Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
How would you feel if everything you knew about the various popular holidays throughout the year were lies manufactured to divert your attention from their very real and sacred meaning? Depending on who you are, that knowledge could be revelatory or very disturbing and controversial…
Lara Day explores the not-so-great truth behind the various popular holidays many of us celebrate, how they evolved into opportunities to control you and what you can do to reclaim those sacred practices this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Lara’s work and classes at her website at larajday.com and on social media via Facebook at facebook.com/larajday , TikTok at tiktok.com/@larajday and Instagram at instagram.com/larajday .
For Spirit Gym listeners: Save $100 on a Neurogenic Qigong session with Lara (her unique blend of qigong healing and tension and trauma releasing neurogenic tremor work) at larajday.com/blank-2 by letting her know you listened to this podcast! (Special offers from Spirit Gym guests are time-sensitive and at their discretion to redeem after 30 days.)
0:00 Intro
3:27 A new publisher and important additions to Lara’s 13 Sacred Nights Oracle deck.
8:10 “Maybe it’s time to consciously choose how we celebrate our holidays.”
11:17 The four-layer cake of bad changes to our holidays.
23:52 Why do many people get so defensive about their manufactured holiday traditions?
31:18 The trick or treat origins of Halloween.
40:54 Lara and her daughter have created their own Halloween ritual: An altar for celebrating dead relatives and loved ones.
49:11 The origins of Thanksgiving in America, thanks to Sarah Josepha Hale.
56:50 Open your heart with this very simple practice from Paul.
1:02:43 Cooking.
1:10:36 Why was Christmas once outlawed in the 17th century?
1:19:53 “We were worried that if we told them we knew, maybe they'd think there's no point in having Christmas anymore.”
1:24:45 You can reset the Christmas season for your family and celebrate it your way.
1:30:04 Should the theme of Valentine’s Day be how we can love ourselves better?
1:40:48 “Love is the verb of God.”
1:50:00 Easter and Passover.
1:57:38 Why are rituals so important to us?
Listen to Paul's conversation with Lara Day and check out the show notes page on our Spirit Gym website at paulchek.com/blog/podcast-episodes/376-everything-you-know-about-holidays-is-a-manufactured-lie-with-lara-day
Thanks to our awesome sponsors!
• BIOptimizers bioptimizers.com/spiritgym (save an extra 15% on your purchase by using the code PAUL15 at checkout)
• CHEK Institute paul.chekinstitute.com (take our FREE Gut Health Reset test today!)
• Pique Life piquelife.com/paulchek (save up to 20% for life and get a FREE starter kit when you subscribe to one or more of Pique’s amazing beverages!)
• Organifi organifi.com/chek20 (save 20% on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout)
• Wild Pastures wildpastures.com/paulchek (save 20% and free shipping for life plus $15 on your first order)
• Paleovalley paleovalley.com/chek15 (save 15% on your first purchase)
• Korrect korrectlife.com/spiritgym (save 15% on the newest drink supplement by Aubrey Marcus by using the code SPIRITGYM at checkout)
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music miketheschwartz.com
#christmashistory #pagantraditions #hiddenhistory #saturnalia #culturalmyths #mythology #consciousliving #historyexposed #paulchek
How would you feel if everything you knew about the various popular holidays throughout the year were lies manufactured to divert your attention from their very real and sacred meaning? Depending on who you are, that knowledge could be revelatory or very disturbing and controversial…
Lara Day explores the not-so-great truth behind the various popular holidays many of us celebrate, how they evolved into opportunities to control you and what you can do to reclaim those sacred practices this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Lara’s work and classes at her website at larajday.com and on social media via Facebook at facebook.com/larajday , TikTok at tiktok.com/@larajday and Instagram at instagram.com/larajday .
For Spirit Gym listeners: Save $100 on a Neurogenic Qigong session with Lara (her unique blend of qigong healing and tension and trauma releasing neurogenic tremor work) at larajday.com/blank-2 by letting her know you listened to this podcast! (Special offers from Spirit Gym guests are time-sensitive and at their discretion to redeem after 30 days.)
0:00 Intro
3:27 A new publisher and important additions to Lara’s 13 Sacred Nights Oracle deck.
8:10 “Maybe it’s time to consciously choose how we celebrate our holidays.”
11:17 The four-layer cake of bad changes to our holidays.
23:52 Why do many people get so defensive about their manufactured holiday traditions?
31:18 The trick or treat origins of Halloween.
40:54 Lara and her daughter have created their own Halloween ritual: An altar for celebrating dead relatives and loved ones.
49:11 The origins of Thanksgiving in America, thanks to Sarah Josepha Hale.
56:50 Open your heart with this very simple practice from Paul.
1:02:43 Cooking.
1:10:36 Why was Christmas once outlawed in the 17th century?
1:19:53 “We were worried that if we told them we knew, maybe they'd think there's no point in having Christmas anymore.”
1:24:45 You can reset the Christmas season for your family and celebrate it your way.
1:30:04 Should the theme of Valentine’s Day be how we can love ourselves better?
1:40:48 “Love is the verb of God.”
1:50:00 Easter and Passover.
1:57:38 Why are rituals so important to us?
Listen to Paul's conversation with Lara Day and check out the show notes page on our Spirit Gym website at paulchek.com/blog/podcast-episodes/376-everything-you-know-about-holidays-is-a-manufactured-lie-with-lara-day
Thanks to our awesome sponsors!
• BIOptimizers bioptimizers.com/spiritgym (save an extra 15% on your purchase by using the code PAUL15 at checkout)
• CHEK Institute paul.chekinstitute.com (take our FREE Gut Health Reset test today!)
• Pique Life piquelife.com/paulchek (save up to 20% for life and get a FREE starter kit when you subscribe to one or more of Pique’s amazing beverages!)
• Organifi organifi.com/chek20 (save 20% on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout)
• Wild Pastures wildpastures.com/paulchek (save 20% and free shipping for life plus $15 on your first order)
• Paleovalley paleovalley.com/chek15 (save 15% on your first purchase)
• Korrect korrectlife.com/spiritgym (save 15% on the newest drink supplement by Aubrey Marcus by using the code SPIRITGYM at checkout)
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music miketheschwartz.com
#christmashistory #pagantraditions #hiddenhistory #saturnalia #culturalmyths #mythology #consciousliving #historyexposed #paulchek
