PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM
Early mankind's first "Saviour" was the sun. This glowing orb in the sky above was clearly the "Giver of Life." As belief systems grew, mankind eventually established the early stages of what would later become Christianity, or teachings of the Krestiani. Among early Gnostic and Essene traditions, these teachings were originally about something much deeper than they are today ... something that lay beyond, and beneath the surface stories. By taking these stories as only literal, modern day Christianity has renamed, revised, and re-written these ancient symbols and metaphors to suit their an entirely different agenda. Stay with me. There is much to explain.
In the outward and literal Biblical story, Jesus has taken the place of a sun god of old, and literally became the "Light of the World." Biblical references to light and darkness now make perfect sense, when we look within the layers for the deeper message. “Jesus walking on water,” for example, symbolizes when the sun light is reflecting off the surface of water. We are not dismissing the Jesus narrative, just looking deeper into the symbolism and the allegorical interpretations ... the place where much Truth and symbolism can be found.
From an an ancient Astrotheology view, the literal/outward story of Jesus mimics the story of the sun’s travels across the sky and through the Zodiac. The twelve disciples represent the 12 signs of the zodiac, or 12 months of the year. His story is the story of this annual precessional. Jesus is the Sun (in the center of the Zodiac circle) and the 12 houses/signs/disciples accompany him everywhere he goes.
The actual word “Jesus” comes from the Greek "Iēsous," the Ancient Greek form of the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yeshua or Y'shua (Hebrew: ישוע) (Joshua in English). “Iesous” is adapted from the name of the Greek goddess of recuperation from illness - healing. Iesos/Iaso, was the daughter of Apollo, the Sun-deity. It is important to note that the English letter "J" was not in use until after 1600CE. Before that, a "Y" and an "I" were used in its stead. The original King James Bible refers to Jesus as “Iesus” and his father as “Ioseph.” No letter "J" to be found until later re-prints.
Moving on symbolically, "Sunday" was set aside in the Mithra (Roman) cult as its official day to worship its Sun-deity. Instead of Saturday (Saturn-day), the sabbath or day of rest ... Roman Emperor Constantine legislated Sun-day to now be the day of rest and dedicated it to the Greek and Roman Sun-god, Helios. Constantine worshipped Christos Helios as well as Mithra. ”Christos Helios" in the Greek (Χρήστος ήλιος) means “Christ-The-True-Sun.” Ultimately, the Roman Catholic Church (Holy Roman Universal Church) chose Sun-day as its sabbath, and Protestantism then adopted it. The Greek word for "Universal" is "katholikos."
More symbolism can be found here: Obelisks, spires, steeples, and church towers; all come from the pagan worship practices of Babylon and Egypt called sun-pillars. An obelisk or sun-pillar still stands at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. These objects represent the masculine (Father/God) symbol penetrating the feminine (Mother/Goddess) to bring forth the child from the womb of the universe. So it is with the Egyptian Ankh (a cross symbol) ... representing the intersection of Spirit/Matter, and the masculine penetrating the female womb of the universe as a means of creation. Symbolism can be found everywhere in Vatican City, if you know where to look and how to identify it.
The Winter Solstice (Christmas-time) is the actual "reason for the season." The solstice is a metaphor for the sun’s birth, death, and resurrection. The sun appears to die as it reaches its lowest point in the winter sky, remaining motionless for three days. The sun is then resurrected, or born again, as it begins to slowly rise. And then the annual cycle begins once again. Bringing renewal, and a soon to be life-giving harvest of food once again.
Everything in modern day Christianity has it's roots in the Ancient Wisdom of the Pagan world. These beliefs were brought into the formation of Christianity in Rome in order to bring more of the pagan believers into Constantine's new universal religion of Rome, officially launched at the First Council of Nicea in 325CE. Further, many ancient religions had also a triune god. Solar triune gods represented the three stages of the Life of the Sun, and lunar triune goddesses represented the three phases or Life of the moon. The Sun is the masculine energy, the moon is the receptive feminine energy receiving her light from the sun.
