The International Unitarian Journal v2 march 2015 by Ron R

The International Unitarian Journal

Rev. Dr. Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; May 10, 1860)

Volume 1, Number 2, March 2015 1

The International Unitarian Journal Volume 1, Number 2. March, 2015 Executive Editor: Rev. Ronald Lloyd Ryan, DA., PhD. Communications: execontrol@gmail.com

Declaration and disclaimer: The International Unitarian Journal is an independent on-line journal which has no institutional or other organizational sponsorship. The journal is free. It can be downloaded and printed provided that it is not sold for profit. The editorial policy of TIUJ is completely autonomous. Although TIUJ seeks and accepts input from Unitarian groups and individuals, inclusion in TIUJ is the sole prerogative of the executive editor. TIUJ is dedicated to the history, philosophy, and theology of contemporary Unitarianism which is a liberal, inclusive, non-dogmatic, not-creedal spiritual movement within the general Christian ethos, and which approaches all issues from a rational and analytical perspective. Rational and reasoned argument is welcomed and will be published.

Contents The General purpose of The International

of belief, from those who prefer to think of

Unitarian Journal is articulated in Volume 1.

Jesus as a real person with a specific place

The International Unitarian Journal aims

in history, to those who see Jesus as an

to provide a across-section of scholarship

idea, the embodiment of principles of living

and thought related to contemporary

with roots which may be as much as 10,000

Unitarianism. The articles will range from

years old. In any case, many Unitarians

contemporary opinion pieces and sermons to

perceive God not in any anthropomorphic

the work of those of our history who provided

manner but as indivisible truth, that all truth

challenge to the thinking if Unitarians.

is of God. Virtually all contemporary

Moreover, work will also be included which,

Unitarians perceive themselves as living

although not by scholars who considered

according to the principles espoused by and

themselves Unitarian, as far as can be

consistent with those teachings attributed to

determine, will provide challenge and

Jesus, regardless whether or not Jesus was

theological provocation. Contemporary

a person or the embodiment of exalted

liberal Unitarians exemplify a wide spectrum

spiritual principles.

Page 4 Breaking News Page 7: Opinion: United We Stand; Divided we Fall. Shannon Rogers, D. Div. Rev. (Unitarian Christian) Page 15: Historical Commentary: The Heritage of Liberal Christianity. Rev. Leslie Sprague. Page 23: Scholarly Research: The Lost Light : An Interpretation of Ancient Scriptures. Alvin Boyd Kuhn Page 58: Historical hymn: Lord of all being. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Page 59 Historical Research: The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ. Gerald Massey Page 90: Sermon: Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ethic, anyway? Ronald Lloyd Ryan, DA, PhD, Rev. (Unitarian) Page 100: Storytime: The Bough Wiffin. R. Lloyd Ryan

BREAKING NEWS Ottawa, Canada. February 6, 2015: The Supreme Court of Canada has

Unitarians, almost all of whom are affiliated with the non-Christian UUA (Unitarian

unanimously decided that Canadians have a

Universalist Association), despite its name

right to physician-assisted death. Provinces

and historical development.

have twelve months to prepare appropriate enabling legislation. Canada now joins some States of the United States and some European countries in providing legal protection to physicians who assist people to end their lives with dignity. Although opposed by conservative religious groups and other groups who declare that this is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;slippery slope,â&#x20AC;? this decision is consistent with the opinion of the majority of Canadians.

There seems to be a desire to have an international alliance of Unitarians and Unitarian groups which follow the general tenor of the pre-1960 Unitarian associations and churches which, although quite liberal in their praxis and outlook, still saw themselves as founded on the teachings attributed to and consistent with the teaching of the Biblical Jesus. The historicity of Jesus is not an issue; the teachings are. Some Unitarians who, generally refer to themselves as

Massachusetts, USA: March 11, 2015: The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church (UCEC), after a comprehensive and wide-ranging dialogue about its name, has decided by vote of the Executive Committee to impose a moratorium on the matter lasting at least three years. Part of the reasoning for this decision

Unitarian Christian or Christian Unitarians, prefer to see Jesus as a historical figure; some of them prefer to see Jesus as the Christ; other Unitarians (who still think of themselves as traditional Christians if not theological Christians), perceive Jesus as an exemplar, a principle, an profound idea deriving form the ancient religions such as the Egyptian Mystery religions. These latter

had to do with new Unitarian Christian

Unitarians readily embrace the recently

groups that are emerging in Europe,

discovered Gospel of Thomas and the other

particularly in France, Italy and Zambia.

relevant so-called Dead sea Scrolls.

These groups apparently do not feel comfortable with the varying existing alliances of groups that call themselves 4

Above all, these Unitarians recognize that there is a very wide range of thought on

theological issues and that they embrace a

recognize that their faith is a developmental

widely varying spectrum of related thought.

and evolutionary one. Nobody permits old

Despite these theological differences, these

beliefs to prevent the development of new as

Unitarians do not make doctrine or dogma an

the result of study, dialogue and rational

issue. Furthermore, nobody insists on a

analysis.

common creed, maybe because they all

(Advertisement)

The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church UCEC is the Unitarian Church that proclaims traditional Unitarian belief and practice, following in the trail blazed by such as William Channing, James Martineau and Theodore Parker.

UCEC is the Unitarian Church for the 21st Century. We neither hold nor accept any canon, dogma or creed. Our only doctrine is acceptance in fellowship according to Matthew 7:12; 22:36-40; Luke 6:31; 10: 27; Micah 6:8; Mark 12: 30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5. As our Unitarian forebears practiced, so we practice and advocate, unfettered exploration of religious, theological, scientific and social issues. We do not fear the truth. We do not fear criticism Indeed, we welcome and embrace the truth wherever it is found. We believe that, like God, all Truth is one and indivisible.

Indivisible Truth is God! You are cordially invited to visit us at http://www.ucec.us/ 6

OPINION:

United we stand; Divided we fall

Rev. Shannon Rogers, D.Div After retiring from a successful career as

more than twenty years and has been

Founder and CEO of an Architectural/

actively involved in Christian ministry for

Engineering and Interior Design Firm for

more than twenty-five years. He is an

more than forty years, Rev. Dr. Rogers now

ordained

works

Christian

(UMI/UCEC), is a member of the Governing

Community and is pursuing a new vocation

Council of Unitarian Christian Emerging

of ministry, evangelism, writing and teaching

Church where he serves as Programming &

about the Unitarian faith for the 21 st century.

Development Director. Rev. Dr. Rogers is

He has studied Unitarian Christianity for

President

within

the

Unitarian

the

Christian

Unitarian

Minister

Christian

Conference/USA and serves as Headmaster

universities and colleges throughout the USA

for the Unitarian Christian Academy, an on-

for more than thirty years and holds a Doctor

line self-studies program. He is a faculty

of Divinity Degree from the Metropolitan

member of the Metropolitan Inter-spiritual

Theological Seminary. He is available to

University where he serves as professor of

speak about the modern Unitarian Christian

Unitarian Christian Studies. Rev. Dr. Rogers

Faith, or other related topics, throughout the

is founder and Sr. Minister for the Unitarian

USA, and is willing to serve as Mentor for

Christian Fellowship of Gallatin, TN, Rev. Dr.

any

Rogers has studied various subjects at

groups.

newly

forming

Unitarian

Christian

UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL A Call for Unification of the 21st Century Unitarian Christian Community And the New Birth of our Denomination Mark 3:24-25

“A Fable of Aesop, 6th Century BCE”

“If a kingdom is divided against itself,

A lion used to prowl about a field in

that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be

which four oxen used to dwell. Many a time

divided against itself, that house cannot

he tried to attack them; but whenever he

stand”.

came near they turned their tails to one

This same sentiment is expressed

another

that

whichever

way

within the fables of Aesop: “The Four Oxen

approached them he was met by the horns

and the Lion” and “The Bundle of Sticks”. In

of one of them. At last, however, they fell to

the history of the USA this phrase is found in

quarreling among themselves, and each

the 1768 “The Liberty Song” by John

went off to pasture alone in a separate

Dickinson “By uniting we stand, by dividing

corner of the field. Then the lion attacked

we fall”, and in Patrick Henry’s last speech in

them one by one and soon made an end of

1799 as well as in other state settings. And,

all four.

as used by: J.K. Rowling in her book “Harry

Today,

the

21st

Community

Century

Potter and The Goblet of Fire” “We are only

Unitarian

as strong as we are united, as weak as we

greatly resemble these oxen. Though more

are divided.”

than four in number, we are, none-the-less, a

Christian

find

“house” divided and, like these oxen, we too,

authority, to resurrection of the teaching of

are doomed if we can’t find a way to unite

various Unitarians from the past centuries

and build our faith upon something which we

without modern exegesis, and everything in

can all stand in unison. At present there are

between. The magnitude of these differences

a large number of individuals as well as

was rather extensive and very divisive if we

numerous small groups calling themselves

look to them for establishing any common

Unitarian Christians or at least “Unitarians” of

ground for unification. Another underlying

some sort. After researching these entities I

problem was evident in the ambiguities and

discovered there were just too many and

misconceptions of the varying theological

they were too varied in their standings to

understandings,

establish any common ground, other than

statements within their cannons of beliefs.

they believed in One God not a Trinity.

with

many

contradicting

I fully believe we must find a firm

Although there were many similarities, no

foundation

two expressed themselves the same, overall.

denomination and I believe that it must be

There

done soon. I also believe that the basis for

atmosphere of division and exclusivism

that needed common foundation cannot be

among the various entities. Noting that

found in the teachings of the individual

individuality is not necessarily a “bad” thing

groups as they currently exist. Do we

and having a personal relationship with our

abandon the effort to unite the denomination

God

acceptable.

and struggle along as best we can as

However, the implied attitude of “I’m right

separate entities? That, I think, will only lead

and everyone else is wrong” is a problem

to more division and, ultimately, to total

and was prevalent throughout.

failure. That cannot be an option!

also

within

seemed

itself

seemed

pervade

which

build

this

I have always subscribed to the adage

So, we must ask whether we can find

that “what is right for one is not necessarily

a way to combine our various beliefs into one

right for everyone”. I also discovered the

set of minimum statements of doctrine that

differences in the details of the beliefs among

would be acceptable to all groups. No, I don’t

these entities are quite broad and more

see that as a possibility either, because of

potentially divisive than I had, at first,

the degree of rigidity and exclusivity that

thought. The expressed beliefs range from

already exists and because the differences

strict adherence of “Biblical” acceptance and

are just too numerous. As we exist today, we

are

not

“church”;

are

not

introduced to us, in all its forms, through pre-

“denomination.” We are a plethora of varying

existing beliefs and knowledge, whether

individuals and small group entities who

tested or not. Most of our information comes

share only one trait, and that is we all claim

to us from others with the same prejudices

familiarity with the word “Unitarian” in varying

and with some sort of membership in specific

ways and by varying definitions.

groups of various types, each having their

So what to do? As demonstrated by

own ulterior motives. These influences upon

the opening of this article, division is not an

our judgments are detrimental only when

option if we plan to be anything other than

they become “unquestioned absolutes” and

the individuals we are. But, for us to do so

when their origins and motives are not

would be a textbook example of; “putting our

logically examined. When we blindly accept

light under a cover” for no one to see but

dogmatic dictates without analytical thinking,

ourselves. The result is that we benefit no

then we surrender the free-will we were born

one except, maybe, ourselves… and there is

with to the control of others. When that

strong doubt that we will benefit ourselves.

happens, we are no longer doing what we

I don’t see this as an option. It is not ourselves

about

whom

must

choose to do, but are abdicating our individuality to what others choose for us.

concerned; it is with “all others”. Thus, the

Today’s humans have evolved to

only solution is for us to come together and

possess mental capacities and levels of

establish some necessary viable common

knowledge that our ancestors could have

ground. We must establish ourselves as the

never imagined. In many respects, we

denomination we should be in order to reach

the world with our message. Although we

understandings, with one crucial exception,

each, as individuals and congregational

and that is with our religious understandings

bodies, keep our specific and personal

and beliefs. We readily reject the politics,

beliefs, we have to come together in one

medical treatments, and everyday ways of

accord around a “Statement of Faith” or

living of the past, and embrace the most

“Statement

can

modern technologies. Yet, we torment and

establish the foundation of our faith and our

neglect our spiritual well-being with ancient

denomination.

means, methods, understandings and rituals

Each 10

Unification”

filters

which

the

stimuli

and

prosper

with

these

new

which are dictated to us by self-appointed

authorities

who

themselves

were

indoctrinated by others of the same intellect.

maintain within the realities of the world around it. Yet, the leaders were still going

As we embrace the newness of the

through the motions, literally the blind

world around us in all its varied forms, we

leading the blind, until the advent of the

must also embrace the newness of our

teachings of Jesus.

spiritual self which is required to properly

What did Jesus do differently? The

function and to live our lives more fully. This

relevance of his message for today has been

does not mean we must be blind to the past;

lost because of two thousand years of

but, it does mean that we must examine the

dogma and authoritarianism. There arose

teachings of the past and assess them

unnecessary

according to today’s wealth of knowledge

centuries of misconceptions and intentional

and understanding. We must also be mature

misdirection’s

enough and courageous enough to make the

themselves believed their own dogmas even

necessary revisions without exception or

in the face of contradicting realities. It

hesitation. This is one of the most prevalent

became the rule of “tradition”, creeds and

problems with most of today’s religions,

theological dictates from the past within

including Christianity.

praxis of “it’s the way we have always done

complexities until

the

imposed

“church

fathers”

Most religious groups that call

it”. It’s as if Christian leadership does not

themselves Christian are trying to force the

understand that change/evolution is part of

dictates

past

God’s plan. Is humankind so blind that we

understandings onto a people who should

cannot see that change/evolution is requisite

have long advanced past such doctrines and

to life itself, in all its forms, and especially for

forms. As it was in the days of Jesus, the

our spiritual well-being?

and

dogmas

their

reality of the world has outgrown the narrow

What

Jesus

did

differently

was

dogma of the “church” and its antiquated

bringing a message of “simplicity.” He taught

systems and teachings. Their hundreds of

that if you take all the “laws”, all the

religious

justly

teachings, and boil them down to produce a

administered, and most were irrelevant to the

common denominator, a common teaching

reality of the day, in any case. The teachings

for all humankind, than you have one:

never could be justified, and the Jewish

“accept with all your being the reality of

religion as it was being presented, could not

One God above all else, and prove your

laws

could

never

devotion to that God by literally loving all

and division and, as a result, promoting less

humankind and all creation above any

unification and peace.

care you have for yourself and living this truth throughout your life”.

There can be no peace when our spirits/souls are confused and torn, when we

When this is done there is nothing

can no longer truly believe what we are

else needed, nothing else required, nothing

being taught, when our religious teachers are

more for God to ask of us. And it will fill your

dividing our minds from our hearts. No

life with blessings, peace and love beyond

wonder there is such turmoil, chaos, division,

your wildest dreams, and will bear fruit for all

hatred,

creation to see. This is the one “truth” that

Without the simplicity of the teaching and

even evolution cannot and will not change. It

example of Jesus, these can only multiply

does not need to evolve. Although most

and fester until they become manifest in all

other teachings must change with time, this

humankind and we end up destroying

message is eternal.

ourselves.

bigotry,

selfishness,

and

greed.

If we look at the “spiritual health” of

When one looks back at the history of

the world today we see that it is all but

humankind, we see a “correction” happening

terminal. Faith is against faith - even among

every so often. This happens not just in the

themselves; people are against people;

physical world around us but also within the

houses

spirituality

are

divided;

nations,

countries,

its

people.

“spiritual

regions, even families are being torn apart.

correction” that allows us to carry on for

Why is this? One of the most significant

another generation, toward more discoveries

reasons is that we are living in the past and

and

we refuse to accept the reality of the world

generation to move forward to a better life for

the

all. I believe such a “correction” is way

“traditional and Orthodox churches” are the

overdue and must be implemented now if we

primary causes of this divisiveness. The

are to envision a future for those who are yet

long-established churches continue with an

to come. And that “correction” is trying to

outdated message and outdated methods.

take place but it’s being held back by a lack

They are trying to carry on a doctrine long

of a “foundation” to stand on and a voice to

disproved and unbelievable to a rationally

implement it. I believe this is the call of the

aware people. They are causing confusion

21st Century Unitarian Christian Community.

have

evolved

into.

Besides,

advancements,

allowing

each

We see our past as being tainted by the

ready for a simple faith based on this

same chains that bind the other faiths. But

teaching, on this truth. Putting all else aside,

because of our evolution and the journey our

we must stand our ground; we must

faith has taken we are uniquely positioned

establish our teachings on and around these

and

current

simple truths, truths that were first taught

knowledge of progressive Christianity and

centuries ago. We must proclaim them as

see the reality and imperative necessity

our message, our mantra, our reason for

found in the simplicity of this message Jesus

being, the foundation and message of our

taught. We must put aside our differences

church. No other teaching is needed or

and embrace the common ground presented

necessary. On this truth we must build our

to us. It must become the guiding principle of

Denomination- to the Glory of God.

qualified

embrace

the

the emerging church that we establish with this teaching as our foundation. It has to become our central doctrine, the Statement of Our Faith, our purpose for being.

Putting

aside

our

differences

respectfully make the following proposal This is a call for unification, a call for all who will to come join with us. And all that

If we stand on this, then surly, within

is asked is that we share our “Statement of

this world we live in today, no other beliefs

Faith” our “Statement of Purpose” a non-

are needed or relevant, for all other beliefs

binding statement of first principles which

are subordinate to this one. Our faith began

has to be established as the foundation of

with the message that Jesus taught us, I

our faith and for this 21st Century Unitarian

think that it most probable that the “Unitarian

Christian Denomination. We must believe

Christians” of his day heard this truth and

that this “Statement” is universally fair to and

tried to live it, just as he did. As the faith and

reachable for all humankind. We welcome all

teaching

outside

to join with us. We understand and accept

influences, our predecessors became the

that all personal beliefs are part of the

first “church” declared heretics and remained

individual’s personal relationship with God.

so until today. It was not a matter of our faith

Though the Denomination may offer help and

being wrong, but it is a matter of our

guidance to all toward the understanding and

commitment to grow and mature and to

teaching

evolve until it would become our time.

Christianity, the Denomination still has to

became

corrupted

And it is now that time! The world is

21st

Century

Unitarian

respect the individual’s personal beliefs and

those of the congregations who wish to join

CHRISTIAN:

with each other in fellowship.

I believe and accept with all my being, the

make

the

following

statement

reality of One God above all else, and I

because it is the foundation that my personal

will demonstrate my devotion to that God

faith is built upon, and I offer it to anyone

by loving all humankind and all creation

who will join with me and make it their own. I

above any care I have for myself . Further,

hope this will become â&#x20AC;&#x153;that common thread

I commit to living this truth throughout

that bindsâ&#x20AC;?, that which will unify the Unitarian

my life.

Christian

I believe and accept that this statement

Community

into

true

Denomination. I pray this will become the

exemplifies

foundation we build upon and our purpose

example of Jesus.

for being; the 21st Century Unitarian Christian

(Note: This is a personal statement. I have

Church, a denomination whose time has

not sought the endorsement of, and this

come.

statement has not been endorsed by, the

STATEMENT OF FAITH/PURPOSE

Unitarian church of my ordination nor of any

AS I AM A 21ST CENTURY UNITARIAN

other church, Unitarian or otherwise.)

the

teachings

and

the

THE HERITAGE OF LIBERAL CHRISTIANITY. BY REV. LESLIE W. SPRAGUE. (1869 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1938) Congregationalist & Unitarian Minister

Author of hymn: O Come away for one brief day. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our

father's life; must display the strength of

spirit, that we are children of God; and if

character, of aim and effort, which marked

children of God, then heirs; heirs of God, and

the father from other men. Nor must he be a

joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer

mere echo of the father; he must live a life of

with him, that we maybe also glorified with

his own, which is yet worthy to be compared

him. (Romans viii. 16, 17.)

with the father's life. There are therefore two

Material inheritances may be mere

births: one into the material accidents of life;

matters of accident, but every spiritual

the other into life itself, into the purpose, aim,

inheritance must be proved. A child succeeds

and

to his father's name and fortune without any

existence.

effort

which

characterize

personal

effort or merit of his own. To be "a son of his

The child is heir to the father's life

father," however, he must live up to his

when he also lives that life. So all men are

heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if so be

not an inheritance to the idle or indifferent; it

that they suffer with him. Inheritance from

is not to those who delight to call themselves

God is somewhat to be won; it knows neither

liberal from no other motive than to affirm

chance nor gratuity, and acknowledges

that they are not orthodox, who know not the

nothing but desert.

height and depth and glory of that faith which

The inheritance of Liberal Christianity

the ages have wrought for those willing to

is mainly a spiritual inheritance. It does not

pay the price still due. There are those in

consist,

every community where the Liberal Church is

temples, creeds or rites; it consists in the

known who are heard to say that they have

things of the spirit. It is an inheritance which

no religion, no need for any church, that they

must be proved. Lowell says," IT is heaven

do not believe in God, or soul, or immortality,

alone that is given away. IT is only God may

and yet presume to say that they are

be had for the asking."

Unitarians or Universalists. The burden of

primarily,

organizations,

Likewise Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall

their misrepresentation weighs heavily upon

be given you," and "Blessed are they that

the forces of the Liberal Church. Such souls,

hunger and thirst after righteousness, for

most unhappily, do not know the height and

they shall be filled."

depth and richness of the liberal faith. They

It would seem, then, that the greatest things are most easily to be had, are

have

not

paid

the

price

spiritual

inheritance.

gratuitous bounties, showered by the free

In order to grasp the significance of

hand of Divine benevolence. Yet to ask for

the spiritual inheritance, it must be perceived

heaven, to supplicate for spiritual life, to

that there is also a material part to all

hunger and thirst for righteousness are the

inheritance, a body to contain the soul.

accomplishment of most strenuous effort. No

A man joins a political party. He

prayer needs to be so persistently offered as

thereby shares a great heritage. That party,

that of the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray."

under various names and with differing

To be able to ask for heaven is life's greatest

emphasis, has continued through all the

attainment.

changes since government began. And

The inheritance of Liberal Christianity

because it is a party, not the whole, it has

is to be known only to those who have

limitations. About it are arrayed prejudices; in

hungered and thirsted for spiritual things. It is

it exist corruptions; the very machinery of its

organization prescribes its action and results.

diversity, and rush of this age, to create such

Likewise a church has its forms, its

an opportunity of the higher life. He inherits a

method of government, its articles of faith,

body of opinion, which, if it sometimes limits,

the traditions which bind as law cannot; and,

far more often aids; for best thoughts have

on the other hand, a splendid momentum, a

historic roots, and no generation and no set

time-honored prestige, an accumulation of

of men could proceed far into truth without

experience, wisdom, and power.

the great accomplishment of all human study,

Measuring his inheritance, the Liberal

summed up in the body of opinion which

Christian finds little on the material side. In

prevails throughout the world at any given

place of the prestige of an honored past,

time.

which other churchmen enjoy, he receives

The Liberal Christian would not get far

the prophet's part of stones, delivered now

in his thought if he were obliged to think his

more politely, but no less stingingly, than of

way from the beginning on such vast

yore, since they are rendered in the form of

problems as those suggested by the words,

mistrust and ostracism. He inherits an

God, soul, Jesus, prayer, church, and

organization far from perfect, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; formed

immortality.

largely upon lines of churches earlier in

The Liberal Christian inherits also a

existence, and adapted to other work, not to

moral sanction, without which inheritance his

that of the Liberal faith.

best life would be impossible. If it were

But on the material side he receives

necessary to begin and say of every act and

more than this; for he receives as an

thought and aim whether it were good or

inheritance

religious

bad, how far could one hope to journey upon

consciousness a sacred literature â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the

the moral way? Philosophers may still

Bible. He inherits a Sabbath, a day set apart

debate as to what ultimate sanction there

long ages since for rest to the body and

can be for right, as to the nature of

refreshment to the soul. He inherits the

conscience, and the true end of conduct; but

custom and the social sanction of public

while they debate, the world will go on its

worship,

religious

way, guided by the conscience which,

inspirations would languish and his spiritual

whatever its nature, has developed through

fellowships grow cold, and wanting which he

the millions of years of human existence, and

would find it hard, out of the complexity,

will do that which the experience of all time

from

without

the

which

past

his

has proven good and right. The Liberal

God by rites and sacraments; another in the

Christian inherits not only moral sanctions,

closet when the door is shut. The question is

not only the conscience, but the Christian

not as between these two with their different

conscience,

conscience

ways, but rather between them, on the one

mellowed and quickened by the thought of

hand, and, on the other, those who "... lift not

the love of God, awakened and exalted by

hands in prayer."

that

is,

the

the example of Jesus, the Christ.

One believes God to have been

These things, it is true, constitute the inheritance

also

call

another sees God incarnated still in all that

themselves "orthodox" Christians. Neither

lives. It matters not as between these two;

the liberal nor the orthodox â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no, nor all

the vital question is that somewhere man

Christians even â&#x20AC;&#x201D; can claim a monopoly

may behold the semblance of His face. The

upon these. These are our common human

real issues of religion, we are coming to

inheritance;

Christian

perceive, are, after all, with the unbelieving,

inheritance, if so be that we make the

that somehow they may explain life's riddles

sacrifice of effort necessary to their full

and

perception and attainment.

burden, ease for the pain, and light for the

our

those

common

who

incarnated only in the man of Galilee;

perplexities, gain

strength

for the

The common inheritance is deeper

darkened day. One would have a church of

than all the differences of thought or method.

rites and creeds and symbols; another the

The Christian world is slowly learning that

church of the free. Let there be peace

there are more important issues than those

between them, that the needy soul may find

of doctrines and forms. One believes that

a place where he may learn of God, and gain

God is Trinity; another that He is Unity; but

the hope that is in the Father. May the issues

the great question is, do both know His

of dogma, which seem to be silently giving

presence in the heart and obey His will in

place, continue to give place to the real

daily life? One believes in an inerrant

issue, that of essential religion; that its

Scripture, the other that the Bible is the

challenge, its confidence, and its purifying

record of the thoughts and deeds of men; but

power may be in the hearts of all God's

the important matter is that both should know

children! Thus Christian Union approaches.

the inspirations which reverent reading of

James Martineau says that while scholars

inspiring thoughts might give. One worships

seek the basis in fact, and ecclesiastics in

some treaty of peace, those who pass

Episcopal church in order to be blessed by

behind the doctrinal differences and linger

the broad and lofty message of Phillips

near the springs of human piety and hope,

Brooks; nor are the Congregationalists alone

are learning the way of the true unity of the

in the benefits of Beecher's ministry. There

Church. That their number is increasing is

are no rights of patent on the spirit of God.

the present hope of a more united and more efficient Church.

