Post by michelle on May 9, 2008 17:26:11 GMT 4
My God is Bigger and Better than Yours!
Welcome to our new thread, My God is Bigger and Better than Yours! It has become a necessity for me to begin this discussion for, as I see it, there is no larger or more important instigative factor for the separation between humanity than religion.
Raised as a 'craddle Catholic', and as a little girl, I loved Jesus, and all the saints of my religion. But once I began to mature in my thinking, I started to see discrepancies in the teachings I was being given, and well, how my adult teachers could act at times. For some reason, I suppose destiny, I was put in the line of good, kind, and thoughtful teachers who were open to other viewpoints. After I read, "The Golden Bough", by James Frazer, there was no turning back; my mind began to open up to all that is said in the following articles.
Please be aware that what I will present here is the myths behind many of the world's largest religions; just because I'll start out with Christianity, doesn't mean that the others won't be examined. If you absolutely cannot live without the framework of your current belief system, then perhaps you should stop reading here and now.
If, however, you have the curiosity, or a gnawing dissatisfaction with your own or all religions, you may very well find the following very enlightening. As a bonus, near the end of this post, I have included the movie, "Zeitgeist" which should prove to be fascinating to you.
All right then; let's begin our journey,
Michelle
My God is Bigger and Better than Yours!
Let's face it: Religion is merely competition. One person or group of people comes up with an interpretation of a giant being or beings, and then they try to convince themselves and others that such a god person is ABSOLUTE REALITY, shoving their interpretation down everyone else's throats, or, as the case may be, into their minds. Competing books are written and/or compiled as to the nature and desires of this god person, and wars are fought in his name. So it goes, endlessly, as new interpretations are developed and new zealots created.
Rather than ABSOLUTE REALITY, however, since a formed being can never be absolute, because "absolute" includes formlessness and limitlessness, these various god creatures produced by human beings over the past millennia merely represent phallic-like extensions of the humans' own egos and psyches, with which they often violently attempt to penetrate the egos and psyches of others. Few humans have striven to grasp infinity, and no single human being or group has ever been able to completely portray the concept. And what is "God," if not the Infinite and Ineffable? If "God" or the quality of Divinity, is Ineffable, how can any human mind or book contain or express it? Ineffable is by its very definition indescribable and inexpressible. Hence, whatever interpretations of the Infinite, Ineffable Divine presented by humans are limited and, therefore, erroneous.
To perceive and portray the Infinite and Ineffable as a giant man or father-figure of one ethnicity or another, as interpreted through the limited mind of one individual or group, is more than just plain wrong; it is harmful to the human psyche and evolution. It keeps mankind retarded and childish. It also reduces the Infinite and Ineffable to a vulgar and base creature who is full of human neuroses such as jealousy, competition, retribution and hatred. According to the interpretations often presented by "God"-cheerleaders, "God" says in effect, "Go and spread my noxiousness over the entire earth! Enslave the souls and minds of as many people as you can find to be my (and your) puppets and serfs!"
So the competition continues, because this group and that have varying interpretations of such noxiousness, most of which are far from being divine. From an anthropological perspective, or from that of someone not from this planet, all of this human quarrelling over who knows and represents the biggest and best god/godman appears completely savage and barbaric, like so many hyenas grunting and squealing as they pull apart a carcass. It would also appear quite insulting to the concept of the Infinite and Ineffable, were these qualities able to feel insult. To wit, when a God-cheerleader goes about trying to bludgeon others with his/her "superior" interpretation of the Divine, he or she looks depraved and idiotic to freethinkers who understand that the Infinite and Ineffable cannot be portrayed or represented with any degree of accuracy or beauty through such a mind and ego.
"God," being the Infinite and Ineffable, is everchanging and inexpressible. Anyone who is portraying the Infinite and Ineffable as a formed being, i.e., a giant man of one race or another who is separate and apart from creation, does not truly know the nature of "God" and is, therefore, completely deluded. And, to repeat, those who pretend to represent the Infinite and Ineffable are wrong, and are creating harm upon this planet and the human mind. The next time you are tempted to defend competitively the existence of "God," or to say some silly platitude concerning "his" nature, remember what you will look like to a person who has studied the world's cultures and the widely varied and frequently ridiculous interpretations of the Infinite and Ineffable: foolish, arrogant and uneducated. You are not accurately perceiving or portraying any such god person; you are simply reflecting your own limited mind and experience. You are expressing your own smallness and incompleteness, instead of reaching for the grandeur and boundlessness of the Divine, which can be had and tasted as part of your own being only if you throw away preconceived notions of What Is and evolve into the omnidimensional being that is your true nature.
Do you see how the "my God is bigger than your god" game works? We have just made our God bigger and better than yours. And, hopefully, expanded your mind.
Source: www.truthbeknown.com/mygod.htm
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The following is an interview with the author of the article above:
Man's Inhumanity to Man
An Interview with Acharya S
by Storm Fox
In an unusual interview, archaeologist, historian and mythologist Acharya S, author of the controversial books The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, offers a rare glimpse into her childhood and Christian background, sharing what led her to her life's work and providing a provocative commentary on the past and present, as well as a hope for the future. Storm Fox of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania asks pertinent and refreshing questions of this irreverent and forward-thinking woman of the 21st century.
Storm Fox: Were you brought up in a religious/spiritual family, or was your early life more skeptical?
Acharya S: I was raised in a religiously liberal family. My mother was an active member of her Congregational church. However, Northeastern Congregationalists are very classy and don't go around preaching. There was no talk about God, the Bible, Jesus; no biblical quotes, no threats or chastisement based on "God's Word," etc. Nothing. We celebrated Christmas and Easter, but these holidays were about community, family, love. I don't know if anyone in the family really believed the biblical malarkey. My only interest in Sunday school was the story in Luke of the short man who climbs a tree to see Jesus over the crowd. As a little kid, I could relate, as I was always standing on tip-toe to see. Otherwise, Sunday school was torture, but church was even worse. What a bore! But, I went, every week, until I was 12, when I declared myself autonomous in the matter of religion. My siblings did basically the same thing. Now, imagine such a rebellion from something so mild! If we'd been fundamentalists, I would have run away from home! I did go back to church a few more times, sang a duet with my choir-director mother, which was her dream. Over the years, as an archaeologist and simply out of curiosity, I went into many churches, as well as a few synagogues and, of course, the ruins of countless pagan temples.
SF: There is some information on your website that hints to you being "born again" at some point in your life. What were the circumstances surrounding that conversion?
AS: In retrospect, the story is pretty funny. I actually went through a brief period where I tried on that born-again Christian hair shirt. It was horrible! Worse than what I'd been experiencing just before, which was a sort of "post-college" depression. I was living in Manhattan, somewhat rudderless, after spending a year of post-graduate studies in Greece. Trying to make it in NYC is very difficult for most people, and I wasn't having the easiest time of it. Through a modeling agency there I met a woman - Jimmy Swaggart's cousin - who was leading a "Bible-study" group. I joined mostly because I wanted to know more biblical passages for crossword puzzles. As it turned out, I seemed to know more about the Bible than she did, but she was great at weeping over Jesus. So great, in fact, that she would put on shows, just like Swaggart. Anyway, we went to a tent revival with a Greek minister in the Bronx, and at the high point, with her prodding me, I stood up and declared myself born again. I liked the minister but I wasn't about to get dunked in their little pool. A couple of weeks later, it was clear that the born-again business was something no sane person could possibly uphold for any length of time without becoming cuckoo. As the great freethinker Robert Ingersoll said, "If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow the teachings of the New, he would be insane."
SF: What symbolic significance did Jesus and Christianity have to you then?
AS: Oh, there were a few goofy moments where I became emotional - such as accepting Jesus "into my heart" - but nothing much to write home about. Since I had been raised a Christian, and had rejected Christianity as being no more true or important than the rest of the world's religions and mythologies, I can't say that the faith ever had any profound meaning to me. I remember being utterly repulsed by Christianity in college and post-graduate school, when I spent a great deal of time in Greek Orthodox Churches, where just about every neurosis and psychosis is manifested. By "psychosis" I refer to the monasteries, where everyone is seriously repressed and there are images of horrible tortures painted on the walls. What kind of "spiritual" environment is that?
SF: What did being a Christian mean to you?
AS: As a youth it simply meant that we went to church. In college, I wondered aloud to a roommate if I were a Christian, at which point he asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I responded that I guessed I did, so he stated, "Then you're a Christian." Seemed pretty simple, but I never really bought it. I had studied so many religions and mythologies even by then, because of my interest in history and antiquity, that I considered Christianity just one of the many. In truth, even as a child I didn't believe most of the Jesus stories, as they were no more convincing than the tales of the Greek or Roman gods, which were universally pronounced as myths.
SF: What led you to conclude that Jesus Christ was a purely mythical figure?
AS: For some time I was an "evemerist," which means that I believed there was a historical Jesus but that the supernatural tales associated with him were just fairytales added to his biography by enthusiastic followers. Or, perhaps, he was a yogi in the Eastern tradition who could do some sort of "magic" or siddhis, as these "tricks" are called in India. Because I had been studying Eastern religions intensely at the time, in my late 20's, the yogi perspective was the last I held before I came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ, as depicted in the biblical, gospel tale, was a myth through and through. I began to get an inkling of the "Mythicist School," as it is called, about that time. My recollection is that a book virtually jumped off the shelf and set me on the path: It was Forgery in Christianity by Joseph Wheless. From there, as they say, the rest is history - or mythology, as the case may be. I followed Wheless's clues and sources, and discovered a whole school of thought - a very intelligent and profound school of thought that essentially verified nagging doubts I'd had since I first heard about Jesus Christ. With my background in mythology, it was not very difficult to see through the historical pretense associated with Christianity. If one set of beliefs with incredible supernatural events is easily regarded as mythology, why not another?
SF: The arguments you give for mythicism in your books and articles are very powerful, and I find the astrotheological aspects of your books and articles to be especially fascinating. I'm curious as to when and under what circumstances you became aware of these patterns in myths and how ubiquitous they are.
