Early Years to Upper Key Stage 2

This series of lessons progresses from Early Years to Upper Key Stage 2, exploring themes around Easter at increasing depth. The resources are adapted from the ‘Salvation’ strand in Understanding Christianity. If you already teach Understanding Christianity and are interested in moving to a Religion and Worldviews approach, this resource is for you.

Created by Lynn Revell and Kate Christopher as part of their Canterbury Christ Church University grant funded project Teaching Islam as a Worldview. Funding provided by  Culham St Gabriel’s Trust. You can find further resources which were created as part of this project in the RE:ONLINE resource Islam as a Worldview

This lesson offers some historical information about the first Bat Mitzvah, the welcoming of a young Jewish woman to adulthood. Jews had for centuries celebrated a boy’s entry to adulthood with a Bar Mitzvah, meaning, ‘son of the commandments’. In 1922 Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community in New York, performed the first Bat Mitzvah, for his daughter, Judith. This means ‘daughter of the commandments’. As we shall see, not everyone welcomed the move. We will explore historical information as well as information about Jewish belief, practice and community.

Lesson Outline

1. Search online for an image of Judith Kaplan at the 70th anniversary of the first Bat Mitzvah. The image is housed in the Jewish Women’s Archive, there are several versions online. You could also search for other images of Judith and her father Mordechai Kaplan, there are a few.
Give groups 3 minutes to come up with 3 questions about the image.

2) Cut the information below into cards and give a set to each group: (In the download at the end of this page there are ready made cards you can cut out.)

Judith’s father was a rabbi, and he performed her Bat Mitzvah

Bar Mitzvah is when a boy comes of age in Judaism

Judith Kaplan’s Bat Mitzvah was conducted in New York in 1922

No one had conducted a Bat Mitzvah before Judith Kaplan’s.

The young person reads from the Torah in front of the congregation

The first public Bat Mitzvah involved 13-year old Judith Kaplan

There are 316 commandments in then Torah (Jewish holy book)

Bat means ‘daughter’ in Hebrew

Bar Mitzvah means ‘son of the commandments’.

Ask groups to find answers to these questions, using the cards:
– What is a Bat Mitzvah?
– What is a Bar Mitzvah?
– why is the first Bat Mitzvah is significant in Jewish history?

3. Ask groups to predict how this was received in the Orthodox community. Do they think it was welcomed as a positive change, or resisted as an unwelcome change?

4. In fact not all New York Jews supported Judith’s Bat Mitzvah. Write the 4 statements below into 4 speech bubbles and display. Ask groups to identify TWO reasons why Judith’s Bat Mitzvah was seen as a bad idea, and TWO reasons why it was seen as a good idea.

A woman’s sphere of influence is the home, so it is right and fitting that a young woman should be welcomed into adulthood in the home.

Religions need to change with the times. Traditions adapt without destroying the religion. The belief has not changed, just the way of showing it has changed.

Women have more of a role in public life in modern times so it is correct for women to be more involved in public religious ceremonies.

Jewish women and girls have always been ‘daughters of the commandments’. A new ceremony is not necessary.

5. Introduce the idea that religion can be understood as a combination of beliefs, practices and community or tradition; how groups see the world, what they do, and who they do it with. Show a diagram like this. You could give examples of beliefs, practices and community traditions, which pupils have to match to each element to make this point.

6) Using the information squares below, answer the question; ‘Was Rabbi Kaplan seen as challenging religious beliefs, practices or traditions with the first Bat Mitzvah?’

The Torah is the first part of the Jewish bible, consisting of 5 books.

The 613 commandments cover all aspects of community & religion.

The Torah teaches about the Jewish prophets and early Jewish history.

Traditionally only men read from the Torah.

‘Torah’ means ‘teachings’ (Hebrew).

The Torah begins with God creating the universe.

The Bar Mitzvah ceremony is not mentioned in the Torah, or the Talmud (books that interpret the Torah).

The first mention of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony is in the Middle Ages, not the time of the Torah.

Traditionally, only men would read from the Torah in public. Women had no roles of authority in public; in business or religion.

The Jewish bible contains elements of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony. For example, adult Jews fast on the Day of Atonement, and children would begin their fast at 13.

At a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, the 13-year old boy reads a portion of the Torah to the congregation at the synagogue. This is the first time he has read from the Torah in public.

The Mishnah (part of the Talmud) states, ‘”At five years old one should study the Scriptures, at ten years for the Mishnah, at 13 for the commandments…’ (Mishnah Pirkei Avot 5:21)

In this BBC video we meet Me-Me, a Jewish girl, preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. Me-Me will read the Torah in front of the synagogue congregation to become a ‘Daughter of the Commandments’.

Well, have you managed to avoid Slade, the Pogues, Michael Buble, Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey, Wham!, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Chris Sievey, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Band Aid……..?