What He gives he gives forever, and He gives to all. But the Liberal Christian has

The common Christian heritage is the

not only the common heritage of Christianity

true bond of fellowship. The Liberal Christian

and of the world. His also is the heritage of

stands

organizations

freedom; of the freedom which means

because he cannot conscientiously stand

progress and improvement. There is for him

within them. He is glad to have a company of

a Bible - the same Bible which others enjoy.

his own, however small, because the soul is

But his is also the freedom to read it in the

made for companionship, and even the

light of all the latest thought and study. While

closet prayer means the brotherly greeting

other churchmen must make compromises

and the affection of believers. Yet the Liberal

with their professed beliefs, the Liberal is

Christian rejoices that his heritage is from all.

expected to make no compromise with

He leaves the older churches because of

reason or with conscience. This is a freedom

their limitations, but he still rejoices in all the

purchased at a price. For this have modern

good they ever enjoyed and in all they still

martyrs suffered. It is a heritage which not

enjoy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of good the past hath had

many yet enjoy, but which many are now

Remains to make our own time glad."

struggling to win. To view that struggle

outside

the

older

And it remains to gladden all who in our time seek its joy. I need not be a Catholic

should make the Liberal grateful for his heritage.

in order to read with profit the inspiring words

The Liberal Christian has not only a

of Thomas a Kempis, or to be chastened by

Sabbath, but a Sabbath made for man, and

the example of St. Francis. I need not be a

to be used as the spirit shall direct. It is not

Methodist

Wesley's

his to spend it as his fathers spent, because

theology and church government in order to

they so decreed, but to spend it as his heart

rejoice in his fervor, his spiritual power and

shall choose and his own mind direct, for the

humane impulse. One need not join the

welfare of the life God gave him to save.

and

John

For the Liberal Christian there is the

slowly toiled toward. He inherits also the God

institution of worship, and there is the

revealed through the larger reaches of

freedom to modify, adapt, remold it to fit the

thought, imagination, and hope, in this

new needs of a new age. It is his to omit the

increasing age. The thought of life itself, of

outgrown phrase and thought, and to enrich

the Christ, of the future world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; these

by all the contributions of God's later

increase in meaning and in power with the

inspiration. That the Liberal has not made his

ever widening vistas of human intelligence.

service of worship richer is due only to his

The larger view is the Liberal's heritage.

occupation with other lines of religious work ;

Besides this heritage of a common

but that his worship has grown rich through

Christianity, and this larger heritage of

the freedom he enjoys is attested not only by

freedom to apply new truth, the Liberal

the spiritual atmosphere of many a Liberal

Christian has also all the heritage of

Church, but by the spirituality of so many

Christianity, not all of which has yet been

beautiful lives which have been nurtured at

appreciated, and a world of heritage since

the altar of the Liberal Church; more than all,

Christianity. Christianity came in the fullness

by the reverent hymns the Liberal singers

have contributed to all churches, and by the

development which preceded it. Into it flowed

books of prayer which have found their way

currents

from the hearts of such as Martineau and

appropriated much of the best of Judaism. It

Theodore Parker. Such fruits of the heritage

later took inspirations and colorings - not all

of freedom are not to be bartered for any

of them dark - from Greece and Rome and

chance of dignity of service or unity of rite.

the sterner North. The heritage of Christianity

time.

profited

from

older

the

ages

world-streams.

of It

For the Liberal there is a body of

goes back more than eighteen hundred

opinion, but for him there is no bondage to it.

years; it reached back to the day "When the

His is the heritage of freedom of thought. He

first man stood God conquered, With his

may

face to heaven upturned."

what

remains

after

the

corrections of this critical age. He may

The Liberal Christian has this heritage

vitalize this with the new truth this age of

as a Christian, but as a Liberal he has more.

discovery has wrought. The Liberal Christian

For Christianity has not been all the life of

has the old heritage of the thought of God,

humanity for the past eighteen hundred

which prophets, seers, sages, and saints

years. God hath not left himself without

witness in any time. Great parallel streams

zeals which have tuned the heart of man to

have been gathering strength and beauty

the music of eternity, and taught the mortal

while the Christian waters have flowed within

soul to lay hold upon immortality. All this may

their banks. No one revelation exhausts the

truly be his inheritance, if so be that he shall

Infinite.

prove his claim by the quality, the worth, the

Sturdy

hearts

and

reaching,

searching souls have consecrated the best in

richness of his own spiritual life.

every people to the progress of faith. The

The

responsibility

the

Liberal

Liberal, because free, has his heritage from

Christian is not less than his challenge.

all lands and countries. The Bibles of the

"Freely ye have received, freely give," is not

nations are chapters in his Sacred Book; the

only

litanies of nations enrich his rites; the songs

principle of the higher life. Every man is in

of all peoples make glad his heart; the faith

duty bound to live up to his best inheritance.

and hope and love of all help in his up-

building. The word God hath spoken to

responsibilities, how much more does the

Buddha

spiritual heritage come with duties none may

Zoroaster and Mohammad, to the poet and

shrink. Born i a Christian land, no man is

the scientist of to-day, all become vocal in

morally free to be a pagan. He may

the message from on high. The Liberal is

transcend the faith of his race, but he cannot

glad to believe

fall below it and be a man. The Liberal

that - " One accent of the Holy Ghost, The

Christian is not only responsible for the

heedless world hath never lost." Glad is he to

maintenance of the standard of thought,

claim every accent as his heritage.

emotion, and conduct, which Christianity has

and

Socrates

and

Plato,

injunction,

material

riches

but

bear

fundamental

with

them

The challenge to the Liberal Christian

established - for this he is responsible with

is great. If he would know the greatness of

other Christians; but he is also responsible

his heritage he must prove it by his life. He

for the maintenance of the freedom, the

may be actually, as he is potentially, joint heir

broader view - the richer inspiration which

with every blessed soul, even with the Christ;

has come to him. The heritage which the

joint heir in all the richness of God's

fathers bequeathed the sons bears with it the

revelations, in the wondrous sense of His

unquestioned duty of fulfillment. The end is

love and forgiveness and majestic power, in

not yet. Christianity is not yet wholly

all the lofty aspirations and deep, en-kindling

Christian. Freedom is not yet fully won, and

far is it from being fully used. All truth has not

yet been surcharged with reverence, nor has

inspiration and privilege of which so bless his

reverence been taught to respect only truth.

life. Receiving most, he should be most

Because the Liberal Christian stands with

zealous to share. With such a heritage, and

back upon the past, the mighty force of

with

which has pressed him into this day,

constantly increasing richness of thought and

therefore must he stand with face upon a

life, the Liberal is prepared, as is no other, to

future in which the promise and potency of

go forth to that ministry which the world in

the past and of this present shall be still

anxiety and pain so long awaits. If the Liberal

more unfolded.

Christian would be true to his blessed

The Liberal Christian, because he is

the

breadth

the

receptive

slightest

others of the name to help all men share his

opportunity.

should be more concerned that all should

spirit

liberality,

which

the

finds

heritage, he must not prove false in any

liberal, ought to be even more ardent than Christianity; because he is Christian, he

and

degree

this

beseeching

The Lost Light AN INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT SCRIPTURES Alvin Boyd Kuhn

Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Ph.D.

1931, he spent the next 30 years writing,

Alvin Boyd Kuhn (September 22, 1880 - September 14, 1963) was an American scholar of comparative religion, mythology,

Egyptology,

linguistics

lecturing, and running his own publishing house, Academy Press. Kuhn contended that the Bible derived

and

its origins from other Pagan religions, and

language, Author, lecturer and publisher, he

that much of Christian history was a re-write

was a known proponent of the Christ myth

of ancient Egyptian mythology. He also

theory.

proposed that the Bible was symbolic and

Born in Pennsylvania, Kuhn studied

did not depict real events. He argued that the

Ancient Greek at university, obtaining his

leaders of the church started to misinterpret

B.A. in 1903 His doctoral thesis at Columbia

the Bible at the end of the third century.

University

Modern

Many authors have been influenced

Revival of the Ancient Wisdom which Kuhn

by the works of Kuhn. Tom Harpur even

later expanded into his first book of the same

dedicated his best-selling 2004 book, â&#x20AC;&#x153; The

name in 1930. After obtaining his Ph.D. in

Pagan Christâ&#x20AC;? to Kuhn, calling him "a man of

was

Theosophy:

immense learning and even greater courage"

reprinted

posthumously,

and

many

are

and “one of the single greatest geniuses of

available electronically. (Information courtesy

the twentieth century” [who] “towers above

all others of recent memory in intellect and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Boyd_Kuhn

his understanding of the world’s religions.”

)

Wikipedia.

Several of his works have been published or (It is assumed that the following materials are in the public domain. If some reader determines otherwise, please communicate with TIUJ (execontrol@yahoo.com) in order that we can make things right.) (TIUJ acknowledges the efforts of Juan Schoch (pc93@bellsouth.net. ) for his efforts to make the work of Kuhn widely available.)

Editor's note: Every Unitarian - minister and laity - should be familiar with the work of Alvin

Boyd

Kuhn.

is willing to launch out into the deep and let go of one's security blankets.

informative,

Consider, as the author states in the

exhilarating, and inspirational. It stands up

text, Little wonder, then, that a literature

with the work of William Ellery Channing,

scanned with such a blighting spirit never

Theodore Parker, James Martineau and

yielded

other great Unitarian authors as the pillars of

contempt blinded the eyes of inquiry and

Unitarian thought even though there is no

closed the mind to all discovery. Obdurately

indication that Kuhn considered himself to be

refusing to admit the possibility of the

Unitarian. TIUJ will include selections from

presence of knowledge, no amount of search

the work of Kuhn on a regular basis.

would reveal it. All the surer was inquiry

its

buried

light.

Supercilious

Kuhn's work is both challenging, on

doomed to failure in this field, when the most

many levels, not least of all to our theological

exalted genius the world ever knew had

arrogance, as it is enlightening to those who

been at pains to disguise the outward

are willing to set aside their theological

appearance of that knowledge. It was only

certainties, however tentatively, and consider

when at last the arcane writings were

what they could be. Kuhn's work is not for

inspected with the eager spirit of genuine

the theological child, but for him or her who

seeking and the reverent assurance of their

holding precious mines of instruction, that

sense in them. But history is soon to reverse

the open sesame unlocked a hoard of

judgment. The comics in the case will be

hidden wealth.

found to be modern, not ancient. Not they,

And: It is a fact that out of the night of

but we, will be adjudged the simple-minded

children lacking insight. And we will see

transcendent intelligence on the part of

ourselves at last, clowns and buffoons,

numerous sages.

laughing and grimacing in hideous mockery

antiquity

looms

the

giant

light

And, further: If the myths made no sense to us, it was proof that there was no

of a treasure the value of which we cannot grasp.

The Lost Light AN INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT SCRIPTURES Alvin Boyd Kuhn PROLOGUE

Coming forth in a day when theology has

Theology from her outcast condition and

long been discredited--even in its own

place her again beside Philosophy and

ecclesiastical household--and religion itself is

Science on the throne in the kingdom of

threatened with obliteration by rampant

manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind.

forces hostile to it, this book aims to

It needs sharply to be asseverated

rehabilitate theology and to stabilize true

that the book is for religion because many

religion. It must be said at the very outset

will pronounce it the most forthright attack on

and with blunt insistence that it is for religion

ecclesiastical doctrinism yet presented. It

and not in any way against it. It is written to

can hardly be denied that it sweeps away

establish religion again as the cornerstone of

almost

human culture, when civilization has largely

acceptance

turned away from it to seek elsewhere the

meaning. But it makes no war on anything in

guiding light. It is designed to redeem Divine

religion save the idiocies and falsities that

the

entire of

body

Biblical

and

common theological

have crept into the general conception of

necessary to save the organism of religion

orthodox belief. Finding the chief enemies of

itself from further decay and menacing

true religion were those within her own

death. Excrescences of misconception and

gates, the book has had to address itself to

superstition had to be heroically cut out of

the ungenerous task of repudiating the whole

the body of theology and the calcareous

untenable

incrustations

structure

accredited

ignorant

interpretation

interpretation in order to erect on the ground

dissolved and carried away by the acid

the lovely temple of ancient truth. If theology

stream of living truth flowing forth, after

is to be rescued from its forlorn state of

centuries of suppression, from the mighty

intellectual disrepute into which not its

scriptures of the past.

enemies but its friends have precipitated it

The Western world has too long and

through an unconscionable perversion of its

fatuously labored under the delusion that a

original significance to gross repulsiveness,

pious and devout disposition fulfills the whole

the errors and distortions perpetrated upon it

requirement of true religion. Ancient sagacity

by those of its own household must be

knew that piety without intelligence, or

ruthlessly dismantled. Hence to many the

religion without philosophy, was insufficient

book will seem like a devastating assault on

and dangerous. It knew that general good

the

religious

intent was not safe from aberrancy, folly and

preachment. In the face of all this it must be

fanaticism unless it was directed by the

maintained that the work is written to support

highest powers and resources of the mind.

and defend religion against all its foes and

And the mind itself had to be fortified with

that it is constructive and not destructive of

specific knowledge of the nature of the

true religious values at every turn. It was no

cosmos and of man and the relation between

light or frivolous gesture to affront a settled

the two. Following the dictum of the sage,

and rooted growth of beliefs and doctrinal

Hermes Trismegistus, that "the vice of a soul

statements that have been cherished for

is ignorance, the virtue of a soul is

centuries around the hearthstone of Christian

knowledge," the scriptures of old inculcated

culture and become hallowed by age-long

the precept that with all manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting he

acceptance

and

must first get wisdom and understanding.

loyalties inbred in sensitive childhood. But it

These were related to his well-being as

was seen to be a drastic operation quite

health to his navel and marrow to his bones,

very

citadel

and

the

common

strong

loves

and would alone give him a crown of eternal

understanding and caused it to breed an

life. They were pronounced more precious

endless train of evils, fanaticisms, bigotries,

than all the things that he could desire. The

idiosyncrasies,

council of Illuminati therefore laid down their

persecutions that more than anything else

systems of cosmology and anthropology,

blacken the record of man’s historic struggle

which have become by immemorial tradition

toward the light. The present (1940) most

the

universally

frightful of all historical barbarities owes its

given

the

incidence directly to the decay of ancient

ordinances of life, the constitution of the

philosophical knowledge and the loss of

cosmos, the laws governing both nature and

vision and virtue that would have attended its

mind. They still constitute the Magna Carta of

perpetuation.

Bibles

reverenced.

of In

humanity, them

were

superstitions,

wars

and

all human action guided by intelligence. For

What, then, must be the importance of

they were the first Institutes embodying the

a book which restores to the scriptures of

Principia and Fundamenta of all moral

ancient wisdom the lost light of their true

behavior, the only true chart and compass to

original meaning?

guide human effort in a line of harmony with an overshadowing divine plan of evolution for the Cosmos.

In a very real and direct way the salvation of culture and a free spirit in the world is contingent upon this restoration of

The corruption and final loss of the

the ancient intelligence to modernity. For

basic meaning of these scriptures has been,

man at this age has had new and mighty

in the whole of time, the greatest tragedy in

powers of nature suddenly placed in his

human history. Like Shakespeare’s tide,

hands, and yet lacks the spiritual poise and

which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,

sagacity to use them without calamity. Most

but, omitted, casts all the rest of life in shoals

strangely, the control of the lower physical,

and

the

natural or brute forces by the mind or reason

Esoteric Gnosis in the centuries following

was the one central situation primarily and

Plato’s day, culminating in the debacle of all

fundamentally dealt with in the sage tomes of

philosophical religion about the third century

antiquity. To effect that control in a perfect

of Christianity’s development and ushering in

balance and harmony, and to train the

sixteen centuries of the Dark Ages, has

reasoning intellect in the divine art of it, was

thrown all religion out of basic relation to true

the aim and end of the Arcane Philosophy.

quicksands,

the

wreckage

Ideology in the Western world has endlessly

the world this book proclaims afresh the

vacillated back and forth between the cult of

message of lost truth.

the inner spirit and engrossment in objective

.......

materialism. Ancient philosophy taught that the true path of evolutionary growth was to

Three ancient and long-discredited

be trodden by an effort that united the forces

sciences have had a surprising renaissance

of the spirit with those of the world, the lower

in popular fancy and scientific interest:

disciplined by the higher. The whole gist of

symbolism, alchemy, astrology. The last has

the Esoteric Doctrine was the study and

particularly come into a general vogue, but

mastery of the powers engaged in working

on a basis which still inclines conservative

out the evolutionary advance, so that the

positivism in science and scholarship to

aspirant might be able to align his cultural

regard it as allied closely with "popular

effort in consonance with the requirements of

superstition." In its predictive or "fortune-

the problem and the end to be achieved.

telling" aspect it is generally looked at

Without this guiding data and this

askance. But there is another side on which

evolutionary perspective modern man is

it has pertinence and value that has not been

totally at a loss how to focus his endeavor

recognized in the modern revival and on

and is unable to point his direction in line

which perhaps its most legitimate claim to

with anything more fixed and basic than his

consideration rests. This is its function as

apparent

symbolic theology. Unquestionably cosmic

desirability. He has neither a knowledge of

operation, cosmic significance, lie behind the

his origin, a chart of his path, an inventory of

twelve constellations of the zodiac and the

his capacities or a vision of his goal. Hence

thirty-six or more other stellar configurations.

he travels the long road still a benighted

The planisphere or chart of the heavens was

wanderer without compass. He can but recoil

doubtless the first of all Bibles, pictorially

from one mistaken plunge after another,

edited. Not quite simply and directly but

learning sporadic lessons from pain and

intrinsically, all Bibles are amplifications and

misfortune. The ancient torch that was

elaborations

lighted for his guidance he has let burn out.

ideography first written on the open face of

This

Ancient

the sky, charted in the zodiac and heavenly

Philosophy. In this critical epoch in the life of

maps, and later transferred to earth and

immediate

lamp

was

objective

the

body

the

original

volume

written in scrolls and parchments. Man was

and Pisces, in the very heart of New

instructed to fashion his new body of spiritual

Testament narrative. Let the reader picture

glory "after the pattern of things in the

before him the ordinary zodiac, with the

heavens," the heavenly or zodiacal man. And

house of Virgo at the western equinox point

a graph of the structure and history of this

and that of Pisces directly opposite on the

celestial Personage was sketched by the

eastern side. The simple fact that they stand

enlightened sages in the configurated star

six months apart will presently be seen to

clusters. Zodiac comes from the Greek word

assume

zodion, a small living image, signifying that it

determination.

great

importance

Gospel

is a graph of the microcosmic life of man,

The exposition must begin with the

which is cast in the form of the macrocosmic

puzzling and hitherto unexplained item of

life of the universe, or of God. Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own

ancient religious myth, that the Christs, the

small body is a replica of this body of God,

Sun-Gods, the Messiahs, all were depicted

made in its image and likeness. The vast

as having two mothers. How, one asks, could

frame of Cosmic Man was outlined in the

there possibly be rational significance in

scroll of the heavens, the solar systems and

this? It has been put aside as just some

galaxies being living cell clusters in his

more of the mythical rubbish and nonsense

immense organism.

of early Paganism. The profundity of pagan

A deal of this adumbrative symbology

intelligence, hiding sublime cosmic truth

elucidating theological doctrinism is set forth

under glyph and symbol, has not been

in the body of the present work. But there is

dreamed of.

a group of its data that strikes so deeply into

The depiction should not have created

the heart of general theology that it is given

incredulity, seeing that the Gospel Jesus

here at the outset for the sake of its

himself, dramatic figure of the divine principle

overwhelming impressiveness. It must prove

to be so conclusive an evidence that Biblical

declaring to Nicodemus that "ye must be

theology rests more solidly than has ever

born again." Nicodemus asks if this means

been believed on zodiacal backgrounds that

that we must enter a second time into our

its presentation will be admittedly a matter of

motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body and experience a second birth

great moment. It traces the unsuspected

in the natural manner. Jesus replies that we

significance of two of the twelve signs, Virgo

"must be born of water and the spirit."

man,

announced

categorically

Attention must be directed a moment to the

housed in a tenement of flesh and matter

fact that the Latin word spiritus, translated

which is seven-eighths water by actual

"spirit" in many passages, means as well

composition! The crossing of the rivers and

"air" or "breath." One of the great keys to

seas and the immersion of solar heroes in

Bible meaning is the series of the four

water in olden mythologies, and the rite of

"elements" of ancient mythicism: earth,

baptism in theology, signified nothing beyond

water, air and fire. The body of the physical

the fact of the soul’s immersion in a physical

or natural man was conceived as being

body of water nature in its successive

composed of the two lower, earth and water,

incarnations.

while air and fire, representing mind and

Now man is distinctly a creature

spirit, commingled to make the higher or

compounded of two natures, a higher and a

spiritual

lower, a spiritual and a sensual, a divine and

Nicodemus, then, could have been rendered,

a human, a mortal and an immortal, and

"born of water and air." And John the Baptist

finally a fiery and a watery, conjoined in a

uses three of the four elements when he

mutual relationship in the organic body of

states that he, the forerunner of the Christos,

flesh. Says Heraclitus: "Man is a portion of

and therefore a type of the lower natural

cosmic fire, imprisoned in a body of earth

man, indeed baptizes us with water (omitting

and water." Speaking of man Plato affirms:

earth), but that there cometh after him one

"Through body it is an animal; through

higher than himself who shall baptize us with

intellect it is a god." To create man God

the holy spiritus (air) and with fire. Jesus thus

incarnated the fiery spiritual principle of his

affirms that we have two births, necessitating

life in the watery confines of material bodies.

two mothers, and John the Baptist adds that

That is the truest basic description of man

we must have two baptisms.

that anthropology can present. All problems

man.

Jesus’

statement

Since man’s spirit is an indestructible fragment of God’s own mighty Spirit, truly a

spring from that foundation and are referable for solution back to it.

tiny spark of that cosmic Intelligence and

Man is, then, a natural man and a

Love which we call the Mind of God, the

god, in combination. Our natural body gives

ancients typified the divine element in man

the soul of man its baptism by water; our

by fire and in contrast the lower or human

nascent spiritual body is to give us the later

element by water. The fiery soul of man is

baptism by fire! We are born first as the

natural man; then as the spiritual. Or we are

Tiamat, Typhon and Thallath (Greek for

born first by water and then by fire. Of vital

"sea") are designations for water. On the

significance at this point are two statements

other side there are the Fish Avatars of

by St. Paul: "That was not first which is

Vishnu, such as the Babylonian Ioannes, or

spiritual, but that which is natural"; and, "First

Dagon, and the Assyrian goddess Atergatis

that which is natural, then that which is

was called "the Fish-Mother." Virgo stood as

spiritual." Again he says: "For the natural

the mother of birth by water, or the birth of

man comprehendeth not the things of the

man the first, of the earth, earthy; Pisces

spirit of God, neither can he." Of course not;

stood as the mother of birth by spirit or fire,

for he is not yet in that higher kingdom of

or the birth of man the second, described by

evolution, and he must be transformed,

St. Paul as "the Lord from heaven." Virgo

transfigured, lifted up into a superior world of

was the water-mother of the natural man,

consciousness

Pisces the fish-mother of the spiritual man."

before

can

cognize

spiritual things. Evolution will thus transform him, and nothing else will.

There must now be brought out an unrevealed significance of the fish symbol in

Using astrological bases for portraying

the zodiac and in mythical religion. It is of

cosmic truths, the ancients localized the birth

astonishing import. Water is the type of

of the natural man in the zodiacal house of

natural

Virgo and that of the spiritual man in the

proceeds in and from water. All first life

opposite house of Pisces. These then were

originated in the sea water. The fish is a birth

the houses of the two mothers of life. The

in and from the water, and it stands patently

first was the Virgin Mother (Virgo), the

as the generic type of organic life issuing out

primeval

Mary

of inorganic! The fish typifies life embodied in

thousands of years B.C. Virgo gave man his

a physical organic structure. Organic life is

natural birth by water and became known as

born out of the water, and is the first birth,

the Water-Mother; Pisces (the Fishes by

child of the water-mother. And if organic life

name) gave him his birth by the Fish and

is in turn to become mother, its child will be

was denominated the Fish-Mother. The virgin

mind and spiritual consciousness, son of the

mothers are all identified with water as

fish-mother! In brief, water is the mother of

symbol and their various names, such as

natural physical being, and organic structure

Meri, Mary, Venus (born of the sea-foam),

becomes the later mother of divine mind.

symbol

the

Virgin

birth

because

all

natural

birth

Now, strangely enough, water is the

Dead: "Isis conceived him; Nephthys gave

type of another thing which is still more

him birth." Or: "Isis bore him; Nephthys

germinal of life, namely, matter. Matter is the

suckled him," or reared him. The full sense of

virgin mother of all life in the aboriginal

these statements was not discerned until

genesis. All things are generated in the

they were scrutinized in the light of another

womb of primordial matter, the "old genetrix"

key sentence which matched them: "Heaven

of Egyptian mythology. And it is by a

conceived him; the Tuat brought him forth."

consideration of the nature of matter and its

With this came the flash of clear insight into

evolution that we are enabled to arrive at last

the mystery. For that which is to eventuate in

the cycles of evolution as divine mind in an

the

true

meaning

the

double

motherhood of life. For oddly enough, matter

organic

creature--man--is

aboriginally

is seen to exist in two states, in each of

conceived by divine ideation in the innermost

which it becomes mother of life, at two

depths of Cosmic Consciousness, or in the

different levels. Primordial matter, the sea of

purely noumenal world, or again in the

(to us) empty space, is the first mother of all

bosom of Infinite Spirit, where Spirit is

living forms. This is the primal "abyss of the

identical with pure undifferentiated matter.

waters" in Genesis. The Latin word for

This is mirrored in the Egyptian statement

"mother" is our very word "matter," with one

that Isis conceived him. Matter in its invisible,

"t" left out--mater. And how close to mater is

inorganic state was the womb of the first

water! And organic structure is the second

conception. Isis is virgin, i.e., pure matter, or

mother, parent of spiritual mind.

matter sublimated to spiritual tenuity. The

The ancient books always grouped

Tuat, on the other hand, is really earth, as

the two mothers in pairs. They were called

the type of physical matter, or matter organic,

"the two mothers" or sometimes the "two

aggregated into substantial forms, called by

divine sisters." Or they were the wife and

us physical matter. It is matter as substance,

sister of the God, under the names of Juno,

constituted and existent in the visible world in

Venus, Isis, Ishtar, Cybele or Mylitta. In old

structural forms. Isis was matter subsistent

Egypt they were first Apt and Neith; and later

as empty space, and Nephthys was atomic

Isis and Nephthys. Massey relates Neith to

matter, constituent of visible structural forms.

