy wind, and makes its waves high;
Psa 107:26  they go up to the heavens; they go down to the depths; their soul is melted because they are in evil;
Psa 107:27  they reel and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up;
Psa 107:28  and they cry to YHWH in their distress, and He saves them out of their straits.
Psa 107:29  He settles the storm to a whisper, so that its waves are still;
Psa 107:30  and they are glad, because they are quiet; and He led them to their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Let them thank YHWH for His mercy, and His wonders to the sons of mankind;
Psa 107:32  and exalt Him in the congregation of the people; and praise Him in the seat of the elders.
Psa 107:33  He sets rivers to a wilderness, and watersprings to thirsty ground;
Psa 107:34  a fruitful land to a salty desert; because of the wickedness of those who live in it.
Psa 107:35  He puts the wilderness into pools of water; and dry land into water-springs;
Psa 107:36  and He makes the hungry live there, and they may prepare a city of dwelling.
Psa 107:37  And they sow the fields, and plant vineyards, and make fruits of produce.
Psa 107:38  He also blesses them, so that they multiply greatly; and He does not allow their cattle to diminish;
Psa 107:39  but they are diminished and bowed down from coercion, evil and grief.
Psa 107:40  He pours scorn on nobles, and causes them to wander in a desert; there is no path.
Psa 107:41  But He raises the poor up from affliction, and He sets families like a flock.
Psa 107:42  The upright shall see and be glad; and all iniquity shuts its mouth.
Psa 107:43  Whoever is wise and will observe these things, they shall discern the mercies of YHWH.
Psa 50:14  Offer thanksgiving to God, and pay your vows to the Most High.
Psa 50:15  And call on Me in the day of distress, and I will save you; and you shall glorify Me.
Psa 26:7  to cause to hear with the voice of thanksgiving and recount all Your wonderful works.
Psa 105:1  O give thanks to YHWH; call on His name; make His deeds known among the peoples.
Psa 105:2  Sing to Him; sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.
Psa 105:3  Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek YHWH rejoice.
Psa 105:4  Seek YHWH and His strength; seek His face without ceasing.
Psa 105:5  Remember His wonders that He has done, His miracles, and the judgments of His mouth,
Psa 105:6  O seed of His servant Abraham; O sons of Jacob, His elect.
Psa 105:7  He is YHWH our God; His judgments are in all the earth;
Psa 105:8  He has remembered His covenant forever; the Word He commanded to a thousand generations;
Psa 105:9  which He cut with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac;
Psa 105:10  and He established it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for a perpetual covenant;
Psa 105:11  saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance;
Psa 105:12  when they were a few men of number; very few, and aliens in it.
Psa 105:13  And they went about from nation to nation; from one kingdom to another people.
Psa 105:14  He allowed no man to oppress them; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes;
Psa 105:15  saying, Touch not My anointed; and, Do My prophets no harm.
Psa 105:16  And He called a famine on the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
Psa 105:17  He sent a man before them, Joseph, being sold for a slave;
Psa 105:18  they hurt his feet with chains; his soul came into iron;
Psa 105:19  until the time His Word came, the Word of YHWH refined him;
Psa 105:20  the king, the ruler of peoples, sent and shook off his links and set him free;
Psa 105:21  he made him lord of his house, and ruler over all he owned;
Psa 105:22  to bind his leaders at his will, and to teach his elders wisdom.
Psa 105:23  Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:24  And He increased His people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies.
Psa 105:25  He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.
Psa 105:26  He sent His servant Moses and Aaron whom He had chosen.
Psa 105:27  They put things of His signs among them; yea, wonders in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:28  He sent darkness and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His Word.
Psa 105:29  He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish.
Psa 105:30  Their land swarmed with frogs in the rooms of their kings.
Psa 105:31  He spoke, and fly swarms came; gnats in all their borders.
Psa 105:32  He gave hail for their rain, flaming fire in their land.
Psa 105:33  He struck their vines also, and their fig trees; and He broke the trees of their borders.
Psa 105:34  He spoke, and locusts came; and larvae without number;
Psa 105:35  and they ate up all the plants in the land; yea, ate the fruit of their ground.
Psa 105:36  He also struck all the first-born in their land, the firstfruit of all their vigor.
Psa 105:37  And He led them out with silver and gold; and among their tribes, not one was stumbling.
Psa 105:38  Egypt was glad when they went out, for their dread had fallen on them.
Psa 105:39  He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
Psa 105:40  He asked, and He brought quail; and satisfied them with the food from the heavens.
Psa 105:41  He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; they went in the dry places like a river.
Psa 105:42  For He remembered His holy Word and His servant Abraham;
Psa 105:43  and He brought His people out with joy; His elect with gladness.
Psa 105:44  And He gave to them the lands of the nations; and they inherited the labor of the peoples;
Psa 105:45  so that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise YHWH!

Rev 7:12  saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen.

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Did you think that was a black and white photograph?
You’d be wrong.

In fact, it’s a detail from Gianlorenzo Bernini’s sculpture “Pluto and Proserpina” (Hades and Persephone). [1622]

There’s a reason Bernini is still widely known, and the detail should give you some clue as to what that reason is.
Short answer: He’s pretty incredible.

Bernini worked with marble, a material not exactly known for it’s warm and flesh-like qualities. His ability not only to forge stone into human shape, but give it human texture is a thing of brilliance.

Not only does Bernini give marble a human softness, he gives stone a sense of energy. It doesn’t look like a sculpture of a person who is pushing another sculpture, it looks like Proserpina is pushing away the face of an attacker. The statues, despite actually being static, really seem to be in motion.
Proserpina cries, and the wind blows through her hair- the detail to the hair, the veins, the musculature is just stunning in it’s magnitude.
Pluto’s musculature is almost cartoonishly specific, but while it doesn’t make him look human, it makes him look impressive- fitting of his god of the underworld status. The strain of trying to subdue Proserpina is obvious; His muscles and veins bulge as he tries to draw Proserpina closer to him. His head tilts back at a strange angle as she pushes his face away from her.
She meanwhile, looks longingly away from him, with her mouth agape, as if crying out for help. Her legs are twisted, and her left toes are flexed, befitting the positioning of her left leg, which seems to be just post-kick.
This is not a helpless, motionless girl; This is a woman who does NOT want to go with this creepy dude, and she is going to do everything in her power to avoid being captured.

The story of Persephone and Pluto is essentially the story of winter: Pluto, god of the underworld, falls in love with Persephone, and decides to bring her to the underworld by any means necessary. Emphasis on that last part.
Pluto kidnaps Persephone (the moment shown) and brings her to the underworld. Persephone’s mother Ceres, goddess of agriculture, refused to make anything grow until her daughter was back with her. Cut back to Persephone, who refuses to eat anything, because doing so will trap her in the underworld. Eventually, Pluto manages to trick her into eating six seeds of a pomegranate. When Persephone is finally rescued from the underworld, her nutritional indiscretion is discovered. By all rights, she should be forced to remain in the underworld, but a bargain is cut, and instead she spends a month in the underworld for every seed she ate. During that time, Ceres refuses to make anything grow, giving us winter.

Bernini was both a sculptor and architect, giving the Vatican some of it’s most famous pieces- the Scala Regia (Royal Staircase), which is a brilliant use of light and optical illusion, as well as the Baldacchino in the main nave.
Go google Bernini and look at some of his other pieces. You’ll realize why he’s still famous.

Gea/Gaia

La Tierra. La Diosa Madre. Surgió tras el Caos, y concebió por sí misma a Urano con quien tendría dieciocho hijos. Ella fue la fundadora de los posteriores Dioses del Olimpo.

Urano

Es el principal dios del cielo. Hijo y esposo de Gea con quien tuvo dieciocho hijos. Cuenta el mito que no los quería, por eso encerró a los más jóvenes en las profundidades y la oscuridad. Cronos, el más pequeño, le cortó los genitales como venganza.

Rea

Hija de Gea y Urano. Hermana y esposa de Cronos. Madre de los principales Dioses del Olimpo (Hades, Hestia, Poseidón, Hera, Deméter y Zeus). Fuertemente asociada a la diosa Cibeles, se la representaba montada en un carro tirado por leones. Se le rinde culto para pedir ayuda en los partos.

Cronos /Saturno

Hijo de Gea y Urano. Hermano y esposo de Rea. Padre de los Dioses del Olimpo. Cuando el oráculo le advirtió de que uno de sus hijos le destronaría, comenzó a comerselos. Se los comió a todos excepto a Zeus que logró salvarse gracias a Rea. Éste logró arrebatarle el poder y convertirse en el rey de los dioses. Fue considerado el protector de las cosechas y se le representaba con una hoz.

