If I’d known, I never would have…

It was the 21st of March.  I arrived at school in time, and went into my class.

For some reason, I happened to notice what my friend Kent was wearing.  Unusual for me, and he wasn’t wearing anything that unusual – a red and white t-shirt and shorts.  One by one, everyone came into the classroom.  "Funny," I thought, "Almost everyone is wearing white."  Then suddenly I had a thought…

Oh no.  Don’t tell me.

The day before I had been talking with a friend about culture and religion, and about being careful to not involve ourselves in pagan practices that wouldn’t please the Lord.  The next day, the 21st of March, was spring solstice.  It’s the time when the sun is directly above the equator, the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  It’s also a popular day in the pagan calendar, a time of special ritual for wiccan and new age religions.

Young girl performs a solstice ritual on top of the Pyramid of the Sun.  Photo courtesy of balloonist33.

In Mexico, there are many ruins that once were bases for temples to various gods.  These "pyramids" are still places of pagan worship today.  Most notably, the pyramid of the sun god in Teotihuacan.  During the spring solstice, temples like this one are packed with people, often expatriates, who have come to gain mystical spiritual energy from the sun.

Naturally, not something I want to be involved in myself.  True power comes not from the creation but the Great Creator.  To worship anything else is to turn the cosmos upside down in the worst way.

But what suddenly hit me as I sat there in the classroom, was that the people gathering on top of the temple dress in white.  That’s right.  And you guessed it… my teacher and some of my classmates had dressed in white to honour the tradition of absorbing energy from the sun on March 21st.  Not just white – white with a little red.

I didn’t know.

If I had, I never would have chosen that day to wear my white shirt.

My white Canada shirt.

That’s right.  White with a little red.

Next year I’ll know better.

Meanwhile, please remember to pray for Mexico.