Perhaps the only way to do this is to stay indoors with your fingers in your ears! I’m sure Ebenezer Scrooge would have avoided them all (‘Bah! Humbug!’), but I have just come across one school that is hosting a debate: this House believes Ebenezer Scrooge is a better role model for children than Father Christmas. What do you think? Being a Grumpy Old Man I might tend to agree with the motion, or, being a Grumpy Old Philosopher, I might prefer to change the motion and deny the validity of the binary choice……..

Either way, what is Christmas? I don’t mean what is the whole Biblical and traditional story(-ies), I mean what is it now for modern Britain? Thankfully the Daily Mail spoofs that to mention the word ‘Christmas’ would somehow cause offence to others are a thing of the past, but I have a friend who now insists on wishing me a happy vegetarian Winterval and urges me to engage more with the seasonal solstice and look forward in hope not evidently to the Christ-child but to more daylight. Hmmm.

There again, Advent is replaced by Black Friday and Cyber Week, carols by Jingle Bells, the joy of feasting by guilt over the poor, and the journey of the Magi by Elton John’s journey from his first piano. Is this all too negative? – no, but it is short-sighted. In a sense this is what Christmas always was – no wonder the Puritans banned it from 1644 to 1647! It has always been jolly and drunken for the majority. It started that way in ancient Rome, when Saturnalia moved to the 25th December. Its 4th Century AD rebranding as the birthday of Jesus followed a century of debate in the churches as to when Jesus was actually born (many days of the year suggested) but the replacement for Saturnalia became official soon after Constantine had embraced Christianity, of a sort, for the Empire.

Another origin is similar, the Sol Invicta cult of the Roman World, in which Constantine himself was brought up, which partied on 25th December, but the general idea is the same: a religious/secular festival in the gloom of midwinter. Plenty of other accretions to Christmas have come from similar festivals (Yuletide, for example), in the hope that ‘Christianising’ them would sanitise them.

So where does this place us today? Should we as Christians bow to what seems inevitable and have our Christmas whilst the world has its Xmas? I say a guarded ‘No’ to that. Why?

[i] There are many on the fringes of Faith, indeed adherents of other Faiths also, who want life to be more than shopping, reality to be explored, not turned Virtual; we can hold a candle for those people.
[ii] The Christmas stories are our cultural heritage, with a message of ‘Peace on earth’, of goodwill to all people, of remembering the rejected family with Baby in a manger about to become refugees in Egypt.
[iii] The staggering wealth of music, dramas and poetry speak of a society that desperately needs a central value beyond Brexit and the economy.
[iv] We need something better for our mental health than mere Mindfulness – we need something to be Mindful of, namely the hope that Bethlehem can bring us all as we explore its many meanings.

But the real Bethlehem today is a parable of the lives of so many people – under occupation by forces beyond its control, impoverished, walled in, drained of its Christian heritage, the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square commercially exploited – a parody at the heart of Christianity. One Bethlehem tours website (all-in package including Jerusalem and the Dead Sea) includes the comment that ‘For those not interested in Bethlehem there will be free time in Jerusalem’ – presumably the shopping malls of West Jerusalem? Bethlehem has now so little to offer even the commercial tourist.

In our schools we need to explore and exploit the nativity story: life under Roman occupation; an unpopular census for taxation purposes; an illegitimate pregnancy and family shame; an honourable carpenter protecting his young bride-to-be; the value of the family connections in their hometown of Bethlehem; the holy family squashed together in the animal quarter of a peasant house, occasioning ribald remarks from neighbours; the brutality and despotic fear of Herod and the child massacre that follows. Then there is the welcome from the lowly and near-dispossessed (shepherds); and from the wealthy overseas wise (the Magi), with their extraordinary royal gifts that must have seemed so inappropriate when they finally located Jesus, following the star to the Christ-child; then their refugee journey to Egypt.

If we can’t find parables in this shared narrative for our modern world then we seriously lack empathetic imagination.

So let us merge Christmas and Xmas (after all, X is the Greek letter at the start of Christ’s name), let us both use and celebrate the feast and give our gifts; and let us explore the depths of the narrative for our modern world, whose tinsel and plastic cribs are but a parody of reality.

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

Christians always look forward to Christmas, whatever our denominations, because it enables us to reflect once again on why we are Christians: we believe God decisively entered our world once and for all, in person, to redeem us; in so doing He had to become exactly one of us – and so begin the narratives in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels.

However, we are less confident on the period leading up to Christmas, Advent. What’s it all about? Well, we know that four clear Sundays before Christmas Day (hence the moving date for Advent Sunday) we are to make spiritual preparations for the celebration of the Incarnation. Over the centuries customs have varied widely: some have Lent-like fasts, many put up Advent wreaths and lights, or share special calendars to count off the days; then there are Advent carols, Christingle, a specific wreath with five candles lit Sunday by Sunday in many churches to remember the spiritual history leading up to the arrival of Christ (‘Advent’ means ‘arrival’), and no doubt other customs. So, what are we missing?