Zeus/Júpiter

Rey de dioses y mortales. Gobierna todo el Olimpo. Es el dios de los fenómenos atmosféricos y sus atributos son el rayo, el águila, el toro y el roble. Era hermano y esposo de Hera con quien tuvo tres hijos: Ares, Hebe y Hefesto (otros dicen que fue Ilitía). Pero tuvo más hijos con otras diosas y mortales.

Hera/Juno

Hermana y esposa de Zeus. Su principal labor era presidir los nacimientos y las bodas. Sus atributos son la vaca, el pavo real y el león. Se la representa con corona, símbolo de las grandes diosas, y una granada en la mano, símbolo de la fertilidad. Se la conocía como una diosa celosa y vengativa con las diosas y mortales con las que Zeus la engañaba.

 Hades/ Plutón

Dios del inframundo y de los muertos. Considerado como el invisible gracias a un casco que porta, reinaba sobre los muertos con la ayuda de los demonios que controlaba. El mito cuenta que vive en el inframundo con Perséfone, hija de Zeus y Deméter, a quién raptó y convirtió en reina. Era un dios temido y muy respetado, y aunque se creía que era cruel y malvado, en realidad era un dios bastante pasivo y justo.

Hestia/Vesta

Diosa del fuego que calienta y da vida a los hogares. Prometió a Zeus que permanecería virgen y este le relegó cuidar los hogares y de las familias, por eso apenas sale del Olimpo y se mantiene alejada de las disputas entre dioses y mortales.

Poseidón/Neptuno

Dios del mar y los terremotos. Cuando estaba tranquilo mantenía el mar en clama y protegía las islas de las fuertes mareas, pero cuando se enfadaba golpeaba el fondo del mar con su tridente y provocaba terremotos, hundimientos y naufragios. Los navegantes le dedicaban sus oraciones antes de zarpar. Era esposo de la ninfa Anfítrite y con ella tuvo muchos hijos, la mayoría héroes.

Deméter/Ceres

Diosa de la agricultura, protectora del matrimonio y las leyes sagradas. Controla las estaciones del año. Fruto de su relación con Zeus nació Perséfone, que fue raptada por Hades. La diosa decidió paralizar la vida de la Tierra mientras la buscaba hasta que Zeus intervino. Se decidió que Perséfone pasaría seis meses con Hades y otros seis con su madre. Por eso cuando Perséfone esta en la Tierra, ésta es fértil y los campos florecen; y cuando está con Hades los campos se secan.

Atenea/Minerva

Diosa de la sabiduría y la guerra justa. Fue considerada el principal apoyo de los héroes. Era la protectora de la ciudad de Atenas. No se le conoce ningún amante y por eso se la consideraba una diosa virgen. Nació de la cabeza de Zeus cuando éste engulló a Metis mientras estaba embarazada. Sus símbolos son el olivo y la lechuza y se la representa armada con su égida y su armadura. Es una diosa guerrera que participó en varias batallas clásicas como la guerra de Troya.

Apolo/Febo

Hijo de Zeus y Leto y hermano gemelo de Ártemis. Es el dios del sol y la belleza humana. Considerado un dios apuesto tuvo muchos amantes, pero a quien realmente quería era a Dafne, una ninfa a quien su padre transformó en laurel. Por eso, el símbolo de este dios es precisamente el laurel; además de otros como el delfín o el cuervo.

Ártemis/Diana

Hija de Zeus y Leto y hermana gemela de Apolo. Se mueve por los bosques y parajes salvajes en donde caza junto con sus ninfas. Es una diosa vírgen, cruel y muy vengativa, aunque atractiva y de aspecto muy femenino. Dice el mito que el cazador Acteón la vio desnuda mientras se bañaba y ésta lo transformó en ciervo. También se dice que castigaba a todos aquellos mortales que la olvidaban en sus cultos, o cuando ésta les ordenaba algo y no lo cumplían. Se la representa cazando rodeada de animales salvajes.

Ares/Marte

Hijo de Zeus y Hera. Es el dios de la guerra y, como tal, disfrutaba de las matanzas y el derramamiento de sangre. Todos los demás dioses le odiaban excepto su amante Afrodita y su tío Hades, porque enviaba al inframundo a los guerreros jóvenes que mataba. Aunque era un dios guerrero, en ocasiones era humillado en combate por otros dioses. Sus símbolos son el perro y el buitre y se le representa armado de pie o en un carro tirado por corceles.

Afrodita/Venus

La diosa del amor y la belleza femenina nació de la espuma que generaron los genitales de su padre Urano cuando fueron arrojados al mar. Siempre llevaba un cinturón bordado que provocaba un amor irresistible y por eso era envidiada por las demás diosas. Estaba casada con Hefesto, pero le era infiel con dioses y mortales, entre ellos Adonis y Ares. Se la suele representar con corona y vestidos provocativos, aunque es más común representarla desnuda.

Hefesto/Vulcano

Dios del fuego y los metales. También es dios de los volcanes. Se dedica, desde su fragua, a fabricar armas para dioses y héroes y regalos para las diosas. Es hijo de Hera, aunque no está tan claro si también lo es de Zeus. Hay varias versiones sobre su infancia, pero todas coinciden en que fue arrojado al mar y se quedó cojo. Aunque era feo se casó con Afrodita quien le fue infiel con Ares. Éste confesó todo al sufrido marido, lo que le provocó un enorme enfado. Por eso un día, diseñó una red y la colocó en la cama de los amantes. Cuando estos se tumbaron quedaron enredados y Hefesto, para vengarse, llamó a todos los dioses del Olimpo para que los mirasen.

Hermes/Mercurio

El mensajero de los dioses era el protector de comerciantes, ladrones y tramposos porque era embustero y habilidoso. Además de ser mensajero, ayudaba a las almas a llegar al inframundo de Hades. Era hijo de Zeus y de Maya y se le representa llevando un casco con una pluma, símbolo de los viajeros, o un gorro alado. También lleva zapatillas aladas y una vara mágica. En los relatos clásicos se cuenta que apoyó a los griegos en la guerra de Troya, y que ayudó a Ulises a escapar de la isla de Calipso.

Dioniso/BacoLíber

Dios del vino, de la locura y del éxtasis. Era hojo de Zeus y de Sémele. Su misión como dios era hacer que todo el mundo olvidase sus penas, y la mayoría de las veces lo conseguía bebiendo y montando orgías. Sus principales simbolos son el vino, la serpiente, el toro y la hiedra. Las llamadas Bacanales, eran las fiestas donde se le rendía culto y se realizaban actividades contrarias a todo tipo de ley, por eso se prohibieron. En Roma estaba identificado con el antiguo dios itálico Líber Pater.

Eros/Cupido

Dios de la atracción sexual, el amor y el sexo. Su equivalente romano era Cupido, también llamado Amor. Es representado con aspecto de niño y con alas, aunque éstas no siempre aparecen. Su procedencia no está del todo clara: unos dicen que nació del Caos; otros, que era hijo de Hermes y Afrodita. Los poetas lo reflejan como un dios que, aunque con aspecto infantil, es capaz de producir profundas heridas con sus flechas. Cuentan que Apolo se burló de su capacidad como arquero y en venganza hizo que se enamorara perdídamente de Dafne.

First D.C. Sniper Shooting

John Allen Muhammad and his teen-aged associate, Lee Boyd Malvo, initiated a shooting spree in the Washington, D.C. area on Oct. 2, 2002

The first shooting at 5:20pm broke a window but missed the intended target.  A second attempt at 6:04pm resulted in the death of a male victim. This chart is quite simple and straight forward for a daily chart.  I’ve been including asteroids in my charts lately.  Including Chiron (officially a comet, not an asteroid) and the four primary asteroids (although Ceres is now designated a dwarf planet like Pluto) this makes for a busy chart layout.  Most notable in this chart are the following factors:

Natal MC and transiting Sun at the IC angle: Whenever any natal angle is at an angle in a solar return chart or a progressed daily angles chart, something of significance is likely to happen if a planet is also angular.  One’s goals take on a new direction (MC at the IC), a willful choice (Sun) is made.  Also, the natal MC at an IC angle of another chart is always a “challenge” of some sort.

Natal Saturn at the Descendant: A sense of responsibility and of constraints are realized relative to another person (Malvo).  Saturn’s position in the natal first house carries with it a sense of caution and strategy.