"net," i.e., fish-net! Clues to their functions

The physical worlds which we must now

were picked up in the great Book of the

think of as floating in the sea of empty space

like fish in the water, are the second form of

makes it man; its resurrection on the east,

matter,

like the summer sunrise, makes it deity

substantial matter give birth to the Logoi in

again. This is the death and resurrection of

the solar systems and to the Christos in man.

the god in all religions. It is incarnation and

So divine spirit is conceived in the womb of

return to spirit. It is the descent of the

Isis, the first universal mother, and brought to

Messiah into Egypt and his exodus back to

birth in the womb of Nephthys, the second

Canaan.

mother,

and

organic

Further scrutiny of such data brings to

gestator of its manifest expression. One

light links of connection with the Bible. The

might paraphrase this situation by saying

chief one is found in the symbol of bread in

that a human child is first conceived in the

connection with both Virgo and Pisces.

love, or mind, of its parents, and later born

Pisces is the house of the Fishes by name,

from the womb of its physical mother. Thus

but it is not commonly known that Virgo in

life has two births and must of necessity

astrological symbology was the house of

have

spiritually

Bread. This is indicated by several items of

conceived and materially born. Or, man may

ancient typology. Many centuries ago in the

be said to be born as a natural creature from

precession of the equinoxes, the end of the

spirit into matter, and born later as a spiritual

year was marked by the position of the great

god when he emerges from his baptism in

Dog-Star Sirius, mighty celestial symbol of

the water of the body and re-enters the

the divinity in man. Precisely at midnight of

bosom of his Father. Or, finally, he is born

December 24 it stood on the meridian line

first as man, by water; and reborn later as

from the zenith to Egypt. At the same

god, by fire. And the first birth was depicted

moment there arose on the eastern horizon

as taking place on the western side of the

the constellation of the Virgin, bearing in her

zodiac, in the house or womb of the Virgin

left arm the Christ child, symbol of the

Mother, Virgo, because in the west the sun,

Christhood coming to function in man, and in

universal symbol of spiritual fire, descended

her right hand the great star Spica (Latin, a

into

head, or "spike" of wheat), symbol of that

incarnation. So man is born as natural man

same divinity coming as celestial food for

on the west, to be regenerated as spiritual

man. It must ever be remembered that the

man on the east. Spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s descent on the west

Gospel Jesus told us we had virtually to eat

two

organic

immediate

bodies

and

the

their

mothers.

matter

incubator

Life

its

setting,

his body as food, and drink his blood, if we

its partial obscuration in the darkness of the

would

typism

grave of matter, into the night of death, or

represented him as coming in the form of

incarnation, out of which it is to arise in a

man, the babe Christ, and as food for man,

new birth or resurrection on the opposite side

the wheat. John speaks of the Christ

of the cycle. A significant passage from the

principle in the words: "This is that bread

Book of the Dead recites: "Who cometh forth

which came down from heaven, that if a man

from the dusk, and whose birth is in the

eat of it he shall hunger no more." Jesus

house of death"--referring to the incarnating

broke a loaf into fragments and gave to his

soul. In a spiritual sense the soul "dies" on

disciples, saying that it was his body, broken

entering the body in incarnation, but has a

for them.

new birth in it as it later resurrects from it.

inherit

eternal

life.

We now have Virgo established as the

The body is therefore the house of his death

house of Bread and Pisces as the house of

and rebirth, or the place of his crucifixion and

Fish. But the characterization of the two

resurrection.

houses must be brought along to a more

And the Egyptians had a name for the

specific evolutionary reference. What are

body as the locus of these transformations,

these "houses," thus delineated? They are,

which carry the central meaning of all

as at first, the two states of matter, but now

theologies. This name now rises out of the

to be taken in immediate reference to the life

dim mists of ancient Egyptian books to

of man on earth. They are in the final stage

enlighten all modern Bible comprehension.

of the meaning manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body itself, which

This city of the body, where the sun of soul

consists of matter in both its invisible and its

sank to its death on the cross of matter, to

visible forms. For man has a natural body

re-arise in a new birth, was called the city of

and a spiritual body. Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body itself

the sun, or in Greek, Heliopolis, but in the

houses the two mothers. The body is this

Egyptian, ANU. The name was given to an

double house of Bread and of Fish.

actual Egyptian city, where the rites of the

And the next link is seen when it is

death, burial and resurrection of Osiris or

considered that this physical body is for the

Horus were enacted each year; but the name

soul

bore a theological significance before it was

the

house

death

and

its

regenerative phase, the house of rebirth. It is the house into which the spirit descends to 34

given to a geographical town. The name is obviously made up of

NU, the name for the mother heaven, or

sands of the seashore. And if life was

empty space, or abyss of nothingness, and

symboled by bread, as the first birth, and by

Alpha privative, meaning, as in thousands of

fish, as the second, then we might expect to

words, "not." A-NU would then mean "not-

find in old religious typology the allegory of a

nothingness,"

concrete

Christ figure multiplying loaves and fishes!

actuality, the world of physical substantial

Are we surprised to find that the Gospel

manifestation. Precisely such a world it is in

Jesus does this very thing, multiplying the

which units of virginal consciousness go to

fish loaves and two small fishes to feed a

their death and rise again. A-NU is then the

multitude!

world

physical body of man on earth. The soul

This is astonishing enough in all

descends out of the waters of the abyss of

conscience, but it yields in wonder to the

the NUN, or space in its undifferentiated

next datum of Comparative Religion which

unity, which is the sign and name of all things

came to our notice as a further tie between

negative. The NUN is indeed our "none." Life

the

in the completeness of its unity is negative.

mythology. Who can adequately measure the

To become positively manifest it must

seriousness of the challenge which this item

differentiate

establish

of scholarship presents to Gospel historicity?

positive-negative tension, and later split up

For a discovery of sensational interest came

into untold multiplicity. This brings out the

to light when a passage was found in the

significance of the Biblical word "multiply."

Book of the Dead which gave to Anu the

Life can not manifest itself in concrete forms

characteristic designation, "the place of

until it multiplies itself endlessly. Unit life of

multiplying bread"! Here in the long silent

deity must break itself up into infinite

tomes of old Egypt was found the original,

fragments in order to fill empty space with a

the prototype, of the miracle of the loaves

multitude of worlds and beings of different

and the fishes in the Gospels of Christianity.

natures. The primal Sea or Mother must

And a meaning never before apprehended

engender a multitudinous progeny, to spawn

had to be read into this New Testament

the limitless shoals of organic fish-worlds.

wonder. At last we were instructed to catch in

This is the meaning of the promise given to

the miracle the sense that the physical body,

Abraham, that his seed should multiply till it

as A-NU, was the place where the corpus of

filled the earth with offspring countless as the

the Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deific power was broken into an

itself

into

duality,

Bible

and

antecedent

Egyptian

infinite number of fragments and distributed

Bethany of the Gospels! Bethany is thus just

out

creatures,

the sign of Virgo, as the "house of Bread,"

enhungered after a three-daysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fast, or

the home of the great star Spica, the head of

deprivation of the food of spiritual life in their

wheat!

among

multitude

sojourn in the three kingdoms, the mineral,

But let us say "house of Bread" in

vegetable and animal, before reaching the

ordinary Hebrew. What further astonishment

plane of mind. Here are all the elements of

strikes us here, as we find it reads Beth-

the inner meaning of the Christian Eucharist:

Lehem (Lechem, Lekhem), for

the broken but multiplied fragments of the

lekhem, is bread in everyday Hebrew. The

body of the god, distributed to feed hungry

Christ was born in Bethany or Bethlehem,

humanity. And as humanity is composed of

the astrological "house of Bread." (Later it

twelve groups of divine conscious units,

seems that the two signs, Virgo and Pisces,

there were gathered up twelve baskets of

and their symbols, bread and fish, were

fragments! And this episode of the Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

almost

ostensible life is found to be Egyptian in

commingled in the symbolic imagery. This

origin

was natural, since the two signs represented

and

meaning

and

symbolic

character!

confused

the same body of man in its two aspects of

But new implications arise and lead us on

interchangeably

lechem,

startling

disclosures.

The

dying and being reborn, and the two processes are confusedly interblended.)

Hebrews came along and appropriated

If Pisces is then the "house" in which

Egyptian material. They picked up the name

the Christ in man comes to his birth, it is

ANU and fitting it back into its zodiacal

pertinent to ask if there are evidences in the

setting as Virgo, they called it the "house of

Bible or Christianity that Jesus was colored

Bread." This required their adding to ANU

with the fish typology. Here we encounter

their word for "house," which, as anyone

material enough to provide another nine-

knows, is Beth. This yields us Beth-Anu. Now

daysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wonder. For we find the Gospel Jesus

it is a fact of common philological knowledge

marked with many items of the Piscean

that the ancient Greek and Egyptian "U" is

symbology. He picks his twelve disciples

rendered as "Y" when the words are brought

from the ranks of fishermen (in Egypt they

over into English. The "U" became a "Y," and

were as well carpenters, reapers, harvesters,

Beth-Anu now stands before us as the

sailors, rowers, builders, masons, potters,

etc.); he told Peter to find the gold in the

is just a variant name for Jesus. The phrase

fishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouth; he performed the miraculous

is actually written in some old documents as

draught of fishes; he declared that he would

"Jesus, Son of Nun." At any rate Joshua is

make

the

just Jesus, no less. So here is the Christ,

catacombs under Rome the symbol of the

called Jesus, son of the aboriginal space, or

two fishes crossed was displayed on the

the NUN. But the wonder increases when we

Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forehead, at his feet, or on a plate on

turn to the Hebrew alphabet and find that

the altar before him. And the Romans for

while "M" is called and spelled "Mem" and

several centuries dubbed the early Christians

means "water," "N" is called and spelled

Pisciculi, or "Little Fishes," members of the

"Nun"

"fish-cult." And the Greeks denominated the

Jesus, then, is son of Pisces, the Fish-sign,

Gospel Jesus as Ichthys, the Fish. All this

as he indeed is in the Gospels themselves.

them

"fishers

men."

and

means--of

all

things--"Fish"!

fish symbolism can not be explained away as

And Horus, the Egyptian Christ, who

sheer incident material. It is the product of

is identical with the Jesus of the Gospels in

ancient custom, which figured the Christs

some one hundred and eighty particulars,

under the symbolism of the reigning sign of

performed at Anu a great miracle. He raised

the zodiac, according to the precession of

his father Osiris from the dead, calling unto

the equinoxes.

him in the cave to rise and come forth. Anu,

And yet another surprising correlation

as we have seen, became Bethany of the

comes to view. The Christ, as it has here

Gospels; and it was at Bethany that Jesus

been delineated, is the offspring or creation

raised Lazarus from death! And who was

of a conception of deific Mind, first in the

Lazarus? Here the greatest of all the marvels

inner bosom of spiritual matter, then in

in this chain of comparative data unfolds

organic bodily structure. Primeval space, we

under our eyes. According to Budge and

have seen, was called in Egypt the NUN, or

other eminent Egyptologists the ancient

the Waters of the Nun. All Bible students

designation of Osiris was ASAR. But the

recognize a familiar ring in the phrase

Egyptians invariably expressed reverence for

"Joshua, Son of Nun." But so far has

deity by prefixing the definite article "the" to

ignorance and obscurantism gone with its

the names of their Gods. Just as Christians

deadly work in Christian literalism that hardly

say, or should say, the Christ, they said: the

anyone knows with definiteness that Joshua

Osiris. It will be found that the article

connoted deity in ancient usage. Our definite

Lazarus at Bethany is but a rescript of the

article, "the" is the root of the Greek word

old Egyptian dramatic mystery in which

theos, God; the Spanish article, masculine,

Horus, the Christ, raised his "dead" father

"el," is the Hebrew word for God; and the

Osiris, or El-Asar-us from the grave. And the

Greek masculine article, "ho," is a Chinese

Egyptian recital was in the papyri perhaps

word for deity. To say the Osiris was

5000 years B.C.

equivalent to saying Lord Osiris. When the

Also at the Egyptian scene were

Hebrews took up the Egyptian phrases and

present the two divine sisters, Isis and

names they converted the name of "the

Nephthys. An old source-name for Isis was

Osiris" or "Lord Osiris" directly into their own

Meri, basic for the Latin mare, the sea. The

vernacular, and the result was "El-Asar."

Egyptian plural of Meri was Merti. In Latin

Later on the Romans, speaking Latin, took

feminine form this became

up the same material that had come down

Hebrew it resolved into what was rendered in

from revered Egyptian sources and to "El-

English as Martha. So even in the ancient

Asar"

Latin

Egyptian transaction there were present the

declension

two Maries, or Mary and Martha, the sisters

they

termination

added of

the

common

second

masculine nouns, in which most men’s names ended, namely, "-us"; and the result was now "El-Asar-us." In time the initial "E" wore off, as the scholars phrase it, and the "s" in Asar changed into its sister letter "z," leaving us holding in our hands the Lazarus whom Jesus raised at Bethany! To evidence that this derivation is not a fanciful invention or sheer coincidence the Biblical names of High Priests may be cited. We find one with the name of El(e)azar and another by name Azar-iah, "iah" or "jah" being suffixes of great deific connotation, matching "el." And so we are faced with the irrefutable evidence of Comparative Religion that Jesus’ raising of

Mertae. In

of Lazarus! All this sets the stage for the crowning item in the correspondence. In the Gospel drama John the Baptist bears the character of the firstborn or natural man, coming first to prepare the ground or make straight the path for the advent of the spiritual man or Lord Christ. He would therefore stand as the son of the water-mother, Virgo, and under the astrological symbolism would be born at the autumn equinox, or in his mother’s house. On the other side of the cycle of descent and resurrection Jesus, the Christos, would be the son of the fish-mother, and would be born in his mother’s house, Pisces. These

houses are six months apart astrologically.

raw nature declines. As the spiritual man,

The whole edifice of Gospel historicity

Jesus, son of Nun, the fish, increases, the

trembles under the impact of the strange

natural man, John, son of Virgo, the Water,

dramatic circumstance, given in Luke, that

must

the annunciation to Mary of her impregnation

constellation or star sinks below the horizon

by the Holy Ghost came when John the

in the west, its opposite constellation would

Baptist was six months in Elizabeth’s womb.

be rising in the east. As John, type of the

The natural man, having covered the "six

natural first birth, went down, Jesus, type of

months" between his birth and the date of his

the spiritual second birth, rose on the world.

quickening

And, says John the Baptist: "I must decrease

into

spiritual

status

the

evolutionary cycle, was thus quickened, or

decrease.

Astrologically,

as he must increase"!

leaped in his mother’s womb, when the time

.......

for the birth, or advent, of the spiritual Christ had arrived. The water baptism was to be

On the analogy, might one venture to

consummated with the fire at the baptism of

predict that a new day of brotherhood in

Jesus by John, a fire was kindled in the

human society may be about to dawn, as the

waters of the Jordan!

"six months’" reign of a degrading literal

St. Paul declares that we come to

interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures goes

birth spiritually only as we die carnally, which

down to desuetude and the day-star of a

means that the quantum of divine character

transfiguring spiritual interpretation rises in

in us grows in proportion as the quantum of

the east?

Chapter 1 TRAGEDY DIES IN LAUGHTER

Little could the ancient mythologists and

centuries of unconscionable stultification.

sages have foreseen that the "fabulous

They could not possibly imagine that their

narrations" which their genius devised to

allegorical

cloak high truth would end by plaguing the

spiritual truth would so miscarry from their

mind of the Western world with sixteen

hidden intent as to cast the mental life of half

constructions

dramatize

the world for ages under the cloud of the

That there is a possible truer characterization

most grotesque superstition known to history.

Nor could they have dreamed that the gross

extravagances of these two extreme views

blindness and obtuseness of later epochs

has not seemed

would

marvelously

intelligence at any time. It has not occurred

ingenious portrayals as the evidence of

to students of religion that ancient scripts are

childish

their

the work neither of Supreme Deity, on the

formulators. Who could have suspected that

one side, nor of groping infantile humanity,

a body of the most signal instrumentalities

on the other, but that their production must

for

deep

be sought in a region intermediate between

knowledge ever devised by man would

the two. They came neither from supernal

become the means of centuries of mental

Deity nor from common humanity, but from

enslavement?

humanity divinized! They were the output of

cite

these

crudity

conveying

same

the

and

part

preserving

them

lying

midway to

between

come

through

the to

Nothing more clearly evidences the

normal humans graduating to divine or near-

present ageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loss of fixed moorings in

divine status, St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s "just men made

philosophical truth than the inconsistency of

perfect." Their divinity is therefore not

its attitudes toward the sacred scriptures of

transcendent and exotic, and their humanity

antiquity. The general mind, indoctrinated by

is not crude and doltish. They bear the

priestcraft,

marks, therefore, of human sagacity exalted

regards

them

infallible

revelations and holds them as fetishes,

to divine mastership.

which it were a sacrilege to challenge; while

When a student graduates creditably

theological scholarship hedges from pious

from a college he is presumed to have

veneration

acquired

them

over

outright

mastery

over

the

field

skepticism of their divine origin, swinging

knowledge covered in his course. Human life

more recently to a view which takes them to

is a school, and why should not its graduates

be the simple conceptions of men just

be presumed to have gained mastery over

emerging from cave and forest barbarism.

the range of knowledge which it covers, and

The

and

to be able to write authoritatively upon it?

absolute wisdom assigned to them, on the

Humans must at some time attain the goal,

one thesis, has yielded to that of ignorant

the prize of the high calling of God in Christly

speculation of primitive folk, on the other.

illumination,

character

divine

dictation

the

crown

glorious

intelligence. Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school issues no diploma

possible high service of the scriptures to

of graduation without attainment, for the

mankind. The theory of their divine dictation

graduation is the attainment. We have here

to "holy men of old" has led to the abject

the ground for the only sane acceptance of

surrender of the rational mind before their

the ancient scriptures as books of accredited

impregnable fortress of direct assertion, its

wisdom. We are neither asked to believe

hypnotization by a fetish, and the crippling of

them inscribed by the finger of omnipotent

its native energies. The theory of their

Deity, nor forced to attribute them to the

production by early crudity tends to the

undeveloped brains of primitives. They can

disparagement of the value and validity of

be seen as the products of the sage wisdom

their

garnered by generations of men who had

advanced

finally risen to clear understanding. They are

authority while it brings their authorship from

the literary heritage bequeathed by men

alleged Cosmic Divinity back to men of earth.

grown to the stature of divinity. Their

It saves us from the fatuous claim that "God"

veneration by the world for long centuries,

took time out to dictate a volume of absolute

even carried to the extreme of outrageous

verity for the inhabitants of a minor planet

sycophancy,

indestructible

amongst millions of trillions of such worlds.

tradition of their origination from sources

Relieving us of the necessity of asserting

accredited as divine and infallible. Their

that Supreme Deity went into the book

successful hold on the popular mind for

publishing business on this globe and took

many ages bespeaks also the unshakeable

advantage of his commanding position to

foundations of their wisdom. They have

write the planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s "best seller," it preserves

withstood consistently the test of generations

mental integrity by enabling us to assign

of human experience. Their wisdom holds

scriptural

against life; it rings true. And it is all the more

where

precious to us because of its authorship by

understandable that evolved men, with vision

men of our own evolution, since thereby it

opened to knowledge of the laws of life,

does not miss immediate pertinence to our

would

life.

enlightenment of those less advanced. In

attests

Both the conventional views of Bible authorship 41

have

militated

against

the

message.

The

other

preserves

their

authorship

alone

indite

sage

view

venerated

human

agency,

acceptable.

tomes

here

for

the

any case the Bibles are here; they must be accounted for. The phenomenon of their

existence among the nations, their hoary

the

age, their escape from destruction through

groundwork for the elevation of theology to

the centuries, the ineradicable tradition of

its true place as the King of Sciences, or the

their divine origin and authority, their almost

Kingly Science. Together philosophy and

universal veneration, must all find some

theology held the throne in the mental life of

factual ground of explanation. The theory

mankind; and justly so, for a reason which

offered in refutation of the two conventional

modern thought would do well to consider:

ones seems the only one that provides such

they must ever be the ultimate science

a rational and acceptable basis. And since

because they motivate finally the use we

the belief in their sacredness generally

make of all other sciences! They hold final

persists, it can not be regarded as less than

answers to all lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems. They are the

momentous that the world should know of a

determination of all human action in the end.

surety that, while these revered relics are not

They alone can direct man finally to the path

the voice of the personified Cosmos, neither

of good, for by no other means can he learn

are they the mere speculative romancing of

to know what constitutes the good. The sore

cavemen or scholastics. They are the sure

need of the world today is the restoration of

word of perfected wisdom.

philosophy, to supply the proper motivation

There was a time, then, in early human

history,

when

enlightened

men

science

being.

formed

the

and end of action. Though zealously guarded from the

possessed true knowledge, the passport to

unworthy

wisdom. Clear and concise answers to the

knowledge was extant in the ancient day.

profoundest problems of philosophy were

Modern zeal for publicity finds it hard to

known. In so far as the human intellectual

understand why it was so sedulously kept

faculty is capable of it, an understanding of

esoteric. Briefly--for the full reason is a

the mystery and riddle of life itself and the

lengthy matter--a thing so precious, the

laws of its evolutionary unfolding, was

distillation of ages of experience and the

achieved by men who, as Hermes says, had

deposit of many lives of painful earning,

been "reborn in mind." Philosophy was no

could not be given out loosely to the

mere "speculative enterprise," or tilting at

undisciplined rabble to be violated and

logical windmills; it was a statement of the

despoiled. Yet it was withheld from no worthy

fundamental archai, or basic principles, of

aspirant. No bars of bigotry or persecution

its

accredited

custodians,

interdicted its free culture. The Societies in

incredible fashion. We are destined soon to

which it was secretly pursued were honored

pass from a stunning sense of tragic loss to

by kings and the populace alike.

a world-echoing burst of laughter. The sting that

of our realization of our duo-millennial loss

was

will melt away under the dawning recognition

threatened with extinction, its pursuit was

of our previous unbelievable stupidity. We

forbidden,

and

are in a little time to be made acutely aware

exterminated; and for more than fifteen

of a situation that will become the butt of

centuries the Occidental world has muddled

hollow mirth for ages to come. Other

through its age-to-age existence in nearly

egregious follies of history can be accepted

total ignorance of the fact that antiquity held,

or extenuated to the point of being condoned

in its philosophy and theology, an adequate

and forgotten. But this colossal ineptitude,

answer to the great interrogatory, the Sphinx

prolonged over sixteen centuries, can not

riddle of human life.

escape being laughed at for centuries more.

That priceless

halcyon legacy its

age of

passed,

knowledge

devotees

assailed

The gift and then the loss of primal wisdom are the two most momentous events in human history. This age will be spectator to the third most significant event--the Renaissance of Ancient Culture. The plans of demi-gods and divine men, interrupted for fifteen centuries of the Dark Ages, will move forward again toward destined goals.

A joke owes its character to the miscarriage of

the

intended

sense

into

something

ludicrously different. This denouement will stand as the historical joke of the ages. No less than this quantity of hilarity can balance the weight of the tragedy which loads the joke at the other end. For the ludicrously different direction in which the intended sense of the great mythical religions and

This age faces the denouement of a

dramatic rituals of the past took its perverted

drama the like of which has not been

course entailed as a consequence the

unrolled in world history before and will

greatest

hardly be repeated in aeons. Tragedy and

frightful chapter of religious bigotry and

comedy being copiously admixed in mortal

persecution. This worst of all forms of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

existence, the astounding spectacle to which

inhumanity to man was bred out of the

the world will shortly awake will exhibit untold

miscarriage of the concealed meaning of the

calamity and the ludicrous conjoined in

ancient

all

spiritual

historical

myth.

tragedies,--the

The

transaction

carried the form of a joke, but it also carried

oral teaching and preserved only in memory.

the substance of the most appalling terrorism

But later, lest it be lost or corrupted, it was

in history. And this most calamitous of all

consigned to writing. Hence came the

blunders was the mistaking of religious myth,

Sacred Books, Scriptures, Holy Writ, of

drama and allegory for veridical history!

antiquity. So highly were they held in the

The promise of our coming awakening

esteem of early men that when in later days

lies in the progress made and to be made in

their true origin and character had been

the

Religion,

forgotten, they were exalted to the position of

Comparative Mythology and Comparative

veritable fetishes and assigned a quite

Philology. What they will ere long make clear

preternatural source and rating. Regarded as

to us beyond further dispute is the almost

books of superhuman intelligence, men have

unthinkable fact that for sixteen centuries the

in face of them practically set in abeyance

best intelligence of the West took the ancient

their human reason and bowed to them as

sagesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Books of Wisdom, which were in all

the oracles of absolute Truth. This was

cases the spiritual dramatizations of the

natural and to a degree inevitable. But it

experience of the human soul on earth, for

spelled catastrophe to the general mental life

objective historical narratives. The spectacle

of man by fixing upon him the basest

that will soon throw a world first into wonder,

hypnotization in all the annals of record,

confusion and dismay, and then into clownish

when a literal and historical, instead of a

laughter, is that of a civilization covering one

purely spiritual and typical interpretation of

third of the globe, and boasting itself as the

the

highest in culture in the historical period, all

acceptance. The evidence is mountain high

the while taking its moral and spiritual

that the taking of ancient ritual dramas and

guidance for an aeon from a Book or Books,

scriptural myths for objective history and the

of the true content and meaning of which it

figures in them for human persons has been

never for a moment has had the slightest

the fountain source of the most abject

inkling.

corruption of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mental forces since the

study

Comparative

The superior knowledge vouchsafed from early graduates in lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school to

books

was

broadcast

general

race began. In mechanical exploit this is an age of

disciplined pupils in the Mysteries of old was

marvel,

transmitted from generation to generation by

achievement should not be withheld. In study

and

credit

for

this

type

of life and its objective powers it has labored

sense and fantastic to rational thought.

with

Philosophy and religion are still propagated

psychological delving into deeper phases of

on the basis of a theology that is received

consciousness it has begun a pursuit long

without understanding by the "common

neglected. But in religion and philosophy it is

people,"

one of the blindest of ages. It is not

intelligentsia and brazenly dissembled by the

overstating the case to say that in these

very priesthood that lips its cantos and its

areas of human enterprise the mind of this

oracles from Sunday to Sunday. In sum it

era still slumbers in a state of ineptitude and

can be said without the remotest possibility

gross darkness at least a degree or two

of successful dispute that the general grasp

below that commonly termed barbaric. At this

of the mind of this age on philosophical verity

moment the common mentality of the day,

and the truth of life, as proffered by orthodox

led and fed by a compactly institutionalized

religionism, is still steeped in the crassest

ecclesiastical power, stands committed to

forms of dark superstition. And this has been

ideas as to the origin, structure, meaning and

due to the miscarriage of ancient symbolism.

wondrous

destiny

life

the

pattern of retrogressive current if it can be

by the tribes of the forest and the sea isles.

shown that this late epoch grovels in a mire

Conceptions in theology having to do with

of semi-barbaric philosophical grossness

basic realities of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relation to the

from which a former period was free.

universe

pulpits,

Degeneracy must have set in at some distant

Sunday Schools and Theological Seminaries

time and swept onward to this day. And such

which the uncorrupted native intelligence of

a phenomenon must have had its due cause.

children of eight and ten years shrinks from

A great work of a learned author some years

or accepts with startled dismay, to the

ago pointed to the approaching "decline of

subsequent confusion of their whole mental

the West." What has not been seen,

integrity. A "scheme" of explanation of cosmic

however, is that the West has long been in

processes and world design, of human and

decline, is at a low stage of decay, and has

angelic relations, of the plan and purport of

not risen out of the murks of the Dark Ages.