The Collect in the ASB prayer book for Advent includes:
…so that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal…
The original creed of Nicaea, the contemporary product in AD325 of the great Council of Nicaea states:
…[he] will come to judge the living and the dead….
And the New Testament frequently makes reference to the Second Coming, Jesus himself making reference to it in the eschatological discourse (e.g. Luke 21. 25ff), through the message of the angels at the Ascension, the epistles right up to the buffers of Revelation: “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” 

Why don’t we make more of this profound Hope? I suggest three main reasons:
a) Over the centuries we have seen so many ‘millenarian’ movements proclaiming the imminent end of the world – ‘The Pursuit of the Millennium’ is a fascinating yet worrying read;
b) Post-Enlightenment Christianity has become embarrassed to hold such a blatantly supernatural article of faith (Article IV of the 39 Articles, for example)
c) It hasn’t happened yet!

To tackle these in turn:
a) We know even from the pages of the New Testament that an imminent Return of Christ (Parousia) was often expected, and that hope had to be realigned to the realities of the Christian life (2 Thessalonians 3.10, for example). Enthusiastic movements such as the 2nd Century Montanists plainly had some such expectation, and right through to the Jehovah’s Witnesses today this belief has been a great inspiration, even though all predictions have proved futile. It does lead many to re-assess whether such a belief should have any place granted this history. The simple answer is ‘No’; just because some people have got it wrong, the overall belief is not invalidated though it may need more careful consideration.

b) Familiar rationalism has created liberalism, which has been a valuable antidote to modern Fundamentalism and mindless, superstitious ‘faith’; poor Anselm’s credo ut intelligam (‘believe in order that I may understand’) has been misused to make blind ‘faith’ a virtue, which not even Jesus proposed – he told us to watch and not to let anyone deceive us, being ourselves as ‘wise as serpents’.. Realised Eschatology, its roots in the Johannine tradition, took off in the 20th Century, reinterpreting ‘eternal life’ to mean a virtuous quality of life rather than an endless quantity of life, and of course there is much to be said for this in terms of the moral and spiritual teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus himself. Albert Schweizer’s famous conclusion that Jesus was a failed eschatological prophet who flung himself to the cross trying to make God see his point of view, probably sums up the basis for redirecting the Second Coming hope towards a more spiritual and reasonable hope. But by the time the supernatural has been removed from the Gospel, Christology become Adoptionism, eternity become excellence in this world, and God merely the Ground of Our Being and not Trinity, there is not much left! Christianity is fundamentally supernatural or it is nothing.

c) For some in New Testament times the delayed Parousia was already a problem: ‘Where is the promise of His coming’ (2 Peter 3.4). This could, of course, mean we have always got it wrong if doubts existed even then, but Peter’s answer in this epistle is helpful: God does not work on our timescale, and if the Parousia is delayed, it is to give us time to turn to God rather than face judgement too soon, so live as if the Parousia is tomorrow, but plan to be here a long time! We sometimes call this ‘Now, and not yet’. Unfortunately, there is an industry of speculation among evangelicals, often based precariously on the Book of Revelation, to construct the agenda and scheduling of the Last Days, but since Jesus himself said that only the Father knows the times, it does seem pointless to pursue the Millennium through literalism in that most troubling of books.

In conclusion, Christians must hold on to the faith of the creeds and New Testament, that this chapter, entitled ‘Spacetime’, will conclude and another chapter begin. It is His Story and not our history, Otherwise, to recycle St Paul, we are of all people the most to be pitied. Advent tells us there is a great Hope to be eagerly awaited, whenever it may come, and that the arrival of the Son of God in the first place, and later his resurrection, are God’s promises to us that the Hope will be fulfilled: he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And to refer again to 2 Peter ch. 3: in the light of the Parousia, what sort of people should we be?

Enjoy the fun and Hope of Advent!

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

I think that we can all agree that while Christmas may be, essentially, a Christian holiday, the celebration of Christmas has expanded well beyond the boundaries of Christianity. These days it’s celebrated by people of many different faiths and those of none. Of course, the perception of the holiday may differ from one group to the next. A Muslim celebrating Christmas will have a different religious perception of the holiday, compared to a Christian, even though in many instances their days may appear very much alike. Likewise, secular Christmas, celebrated by the majority of Britons, is more or less the same from one household to the next, and still quite like the festivities of Christians, even though the secular, non-religious British citizen doesn’t share their faith.

Pagans, are really no different. Well, mostly.
We, generally speaking, are very happy to get in on the holiday spirit. Many Pagans have a secular Christmas. But a lot of us have other winter holidays that we either celebrate along with Christmas or instead of it. Though, even in those cases where Christmas is not celebrated, our own holidays have many similarities to a typical Christmas.