Ceres transiting at the MC angle: A nurturing element is involved here, more of a teacher or guide (MC) role.  Given that the IC angle has recently passed over transiting Mercury (now about to turn direct), this instructional role was probably at the urging of his young associate, providing John Muhammad with a mentoring role to fill his need to be important.  His natal Moon was at the natal Descendant; a need to have a partner to reflect his ideals, leadership.

The above three notations are what this chart offers us.  Does it “say” that there is going to be a sniper-shooting spree?  No.  The situation that is defined is one of a challenge, a change of one’s direction in life, a realization that one is entering upon a fearful and cautious path, and a guiding of another.  The IC’s recent contact with Mercury suggests that the young associate asked that this shooting spree be entered into based on stories by John Muhammad.

My next postings will review the ideas and construction of these wonderful charts. Following that instructional posting we will pick up this story including the arrest, the trial and the ultimate fate of John Allen Muhammad.  As always, comments and questions are most welcome.  I can be reached at    dadsnook@charter.net    if one does not want to make a public comment here.  Dave

My trip back from Cebu started on a not unexpected note. Upon arrival two days earlier I asked what times buses left in the morning around 7 and 8. The answer was 7 and 8.

I’ve learned not to expect much in this country so I was not surprised to find at 6:45am that the next bus was 6:50, followed by 7:30. I could see the 6:50 bus was almost filled, so I told the bus guy I’d take the next one. He pulled out a seat chart and asked me where I wanted to sit. Huh?? I recovered from my surprise and told him which one.

Window seats on the sunny side are my preference, as far forward as possible. The sun side seats are the warmest, which means I don’t get cold enough to start adding the extra layers I carry. I like the forward seats because that means one doesn’t get jostled as people climb over those seated on plastic stools in the aisle.

The Cebu South Bus Terminal has been under construction for months and it now looks mostly finished. Along with their new seating, AC and admission fee the Ceres line has added reserved seats and gate numbers. I consider this a Very Good Thing for two reasons.

The first is that I can wait outside the bus. Sure the terminal seats are not very comfortable but if I’m going to have my butt in the uncomfortable bus seat for 3 hours I sure don’t want to add half an hour before departure.

The second reason is that I can leave my seat to go pee 5 minutes before the bus leaves which makes enduring the next 3 hours easier.

But wait, there’s more. When the PA announced that the bus was boarding, they did it by seat number. What surprised me more is the people complied! It seems the ‘Fuck you, me first’ attitude in this country doesn’t apply in this situation because it’s not a case of get there early or risk not getting any.

Se realizará en Ceres, la apertura de la muestra de la muestra del artista santafesino GUILLERMO A. VEZZOSI, el próximo sábado 14 de noviembre, a partir de las 20,30 horas en el local de la Bilioteca Popular “Domingo F. Sarmiento”.

En esta muestra, titulada de “DE PECES Y REDES”, el joven y talentoso artista presenta un conjunto de obras, en las que la sumatoria de indicios y la sucesión de diseños, ofrecen al espectador la ilusión de poder adivinar su pensamiento.

Como siempre, el acto será cerrado con un número musical; esta vez la actuación de los bailarines LIZ VELEZ y RODRIGO GAGLIESI, estrenando el musical “TANGUEANDO”.

En la seguridad de encontrarnos nuevamente y muy agradecidos por sus invalorables presencias, saludamos cordialmente.

ESTELA RODRIGUEZ MUÑOZ.                        ROBERTO J. ZELAYA.

Secretaria.                                                                       Presidente.

HORARIOS DE LA MUESTRA:

14.11            20,30 a 22,30 hs.

15.11            20,00 a 22,00 hs.

21.11            20,30 a 22,30 hs.

22.11            20,00 a 22,00 hs.

IMPORTANTE: Horarios especiales de visita para Establecimientos Escolares, previa cita al teléfono 421662.

Climate change, corporate carbon footprints and policies in the works to address them present real risk for businesses and their investors. But can shareholders demand disclosure of that risk? As of this week, thanks to a new ruling from the Securities and Exchange Commission, now they can.

Prior to this decision, handed down on Tuesday, the SEC allowed companies to reject the growing number of shareholder requests for disclosure of financial risks related to environmental and social issues (including climate change) as “no-action requests.” The org reasoned that such risks were part of ordinary business operations, and therefore not open to a shareholder vote, according to a legal bulletin from the SEC.

Now the SEC says it will consider these requests on a case-by-case basis. Mindy Lubber, president and director of Ceres, a group of environmental and advocacy groups, as well as institutional investors, cheered the decision as striking “the right balance of ensuring that resolutions about critical matters reach company shareowners, without opening the floodgates to proposals of more questionable significance.”

The move marks a significant shift for the SEC, which in the bulletin, wrote: “[T]he evaluation of risk should not be viewed as an end in itself, but rather, as a means to an end.”

Some companies are already making strides toward transparency, and some investors have successfully pushed firms to develop climate strategies or set greenhouse gas reduction goals. Last month, Apple (s AAPL), which has recently undertaken a major effort to green its image on its own terms (rather than at the hands of Greenpeace or competitors), divulged its carbon footprint (10.2 million tons of carbon emissions annually) for the first time, taking into account the greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing as well as consumer use.

But according to a pair of reports released earlier this year from Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security, despite movement in this direction, climate-related disclosure “continues to be weak or altogether nonexistent in SEC filings of global companies with the most at stake in preparing for a low-carbon global economy.”

Graphics courtesy of Flickr and Ceres

I have decided to celebrate Samhainn–opening my year as a Druid Apprentice–with a rite honoring Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. It seems appropriate since not only is Samhainn traditionally a time to celebrate the dead, when the gates of the underworlds are thrown open and the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are thinner, but it is also a celebration of the harvest (the final harvest!). And coincidentally, it also can be conceptualized as the threshold between fall and winter, which in Greek Mythology is the time when Persephone leaves her mother Demeter and goes to reign in the underworld with her husband, Hades. Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter inaugurates winter, when plants turn brown and die and the earth goes cold, and it stays that way until Persephone returns in the spring, bringing with her the rebirth of the living world.

Unfortunately one of my main resources for prayers honoring the Hellenic gods is now lost for all time thanks to the death of Geocities, so I don’t really have a prayer honoring Hades, and I am having a hard time writing one. I’m sure this bottle of Jaegermeister next to me isn’t helping, but I just don’t know enough about Hades to write a decent prayer to him.
So I’m stuck, and cranky. And tipsy, I guess. I think I’m going to play video games online with my brother and worry about this tomorrow. Of course, the problem with that attitude is that I plan on celebrating Samhainn on Sunday, and Sunday keeps getting closer. I mean, if all else fails, I guess I can always just come up with a sort of impromptu invocation, and that’s probably what nI’m going to wind up doing. So the whole thing isn’t foiled; I’m just feeling irritatingly uncreative. Maybe I should try to pray to Hades before Sunday, and ask for a bit of his dread underworld inspiration. I mean, if anyone knows how Hades wants to be honored, it would probably be Hades, right?

I do have a lot of other cool stuff planned for the holiday, but this rite is sort of supposed to be the fulcrum of the whole thing, and celebrating the Wheel of the Year is supposed to be a part of my AODA First-Degree Druid curriculum, so it is kind of important to me.

On the other hand, I did manage to be creative to write a New Eleusinian Mystery Rite. It’s fairly awesome, and contains the secrets of life, death, and immortality, but I don’t know anyone who I can initiate who can then turn around and initiate me. And what’s the point of having initiatory mysteries that nobody gets initiated into? And it’s not really the kind of thing you can initiate yourself into, either.

CERES ou  Colóquio de Ecologia Rural com Responsabilidade Social é um subprojeto orientado a um plano de seminários, oficinas, palestras e workshops relacionados a temas como Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Cultura Regional, Folclore, Indigenismo, Ecologia, História Social do Trabalho, História da Cidade, História do Cotidiano e História da Vida Privada, entre outras áreas afins à panoramização das problemáticas entorno do sistema tríplice campo x natureza x cidade.

Com atividades previstas tanto online quanto offline, CERES é o desdobramento do PUMAR rumo à sociedade, ao meio externo. Seu nome é homenagem à deusa romana Ceres, relacionada à terra, à agricultura, e à fertilidade maternal da natureza.

O CERES deverá ter uma especial importância neste blog, dando início a uma série de reflexões integradoras em sua área de abrangência, já que de certa maneira ele é a parte humana por detrás do PUMAR!

Lixo ou Cultura?

O lixo possui diferentes vertentes pelas quais se exibe, e é acima de tudo, uma incômoda expressão da existência da sociedade. O lixo pode ser algo descartado de uma alteração, caso dos entulhos, ou de uma ação, caso da maioria dos lixos dispensados hoje em dia, sejam orgânicos ou inorgânicos, é acima de tudo, aquilo que nós não mais queremos porque não mais nos é útil ou não mais nos tem valor.