life

popular

This has come in the wake of causes long

acceptance, yet is grotesque to common

operative in the world situation, which have

itself,

not

History would seem to present a

still

have

repudiated

surpassed in crudity and chimerical absurdity

are

which

entirely

been

accomplishment.

presented in

advanced

for

been overlooked or failed of discovery

cause of the perpetuation of rank superstition

through an egregious obscuration of the

in the present day of alleged enlightenment

vision of scholars since the early centuries.

is to be laid at the door of ignorance or

And if this failure of insight is not to be

knavery or a combination of both, must

attributed to stupidity that is in itself beyond

likewise be determined as time moves on. It

understanding, then it becomes necessary

is certain that both the primal and the

for the historian of these things to posit for it

present causes of nescience are kindred, if

another cause, one that casts the dark

not identical.

shadow of sinister motive over the whole

It is the purpose of the present volume

course of that historical enterprise in which

to set forth to the modern mind the extent of

sinister

most

the wreckage which splendid ancient wisdom

unpardonable. Corruption in politics or in

suffered at the hands of later incompetence.

economic or social life can be understood in

And it is designed to accomplish this by

relation to the imperfection of human nature,

setting up the sharp contrast between the

and in a measure pardoned. But designed

present disfigurement and the past glory of

corruption in religion is shattering to the very

the structure. This purpose entails the task of

foundations of human aspiration. It shocks

revealing for the first time the hidden

and

meaning of the body of archaic scriptures by

sincerity. It weights the human spirit with the

means of a clear and lucid interpretation of

hopelessness

their myths and allegories, fables and

motive

paralyzes of

all

places

fundamental its

effort

urges to

conquer

imperfection. Dishonesty and insincerity in

dramas,

worldly dealings may entail disaster of

numerological outlines. It will be at once

greater or minor degree. In religion they are

seen to be a labor of no mean proportions to

never less than fatal. There is one domain in

convert the entire mass of antique mythology

which untruth is insupportable, that field of

and legend, Biblical graph and cryptogram,

the human soulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s endeavor of which Truth is

from presumed childish nonsense into an

the very substance and being,--religion.

organic corpus of transcendent scientific

astrological

pictographs

and

Whether stupidity or sinister design

significance. It involves the reversal of that

prove to have been the cause of the loss of

mental process which in the days of early

true original meaning must be left to the

Christianity operated to change myth and

historical sequel to disclose. And whether the

allegory in the first instance over to factual

history. As third century ignorance converted

redoubtable testimony to the correctness of

mythical typology to objective history, the

this estimate of the present stupefaction of

task is now to convert alleged objective

modern

history back to mythology, and then to

philosophy than just this reaction. Ridicule,

interpret it as enlightened theology. The

contempt and flat rejection will be the

almost insuperable difficulty of the project will

greeting accorded the proclamation that

consist

Biblical myth is truer and more important

for

than Biblical history. Our book aims at

centuries and now fixed in weird forms of

nothing less than the full proof of this

fantastic belief, that the sacred scriptures of

contention. It flies directly in the face of the

the world are a thousand times more

awaiting scorn of common opinion on the

precious as myths than as alleged history. It

point at issue. Yet nothing is easier than to

can be done only by showing that as myths

demonstrate that Bible material taken as

they

history is the veriest nonsense. Anyone with

assumed

an analytic mind and an imagination to

demonstrating

uncomprehending

illumine

unparalleled history

they

world,

and clarity, are

mistaught

exalt

the

while

mind

either nonsensical

intelligence

concerning

religious

convert its narratives into realism can make it

inconsequential. But centuries of erroneous

a laughing-stock. The Voltaires, Paines,

indoctrination have so warped and victimized

Ingersols and the freethinkers have done this

the modern mind that the effort to restore the

successfully enough. But having disproved it

scriptures to their primal mythical status will

as history, they have not redeemed it as

be met with the objection that the transaction

spiritual mythology. The world awaits this

will wipe the Bible and other sacred literature

work of interpretation, and only when it is

out of the realm of value altogether. In the

supplied will the full force of the tragic humor

common mind this would be to rob them of

of mistaking drama for history be grasped.

worth and significance utterly. So wretchedly

The

loss

corruption

the

has the ancient usage of the religious myth

philosophical

been misunderstood that the cry, "the Bible

scriptures precipitated the West into the Dark

only a myth!", will fall upon the popular ear

Ages, and a main factor in this disaster was

with all the catastrophic force and finality of

the tolling of a death knell. And no statement

concerning the myth. Catastrophe was made

that words can phrase will stand as a more

the more readily possible because the

general

interpretation

obscuration

ancient

intelligence

rationale of the use of the myth in ancient

Nevertheless the myth was designed to tell

hands passed from knowledge. When the

truth of the last importance. Its instrument

recondite suggestiveness of the myth was

was

lost, the inner essence of esoteric wisdom

falsehood, but sublime truth. Outwardly it

was dissipated away. Philosophy died out.

was not true, but at the same time it

And, bereft of its inner soul, the myth came

portrayed full truth. It was not true for its

to stand as the mere ghost of itself. With its

"characters," but was true for all mankind. It

hidden significance gone, it read nonsense

was only a myth, but it was a myth of

and caricature. And so it has stood till this

something. It used a false story to relate a

day. The word connotes in the popular mind

true one. While it never happened, it is the

of the present something about equivalent to

type of all things that have happened and will

fairy-tale, a fiction little removed from a

happen. It is not objective history, but it

"hoax." It is something that is sheer fanciful

embalms the import and substance, the

invention. To declare a narrative formerly

heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core, of all human history. Such

believed to be true "only a myth" is to toss it

authors as Spengler and Lord Raglan have

out on the rubbish heap as a thing no longer

begun to see that the ancients regarded it of

of value. This attitude of mind toward the

far

myth is itself the sign and seal of the

occurrences of objective history than to

decadence of this age. For ancient sagacity

dramatize its inner "spirit." The outward

could

any

actions of humans are in the main trivial,

succeeding age would prove so obtuse as to

because they constitute, in the end, only a

take the outward form of its spiritual

partial and ephemeral account of whole

allegories for factual occurrence, or suppose

verity. Ancient literature aimed at something

that their formulators believed them to be

infinitely higher and more universal. It strove

true objectively.

to depict in the myths and dramas the

hardly

have

assumed

that

fancy,

less

but

its

importance

purpose

was

catalogue

not

the

To be sure, they are fanciful creations

eternal norms of life experience, which would

and entirely fictitious. They are fables of

stand as truth for all men at any time in

events which, as events, never happened.

evolution. The myths were cryptographs of

The aim was never at any time to deceive

the great design and pattern of human

anybody.

that

history, limning in the large the truth that is

anybody

would

them.

only in fragmentary fashion brought to living

was

never ever

imagined "believe"

enactment in any given set of historical

of taking spiritual allegory for literal history, a

circumstances. The myth is always truer

humiliated world will find difficulty in ridding

than history! Only in aeons will history have

its memory of this preposterous blunder.

caught up with the myth, when it will have

Deprived

thus

legacy

unfolded the entire design of the original

transcendent knowledge vouchsafed for its

mythograph. Hegel indeed essayed to read

instruction, Western humanity has wound a

the features of a grand cosmic design in the

tortuous path through dangerous terrain that

straggling line of actual events. But the myth

the lost wisdom would have enabled it to

already foreshadows the ultimate meaning of

avoid. It has been a journey made without

history.

the guiding light that had been given to

Such being the portentous function of

render the road more easily passable.

the myth in the early stages of the life of

Civilization has floundered in the shoals and

humanity, it becomes in some degree

quicksands

apparent what blindness must have fallen

contemporary phase presents the strangest

upon the mental eye of practically a whole

of spectacles, that of a modern culture

world to have blotted out in little more than a

boasting its superiority over any antecedent

single century the knowledge of a thing of

one, yet admittedly guided in its ethical life

such vast utility. No matter how conclusively

by a Book of which it is now possible to

the data may prove the fact, it will probably

affirm that not the most rudimentary sense of

remain

its message has ever been apprehended.

unstudied folk that whole bodies of ancient

The declaration can be made and supported

mythology and spiritual typology, suddenly

that the Bible is still a sealed book. This

became metamorphosed into alleged history.

study will vindicate that declaration by setting

And because it ensued through sheer

forth the hidden meaning of ancient scripture

gaucherie and clumsy loutish dumbness, it

for the first time. Gross misinterpretation

will, as predicted, rise on our horizon as the

cannot be seen as such until its product has

supreme folly of the ages. When it is realized

been set down alongside a true rendering.

that an early gift of divine wisdom, planned

The crudeness and baseness of a literal and

to aid the race fight through the exigencies of

historical translation of the sense will be

its historical evolution, totally miscarried into

brought into glaring light only by being held

tragic nonsense through the simple mistake

up against a background of the clarity and

forever

incomprehensible

ignorance.

And

its

dignity of a true spiritual meaning.

volumes been approached by Orientalists

The promised interpretation is not

and

Western

savants.

predicated upon the play of a genius superior

unbelievable to discover in what a rigid

to that of the accumulated scholarship and

posture

predetermined

acumen of centuries of religious students

scrutiny

antique

and theologians in Christendom. It was made

undertaken by Western Christian scholars.

possible purely by the discovery of clues and

Even when the evidence of sage wisdom

"keys" to the old scriptures hidden deeply in

was present under the eye, the relentless

the tomes of ancient literature, which had

force of the fixation could never rest content

escaped the notice of the long line of

until it had read the imputation of simpleness

exegetical

inquirers.

and

and crudity into the text. If early literature did

skepticism

arise

not manifestly read as folly, it had to be

understanding why discovery was made at

made to do so. The inviolable presupposition

this epoch and not in so long a time before,

in the case was that by no possibility could it

the answer is most probably to be found in

be admitted that the ancients knew a

the fact that the thousands who failed

modicum of what we know today. If it was to

approached the study of ancient treasure-

be granted that the seers of yore knew life

tomes with an attitude of mind that made

truly and profoundly, it would be gall to

defeat inevitable, while success came finally

modern intellectual pride, and the very walls

through an attitude that, if it did not of itself

of boasted modern superiority would be

guarantee victory, at least opened the door to

breached.

it. This is of immense significance and

mysterious

carries a weighty moral connotation with it.

appeared, had to be explained on the basis

With the scales fallen at last from the eyes of

of primitive naĂŻvetĂŠ of mind. By no right were

purblind prejudice, it can be patently enough

the supposed aborigines of remote times

seen that there was little chance of discovery

entitled

of the cryptic burden of ancient books as

knowledge or a scientific envisagement of

long as scholars undertook their study with

the world. No thesis found in modern view

the ingrained and obstinate assurance that

could

they

primitive

developed culture in the early stages of the

infantilism. Ever thus have the archaic

chart of progressive evolution as at present

were

the

over

If the

products

wonder difficulty

The

and

the

account

estimate

writings

content

haunting

has

old as

presumption

for

the

the been

scripts, it

often

prevalence

high

conceived.

The

assignment

puerile

contemporary

times

incorrigibly

and four thousand years ago had to be

historians, the ancients possessed books of

vindicated

at all costs. The rating of

such exalted spiritual and intellectual content

primitives

for

as to lie yet beyond the comprehension of

men

had

maintained.

the

nescience to the civilizations of even three

early

marked

with

"primitive"

vaunted modern intelligence! Modern pride

Little wonder, then, that a literature

must face the situation: "primitive" people

scanned with such a blighting spirit never

already possessed books which by no

yielded its buried light. Supercilious contempt

possibility could have been produced by

blinded the eyes of inquiry and closed the

"primitive" mentality. Books which only sages

mind to all discovery. Obdurately refusing to

could have written bespeak the presence of

admit the possibility of the presence of

sages on the scene.

knowledge, no amount of search would

And

sages

there

were.

Popular

reveal it. All the surer was inquiry doomed to

academic theory must perforce revise its

failure in this field, when the most exalted

postulates in the case. It has stubbornly

genius the world ever knew had been at

refused to admit the operation of a law of life

pains to disguise the outward appearance of

in this situation which it sees at work

that knowledge. It was only when at last the

everywhere else in the realm of genetic

arcane writings were inspected with the

procedure. Universal observation yields the

eager spirit of genuine seeking and the

truth that infant life is everywhere parented.

reverent assurance of their holding precious

The

mines of instruction, that the open sesame

safeguarded by parental oversight. The elder

unlocked a hoard of hidden wealth.

generation is at hand to protect, nurture and

period

helpless

infancy

If it shatters current orthodoxy in

instruct the young of every kind. Modern

science or philosophy to establish the fact

theory admits the prevalence of this rule

that

everywhere--except

archaic

man

possessed

supernal

strangely

the

sapiency, then shattering there must be. The

biological history of the human race as a

thing cannot be obviated. It is a fact that out

unit. Granting the sway of the principle in the

of the night of antiquity looms the giant light

case of the individual, animal or human, it

of transcendent intelligence on the part of

has refused to predicate its governance over

numerous sages. At a period remote enough

the early life of humanity as an entity. But the

presence of sapient writings, the evidence of

of primeval books over-passing even present

great lost arts, and the remains of structures

capability. The authorship of the sages

surpassing

attest

removes these books at once from the

incontrovertibly the uniform working of the

category of merely human speculation and

law of parenthood here as elsewhere. The

places them securely in the place of authority

human race was parented. It was not left to

and authenticity. They were the products, not

struggle through its helpless infancy without

guardianship. Ancient legend in the mass

understand

life,

bears this out. Prehistoric lore teems with the

sagacious

knowledge

stories of heroes and men of divine stature,

experience. On no other ground can their

demi-gods and sons of God who mingled

perennial durability and universal power be

with humanity, and who left codes of laws

accounted for. The early races obviously

and manuals of civilization that manifest a

received and treasured these documents

mastery not possible of acquirement by

with the same high reverence with which the

primitives.

Hermes,

Cadmus,

human child receives the codes and rules of

Zoroaster,

Hammurabi,

Buddha,

conduct first handed down to it by its

Laotse,

present

Moses,

Orpheus, Manu,

Plato

manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

groping but

tentatives evolved and

menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s matured

parents, who stand to it in loco Dei. If the

Pythagoras, hover in the dim light of remote

primal world-reverence is found wanting in

legendary times as figures transcending

certain groups today, it is due not so much to

normal human stature, and leaving behind

the fact that the books have proven of

writings that have been held up as the norm

unsound merit, but to the failure to know

of perfect wisdom and conduct down the

what

centuries. The Laws of Manu have stood for

uninterpreted to this moment. They could not

ages as the prototype of all legal and social

be scorned if their intrinsic meaning was

codes since formulated. Hermes, Orpheus

known.

taught

meaning will restore the bibles to universal

nations

even

early

and

the

and

achievement,

agriculture,

writing,

astronomy, language, religion, philosophy and science, the saga runs.

they

The

actually

say.

republication

They

that

are

lost

veneration, but not as fetishes. Incidentally all speculation of scholars

Hence, there is posited for the first

as to the date of the personal authorship of

time a natural and competent answer to the

the Bible books or other ancient documents

great and insistent question of the authorship

of the kind must be declared to be pure and

simple impertinence. Nobody knows or can

survived the test of time and still stand as

know what hand first set these verses to

sacred commitments. Their material presents

paper, or at what epoch. The books are of

the substantial truth of life, and not primitive

unknown

man’s

antiquity.

They

were

extant

erratic

guessings.

And

sixteen

thousands of years B.C. When they passed

hundred years of the most consecrated effort

from oral impartation to written form none

to study them has left their meaning still

can say. Hundreds of volumes proclaim

unrevealed.

Moses to have been the writer of the

But the Western mind has begun to

Pentateuch. Yet the last of the five books

delve

describes Moses’ death and burial, and adds

philosophies

that not in a long cycle since his day

renaissance of Oriental thought, which was

(estimated by scholars at six hundred years

first quickened by Schopenhauer in Europe

at least) hath there been found one like unto

and

him in wisdom and piety in all Israel! To

sweeping

ascribe any of the Bible books to any named

consciousness to a new and lofty height of

writer is to trespass on the ground of folly.

vision and uplift. The eminent psychologist,

Indeed it is possible to assert that, in the

C. G. Jung, declares this movement to be

common meaning of the term, they were

the most significant taking place in the

never "written" at all. No man sat down and

thought life of today. The philosophy that

composed them out of his thought or his

could give an expansive illumination to a

knowledge. They were the outlines of a great

brain like Emerson’s is proving a fount of

universal

light and incentive to millions more at

tradition

formulated

the

accumulated wisdom of those first "parents" or "guardians" of infant humanity, and, like the thousands of lines of the great Homeric poems, which had been held purely in the memory of the Hellenes for five hundred years, were finally committed by scribes to written

form.

formulations

Thus of

came

systematic

those

set

knowledge,

cosmic data and moral codes, that have

into

the of

fathomless

the

by Emerson

ancient

spiritual East. The

in America,

Occidental

now

religious

present. The mask of literary disguise is being slowly lifted from the face of ancient scripture, and what has been gratuitously assumed to be the product of primitive naïveté and ignorance is now seen to be the many-colored cloak of recondite wisdom. Even so apparently quixotic a construction as the body of Greek myths, which has

gained for its originators the imputed status

children.

of moronism, bewildering and baffling the

We accused them of taking their

world for two millennia, is to be revealed as

three-headed

perhaps the most lucid presentment of

dragons, their griffins, naiads, Cyclops,

philosophical truth ever given to the world.

Circes

The light so long buried under a bushel of

actualities. We were sure we could afford to

myths is beginning to shine through. Not only

laugh at the simpleness of a people who

do they bear the impress of a genius able to

ascribed

portray mighty truth in fable and fiction, but

Phaëthon’s losing control of the horses of

they register an equal skill in artful

Apollo’s

concealment. Their employment of the craft

presumption must brace itself for a rude jolt,

of disguise has carried them so far beyond

when it shortly transpires that not one in a

us that we have been gulled into taking the

hundred of our population will be able to

mask for the reality. The devisers of the

grasp the involved and profound signification

myths were master dramatists and poets.

of the Phaëthon myth even when it has been

With such deft touches did they weave the

clearly set forth. Face to face with what we

pattern of cosmic, mundane, spiritual and

could not understand in ancient literature, we

physical truth through their myriad narratives

assumed that the unintelligibility was due to

of gods and men, mermaids, harpies, satyrs,

ancient unintelligence in the construction.

centaurs, stags and boars, labyrinths, rivers,

That it might be due to our unintelligence in

trees and stars, that not the most outlandish

the comprehension was unthinkable. We

detail of their fabrications can be ignored

could only hold our ground of supposed

without the loss of some signal link of

enlightenment by shifting our ignorance to

meaning. Generations of scholars, chained

the ancients. If the myths made no sense to

in the cave of orthodoxy with their backs to

us, it was proof that there was no sense in

the light, have perennially scoffed at the idea

them.

that the myths might be fanciful portrayals of

judgment. The comics in the case will be

esoteric truth. And we have charged the

found to be modern, not ancient. Not they,

most enlightened races in history, the

but we, will be adjudged the simple-minded

Greeks, Chaldeans and Egyptians, with

children lacking insight. And we will see

possessing the mentality of immature

ourselves at last, clowns and buffoons,

dogs,

and

Medusas

the

fire-breathing

for

summer’s

sun-chariot.

But

their

history is

sure-enough

drought But

soon

modern

reverse

laughing and grimacing in hideous mockery

phenomena of life and the deep lore of the

of a treasure the value of which we cannot

scriptures. Some of these, long without the

grasp.

pale of orthodox acceptance, will strangely Perhaps there will be wanting to us

have been found corroborated by late

the powers of discernment needed to catch

scientific

the

method was that of deduction, since it

philosophy under their covering of allegory.

conceived life as unfolding in the outer order

Habits of thought and postures of mind

the pattern of things innately involved in its

hostile to the presuppositions of the archaic

inner heart. The conclusion reached by

knowledge will not easily adjust themselves

evolutionists in present studies is that

to new views. The attempt at a full revelation

"evolution is centrifugal, developing outward

of buried meaning will come with a shock to

from within the geneplasm, rather than

current theological vanity, to the pride of

centripetal, developing inward from without

present knowledge and to the complacency

the geneplasm," in the words of Henry

of the mechanistic cast of modern thought.

Fairfield Osborn. Another late finding is that

But the release of the hidden significance of

"evolution

the world scriptures at this epoch may be

variational. Variation of the species is the

destined to achieve our salvation from

result of an original creative pattern within

threatened

the

the geneplasm which is there from the very

ancient wisdom held the prescription for both

beginning." And a third pronouncement

individual sanity and a righteous social order.

demolishes

Folly

materialism, affirming that "evolution is prot-

grandeur

social

flourished

arcane

systems

catastrophe.

only

For

grace

its

The release of the enlightenment held

the

old

books

will

challenge many traditional habitudes of mind and most of the lingering relics of theological inculcation. It will republish the postulates of ancient knowledge that have been lost or discredited and establish them once more as the principia of understanding for both the 55

The

creational

completely

the

philosophical

rather

theories

than

empirical rather than meta-empirical; the

despoliation.

potentially

discovery.

organs developing before there is any actual need for them rather than after the need for them arises." Nature already carries in her womb the embryo of that which will come to form.

Life

works

ahead

end

premeditated in the beginning, so that Aristotleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheme of "entelechy" is a sound principle in philosophy. Plato told us twenty-

four hundred years ago that life is weaving

intentions. And as man cannot change his

on the field of manifestation the design of the

larger designs always for the convenience of

archetypal ideas in the Cosmic Mind. Modern

ants in certain situations, or indeed may not

science and the clear interpretation of the

even be aware that his designs jeopardize

arcane philosophy of the past will together

their lives, so neither presumably can higher

restore Plato to his seat on the throne of

beings

mind.

temporary advantage of little man. Neither

alter

their

operations

for

the

The debate on teleology has been

man nor nature has yet learned how to work

long and acrimonious. Negative conclusions

on in evolution without the element of some

have been fostered and apparently affirmed

sacrifice of life. It does not impugn design in

by the shortness of our perspective. The

the course and speed of an automobile that

immensely extended outline of evolution

a child has been unfortunate enough to drift

envisioned by the cosmology of old will

into its path.

enable the mind to see the working of

Centuries of world life have been lived

design. Mr. Clarence Darrow asks skeptically

all awry because the philosophical insight

if the Lisbon earthquake was designed. As

into the structure of archetypal design has

well might a colony of ants ask if the

been dulled and obscured. The outlines of

destruction of their burrow as we spade our

the pattern of evolution formulated in the

garden was designed. Neither to the citizens

beginning by Cosmic Mind were known of

of Lisbon nor to the ants in the garden would

old, but lost in the long interim. The world

the philosophy of design be comforting. But

being the crystallized projection of a divine

we know that the digging was designed, not

thought-form and history the slow filling out

to destroy the ant-city, but to prepare the

of the lines of the pattern, what man can

garden. So we may equally well know that

know of the structure of the original ideation,

the

were

or the Great Plan, becomes of incontestable

designed, not to destroy Lisbon, but to adjust

importance. This was the base and content

the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crust properly about it. The

of the Ancient Philosophy. It must be restored

designed

two

to knowledge. Fortunately it has never been

different worlds happened to clash, man

lost beyond recovery, merely lost out of

being no more intelligent about the plans of

common thought. It was safe even while

cosmic beings than the ant about human

unknown, being preserved in the amber of a

processes

activities

world

building

progressing

subtle cryptography. Ignorance came along

rebuffing a philosophy that denies the ideal

and swept out of ken the esoteric purport;

frame of things, and rebuking an eccentric

but at the same time it perpetuated the

religionism that distorts early truth into

myths and allegories, believing them to be

revolting irrationality. To redeem religion from

history. Deluded piety made a hash of the

ignominy it is necessary to stigmatize its

sense of the scriptures, yet all unwittingly

historical caricature, ecclesiasticism. War

saved them for the advantage of a wiser age.

must be declared on its falsities to vindicate

On the one hand, materialism has ignored

its truth. Medieval and modern incrustations,

the spiritual nature and motivation of the

excrescences

universe;

ecclesiastical

hundred types must be brushed away, if the

zealotry, blinded by stupid literalism, has

brilliance of the splendid original creation of

rendered religion ridiculous. The truth must

supernal genius is to shine forth again.

combat

Platoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theology and "divine philosophy"

untruth

the

other,

both

these

fronts,

and

must be vindicated.

abnormalities

Lord of all being Oliver Wendell Holmes. Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1809 and died in 1894. Distinguished as a Professor of Anatomy, essayist and poet. Dr. Holmes was an habitual worshipper with the Unitarian congregation at King's Chapel, Boston. UNITARIANS WORSHIP THE GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE AND ON THE EARTH BENEATH Psalm XIX, 1:The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Lord of all being, throned afar, Thy glory flames from sun and star; Center and soul of every sphere, Yet to each loving heart how near! Sun of our life, thy quickening ray Sheds on our path the glow of day Star of our hope, thy softened light Cheers the long watches of the night. Our midnight is thy smile withdrawn; Our noontide is thy gracious dawn; Our rainbow arch, thy mercy's sign: All, save the clouds of sin, are thine. Lord of all life, below, above. Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love. Before thy ever-blazing throne We ask no luster of our own. Grant us thy truth to make us free, And kindling hearts that burn for thee, Till all thy living altars claim One holy light, one heavenly flame.