AS: Naturally, the more time one spends on a subject the more one learns. I suppose that as I came to understand the awe with which the ancients viewed the cosmos, the natural world, the earth in general, I had "aha!" moments or epiphanies in connecting the gods with the planetary bodies and constellations, etc. In reality, it didn't take much, because I have always been awed by nature and spent most of my childhood romping and splashing through the woods, fields, streams and lakes. I imagine that the night sky appears a most amazing sight to anyone sitting under it away from an urban environment. The sun, of course, is a major reason we exist. Knowing these facts, it becomes quite comprehensible why the ancients - as well as a significant portion of the world to this day - would revere these natural objects and forces, attributing divine qualities to them. These aspects of the natural world are found globally, which is why they are ubiquitous in human mythologies. In the end, it all makes sense.
SF: There has been little written from the mythicist perspective in the past few decades, but at various periods in the past, there was a wealth of mythicist writing and research. To what social forces do you attribute this?
AS: At the end of the 18th century in Europe there seemed to be a shift in consciousness, away from the repressive mind-control of the Church, whether Protestant or Catholic. Some of this change appears to have come from the expansion of the British into India. I suppose people were utterly sick of the atrocities committed by Christian authorities, and no doubt the insidious mind-control and censorship had taken its toll on the erudite and intelligentsia. The 19th century experienced an explosion in brilliant thinking in countless subjects, not just religion and philosophy. The writing of the era - again, in numerous subjects - was superb, especially compared to that of today. In fact, one thing that has not improved with time and technology is the quality of writing. In the English language, little compares to what was produced during the 19th century.
The 20th century, on the other hand, experienced a profound dumbing-down, especially in the areas of freethought, philosophy and religion. There are many social forces I would attribute to this frightening and depressing dumbing-down of the masses. For sure, much of it has been deliberate, in order that the political and religious status quo could be maintained. After all, we can't have people thinking for themselves, can we? Religion and politics have been the main tools used to control the masses for the benefit of the elite. What we saw during the 18th and 19th centuries were members of the elite themselves coming forward and forcefully speaking the truth. I will say that, because of the Internet, many people are becoming more politically savvy - possibly more than before. And, perhaps, we will see an increase in people thinking for themselves about the important matters of religion and philosophy. They simply must, or the mass, herd mentality will destroy this planet.
SF: How do you think history will remember Christianity?
AS: I can only say that I think I see what will happen - and hope that it is true. For many years now, since I was a teenager, I figured that Christianity and the other monolithic religions would fizzle into nothingness, would lose their hold over the human mind, and be replaced by true enlightenment that needs no organization of the sort that has been so destructive in the past. I do believe that Christianity will be viewed in the future - if a future there be - as a destructive interloper that disconnected humanity from its natural world and caused tremendous turmoil. As prejudiced as the Christian ideology has been against the so-called Pagan world, that's at least as badly as the future populace will view Christianity. In other words, Christianity is the Paganism of the future, or vice versa. In any event, it will be realized that the "faith" is a terrible hoax played upon the masses in order to make them believe that the Almighty power behind the cosmos was a particular person of a particular ethnicity during a particular period, to the exclusion of all other cultures, eras and individuals.
SF: You seem to rail against evemerism about as strongly as you do against literalist interpretations of the Bible. What trouble do you think evemerism causes?
AS: Again, evemerism is the perspective that, behind all the fabulous fairytales, there was a "real person" named Jesus who lived about the same time as depicted in the gospel tale. But, according to evemerism, he didn't do much, because if you take away all the fairytales there isn't much left - at least nothing impressive. Some shaggy guy wearing a robe wandering around spouting platitudes and, maybe, doing a few parlor tricks. Gee, like that's never happened before - or since! Does anyone honestly believe that the Romans would overthrow their entire culture, with all its gods, including the Caesar himself, in order to worship a ragamuffin magician from the reviled backwaters of the Roman Empire? It's just incredible! No self-respecting, elitist Roman would consider the thought for a second. He would have laughed his head off at the very notion. There had to be some highly powerful motivation for the Romans to acquiesce to this fable that the God of the cosmos had appeared - completely unbeknownst to them - decades before in the outback, as a member of one of the most despised races of the empire.
The addition of fairytales would hardly have been enough to impress the Romans, even if there really had been "some guy there," as is believed within evemerism. Evemerism simply doesn't go far enough in an honest investigation. It's a cop-out by people who want to appear somewhat intelligent - in other words, not entirely gullible - but who haven't really studied the issue to know that there is no evidence of this wandering Jewish guru who stood out not because of any magic tricks but because of profound or revolutionary ideas and statements. None of these "profound statements" is original - much more wisdom can be found in the more ancient Egyptian and Indian texts. I find this concept irritating as well because, while this purported "groovy guru" gets all the attention - and much sympathy because of his supposed suffering - countless real people the world over have demonstrated breathtaking brilliance and suffered much more, yet have received no attention whatsoever.
SF: I devoured The Christ Conspiracy, loved it, and found it to be very liberating. Unfortunately, it was attacked a great deal online, and for some rather strange reasons. Suns of God seems in part to be an answer to those criticisms. Was this your intent with Suns of God?
AS: Thanks! Christ Con was also hailed online, as well as elsewhere. There are more than a few professors, theologians, priests and ministers who are closet fans. I don't really care about what the few harpies have cackled online. As Abraham Lincoln said about his opponents, "But I also remember that though they blazed like tallow candles…, at last they flickered in the socket, died out, stank in the dark for a brief season, and were remembered no more, even by the smell..." Perhaps that's harsh, but, truly, these people have accomplished nothing. I am certain that, in the same manner that Osiris, Thor and Hercules have been relegated to the heap of mythology, so too will Christ. Yes, Suns of God is an answer to the criticisms of Christ Conspiracy. These criticisms were so shallow and petulant that it was easy to produce hundreds upon hundreds of pages showing where they were wrong - the evidence disproving them was abundant. I had to shorten my book, of course, but there is much more material to demonstrate that in general the major concepts I have presented are accurate and correct. I also worked extremely hard in getting Suns of God done - through unbelievable adversity that is material for another book - so that those who were impressed and convinced by The Christ Conspiracy would not be left hanging with these shallow and ignorant criticisms.
SF: Some have criticized your use of sources such as Blavatsky. What do you think such controversial sources add to your work?
AS: A completely asinine criticism that shows the level of the rest of their harping. I used and/or quote Blavatsky a total, I believe, of three times out of over 1,000 citations. And what miniscule amount I utilized of hers was factual and accurate, having nothing to do with her mysticism. I used a wide variety of sources in The Christ Conspiracy in order to show that I have covered the topic, because, before the book was completed, I was always getting questions regarding this author and that - "What about Sitchin?", for example. I included one or two mentions of Sitchin in order to show that I had indeed read his works and had factored them into my research, although not in the manner that Sitchinites wish. Believe it or not, I've had fanatic "spiritualists" chastise me for dismissing Blavatsky's perspective of Christ!
SF: Speaking of controversy, Kersey Graves seems to have been a big influence on your work. Unfortunately, Graves seems to be maligned above other past mythicists. Why is this?
AS: If you look at the citations in The Christ Conspiracy and Suns of God, you'll see I used relatively little of Kersey Graves's writing, and he did not have all that much of an influence on my work. In reality, I didn't need his work, because what he was conveying could be found all over the place. That being said, I will comment that the brouhaha over Graves's work has led to some very interesting parts of Suns of God, IMHO. Also, I was inspired enough by Graves's courage and insight that I wrote the foreword to AUP's edition of his book The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors. I don't know if anyone else has taken the time to really explore why Graves wrote what he did. Without having done such in-depth investigation - as I have done, engaging in what I believe to be fascinating detective work that absolves Graves of hasty and ignorant criticism - his critics are not particularly impressive. I would pronounce the fracas so much blowing of smoke. Graves is a favorite target because his book appeals to the mainstream and has endured for well over a century. Yet, I certainly don't concur with Graves's conclusions that all these "16 crucified saviors" were "real people" who bizarrely kept saying and doing the same things and getting themselves crucified in different places and eras, over and over again! Ridiculous. These are myths. As concerns influences on my writing, Barbara Walker and Gerald Massey are two scholars whose work I sincerely esteem. Because I used their work so abundantly in The Christ Conspiracy, I turned to numerous other sources for Suns of God, nevertheless showing the same salient motifs in mythologies from around the world. So, you see, it matters not what the source is: The truth is out there.
SF: I work with Evangelicals, and they can be very difficult, not to mention irrational. Is there any argument that will work with them, or should I just smile, point to the Sun, and walk away?
AS: By Jove, I think you've got it! There is little point in having any discussion with them on this subject. You can give them all the evidence in the world, and they will simply allow it to go over their heads. Their behavior becomes robotic - and sometimes quite hostile and unpleasant. In fact, when they can't "sweet talk" you into their brainwashing, they start in with the insults and threats. Very nice faith, that! When I have such discussions, I'm often asked how I know Jesus Christ is a myth. How do I know? I'm a mythologist, an expert on myths. If I'm an expert on grass and point out a patch of grass, do you question how I know it's grass? I wonder why such expertise is valued so little - is it because everyone is taught that he or she knows "the truth," simply by believing what someone else has told him or her? How is that possible? Regurgitated fables are "the truth?"
Have you spent hours upon hours contemplating the nature of the cosmos? Have you studied the world's religions and mythologies in depth? Is it even conceivable that you could wrap your noggin around many of the profound philosophical concepts? No, just because you have a head with brain matter in it does not make you an expert on religion, belief, spirituality or mythology. As in everything else, expertise in religion and philosophy must be earned. Then again, someone can be spiritual without having studied a thing - a simple old woman living in a cabin in the woods, for example. Or a small child. Spirituality is a whole different issue. But I find little to be spiritual about organized religion. And, certainly, believing what others have told you about Jesus Christ or some other "savior" is not a spiritual experience. Nor is having a "vision" of what you believe to be Christ. Millions of people in the past have had visions of countless other gods - none of these experiences has made those gods "real people." If they did, then the Egyptian Osiris and Isis would have to be considered the God/Goddess of the cosmos, because it is of them, arguably, that the majority of human beings who have ever lived had had the most visions. Moreover, "feeling" a god or goddess "in your heart" may constitute a "spiritual" experience, but it provides absolutely no evidence that the god or goddess ever walked upon the face of this earth.
SF: What do you think will be the future of the mythicist argument?