Em contrapartida, guardamos as coisas por lhes atribuir valor ou utilidade. Uma foto, um relicário, o relógio que foi de nossos avós, se torna útil enquanto absorva do tempo vivido, a sua memória, e assim, produza valor ainda que emotivo, e ao longo do tempo, perpetuando-se por sobre a consciência acerca de nossa memória, e exaltado pela reafirmação contínua de nossa própria identidade, esses artefatos deixam de ser lixo para serem acervos museográficos.

No entanto, ainda que descartado, esquecido, jogado, dispensado, o lixo de todos os dias, sem valor nem utilidade, é acervo arqueológico para os pesquisadores de uma sociedade, quando ao passar dos anos, décadas ou séculos, ou mesmo milênios, perde-se o vínculo de dejeto dado àquele artefato, e passa esse de lixo rejeitado a evidência científica, a fonte primária.

O lixo também pode porém ter um tempo presente, pode ser reabordado, renovado, reutilizado, seja pelos catadores de lixo e moradores de rua, nem sempre como uma maneira digna de vida, ou quase sempre nunca, ou alterado em um novo artefato que agrega pelo trabalho uma nova utilidade ou um novo valor, quando pelas mãos hábeis de um gênio, é reciclado, e se torna arte!

O lixo, em especial o orgânico, também pode ser adubo, pode ser energia elétrica e até gás, quando se torna combustível para os biodigestores de biomassa.

E em seu lado perverso, pode ser vandalismo contra a humanidade que se degrada se alimentando desse, ou contra a casa vizinha, vandalizada com o lixo da irresponsabilidade ambígua, que é intolerante não apenas com o outro e seus direitos, como também intolerante para com os próprios deveres de quem irresponsavelmente o joga, e ainda mais irresponsável na dimensão global para com a natureza, meio sem o qual o eu e o outro jamais vivem, e que é enfim quem mais sofre com esse ato.

Enfim, o lixo tem faces boas e degradantes, depende da ótica que se dá. A nossa escolha foi fazer dos lixos da degradação, jogados como dejetos da intolerância e da falta de cidadania, aos projetos SAM e PUMAR, material didático, para ensinar acerca da Cultura Material, da Reciclagem, da Bioecologia e do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, e fazer dos lixos esquecidos, encontrados por nós ou pelos cães rastreadores, evidências de um tempo que já se foi, peças de acervo ou mesmo quem sabe, até mesmo arte!

Qual o seu vínculo com o seu passado? O que você faz em seu presente? Qual a sua perspectiva para o futuro? Lixo, arte ou acervo? Como você vive?

Macii…picături de sânge în lanurile de grâu.

Legenda spune că macul a fost creat de zeul somnului,Somnus,pentru a o ajuta pe Ceres,zeiţa recoltelor,care era epuizată după ce-şi căutase fiica rătăcită.Macii au ajutat-o să doarmă şi după ce şi-a revenit ,grâul a început să crească din nou.
De aici şi credinţa ,că prezenţa macilor în lanul de grâu este esenţială pentru recoltă.

Noi câtă nevoie avem de opiumul extras din capsula firavului mac?

(Macul,Pictor Luiza Ghioc )

Corporate Social Responsible News: Ceres and Clean Economy Network’s Jobs Day; CauseMedia’s “NameYourCause” campaign

“Yes We Can!” the slogan used by then-Senator Obama during last year’s presidential campaign – is now being used by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to launch a last ditch effort to jumpstart cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate.

Graham and Kerry’s commentary, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” published in the New York Times last weekend outlines elements of a bipartisan legislative framework on cap-and-trade.

The commentary follows the launch of “We Can Lead” — a campaign to promote climate change legislation by a coalition of big business, environmental, labor and left-wing special interest groups.

This high-profile corporate support of Obama’s energy policy exposes a long-simmering development in public policy: the progressive takeover of the boardroom.

The unification of big business with liberal activist groups on important public policy issues poses a significant threat to liberty and limited government. As we are observing, the collective power of these groups is big enough to fashion a bipartisan compromise on climate change even during a raging national debate over health care.

We Can Lead, a broad-based corporation coalition of energy, technology and other companies, including Duke Energy, Hewlett Packard and Starbucks, is mounting a high-profile campaign to promote cap-and-trade legislation. Coalition members have paid for ads in newspapers, including an open letter to President Obama and Congress urging action on cap-and-trade legislation, stating, “We need you to swiftly enact comprehensive legislation to cut carbon pollution and create an economy-wide cap and trade program.”

Last week, We Can Lead spearheaded a “Business Advocacy Day” in Washington, D.C. to advance the global warming bill directly with lawmakers. According to news reports, executives from more than a hundred businesses will participate in a two-day lobbying fest that includes briefing sessions, media training and speeches by Administration officials and Hill visits targeting key Senate offices.

The fine print disclosures about We Can Lead, reveal that two left-wing advocacy groups – Apollo Alliance and CERES – are behind the corporate effort.

The Apollo Alliance is “a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders” that seeks to advance a green energy economy that will produce “a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs.” Its board members include representatives from environmental organizations and labor unions – the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Van Jones, former White House “green jobs czar” was also board member.

CERES is a coalition of investors, labor and environmental organizations that pressures corporations to advance environmental policies, such as legislation to fight the perceived threat of global warming. Its board members include environmental and labor union representatives, and also state pension fund officials from the California State Teachers Retirement System (CSTRS), the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and representatives from the Connecticut State Treasurer and the New York City Comptroller’s office.

CERES played a major role in the corporate boardroom by leveraging the shareholder standing of the pension fund coalition members to sway corporate policies.

After years of environmental and labor activism targeting corporations, some CEOs have decided it’s easier to switch than fight. These executives realized that by supporting environmental initiatives they could avoid the headache of liberal activism while also reaping the reputational benefits of being perceived as “green.”

Some companies also realized they could profit by advancing environmental initiatives, such as global warming legislation.

Power companies such as Duke Energy, FPL Group and Exelon see “green” in being green – they were the biggest winners in the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that narrowly passed the House in May. Utilities won the “House bill lottery,” receiving 35 percent of free allowances from a generous Congress – an amount that translates into billions of dollars to the companies. General Electric also gains by a federal mandate for electricity derived from renewable energy sources which would benefit its wind turbine business.

The profit motive also explains why Exelon decided to end its membership in the U.S Chamber of Commerce. The trade group is facing criticism from some of its members because it opposed the Waxman-Markey bill and it recently called on the EPA to review the science on climate change in a public hearing.

Nike and Starbucks are very active in pushing for cap-and-trade legislation through another business environmental coalition, Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy. In this instance these companies are more concerned about generating a positive brand image than on making money on carbon credits. Whatever the reason, whether profit or image, companies lobbying for carbon dioxide emissions caps frequently ignore the economic consequences of the legislation.

Higher energy prices, slower economic growth and higher unemployment would likely harm companies that sell premium-priced consumer products such as Starbucks coffee and Nike sneakers that can sell for over $100.

Those of us who believe in limited government must now deal with the threat posed by an emergence of a state where the powers of government, liberal activist groups and corporate interests loot us of our liberty.

But there is something we can do: Every day we have an opportunity to vote with our wallets by letting companies know there is a price to pay for colluding with those who oppose our values.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/15/tom-borelli-cap-trade-apollo-ceres/

Ovid: Metamorphosen (Buch 5) – Übersetzung von Johann Heinrich Voß

Die Musen

Eilend ging in hohlem Gewölk die tritonische Pallas
Zum jungfräulichen Berge des Helikon über die Meerflut.
Also redete sie zu den neun tonkundigen Schwestern:

Uns erscholl das Gerücht des neu entsprungenen Bornes,
Den der medusische Gaul, der geflügelte, brach mit dem Hufschlag.
Dieses bewog mich zu gehn, um selbst die Wundererscheinung
Anzuschaun; ihn sah ich aus Mutterblute gezeuget.

Drauf Urania so: Was auch dich beweget, o Göttin,
Unsere Wohnung zu sehn; uns sehr willkommen erscheinst du.
Wahr ist indes das Gerücht, und Pegasus brachte den Ursprung
Diesem Quell. Und sie führte zum heiligen Sprudel die Pallas.

