Father’s Day

How Did Father’s Day Come About?

Fathers have been celebrated long before Christ was even born. Father’s day is closely related to pagan celebrations in honor of the sky fathers, summer solstice, and sun gods.

During these pagan rituals, whenever goats were sacrificed, they tied ribbons around the goats’ necks. This was done to set them apart from the rest of the herd. Ever wondered where we got the tradition of gifting our fathers ties on this holiday? Everything in these holidays have pagan symbolism. Nothing is new under the sun said, King Solomon.

Sky Father

According to ancient cultures, sky fathers were (are) refer to sky gods who were looked upon as “fathers.” And I state this in plural because there are so many sky fathers, in fact, most cultures have one.

However, “sky father” is a translation of the Vedic pantheon Dyaus Pita. This Indian god is the equivalent of the Roman god, Jupiter and the Greek god, Zeus.

Summer Solstice

As I mentioned earlier, father’s day is closely related to the summer solstice pagan practices. You will see what I mean in a minute.

The word solstice comes from the Latin word solstitum which means “sun stands still.” It is the longest day of the year and the shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. It is known by different names throughout the world, in Europe for example, it is called Midsummer. Wiccans and Neopagans refer to it as Litha. And to the Catholic Church, it is St. John’s Day.

All are one and the same and can trace their roots all the way back to ancient times. Pagans celebrated the summer solstice by sacrificing to the sky fathers (sun gods) and women performed pagan rituals. The festivities lasted a whole week from June 19-25. 

Many of these traditions remain to this day.

Roman Festivals 

Festivities in honor of several gods took place during the summer solstice pagan celebrations. One such example is the festival in honor of the goddess Juno (wife of Jupiter). Juno was the goddess of women and childbirth. The month of June was named in her honor. She was also the patroness of marriage and the reason why June remains the most popular month for weddings to this day. 

The goddess Veta (goddess of the hearth) was also honored during this time. Women would go to her temple for 8 days to perform rituals and offered salted meat asking for blessings upon their homes.

In Modern Times

In 1909, Sonora Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington founded Father’s Day in the US. She wanted to her honor her father, William Smart, a civil war veteran who raised her and 5 siblings after his wife died giving birth to their last child. Sonora wanted to honor him during his birth month which happened to be in June. 

Father’s Day was officially first celebrated on June 19, 1910. President Wilson supported the holiday in 1914. And President Johnson signed the proclamation to officially declare the holiday in the 3rd Sunday of June in 1966.

This is the type of thing that God repeatedly punished Israel for doing. It is spiritual adultery and no matter how you may look at it, it will remain pagan. You can change the name, change the traditions…they were never ordained by God.