We shouldn’t be surprised by that, though. One thing that Pagans like about this time of year, is just how Pagan it is! Dozens of different traditions, many of them with Pagan roots, all weaving together into the modern Christmas.

There are a lot of theories about what aspects of Christmas have Pagan elements or origins. Part of Santa Claus’ character may have been adopted from old depictions of Odin. Bringing an evergreen tree into the house, to be decorated, a German tradition of uncertain origins, but it certainly seems very Pagan. Mistletoe, that sacred plant of the Druids, is also held in esteem in Heathen mythology. Even the ancient Romans exchanged gifts as a part of their Saturnalia festival, at this time of year. And having a big winter feast with lots of merriment and drinking, has been a part of mid-winter traditions all over Europe.
So, even those Pagans who engage with Christmas as a public, secular holiday, are still able to enjoy it through Pagan eyes.

Some of us, however, don’t ‘do’ Christmas. We have our own winter festivals, which typically fall around the same time.
In many instances, the placement of these festivals is determined by the winter solstice, which typically falls on December 21st (sometimes the 20th or 22nd). These are, in most instances, Yule celebrations, and are shared by several different Pagan faiths. Yule originally comes from the Germanic peoples of Europe (like the Norse and Anglo-Saxons) and was the whole month. Those who follow a Germanic Pagan faith, like Heathenry and Asatru, tend to celebrate Yule at around the same time as Christmas.

Wiccans also have Yule as a part of their ritual calendar and so it is common practice for them to have a Yule ritual, which marks and celebrates the winter solstice. Druids, likewise, also mark the winter solstice. Those who follow a Pagan path that draws from ancient Roman religion, may have a Saturnalia celebration. Traditionally, Saturnalia could last up to a couple of weeks, though for the modern Pagan who has a job to go to, needs to pay bills, etc. such celebrations may have to be skimmed down to a single party or gathering.

Despite having our own holidays, being a minority religion often means that taking part in holiday revelry has to be a small affair or, as can be the case at this time of year, it can mean that we have to fold our festivities into those of other people. So, Pagans from many different paths may all share a public Yule gathering. More notably though, Pagans may often have to blend their Paganism into the broader gatherings of friends and family. So, we might go to our family Christmas dinner, share in it as our “winter feast”, enjoying it from a Pagan perspective, even while our families enjoy it from their own (religious or non-religious) perspective.

That’s not always the case, though. Modern Paganism is now old enough that we can talk about generations of Pagans. Pagan parents raising their children with Pagan traditions. I know of a number of Pagan families who don’t celebrate Christmas, at all, but they do all celebrate Yule. The kids seem to be quite happy about this arrangement, as Yule tends to take place on December 21st, meaning that they get their presents before all their friends get theirs! Perhaps, as Paganism continues to grow and create more Pagan families, this will become more commonplace – or at least as common as the festivals of any other non-Christian religion in the UK.

For now, though…
Happy Yule – Merry Christmas – Io Saturnalia – Happy Hanukkah – Blessed Sol Invictus – Or whatever your tradition may be, have a good one!

This resource was written by Luthaneal Adams, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

My Irish mother used to urge us to hurry by saying we should ‘run like a linty’. What? Well, a linty was a nickname for someone who lit the streetlamps in the days of gas lighting, and the lamps on their posts would often need the mantle changing, made of lint. As the linty had to hurry, and in changing mantles often got covered in lint fibres as he ran through the town from lamp to lamp, so he became a byword for someone in a great hurry. In this resource I want to slow him or her down and say we should all be thoughtful linties.

One of the great symbols of Christianity is light. ‘Lighten our darkness’ is the start of a familiar closing prayer in many Anglican services, the whole of creation began, we are told with the majestic ‘Let there be light’, and Jesus sensationally said: “I am the Light of the World” (John 8.12).

In the world up until the 19th Century, and in many parts still today, light means fire: candles, pitch, hearth fires, oil lamps, charcoal, anything that burns gives light. So, light meant heat, light could easily be extinguished, and kindling a fire/light was an arduous process, so don’t let the fire go out! All of these thoughts are involved in Christian thinking about light at this time of increasingly short days and long nights. But it is not the physical facts of light that matter, it is the spiritual significance which you can find in everything from infant baptism (christening) through to praying for the souls of the dead, from referring to conversion as ‘enlightenment’ to prayer for guidance (‘lighten our darkness’) or to making use of external light to illuminate stained glass windows.

Let’s concentrate on candles. At infant baptism in the major denominations a special candle is given and lit by the priest as a sign of that new life, a symbol of the one baptised, a picture of the light of Christ conquering the darkness of evil. Everyone who is baptised “walks in that light” for the rest of their lives, baptism being the start of that journey into faith and obedience. I quote the Anglican liturgy here:

Priest: God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has given us a place with the saints in light. You have received the light of Christ; walk in this light all the days of your life.