Als sie lange bewundert des Hufschlags quellende Wasser,
Schaut sie umher die Haine der altertümlichen Waldung,
Und die Geklüft’, und die Kräuter, gemalt mit unzähligen Blumen;
Und: Glückselige, ruft sie, zugleich an Geschäft und an Wohnung,
Ihr, der Mnemosyne Töchter! Da redete eine der Schwestern:

O wenn Tugend dich nicht zu höheren Taten entflammte,
Du zur Genossin bestimmt, Tritonia, unseres Chores!
Wahr ist die Red’, und mit Recht wird Kunst gepriesen und Wohnung.
Ja, ein liebliches Los empfingen wir, wären wir sicher.
Aber (so gar nichts achtet ein Frevler!) alles erschrecket
Uns jungfräuliche Seelen; es schwebt der grause Pyreneus
Vor dem Gesicht; kaum jetzo noch kehrt mir ganz die Besinnung!
Daulischer Fluren Bezirk und phoceïscher hatte der Wütrich
Inne mit thrazischer Macht; und gesetzlos herrscht’ er mit Willkür.
Einst den parnasischen Tempel besuchten wir. Jener erblickt’ uns
Wandelnde; und mit Verehrung geheuchelten Dienstes sich nahend:
Weilt, mnemonische Mädchen (er kannt’ uns), weilet ein wenig,
Sprach er; und laßt mein Haus vor der Wut des Gestirns und des Regens
(Denn es regnete sehr) euch verteidigen! Oft ja in Hüttlein
Traten die Oberen ein! – Durch Zeit und Worte genötigt,
Folgen wir willig dem Mann, und gehn in die vordersten Zimmer.
Bald war der Regen verrauscht; es besiegeten Norde den Südwind,
Und das braune Gewölk zerflog am gereinigten Himmel.
Gehn war unser Begehr; doch Pyreneus, schließend die Wohnung,
Drohte Gewalt, der wir mit genommenen Schwingen entflohen.
Hoch auf der Burg stand jener, zu folgen bereit sich gebärdend,
Und: Wo Bahn ist für euch, dort, rufet er, wird sie für mich sein!
Und er entspringt wahnsinnig dem obersten Gipfel des Turmes:
Aber er stürzt auf das Haupt, und dumpf, mit zerschmettertem Schädel,
Schlägt er sterbend den Grund, vom frevelnden Blute gerötet.

Also erzählte die Muse; da rauscht’ ein Geflügel die Luft durch,
Und ein krächzender Gruß ertönete hoch von den Ästen.
Pallas schauet empor, und, woher so deutliche Rede,
Forschet sie rings, und wähnt, daß menschliche Zunge geredet.
Vögel waren es: neun an der Zahl, ihr Schicksal bejammernd,
Saßen sie hoch im Gezweige, die allnachahmenden Elstern.

Zur anstaunenden Göttin begann die Göttin: Auch jene
Mehreten jüngst den geflügelten Schwarm, in der Wette besieget.
Pieros, reich an Gefild’, erzeugte sie, wohnend in Pella;
Dem sie Euippe gebar, die Päonerin. Neunmal erschien ihr
In neunmaligen Wehn die gerufene Macht der Lucina.
Stolz ob der Anzahl bläht sich der Schwarm der törichten Schwestern.
So viel Städte hindurch, der Hämonier und der Achäer.
Kommen sie her, und reizen mit solcherlei Rede den Wettkampf.

Höret doch auf, zu täuschen das ungewitzigte Völklein
Durch geistleeres Getön! Mit uns, wenn ihr selber euch trauet,
Thespische Göttinnen, kämpft! Nicht Stimme noch Kunst ist geringer
Uns, und die Anzahl gleich. Auf, räumt entweder besieget
Uns den medusischen Born und Hyantias Quell Aganippe;
Oder von uns wird geräumt, bis zu den beschneiten Päonern,
Euch die ematische Flur. Den Kampf entscheiden die Nymphen.

Schimpflich war’s sich messen im Kampf, doch weichen erschien noch
Schimpflicher. Treue beschwören bei heiliger Flut die erwählten
Nymphen, und setzen sich hin auf Bänke von lebendem Marmor.

Ohne zu losen beginnt, die zuerst dem Streite sich darbot:
Krieg der Unsterblichen singt sie; und falschen Ruhms die Giganten
Würdigend, kränkt sie die Taten der ewig waltenden Götter.
Aufgesandt aus den Tiefen des Erdreichs, habe Typhoeus
Furcht den Himmlischen allen erregt, daß alle den Rücken
Wandten zur Flucht; bis die Matten zuletzt die ägyptische Fläche
Aufnahm, und der in sieben Ergießungen strömende Nilus
Dort auch verfolgt’, erzählt sie, der Erdgeborene Typhoeus;
Und erlogne Gestalt umhüllete jeden der Götter.
Führer der wolligen Trift ward Jupiter; welcher daher noch
Jetzt mit gekrümmtem Gehörne sich zeigt, als libyscher Ammon.
Delius barg sich im Raben, der Semele Sohn in dem Geißbock,
Juno in schimmernder Kuh, in Gestalt der Katze Diana,
Venus schlüpft’ in den Fisch, der Cyllenier flattert als Ibis.

Solches sang zur Gitarre des Pieros tönende Tochter.
Wir Aoniden vertraun der Kalliope unseren Wettkampf.
Diese, das wallende Haar im Efeukranze gesammelt,
Tritt hervor, mit dem Daum sanfttönende Saiten versuchend;
Und dem geschlagenen Spiele gesellet sie hohe Gesänge,
Preisend der Ceres Geschenk, und ihres Triptolemos Luftfahrt:
Wie sie zuerst aufschollte das Land, und mildere Nahrung
Schuf und mildere Sitte den Sterblichen und die Gesetze;
Daß durch Ceres Geschenk sie menschlicher wurden und frömmer.

Jetzo beschloß den Gesang die erhabenste unseres Reigens.
Aber die Nymphen erkannten den helikonischen Jungfrau’n
Mit einträchtigem Spruche den Sieg. Als drauf die Besiegten
Schmäheten: Weil euch demnach, durch den Wettkampf Strafe verdienen,
Sprach sie, zu wenig noch ist, und Lästerung ihr der Verschuldung
Zufügt, und nicht einmal die freie Geduld uns gegönnt ist;
Wohl! so verlangen wir Buß’, und folgen dem rächenden Zorne!

Lachend hört’s die Emathierschar, und verachtet die Drohung.
Doch da zu reden sie trachten, und laut mit Geschrei zur Verruchtheit
Auszustrecken die Hände, da sehn sie Gefieder hervorgehn
Ganz an die Nägel hinab, und Flaum die Arme bedecken.
Ein’ an der anderen schaut, wie der Mund zum starrenden Schnabel
Spitz sich engt, und ein Vogelgeschlecht den Waldungen zuwächst.
Jammernd wollen sie schlagen die Brust; die geregeten Arme
Schwingen sie hoch in die Lüfte, die walddurchkrächzenden Elstern.
Jetzt noch bleibt dem Gevögel die alte Beredsamkeit übrig,
Heiserer Kehlen Geschwätz, und die Sucht, unmäßig zu plaudern.

Binbaşı Ömer Fevzi Fars Körfezi’ni  İNGİLİZLERE DAR EDECEKTİ

 1914′de Enver Paşa, Suudi Arabistan’ın ilk kralı İbn Suud ile anlaşması için Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’dan Binbaşı Ömer Fevzi’yi gönderdi. Binbaşı Fevzi, Fars Körfezi ve Umman sahillerinde İngilizlere karşı halkı örgütlemeye çalıştı. Buna örnek gösterilen vaka, Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’nın Libya’daki tecrübesiydi.

Birinci Cihan Harbi başlamadan önce Enver Paşa, İngilizlere karşı Hintli müslümanlarla işbirliği yapmaya çalışırken, Arap yarımadasında Osmanlı’nın durumunu da güçlendirmek istiyordu. Necid’in kudretli aşiret reisi İbn Suud, Osmanlı’ya isyan halindeydi. Enver Paşa, İbn Suud ile anlaşma sağlamak istiyordu.Paşa’nın İbn Suud ile anlaşma yapması için seçtiği kişi bir binbaşıydı. Bu görevlendirme Basra Valisi Süleyman Şefik Paşa’yı bile şaşırtmıştı. Paşa, görevin kendi uhdesine verilmesini istiyordu.