The Christian Trinity is as a solar triune: one, the young son at sunrise (God the son); two, adult at noon (God the Father, the most high); and three, dying when the sun sets at day’s end (The Holy Ghost/Spirit). Three different aspects, but one god - the SUN. The reason that only four gospels were chosen in the official canon is because they represent the four seasons. Remember also, there are deep esoteric symbols to be found. The mythology goes far back in time.
As another example of symbolism, and in the realm of the metaphysical, the Kingdom of God represents the right hemisphere of your brain. You can activate it by doing what Jesus said in John 21:6 by “casting your net to the right side”. Our right brain is where our limitless potentiality, creativity, and imagination are found. It is also EAST. The Sun of God rises in the east (East-er). Most churches and temples among the ancients faced east. When early Christians prayed, they prayed to the east. The sun “sets” in the west. It figuratively dies each nightfall. Among other ancient figures was “Set” the evil twin. Every night, he would kill the sun … hence SUNSET. Horus represented the sky during the daytime, while Set represented the night-time sky. Set was also the basis for the development of Satan later in Hebrew lore, and ultimately Christianity's Devil.
When talking about myth, symbols, and ancient philosophy, there is always one question that people will always ask: Who designed the designer? Who created God? Since all gods and holy books are man-made, it is man who is this designer. God is Spirit, and writes no books here in a physical world of form. "Sun Worship" was more about an esoteric understanding that there was a higher power behind and beyond (meta) the sun and all it's glory and Life giving energy. Very early man believed that the night sky was a veil, and that the stars were piercings in the veil that let the light of God shine through even in the darkness. The unreachable God far beyond any manifestation here in this world.
Today, there are billions of people who believe in Jesus as God, so the Christian populous says he must be God. However, belief doesn’t make something true. Many believed the earth was flat. It is clearly not. Modern science and reason have been able to explain what would have been unexplainable to primitive man. If you were able to travel back in time with a cigarette lighter, mankind would've made you a some type of god as well. There were nature gods, weather gods, gods for everything. Jesus represents something far more esoteric and symbolic. In many ways, HIStory, is also OURstory. But in a spiritual way.
There is plenty to be found in ancient scripture to confirm my words. When we take this collective document as merely literal and historical content, it holds much less value than it does when you read between the lines ... the stories beneath and beyond the ink and paper. Many of the events didn't happened in the way that we've been told. They are meant to be collective metaphors and allegories of a much more spiritual nature. These stories were never intended by their writers to be only taken literally. Symbolism was used to conceal the inner Truths contained within the stories.
What about the Ten Commandments you say? I say which ones? The Protestant, Catholic or Hebrew? They'll all different. Check and you'll see this to be true. In fact, they were all extracted from King Hammurabi's Laws (the negative commandments) during the times that the Hebrews lived among Babylonian rule. There are also two different sets of commandments. The Roman Catholic Church deleted the second Commandment and changed God's Sabbath to Sunday, and then split the tenth Commandment into two to get back to Ten Commandments in total.
The wandering in the desert for 40 years, the crossing of the Red (Reed) Sea, the floating Ark of Noah, the walking on water, stilling the seas, resurrecting from the dead, etc. These stories are all spiritual allegories explained using surface stories and parables to deliver a deeper message for those with eyes to see, and ears to hear. There were Outer Mysteries (assumed literal events) presented to the masses of followers, and there were Inner Mysteries (Truth behind the spiritual nature of the stories) revealed to those who were inspired to go deeper into the text.
Only a few initiates were privy to the Inner Mysteries. Even still today, the Vatican holds many mysteries that the general public will never be told. Rather than releasing the Truth to the people and possibly recovering the ancient spiritual pre-Roman Christian/Krestian teachings to the people, and empowering them through the spiritual strength that they teach, they choose to hide the Inner Mysteries and continue the secrecy that has taken thousands of years to build. Reveal the Truth, and the world would be empowered immediately. Positive change would be the result, and mankind's Saviour, would be the Truth of who and what they really are. "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM.