All   Shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father.

This is how symbolism works here: Baptism does not of itself make you a believing Christian, which is why many Protestants delay it until a person can decide for themselves. However, baptising an infant, to cut a long story short, is seen as entering the family of faith prior to playing your part in later life. The light of the candle therefore serves:

1. As a reminder of the truths of walking in the light of Christ in your life;
2. As a reminder of Christ as the Light of the World;
3. As a fire, not an electric bulb, which burns away deadwood, heats, and purifies precious things: it symbolises therefore the indwelling Holy Spirit who works in us to the glory of God.

To take one more instance, All Saints (or Hallows/Souls) Day. In the last 25 years we have been overtaken by the commercialising of the evening before All Hallows Day reviving what are presumed to be ancient practices (a rather dubious claim) and encouraging people to dress up as the Dark Side. OK, for many this is a bit of fun. But if we instead remember the next day all the good and the great, the pioneers, saints and martyrs, heroes, both sung and unsung , it is a fantastic festival of lights, and we should be lighting candles and other illuminations to celebrate these – there is quite enough gloom around, so let’s have some good news!

So, as the scripture says, ‘God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1.5). Further, we are also told God is the ‘Father of lights’ (James 1.17): we can translate ‘lights’ here as ‘enlighteners’ – God is the Father of all those who seek to bring light to shine in the world around. This we remember in the baptismal candle, and then promise to do as we live our lives as linties.

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

In 2020 Latter-day Saints celebrate the 200th anniversary of the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Who was this man? Firstly, it is important to note who he was not- he is not our Saviour, nor is he an object of our worship. I’m sure if he were here today, he would want us to focus on the life and teachings of his and our Master- Jesus Christ, but through Joseph Smith we learn many things about our Saviour.

So, who was Joseph Smith?

1.He was a man.

As we look at the life of Joseph, we see he had many human qualities that were to be admire. Often, we look at the Saviour and think how hard an example he is to live up to, but Joseph Smith- mere mortal that he was gave us an example of how we can follow the Saviour even with our limitations and imperfections. There are many stories from Joseph’s life that help us understand his ‘human qualities’.

I like to use an example from his life as I strive to remain steadfast in my faith. When he was challenged about his experiences, and in particular the First Vision (see below) he recorded:

I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation (Joseph Smith History 1:25).

2.He was a Prophet.

Some may have a tendency to emphasize his human qualities and perhaps give them an excuse to dismiss some of the teachings of the Saviour which Joseph taught. Above all the important fact of Joseph’s life is that he was a prophet of God. We know his standing as a Prophet of God when we read D&C 135:3:

In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

A prophet is someone who teaches of Jesus Christ and warns the world as the mouthpiece of God. This began nearly 200 years ago in the Sacred Grove. On seeking for truth Joseph reached the conclusion that he needed to pray and ask God where his truth lay. Following this determination in the early spring of 1820 he retired to a grove of trees and received what is now termed, The First Vision:

After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (JSH 1:15-17).

In this event Joseph saw the Father and the Son, and also received a promise that at some future point the Church would be restored through him. There were many things that Joseph revealed and restored under the direction of the Godhead. He translated the Book of Mormon, received the priesthood under the hands of Peter, James and John, and organised the Church on April 6, 1830.

3.He was a teacher.

This is linked with Joseph being a prophet. A prophet is a teacher. His subject is Christ and the plan of salvation. Through Joseph we have greater understanding of the plan of salvation. How wonderful it is to read of the teaching experiences of the Prophet Joseph. Following the death of a friend he was asked to deliver a funeral sermon; in this he taught the doctrine of baptism for the dead which excited his audience so much that they left the meeting to run to the river and start straight away.

Joseph wasn’t born a teacher- though he was foreordained so to be. He developed as all of us do- line upon line, here a little and there a little. It is this same unlettered boy who first saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that delivered great sermons years later.

4.He was a revealer of truth.

This began with Joseph’s search for truth in his early years. He learnt how to seek revelation and recognize the promptings of the Spirit. This began early in his life; when searching for truth and coming to the conclusion he must ask God he was first of all reading the Bible:

I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; (JSH 1:11-12 emphasis added).

This passage highlights how the process of revelation happens through the Holy Spirit. He works in our minds and in our hearts. It strengthens me to know that this personal revelation is available to all of us, including me. Joseph once taught that “God hath not revealed any thing to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve & even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to—bear them.”

As a Latter-day Saint I believe that knowledge and clarification of great truths were revealed through the Prophet Joseph including:

• The nature of God
• The Plan of Salvation
• The priesthood of God
• The apostasy and restoration
• Book of Mormon
• Word of Wisdom
• Temple work

5.He was a martyr.