SUUD İLE GİZLİ ANLAŞMA

Binbaşı, Harbiye Nezareti’ne bağlı Umur-ı Şarkiye Dairesi (Teşkilatı Mahsusa) emrindeydi. Trablusgarp, İran, Mısır, Irak, Kafkasya ve Arabistan’da Teşkilat’ın operasyonlarına katılan bu binbaşının adı Ömer Fevzi idi. ‘Prof. Zekeriya Kurşun’un “Necid ve Ahsa’da Osmanlı Hakimiyeti” isimli kitabında yer alan belgelere göre, Fevzi Bey, bölgede araştırmalar yapmış, Kuveyt Şeyhi Mübarek ve Muhammare Şeyhi Hazal Han’ı da ziyaret etmişti. Temaslarının ardından İbn Suud ile yapılacak anlaşmanın mahiyetine ilişkin bir raporu Enver Paşa’ya sundu. Kuveyt Şeyhi Mübarek’le yaptığı görüşmeyi şifreli telgrafla iletti. Şeyh Mübarek’e göre, Osmanlı Hükümetinin İbn Suud ile gizli bir anlaşma sağlaması Umman, Maskat ve Bahreyn’e el atılmasında çok kolaylık sağlardı. İbn Suud bu bölgeleri işgal ederdi, bu fiili durum Osmanlıya resmi sorumluluk getirmezdi. İbn Suud’un Osmanlı Devleti’ne asi olduğu söylenerek işin içinden çıkılabilirdi.

“LİBYA’DAKİ GİBİ HALKI ÖRGÜTLEYELİM”

Prof. Kurşun’un naklettiği belgelere göre Ömer Fevzi, 13 Nisan 1914′de Harbiye Nezaretine çektiği şifreli telgrafda, Katar’ın İngilizlere teslim edilmesi halinde Libya’daki gibi milli bir müdafa kuvvetinin vücuda getirilebileceğini kaydediyordu. Resmi surette cevap verilemezse, hususi bir emir yeterliydi. Fevzi Bey, Katarlıların Osmanlıya sadık olduklarını ve İngiliz idaresine girmek istemediklerini kaydediyordu. Katar’ın terki bütün müslümanlar nezdinde kötü tesir bırakırdı. Fars körfezinde Katar’dan başka liman olmadığını belirten Fevzi Bey, İngilizlerin Necid ve İran sahillerini birer birer ele geçirdiğine dikkat çekiyor, ileride Basra’nın zor durumda kalacağını söylüyordu. Kuveyt Şeyhi Mübarek ve İbn Suud’la uzlaşma sağlanmalıydı. Bu anlaşmayla, İngilizlerin istila planına karşı, Fars Körfezi ve Umman Denizi sahillerinde bir umumi teşebbüs vücuda getirilebilirdi. Ömer Fevzi, şöyle devam ediyordu: “İngilizler İslam mülkünü küçük ve kuvvetsiz şeyhliklere, hakimliklere ayırarak istila esaslarını kurmak istiyorlar. Biz de aşiret şeyhlerini İbn Suud’un etrafında birleştirelim. Hatta milli bir islam ordusunu İran güneyinden dolaştırarak Hindistan’ı kurtarmaya hazırlamayı bunlara bir gaye olarak telkin edelim. İhtiyat buyrulur ise bunu devlet adına değil de şahsi bir hasım olarak tarif edeyim. İngilizler, Osmanlı Hükümeti’ne karşı ne kadar pervasız iseler, böyle pervasız bir İslam ordusundan da o kadar çekinirler. Çünkü ufak bir kıvılcımın Kızıldeniz ve Umman Denizi sahillerindeki İslam beldelerine yayılması halinde büyük bir gaile karşısında bulunacaklarını zannediyorlar”.

Fevzi Bey, Enver Paşa’dan anlaşma yapma yetkisi istiyor, “İngilizlerin her yerde bize karşı oynadıkları role hiç olmazsa bu şekilde bir mukabele ile hatırımızı saydırırız” diyordu.

İBN SUUD VALİ OLUYORDU

Ömer Fevzi ile Dahiliye Nezareti temsilcileri arasında uzlaşma prensipleri üzerinde tartışma yaşandı. Dahiliye’ye göre, Fevzi Bey, İbn Suud’a çok fazla taviz veriyordu. Fevzi Bey’e göre ise sağlam bir anlaşma yapılmaması halinde İbn Suud ileride vaadlerinden cayabilirdi. Sağlam bir anlaşmayla Osmanlı bölgede İngilizlere karşı para ve askerini tüketmeyecek, tam aksine Necid’in asker ve parasından istifade edecekti. Harbiye ve Dahiliye ortak noktada buluştu, İbn Suud ile gizlice anlaştı. Necid Sancağı vilayet olacak, valilik ve kumandanlığına İbn Suud getirilecekti. Herkes mennundu. Basra Valisi Süleyman Şefik Paşa, anlaşmaya katkı sağlayanları taltif edilmesini, Ömer Fevzi Bey’e de bir iftihar madalyası verilmesini istiyordu. Anlaşmadan hemen sonra Cihan Harbi başladı. Anlaşma kadük kaldı. İbn Suud, Osmanlı’dan yana tavır almadı, ancak İbn Reşit’le husumetine son verdiğini açıkladı. İbn Suud, savaş boyunca tarafsızlığını korudu, İngilizlere fiili yardımda da bulunmadı.

ÖMER FEVZİ’NİN SEÇİLMESİ BOŞUNA DEĞİLDİ

Ömer Fevzi Bey’in seçilmesi boşuna değildi. Babası Mehmet Arif Bey, Araplar arasında sayılan biriydi. II. Meşrutiyet döneminde İstanbul’daki Arap Kulübü’nün önde gelen isimlerindendi. Arif Bey, Osmanlı’nın Arap vilayetlerinde reformlar yapmasını istiyordu. Böylece imparatorluk daha güçlenecekti. Bu yüzden İttihat ve Terakki’yi destekliyordu. Subay olan oğlu Ömer Fevzi, Gevgili’de gizli İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti kurucularındandı. Hatta bir ara Mısır’a firar etmiş, İkinci Meşrutiyet’te görevine dönmüş, 1911′de İtalyanlar Libya’yı işgal ettiğinde de Enver Paşa’nın Teşkilatı Mahsusa’sında görev almıştı. Eniştesi Hacı Adil Arda ise, İttihat-Terakki’nin önde gelen isimlerindendi. Mehmet Arif Bey, Mardin’in en köklü bir ulema ailesine mensuptu. Aile büyükleri Kadiri Tarikati’nin önemli şeyhleri arasında sayılıyordu.

Ömer Fevzi Bey’in adı Üzeyir Garih cinayetiyle gündeme geldi

1911-1918 yılları arasında kurmay subay olarak Harbiye Nezareti Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’sında da önemli görevler ifa eden Ömer Fevzi Bey’in Rauf Orbay’la dostluğu Cumhuriyet döneminde de sürdü. Rauf Bey, Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası’nın kuruluş çalışmalarını yaparken bir siyasi komployla yüzyüze geldiğinde Fevzi Bey’den yardım istedi. Komployu ortaya çıkaran Fevzi Bey, polis tarafından gözaltına alınarak sorgulandı. Ömer Fevzi Bey, Cumhuriyet döneminde siyasi faaliyetlerden uzak durdu. Kendini dini ilimlere ve irşat çalışmalarına verdi. Kalamış’taki evi çeşitli fikirlerin mütalaa edildiği bir irfan meclisi oldu. Adnan Giz Bey’in “Bir Zamanlar Kadıköy” isimli kitabında Acıbadem Loncası olarak nitelediği toplantıların müdavimleri, Ord. Prof. Süheyl Ünver, Ender Mermerci’nin babası cildiyeci Prof. Hasan Reşat Sığındım, Mehmet Ali Ayni, Yanya Müdafii Esat Paşa, eski İstanbul Muhafızı Ahmet Fevzi Paşa, Prof. İsmail Hakkı İzmirli ve TBMM Hükümeti’nin Adliye Bakanı ve Roma temsilcisi Cami Baykut’tu.

KUŞCUBAŞI EŞREF’LE AKRABA

1953′de vefat eden Ömer Fevzi Bey’in adı 44 yıl sonra yeniden gündeme geldi. İşadamı Üzeyir Garih 2001 yılında Eyüp Mezarlığı’nda öldürüldü. Garih, Fevzi Çakmak’la aynı sofada yatan Nakşi Şeyhi Küçük Hüseyin Efendi’nin kabrini ziyaret ediyordu. Hüseyin Efendi’nin halifelerinden biri, Ömer Fevzi idi. Şeyhi’nin 1930′da ölümünden sonra, kökü Libya’da olan Arusi Tarikatı’nı kurdu. Böylece Cumhuriyet döneminde kurulan ilk tarikatın ilk şeyhi ünvanını kazanmış oldu. Ömer Fevzi Efendi, soyadı kanunuyla birlikte Mardin soyadını almıştı. Ord. Prof. Ebulula Mardin, Prof. Şerif Mardin, Amerika’nın ünlü müzisyenlerinden Arif Mardin, diplomat Şemsettin Mardin, eski milletvekili-şair Yusuf Mardin, halkla ilişkiler duayeni Betül Mardin ve daha pek çok ünlü ismin yer aldığı Mardinizade ailesine mensuptu. 1878′de doğan Ömer Fevzi Efendi, yazar Cemal Kutay ve Kuşcubaşı Eşref arasında da akrabalık bağları vardır. Ömer Fevzi Efendi’nin annesi Zarife Hanım, Kürt Bedirhan Paşa kızıdır. Bedirhan Paşa’nın oğlu eski Trablus mutasarrıfı Bedri Paşa ise Kuşcubaşı Eşref’in teyzesinin kızının eşidir.