THE HISTORICAL JESUS AND MYTHICAL CHRIST. Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey (29 May 1828 – 29 October 1907) was an English poet who, In his later years, became interested in Egyptology and focused his research and writings on the similarities that exist between the mythology of ancient Egypt and the Biblical New Testament. He is admired In academic and professional circles but has been severely criticized in certain Christian circles, especially among those whose beliefs and certainties he has threatened. (All necessary references to the original authorities may be found in the Author's "Natural Genesis.") Editor's notes: Note 1: This article will challenge dogma. But, it become even more interesting when it is read in a context of more recent scholarship. Massey talks about the fish-man, for example. Decades after Massey, Robert K. G. Temple wrote The Sirius Mystery in which he explores an ancient tradition kept alive by the priests of the Dogon tribes of what is now southern Sudan. It appears that these priests somehow acquired information and passed on a tradition about astronomical phenomena that was not corroborated until the early 1900s. For example, they knew about the existence of a companion star to Sirius that still has not been seen by astronomers, but has been determined by “wobbling” of Sirius. The Dogon priests said that the period of that companion

star's orbit was 50 years. Modern astronomers have determined that the period of that orbit is, indeed, 50 years. These priests understood elliptical orbit thousands of years before Kepler determined orbits to be so, and that the mother star of planitary orbits would be at one of the foci of the ellipse and not at the centre. It is curious that some of the tradition of the Dogon about astronomical phenomena has still not been supported by astronomical research. The Dogon say that we had visitors from Sirius maybe as much as 10,000 years ago and ... that they had a fish-like aspect, coming to the land during the day but returning to the sea during the night. (As yet, nobody knows quite how to interpret that.) The reader will, undoubtedly find the

curious coincidence of the fish and water related myths of the Oannes (Ioannes), how much the Biblical Jesus is associated with water and how curious it is that a fish is frequently used to symbolize Jesus. Besides, Ioannes is an early spelling of John, and The figure of John the Baptist (whose birth is celebrated at Midsummer) corresponds with the constellation of Capricornus, the Greek Zodiacal sign identified with the Mesopotamian constellation suhurmasu (goat-fish) – a composite creature known to be associated with the water-dwelling god of wisdom, Ea (Sumerian: Enki), the fish-man that brought civilization to Mesopotania.

that the facts, like other foundations, have

References

in which we live. The mystical matter

Griaule, Marcel, and Dieterlin, Germaine. Le Renard Pâle, Tome I, Fascicule 1; Institut d'Ethnologie, Musée de l'Homme, Palais de Chaillot, Place du Trocadero, Paris 16e (75016 Paris), 1965.

enshrouded in this language was sacredly

Un Système Soudanais de Sirius, Journal de la Société des Africainistes. Tome XX, Fascicule 1, 1950. pp. 273-294.

of Life, which was placed beneath their

Temple, Robert K. G. The Sirius Mystery: Rochester, Vermont: destiny Books. 1967, 1987.

coffins and their tombs.

https://mythologyjournal.wordpress.com/201 0/07/04/oannes-and-ioannes-connection/

been buried out of sight for thousands of years in a hieroglyphical language, that was never really read by Greek or Roman, and could not be read until the lost clue was discovered by Champollion, almost the other day! In this way the original sources of our Mytholatry and Christology remained as hidden as those of the Nile, until the century

entrusted to the keeping of the buried dead, who have faithfully preserved it as their Book pillows, or clasped to their bosoms, in their Secondly, although I am able to read the hieroglyphics, nothing offered to you is based on my translation. I work too warily for that!

Note 2: Although the author lays a certain degree of spiritual and theological immaturity at the feet of Unitarians in this lecture, saying that they are the worst foes of the truth, maybe it should be noted that many who call themselves Unitarian, today, have moved on and are no longer bound by the dogma that some Unitarians held – while denying that they held dogma – at the time when Massey was writing.

*********************************** In presenting my readers with some of the data which show that much of the Christian History

hieroglyphic texts herein employed are by scholars of indisputable authority. There is no loop-hole of escape that way. I lectured upon the subject of Jesus many years ago. At that time I did not know how we had been misled, or that the "Christian scheme" (as it is aptly called) in the New Testament is a fraud, founded on a fable in the Old! I

was

pre-extant

Egyptian

Mythology. I have to ask you to bear in mind 60

The transcription and literal rendering of the

then

accepted

the

Canonical

Gospels as containing a veritable human

history, and assumed, as others do, that the

been born considerably earlier even than the

history proved itself. Finding that Jesus, or

year 102 B.C., although the point is not of

Jehoshua Ben-Pandira, was an historical

much consequence here.

character, known to the Talmud, I made the

Jehoshua, son of Perachia, was a

common mistake of supposing that this

president

proved the personal existence of the Jesus

reckoning from Ezra as the first: one of those

found portrayed in the Canonical Gospels.

who in the line of descent received and

But after you have heard my story, and

transmitted the oral law, as it was said, direct

weighed the evidence now for the first time

from Sinai. There could not be two of that

collected and presented to the public, you

name. This Ben-Perachia had begun to

will not wonder that I should have changed

teach as a Rabbi in the year 154 B.C. We

my views, or that I should be impelled to tell

may therefore reckon that he was not born

the truth to others, as it now appears to

later than 180-170 B.C., and that it could

myself;

hardly be later than 100 B.C. when he went

summarize here, in the briefest manner

down into Egypt with his pupil. For it is

possible, a few of the facts that I have dealt

related that he fled there in consequence of

with exhaustively elsewhere.

although

only

able

The personal existence of Jesus as

persecution

the

Sanhedrin--the

the

Rabbis,

fifth,

feasibly

conjectured to refer to the civil war in which

Jehoshua Ben-Pandira can be established

the

beyond a doubt. One account affirms that,

Alexander

according to a genuine Jewish tradition "that

about 105 B.C. If we put the age of his pupil,

man (who is not to be named) was a disciple

Jehoshua Ben-Pandira, at fifteen years, that

of Jehoshua Ben-Perachia." It also says, "He

will give us an approximate date, extracted

was born in the fourth year of the reign of the

without

Jewish

Jehoshua Ben-Pandira may have been born

King

notwithstanding

Alexander the

assertions

JannĂŚus, of

his

followers that he was born in the reign of

Pharisees

revolted

JannĂŚus,

pressure,

and

which

against

King

consequently

shows

that

about the year 120 B.C. But twenty years are a matter of little moment here.

Herod." That would be more than a century

According to the Babylonian Gemara

earlier than the date of birth assigned to the

to the Mishna of Tract "Shabbath," this

Jesus of the Gospels! But it can be further

Jehoshua,

shown that Jehoshua Ben-Pandira may have

the son of Pandira and Stada, was stoned to

death as a wizard, in the city of Lud, or

talked always deny the identity of the

Lydda, and afterwards crucified by being

Talmudic Jehoshua and the Jesus of the

hanged on a tree, on the eve of the

Gospels.

Passover. This is the manner of death

"This,"

observes

Rabbi

Jechiels,

assigned to Jesus in the Book of Acts. The

"which has been related to Jehoshua Ben-

Gemara says there exists a tradition that on

Perachia and his pupil, contains no reference

the rest-day before the Sabbath they

whatever to him whom the Christians honour

crucified Jehoshua, on the rest-day of the

as God!" Another Rabbi, Salman Zevi,

Passah (the day before the Passover). The

produced ten reasons for concluding that the

year of his death, however, is not given in

Jehoshua of the Talmud was not he who was

that account; but there are reasons for

afterwards called Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus

thinking it could not have been much earlier

of Nazareth (and of the Canonical Gospels)

nor later than B.C. 70, because this Jewish

was unknown to Justus, to the Jew of

King Jannæus reigned from the year 106 to

Celsus, and to Josephus, the supposed

79 B.C. He was succeeded in the

reference to him by the latter being an

government by his widow Salomè, whom the

undoubted forgery.

Greeks called Alexandra, and who reigned

The "blasphemous writings of the

for some nine years.

Jews about Jesus," as Justin Martyr calls

Now the traditions, especially of the

them, always refer to Jehoshua Ben-Pandira,

first "Toledoth Jehoshua," relate that the

and not to the Jesus of the Gospels. It is

Queen of Jannæus, and the mother of

Ben-Pandira they mean when they say they

Hyrcanus, who must therefore be Salomè, in

have another and a truer account of the birth

spite of her being called by another name,

and life, the wonder-working and death of

showed

his

Jehoshua or Jesus. This repudiation is

teaching; that she was a witness of his

perfectly honest and soundly based. The

wonderful works and powers of healing, and

only Jesus known to the Jews was Jehoshua

tried to save him from the hands of his

Ben-Pandira, who had learnt the arts of

sacerdotal enemies, because he was related

magic in Egypt, and who was put to death by

to her; but that during her reign, which ended

them as a sorcerer. This was likewise the

in the year 71 B.C., he was put to death. The

only Jesus known to Celsus, the writer of the

Jewish writers and Rabbis with whom I have

"True Logos," a work which the Christians

favour

Jehoshua

and

managed to get rid of bodily, with so many

against the assumption as an impossibility;

other of the anti-Christian evidences.

whereas the Christians do identify their

Celsus observes that he was not a

Jesus as the descendant of Pandira. It was

pure Word, not a true Logos, but a man who

he or nobody; yet he was neither the son of

had learned the arts of sorcery in Egypt. So,

Joseph nor the Virgin Mary, nor was he

in the Clementines, it is in the character of

crucified at Jerusalem. It is not the Jews,

Ben- Pandira that Jesus is said to rise again

then, but the Christians, who fuse two

as the magician. But here is the conclusive

supposed historic characters into one! There

fact: The Jews know nothing of Jesus, the

being but one history acknowledged or

Christ of the Gospels, as an historical

known on either side, it follows that the

character; and when the Christians of the

Jesus of the Gospels is the Jehoshua of

fourth century trace his pedigree, by the

theTalmud, or is not at all, as a Person. This

hand of Epiphanius, they are forced to derive

shifts

their Jesus from Pandira! Epiphanius gives

antedates the human history by more than a

the genealogy of the Canonical Jesus in this

hundred years, and it at once destroys the

wise:-- Jacob, called Pandira, Mary=Joseph--

historic character of the Gospels, together

Cleopas, Jesus.

with that of any other personal Jesus than

This proves that in the fourth century

the

historic

basis

altogether;

Ben-Pandira.

the pedigree of Jesus was traced to Pandira,

In short, the Jewish history of the

the father of that Jehoshua who was the

matter will be found to corroborate the

pupil of Ben-Perachia, and who becomes

mythical. As Epiphanius knew of no other

one of the magicians in Egypt, and who was

historical Jesus than the descendant of

crucified as a magician on the eve of the

Pandira, it is possible that this is the Jesus

Passover by the Jews, in the time of Queen

whose tradition is reported by IrenĂŚus.

Alexandra, who had ceased to reign in the

IrenĂŚus was born in the early part of the

year 70 B.C.-- the Jesus, therefore, who

second century, between 120 and 140 A.D.

lived and died more than a century too soon.

He was Bishop of Lyons, France, and a

Thus,

identify

personal acquaintance of Polycarp; and he

Jehoshua Ben-Pandira with the Gospel

repeats a tradition testified to by the elders,

Jesus,

supposed

which he alleges was directly derived from

contemporaries, know nothing, but protest

John, the "disciple of the Lord," to the effect

the whom

Jews they,

not

his

that Jesus was not crucified at 33 years of

historical Herod, who sought to slay the

age, but that he passed through every age,

young child Jesus, is known to have died

and lived on to be an oldish man. Now, in

four years before the date of the Christian

accordance with the dates given, Jehoshua

era, assigned for the birth of Jesus.

Ben-Pandira may have been between 50

So much for the historic Jesus. And

and 60 years of age when put to death, and

now for the mythical Christ. Here we can

his tradition alone furnishes a clue to the

tread on

Nihilistic statement of IrenĂŚus.

firmer ground. The mythical Messiah was

When the true tradition of Ben-Pandira

always born of a Virgin Mother--a factor

is recovered, it shows that he was the sole

unknown in natural phenomena, and one

historical Jesus who was hung on a tree by

that cannot be historical, one that can only

the Jews, not crucified in the Roman fashion,

be explained by means of the Mythos, and

and authenticates the claim now to be made

those conditions of primitive sociology which

on behalf of the astronomical allegory to the

are mirrored in mythology and preserved in

dispensational Jesus, the Kronian Christ, the

theology. The

mythical Messiah of the Canonical Gospels,

represented in Egypt by the

and the Jesus of Paul, who was not the

maiden

carnalised Christ. For I hold that the Jesus of

mother of Amenhept III. some 16 centuries

the "other Gospel," according to the Apostles

B.C., who impersonated the eternal virgin

Cephas

that produced the eternal child.

and

James,

who

was

utterly

virgin

Queen,

mother has

Mut-em-ua,

the

been future

repudiated by Paul, was none other than

Four consecutive scenes reproduced

Ben-Pandira, the Nazarene, of whom James

in my book are found pourtrayed upon the

was a follower, according to a comment on

innermost walls of the Holy of Holies in the

him found in the Book Abodazura. Anyway,

Temple

there are two Jesuses, or Jesus and the

Amenhept III., a Pharaoh of the 17th dynasty.

Christ, one of whom is repudiated by Paul.

The first scene on the left hand shows the

But Jehoshua, the son of Pandira, can

God

of Luxor,

Taht,

the

which

Lunar

was

built

Mercury,

the

never be converted into Jesus Christ, the

Annunciator of the Gods, in the act of hailing

son of a virgin mother, as an historic

the Virgin Queen, and announcing to her that

character. Nor can the dates given ever be

she is to give birth to the coming Son. In the

reconciled with contemporary history. The

next scene the God Kneph (in conjunction

with Hathor) gives the new life. This is the

born of the mythical motherhood; his descent

Holy Ghost or Spirit

causes the

on the maternal side is traced in accordance

Immaculate Conception, Kneph being the

with this origin of the mythical Christ. The

spirit by name in Egyptian. The natural

virgin was also called the harlot, because

effects are made apparent in the virgin's

she represented the pre-monogamic stage of

swelling form.

intercourse; and Jesus descends from four

that

Next the mother is seated on the mid-

forms of the harlot-Thamar, Rahab, Ruth and

wife's stool, and the newborn child is

Bathsheba--each of whom is a form of the

supported in the hands of one of the nurses.

"stranger in Israel," and is not a Hebrew

The fourth scene is that of the Adoration.

woman. Such history, however, does not

Here the child is enthroned, receiving

show that illicit intercourse was the natural

homage from the Gods and gifts from men.

mode of the divine descent; nor does it imply

Behind the deity Kneph, on the right, three

unparalleled human profligacy. It only proves

spirits--the Three Magi, or Kings of the

the Mythos.

Legend, are kneeling and offering presents

In human sociology the son of the

with their right hand, and life with their left.

mother preceded the father, as son of the

The child thus announced, incarnated, born,

woman who was a mother, but not a wife.

and

Pharaonic

This character is likewise claimed for Jesus,

representative of the Aten Sun in Egypt, the

who is made to declare that he was earlier

God Adon of Syria, and Hebrew Adonai; the

than Abraham, who was the typical Great

child-Christ of the Aten Cult; the miraculous

Father of the Jews; whether considered to be

conception

mythical

worshipped,

the

was

the

ever-virgin

mother,

historical.

Jesus

states

personated by Mut-em-ua, as mother of the

emphatically that he existed before Abraham

"only one," and representative of the divine

was. This is only possible to the mythical

mother of the youthful Sun-God.

Christ, who preceded the father as son of the

These scenes, which were mythical in

virgin mother; and we shall find it so

Egypt, have been copied or reproduced as

throughout. All that is non-natural and

historical in the Canonical Gospels, where

impossible as human history, is possible,

they stand like four corner-stones to the

natural and explicable as Mythos.

Historic

the

It can be explained by the Mythos,

foundations are mythical. Jesus was not only

because it originated in that which alone

Structure,

and

prove

that

accounts for it. For it comes to this at last:

Birth, according to Clement Alexander. For

the more hidden the meaning in the Gospel

two birth days are assigned to Jesus by the

history, the more satisfactorily is it explained

Christian Fathers, one at the Winter Solstice,

by the Mythos; and the more mystical the

the other at the Vernal Equinox. These,

Christian doctrine, the more easily can it be

which cannot both be historical, are based

proved to be mythical.

on the two birthdays of the double Horus in

The birth of Christ is astronomical.

Egypt.

The birthday is determined by the full moon

Plutarch

tells

that

Isis

was

of Easter. This can only occur once every 19

delivered of Horus, the child, about the time

years, as we have it illustrated by the Epact

of the winter Solstice, and that the festival of

or Golden Number of the Prayer Book.

the second or adult Horus followed the

Understand me! Jesus, the Christ, can only

Vernal Equinox. Hence, the Solstice and

have a birthday, or resurrection, once in 19

spring Equinox were both assigned to the

years, in accordance with the Metonic Cycle,

one birth of Jesus by the Christolators; and

because his parents are the sun and moon;

again, that which is impossible as human

and those appear in the earliest known

history is the natural fact in relation to the

representation of the Man upon the Cross!

two Horuses, the dual form of the Solar God

This proves the astronomical and non-

in Egypt. And here, in passing, we may point

human nature of the birth itself, which is

out

identical with that of the full moon of Easter

Crucifixion. The Gospel according to John

in Egypt.

brings on a tradition so different from that of

Casini, the French Astronomer, has

the

astronomical

nature

the

the Synoptics as to invalidate the human

demonstrated the fact that the date assigned

history of both.

for the birth of the Christ is an Astronomical

Jesus was crucified on the 15th of the month

epoch in which the middle conjunction of the

Nisan. John affirms that it was on the 14th of

moon with the sun happened on the 24th

the month. This serious rift runs through the

March, at half-past one o'clock in the

very foundation! As human history it cannot

morning, at the meridian of Jerusalem, the

be explained. But there is an explanation

very day of the middle equinox. The following

possible, which, if accepted, proves the

The Synoptics say that

day (the 25 ) was the day of the Incarnation,

Mythos. The Crucifixion (or Crossing) was,

according to Augustine, but the date of the

and still is, determined by the full moon of

Easter. This, in the lunar reckoning, would be

Cave." He likewise vouches for the fact that

on the 14th in the month of 28 days; in the

Christ was born on the same day that the

solar month of 30 days it was reckoned to

Sun was reborn in Stabulo AugiĂŚ, or, in the

occur on the 15th of the month. Both unite,

Stable of Augias.

and the rift closes in proving the Crucifixion

Now the cleansing of this Stable was

to have been Astronomical, just as it was in

the sixth labour of Herakles, his first being in

Egypt, where the two dates can be identified.

the sign of the Lion; and Justin was right; the

Plutarch also tells us how the Mithraic

Stable and Cave are both figured in the

Cult had been particularly established in

same Celestial Sign. But mark this! The

Rome about the year 70 B.C. And Mithras

Cave was the birthplace of the Solar

was fabled as having been born in a cave.

Messiah from the year 2410 to the year 255

Wherever Mithras was worshipped the cave

B.C.; at which latter date the Solstice passed

was consecrated as his birthplace. The cave

out of the Sea-Goat into the sign of the

can be identified, and the birth of the

Archer; and no Messiah, whether called

Messiah in that cave, no matter under what

Mithras, Adon, Tammuz, Horus or Christ,

name he was born, can be definitely dated.

could have been born in the Cave of Abba

The "Cave of Mithras" was the birthplace of

Uddu or the Stable of Augias on the 25th of

the Sun in the Winter Solstice, when this

December after the year 255 B.C., therefore,

occurred on the 25th of December in the sign

Justin had nothing but the Mithraic tradition

of the Sea-Goat, with the Vernal Equinox in

of the by-gone birthday to prove the birth of

the sign of the Ram. Now the Akkadian name

the Historical Christ 255 years later!

of the tenth month, that of the Sea-Goat,

their

mysteries

the

Sarraceni

which answers roughly to our December, the

celebrated the Birth of the babe in the Cave

tenth by name, is Abba Uddu, that is, the

or Subterranean Sanctuary, from which the

"Cave of Light;" the cave of re-birth for the

Priest issued, and cried:--"The Virgin has

Sun in the lowest depth at the Solstice,

brought forth: The Light is about to begin to

figured as the Cave of Light. This cave was

grow again!"--on the Mother-night of the

continued as the birthplace of the Christ. You

year. And the Sarraceni were not supporters

will find it in all the Gospels of the Infancy,

of Historic Christianity.

and Justin Martyr says, "Christ was born in the Stable, and afterwards took refuge in the

The

birthplace

the

Egyptian

Messiah at the Vernal Equinox was figured in

Apt, or Apta, the corner; but Apta is also the

the Messiah, as the Fish-man, was to come

name of the Crib and the Manger; hence the

up once more as the Manifestor from the

Child born in Apta, was said to be born in a

celestial waters. The coming Messiah is

manger; and this Apta as Crib or Manger is

called Dag, the Fish, in the Talmud; and the

the hieroglyphic sign of the Solar birthplace.

Jews at one time connected his coming with

Hence the Egyptians exhibited the Babe in

some conjunction, or occurrence, in the sign

the Crib or Manger in the streets of

of the Fishes!

Alexandria. The birthplace was indicated by

This shows the Jews were not only in

the colure of the Equinox, as it passed from

possession of the astronomical allegory, but

sign to sign. It was also pointed out by the

also of the tradition by which it could be

Star in the East.

interpreted. It was the Mythical and Kronian

When the birthplace was in the sign of

Messiah alone who was, or could be, the

the Bull, Orion was the Star that rose in the

subject of prophecy that might be fulfilled--

East to tell where the young Sun-God was

prophecy that was fulfilled as it is in the Book

re-born. Hence it is called the "Star of

of Revelation--when the Equinox entered,

Horus." That was then the Star of the "Three

the

Kings" who greeted the Babe; for the "Three

foundations of a new heaven were laid in the

Kings" is still a name of the three stars in

sign of the Ram, 2410 B.C.; and, again,

Orion's Belt. Here we learn that the legend of

when the Equinox entered the sign of the

the "Three Kings" is at least 6,000 years old.

Fishes, 255 B.C. Prophecy that will be again

cross

was

re-erected,

and

the

In the course of Precession, about

fulfilled when the Equinox enters the sign of

255 B.C., the vernal birthplace passed into

the Water-man about the end of this century,

the sign of the Fishes, and the Messiah who

to which the Samaritans are still looking

had been represented for 2155 years by the

forward for the coming of their Messiah, who

Ram or Lamb, and previously for other 2155

has not yet arrived for them.

years by the Apis Bull, was now imaged as

The Christians alone ate the oyster;

the Fish, or the "Fish-man," called Ichthys in

the Jews and Samaritans only got an equal

Greek. The original Fish-man--the An of

share of the empty shells! The uninstructed

Egypt, and the Oan of Chaldea--probably

Jews, the idiotai, at one time thought the

dates from the previous cycle of precession,

prophecy which was astronomical, and solely

or 26,000 years earlier; and about 255 B.C.,

related to the cycles of time, was to have its

fulfillment in human history. But they found

fulfilled in the account of Ichthys, the Fish,

out

the Christ who instructs men by day, but

ignorant

retires to the lake of Galilee, where he

Christians. The same tradition of the Coming

demonstrates his solar nature by walking the

One is extant amongst the Millenarians and

waters at night, or at the dawn of day.

their

unexplained

error, to

and

the

still

bequeathed more

Adventists, as amongst the Muslims.

We are told that his disciples being on

It is the tradition of El-Mahdi, the

board a ship, "when even was come, in the

prophet who is to come in the last days of

fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto

the world to

them walking upon the sea." Now the fourth

conquer all the world, and who was lately

watch began at three o'clock, and ended at

descending

old

six o'clock. Therefore, this was about the

announcement the "Day of the Lord is at

proper time for a solar God to appear

hand," which shows that the astronomical

walking upon the waters, or coming up out of

allegory has left some relics of the true

them as the Oannes. Oannes is said to have

tradition among the Arabs, who were at one

taken no food whilst he was with men: "In the

time learned in astronomical lore.

daytime he used to converse with men, but

the

Soudan

with

the

The Messiah, as the Fish-man, is

took no food at that season." So Jesus, when

foreseen by Esdras ascending out of the sea

his disciples prayed him, saying "Master,

as the "same whom God the highest hath

eat," said unto them, "I have meat to eat that

kept a great season, which by his own self

you know not of. My meat is to do the will of

shall deliver the creature." The ancient Fish-

Him that sent me."

man only came up out of the sea to converse

This is the perfect likeness of the

with men and teach them in the daytime.

character of Oannes, who took no food, but

"When the sun set," says Berosus, "it was

whose time was wholly spent in teaching

the custom of this Being to plunge again into

men. Moreover, the mythical Fish-man is

the sea, and abide all night in the deep." So

made

the man foreseen by Esdras is only visible by

Pharisees sought a "sign from heaven,"

day.

Jesus said, "There shall no sign be given but

identify

himself.

When

the

As it is said, "E'en so can no man

the sign of Jonas. For as Jonas became a

upon earth see my son, or those that be with

sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the son

him, but in the daytime." This is parodied or

of man be to this generation."

The sign of Jonas is that of the Oan,

model man, the typical Christ was made up

or Fish-man of Nineveh, whether we take it

from the features of various Gods, after a

direct

fashion

from the monuments, or from the Hebrew

averages" portrayed by Mr. Galton, in which

history of Jonah, or from the Zodiac.

the

somewhat

traits

several

those

"pictorial

persons

are

The voice of the secret wisdom here

photographed and fused in a portrait of a

says truly that those who are looking for

dozen different persons, merged into one

signs, can have no other than that of the

that is not anybody. And as fast as the

returning Fish-man, Ichthys, Oannes, or

composite Christ falls to pieces, each feature

Jonah: and assuredly, there was no other

is claimed, each character is gathered up by

sign or date--than those of Ichthys, the Fish

the original owner, as with the grasp of

who

gravitation.

was

reborn

the

fish-goddess,

Atergatis, in the sign of the Fishes, 255 B.C.

It is not I that deny the divinity of

After whom the primitive Christians were

Jesus the Christ; I assert it! He never was,

called little fishes, or Pisciculi. This date of

and never

255 B.C. was the true day of birth, or rather

could be, any other than a divinity; that is, a

of re-birth for the celestial Christ, and there

character non-human, and entirely mythical,

was no valid reason for changing the time of

who had been the pagan divinity of various

the world.

pagan myths, that had been pagan during

The Gospels contain a confused and

thousands of years before our Era.

confusing record of early Christian belief:

Nothing is more certain, according to

things most truly believed (Luke) concerning

honest evidence, than that the Christian

certain

scheme of redemption is founded on a fable

mythical

matters,

which

were

ignorantly mistaken for human and historical.

misinterpreted;

that

the

prophecy

The Jesus of our Gospels is but little of a

fulfillment was solely astronomical, and the

human reality, in spite of all attempts to

Coming One as the Christ who came in the

naturalize the Mythical Christ, and make the

end of an age, or of the world, was but a

story look rational.

metaphorical figure, a type of time, from the

The Christian religion was not founded

first, which never could take form in historic

on a man, but on a divinity; that is, a mythical

personality, any more than Time in Person

character. So far from being derived from the

could come out of a clock-case when the

hour strikes; that no Jesus could become a

Horus was the path by which they

Nazarene by being born at, or taken to,

travelled out of the Sepulchre. He is the God

Nazareth; and that the history in our Gospels

whose

is from beginning to end the identifiable story

name is written with the hieroglyphic sign of

of the Sun-God, and the Gnostic Christ who

the Road or Way. Jesus is he that should

never could be made flesh.

come; and Iu, the root of the name in

When we did not know the one it was

Egyptian, means "to come." Iu-em-hept, as

possible to believe the other; but when once

the Su, the Son of Atum, or of Ptah, was the

"Ever-Coming

truly know, then the false belief is no longer

pourtrayed as the marching youngster, in the

possible.

was

act and attitude of coming. Horus included

Horus in the Osirian Mythos; Har-Khuti in the

both sexes. The Child (or the soul) is of

Sut-Typhonian; Khunsu in that of Amen-Ra;

either sex, and potentially, of both. Hence the

Iu in the cult of Atum-Ra; and the Christ of

hermaphrodital

the Gospels is an amalgam of all these

Revelation, is the Young Man who has the

characters.

female paps.

The

mythical

Messiah

One,"

Deity;

who

and

always

Jesus,

Iu-em-hept signifies he who comes The Christ is the Good Shepherd!

with peace. This is the character in which

So was Horus.

Jesus is announced by the Angels! And

Christ is the Lamb of God!

when Jesus comes to his disciples after the

So was Horus.

resurrection it is as the bringer of peace.

Christ is the Bread of Life!

"Learn of me and ye shall find rest," says the

So was Horus.

Christ. Khunsu-Nefer-Hept is the Good Rest,

Christ is the Truth and the Life!

Peace in Person! The Egyptian Jesus, Iu-

So was Horus.

em-Hept, was the second Atum; Paul's Jesus

Christ is the Fan-bearer!

is the second Adam. In one rendition of

So was Horus.

John's Gospel, instead of the "only-begotten

Christ is the Lord!

Son of God," a variant reading gives the

So was Horus.

"only-begotten

Christ is the Way and the Door of Life!

declared an impossible rendering. But the

God,"

which

has

been

"only-begotten God" was an especial type in

Egyptian Mythology, and the phrase re-

not a carpenter; and the fact is that this

identifies the divinity whose emblem is the

onlybegotten Beetle-God, who is portrayed

beetle. Hor-Apollo says, "To denote the only-

sitting at the potter's wheel forming the Egg,

begotten or a father, the Egyptians delineate

or shaping the vase-symbol of creation, was

a scarabĂŚus!

the Potter personified, as well as the only

By this they symbolize an onlybegotten, because the creature is self-

begotten God in Egypt.

produced, being unconceived by a female."

The character and teachings of the

Now the youthful manifestor of the Beetle-

Canonical

Christ

are

composed

God was this Iuem-hept, the Egyptian Jesus.

contradictions

The very phraseology of John is common to

which cannot be harmonized as those of a

the Inscriptions, which tell of him who was

human being, whereas they are always true

the Beginner of Becoming from the first, and

who made all things, but who himself was

the Mythos.

not made. I quote verbatim. And not only was

He is the Prince of Peace, and yet he

the Beetle-God continued in the "only-

asserts that he came not to bring peace: "I

begotten God"; the beetle-type was also

came not to send peace, but a sword," and

brought on as a symbol of the Christ.

not only is Iu-em-hept the Bringer of Peace

Ambrose

the

by name in one character; he is the Sword

Christian Fathers, identified Jesus with, and

personified in the other. In this he says, "I am

as, the "good ScarabĂŚus," which further

the living image of Atum, proceeding from

identifies the Jesus of John's Gospel with the

him as a sword." Both characters belong to

Jesus of Egypt, who was the Ever-Coming

the mythical Messiah in the Ritual, who also

One, and the Bringer of Peace, whom I have

calls himself the "Great Disturber," and the

elsewhere shown to be the Jesus to whom

"Great Tranquilizer"--the "God Contention,"

the Book of Ecclesiasticus is inscribed, and

and the "God Peace." The Christ of the

ascribed in the Apocrypha.

Canonical Gospels has several prototypes,

and

Augustine,

amongst

In accordance with this continuation of

and sometimes the copy is derived or the

the Kamite symbols, it was also maintained

trait is caught from one original, and

sometimes from the other. The Christ of

some sectaries that Jesus was a potter, and

Luke's Gospel has a character entirely

distinct from that of John's Gospel. Here he

spirits are condemned and sent back into the

is the Great Exorciser, and caster-out of

abyss, their mode of return to the lake of

demons. John's Gospel contains no case of

primordial matter is by entering the bodies of

possession or obsession: no certain man

swine.

who "had devils this long time"; no child

Says Horus to the Gods, speaking of

possessed with a devil; no blind and dumb

the condemned one: "When I sent him to his

man possessed with a devil.

place he went, and he has been transformed

Other miracles are performed by the

into a black pig." So when the Exorcist in

Christ of John, but not these; because John's

Luke's Gospel casts out Legion, the devils

is a different type of the Christ. And the

ask permission of the Lord of the pig to be

original of the Great Healer in Luke's Gospel

allowed to enter the swine, and he gives

may be found in the God Khunsu, who was

them leave. This, and much more that might

the Divine Healer, the supreme one amongst

be adduced, tends to differentiate the Christ

all the other healers and saviours, especially

of Luke, and to identify him with Khunsu,

as the caster-out of demons, and the

rather than with Iu-em-hept, the Egyptian

expeller of possessing spirits. He is called in

Jesus, who is reproduced in the Gospel

the texts the "Great God, the driver away of

according to John. In this way it can be

possession."

proved that the history of Christ in the

the

Stele

the

"Possessed

Gospels is one long and complete catalogue

Princess," this God in his effigy is sent for by

of likenesses to the Mythical Messiah, the

the chief of

Solar or Luni-Solar God.

Bakhten, that he may come and cast out a

The "Litany of Ra," for example, is

possessing spirit from the king's daughter,

addressed to the Sun-God in a variety of

who has an evil movement in her limbs. The

characters, many of which are assigned to

demon recognizes the divinity just as the

the Christ of the Gospels. Ra is the Supreme

devil recognizes Jesus, the expeller of evil

Power,

spirits. Also the God Khunsu is Lord over the

Empyrean, who is born as his own son. This,

pigâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a type of Sut. He is portrayed in the

as already said, is the God in John's Gospel,

disk of the full moon of Easter, in the act of

who says:--"I and the Father are one," and

offering the pig as a sacrifice. Moreover, in

who is the father born as his own son; for he

the judgment scenes, when the wicked

says, in knowing and seeing the son, "from

the

Beetle

that

rests

the

henceforth ye know him and have seen him";

one, he who sends destruction," or "sends

i.e., the Father. Ra is designated the "Soul

his fire into the place of destruction."

that speaks." Christ is the Word. Ra is the destroyer of venom.

"He sends fire upon the rebels," his form is that of the "God of the furnace."

Jesus says:--"In my name they shall

Christ also comes in the person of this

take up serpents, and if they drink any

"burning one"; the sender of destruction by

deadly thing it shall not hurt them." In one

fire. He is proclaimed by Matthew to be the

character Ra is the outcast. So Jesus had

Baptiser with fire. He says, "I am come to

not where to lay his head.

send fire on the earth."

Ra is the "timid one who sheds tears

He is portrayed as "God of the

in the form of the Afflicted." He is called

furnace," which shall "burn up the chaff with

Remi, the

unquenchable fire." He is to cast the

Weeper. This weeping God passes through

rebellious into a "furnace of fire," and send

"Rem-Rem," the place of weeping, and there

the condemned ones into everlasting fire. All

conquers on behalf of his followers. In the

this was natural when applied to the Solar-

Ritual the God says:--"I have desolated the

God,

place of Rem-Rem." This character is

supernatural when misapplied to a supposed

sustained by Jesus in the mourning over

human being to whom it never could apply.

Jerusalem that was to be desolated. The

The Solar fire was the primary African fount

words of John, "Jesus wept," are like a

of theological hell-fire and hell.

carven statue of the "Afflicted One," as Remi,

and

The

"Litany"

supposed

become

collects

the

the Weeper. Ra is also the God who "makes

manifold characters that make up the total

the mummy come forth." Jesus makes the

God (termed Teb-temt), and the Gospels

mummy come forth in the shape of Lazarus;

have gathered up the mythical remains; thus

and in the Roman Catacombs the risen

the result is in each case identical, or entirely

Lazarus is not only represented as a

similar. From beginning to end the Canonical

mummy, but is an Egyptian mummy which

Gospels contain the Drama of the Mysteries

has been eviscerated and swathed for the

of the Luni-Solar God, narrated as a human

eternal abode. Ra says to the mummy:

history.

"Come forth!" and Jesus cries: "Lazarus, come forth!" Ra manifests as "the burning

The

scene

the

Mount

Transfiguration is obviously derived from the

ascent

Osiris

into

the

Mount

Egypt the boy or girl wore the Horus-lock of

Transfiguration in the Moon. The sixth day

childhood until 12 years of age. Thus

was celebrated as that of the change and

childhood ended about the twelfth year.

transformation of the Solar God in the lunar

But

although

adultship

was

then

orb, which he re-entered on that day as the

entered

regenerator of its light. With this we may

transformation of the boy into manhood

compare the statement made by Matthew,

began, the full adultship was not attained

that "after six days Jesus went up into a high

until 30 years of age. The man of 30 years

mountain apart, and he was transfigured,

was the typical adult. The age of adultship

and his face did shine as the sun (of

was 30 years, as it was in Rome under Lex

course!), and his garments became white as

Pappia. The homme fait is the man whose

the light."

years are triaded by tens, and who is Khemt.

upon

the

youth,

and

the

In Egypt the year began soon after the

As with the man, so it is with the God; and

Summer Solstice, when the sun descended

the second Horus, the same God in his

from its midsummer height, lost its force, and

second character, is the Khemt or Khem-

lessened in its size. This represented Osiris,

Horus, the typical adult of 30 years. The God

who was born of the Virgin Mother as the

up to twelve years was Horus, the child of

child Horus, the diminished infantile sun of

Isis, the mother's child, the weakling. The

Autumn; the suffering, wounded, bleeding

virile Horus (the sun in its vernal strength),

Messiah,

the adult of 30 years, was representative of

descended into hell, or hades, where he was

the Fatherhood, and this Horus is the

transformed into the virile Horus, and rose

anointed son of Osiris.

was

represented.

again as the sun of the resurrection at

These two characters of Horus the

Easter. In these two characters of Horus on

child, and Horus the adult of 30 years, are

the two horizons,

reproduced in the only two phases of the life

Osiris furnished the dual type for the Canonical

very

historic data for the time when the Word was

satisfactorily HOW the mythical prescribes

incarnated and became flesh; nor for the

the boundaries beyond which the historical

childhood

does not, dare not, go. The first was the child

transformation into the Messiah. But Luke

Horus, who always remained a child. In

tells us that the child of twelve years was the

Christ,

which

shows

of Jesus in the Gospels. John furnishes no

Jesus;

nor

for

the

wonderful youth, and that he increased in

wide and deep enough to engulf a supposed

wisdom and stature. This is the length of

history of 18 years. Childhood cannot be

years assigned to Horus the child; and this

carried beyond the 12th year, and the child-

phase of the child-Christ's life is followed by

Horus always remained a child; just as the

the baptism and anointing, the descent of the

child-Christ does in Italy, and in German folk-

pubescent spirit with the consecration of the

tales. The mythical record founded on nature

Messiah in Jordan, when Jesus "began to be

went no further, and there the history

about 30 years of age."

consequently halts within the prescribed

The

earliest

anointing

was

the

limits, to rebegin with the anointed and

consecration of puberty; and here at the full

regenerated Christ at the age of Khem-

age of the typical adult, the Christ, who was

Horus, the adult of 30 years.

previously a child, the child of the Virgin

And these two characters of Horus

Mother, is suddenly made into the Messiah,

necessitated a double form of the mother,

as the Lord's anointed. And just as the

who divides into the two divine sisters, Isis

second Horus was regenerated, and this

and Nephthys. Jesus also was bi-mater, or

time begotten of the father, so in the

dual-mothered; and the two sisters reappear

transformation scene of the baptism in

in the Gospels as the two Marys, both of

Jordan, the father authenticates the change

whom are the mothers of Jesus. This again,

into full adultship, with the voice from heaven

which is impossible as human history, is

saying:--"This is my beloved son, in whom I

perfect according

am well pleased;" the spirit of pubescence,

to the Mythos that explains it.

or the Ruach, being represented by the descending dove, called the spirit of God.

As the child-Horus, Osiris comes down to earth; he enters matter, and

Thus from the time when the child-

becomes mortal. He is born like the Logos,

Christ was about twelve years of age, until

or "as a Word." His father is Seb, the earth,

that of the typical homme fait of Egypt, which

whose consort is Nu, the heaven, one of

was the age assigned to Horus when he

whose names is MERI, the Lady of Heaven;

became the adult God, there is no history.

and these two are the prototypes of Joseph

This is in exact accordance with the Kamite

and Mary. He is said to cross the earth a

allegory of the double-Horus. And the Mythos

substitute, and to suffer vicariously as the

alone will account for the chasm which is

Saviour, Redeemer, and Justifier of men. In

these two characters there was constant

when

disputes

with

Satan,

that

conflict between Osiris and Typhon, the Evil

justification should be

Power, or Horus and Sut, the Egyptian

made to Un-Nefer, the Word made Truth," or

Satan. At the Autumn Equinox, the devil of

the Word that is Law.

darkness began to dominate; this was the

The scene between the Christ and the

Egyptian Judas, who betrayed Osiris to his

Woman at the Well may likewise be found in

death at the last supper. On the day of the

the

Great Battle at the Vernal Equinox, Osiris

Ritual. Here the woman is the lady with the

conquered as the ascending God, the Lord

long hair, that is Nu, the consort of Sebâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and

of the growing light.

the five husbands can be paralleled by her

Both these struggles are portrayed in

five star-gods born of Seb. Osiris drinks out

the Gospels. In the one Jesus is betrayed to

of the well "to take away his thirst." He also

his death by Judas; in the other he rises

says: "I am creating the water. I make way in

superior to Satan. The latter conflict followed

the valley, in the Pool of the Great One.

immediately after the baptism. In this way:--

Make-road (or road-maker) expresses what I

When the sun was half-way round, from the

am." "I am the Path by which they traverse

Lion sign, it crossed the River of the

out of the sepulchre of Osiris."

Waterman, the Egyptian Iarutana, Hebrew

So the Messiah reveals himself as the

Jordan, Greek Eridanus. In this water the

source of living water, "that springeth up unto

baptism occurred, and the transformation of

Everlasting Life." Later on he says, "I am the

the child-Horus into the virile adult, the

way, the truth, the life." "I am creating the

conqueror of the evil power, took place.

water, discriminating the seat," says Horus.

Horus becomes hawk-headed, just where the dove ascended and abode on Jesus. Both birds represented the virile soul that constituted the anointed one at puberty. By this added power Horus vanquished Sut, and

Jesus

overcame

Satan.

Both

the

baptism and the contest are referred to in the Ritual. "I am washed with the same water in which the Good Opener (Un-Nefer) washes 77

Jesus says, "The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father." Jesus claims that this well of life was given to him by the Father. In the Ritual it says, "He is thine, O Osiris! A well, or flow, comes out of thy mouth to him!" Also, the paternal source is acknowledged in another text. "I am the Father, inundating when there is thirst, guarding the water.

Behold me at it." Moreover, in another

your eyes and look on the fields, that are

chapter the well of living water becomes the

white already unto the harvest."

Pool of Peace. The speaker says, "The well

"Then said he unto his disciples, The

has come through me. I wash in the Pool of

harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers

Peace."

are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the

In Hebrew, the Pool of Peace is the Pool of Salem, or Siloam. And here, not only is the

harvest that he send forth labourers into his harvest. And he called unto him his twelve

pool described at which the Osirified are

disciples." Now, if we turn to the Egyptian

made pure and healed; not only does the

"Book of Hades," the harvest, the Lord of the

Angel or God descend to the waters--the

harvest, and the reapers of the harvest are

"certain times" are actually dated. "The Gods

all portrayed: the twelve are also there. In

of the pure waters are there on the fourth

one scene they are preceded by a God

hour of the night, and the eighth hour of the

leaning on a staff, who is designated the

day, saying, 'Pass away hence,' to him who

Master of Joy--a surname of the Messiah

has been cured."

Horus when assimilated to the Soli-Lunar

An epitome of a considerable portion

Khunsu; the twelve are "they who labour at

of John's Gospel may be found in another

the harvest in the plains of Neter-Kar." A

chapter of the Ritual - "Ye Gods come to be

bearer of a sickle shows the inscription:

my servants, I am the son of your Lord. Ye

"These are the Reapers." The twelve are

are mine through my Father, who gave you

divided into two groups of five and seven--

to me. I have been among the servants of

the original seven of the Aahenru; these

Hathor or Meri. I have been washed by thee,

seven are the reapers.

O attendant!" Compare the washing of Jesus'

bending towards an enormous ear of corn,

feet by Marry.

the image of the harvest, ripe and ready for

The

have

the sickles of the seven. The total twelve are

welcomed the chief spirits in the service of

called the "Happy Ones," the bearers of food.

the Lord of things! I am the Lord of the fields

Another title of the twelve is that of the "Just

when they are white," i.e., for the reapers

Ones." The God says to the reapers, "Take

and the harvest. So the Christ now says to

your sickles! Reap your grain! Honour to you,

the disciples, "Behold, I say unto you, Lift up

reapers." Offerings are made to them on

Osiris

exclaims,

The other five are

earth, as bearers of sickles in the fields of

the bread of Seb. Thus five loaves represent

Hades. On the other hand, the tares or the

the bread of earth, and seven the bread of

wicked are to be cast out and destroyed for

heaven. Both five and seven are sacred

ever. These twelve are the apostles in their

regulation numbers in the Egyptian Ritual.

Egyptian phase.

And in the Gospel of Matthew the

In the chapters on "Celestial Diet" in

miracles are wrought with five loaves in the

the Ritual, Osiris eats under the sycamore

one case, and seven in the other, when the

tree of Hathor. He says, "Let him come from

multitudes are fed on celestial diet. This will

the earth. Thou hast brought these seven

explain the two different numbers in one and

loaves for me to live by, bringing the bread

the same Gospel miracle. In the Canonical

that Horus (the Christ) makes. Thou hast

narrative there is a lad with five barley loaves

placed, thou hast eaten rations. Let him call

and two fishes. In the next chapter of the

to the Gods for them, or the Gods come with

Ritual we possibly meet with the lad himself,

them to him."

as the miracle-worker says:-- "I have given

This is reproduced as miracle in the Gospels, performed when the multitude were

breath to the said youth." The

Gnostics

asserted

truly

that

fed upon seven loaves. The seven loaves

celestial persons and celestial scenes had

are found here, together with the calling

been transferred to earth in our Gospels; and

upon the Gods, or working the miracle of

it is only within the Pleroma (the heaven) or

multiplying the bread.

in the Zodiac that we can at times identify the

In the next chapter there is a scene of eating and drinking. The speaker, who

originals of both. And it is there we must look for the "two fishes."

impersonates the Lord, says:--"I am the Lord

As the latest form of the Manifestor

of Bread in Annu. My bread at the heaven

was in the heaven of the twelve signs, that

was that of Ra; my bread on earth was that

probably determined the number of twelve

of Seb." The seven loaves represent the

basketsful of food remaining when the

bread

number

multitude had all been fed. "They that ate the

prescribed to be set on one table, as an

loaves were five thousand men;" and five

offering, is five loaves. these are also carried

thousand was the exact number of the

on the heads of five different persons in the

Celestials or Gods in the Assyrian Paradise,

scenes of the under-world. Five loaves are

before the revolt and fall

Ra.

Elsewhere

the

from heaven. The scene of the miracle of the

transported, "That thou doest, do quickly."

loaves and fishes is followed by an attempt

Osiris was the same, beseeching burial.

to take Jesus by force, but he withdraws

Here it is demonstrable that the non-

himself; and this is succeeded by the miracle

historical Herod is a form of the Apophis

of his walking on the waters, and conquering

Serpent, called the enemy of the Sun. In

the wind and waves. So is it in the Ritual.

Syriac, Herod is a red dragon. Herod, in

Chap. 57 is that of the breath

Hebrew, signifies a terror. Heru (Eg.) is to

prevailing over the water in Hades. The

terrify, and Herrut (Eg.) is the Snake, the

speaker, having to cross over, says: "O Hapi!

typical reptile. The blood of the divine victim

let the Osiris prevail over the waters, like as

that is poured forth by the Apophis Serpent

the Osiris prevailed against the taking by

at the sixth hour, on "the night of smiting the

stealth, the night of the great struggle." The

profane," is literally shed by Herod, as the

Solar God was betrayed to his death by the

Herrut or Typhonian Serpent.

Egyptian Judas, on the "night of the taking by

The speaker, in the Ritual asks: "Who

stealth," which was the night of the last

art thou then, Lord of the Silent Body? I have

supper.

the

come to see him who is in the serpent, eye

conspirators, who have watched very much."

to eye, and face to face." "Lord of the Silent

They are said to smell him out "by the eating

Body" is a title of the Osiris. "Who art thou

of his bread." So the Christ is waylaid by

then, Lord of the Silent Body?" is asked and

Judas, who "knew the place, for Jesus often

left unanswered. This character is also

resorted thither," and by the Jews who had

assigned to the Christ. The High Priest said

long watched to take him.

unto him, "Answerest thou nothing?" "But

The

God

"waylaid

The smelling of Osiris by the eating of

Jesus held his peace." Herod questioned him

his bread is remarkably rendered by John at

in many words, but he answered him

the eating of the last supper. The Ritual has

nothing. He acts the prescribed character of

it: - "They smell Osiris by the eating of his

"Lord of the Silent Body."

bread, transporting the evil of Osiris." "And when he had dipped the sop he

The transaction in the sixth hour of the night

the

Crucifixion

expressly

gave it to Judas Iscariot, and after the sop

inexplicable.

Satan entered into him." Then said Jesus to

In the Gospel we read:--"Now from the sixth

him into whom the evil or devil had been

hour there was darkness over all the land

unto the ninth hour." The sixth hour being

deceive and destroy, otherwise called the

midnight, that shows the solar nature of the

'viper.' I have made my way! I have bruised

mystery, which has been transferred to the

the serpent, I have passed."

sixth hour of the day in the Gospel. It is in the seventh hour the mortal

But the more express representation in the mysteries was that of the annual sun

struggle takes place between the Osiris and

as the

the deadly Apophis, or the great serpent,

Elder Horus, or Atum. As Julius Firmicus

Haber, 450 cubits long, that fills the whole

says: "In the solemn celebration of the

heaven with its vast enveloping folds. The

mysteries, all things in order had to be done

name of this seventh hour is "that which

which the youth either did or suffered in his

wounds the serpent Haber." In this conflict

death."

with the evil power thus portrayed the Sun-

Diodorus Siculus rightly identified the

God is designated the "Conqueror of the

"whole fable of the underworld," that was

Grave," and is said to make his advance

dramatised in Greece, as having been

through the influence of Isis, who aids him in

copied "from the ceremonies of the Egyptian

repelling the serpent or devil of darkness. In

funerals," and so brought on from Egypt into

the Gospel, Christ is likewise set forth in the

Greece and Rome. One part of this mystery

supreme struggle as "Conqueror of the

was the portrayal of the suffering Sun-God in

Grave," for "the graves were opened, and

a feminine phase. When the suffering sun

many bodies of the saints which slept arose;"

was ailing and ill, he became female, such

and Mary represents Isis, the mother, at the

being a primitive mode of expression.

cross. It is said of the great serpent, "There

Luke describes the Lord in the Garden

are those on earth who do not drink of the

of Gethsemane as being in a great agony,

waters of this serpent, Haber," which may be

"and his sweat was, as it were, great drops

paralleled with the refusal of the Christ to

drink of the vinegar mingled with gall.

experience the Gnostics identified with the

blood

falling

the

ground."

This

When the God has overcome the

suffering of their own hemorrhoidal Sophia,

Apophis Serpent, his old nightly, annual, and

whose passion is the original of that which is

eternal enemy, he exclaims, "I come! I have

celebrated during Passion week, the "week

made my way! I have come like the sun,

of weeping in Abtu," and which constitutes

through the gate of the one who likes to

the fundamental mystery of the Rosy Cross,

and the Rose of Silence.

nights as well as three days in the "heart of

In this agony and bloody sweat the

the earth." In the Gospels this prophecy is

Christ simply fulfils the character of Osiris

not fulfilled; but if we include the night of the

Tesh- Tesh, the red sun, the Sun-God that

bloody sweat, we have the necessary three

suffers his agony and bloody sweat in Smen,

nights, and the Mythos becomes perfect. In

whence Gethsmen, or Gethsemane. Tesh

this phase the suffering Sun was the Red

means the bleeding, red, gory, separate, cut,

Sun, whence the typical Red Lion.

and wounded; tesh-tesh is the inert form of

As Atum, the red sun is described as

the God whose suffering, like that of Adonis,

setting from the Land of Life in all the colours

was represented as feminine, which alone

of crimson, or Pant, the red pool. This

reaches a natural origin for the type. He was

clothing of colours is represented as a

also called Ans-Ra, or the sun bound up in

"gorgeous robe" by Luke; a purple robe by

linen.

Mark; and a robe of scarlet by Matthew. As So

natural

were

the

primitive

mysteries!

he goes down at the Autumn Equinox, he is the crucified. His mother, Nu, or Meri, the

My attention has just been called to a

heaven, seeing her son, the Lord of Terror,

passage in Lycophron, who lived under

greatest of the terrible, setting from the Land

Ptolemy Philadelphus between 310 and 246

of Life, with his hands drooping, she

B.C. In this Heracles is referred to as

becomes

"That three-nighted lion, whom of old

darkness over all the land, as at the

Triton's fierce dog with furious jaw devoured,

crucifixion described by Matthew, in which

Within whose bowels, tearing of his liver,

the passing of the Lord of Terror is rendered

He rolled, burning with heat, though without

by the terrible or "loud cry" of the Synoptic

fire,

version. The Sun-God causes the dead, or

His head with drops of sweat bedewed all

those in the earth, to live as he passes down

o'er."

into the under-world, because, as he entered

obscure,

and

there

great

This describes the God suffering his

the earth, the tombs were opened, i.e.,

agony and sweat, which is called the "bloody

figuratively. But it is reproduced literally by

flux"

Matthew.

of Osiris. Here the nights are three in

The death of Osiris, in the Ritual, is

number. So the Son of Man was to be three

followed by the "Night of the Mystery of the

Great Shapes," and it is explained that the

aloes, we have the "night of the mystery of

night of the Great Shapes is when there has

the shapes": "For while it was yet dark, Mary

been made the embalming of the body of

Magdalene coming to the sepulchre, and

Osiris, "the Good Being, justified for ever." In

peering in, sees the two angels in white

the chapter on "the night of the laying-out" of

sitting, the one at the head and the other at

the dead body of Osiris, it is said that "Isis

the feet, where the body had lately lain."

rises on the night of the laying-out of the

And in the chapter of "How a living

dead body, to lament over her brother

being is not destroyed in hell, or the hour of

Osiris."

life ends not in Hades," there are two

And again: "The night of the laying-

youthful Gods--"two youths of light, who

out" (of the dead Osiris) is mentioned, and

prevail as those who see the light," and the

again it is described as that on which Isis

vignette shows the deceased walking off. He

had risen "to make a wail for her brother."

has risen!

But this is also the night on which he

Matthew has only one angel or

conquers his enemies, and "receives the

splendid presence, whose appearance was

birthplace of the Gods." "He tramples on the

as lightning, which agrees with Shepi, the

bandages they make for their burial. He

Splendid One, who "lights the sarcophagus,"

raises his soul, and conceals his body." So

as a representative of the divinity, Ra. The

the Christ is found to have unwound the linen

risen Christ, who is first seen and recognised

bandages of burial, and they saw the linen in

by Mary, says to her, "Touch me not, for I am

one place, and the napkin in another. He too

not yet ascended to my Father." The same

conceals his

scene is described by the Gnostics: when

body!