AS: I certainly hope it will go beyond the idiotic nitpicking and ad hominem foolishness occurring now. Professional jealousy and egotism are unfortunately blinding and stupefying what could be decent minds working on this subject, which is surely one of the most important that face humanity. So much of the rest of life hinges upon the reality that religion does not produce truthfulness in human beings. Au contraire! The fact that a large percentage of human beings have been made powerless and have been enslaved to false dogmas is a major reason why, in this day and age, with so much wealth and technology, and so many generations working on the problems, we still have such appalling poverty and violence on this planet. In the end, I hope, mankind will realize that superhuman saviors and godmen such as Jesus Christ are fictional characters, period. The picayune points of how such a fact came to be believed otherwise will ultimately be irrelevant; hence, to argue endlessly about whether or not this detail or date is correct is just plain silly and an utter waste of time.
SF: Finally, if I forgot anything, please feel free to add final comments of any nature, and thanks again for the interview.
AS: You're welcome! Thanks for the intelligent and relevant questions. It may be obvious to some that I am on a "mission" of a sort, and I would like to explain that there certainly was something percolating in me since childhood that has led me to study these subjects and write these works. One of my prime reasons for doing what I do is that when I was a child I was absolutely sickened by man's inhumanity to man and other creatures, and I continue to be sickened by it today. Although it is not the only reason for such inhumanity, religion has been the single largest factor in causing entire cultures to commit atrocious crimes, such as wholesale theft, torture, genocide, etc., ad nauseam. So long as humankind divides itself into "isms" there will never be peace on Earth and people will never progress to becoming true human beings.
Acharya S is an archaeologist, classicist, historian, mythologist, linguist and member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. She has served as a trench master on archaeological excavations in Corinth, Greece, and in Connecticut, USA. Acharya has traveled extensively around Europe, and she speaks, reads and/or writes Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese to varying degrees. She has also cross-referenced the Bible in the original Hebrew and ancient Greek. Acharya is the author of the best-selling and controversial The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and the follow-up tour de force Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. Articles by and about Acharya S have been published in several magazines and books, and Acharya has appeared on dozens of radio programs over the past decade. Her website is truthbeknown.com, and she may be contacted at acharya_s@yahoo.com.
Storm Fox is a Sociology major at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. This is his first published interview. He may be reached at storm_m_fox@yahoo.com
Source:
www.paranoiamagazine.com/acharayas.html
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ZEITGEIST — THE MOVIE
If you have a taste for conspiracies, and New World Order agendas, this movie covers everything from the Christ Myth, to the World Banks, to 911, and the larger implications of the Patriot Act. A cinematic overview of the systematic webs that enslave us, "Zeitgeist" examines issues that, like it or not, we need to be aware of. This 2-hour feature is a sign of the times. If you are up for a crash course in the intricacies of world domination, it will save you tons of research. Those of you who are already familiar with these subjects will find that "Zeitgeist" does a service to us all by outlining them so clearly. For Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told, Acharya S has produced a Companion Guide for this section which is highly recommended.
To view the movie, click on the link:
zeitgeistmovie.com
For those of you who have difficulty viewing the movie, here is the transcript for Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told, which has much to do with our new thread here. At the site, the director is selling the DVD for a modest price of $5 dollars, and encourages you to buy more to share; he also warns against piracy and flagrant reselling of this video at higher prices....so important is the message, that it is offered free online, as will be the sequel. I will keep you posted on updates.
Interactive Transcript
Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told
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Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Note: Acharya S has produced a Companion Guide for this
section which is highly recommended: www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist.html
This is the sun. As far back as 10 thousand B.C.E., history is abundant with carvings [M] and writings reflecting people's respect and adoration for this object [S1]. And it is simple to understand why as every morning the sun would rise, bringing vision, warmth, and security, saving man from the cold, blind, predator-filled darkness of night. Without it, the cultures understood, the crops would not grow, and life on the planet would not survive. These realities made the sun the most adored object of all time.[M] Likewise, they were also very aware of the stars.[M] The tracking of the stars allowed them to recognize and anticipate events which occurred over long periods of time, such as eclipses and full moons.[M] They in turn catalogued celestial groups into what we know today as constellations.[S2]
This is the cross of the Zodiac, one of the oldest conceptual images in human history. [M] It reflects the sun as it figuratively passes through the 12 major constellations over the course of a year. It also reflects the 12 months of the year, the 4 seasons, and the solstices and equinoxes [S3] . The term Zodiac relates to the fact that constellations were anthropomorphized, or personified, as figures, or animals.[S4] [M]
In other words, the early civilizations did not just follow the sun and stars, they personified them with elaborate myths involving their movements and relationships. [S5] [M] The sun, with its life-giving and -saving qualities was personified as a representative of the unseen creator or god...[M]"God's Sun,"[M] the light of the world, the savior of human kind.[S6] Likewise, the 12 constellations represented places of travel for God's Sun and were identified by names, usually representing elements of nature that happened during that period of time. For example, Aquarius, the water bearer, who brings the Spring rains.[S7] [M] [D]
This is Horus.[M] He is the Sun God of Egypt of around 3000 BC [S8] [D]. He is the sun, anthropomorphized, and his life is a series of allegorical myths involving the sun's movement in the sky. [S9] [S10] [M] From the ancient hieroglyphics in Egypt, we know much about this solar messiah. For instance, Horus, being the sun, or the light, had an enemy known as Set and Set [D] was the personification of the darkness or night .[M] [S11] And, metaphorically speaking, every morning Horus would win the battle against Set - while in the evening, Set would conquer Horus and send him into the underworld. [S12] [S13] It is important to note that "dark vs. light" or "good vs. evil" is one of the most ubiquitous mythological dualities ever known and is still expressed on many levels to this day.
Broadly speaking, the story of Horus is as follows: Horus was born on December 25th [S14] [S15] of the virgin Isis-Meri.[S16] [S17] [S18] [D] [M] His birth was accompanied by a star in the east [S19], which in turn, three kings followed to locate and adorn the new-born savior [M] [S20] [S21] At the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher, and at the age of 30 [S22] [S23] he was baptized by a figure known as Anup [M] and thus began his ministry[S24] [M]. Horus had 12 disciples[S25] he traveled about with, performing miracles[S26] [S27]such as healing the sick[S28] and walking on water[S29]. Horus was known by many gestural names such as The Truth, The Light, God's Annointed Son, The Good Shepherd, The Lamb of God, and many others[S30] [S31]. After being betrayed by Typhon[S32], Horus was crucified[S33] [S34], buried for 3 days[S35], and thus, resurrected.[S36] [S37] [M].
These attributes of Horus, whether original or not, seem to permeate in many cultures of the world, for many other gods are found to have the same general mythological structure.
Attis, of Phyrigia, born of the virgin Nana on December 25th, crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days, was resurrected.
[S38] [S39] [S40] [S41] [S42] [S43] [M] [D]
Krishna, of India, born of the virgin Devaki with a star in the east signaling his coming, performed miracles with his disciples, and upon his death was resurrected.
[S44] [S45] [S46] [S47] [S48] [M] [M2] [D]
Dionysus of Greece, born of a virgin on December 25th, was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine, he was referred to as the "King of Kings," "God's Only Begotten Son," "The Alpha and Omega," and many others, and upon his death, he was resurrected.
[S49] [S50] [S51] [S52] [S53] [M]
Mithra, of Persia, born of a virgin on December 25th, he had 12 disciples and performed miracles, and upon his death was buried for 3 days and thus resurrected, he was also referred to as "The Truth," "The Light," and many others. Interestingly, the sacred day of worship of Mithra was Sunday.
[S54] [S55] [S56] [S57] [S58] [M]
The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviors, from different periods, from all over the world, which subscribe to these general characteristics. The question remains: why these attributes, why the virgin birth on December 25th, why dead for three days and the inevitable resurrection, why 12 disciples or followers? [M] To find out, let's examine the most recent of the solar messiahs.
Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary on December 25th [D] in Bethlehem, his birth was announced by a star in the east, which three kings or magi followed to locate and adorn the new savior.[D] He was a child teacher at 12, at the age of 30 he was baptized by John the Baptist, and thus began his ministry. Jesus had 12 disciples which he traveled about with performing miracles such as healing the sick, walking on water, raising the dead, he was also known as the "King of Kings," the "Son of God," the "Light of the World," the "Alpha and Omega," the "Lamb of God," and many others. After being betrayed by his disciple Judas and sold for 30 pieces of silver, he was crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days was resurrected and ascended into Heaven.[S59]
First of all, the birth sequence is completely astrological. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which, on December 24th, aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion's Belt. [S60] [M] These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times: The Three Kings.[S61] [S62] The Three Kings and the brightest star, Sirius, all point to the place of the sunrise on December 25th.[S63] [M] This is why the Three Kings "follow" the star in the east, in order to locate the sunrise -- the birth of the sun.[S64] [M]
The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, [S65] also known as Virgo the Virgin. Virgo in Latin means virgin. The ancient glyph for Virgo is the altered "m". This is why Mary along with other virgin mothers, such as Adonis's mother Myrrha [S66], or Buddha's mother Maya [S67] begin with an M.[S68] [M] Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread [S69] [S70], and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. This House of Bread and its symbol of wheat represents August and September, the time of harvest. [D] In turn, Bethlehem, in fact, literally translates to "house of bread". [M] [S71] Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo , a place in the sky, not on Earth.[M] [S72]
There is another very interesting phenomenon that occurs around December 25th, or the winter solstice. From the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the days become shorter and colder. From the perspective of the northern hemisphere, the sun appears to move south and get smaller and more scarce. The shortening of the days and the expiration of the crops when approaching the winter solstice symbolized the process of death to the ancients. It was the death of the Sun. [S73] By December 22nd, the Sun's demise was fully realized, for the Sun, having moved south continually for 6 months, makes it to it's lowest point in the sky. Here a curious thing occurs: the Sun stops moving south, at least perceivably, for 3 days.[S74] [M] During this 3 day pause, the Sun resides in the vicinity of the Southern Cross, or Crux, constellation.[S75] [S76] [M] And after this time on December 25th, the Sun moves 1 degree, this time north, foreshadowing longer days, warmth, and Spring.[S77] And thus it was said: the Sun died on the cross, [D] was dead for 3 days, only to be resurrected or born again.[S78] [S79]This is why Jesus and numerous other Sun Gods share the crucifixion, 3-day death, and resurrection concept. [S80] [M] It is the Sun's transition period before it shifts its direction back into the Northern Hemisphere, bringing Spring, and thus salvation.[S81] [S82] [M]
However, they did not celebrate the resurrection of the Sun until the spring equinox, or Easter. This is because at the spring equinox, the Sun officially overpowers the evil darkness, as daytime thereafter becomes longer in duration than night, and the revitalizing conditions of spring emerge.[M] [S83]
Now, probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with. [S84] [S85] [S86] [S87] [M]
In fact, the number 12 is replete throughout the Bible. [M] This text has more to do with astrology than anything else.