İngilizlerin el koyduğu gemiyi kabadayılar bastı

Trablusgarp Harbi sırasında Ömer Fevzi’nin temin ettiği silah yüklü bir gemiye İngilizler el koydu. Silahlar Libya’daki direnişçilere aitti. Ömer Fevzi, İskenderiyeli kabadayılarla anlaştı. Akşam hava karardığında gemiye çıktılar, İngiliz nöbetçileri etkisiz hale getirerek yükü boşalttılar. Ömer Fevzi, hususi ajanları vasıtasıyla Yunanlıların harp sevkiyatlarını da takip ediyordu.Rauf Bey de sevkiyat yapılan limanları bombardıman ediyordu. Bu bilgilerin bir kısmı, Osmanlı genelkurmayının verdiği bilgilerle zıttı. Ancak Genelkurmayın değil, Ömer Fevzi’nin bilgileri doğru çıkıyordu. Balkan savaşları sonrasında yurda dönen Hamidiye’yi Çanakkale’de hükümet ve padişah adına Ömer Fevzi karşıladı. Büyük bir kalabalığa hitap eden Ömer Fevzi, veciz bir hoş geldin konuşması yapıyordu. Hamidiye’ye yaptığı yardımlardan dolayı Harbiye Nezareti tarafından ödüllendirilmek istendi. Ödülü reddetti, sadece Hamidiye Sancağı’nın hatıra olarak verilmesini rica etti. Hamidiye Zırhlısının sancağı daha sonra Denizcilik Müzesi’ne intikal edecekti.

Rauf Orbay’ın can dostuydu

Ömer Fevzi, Hamidiye Kahramanı Rauf Orbay’ın yakın arkadaşıydı. Hamidiye Zırhlısı’yla Akdeniz, Adriyatik ve Ege’deki akınlarda Ömer Fevzi’nin büyük yardımı olmuştu. Orbay anılarında şöyle diyordu: “2 aralık 1912 günü başlayıp sekiz ay süren akıncı hareketimiz esnasında bir çok müşkül durumlara, hatta batmak tehlikelerine maruz kaldık. En büyük zorluğumuz su ve kömür tedarikiydi. Oniki günde yediyüz elli ton kömür yakıyorduk. Kömürsüz kalmak, cephanenin infilaki bakımından büyük tehlike idi. Kömür tedarikinde Ömer Fevzi Beyin büyük yardımı oluyordu.

BİRLİKTE SAVAŞTILAR

Bu zatla Trablusgarp harbi esnasında Enver Paşa, ben, üçümüz beraberdik. Mısırlıları çok iyi tanıdığı için gizlice silah temininde hayli yardımını gördük. Hamidiye’nin her türlü ihtiyacını Ömer Fevzi bey her yere gider, tanıdıkları vasıtasıyla bulur, muhabere eder, gerektiğinde Süveyş’e gelir, bizimle buluşur temin ederdi.”

Orbay ve Ömer Fevzi, Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’nın İran-Afganistan seferinde de birlikteydi. Bu gizli seferin heyet başkanı Rauf Bey, kurmay başkanı Binbaşı Ömer Fevzi Bey’di.

Babası da İmam Yahya’yı ikna etmişti

İttihat ve Terakki’den Talat Paşa, Hacı Adil Arda ve Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa’nın çabaları sonucunda, Ömer Fevzi Bey’in babası Mehmet Arif Bey, Şam valiliğini kabul etti. Arif Bey’in Suriye’deki karışıklığı önleyeceği düşünülüyordu. Arif Bey’in gidişi Arap Kulübü’nü sekteye uğrattı. Cemiyet mensupları Arif Bey’i hiç affetmediler.

MISIR’DA NÜFUZU VARDI

Arif Bey, daha önce, Hudeyde Mutasarrıf Vekili olduğu sırada Yemen’de İmam Yahya ile Osmanlı Hükümeti arasındaki soğukluğu gidermiş, Basra’da Kut’el Amara muhasarasını kaldırtmıştı. Libya’da Sunusi tarikati vasıtasıyla Osmanlı subaylarının komutasında savaşan Arap aşiretleri cephesinin kurulmasında büyük payı vardı. Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’nın Mısır’daki sevkiyat ve ikmal sorumlusu olan Fevzi bey, babasının Mısır’daki nüfuzundan yararlanmıştı. Arif Bey’in son eşi, ünlü Paris Elçisi Halil Şerif Paşa’nın kızı ve Prens Mustafa Fazıl Paşa’nın torunu Leyla Şerife hanımdır.

Lavrens’i öldürmek onu kahraman yapmak olurdu

Şerif Hüseyin isyanını hazırlayan İngiliz casusu Lavrens, Osmanlı’nın dikkatini 1914 yılı başlarında çekti. Yemen’de görevli bir Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa ajanı, Bedevi kılığında dolaşan Lavrens’i tesbit etti.

 Bugünkü Suud-i Arabistan sınırları içinde başlayan Şerif Hüseyin İsyanı’nı hazırlayan İngiliz casusu Edward Thomas Lawrence’ydi, Lavrens, Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa’nın dikkatini ilk defa ne zaman çekmişti? Kuşçubaşı Eşref, bu sorunun cevabını Cemal Kutay’ın neşrettiği anılarında veriyordu. Lavrens’i ilk ifşa eden Yemen’de görevli bir nüfus memuru olan Ahmet Hamdi Bey’di. Hamdi Bey Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa ajanıydı. Teşkilat, Yemen’de Müslüman kisvesine bürünmüş İngiliz muhtedisi iki ajanı tespit etmişti. Ahmet Bey’in görevi bu iki ajanın ilişki kurduğu kişileri belirlemekti. Ahmet Hamdi, Hacı Ali ve Abdullah Mansur adındaki iki ajanın ziyaretçileri arasında ilginç bir kişiyi tespit etti. Şeyh kılığı içinde, Arapça konuşan, çelimsiz biri olan bu İngiliz, civardaki bazı aşiret reislerini ziyaret etmişti. Eşref Bey, Ahmet Hamdi’den bu kişiyi takibe almasını istedi. Şam’da görevli teşkilat ajanı Eczacı Nejat Bey de İngilizle bizzat temas edecekti. Çok iyi İngilizce ve Fransızca konuşan Nejat Bey, İngiliz’in adını tespit etti. Arkeolog kisvesinde dolaşan bu adam Lavrens idi.

LAVRENS OLTAYA DÜŞTÜ

Lavrens’in Balebek’te olduğunu öğrenen Nejat Bey, Balebek harabelerinde araştırma yapan Müze-i Hümayun görevlisi kimliğine girdi. Lavrens’in dikkatini çekmek için annesi Türk Yahudisi olan Alman ajanı Hans Gürzoch’la dostluk kurdu. Gürzoch’tan bilgi sızdırmak için Lavrens, Nejat Bey’e yanaştı. Nejat Bey, Lavrens’e zararsız bilgiler verdi. Lavrens’in birlikte çalışma teklifini geri çevirmeyerek onunla birlikte bazı gezilere katıldı. Bu arada Lavrens’in resminin de içinde olduğu dosyayı İstanbul’a göndermişti. Lavrens’in Nejat Bey’den öğrenmek istediği en önemli konu, hilafetin Türk milleti üzerindeki tesiri idi. Nejat Bey İstanbul’a geldiğinde Lavrens’in şeceresini bile çıkarmıştı. 1914 başlarıydı. Lavrence adı henüz duyulmamıştı.

ATİNA’DA BİLE İZLEDİLER

Eşref Bey, Lavrens’in ileride oynayacağı rolü yeterince anlayamadığını itiraf edecekti. Kahire’deki Hizbül Vatani örgütüne mensup bir Teşkilatı Mahsusa elemanından Lavrens’in Mareşal Lord Kitchener ile görüştüğünü ve Atina’ya hareket edeceğini öğrenmişti. Lavrens, İskenderiye’de bir gemiye bindi. Yandaki kamaraya bir teşkilat ajanı yerleşmişti. Lavrens’in ilk durağı, Atina’daki İngiliz Elçiliği idi. Elçi, Lavrens’in şerefine bir akşam yemeği verdi. Eşref Bey, silik bir İngilizin, elçiden gördüğü ilgiyi merak etti. Atina’daki bir gayr-i müslim dostunu devreye soktu. Gelen bilgilere göre Lavrens, Arabistan bölgesindeki Rum-Yunan şirketleriyle yakın mesaiye girmek istiyordu. Bu yüzden İngiliz sefirini devreye sokmuştu.

LAVRENS’İN PEŞİNE DÜŞTÜ

Lavrens’in Balebek’te olduğunu öğrenen Eşref bey, bir bedevi şeyhi kılığına girdi. önce Balebek harabeleri çevresindeki Yahudiler dikkatini çekti. Eşref Bey, anılarında şöyle anlatıyordu: “Balebek 7 sene öncesine göre tanınmaz haldeydi. Harabelerin etrafında bir çok Yahudi müstameresi peyda olmuştu. Bunlar, çoğu casus olan topluluğun sadece parasını mı almak için gelmişlerdi? Biz, Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa olarak, Rum, Ermeni, Arap ayrılıkçı hareketleri içinde Yahudiliğin de nasıl gizli çalışmalar yaptığını biliyorduk. Nitekim Filistin cephesinin sükutu ile bu gizli hazırlık, diğerleri gibi arkamızdan vurdu”

HAREBELERDE BULDU

Eşref Bey, Balebek’te Musa El Atraş adında çok taraflı bir muhbiri sıkıştırdı. Atraş’ı Merzifon Amerikan Koleji’nden bir muallimle görüşürken yakalamıştı. Atraş, Eşref Bey’e çeşitli fotoğraflar gösterdi. Resimlerden birine gözü takıldı. “Bu kimdir?” dedi. Atraş, “Aradığınız adamın bu olduğunu bilmiyor muyum? Ya Bek, itimadınız yoksa, neden istihza ediyorsunuz?” dedi. Eşref Bey, dikkatlice baktı, Nejat Bey’in gönderdiği resimdeki adamdı. Atraş, Lavrens’in Araplar arasında dostça karşılandığını ve Çereş’e geleceğini söyledi. Eşref Bey ve ajanları Çereş’teki casus kaynayan Britanya Şark Enstitüsü’ün Müsteşrikler Toplantısı’na katıldı. Atraş, Lavrens’in yanına gidecek, böylece Eşref Bey de onu tanıyacaktı.

ŞEYH KILIĞINDA SOHBET ETTİ

Çereş harebeleri civarında Atraş, kıyafeti Yukarı Hicazlı bedevilerinkine benzeyen, çelimsiz, soluk renkli, zayıf birisine doğru ilerledi. Lavrens’ti. Eşref Bey bu anı anlatırken, “Lavrens karşımda idi. Nejat Bey’in ilettiği fotoğrafa tıpatıp benziyordu. İlk uyandırdığı intiba, hasta, mariz, dertli, renksiz, şahsiyetsiz, gelişmemiş bir kişi ile karşı karşıya oturduğumuz duygusu idi” diyor. Lavrens ile tanışan Eşref Bey onu bir bedevi şeyhi olduğuna inandırdı. Lavrens’i öldürmeye gerek duymamıştı. Lavrens tehlikeli bir casus olarak anılmaya başladığında bile bu nu düşünmedi. Niyeti, Lavrens’i tuzağıa düşürüp, savaş sonuna kadar Anadolu’da hapsetmekti. Nejat Bey’in yakalanması planı akamete uğrattı.

PİŞMAN DEĞİLİM

Eşref Bey, Lavrens’i öldürmediği için pişman mıydı? Şöyle diyordu: “Öldürmeyi, düşünmüyordum: Daima en sona bıraktığım bu tedibi, Lavrens için o anda düşünmeğe sebep de yoktu. Hadiseler, benim hata ettiğimi gösterdi ama, o gün kolaylıkla yapabileceğim bu işi, kanlı bir şekilde bitirmediğime pişman değilim. Bu, yarı şarlatan bir adamı kahraman yapmak olurdu. Eşref Bey,1917′de Hayber’deki cenkte esir düştüğünde Lavrens onu ziyaret etti. Bedeviler arasında adı efsane gibi dolaşan Eşref Bey’i merak etmişti. Karşısındaki kişi, yıllar önce Çereş’te sohbet ettiği bedevi idi.

İngiliz casusları Sudan ve Libya’ya nüfuz edemedi

Lavrens’in nüfuz edemediği iki bölge, Trablusgarp ve Sudan’dı. Lavrens anılarında şöyle diyordu: “Türklerin buralardaki nüfuz ve itibarının asıl sebeplerini anlayabilmek için bir ömrün bu çöller içinde gömülmüş olması kafi gelmez. Şeyh Sünnusi’ni dini nüfuz mıntıkası içinde olan bu yerlerde Osmanlı Türklerine ait anlatılan hikayeler hakikatle ilgisi olmasa bile, asırlardır nesillerin birbirlerine söylediklerini hafızalardan silebilmek mümkün değildir. Tarihin kendilerine ‘Sizin sonunuz geldi’ diye haykırmasına rağmen direnen bu bir avuç mecnun Trablusgarb’ı elde etmek isteyen İtalyanları nasıl durdurmuşlar ve ancak, Balkan Hıristiyanlığının el birliği ile üzerlerine atılarak onları Konstantinopol kapılarına kadar kovalamasından sonra buralardan ayrılmışlarsa, ilk fırsatta gizlice ve çoğu Alman denizaltılarıyla sahillere çıktılar, harbin sonuna kadar da hiçbir yabancı kuvveti sokmadılar”

Lavrens: Kuşçubaşı Eşref, çöllerin eşine rastlamadığı müthiş bir haydut

Vaktiyle Hicaz Valisi ve Sultan Hamid’in en sevgili paşasının oğlunu, iki tabur asker arasından alıp dağa kaldıran bu haydudun en cüretkar hareketi, Hicaz kuvvetlerinin içinden sıyrılıp çölün en zor yerinden aşıp Yemen’e gitmek teşebbüsü idi. Eşref Bey, kendisi için aksi bir tesadüfle ve bizim haberimiz üzerine Şerif Abdullah’la çarpıştı. Türkler, teslim olmayı adetleri üzerine reddettiler ve bir sıcak su gölüne atılmış şeker parçaları gibi eridiler. Eşref’in planı Hicaz’da, Filistin zaferimize imkan veren bu isyanı bastıracak son Osmanlı teşebbüsü idi. Bu çok cesur ve bedeviler arasında ‘Uçan Şeyh’ unvanıyla tanınan korkunç adam, İbn-i Reşid’in ve İmam Yahya’nın dostu idi. O sırada İbn-i Suud bize düşmanca vaziyet aldığında, Eşref’in telkinleri ile Mekke ve Medine’yi isyancı Hicaz kuvvetlerine bırakmamak isteyebilir, bu, neticede Türk planının zaferi olurdu. Bu tehlikeli adamın yaralı olarak Hayber’de ele geçmesi, neticelere doğrudan doğruya tesir etti.

Kuşçubaşı Eşref: Lavrens kurnaz riyakar, aşağılık biriydi

Lavrens cesur muydu? Hayır. Pervasızdı. Zeki mi idi? Hayır. Kurnazdı. Atak, utanmaz, sırasına göre riyakar ve iki büklüm, fakat başarılarının ana sebebi olarak sabit fikri olan, çalışkan bir insandı. Bazen kendisini , mücadeleye layık olmayan ve karşılaşmaya değmeyen biçare, zavallı, manyak bir hüviyete bürütürdü. Ne için, kimin için çalışıyordu? Buna sarih olarak cevap vermek güçtür. (..)Peygamberimiz’den 1285 sene sonra, yine O’nun yolundan, O’ndan oldukları iddiası içinde , O’ndan ayrılmış olanların da katıldığı düşman bir dünya safına karşı yapılan Hayber şahlanışını takip eden devrede Lavrens, en kesif faaliyetini gösterdi. Türk esirlerine zulme vesile olması, Hayber cenginden sonradır. (..)Eline geçen fırsatta Lavrens, ne kadar gaddar olduğunu isbat etti. Sadece Türklere karşı değil, bütün insanlara karşı nefret beslerdi. Kendisinin bir piç ve cinsi sapık olmasında zulüm duygusunun büyük tesiri olduğunu söyleyebilirim.