What Does Thanksgiving Celebrate And Should You Celebrate It?
By Kristen King
Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, is widely regarded as an all-American holiday, and Thanksgiving Day is commonly believed to commemorate the Pilgrims’ survival of a hard winter and successful harvest early after their arrival in America.
But is there more to this holiday tradition? And should you celebrate it? Harvest festivals date back thousands of years, and were traditionally a time to give expressions of gratitude and sacrifices to various gods in appreciation of a bountiful growing season.
Fall Equinox, which generally falls around September 21 or 22 in America, is a popular time for harvest festivals and has been associated with celebrations in cultures around the world including Druids, Mayans, Native Americans and others, and included ceremonial activities such as fertility rituals and burnt offerings.
Although the Thanksgiving holiday does not have a direct correlation with a single pagan ritual, it evokes many of these traditions. For instance, the Thanksgiving cornucopia started as a hollowed goat’s horn filled with fruits, vegetables, and grains.
This practice is rooted in Greek mythology, a legend in which the goat, Amalthea, broke off one of her horns and offered it to king of the gods, Zeus, as a sign of reverence.
The Roman celebration, Cerelia, honoring the goddess Ceres, goddess of corn, occurred annually on October 4 and included a Thanksgiving feast. The Romans also had a annual day of Thanksgiving each December.
The autumn celebration of Thesmosphoria honored the Greek goddess of grains, Demeter, and also included a feast. Native American tradition recognized a variety of fall harvest festivals associated with the moon cycle and including feasting days as well.
In modern Thanksgiving celebrations, the focus is on food, football and shopping
Although modern-day Thanksgiving celebrations do not directly deal with pagan traditions, pagan origins are clear in Thanksgiving practices and may be cause for concern for sincere Christians who wish to live by the scriptural principles laid out in the Bible.
Christian believers hold that they cannot “drink from the cup of demons and the cup of God at the same time” (1 Corinthians 10:20-22) and that “true and false worship can have no common ground (2 Corinthians 6:15, 16).”
Even for those who are nonreligious, or those who view Thanksgiving as only a family tradition, rather than a real holiday, there is still cause for concern in the excess that Thanksgiving has come to encourage. In most Thanksgiving celebrations, the focus is on food and football, and the upcoming shopping season, rather than on gratitude.
Whether you choose to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday is a personal decision, and should be made based on thoughtful consideration of its true meaning, not on pressure of tradition. So will you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving?
© Kristen King
20’s something copywriter and consultant Kristen King blogs at the award-winning Inkthinker blog and KristenKing.com, among other sites. Visit KristenKing.com for more lifestyle articles about religion, culture, relationships, pets, and married life in rural Virginia.
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Additional resources:
- Thanksgiving Recipes: Over 250 Time-Tested Thanksgiving Recipes – Is it your turn to host the family Thanksgiving dinner? Make this year extra special with our delicious Thanksgiving Recipes. These make-ahead recipes and a casual atmosphere will make your Thanksgiving party as easy as, well, pie.
- All-Time Family Favorite Holiday Recipes – From great main dishes like Kevin’s Roast Duck W/Orange Sauce and side dishes like Heavenly Holiday Sweet Potatoes to cookie favorites like Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies and tasty breads like Christmas Bread, this list of a few of the over 300 recipes is the only collection you will need to plan your memorable holiday menus.
- Kids Christmas Activities Package – Keeping kids happy and busy at Christmas is easy if you have the right activities to give them. These printable Christmas activities and games for children give kids hours and hours of good, old fashioned TV-free fun! With these colorful, fun and educational Christmas worksheets and Christmas games, kids will think that it’s Christmas day already.
The History of Thanksgiving
Thanks for that. I moved away from Greece when I was really young, and I really want to rediscover my heritage. I’ve been trying out a lot of random greek recipes, and the best I’ve found yet is these greek recipes – it totally remind me of my childhood. I dont remember much of it except for the lovely smells and delicious food on every street.