Coming back to the cross of the Zodiac, the figurative life of the Sun, this was not just an artistic expression or tool to track the Sun's movements. It was also a Pagan spiritual symbol, [S88] the shorthand of which looked like this. [S89] This is not a symbol of Christianity. [M] It is a Pagan adaptation of the cross of the Zodiac. [S90] [S91] This is why Jesus in early occult art is always shown with his head on the cross, for Jesus is the Sun, the Sun of God, the Light of the World, [S92] the Risen Savior, [S93] who will "come again,"[S94] as it does every morning, the Glory of God [S95] who defends against the works of darkness,[S96] as he is "born again" [S97] every morning, and can be seen "coming in the clouds,"[S98] "up in Heaven,"[S99]with his "Crown of Thorns,"[S100] or, sun rays.
Now, of the many astrological-astronomical metaphors in the Bible, one of the most important has to do with the ages. Throughout the scripture there are numerous references to the "Age." In order to understand this, we need to be familiar with the phenomenon known as the precession of the equinoxes. The ancient Egyptians along with cultures long before them recognized that approximately every 2150 [D] years the sunrise on the morning of the spring equinox would occur at a different sign of the Zodiac. [M] This has to do with a slow angular wobble that the Earth maintains as it rotates on it's axis.It is called a precession because the constellations go backwards, rather than through the normal yearly cycle. [S101] The amount of time that it takes for the precession to go through all 12 signs is roughly 25,765 years. [S102] This is also called the "Great Year," [S103] and ancient societies were very aware of this. They referred to each 2150 year period as an "age." From 4300 b.c. to 2150 b.c., it was the Age of Taurus, the Bull. From 2150 b.c. to 1 a.d., it was the Age of Aries, the Ram, and from 1 a.d. to 2150 a.d. it is the Age of Pisces, the age we are still in to this day, and in and around 2150, we will enter the new age: the Age of Aquarius. [S104] [S105]
Now, the Bible reflects, broadly speaking, a symbolic movement through 3 ages, while foreshadowing a 4th. In the Old Testament when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments, he is very upset to see his people worshiping a golden bull calf.[S106] In fact, he shattered the stone tablets and instructed his people to kill each other in order to purify themselves. [S107] Most Biblical scholars would attribute this anger to the fact that the Israelites were worshiping a false idol, [S108] or something to that effect. The reality is that the golden bull is Taurus the Bull, and Moses represents the new Age of Aries the Ram. [S109] [M] This is why Jews even today still blow the Ram's horn. [S110] [M] Moses represents the new Age of Aries, [S111] and upon the new age, everyone must shed the old age. Other deities mark these transitions as well, a pre-Christian god who kills the bull, in the same symbology. [S112] [S113] [M]
Now Jesus is the figure who ushers in the age following Aries, the Age of Pisces the Two Fish.[S114] [S115] [M] Fish symbolism is very abundant in the New Testament. Jesus feeds 5000 people with bread and "2 fish." [S116] When he begins his ministry walking along Galilei, he befriends 2 fisherman, who follow him. [S117] [M] And I think we've all seen the Jesus-fish on the backs of people's cars. Little do they know what it actually means. It is a Pagan astrological symbolism for the Sun's Kingdom during the Age of Pisces.[S118] [M] Also, Jesus' assumed birth date is essentially the start of this age.
At Luke 22:10 when Jesus is asked by his disciples where the next passover will be, Jesus replied: "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water... follow him into the house where he entereth in." This scripture is by far one of the most revealing of all the astrological references. The man bearing a pitcher of water is Aquarius, the water-bearer, who is always pictured as a man pouring out a pitcher of water. [S119] He represents the age after Pisces, and when the Sun (God's Sun) leaves the Age of Pisces (Jesus), it will go into the House of Aquarius, as Aquarius follows Pisces in the precession of the equinoxes. Also Jesus is saying is that after the Age of Pisces will come the Age of Aquarius. [S120] [M]
Now, we have all heard about the end times and the end of the world. Apart from the cartoonish depictions in the Book of Revelation, the main source of this idea comes from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus says "I will be with you even to the end of the world." [S121] However, in King James Version, "world" is a mistranslation, among many mistranslations. The actual word being used is "aeon", which means "age." "I will be with you even to the end of the age." Which is true, as Jesus' Solar Piscean personification will end when the Sun enters the Age of Aquarius. [S122] The entire concept of end times and the end of the world is a misinterpreted astrological allegory.[S123] [S124] [S125] [S126] [S127] [M] Let's tell that to the approximately 100 million people in America who believe the end of the world is coming.
Furthermore, the character of Jesus, a literary and astrological hybrid, is most explicitly a plagiarization of the Egyptian Sun-god Horus.[S128] [S129] [S130] [S131]For example, inscribed about 3500 years, on the walls of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt are images of the enunciation, the immaculate conception, the birth, and the adoration of Horus. [S132] The images begin with Thaw announcing to the virgin Isis that she will conceive Horus, then Nef the holy ghost impregnating the virgin, and then the virgin birth and the adoration.[S133] [S134] [M] This is exactly the story of Jesus' miracle conception. In fact, the literary similarities between the Egyptian religion and the Christian religion are staggering. [M] [S135]
And the plagiarism is continuous. The story of Noah and Noah's Ark is taken directly from tradition. The concept of a Great Flood is ubiquitous throughout the ancient world, with over 200 different cited claims in different periods and times. [S136] [S137] [M] However, one need look no further for a pre-Christian source than the Epic of Gilgamesh,[S138] [S139] written in 2600 b.c. This story talks of a Great Flood commanded by God, an Ark with saved animals upon it, and even the release and return of a dove, all held in common with the biblical story, among many other similarities.[S140] [M]
And then there is the plagiarized story of Moses. Upon Moses' birth, it is said that he was placed in a reed basket and set adrift in a river in order to avoid infanticide. He was later rescued by a daughter of royalty and raised by her as a Prince.[S141] This baby in a basket story was lifted directly from the myth of Sargon of Akkad of around 2250 b.c. Sargon was born, placed in a reed basket in order to avoid infanticide, and set adrift in a river. He was in turn rescued and raised by Akki, a royal mid-wife.[S142] [S143] [M]
Furthermore, Moses is known as the Law Giver, the giver of the Ten Commandments,[S144] the Mosaic Law. However, the idea of a Law being passed from God to a prophet on a mountain is also a very old motif. Moses is just a law giver in a long line of law givers in mythological history. [S145] In India, Manou was the great law giver. [S146] In Crete, Minos ascended Mount Dicta, where Zeus gave him the sacred laws. [S147] While in Egypt there was Mises, [S148] who carried stone tablets and upon them the laws of god were written.
And as far as the Ten Commandments, they are taken outright from Spell 125 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. [S149] What the Book of the Dead phrased "I have not stolen" became "Thou shall not steal," "I have not killed" became "Thou shall not kill," "I have not told lies" became "Thou shall not bear false witness" and so forth. [S150] In fact, the Egyptian religion is likely the primary foundational basis for the Judeo-Christian theology. [M] Baptism, [S151] afterlife,[S152] final judgment, [S153] virgin birth [S154] and resurrection, [S155] crucifixion, [S156] the ark of the covenant, [S157]circumcision, [S158] [S159] saviors,[S160] holy communion, [S161] the great flood, [S162] Easter, [S163] Christmas [S164] [S165] , Passover, [S166] and many many more, are all attributes of Egyptian ideas, long predating Christianity and Judaism.
Justin Martyr, one of the first Christian historians and defenders, wrote: "When we say that he, Jesus Christ, our teacher, was produced without sexual union, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into Heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those who you esteem Sons of Jupiter." [S167] In a different writing, Justin Martyr said "He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you believe of Perseus." [S168] It's obvious that Justin and other early Christians knew how similar Christianity was to the Pagan religions. However, Justin had a solution. As far as he was concerned, the Devil did it. The Devil had the foresight to come before Christ, and create these characteristics in the Pagan world. [S169]
The Bible is nothing more than an astro-theological literary fold hybrid, just like nearly all religious myths before it. [S170] [S171] [S172] [S173] [S174]In fact, the aspect of transference, of one character's attributes to a new character, can be found within the book itself. In the Old Testament there's the story of Joseph. Joseph was a prototype for Jesus. Joseph was born of a miracle birth, [S175] Jesus was born of a miracle birth. [S176] Joseph was of 12 brothers, [S177] Jesus had 12 disciples. [S178] Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, [S179]Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. [S180] Brother "Judah" suggests the sale of Joseph, [S181] disciple "Judas" suggests the sale of Jesus. [S182] Joseph began his work at the age of 30, [S183]Jesus began his work at the age of 30. [S184] The parallels go on and on.
Furthermore, is there any non-Biblical historical evidence of any person, living with the name Jesus, the Son of Mary, who traveled about with 12 followers, healing people and the like? There are numerous historians who lived in and around the Mediterranean either during or soon after the assumed life of Jesus.[S185] How many of these historians document this figure? Not one. [S186] However, to be fair, that doesn't mean defenders of the Historical Jesus haven't claimed the contrary. Four historians are typically referenced to justify Jesus's existence. Pliny the younger, Suetonius, Tacitus and the first three. [M] [S187] Each one of their entries consists of only a few sentences at best and only refer to the Christus or the Christ, which in fact is not name but a title. It means the "Anointed one" [S188] The fourth source is Josephus and this source has been proven to be a forgery for hundreds of years.[S189] Sadly, it is still cited as truth.
You would think that a guy who rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven for all eyes to see and performed the wealth of miracles acclaimed to him would have made it into the historical record. It didn't because once the evidence is weighed, there are very high odds that the figure known as Jesus, did not even exist.[S190] [S191] [S192] [S193]
The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect, [S194] [S195] [S196] and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure. It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control. By 325 a.d. in Rome, emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. [S197] It was during this meeting that the politically motivated Christian Doctrines were established and thus began a long history of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud. And for the next 1600 years, the Vatican maintained a political stranglehold on all of Europe, leading to such joyous periods as the Dark Ages, along with enlightening events such as the Crusades, and the Inquisition.
Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, and likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that "God" controls everything, and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of Divine Pursuit. And most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created, and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish
Source:
zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
Welcome to our new thread, My God is Bigger and Better than Yours! It has become a necessity for me to begin this discussion for, as I see it, there is no larger or more important instigative factor for the separation between humanity than religion.
Raised as a 'craddle Catholic', and as a little girl, I loved Jesus, and all the saints of my religion. But once I began to mature in my thinking, I started to see discrepancies in the teachings I was being given, and well, how my adult teachers could act at times. For some reason, I suppose destiny, I was put in the line of good, kind, and thoughtful teachers who were open to other viewpoints. After I read, "The Golden Bough", by James Frazer, there was no turning back; my mind began to open up to all that is said in the following articles.
Please be aware that what I will present here is the myths behind many of the world's largest religions; just because I'll start out with Christianity, doesn't mean that the others won't be examined. If you absolutely cannot live without the framework of your current belief system, then perhaps you should stop reading here and now.
If, however, you have the curiosity, or a gnawing dissatisfaction with your own or all religions, you may very well find the following very enlightening. As a bonus, near the end of this post, I have included the movie, "Zeitgeist" which should prove to be fascinating to you.
All right then; let's begin our journey,
Michelle
My God is Bigger and Better than Yours!
Let's face it: Religion is merely competition. One person or group of people comes up with an interpretation of a giant being or beings, and then they try to convince themselves and others that such a god person is ABSOLUTE REALITY, shoving their interpretation down everyone else's throats, or, as the case may be, into their minds. Competing books are written and/or compiled as to the nature and desires of this god person, and wars are fought in his name. So it goes, endlessly, as new interpretations are developed and new zealots created.
Rather than ABSOLUTE REALITY, however, since a formed being can never be absolute, because "absolute" includes formlessness and limitlessness, these various god creatures produced by human beings over the past millennia merely represent phallic-like extensions of the humans' own egos and psyches, with which they often violently attempt to penetrate the egos and psyches of others. Few humans have striven to grasp infinity, and no single human being or group has ever been able to completely portray the concept. And what is "God," if not the Infinite and Ineffable? If "God" or the quality of Divinity, is Ineffable, how can any human mind or book contain or express it? Ineffable is by its very definition indescribable and inexpressible. Hence, whatever interpretations of the Infinite, Ineffable Divine presented by humans are limited and, therefore, erroneous.
To perceive and portray the Infinite and Ineffable as a giant man or father-figure of one ethnicity or another, as interpreted through the limited mind of one individual or group, is more than just plain wrong; it is harmful to the human psyche and evolution. It keeps mankind retarded and childish. It also reduces the Infinite and Ineffable to a vulgar and base creature who is full of human neuroses such as jealousy, competition, retribution and hatred. According to the interpretations often presented by "God"-cheerleaders, "God" says in effect, "Go and spread my noxiousness over the entire earth! Enslave the souls and minds of as many people as you can find to be my (and your) puppets and serfs!"
So the competition continues, because this group and that have varying interpretations of such noxiousness, most of which are far from being divine. From an anthropological perspective, or from that of someone not from this planet, all of this human quarrelling over who knows and represents the biggest and best god/godman appears completely savage and barbaric, like so many hyenas grunting and squealing as they pull apart a carcass. It would also appear quite insulting to the concept of the Infinite and Ineffable, were these qualities able to feel insult. To wit, when a God-cheerleader goes about trying to bludgeon others with his/her "superior" interpretation of the Divine, he or she looks depraved and idiotic to freethinkers who understand that the Infinite and Ineffable cannot be portrayed or represented with any degree of accuracy or beauty through such a mind and ego.
"God," being the Infinite and Ineffable, is everchanging and inexpressible. Anyone who is portraying the Infinite and Ineffable as a formed being, i.e., a giant man of one race or another who is separate and apart from creation, does not truly know the nature of "God" and is, therefore, completely deluded. And, to repeat, those who pretend to represent the Infinite and Ineffable are wrong, and are creating harm upon this planet and the human mind. The next time you are tempted to defend competitively the existence of "God," or to say some silly platitude concerning "his" nature, remember what you will look like to a person who has studied the world's cultures and the widely varied and frequently ridiculous interpretations of the Infinite and Ineffable: foolish, arrogant and uneducated. You are not accurately perceiving or portraying any such god person; you are simply reflecting your own limited mind and experience. You are expressing your own smallness and incompleteness, instead of reaching for the grandeur and boundlessness of the Divine, which can be had and tasted as part of your own being only if you throw away preconceived notions of What Is and evolve into the omnidimensional being that is your true nature.
Do you see how the "my God is bigger than your god" game works? We have just made our God bigger and better than yours. And, hopefully, expanded your mind.
Source: www.truthbeknown.com/mygod.htm
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The following is an interview with the author of the article above:
Man's Inhumanity to Man
An Interview with Acharya S
by Storm Fox
In an unusual interview, archaeologist, historian and mythologist Acharya S, author of the controversial books The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, offers a rare glimpse into her childhood and Christian background, sharing what led her to her life's work and providing a provocative commentary on the past and present, as well as a hope for the future. Storm Fox of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania asks pertinent and refreshing questions of this irreverent and forward-thinking woman of the 21st century.
Storm Fox: Were you brought up in a religious/spiritual family, or was your early life more skeptical?
Acharya S: I was raised in a religiously liberal family. My mother was an active member of her Congregational church. However, Northeastern Congregationalists are very classy and don't go around preaching. There was no talk about God, the Bible, Jesus; no biblical quotes, no threats or chastisement based on "God's Word," etc. Nothing. We celebrated Christmas and Easter, but these holidays were about community, family, love. I don't know if anyone in the family really believed the biblical malarkey. My only interest in Sunday school was the story in Luke of the short man who climbs a tree to see Jesus over the crowd. As a little kid, I could relate, as I was always standing on tip-toe to see. Otherwise, Sunday school was torture, but church was even worse. What a bore! But, I went, every week, until I was 12, when I declared myself autonomous in the matter of religion. My siblings did basically the same thing. Now, imagine such a rebellion from something so mild! If we'd been fundamentalists, I would have run away from home! I did go back to church a few more times, sang a duet with my choir-director mother, which was her dream. Over the years, as an archaeologist and simply out of curiosity, I went into many churches, as well as a few synagogues and, of course, the ruins of countless pagan temples.
SF: There is some information on your website that hints to you being "born again" at some point in your life. What were the circumstances surrounding that conversion?
AS: In retrospect, the story is pretty funny. I actually went through a brief period where I tried on that born-again Christian hair shirt. It was horrible! Worse than what I'd been experiencing just before, which was a sort of "post-college" depression. I was living in Manhattan, somewhat rudderless, after spending a year of post-graduate studies in Greece. Trying to make it in NYC is very difficult for most people, and I wasn't having the easiest time of it. Through a modeling agency there I met a woman - Jimmy Swaggart's cousin - who was leading a "Bible-study" group. I joined mostly because I wanted to know more biblical passages for crossword puzzles. As it turned out, I seemed to know more about the Bible than she did, but she was great at weeping over Jesus. So great, in fact, that she would put on shows, just like Swaggart. Anyway, we went to a tent revival with a Greek minister in the Bronx, and at the high point, with her prodding me, I stood up and declared myself born again. I liked the minister but I wasn't about to get dunked in their little pool. A couple of weeks later, it was clear that the born-again business was something no sane person could possibly uphold for any length of time without becoming cuckoo. As the great freethinker Robert Ingersoll said, "If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow the teachings of the New, he would be insane."
SF: What symbolic significance did Jesus and Christianity have to you then?
AS: Oh, there were a few goofy moments where I became emotional - such as accepting Jesus "into my heart" - but nothing much to write home about. Since I had been raised a Christian, and had rejected Christianity as being no more true or important than the rest of the world's religions and mythologies, I can't say that the faith ever had any profound meaning to me. I remember being utterly repulsed by Christianity in college and post-graduate school, when I spent a great deal of time in Greek Orthodox Churches, where just about every neurosis and psychosis is manifested. By "psychosis" I refer to the monasteries, where everyone is seriously repressed and there are images of horrible tortures painted on the walls. What kind of "spiritual" environment is that?
SF: What did being a Christian mean to you?
AS: As a youth it simply meant that we went to church. In college, I wondered aloud to a roommate if I were a Christian, at which point he asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I responded that I guessed I did, so he stated, "Then you're a Christian." Seemed pretty simple, but I never really bought it. I had studied so many religions and mythologies even by then, because of my interest in history and antiquity, that I considered Christianity just one of the many. In truth, even as a child I didn't believe most of the Jesus stories, as they were no more convincing than the tales of the Greek or Roman gods, which were universally pronounced as myths.
SF: What led you to conclude that Jesus Christ was a purely mythical figure?
AS: For some time I was an "evemerist," which means that I believed there was a historical Jesus but that the supernatural tales associated with him were just fairytales added to his biography by enthusiastic followers. Or, perhaps, he was a yogi in the Eastern tradition who could do some sort of "magic" or siddhis, as these "tricks" are called in India. Because I had been studying Eastern religions intensely at the time, in my late 20's, the yogi perspective was the last I held before I came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ, as depicted in the biblical, gospel tale, was a myth through and through. I began to get an inkling of the "Mythicist School," as it is called, about that time. My recollection is that a book virtually jumped off the shelf and set me on the path: It was Forgery in Christianity by Joseph Wheless. From there, as they say, the rest is history - or mythology, as the case may be. I followed Wheless's clues and sources, and discovered a whole school of thought - a very intelligent and profound school of thought that essentially verified nagging doubts I'd had since I first heard about Jesus Christ. With my background in mythology, it was not very difficult to see through the historical pretense associated with Christianity. If one set of beliefs with incredible supernatural events is easily regarded as mythology, why not another?
SF: The arguments you give for mythicism in your books and articles are very powerful, and I find the astrotheological aspects of your books and articles to be especially fascinating. I'm curious as to when and under what circumstances you became aware of these patterns in myths and how ubiquitous they are.
AS: Naturally, the more time one spends on a subject the more one learns. I suppose that as I came to understand the awe with which the ancients viewed the cosmos, the natural world, the earth in general, I had "aha!" moments or epiphanies in connecting the gods with the planetary bodies and constellations, etc. In reality, it didn't take much, because I have always been awed by nature and spent most of my childhood romping and splashing through the woods, fields, streams and lakes. I imagine that the night sky appears a most amazing sight to anyone sitting under it away from an urban environment. The sun, of course, is a major reason we exist. Knowing these facts, it becomes quite comprehensible why the ancients - as well as a significant portion of the world to this day - would revere these natural objects and forces, attributing divine qualities to them. These aspects of the natural world are found globally, which is why they are ubiquitous in human mythologies. In the end, it all makes sense.