Joseph sealed his testimony with his blood- in June 1844 he was shot by a mob while being held in Carthage Jail. Joseph once declared:

“I am tired. I have been mobbed, I have suffered so much from outsiders and from my own family… I have to seal my testimony to this generation with my blood. I have to do it for this work will never progress until I am gone for the testimony is of no force until the testator is dead. People little know who I am when they talk about me, and they never will know until they see me weighed in the balance in the Kingdom of God. Then they will know who I am, and see me as I am.”

I was once on holiday in Cornwall and saw the following dedication on a war memorial; to me it sums up the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith in teaching me of my Saviour and through him, my eternal destiny: 

In proud and grateful memory of the men… who gave their all and in giving raised men’s ideals of what man may become.

This resource was written by James Holt, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

Well, it’s that time of year again.  Summer is coming to an end and the kids are back at school.  But the end of summer also means that the wheel of the year is turning again and the first signs of autumn are beginning to manifest.

It also means that my favourite time of year is nearly here:  Halloween!

Halloween, or as we Pagans call it Samhain, is probably our most popular and well-known festival.  It’s the one that is most in the public consciousness, though usually for spooky decorations, fun costumes, parties, and the sudden appearance of a Halloween isle in the supermarket.

Although most people might not think of this time of year in terms of it being a Pagan holiday, it very much is and so many of the things associated with Halloween find their origins in our festival of Samhain.

This is a subject I’ve written and spoken about before, in multiple places.  So, I’m going to cheat a little bit and save myself some time, by simply sharing an article on Samhain that I wrote in the past.

But for those of you looking for the cliffnotes summary:

Samhain is about recognising that death is a part of life.

It is a time for remembering the dead.

Wearing costumes, Jack O’lanterns, Bobbing for Apples, all have Pagan precedents.

Samhain was a fire festival, so bonfires have always been part of the festivities at this time of year.

For the full info, read on…

Samhain

In the modern world only Pagans and those who may be well informed are likely to use the word “Samhain”.  For most people this age-old feast has been transformed into Halloween.  But even Halloween retains traits of the ancient ways, still seen in our predisposition with the supernatural at this time of year.

Halloween is traditionally a time of ghosts and ghoulies, not to mention filling your belly with lots and lots of yummy foods.  But these things aren’t really that far removed from the practices of our ancestors and here we will examine the beliefs and traditions that they held and the dedicated Pagans who still follow them today.

Origins

Samhain (pronounced “s’ow-in”) finds its most recognisable roots in the beliefs and practices of the ancient Celts.

To the Gaulic Celts it was once known as Trinouxtion Samonii.  This translates as “three nights of the end of Summer”, which is when Samhain celebrations took place, around what we now call October/November.  This was not just the end of Summer, but some believe it was also the end of the Celtic year.  The land was slipping into a state of death, trees losing their leaves, the days are darker and shorter, and the crops are brought in for the final time that year.  It is a time of endings.

Additionally, Samhain is also a time of blood.  At this time of year, all farming is coming to a pause.  Crops are done with and the animals, seeking food, come down from the higher pastures and return to the farm to be kept through the winter.  Being as the farmers could not afford to maintain the entire herd throughout the winter, due to the shortness of resources, they would slaughter the most expendable members of the herd.  The blood of these animals was seen as an offering to appease the spirits of the land, thanking them for their help in bringing forth the crops during the year and in the hope that they will provide the same help in the following year.  It was a way to ensure that malign spirits didn’t turn on the property and its owners.

This belief in the power of blood even lasted through to the nineteenth century, where some places would still sprinkle the blood of a cockrel at the four corners of their houses in order to ward off negative spirits.

When the Dead Walk

Blood, death and darkness.  Perhaps a traditional backdrop for our modern Halloween.  But to the Celts, this may have been a time of darkness, but it was in no way a negative time of year.

Samhain was a between-time, resting between the living bright half of the year and the dead, dark half of the year.  It is a time the land (and Gods) were entering into a state of death.  The doors to the world of the dead were blown open at this time and the spirits of those that had died were free to wander the land.

It was traditional at this time to make these spirits welcome in the homes of their families.  Doors and windows would be left open to allow them entrance and food would be set aside for them, so that they could partake of its “spiritual essence” and thusly enjoy the benefits of its nourishment.

This event was often envisioned as a great host of the dead wandering through the countryside, descending upon villages and towns, moving from house to house where at each stop, those who belong would remain behind to visit their relatives.

A common term for this was The Feast of the Dead, which is a term that is still used today by some Pagans.

This was a time for celebration, when the entire tribe – living and dead – would come together to celebrate the festivities.  At the centre of these festivities was the ritual bonfire.

Fire in the darkness

One traditional practice in many Celtic communities was to extinguish all the lights in the village and light a single bonfire, central to everyone as a communal gathering point.  Later, all the lights would be relit from the flames of this bonfire.

This practice was most widely and sacredly performed in Ireland, where Samhain was synonymous with the Feast of Tara.  The Tara was the envisioned heart of the land, where every king of Ireland would come at the time of the feast.  Nearby, at a sacred area called Tlachtga, a large bonfire would be constructed, ready for Samhain.  Then the night before Samhain, all the lights in the land would be extinguished and the fire at Tlachtga would be lit.  Once the fire was raging attendees would cast charms into the flames, symbolising their wishes for the coming year.  Then torches would be lit from the bonfire and sent out across the land to relight it, beginning with its spiritual heart: the Tara.

The bonfire has retained its place in modern British culture; however, it has now been co-opted by Guy Fawkes Night and its original heritage has been forgotten in favour of the more recent gunpowder plot.

In some communities, the bonfires served a double purpose, by also acting as a protective charm against supernatural menaces.

It was a time of year when the barrier between life and death was at its thinnest, dark had triumphed over light and the spirits of the dead were free to roam.  But other things from the lands beyond life were also free to venture forth and cause whatever trouble they wanted.  In this time of darkness, the bonfire served to bring light to the community and dispel the darkness from places where nasty other-world creatures may try to lurk.

So, in this way, the bonfires were like beacons that would guide in ancestral spirits as they wandered, while at the same time driving off more malevolent beings.

It is thought that the ancient Celts would have burnt animal bones in these fires as a special measure to ward off evil spirits, which is where we get our modern word “bonfire”, from these ancient “bone-fires”.  These bone-fires were no doubt built using the bones of the cattle that were slaughtered for Samhain.

Death, Renewal and the promise of Life

We are now very familiar with the natural connection to death and the spirit world that are expressed at Samhain.  But as has already been mentioned, this is not a time for grieving.  In fact, this is as much a time for looking forward as well as looking back.

We are inclined at this time to remember those who have passed over to the land of the dead and all the times we have had with them.  As the end of the harvest we are also inclined to look back over the spring and summer that have just passed.

Remember, this is not just another passing holiday; this is the mark of the end of the year.  Think about the things that may run through your mind at the end of December.  You are probably given to spare a thought for the year that has just gone and take stock of the things that have happened.  Was it a good year?  A happy year?  In the mix of the festivities you quite probably remember a lot of the good times, as anyone would at a party.  Well Samhain is a party too, it is a celebration, albeit a solemn one in many regards.  So those involved would spare the same kind of thoughts to the past year, but in addition they would also look forwards at the year to come.

You may make New Year’s resolutions as the New Year rings in and December becomes January.  For the ancient Celts it wasn’t too different.  They would give thought to what they would do with their futures and so this also became a common time for doing simple forms of divination, often as a part of the merriment.

This also makes a lot of sense at this time of year, as Samhain is seen as the doorway between worlds.  It is the bridge between one year and the next, when reality is at its thinnest.  It is neither one year, nor the other.  A time between times and thusly “time” was just as flexible as the walls between the worlds, making it a perfect event for divining the future.

If you lived back then, you may have witnessed a local getting their future romantic interests predicted by watching walnuts crack upon a roaring hearth fire.

Samhain is also about new beginnings – or at least, envisioning new beginnings.

At this time of year, nature has retreated and died, and this brings with it the image of the Goddess descending into the underworld as she also enters the state of death.  In today’s neo-pagan religions (especially Wicca) this is commonly just “the Goddess” as represented through all of nature as the bringer of life and womb of creation.  However, in the Celtic world this concept of the Goddess would have been overlaid with that of their local Goddess who either fit the bill of the seasonal change or who stood as the most sovereign among the Goddesses, as at this time of year the Goddess (whoever she may be) was viewed as the Sovereign Goddess.  She, who in majesty, withdraws for the other worlds.

While the Goddess draws away from us and descends into the underworld, her consort sweeps across the land, taking part in the Wild Hunt.  The theme of the Wild Hunt is perhaps best represented through the horned God Cernunnos, moving across the sky at the darkening of the year.  This Wild Hunt of his signifies two things, firstly the culling of the herds that is being performed by the slaughter of livestock and secondly, the gathering of the souls of the deceased.  We visualise him stalking animals as a hunter, bringing down those that are weakest so that the herd will be strengthened and the community better benefits, thusly the animal slaughters are depicted, but he is also king of the underworld and ready to join the Goddess in her sovereignty.  So, the Wild Hunt marks his return to the underworld, gathering the souls of the dead as they finish their time on Earth.