Sophia rushes forward to embrace the This

closely

reproduced,

paralleled, in John's Gospel, where it is Mary

Christ, who restrains her by exclaiming that he must not be touched.

Magdalene who rises in the night and comes

In the last chapter of the "Preservation

to the sepulchre, "while it was yet dark," to

of the Body in Hades," there is much

find the Christ arisen, as the conqueror of

mystical matter that looks plainer when

death and the grave. In John's version, after

written out in John's Gospel. It is said of the

the body is embalmed in a hundred pounds

regerminated or risen God--"May the Osirian

weight of spice, consisting of myrrh and

speak to thee?" The Osirian does not know.

He (Osiris) knows him. "Let him not grasp

Christ has to demonstrate that he is not a

him." The Osirified "comes out sound,

spirit,

Immortal is his name." "He has passed along

transferred into the earth-life.

because

the

scene

has

been

the upper roads" (that is, as a risen spirit).

The Gnostics truly declared that all the

"He it is who grasps with his hand," and

supernatural transactions asserted in the

gives

continued

Christian Gospel "were counterparts (or

personality, as does the Christ, who says,

representations) of what took place above."

"See my hands and my feet, that it is I

That is, they affirmed the history to be

myself."

mythical;

the

palpable

proof

the

celestial

allegory

made

The Sun-God re-arises on the horizon,

mundane; and they were in the right, as the

where he issues forth, "saying to those who

Egyptian Gospel proves. There are Healers,

belong to his race, Give me your arm." Says

and Jehoshua Ben-Pandira may have been

the Osirified deceased, "I am made as ye

one. But, because that is possible, we must

are." "Let him explain it!" At his reappearance

not allow it to vouch for the impossible!

the Christ demonstrates that he is made as

Thus, in the Gospels, the mythical is,

they are; "See my hands and feet, that it is I

and has to be, continually reproduced as

myself; handle me and see. And when he

miracle. That which naturally pertains to the

had said this he showed them his hands and

character

feet. Then he said to Thomas, Reach hither

supernatural in appearance when brought

thy finger, and see my hands, and reach

down to earth. The Solar God descended

hither thy hand and put it into my side."

into the nether world as the restorer of the

These descriptions correspond to that of the

bound to liberty, the dead to life. In this

cut, wounded, and bleeding Sun-God, who

region the miracles were wrought, and the

says to his companions, "Give me your arm;

transformations took place. The evil spirits

I am made as ye are."

and destroying powers were exorcised from

the

Sun-God

becomes

In the Gospel of the Hebrews he is

the mummies; the halt and the maimed were

made to exclaim, "For I am not a bodiless

enabled to get up and go; the dead were

ghost." But in the original, when the risen

raised, a mouth was given to the dumb, and

one says to his companions, "Give me your

the blind were made to see.

arm, I am made as ye are," he speaks as a

This "reconstitution of the deceased"

spirit to spirits. Whereas in the Gospels, the

is transferred to the earth-life, whereupon

"the blind receive their sight, and the lame

Hero, the greatest hero that ever lived in the

walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,

mind of man窶馬ot in the flesh--the only hero

and the dead are raised up" at the coming of

to who the miracles were natural, because

the Christ, who performed the miracles. The

he was not human.

drama, which the Idiotai (un-enlightened

From beginning to end the history is

people) mistook for human history, was

not human but divine, and the divine is the

performed by the Sun-God in another world.

mythical.

I could keep on all day, and all night,

From the descent of the Holy Ghost to

or give a dozen lectures, without exhausting

overshadow Mary, to the ascension of the

my evidence that the Canonical Gospels are

risen Christ at the end of forty days,

only a later literalised rﾃｩchauffﾃｩ of the

according to the drama of the pre-Christian

Egyptian writings; the representations in the

Mysteries, the subject-matter, the characters,

Mysteries, and the oral teachings of the

occurrences, events, acts, and sayings bear

Gnostics which passed out of Egypt into

the impress of the mythical mould instead of

Greece and Rome--for there is plenty more

the stamp of human history. Right through,

proof where this comes from. I can but offer

the ideas which shape the history were pre-

a specimen brick of that which is elsewhere

extant, and are identifiably pre-Christian; and

a building set four-square, and sound against

so we see the strange sight to-day in Europe

every blast that blows.

of 100,000,000 of Pagans masquerading as

The Christian dispensation is believed

Christians.

to have been ushered in by the birth of a

Whether you believe it or not does not

child, and the portrait of that child in the

matter, the fatal fact remains that every trait

Roman Catacombs as the child of Mary is

and feature which go to make up the Christ

the youthful Sun-God in the Mummy Image

as Divinity, and every event or circumstance

of the child-king, the Egyptian Karast, or

taken to establish the human personality

Christ. The alleged facts of our Lord's life as

were pre-extant, and pre-applied to the

Jesus the Christ, were equally the alleged

Egyptian and Gnostic Christ, who never

facts of our Lord's life as the Horus of Egypt,

could become flesh. The Jesus Christ with

whose very name signifies the Lord.

female paps, who is the Alpha and Omega of

The

first

Revelation, was the IU of Egypt, and the Iao

related of Horus the Messiah, the Solar

of the Chaldeans. Jesus as the Lamb of

Christian

legends

were

God, and Ichthys the Fish, was Egyptian.

was also crucified in Egypt (as it is written in

Jesus as the Coming One; Jesus born of the

Revelation); Jesus as judge of the dead, with

Virgin Mother, who was overshadowed by

the sheep on the right hand, and the goats

the Holy Ghost; Jesus born of two mothers,

on the left, is Egyptian from first to last, in

both of whose names are Mary; Jesus born

every phase, from the beginning to the end --

in the manger- at Christmas, and again at

MAKE

Easter; Jesus saluted by the three kings, or

JEHOSHUA BEN-PANDIRA.

Magi; Jesus of the transfiguration on the Mount;

Jesus

whose

symbol

WHATSOEVER

YOU

CAN

In some of the ancient Egyptian

the

Temples the Christian iconoclasts, when tired

Catacombs is the eight-rayed Star--the Star

of hacking and hewing at the symbolic

of the East; Jesus as the eternal Child; Jesus

figures incised in the chambers of imagery,

as God the Father, re-born as his own Son;

and defacing the most prominent features of

Jesus as the Child of twelve years; Jesus as

the monuments, found they could not dig out

the Anointed One of thirty years; Jesus in his

the hieroglyphics and took to covering them

Baptism; Jesus walking on the Waters, or

over with plaster or tempera; and this plaster,

working his Miracles; Jesus as the Caster-

intended to hide the meaning and stop the

out of demons; Jesus as a Substitute, who

mouth of the stone Word, has served to

suffered in a vicarious atonement for sinful

preserve the ancient writings, as fresh in hue

men; Jesus whose followers are the two

and sharp in outline as when they were first

brethren, the four fishers, the seven fishers,

cut and coloured.

the twelve apostles, the seventy (or seventytwo in some texts) whose names were written

Heaven;

Jesus

who

was

administered to by seven women; Jesus in his bloody sweat; Jesus betrayed by Judas; Jesus as conqueror of the grave; Jesus the Resurrection and the Life; Jesus before Herod; in the Hades, and in his reappearance to the women, and to the seven fishers; Jesus who was crucified both on the 14th and 15th of the month Nisan; Jesus who

In a similar manner the Temple of the ancient

religion

was

invaded,

and

possession gradually gained by connivance of Roman power; and that enduring fortress, not built, but quarried out of the solid rock, was stuccoed all over the front, and made white awhile with its look of brand-newness, and re-opened under the sign of another name--that of the carnalised Christ. And all the time each nook and corner were darkly alive with the presence and the proofs of the

earlier gods, and the pre-Christian origines,

once for all, and bring down the curtain of

even though the hieroglyphics remained

oblivion at last upon the most pitiful drama of

unread until the time of Champollion! But

delusion ever witnessed on the human

stucco is not for lasting wear, it cracks and

stage.

crumbles; sloughs off and slinks away into its

And here the worst foes of the truth

natal insignificance; the rock is the sole true

have

foundation; the rock is the only record in

rationalisers of the Mythos, such as the

which we can reach reality at last!

Unitarians. They have assumed the human

Wilkinson,

and

still

are,

the

history as the starting point, and accepted

actually said of Osiris on earth:--"Some may

the existence of a personal founder of

bedisposed to think that the Egyptians, being

Christianity

aware of the promises of the real saviour,

fundamental fact. They have done their best

had anticipated that event, regarding it as

to humanise the divinity of the Mythos, by

though

and

discharging the supernatural and miraculous

introduced that mystery into their religious

element, in order that the narrative might be

system!" This is what obstetrists term a false

accepted as history. Thus they have lost the

presentation; a birth feet-foremost. We are

battle from the beginning, by fighting it on the

also told by writers on the Catacombs, and

wrong ground.

had

Egyptologist,

been,

has

the

ever

already

happened,

the

one

initial

and

the Christian Iconography, that this figure is

The Christ is a popular lay-figure that

Osiris, as a type of Christ. This is Pan,

never lived, and a lay-figure of Pagan origin;

Apollo, Aristeus, as a type of Christ.

a lay figure that was once the Ram, and

This

is Harpocrates, as a type of Christ. This is

afterwards the Fish; a lay-figure that in

Mercury, but as a type of Christ; this is the

human form was the portrait and image of a

devil (for Sut-Mercury was the devil), as a

dozen different gods. The imagery of the

type of Christ; until long hearing of the facts

Catacombs shows that the types there

reversed, perverted and falsified, makes one

represented are not the ideal figures of the

feel as if under a nightmare which has lasted

human reality! They are the sole reality for

for eighteen centuries, knowing the Truth to

six or seven centuries after A.D., because

have been buried live and made dumb all

they had been so in the centuries long

that time; and believing that it has only to get

before. There is no man upon the cross in

voice and make itself heard to end the lying

the Catacombs of Rome for seven hundred

years! The symbolism, the allegories, the

From the first supposed catastrophe

figures, and types, brought on by the

to the final one, the figures of the celestial

Gnostics, remained there just what they had

allegory

been to the Romans, Greeks, Persians, and

were ignorantly mistaken for matters of fact,

Egyptians.

and thus the orthodox Christolator is left at

Paganism is supposed to have become

last to climb to heaven with one foot resting

doubly real as the God who was made flesh,

on the ground of a redemption that must be

to save mankind from the impossible "fall!"

fallacious. It is a fraud founded on a fable!

Yet,

the

Remember

dummy

that

the

ideal

primary

Every time the Christian turns to the

foundation-stone for a history in the New

East to bow his obeisance to the Christ, it is

Testament is dependent upon the Fall of Man

a confession that the cult is Solar, the

being a fact in the Old; whereas it was only a

admission being all the more fatal because it

fable, which had its own mythical and

is unconscious. Every picture of the Christ,

unhistorical meaning.

with the halo of glory, and the accompanying

When we try over again that first step once taken in the dark, we find no foothold

Cross of the Equinox, proffers proof. The

Christian

doctrine

for us, because there was no stair. The Fall

resurrection furnishes evidence, absolutely

and,

conclusive, of th Astronomical and Kronian

consequently, the first bit of standing-ground

nature of the origines! This is to occur, as it

for an actual Christ, the redeemer, is missing

always did, at the end of a cycle; or at the

in the very beginning.

Any one who set

end of the world! Christian Revelation knows

up, or was set up, for an historical Saviour

nothing of immortality, except in the form of

from a non-historical Fall, could only be an

periodic renewal, dependent on the "Coming

historical impostor. But the Christ of the

One;" and the resurrection of the dead still

Gospels is not even that! He is in no sense

depends on the day of judgment and the last

an historical personage. It is impossible to

day, at the end of the world! They have no

establish the existence of an historical

other world. Their only other world is at the

character, even as an impostor. For such an

end of this.

one

absolutely

witnesses--Astronomical

Now there are no fools living who

Mythology and Gnosticism--completely prove

would be fools big enough to cross the

an alibi for ever!

Atlantic Ocean in a barque so rotten and

the

two

non-historical,

unseaworthy as this in which they hope to

wage ceaseless war upon sordid suffering,

cross the dark River of Death, and, on a pier

remediable wrong, and preventable pain;

of cloud, be landed safe in Heaven. The

here to put an end to them, not to

Christian Theology was responsible for

apotheosize an effigy of Sorrow to be adored

substituting faith instead of knowledge; and

as a type of the Eternal. For the most

the European mind is only just beginning to

beneficent is the most beautiful; the happiest

recover from the mental paralysis induced by

are the healthiest; the most God-like is most

that doctrine which came to its natural

glad.

culmination in the Dark Ages. The Christian religion is responsible

The Christian Cult has fanatically fought for its false theory, and waged

for enthroning the cross of death in heaven,

incessant

with a

Evolution窶年ature's

deity on it, doing public penance for a private

somewhat visible--and against some of the

failure in the commencement of creation. It

noblest instincts, during eighteen centuries.

has taught men to believe that the vilest spirit

Seas of human blood have been spilt to keep

may be washed white, in the atoning blood of

the barque of Peter afloat. Earth has been

the purest, offered up as a bribe to an

honeycombed with the graves of the martyrs

avenging God. It has divinized a figure of

of Free thought. Heaven has been filled with

helpless human suffering, and a face of pitiful

a horror of great darkness in the name of

pain; as if there were naught but a great

God. Eighteen centuries are a long while in

heartache at the core of all things; or the vast

the life-time of a lie, but a brief span in the

Infinite were but a veiled and sad-eyed

eternity of Truth. The Fiction is sure to be

sorrow that brings visibly to birth in the

found out, and the Lie will fall at last! At last!

miseries of human life.

But "in the old Pagan world men deified the beautiful, the glad;" as they will again, upon a loftier pedestal, when the fable of this fictitious fall of man, and false redemption by the cloud-begotten God, has passed away like a phantasm of the night, and men awake to learn that they are here to 89

warfare

against

Nature

intention

and made

last!!! No matter though it towers to the sky, And darkens earth, you cannot make the lie Immortal; though stupendously enshrined By art in every perfect mould of mind: Angelo, Rafael, Milton, Handel, all Its pillars, cannot stay it from the fall. The Pyramid of Imposture reared by Rome, All of cement, for an eternal home, Must crumble back to earth, and every gust

Shall revel in the desert of its dust; And when the prison of the Immortal, Mind, Hath fallen to set free the bound and blind, No more shall life be one long dread of death;

Humanity shall breathe with ampler breath, Expand in spirit, and in stature rise, To match its birthplace of the earth and skies.

Sermon

What’s an ethic, anyway? Ronald Lloyd Ryan, DA, PhD, Rev. (Unitarian) Sermon preached at Fort Massey United Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia on the occasion of the 147 anniversary of that congregation, December, 2014. The Bible Reading: Luke 6: 27 – 45; Genesis 38 (New International Version )

Good morning!

relationships within the congregation, and

Firstly, let me say that is an honour to

those relationships that the congregation, as

be invited to be guest speaker for your

a body corporate, has with other corporate

anniversary.

bodies, and what is the ethos which will

Church anniversaries are important events. It is a time when the congregation should take stock of where it has been and to look forward to the future with confidence

provide the underpinning of all of the decisions and interactions of the individual congregational members in all of their undertakings? “Wow!”, you say.

and commitment. In preparing for this sermon, I asked

“Is there any such principle?” you ask.

myself this question: “What should be the

I assure you that within the body of

absolutely most fundamental aspect of a

Christianity there is, or, at least, there can be

Christian

such a principle, and when I asked myself

underlying

congregation; its

faith

the

and

foundation practice;

the

principle that will be its beacon whenever there is any doubt about what to do; the understanding that will inform practice and 90

the question, I very readily had an answer. The

absolutely

most

fundamental

principle, the bedrock of any religious group,

church or otherwise, Christian or otherwise,

down, then it would be enormously powerful

should be an implicit understanding of, and

and would rapidly eclipse and eradicate

whatever other versions there were – in all of

unwavering

commitment

to,

the

practice of ethics, the self-same basis of virtually all of the teachings of Jesus.

their wonderful variety. Not only do these stories have the

I want to reach my ethical challenge to

most interesting element of all stories,

you by, maybe, a circuitous route, by looking

namely sex in the raw, so to speak, the

at the experience of several Biblical women,

element that would guarantee that they

primarily Tamar and Ruth.

would be remembered, but the outcome is

The story of Tamar and Judah is an interesting one on many levels, as is the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. The old Hebrew priests

of such significant consequence for both Jewish belief and – as it turned out - about Christian belief. Both

wrote the

theologians,

Christian even

and

today,

Jewish are

tying

initial manuscripts of what most of us now

themselves in knots trying to argue that

call the Old Testament and some people call

neither Tamar, an ancestral mother of the

Torah. These Jewish priests manipulated the

Jewish people (and the Christian Saviour),

old stories, stories that were, undoubtedly,

nor Judah, an ancestral father, were sinful in

told around countless campfires over maybe

their sexual activity, even though there is no

a hundred or more generations.

question that both violated existing customs

The old

myths were manipulated because the priests

about adultery

were engaged in the first written version of

theologians – contemporary as well as

their scriptures. They wanted their old stories

yesteryear’s - seem to have difficulty coming

to serve not only cultural and ethnic

to terms with the fact that one or more of the

cohesion purposes, but also for religious

ancestors of the Hebrew nation - and of the

purposes.

Christian Saviour - might have been people

This was to be the first time that the ancestral story of the Hebrews would be

and fornication. These

who, well, had sinned, especially in a sexual manner.

written down – maybe some time around 500

In a manner quite similar to that of

years before the Common Era (i.e., abut

Tamar, the story of Ruth is being presented

2500 years ago). Once the story was written

as a cute little sanitized story, but you can

rest assured, it was not a cute little sanitized

endures even to our own day?

story the first time it was written down!

Now, lets explore the possible notions

In the story of Ruth, we have her uncovering Boaz's feet as the euphemism

of ethics inherent in these beloved – and now sanitized - stories

for sex. (Note, We cannot dare admit to

But all of this begs ask the question:

knowing that Naomi had no compunction

What is right behaviour, anyway? What is

about prostituting Ruth so that Naomi could

ethical behaviour? What does it all mean for

be cared for in her declining years.) It is

us?

interesting to note that the child of the Ruth

Just consider that contemporary

– Boaz union was Obed who, according to

theologians, Christian and Jewish, are trying

the old myth, was the grandfather of David

to absolve both Tamar and Judah of sin,

and, therefore, another ancestor of Jesus,

saying that they were following the dictates

according to the Bible, and another ancestral

of God as they understood them and, surely,

father of the Hebrew people and nation.

if they or we are obeying God, then our

Clearly - at least, to me - one of the

behaviours must be ethical and moral and

purposes of these old titillating stories would

good. In other words, If I believe that I am

raise the question, “What is appropriate for

doing God’s will, then it is OK for me to do

us to do when faced with difficult

whatever it is that I am doing.

decisions?” Equally clearly, is the answer to the question, “One has to determine for

Can you see the inherent problems

oneself what is the right thing to do, and

and the risks that these theologians are

one has to do it, even if there is a price to

taking in propounding such views?

pay.’

These theologians, who argue that You will notice that Judah was not at

risk. He, undoubtedly already having several wives, was free to lie with a prostitute. For him, there was no price; but Tamar was not free to be a prostitute. For her the price was stoning, from which she narrowly escaped. How can one ignore the hypocrisy

that

Tamar and Judah did not sin, are providing us with three ways of behaving Firstly, If we do as God tells us, then it is not sin, and we are not responsible for our behaviours. Clearly, that position is not tenable!

Secondly,

what

manipulation by God, then we do not sin and we are not responsible for our behaviours.

belie their understanding, and, besides, there are those who would disagree. Rabbi Eugene Borowitz

That position is. Likewise, untenable.

Union College and the Jewish Institute of

Thirdly, If we obey, without question,

Religion in New York City says the following,

those whom Almighty God

has chosen to

place over us, then we do not sin and we are not responsible for our actions. That

position,

also,

none of these positions are tenable, although they have been presented to Christians, historically, and are still being presented,

our arts dominated by questions of

We might ask if there is another by which

determine

our

behaviours are ethical and moral. answer,

our lifestyle devoted to strategies of escape and indulgence. . . . and secularism has taken away our sense of guilt.

today, as being reliable.

The

our economics interested in profit,

technique,

I think it should be clear to you that

system

“Our science is value-free,

our politics concerned with power, cannot

sustained.

course,

Ethics

have

been

reduced

conditioning, to convention,

resounding yes. If we take to heart the teachings of our exemplar - Jesus, our brother – such as,

to education, to psychic mechanisms anything but a commandment

“behave towards others in the manner in

or a duty

which we would want them to behave

or a summons.

towards us,” then we will rarely go astray. “Surely,” you say, “We all know that. Everybody knows the difference between right and wrong!” Well, if they do, then their behaviours 93

of Hebrew

He goes on to say, “A great part of our crisis … is that many people today are effectively amoral." That is, people go about their daily lives with hardly a thought about morality,

except very narrowly defined, and with

thought.

virtually no notion or understanding of what

So, where does that leave us?

ethical behaviour might be, so that when the crunch comes and they have to make an

the

first

place,

leaves

ethically-laden decision, they, as frequently

vulnerable if we are not capable of thinking,

as not, maybe more so, don't know how to

if we do not learn to think, if ethics is not part

make an ethical decision, almost invariably,

of our everyday lives, if we prefer to stay

they decide for convenience and the banal

asleep, couldn't be bothered, unwilling to

and

stand up and be different, be thought weird

the

conventional

and

conformity

rather than for ethics. It is not, necessarily,

or strange or a bleeding heart.

that they are bad people. They just don't know how to make ethical decisions. They don't know how to think.

individual

people

and

participants in the Christian ethos, where we

I have seen good people make terrible

pursue the development of our spirituality -

unethical decisions simply because they did

supposedly according to the teachings of

not think, could not think, didn't want to think,

Jesus - we are called to the highest possible

were too lazy to think or were willfully

standard of ethical behaviour, the so-called

ignorant or even willfully stupid. Maybe they

principled

simply wanted to sleep-walk their way

propounded by Laurence Kohlberg, the

through life, maybe making the excuse that

theories of whom some of you are no doubt

they were experiencing compassion fatigue.

familiar.

conscience

stage

Yeah! Right! People who do not think are capable of anything, absolutely anything, even the most egregious atrocities. Think about the Christian Germans who objectified and then murdered millions of Jews. Consider the Christians atrocities

who in

committed

unthinkable

Rwanda, Armenia,

Bosnia,

Kosovo, unthinkable because they murdered without thinking, apparently without a second 94

But, to go back to our options: Clearly, if listening to and obeying the voice of what we think is God, is simply not adequate, and, likewise, if blindly obeying orders is not sustainable; and if declaring that we were manipulated by God and that we had no will in the matter also cannot be justified, then where will the foundation of our morality and of our behaviour come from?

Clearly, we need a set of criteria that

They will say, “Well, you know, you have to

will guide us into ethical behaviour and we

be able to compromise. You must be a team

have to learn to take responsibility for our

player. Don't take yourself so seriously. It's

behaviours.

not your business, anyway. Everybody else

And, once having understood the

does it. Just do you job. Everybody else is

nature of ethics, we have to begin to

OK with it. Stay of n the winning side. Don't

exercise

rock the boat. You should be a reliable

our

relationships.

ethics Ethical

our

behaviour

everyday has

worker. Management is counting on you.”

become our norm. We have to learn to

Does all of that sound familiar?

recognize the need of ethics and to become

The fact is, “No! You do not have to

adept at the practice of ethics.

compromise your principles. You do not

Then, when we are faced with the big question, we may not make the big mistake.

have to be a team player! It is your business! It doesn't matter what everybody else does

I will now emphasize that ethics is an

thinks. They

are

the

conventional

easy practice when there is no price to

banalities, as Hanna Arendt calls it, and

pay. But, prepare yourselves for the day

they can be deadly.

when your ethics will be costly.

You

That day will come! Sooner or later, in one form or another. But, even then, ethical behaviour may be problematic, especially if you are a practiced

conventional

person

with

cliched conscience and live according to emotional conformity. In other words, what you deem to be ethical may be no more than convention, where

you

make

decisions

according to what other people will approve of, and that may be grossly unethical. If you stand on your principles, your friends and family will bring pressure to bear. 95

are

responsible

for

your

behaviours! But, you will have to know what your principles

are

before

you

can

stand

according to them, and you must realize that right at the time when your mind wants to stop thinking is likely the precise time when you need it most. But, I acknowledge, that if you insist on ethical and principled behaviour, you may very well lose your friends; People may want to have nothing to do with you;

Your family may be ashamed of you.

the area on that Sunday morning. It was not

Even your church congregation may

Halifax ! (Let me stop gossip in the bud, right now!)

want to avoid you.

During a lull in the service, as the

You may even lose your livelihood. Oh, Yes! There may very well be a price to pay for standing on your ethics!

minister

fumbled

with

his

glasses

preparation for announcing the hymn, an elderly gentleman slowly got to his feet. He

But. if you do not, the time will likely

must have been close to 90. He waited until

come when, one day, you will look in the

the minister saw and acknowledged him. I

mirror and you will say to yourself, “I used to

had the impression that the incident was pre-

be a good person. What has happened to

arranged. At a nod from the minister, the

me? Now, I know that I am not an ethical

man began to speak, slowly, his voice

person. Maybe I am no longer even a good

wavering.

person. How can I call myself Christian?”

hurt

He said, “My dear friends, I have been

You may have to admit that you have

a member of this congregation for over sixty

people,

years. I have been Clerk of Session, on the

maybe

knowingly

and

deliberately.

Board of Management, and I have been in

And, can you imagine, carved on your

the

pulpit

leading

the

congregation

headstone, “He was a team player! Never

worship more times than I care to count. I

rocked the boat once,” or “She was a good

have given of my time, my talents, such as

conformist, always went along with the

they are, my effort, my energy, and my

crowd!”

money as I have been able.

Before I end this discourse, which may appear to be suggesting that everyday living is merely a matter of the cold logic of ethics, there is, even now, a much greater ethic that too often goes begging.

I am an old man, now. For the past five or six years, my wife and I have had difficulty coming to service. For the past three years, my wife has not been able to come at all.”

Let me tell you a story.

Then he left a few moments of a

silence. People looked at each other. The

congregation because I happened to be in

man clearly, was trying to control his

Some

time

ago,

visited

emotions. Then he spoke again. “For the past two years, nobody from

thought. It has become a platitude and mere vapidness. It illustrates the evil of the banal, the cliched thoughtlessness. Now, I am going to push the ethic a

this congregation has visited us and nobody has so much as picked up the phone to inquire as to how we are doing.” Then he sat. The lesson is, if I need to state it, that if a church congregation is not a community

step further, a very large step farther, in fact. And I am indebted to the Jewish theologian and

rabbi

Martin

Buber,

for

this

understanding. … and, I guarantee, this will not be banal or cliched or vapid or platitudinous.

– nay, a family - of caring, then it has no

That message, articulated by Martin

foundation. A church congregation has to be

Buber, is that as long as we see people as

a community where there is no lesser or

other, then we really cannot have true moral

greater, where no person is of more or lesser

or ethical relationships. Buber explains that

importance than another, where we should

embrace each other as brother and sister,

characterized by a THOUness, where there

and where we cherish each and every

is no otherness. In such a relationship, there

person as we cherish Jesus himself, and

is no separation between I and Thou.

where, when we look into the face of a member of our church community, then it is as if we look into the face of Jesus.

have

strive

for

When I look into your face, I see myself;

Jesus said, “whatsoever you do for

your pain is my pain;

the least of these, you do it, therefore, unto

your want, my want,

me.

your despair, my despair; Although that statement is much-

quoted, it is not, I am convinced, muchunderstood. It is certainly not overly-practiced! It fact, it has become a cliché, something we say without giving it any 97

relationship

your distress, my distress; your agony, my agony; And, yes, your joy is my joy; and your celebration, my celebration. This is a relationship away and

beyond notions of compassion in which there is still an other. I am talking about a relationship in which we wear no masks.

profound. Are you up to it? Do you dare? Are you prepared to think outside of the ways that you have for so long thought? Are

In a Christian congregation, anything

you prepared for sleepless nights? Are

less than a I and Thou is a violation of the

you prepared, and do you dare, to analyze

message of Jesus, whom some people call

what you have claimed to believed in for

the Christ, and some people call their

almost all of your lives? Are you game to

Saviour.

relinquish your willing membership in the

“But, surely,” you say, maybe angrily, “We are already doing that when we show compassion to another!” The fact is, in a relationship of thou,

Borg and allow your conscience to awaken? The role for the church and its members should be obvious. Blessing: And now, may the

there is no other! Only a thou!

spirit of love, the spirit of life, and the spirit of light so fill us with understanding and

I encourage you to look at the

determination to do the right thing that we

message of this Jesus and become mature

will seek to become, and will be recognized

in the faith. Paul said, “When we become

as, the children of Thou, and that through our

adult, we should become mature.” Martin

determination

Buber tells us what that means.

regardless of cost, we will achieve our own

It is a tall order, calling for an unusual maturity and a continuum of thoughtfulness. I ask you to consider it. That is my challenge to you, the selfsame challenge that Jesus issued two thousand years ago, and continues to issue today. Nothing has changed! The danger inherent in cliched thoughtlessness is still 98

the

right

thing,

moral and ethical emancipation. Some people say that is the meaning of salvation. Amen. And, if you complain that my sermon has been too long, at least I hope that you cannot accuse me of the evil of banality. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2 Timothy 2: 15 Study to shew thyself

the word of truth.

approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing Storytime

The Bough Wiffin by R. Lloyd Ryan Spirituality is much more than theological discourse or contemplation of eternal things. Sometimes, spirituality is found in the simple things, as was the experience of the main character, Ruth, in this little story. Moreover, sometimes, spirituality is taking the time, relaxing, and reading a simple, gentle, story that has no axes to grind, no sermons to preach, and no particular morals to advocate. This story is taken from a chapter of the novel: Awaiting Paradise: Virtuous Woman, which is Volume 3 of the Awaiting Paradise Trilogy by the author. ********************************** Ruth liked to go â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the woodsâ&#x20AC;? with Peter.

to cut his fire-wood. Sometimes, he would go

Her father was an active man. On Saturday,

ice-fishing. Sometimes, he would set up a

his day off from work, and on other

snare-line for rabbits and make the circuit,

occasions if there were no work at the ship

checking his slips, every second day or so,

yard, which, although rare, could be up to a

traversing the ten mile or so route walking

month or more, some years, depending what

with snow-shoes through the drifted snow.

contracts

that

were

being

executed.

At a very young age, Ruth wanted to

Sometimes, the yard would have to shut

accompany

down, waiting for materials. Sometimes, a

younger brothers. Occasionally, her mother

contract might be finished early. On several

would pack a lunch for all of the family, and

occasions, a half-built boat, maybe a bully,

they would have a winter picnic in the woods,

would be halted because the man who

under the trees, with the wind providing its

placed the order had faltered in payments.

music in the treetops, and the Blue Jays and

him,

sometimes

with

her

On those occasions Peter would be

Whiskey Jacks1 brazenly begging tidbits of

busy outside, around the house and barn, or

bread or herring or salted cod, usually

he would take the pony and go into the forest 99

1 Whiskey Jack: Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

leggies.

Peter would cut as much as several

Ruth preferred to go with her father

cords in a day, sometimes using his buck-

alone, just the two of them. She was most at

saw, sometimes his axe. At the end of the

ease, in her body and her soul, when she

day, he would throw about a quarter cord on

was with her father and she happily prepared

the bunk-sleds, throw on the hay sack, and

for a day in the woods whenever her father

sit on it as Molly took her time and wended

said that she could. Sometimes, she was

her way home. He always got off before he

able to help him. She would stand aside until

came to the brow of Wiseman's Gut where

he felled a tree with a minimum number of

the trail was steep and where, if the horse

slicing swipes from his razor sharp five-

went too fast, they could easily go over the

pounder double-bitter2. After Peter had cut off

edge, down among the scree and scraggly

the limbs and had cut it to cord-wood length,

Birch and Aspen, and continue tumbling the

about eight feet, Ruth would drag the log to

several hundred feet to the beach with who

the woodpile. The wood would be arranged

knew how much damage to man and beast..

tee-pee style around a big tree, maybe a

Although there was an alternate route, it was

white spruce as much as eight or nine feet in

quite long. As long as one were careful, this

girth, so that it would dry out over the

rout

ensuing summer. Then, when the autumn

conditions were favourable.

could

easily

traversed

when

snows came, Peter would come with Molly

If the trail were slippery, or if he had

and his bunk-sleds to fetch the wood, not

some other cause for concern, he would

having to dig through the snow to find his

throw out his droke3. A droke was a piece of

fuel, as he noticed that some men had to do.

board as much as two feet long and a foot or

He, on a number of occasions, had confided

more wide. This piece of inch or inch-and-a-

to Ruth that he didn't understand why some

half board would be studded with spikes, iron

of the men made horizontal stacks of their

or wooden, protruding on one side as much

fuel wood. It made the wood difficult to find

as two or three inches. The droke would be

after the snows had come and also made it

attached to the hind bunk-sled with a piece

much more difficult for the wood to dry.

of chain or bass4 rope. If he stood on the

Besides, very little snow and ice collected on

droke, or simply rested his foot on it, the drag

the vertically stacked logs.

would usually prevent the pony and sleds

2 Double-bitter: Axe with two cutting edges.

3 Droke: Also called drogue, drug, drag = brake. 4 Bass â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Hemp.

100

from going beyond a safe speed. He also

singing and twinging as they burned. She

had a second droke, this one peppered with

would eagerly watch the gum bladders on

five- or six-inch nails. That one would be

the green Fir branches because, as they

used if the trail had significant amounts of

became hot, the volatile gasses of the fir

ice.

gum would burst through its covering, Sometimes, especially after freezing

squirting hot gasses into the fire. The

rain, or after a mild spell after which it

vapours would immediately catch fire and

became cold again, the trail would be much

burn with flames of brilliant greens, yellows

too icy for safe travel. On those occasions,

and hues of red. Sometimes, engrossed in

there would be little choice but to return

her fascination with the fire, she would forget

home by the alternate route, despite the

that she was supposed to be preparing

additional time and at the risk of tiring the

lunch. Peter would return from his wood-

pony, even though these beasts of burden

cutting, expecting to find his lunch hot and

were hardy and willing.

ready, only to find Ruth sitting on a big dry

By the time they reached home, by whichever

route,

the

pony

would

sweating, and steam would be rising from her. It was important, then, to get the animal

Red-pine log, her elbows on her knees, her chin cupped in her hands, staring into the fire, oblivious of his presence or her surroundings. “What do you see, girl?” he'd gently

in the barn as quickly as possible, rub it down with a piece of burlap, brush it, and put one or more horse blankets over its back.

ask. She would respond, “I see all sorts of

Ruth liked making the lunch fire. She

things, there, almost whatever I want to see.

would collect Birch rind, dried twigs of

But, most of all, I just like to see the colours

Tamarack,

and how they change.”

(Larch),

dried

Aps

(Aspen)

branches, and dried Alders. When she got

Then, she'd jump up, “Oh, Dad, I

the fire going, she would add pieces of Fir

forgot your lunch.” Then, she'd run to the

and Spruce. Sometimes, she would add

brook to fill the tea kettle.

small green Fir boughs because she liked

Sometimes, the brook would be frozen

the smell of the burning resins and she

or the bank might be slippery or there was a

enjoyed the manifold sounds, the boughs

deep snow near the edge or the brook might

101

otherwise

treacherous.

those

resinous flavour.

occasions, snow would be used. Ruth no

Their camp meal usually consisted of

longer needed reminding where to find the

cold, boiled salted cod, home-made bread,

best snow for tea. She well remembered her

sometimes containing molasses and raisins,

father's lessons from about four years ago:

sometimes buttered if such were available

“Make sure you gets the sugar snow for the kettle.” "Sugar snow?" she questioned. "Sugar snow" said her father. "You have to dig down through the snow to the ground and get that snow. The pressure of the deep snow will turn the first layers of snow into little ice pellets like grains of coarse sugar. You need a lot less sugar snow to make a kettle of water than from regular snow", he told her. "And for the sake of all that is holy, don't get any rabbits' buttons, else the tea will taste like someone did their job5 in the water."

and if they could afford it. Sometimes, they would

have

some

molasses

buns.

Occasionally, they had cold boiled salted beef or, the holy of holies, cold roasted meat of some kind, maybe lamb or pork. Peter's almost full-time job, along with their homegrown vegetables, their half-dozen sheep, and a cow and four goats allowed this family a certain degree of luxury. Occasionally they kept a pig until just before Christmas. But, a pig was expensive to feed and usually didn't warrant the expense. The sheep and goats and the cow could forage for themselves all summer and only the cow and the pony required extensive amounts of hay. The

The handle would be fitted to a green

goats and sheep were just as happy with

vark that was angled into the compacted

green brouse7 that the boys could acquire

snow. She would put in some black tea and

from the fields of go-widdy in on the

wait a few minutes. Because of the large

marshes.

bottom of the copper slut, it did not take long for the tea to boil. Sometimes, Peter would find a spruce cone and add to the boiling and frothing water, thus making “spruce tea,” a intense black concoction with a heavy minty, 5 Did their job: Defecated. 6 Vark: Fork: A branch cut with just a V remaining at the end.

102

Sometimes, they could afford to buy a loaf of sugar and, sometimes but rarely, the family might have a can of tinned fruit for 7 Brouse: Feed for the sheep and goats, mostly small branches of various deciduous trees and the numerous types of vines of the viburnum type which was the major constituent of the Go-weddy. Brouse is pronounced with a emphasis on the S: browSc.

dessert on Sunday. Usually, however, the

Not unlike most other children, Ruth,

affordable sweetener was molasses, of

also, had skin boots for winter wear. But, she

which they usually had a five-gallon keg full.

wasn't contemplating her boots as she sat by

After lunching, Peter would lie, semi-

the fire. She was listening to the silence of

reclined on a bed of Spruce and Fir boughs,

the snow-bound forest, broken only by the

with steam rising from his trousers, his feet

distance chopping of her father and, farther

becoming toasty-warm as he held them

away, other chopping as other men were

close to the fire. On one occasion, he had

engaged in similar tasks. Otherwise, the

held his feet too close to the fire and had

forest was almost silent, broken by Jays, and

burned the bottoms of his skin boots,

emphasized by the soughing of the winds in

destroying both the bottoms and the seal

the tops of the trees. She looked at the

skin leggings. That bothered him because he

spruces and Firs and wondered why they

had to go to the store to purchase a pair of

were so dark, almost black, at this time of

Garge Martins8, which cost almost two

year whereas, in spring and all during

dollars, and he had to get Uncle Lige Oxford

summer, the trees would, at first, be an

to make him a new set of seal skin leggings,

emerald

which cost him another dollar fifty.

sometimes almost a turquoise, especially in

Uncle Lige had skin boot lasts for all sizes of feet, and could make a last for individuals who had particularly different feet. Peter thought that he was something of a dandy with his seal-skin boots on and his

green

with

the

new

growth,

the Junipers. Then the trees would turn to a true green and slowly become darker and darker until when the snows came they seemed almost black. She would listen as her father walked

special socks pulled up over the legs of his

away from her, his boots making a scrupe,

briggs9 and then turned down to reveal his

scrupeing sound which slowly faded as he

wife, Sharon's rich embroidery. Such an

strode through the frosty snow towards the

affectation revealed their ancestral aboriginal

stand of trees that he was then cutting. Then,

love of colour and complex design.

all would be still. She would stand and smell the frosty fir-scented air and look out over

8 Garge Martins: a short-sided rubber boot on which were sewn seal-skin leggings. 9 Briggs: breaches: first world war surplus, available at any of the general stores for about fifty cents a pair.

103

the undulating fields of snow where the larger trees had been cut, some years ago, and where new growth was poking through

the snow. At times, she felt transported. She

Otter and Muskrats and Foxes were all shy

would look up, at first, and then she would

creatures that could be watched only from

the

afar. One day, when she had sat staring into

snowflakes on her face and she could

the fire, silent and still, for some time, she

imagine that she had left earth far behind

sensed a presence. She looked up and saw

and was then up in the sky, floating with the

a red fox watching her, from a distance of

clouds. Sometimes, it would be snowing

maybe fifty feet. She was surprised. She

gently or it would be cold enough for frost

stared into its eyes, captivated, because she

flakes to form. As she looked up through the

saw intelligence, there. Suddenly, the fox

blossoms, gliding this way and that in the

made a â&#x20AC;?yip!â&#x20AC;? and ran off over the snow. It

currents and eddies of air, she could feel

had probably smelled the food and had come

herself rushing through the air, headed for

to investigate. There were Beavers in the

the skies. She imagined that when her soul

nearby steady10, a constituent of the pond

had left her body and ascended to Heaven,

that had been created by a rather long

that

curved

her

Except,

eyes.

must

....

not

She

would

something

that.

dam

that

the

Beavers

had

constructed over several years. But if she

frightened, thinking,

approached, the Beavers would slap their

maybe, that she had left the earth, she would

tails and dive. She wanted to see the

quickly open her eyes, just to assure herself

papooses, but her father had warned her not

that she was still earth-bound, and would

to go very close to the Beaver houses

express a sigh of relief that what she saw

because these animals were very territorial

around her were the familiar trees and the

and very protective of their young. A dog

snow and the fire still going and the snapping

beaver was a formidable foe and would

of the embers and the zinging of the resin as

attack if threatened. A Beaver could inflict

it burned, and not evidence that she had

quite a lot of damage with its razor-sharp

entered,

incisors.

little

prematurely,

she

thought.

Sometimes, a

cold,

feel

the

Heavenly

kingdom. Ruth enjoyed the wildlife. But, these

On one occasion, Ruth saw a lynx. She saw the big cat as, supposedly it had

days, this was no longer virgin forests. So most of the animals had learned to be wary and kept their distance. The Beaver and 104

10 Steady: A pool of water formed by a stream or by an up-welling or spring. Steadies usually did not freeze, except maybe very briefly in the coldest weather.

been searching for the tunnels of mice or

another tree, then to the snow. It then

other small rodents deep in the snow. It had

bounded away, probably as frightened as the

been proceeding cautiously when it detected

girl. Ruth took a number of deep breaths in

Ruth's movement, however slight. It quickly

an effort to calm her nerves and slow down

sprinted for the closest tree and climbed

her now rapidly-beating heart. She kept

almost to the top. There it sat, for as much as

looking around herself, though, wondering if

fifteen minutes, just staring at her, assessing

the Lynx would try to sneak up on her. She

its circumstances.

added more wood to the fire, just in case. that

But the big cat did not return. Maybe, it

occasion. She was careful not to make any

wasn't particularly hungry; maybe its den and

rapid movements that might have been

its kits were too far away to be in any

interpreted

danger; maybe there was lots of food –

She

had

been

afraid,

belligerence.

She

had

understood that a Lynx was likely to attack;

rabbits, or whatever – at other locations.

that it would begin circling a prey, making its

The one creature that would make

circles smaller and smaller until it was

intimate contact with humans were the Blue

confident that it could attack with impunity. A

jays. They always seemed to be hungry and

year or so ago, she had had the opportunity

had learned that humans were not a danger.

to examine the paw of a Lynx that “Uncle”

It would “steal” food if it were not too close to

Jake – actually, her Mother's cousin – had

the fire or to the person. Jays could be

caught in a trap. She was amazed at the

quickly tamed and, after awhile, would come

sharp curved hook, its ripper, hidden just

and land on an outstretched hand that held

under it's “thumb,” and imagined what

some tidbit of food. Ruth enjoyed the Jays

damage that ripper could do to a fragile body

and had been easily able to get them to

such as hers.

come and land on her pine log where she

She shouted for her father, but she

had bits of bread or fish laid out for them.

could hear his continued chopping. She

Having taken the food, they would quickly fly

looked around her and identified a burning

to the nearest branch and proceed to scold

stick jutting from the fire that she could seize

her. Or, maybe, in Jay language, they were

should she have to defend herself. She

expressing their appreciation. On a few

shouted to her father again. It startled the

occasions, she did manage to get them to

Lynx. She saw it jump from his perch to

land on her hand. She was delighted at the

105

reward for her patience.

the bower. She enjoyed being in her palace and,

of boughs. She could pretend all sorts of

sometimes, used to cut some wood. But, the

things, such as being a Beothuck Indian

axe was more for her protection than

who, she imagined, might very well have

anything else. Even though she would help

camped on this very spot. She used to

her father, sometimes, she went into the

pretend that she would be in need of such a

forest not to engage in labour, but to enjoy it

shelter at some time or other.

Ruth

had

her

own

axe

and appreciate it. It was a wonderful place to be lazy.

She had become quite expert at building her bow-wiffins because she had

Every year, Ruth would build a bough-

been fabricating them, now, since she was

wiffin, a camp composed entirely of Fir and

nine or ten years old. The last thing they

Spruce boughs. Although, initially, her father

would do, after Peter had announced that he

helped her, she soon became quite proficient

had cut sufficient wood for the next year or

at the task and was able to do the

more, would be to burn the bower. That was

construction independentally. She would look

something to look forward to ... all of that

around and find a good spot, preferably

smoke,

where three or four or five trees were in

wooshing as it climbed to the tops of the

close proximity, maybe six or so feet apart

anchor trees, the zinging of the fir bladders

and forming a rough triangle or square. She

burning, the multiple colours. Because of the

would cut out the centre trees as necessary.

enormous pleasure that the final coup-de-

She would lop off the boughs on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;insideâ&#x20AC;?

grace of each of her bough-wiffins provided,

and clear away the snow, either by kicking it away or tramping it down. The snow walls

and

the

flames

rushing

and

she built them bigger and more elaborate each year.

could be as much as two or three feet high

One Saturday afternoon in February,

all around. She would then interweave large

just after her birthday, the sky darkened quite

boughs around the perimeter, anchoring

quickly. The day had, up to now, been rather

them to the standing trees, slowly decreasing

balmy, so much so that she had taken off her

the perimeter until she had a rough dome

outer coat for almost an hour. The winds had

whose roof might be five feet or more from

been gentle and from the south west. But,

the trampled down snow. Finally, she would

now, the winds were coming from the east,

put a layer of smaller boughs on the floor of

and then the north east as the snow began

106

to fall more and more thickly. They were in

woods, or her pleasure that her bough-wiffin

the middle of a full-fledged blizzard so

would be able to provide shelter for her

quickly that by the time her father arrived

father and her.

back to the camp-ground, in a bit of a tizzy,

Ruth and Peter worked quickly. They

now, having suspended his harvesting and

cut some long sticks and boughs to make the

hoping to go home early, one could hardly

pony more secure. They threw snow up

see a hand before one's face. The winds

around the sides of the bough-wiffin and

soughed in the tree-tops; the trees bending

around the pony's shelter which shared a

and flexing and creaking.

wall with their camp of boughs. Because the

Peter began to hitch Molly to the bunk

shelter was constructed underneath several

sleds, but straightened up. “Ruth, maid, twill

large spruce trees, not much snow would fall

be much too dangerous to go home by way

directly on their bower. Peter gave the pony

of Wiseman's Gut, this even', and the other

some hay, snugged its blanket, while Ruth

way, around the pond, will take much too

went to the brook and got a bucket full of

long under these conditions. I don't want to

water for the beast. Molly seemed quite

chance gettin' the pony bogged down, drivin'

contented, and rolled her eyes as if to say,

out there in this starm and with night coming

“It's fine with me. I'd just as soon be here.”

on. Sure, tis duckish11 already. We got a little

Unexpectedly, the strong winds were

food left; we still got some hay and oats for

blowing almost directly into the door of the

Molly. We got a camp. We might as well

crude shelter. Peter and Ruth had to cut

bunker down and wait out the night. We'll

some boughs and interweave over the

light a fire closer to the bower and I'll put a

opening after which they took some of the

deflector on the other side, and we'll be cozy

boughs away from the other side to provide

enough. Molly will be ok in the barn that we

another door. Then they built a new fire

got frapsed12 up for her. We'll be OK. We'll

about four feet or so in front of the new door.

take turns keepin' watch so that we can keep

They didn't want to hazard setting their

the fire goin'. You got a good job done of

house on fire. They would keep the fire

collecting wood. We'm good fer a week! Ruth

burning during the night, enough to provide

didn't know which emotion was the stronger,

comfort in its being there, even if they

her anxiety about the coming night in the

derived but a modicum of actual heat from it.

11 Duckish: Dusk. 12 Frapse: To build crudely.

107

The fire also ensured that animals would

stay away. They filled the kettle with snow

Kean had exhibited for the sealers, he could

and hung it over the fire, adding snow as the

never trust the man again. He had been

previous snow melted. It was too dark, now,

happy, he said, when a man called ....ah

to venture going to the brook, and the winds

....oh, yes, Mark Sheppard, led a group of

were wild, screeching like Banishees through

mutineers who refused to go “over the side”

the tree tops.

and onto the ice pans. Peter had been one of

They ate some of their food, but

Devil,” meaning that he was not to get any

decided to spare it along, just in case. Peter,

thinking

that

Ruth

the men who had been “logged” by “that old

would

become worried and anxious if not kept occupied, began to tell her stories of his youth, both of them, Father and Daughter, lying next to each other on the boughs in the structure. He told her about how he had “gone to the ice,” participating in the annual

share of the profit on the sale of the seals pelts. He had decided, then, he said, never to go to the ice, ever again. This had happened, he said, some years before his mother had died and about ten years or so before Ruth was born. Ruth

pestered

her

father

with

Newfoundland seal hunt, when he was only

questions: what did they eat? How did they

twenty-two years old. He also went three

go to toilet? and so on, until she became

more times, he told her, when he was thirty,

quite tired. Finally, she fell asleep, cuddled

thirty one and thirty two. That was his last

up against her father, he with his arm around

year. That was in 1914, the year of the great

her, her head on his breast. She dreamt of

sealing disaster, when over eighty of the seal

her father as a young man, and ships called

hunters

died

who

had

been

the

Stephano, and Bellaventure, and Florizel,

Newfoundland, and when the Southern

and Newfoundland, and Eagle, and Kite, and

Cross lost over a hundred and seventy of its

of men freezing to death out on the ice flows,

seal hunters. He told her that he, being on

trying to earn a bit of cash money for their

the Stephano, had not been in any particular

families; and of the St. John's merchants

danger although their captain, Abraham

who didn't value human life; and of men like

Kean, was the Devil himself.

Abraham Kean who, being a good Christian -

Peter told her that, after he had witnessed the utter disregard that Captain

108

a God-fearing man, supposedly -

willingly

obeying the orders of his superiors, and sending men to their deaths on the heaving

Arctic ice, and who probably said his prayers

of a snow slide, as they called an avalanche.

before taking to his bunk for the night, good

Moreover, It would be to tempt the

Methodist that he was, and probably slept

fates to remain in the woods longer than

soundly, satisfied that he was doing his duty,

could

oblivious to, and uncaring of, the deaths of

frequently a choice between the least bad of

his people, quite literally all around him.

alternatives and not being able to sustain the

absolutely

justified.

Life

Peter did not sleep. He kept the fire

situation that exists. Some call it Lucifer's

burning. Even though it was several feet

own choice, or choices dreamed up by the

away from their crude shelter, the logs

devil.

stacked behind it deflected some heat into

Although she had some difficulty

the structure. On several occasions Molly,

getting through the drifts, Molly, doggedly,

the pony, snorted and whinnied, indicating

kept going forward. At times, Peter halted the

that she

that

pony because of the ferocity of the gale and

bothered her. Peter would call to her with

because he was afraid of losing the trail in

soothing

the drifting snow. Sometimes, he had to go

had

detected something

sounds

and

the

pony

would

quieten.

and take the pony by the alter and walk

Next morning, the storm was still

ahead of her, with snow up almost to his mid-

raging. Peter, knowing that Sharon would be

section. When possible, he would sit next to

â&#x20AC;&#x153;off her head with worryâ&#x20AC;? began to make

Ruth and cover themselves with the horse

preparations to leave for home. Even though

blanket, smiling with the knowledge that that

they had a little food, it would not be wise to

Sharon would grumble at the smell on their

stay out in the woods, not knowing how long

clothing and about having to do additional

the storm would last. He would take the long

clothes washing.

way home. Even though it might be hard

Although the journey took them almost

going, and despite the difficulty of navigating,

three times as long as it would normally

he was confident that he knew the terrain

have, they arrived home shortly before noon,

well enough not to run the pony into a bog

to be joyfully greeted by the younger children

hole. Besides, the Wiseman's Gut route

and to be tearfully welcomed by a fearful

would now be lost completely in snow drifts.

Sharon and Ruebenia. These ladies had not

Besides, while the snow was fresh-fallen and

slept. They had kept the lamp lit throughout

had not had time to settle, there was danger 109

the night, kept the fire stoked, and spent

satisfaction

considerable time in prayer, appealing to

thanksgiving, not for a moment realizing that

Almighty God to protect their loved ones and

it was they, their very own selves, who had a

to restore them to their family and home.

need

They were prompt in offering their prayers of

thanksgiving.

from

express

the

expressions

their

feelings

thanksgiving that their prayers had been

The storm continued through Sunday

answered. In her testimony the very next

and finally blew itself out early Monday

Sunday night, Sharon was profuse in her

morning, much to the chagrin of the children

expressed joy of having prayer answered

who were hoping that they would not have to

and in the saving and keeping power of her

go to school.

Jesus, she, as was normal in the village, conflating Jesus and God and using the terms interchangeably and also, as was normal, believing that her Jesus-God was sufficiently

110

ego-needy

derive

This adventure in the woods, shortly after her sixteenth birthday, was a highlight of her youth. the memory of which Ruth would always cherish.