SF: There has been little written from the mythicist perspective in the past few decades, but at various periods in the past, there was a wealth of mythicist writing and research. To what social forces do you attribute this?
AS: At the end of the 18th century in Europe there seemed to be a shift in consciousness, away from the repressive mind-control of the Church, whether Protestant or Catholic. Some of this change appears to have come from the expansion of the British into India. I suppose people were utterly sick of the atrocities committed by Christian authorities, and no doubt the insidious mind-control and censorship had taken its toll on the erudite and intelligentsia. The 19th century experienced an explosion in brilliant thinking in countless subjects, not just religion and philosophy. The writing of the era - again, in numerous subjects - was superb, especially compared to that of today. In fact, one thing that has not improved with time and technology is the quality of writing. In the English language, little compares to what was produced during the 19th century.
The 20th century, on the other hand, experienced a profound dumbing-down, especially in the areas of freethought, philosophy and religion. There are many social forces I would attribute to this frightening and depressing dumbing-down of the masses. For sure, much of it has been deliberate, in order that the political and religious status quo could be maintained. After all, we can't have people thinking for themselves, can we? Religion and politics have been the main tools used to control the masses for the benefit of the elite. What we saw during the 18th and 19th centuries were members of the elite themselves coming forward and forcefully speaking the truth. I will say that, because of the Internet, many people are becoming more politically savvy - possibly more than before. And, perhaps, we will see an increase in people thinking for themselves about the important matters of religion and philosophy. They simply must, or the mass, herd mentality will destroy this planet.
SF: How do you think history will remember Christianity?
AS: I can only say that I think I see what will happen - and hope that it is true. For many years now, since I was a teenager, I figured that Christianity and the other monolithic religions would fizzle into nothingness, would lose their hold over the human mind, and be replaced by true enlightenment that needs no organization of the sort that has been so destructive in the past. I do believe that Christianity will be viewed in the future - if a future there be - as a destructive interloper that disconnected humanity from its natural world and caused tremendous turmoil. As prejudiced as the Christian ideology has been against the so-called Pagan world, that's at least as badly as the future populace will view Christianity. In other words, Christianity is the Paganism of the future, or vice versa. In any event, it will be realized that the "faith" is a terrible hoax played upon the masses in order to make them believe that the Almighty power behind the cosmos was a particular person of a particular ethnicity during a particular period, to the exclusion of all other cultures, eras and individuals.
SF: You seem to rail against evemerism about as strongly as you do against literalist interpretations of the Bible. What trouble do you think evemerism causes?
AS: Again, evemerism is the perspective that, behind all the fabulous fairytales, there was a "real person" named Jesus who lived about the same time as depicted in the gospel tale. But, according to evemerism, he didn't do much, because if you take away all the fairytales there isn't much left - at least nothing impressive. Some shaggy guy wearing a robe wandering around spouting platitudes and, maybe, doing a few parlor tricks. Gee, like that's never happened before - or since! Does anyone honestly believe that the Romans would overthrow their entire culture, with all its gods, including the Caesar himself, in order to worship a ragamuffin magician from the reviled backwaters of the Roman Empire? It's just incredible! No self-respecting, elitist Roman would consider the thought for a second. He would have laughed his head off at the very notion. There had to be some highly powerful motivation for the Romans to acquiesce to this fable that the God of the cosmos had appeared - completely unbeknownst to them - decades before in the outback, as a member of one of the most despised races of the empire.
The addition of fairytales would hardly have been enough to impress the Romans, even if there really had been "some guy there," as is believed within evemerism. Evemerism simply doesn't go far enough in an honest investigation. It's a cop-out by people who want to appear somewhat intelligent - in other words, not entirely gullible - but who haven't really studied the issue to know that there is no evidence of this wandering Jewish guru who stood out not because of any magic tricks but because of profound or revolutionary ideas and statements. None of these "profound statements" is original - much more wisdom can be found in the more ancient Egyptian and Indian texts. I find this concept irritating as well because, while this purported "groovy guru" gets all the attention - and much sympathy because of his supposed suffering - countless real people the world over have demonstrated breathtaking brilliance and suffered much more, yet have received no attention whatsoever.
SF: I devoured The Christ Conspiracy, loved it, and found it to be very liberating. Unfortunately, it was attacked a great deal online, and for some rather strange reasons. Suns of God seems in part to be an answer to those criticisms. Was this your intent with Suns of God?
AS: Thanks! Christ Con was also hailed online, as well as elsewhere. There are more than a few professors, theologians, priests and ministers who are closet fans. I don't really care about what the few harpies have cackled online. As Abraham Lincoln said about his opponents, "But I also remember that though they blazed like tallow candles…, at last they flickered in the socket, died out, stank in the dark for a brief season, and were remembered no more, even by the smell..." Perhaps that's harsh, but, truly, these people have accomplished nothing. I am certain that, in the same manner that Osiris, Thor and Hercules have been relegated to the heap of mythology, so too will Christ. Yes, Suns of God is an answer to the criticisms of Christ Conspiracy. These criticisms were so shallow and petulant that it was easy to produce hundreds upon hundreds of pages showing where they were wrong - the evidence disproving them was abundant. I had to shorten my book, of course, but there is much more material to demonstrate that in general the major concepts I have presented are accurate and correct. I also worked extremely hard in getting Suns of God done - through unbelievable adversity that is material for another book - so that those who were impressed and convinced by The Christ Conspiracy would not be left hanging with these shallow and ignorant criticisms.
SF: Some have criticized your use of sources such as Blavatsky. What do you think such controversial sources add to your work?
AS: A completely asinine criticism that shows the level of the rest of their harping. I used and/or quote Blavatsky a total, I believe, of three times out of over 1,000 citations. And what miniscule amount I utilized of hers was factual and accurate, having nothing to do with her mysticism. I used a wide variety of sources in The Christ Conspiracy in order to show that I have covered the topic, because, before the book was completed, I was always getting questions regarding this author and that - "What about Sitchin?", for example. I included one or two mentions of Sitchin in order to show that I had indeed read his works and had factored them into my research, although not in the manner that Sitchinites wish. Believe it or not, I've had fanatic "spiritualists" chastise me for dismissing Blavatsky's perspective of Christ!
SF: Speaking of controversy, Kersey Graves seems to have been a big influence on your work. Unfortunately, Graves seems to be maligned above other past mythicists. Why is this?
AS: If you look at the citations in The Christ Conspiracy and Suns of God, you'll see I used relatively little of Kersey Graves's writing, and he did not have all that much of an influence on my work. In reality, I didn't need his work, because what he was conveying could be found all over the place. That being said, I will comment that the brouhaha over Graves's work has led to some very interesting parts of Suns of God, IMHO. Also, I was inspired enough by Graves's courage and insight that I wrote the foreword to AUP's edition of his book The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors. I don't know if anyone else has taken the time to really explore why Graves wrote what he did. Without having done such in-depth investigation - as I have done, engaging in what I believe to be fascinating detective work that absolves Graves of hasty and ignorant criticism - his critics are not particularly impressive. I would pronounce the fracas so much blowing of smoke. Graves is a favorite target because his book appeals to the mainstream and has endured for well over a century. Yet, I certainly don't concur with Graves's conclusions that all these "16 crucified saviors" were "real people" who bizarrely kept saying and doing the same things and getting themselves crucified in different places and eras, over and over again! Ridiculous. These are myths. As concerns influences on my writing, Barbara Walker and Gerald Massey are two scholars whose work I sincerely esteem. Because I used their work so abundantly in The Christ Conspiracy, I turned to numerous other sources for Suns of God, nevertheless showing the same salient motifs in mythologies from around the world. So, you see, it matters not what the source is: The truth is out there.
SF: I work with Evangelicals, and they can be very difficult, not to mention irrational. Is there any argument that will work with them, or should I just smile, point to the Sun, and walk away?
AS: By Jove, I think you've got it! There is little point in having any discussion with them on this subject. You can give them all the evidence in the world, and they will simply allow it to go over their heads. Their behavior becomes robotic - and sometimes quite hostile and unpleasant. In fact, when they can't "sweet talk" you into their brainwashing, they start in with the insults and threats. Very nice faith, that! When I have such discussions, I'm often asked how I know Jesus Christ is a myth. How do I know? I'm a mythologist, an expert on myths. If I'm an expert on grass and point out a patch of grass, do you question how I know it's grass? I wonder why such expertise is valued so little - is it because everyone is taught that he or she knows "the truth," simply by believing what someone else has told him or her? How is that possible? Regurgitated fables are "the truth?"
Have you spent hours upon hours contemplating the nature of the cosmos? Have you studied the world's religions and mythologies in depth? Is it even conceivable that you could wrap your noggin around many of the profound philosophical concepts? No, just because you have a head with brain matter in it does not make you an expert on religion, belief, spirituality or mythology. As in everything else, expertise in religion and philosophy must be earned. Then again, someone can be spiritual without having studied a thing - a simple old woman living in a cabin in the woods, for example. Or a small child. Spirituality is a whole different issue. But I find little to be spiritual about organized religion. And, certainly, believing what others have told you about Jesus Christ or some other "savior" is not a spiritual experience. Nor is having a "vision" of what you believe to be Christ. Millions of people in the past have had visions of countless other gods - none of these experiences has made those gods "real people." If they did, then the Egyptian Osiris and Isis would have to be considered the God/Goddess of the cosmos, because it is of them, arguably, that the majority of human beings who have ever lived had had the most visions. Moreover, "feeling" a god or goddess "in your heart" may constitute a "spiritual" experience, but it provides absolutely no evidence that the god or goddess ever walked upon the face of this earth.
SF: What do you think will be the future of the mythicist argument?