As he descends in the underworld, he takes his place with the Goddess.  There are many myths at Samhain that describe how the God takes his position with the Goddess, sometimes showing him dying in order to be with her, some showing him as a resident guardian to her in her time in the underworld, while others depict him in the guise of two Gods with one slaying another so that the first may go to the Goddess to reclaim her for the world.  This act is a sacred sacrifice.  The God has travelled the land gathering the spoils of the Wild Hunt and now for the good of the world, he himself dies so that he can return to the Underworld.

As the Lord of the other worlds, the God shall stand as protector to the Goddess during her time in the underworld.  For this in itself is a significant time, as it shows us that death and the spirit world is not merely the cessation of life, but instead a womb from which the Goddess will be born anew with the coming of Spring.

In modern Paganism the significance of this message is very important.  Through it we understand how death is a step in life and how the dark months of winter show us the beginning of the New Year, for in these dark times life dwells in the womb of the Earth and spiritually in the other worlds.  So, the beginning of the New Year coincides with the beginning of the life of the land, here in the cosmic womb of the natural world.

Samhain into Halloween – what we do today

Any and all of these ancient practices can and do get recreated among modern Pagans, but alongside them time has also gifted us with some newer traditions that fit marvellously into the spirit of the season.  For the modern Pagan there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t utilise both sides of the season, old and new.  It’s your Samhain, so do what you need to enjoy it. It is, after all, supposed to be a festival.

Costumes

Dressing as ghosts and ghoulies has a very obvious connection to the holiday.  With the belief that all sorts of creatures are around and about, dressing the part to celebrate can be a good bit of fun.

But this tradition may also have some roots that are older and deeper than we may realise.  Indeed, in some Celtic communities dressing up was a regular practice.  There would be people who would often dress in masks and outfits and play pranks upon their neighbours – usually with a light-hearted attitude.

This was to symbolise the breaking of barriers that was occurring in the world.  As the common rules of time and space came to waver, so to did the rules of community behaviour and people could feel free (to a point) to do some things that they would not normally be allowed to do, by breaking the flow of ordinary behaviour.  In this fashion, people would dress up in order to look outrageous and add to the merriment.

Some researchers also suggest that it would have been common practice at this time for any Celts out on the Samhain nights, to wear costumes as disguises, so that they would not be recognised as human if they happen to cross paths with any unfriendly spirits.

Jack-O’lanterns

The history of the Jack-O’lanterns is a rather divided one and seems to be the end result of two different things.

According to some traditions, the Jack-O’lantern finds its origins in Ireland, where it was a practice to carve out root vegetables (primarily turnips) and place either a piece of coal or a candle within them, in the style of the modern Jack-O’lantern.  This was done with a double meaning:  firstly, the light from the candle acted as a guide for friendly spirits, so that they might be able to find their way and be guided in, while the scary face was a deterrent to malevolent spirits and drives them away.

If is thought that this practice didn’t specifically pertain to Samhain and that it may have occurred at other times of year as well but keeping in mind the dual purpose of the traditional Samhain bonfire, it isn’t hard to see how this tradition might have got started.

Additionally, there is the folklore tale about an unlucky Irishman by the name of Jack, who is said to have caused some kind of great mischief in his life and eventually had a run-in with the Devil.  Well, as it turns out, Jack was actually a rather shrewd thinker and managed to trick the Devil and trap him until he promised not to take Jack’s soul to Hell.  The Devil agreed in exchange for his own freedom.

Of course, when Jack came to die, he was left in a bit of a pickle.  Being far from an upstanding citizen he was refused entrance to Heaven and the Devil kept his word, barring him from Hell.

Jack wondered what he would do and where he would go, so the Devil mockingly made him a lantern with which he would endlessly wander the world seeking a place to rest.

From this folk tale he became known as Jack of the Lantern or Jack O’Lantern.

When the Irish immigrated to North America they brought the tradition of the Jack-O’lantern with them, but somewhere along the way they found it was easier to carve pumpkins than it was to carve turnips, bringing us to the modern Jack-O’Lantern that we have today.

Bobbing for Apples

This tradition actually goes back further than the Celts, finding its origins in the ancient Roman Empire.  The Romans once celebrated their own festival of the last harvest around the time of late October, called the Feralia.  During this time, they celebrated by honouring the Goddess Pomona, the Goddess of fruit trees.  The apple was a sacred symbol of Pomona and was used in celebrations of this festival.

When the Romans invaded the Celtic lands, the practices of the Romans blended a little with that of the Celts and so the symbolic reference to apples was passed across.  Today we still celebrate this via the tradition of apple bobbing.

Even today this time of year remains a time for fun and frolics, when we all have a good excuse to dress up and enjoy ourselves.

For many Pagans this is a time to welcome the dead and give honour to the Gods, but whether you call it Samhain or Halloween, everyone is free to join in the fun, throw parties or if they wish just stay in and watch horror movies.  So, make it a good one!

This resource was written by Luthaneal Adams, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.