AS: I certainly hope it will go beyond the idiotic nitpicking and ad hominem foolishness occurring now. Professional jealousy and egotism are unfortunately blinding and stupefying what could be decent minds working on this subject, which is surely one of the most important that face humanity. So much of the rest of life hinges upon the reality that religion does not produce truthfulness in human beings. Au contraire! The fact that a large percentage of human beings have been made powerless and have been enslaved to false dogmas is a major reason why, in this day and age, with so much wealth and technology, and so many generations working on the problems, we still have such appalling poverty and violence on this planet. In the end, I hope, mankind will realize that superhuman saviors and godmen such as Jesus Christ are fictional characters, period. The picayune points of how such a fact came to be believed otherwise will ultimately be irrelevant; hence, to argue endlessly about whether or not this detail or date is correct is just plain silly and an utter waste of time.
SF: Finally, if I forgot anything, please feel free to add final comments of any nature, and thanks again for the interview.
AS: You're welcome! Thanks for the intelligent and relevant questions. It may be obvious to some that I am on a "mission" of a sort, and I would like to explain that there certainly was something percolating in me since childhood that has led me to study these subjects and write these works. One of my prime reasons for doing what I do is that when I was a child I was absolutely sickened by man's inhumanity to man and other creatures, and I continue to be sickened by it today. Although it is not the only reason for such inhumanity, religion has been the single largest factor in causing entire cultures to commit atrocious crimes, such as wholesale theft, torture, genocide, etc., ad nauseam. So long as humankind divides itself into "isms" there will never be peace on Earth and people will never progress to becoming true human beings.
Acharya S is an archaeologist, classicist, historian, mythologist, linguist and member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. She has served as a trench master on archaeological excavations in Corinth, Greece, and in Connecticut, USA. Acharya has traveled extensively around Europe, and she speaks, reads and/or writes Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese to varying degrees. She has also cross-referenced the Bible in the original Hebrew and ancient Greek. Acharya is the author of the best-selling and controversial The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and the follow-up tour de force Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. Articles by and about Acharya S have been published in several magazines and books, and Acharya has appeared on dozens of radio programs over the past decade. Her website is truthbeknown.com, and she may be contacted at acharya_s@yahoo.com.
Storm Fox is a Sociology major at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. This is his first published interview. He may be reached at storm_m_fox@yahoo.com
Source:
www.paranoiamagazine.com/acharayas.html
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ZEITGEIST — THE MOVIE
If you have a taste for conspiracies, and New World Order agendas, this movie covers everything from the Christ Myth, to the World Banks, to 911, and the larger implications of the Patriot Act. A cinematic overview of the systematic webs that enslave us, "Zeitgeist" examines issues that, like it or not, we need to be aware of. This 2-hour feature is a sign of the times. If you are up for a crash course in the intricacies of world domination, it will save you tons of research. Those of you who are already familiar with these subjects will find that "Zeitgeist" does a service to us all by outlining them so clearly. For Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told, Acharya S has produced a Companion Guide for this section which is highly recommended.
To view the movie, click on the link:
zeitgeistmovie.com
For those of you who have difficulty viewing the movie, here is the transcript for Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told, which has much to do with our new thread here. At the site, the director is selling the DVD for a modest price of $5 dollars, and encourages you to buy more to share; he also warns against piracy and flagrant reselling of this video at higher prices....so important is the message, that it is offered free online, as will be the sequel. I will keep you posted on updates.
Interactive Transcript
Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told
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Part One: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Note: Acharya S has produced a Companion Guide for this
section which is highly recommended: www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist.html
This is the sun. As far back as 10 thousand B.C.E., history is abundant with carvings [M] and writings reflecting people's respect and adoration for this object [S1]. And it is simple to understand why as every morning the sun would rise, bringing vision, warmth, and security, saving man from the cold, blind, predator-filled darkness of night. Without it, the cultures understood, the crops would not grow, and life on the planet would not survive. These realities made the sun the most adored object of all time.[M] Likewise, they were also very aware of the stars.[M] The tracking of the stars allowed them to recognize and anticipate events which occurred over long periods of time, such as eclipses and full moons.[M] They in turn catalogued celestial groups into what we know today as constellations.[S2]
This is the cross of the Zodiac, one of the oldest conceptual images in human history. [M] It reflects the sun as it figuratively passes through the 12 major constellations over the course of a year. It also reflects the 12 months of the year, the 4 seasons, and the solstices and equinoxes [S3] . The term Zodiac relates to the fact that constellations were anthropomorphized, or personified, as figures, or animals.[S4] [M]
In other words, the early civilizations did not just follow the sun and stars, they personified them with elaborate myths involving their movements and relationships. [S5] [M] The sun, with its life-giving and -saving qualities was personified as a representative of the unseen creator or god...[M]"God's Sun,"[M] the light of the world, the savior of human kind.[S6] Likewise, the 12 constellations represented places of travel for God's Sun and were identified by names, usually representing elements of nature that happened during that period of time. For example, Aquarius, the water bearer, who brings the Spring rains.[S7] [M] [D]
This is Horus.[M] He is the Sun God of Egypt of around 3000 BC [S8] [D]. He is the sun, anthropomorphized, and his life is a series of allegorical myths involving the sun's movement in the sky. [S9] [S10] [M] From the ancient hieroglyphics in Egypt, we know much about this solar messiah. For instance, Horus, being the sun, or the light, had an enemy known as Set and Set [D] was the personification of the darkness or night .[M] [S11] And, metaphorically speaking, every morning Horus would win the battle against Set - while in the evening, Set would conquer Horus and send him into the underworld. [S12] [S13] It is important to note that "dark vs. light" or "good vs. evil" is one of the most ubiquitous mythological dualities ever known and is still expressed on many levels to this day.
Broadly speaking, the story of Horus is as follows: Horus was born on December 25th [S14] [S15] of the virgin Isis-Meri.[S16] [S17] [S18] [D] [M] His birth was accompanied by a star in the east [S19], which in turn, three kings followed to locate and adorn the new-born savior [M] [S20] [S21] At the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher, and at the age of 30 [S22] [S23] he was baptized by a figure known as Anup [M] and thus began his ministry[S24] [M]. Horus had 12 disciples[S25] he traveled about with, performing miracles[S26] [S27]such as healing the sick[S28] and walking on water[S29]. Horus was known by many gestural names such as The Truth, The Light, God's Annointed Son, The Good Shepherd, The Lamb of God, and many others[S30] [S31]. After being betrayed by Typhon[S32], Horus was crucified[S33] [S34], buried for 3 days[S35], and thus, resurrected.[S36] [S37] [M].
These attributes of Horus, whether original or not, seem to permeate in many cultures of the world, for many other gods are found to have the same general mythological structure.
Attis, of Phyrigia, born of the virgin Nana on December 25th, crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days, was resurrected.
[S38] [S39] [S40] [S41] [S42] [S43] [M] [D]
Krishna, of India, born of the virgin Devaki with a star in the east signaling his coming, performed miracles with his disciples, and upon his death was resurrected.
[S44] [S45] [S46] [S47] [S48] [M] [M2] [D]
Dionysus of Greece, born of a virgin on December 25th, was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine, he was referred to as the "King of Kings," "God's Only Begotten Son," "The Alpha and Omega," and many others, and upon his death, he was resurrected.
[S49] [S50] [S51] [S52] [S53] [M]
Mithra, of Persia, born of a virgin on December 25th, he had 12 disciples and performed miracles, and upon his death was buried for 3 days and thus resurrected, he was also referred to as "The Truth," "The Light," and many others. Interestingly, the sacred day of worship of Mithra was Sunday.
[S54] [S55] [S56] [S57] [S58] [M]
The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviors, from different periods, from all over the world, which subscribe to these general characteristics. The question remains: why these attributes, why the virgin birth on December 25th, why dead for three days and the inevitable resurrection, why 12 disciples or followers? [M] To find out, let's examine the most recent of the solar messiahs.
Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary on December 25th [D] in Bethlehem, his birth was announced by a star in the east, which three kings or magi followed to locate and adorn the new savior.[D] He was a child teacher at 12, at the age of 30 he was baptized by John the Baptist, and thus began his ministry. Jesus had 12 disciples which he traveled about with performing miracles such as healing the sick, walking on water, raising the dead, he was also known as the "King of Kings," the "Son of God," the "Light of the World," the "Alpha and Omega," the "Lamb of God," and many others. After being betrayed by his disciple Judas and sold for 30 pieces of silver, he was crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days was resurrected and ascended into Heaven.[S59]
First of all, the birth sequence is completely astrological. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which, on December 24th, aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion's Belt. [S60] [M] These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times: The Three Kings.[S61] [S62] The Three Kings and the brightest star, Sirius, all point to the place of the sunrise on December 25th.[S63] [M] This is why the Three Kings "follow" the star in the east, in order to locate the sunrise -- the birth of the sun.[S64] [M]
The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, [S65] also known as Virgo the Virgin. Virgo in Latin means virgin. The ancient glyph for Virgo is the altered "m". This is why Mary along with other virgin mothers, such as Adonis's mother Myrrha [S66], or Buddha's mother Maya [S67] begin with an M.[S68] [M] Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread [S69] [S70], and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. This House of Bread and its symbol of wheat represents August and September, the time of harvest. [D] In turn, Bethlehem, in fact, literally translates to "house of bread". [M] [S71] Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo , a place in the sky, not on Earth.[M] [S72]
There is another very interesting phenomenon that occurs around December 25th, or the winter solstice. From the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the days become shorter and colder. From the perspective of the northern hemisphere, the sun appears to move south and get smaller and more scarce. The shortening of the days and the expiration of the crops when approaching the winter solstice symbolized the process of death to the ancients. It was the death of the Sun. [S73] By December 22nd, the Sun's demise was fully realized, for the Sun, having moved south continually for 6 months, makes it to it's lowest point in the sky. Here a curious thing occurs: the Sun stops moving south, at least perceivably, for 3 days.[S74] [M] During this 3 day pause, the Sun resides in the vicinity of the Southern Cross, or Crux, constellation.[S75] [S76] [M] And after this time on December 25th, the Sun moves 1 degree, this time north, foreshadowing longer days, warmth, and Spring.[S77] And thus it was said: the Sun died on the cross, [D] was dead for 3 days, only to be resurrected or born again.[S78] [S79]This is why Jesus and numerous other Sun Gods share the crucifixion, 3-day death, and resurrection concept. [S80] [M] It is the Sun's transition period before it shifts its direction back into the Northern Hemisphere, bringing Spring, and thus salvation.[S81] [S82] [M]
However, they did not celebrate the resurrection of the Sun until the spring equinox, or Easter. This is because at the spring equinox, the Sun officially overpowers the evil darkness, as daytime thereafter becomes longer in duration than night, and the revitalizing conditions of spring emerge.[M] [S83]
Now, probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with. [S84] [S85] [S86] [S87] [M]
In fact, the number 12 is replete throughout the Bible. [M] This text has more to do with astrology than anything else.
Coming back to the cross of the Zodiac, the figurative life of the Sun, this was not just an artistic expression or tool to track the Sun's movements. It was also a Pagan spiritual symbol, [S88] the shorthand of which looked like this. [S89] This is not a symbol of Christianity. [M] It is a Pagan adaptation of the cross of the Zodiac. [S90] [S91] This is why Jesus in early occult art is always shown with his head on the cross, for Jesus is the Sun, the Sun of God, the Light of the World, [S92] the Risen Savior, [S93] who will "come again,"[S94] as it does every morning, the Glory of God [S95] who defends against the works of darkness,[S96] as he is "born again" [S97] every morning, and can be seen "coming in the clouds,"[S98] "up in Heaven,"[S99]with his "Crown of Thorns,"[S100] or, sun rays.
Now, of the many astrological-astronomical metaphors in the Bible, one of the most important has to do with the ages. Throughout the scripture there are numerous references to the "Age." In order to understand this, we need to be familiar with the phenomenon known as the precession of the equinoxes. The ancient Egyptians along with cultures long before them recognized that approximately every 2150 [D] years the sunrise on the morning of the spring equinox would occur at a different sign of the Zodiac. [M] This has to do with a slow angular wobble that the Earth maintains as it rotates on it's axis.It is called a precession because the constellations go backwards, rather than through the normal yearly cycle. [S101] The amount of time that it takes for the precession to go through all 12 signs is roughly 25,765 years. [S102] This is also called the "Great Year," [S103] and ancient societies were very aware of this. They referred to each 2150 year period as an "age." From 4300 b.c. to 2150 b.c., it was the Age of Taurus, the Bull. From 2150 b.c. to 1 a.d., it was the Age of Aries, the Ram, and from 1 a.d. to 2150 a.d. it is the Age of Pisces, the age we are still in to this day, and in and around 2150, we will enter the new age: the Age of Aquarius. [S104] [S105]
Now, the Bible reflects, broadly speaking, a symbolic movement through 3 ages, while foreshadowing a 4th. In the Old Testament when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments, he is very upset to see his people worshiping a golden bull calf.[S106] In fact, he shattered the stone tablets and instructed his people to kill each other in order to purify themselves. [S107] Most Biblical scholars would attribute this anger to the fact that the Israelites were worshiping a false idol, [S108] or something to that effect. The reality is that the golden bull is Taurus the Bull, and Moses represents the new Age of Aries the Ram. [S109] [M] This is why Jews even today still blow the Ram's horn. [S110] [M] Moses represents the new Age of Aries, [S111] and upon the new age, everyone must shed the old age. Other deities mark these transitions as well, a pre-Christian god who kills the bull, in the same symbology. [S112] [S113] [M]
Now Jesus is the figure who ushers in the age following Aries, the Age of Pisces the Two Fish.[S114] [S115] [M] Fish symbolism is very abundant in the New Testament. Jesus feeds 5000 people with bread and "2 fish." [S116] When he begins his ministry walking along Galilei, he befriends 2 fisherman, who follow him. [S117] [M] And I think we've all seen the Jesus-fish on the backs of people's cars. Little do they know what it actually means. It is a Pagan astrological symbolism for the Sun's Kingdom during the Age of Pisces.[S118] [M] Also, Jesus' assumed birth date is essentially the start of this age.
At Luke 22:10 when Jesus is asked by his disciples where the next passover will be, Jesus replied: "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water... follow him into the house where he entereth in." This scripture is by far one of the most revealing of all the astrological references. The man bearing a pitcher of water is Aquarius, the water-bearer, who is always pictured as a man pouring out a pitcher of water. [S119] He represents the age after Pisces, and when the Sun (God's Sun) leaves the Age of Pisces (Jesus), it will go into the House of Aquarius, as Aquarius follows Pisces in the precession of the equinoxes. Also Jesus is saying is that after the Age of Pisces will come the Age of Aquarius. [S120] [M]
Now, we have all heard about the end times and the end of the world. Apart from the cartoonish depictions in the Book of Revelation, the main source of this idea comes from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus says "I will be with you even to the end of the world." [S121] However, in King James Version, "world" is a mistranslation, among many mistranslations. The actual word being used is "aeon", which means "age." "I will be with you even to the end of the age." Which is true, as Jesus' Solar Piscean personification will end when the Sun enters the Age of Aquarius. [S122] The entire concept of end times and the end of the world is a misinterpreted astrological allegory.[S123] [S124] [S125] [S126] [S127] [M] Let's tell that to the approximately 100 million people in America who believe the end of the world is coming.
Furthermore, the character of Jesus, a literary and astrological hybrid, is most explicitly a plagiarization of the Egyptian Sun-god Horus.[S128] [S129] [S130] [S131]For example, inscribed about 3500 years, on the walls of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt are images of the enunciation, the immaculate conception, the birth, and the adoration of Horus. [S132] The images begin with Thaw announcing to the virgin Isis that she will conceive Horus, then Nef the holy ghost impregnating the virgin, and then the virgin birth and the adoration.[S133] [S134] [M] This is exactly the story of Jesus' miracle conception. In fact, the literary similarities between the Egyptian religion and the Christian religion are staggering. [M] [S135]
And the plagiarism is continuous. The story of Noah and Noah's Ark is taken directly from tradition. The concept of a Great Flood is ubiquitous throughout the ancient world, with over 200 different cited claims in different periods and times. [S136] [S137] [M] However, one need look no further for a pre-Christian source than the Epic of Gilgamesh,[S138] [S139] written in 2600 b.c. This story talks of a Great Flood commanded by God, an Ark with saved animals upon it, and even the release and return of a dove, all held in common with the biblical story, among many other similarities.[S140] [M]
And then there is the plagiarized story of Moses. Upon Moses' birth, it is said that he was placed in a reed basket and set adrift in a river in order to avoid infanticide. He was later rescued by a daughter of royalty and raised by her as a Prince.[S141] This baby in a basket story was lifted directly from the myth of Sargon of Akkad of around 2250 b.c. Sargon was born, placed in a reed basket in order to avoid infanticide, and set adrift in a river. He was in turn rescued and raised by Akki, a royal mid-wife.[S142] [S143] [M]
Furthermore, Moses is known as the Law Giver, the giver of the Ten Commandments,[S144] the Mosaic Law. However, the idea of a Law being passed from God to a prophet on a mountain is also a very old motif. Moses is just a law giver in a long line of law givers in mythological history. [S145] In India, Manou was the great law giver. [S146] In Crete, Minos ascended Mount Dicta, where Zeus gave him the sacred laws. [S147] While in Egypt there was Mises, [S148] who carried stone tablets and upon them the laws of god were written.
And as far as the Ten Commandments, they are taken outright from Spell 125 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. [S149] What the Book of the Dead phrased "I have not stolen" became "Thou shall not steal," "I have not killed" became "Thou shall not kill," "I have not told lies" became "Thou shall not bear false witness" and so forth. [S150] In fact, the Egyptian religion is likely the primary foundational basis for the Judeo-Christian theology. [M] Baptism, [S151] afterlife,[S152] final judgment, [S153] virgin birth [S154] and resurrection, [S155] crucifixion, [S156] the ark of the covenant, [S157]circumcision, [S158] [S159] saviors,[S160] holy communion, [S161] the great flood, [S162] Easter, [S163] Christmas [S164] [S165] , Passover, [S166] and many many more, are all attributes of Egyptian ideas, long predating Christianity and Judaism.
Justin Martyr, one of the first Christian historians and defenders, wrote: "When we say that he, Jesus Christ, our teacher, was produced without sexual union, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into Heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those who you esteem Sons of Jupiter." [S167] In a different writing, Justin Martyr said "He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you believe of Perseus." [S168] It's obvious that Justin and other early Christians knew how similar Christianity was to the Pagan religions. However, Justin had a solution. As far as he was concerned, the Devil did it. The Devil had the foresight to come before Christ, and create these characteristics in the Pagan world. [S169]
The Bible is nothing more than an astro-theological literary fold hybrid, just like nearly all religious myths before it. [S170] [S171] [S172] [S173] [S174]In fact, the aspect of transference, of one character's attributes to a new character, can be found within the book itself. In the Old Testament there's the story of Joseph. Joseph was a prototype for Jesus. Joseph was born of a miracle birth, [S175] Jesus was born of a miracle birth. [S176] Joseph was of 12 brothers, [S177] Jesus had 12 disciples. [S178] Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, [S179]Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. [S180] Brother "Judah" suggests the sale of Joseph, [S181] disciple "Judas" suggests the sale of Jesus. [S182] Joseph began his work at the age of 30, [S183]Jesus began his work at the age of 30. [S184] The parallels go on and on.
Furthermore, is there any non-Biblical historical evidence of any person, living with the name Jesus, the Son of Mary, who traveled about with 12 followers, healing people and the like? There are numerous historians who lived in and around the Mediterranean either during or soon after the assumed life of Jesus.[S185] How many of these historians document this figure? Not one. [S186] However, to be fair, that doesn't mean defenders of the Historical Jesus haven't claimed the contrary. Four historians are typically referenced to justify Jesus's existence. Pliny the younger, Suetonius, Tacitus and the first three. [M] [S187] Each one of their entries consists of only a few sentences at best and only refer to the Christus or the Christ, which in fact is not name but a title. It means the "Anointed one" [S188] The fourth source is Josephus and this source has been proven to be a forgery for hundreds of years.[S189] Sadly, it is still cited as truth.
You would think that a guy who rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven for all eyes to see and performed the wealth of miracles acclaimed to him would have made it into the historical record. It didn't because once the evidence is weighed, there are very high odds that the figure known as Jesus, did not even exist.[S190] [S191] [S192] [S193]
The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect, [S194] [S195] [S196] and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure. It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control. By 325 a.d. in Rome, emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. [S197] It was during this meeting that the politically motivated Christian Doctrines were established and thus began a long history of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud. And for the next 1600 years, the Vatican maintained a political stranglehold on all of Europe, leading to such joyous periods as the Dark Ages, along with enlightening events such as the Crusades, and the Inquisition.
Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, and likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that "God" controls everything, and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of Divine Pursuit. And most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created, and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish
Source:
zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm