Copyright 1999A.Pert

Summary of this essay

To many people - believers, non-believers, and those in between - Christianity is a conundrum. Christian teachings and behaviour are riddled with contradictions.Acts of supreme self-sacrifice to ice cold hate have been undertaken in the name of Christianity. From its inception Christians have been arguing and even fighting among themselves over the meaning of their religion.Look at any book on the history of Christian theology or thought and you will find a plethora of interpretations of Christians.There is no general agreement. At times "Christians" used to kill fellow Christians who had a differing interpretation of doctrines.How can we make sense of this?

Much has been written in an attempt to explain Christianity, but few have got down to the root of the matter.Two writers who have done so are Dr Anna Bonus Kingsford (1846-1888) and Dr Alvin Boyd Kuhn, and their works have greatly contributed to my understanding of this subject.The main points I advance are:

1.All scriptures, including Christian, are written in symbolic or allegorical language. To understand scriptures we must decipher the symbolism.The symbolism is not arbitary; it is the expression of God's universal laws.

2.Christianity is/was the religion of the Age of Pisces.The spirit of the age gave us Christianity. To fully understand the teachings of Christianity we must take account of Piscean values and attributes.

3.The core Christian doctrines are Mystery teachings, which pre-dated Christianity.

4.The unique thing about Christianity is that it brought the ancient Mystery teachings out into the open.The aim was for everyone to participate in the Mysteries, not just a select few.This was a disastrous course to take because the truth became distorted beyond recognition.

5.The meaning of the Mysteries, and thus Christianity, will be explained.At the centre of religion is the journey of the immortal soul.

6. The meaning of Christian doctrines such as Incarnation, Virgin Birth,Crucifixion, Atonement and Resurrection will be explained in terms of the ancient Mysteries.
 

Contents:
Introduction
Inner teachings
Christian beginnings
Dark Ages of Christianity
Symbolism of scriptures
Relevance of myth
Truth is in symbols
Attitudes to allegory and myth: Pythagoras, Plato, Philo, Heraclitus, Plutarch, Porphyry, Sallustius, Macrobius, Proclus
Early Christians and philosophy and myth: Clement, Origen
The number four
Fourfold meaning in myth and scripture
Astrological symbolism in the Bible
Life moves in cycles
Symbolism in the age of Taurus; in the Age of Aries
The decline of the Age of Aries: decadence of the Roman emperors; the "loss of nerve"
Symbolism of the Age of Pisces
Pisces is the end of a cycle; end of the world in Christianity
Faith, knowledge and Christianity
Pisces is a water/emotional sign
Characteristics of Neptune the planetary ruler of Pisces
Sacrifice, suffering and self undoing in Christianity
Christians like to suffer
The mysteries and Christianity
The ancient Mystery religions: Eleusinian; of Orpheus; of the Great Mother
Attitudes to the mysteries: ancient writers; Christian
Clement on secret teachings
Origen on secret teachings
Christianity brought the Mysteries out into the open
(to be continued)
Bibliography (in progress)

Introduction

I have often wondered why Christianity, though holding high ideals, in practice has often not lived up to these ideals.In fact at times it has flaunted its professed beliefs.Even the Pope, in April 2000, (belatedly) apologised for atrocities such as the Inquisition, torture and burnings of "witches", committed by his Church in past centuries.Despite holding beliefs of peace and brotherly love, the churches down through the centuries have often engaged in war and brutal oppression.Critics of the Churches have been tortured and murdered mercilessly.It is only in the last 150 years or so that it has been safe to criticise Christianity.For example, the poet Percy Shelley was sent down from Oxford University in 1811 for writing a pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.Ironically, in 1892 the same University created a memorial to him.It was not until 1871 that someone who was not a practising Christian could attend Oxford University (except for Divinity).

Even today Christians hold such a range of views that it is difficult to know just exactly what constitutes their religion When you start looking below the surface to get some real substance, confusion abounds.People calling themselves Christians run the gamut from pacificist Quakers to sabre rattling fundamentalists.What is the real Christianity?

Over a period of 1900 years there has been no general agreement on the meaning of basic Christian doctrines.The dominating feature of Christian thought is utter confusion.Just peruse a history of Christian thought or theology, and you are confronted with a bewilderering array of ideas, claims and counter claims.Controversies over interpretation break out, flare up, subside, and die a natural death.A common Christian response is simply to say that God moves in mysterious ways, and you have to have faith.In our changing world today controversies are not vehement like they used to be.Many people feel that there is no point in raking over dead coals.New fires of inspiration need to be lit.

I don't criticise the  heartfelt faith of those people who gain great comfort, hope and inspiration from the Christ figure.My purpose in this paper is to begin to understand the real Christianity, and try and find out what went wrong.Is there more to Christianity than blind faith?Can it be based on reason?

Inner teachings

Most religions have inner teachings for a few and outer teachings for the masses.For example, Islam has Sufism as an inner teaching, Judaism has Kabbalah, Buddhism and Hinduism have various esoteric teachings, and traditional peoples have higher grades of initiation only for those who are capable of attainment.In the ancient world the details of initiation into the mysteries were strictly protected.Christianity is alone in not having officially recognised inner teachings.

Although Christianity has had many mystics, many of them could not be regarded as initiates.The mystical experiences of many were the result of an overwrought emotional pietism and were usually tolerated by the Church because they posed no threat to conventional teachings.(See Armstrong for examples of Christians who induced Dionysian experiences in themselves.)But mystics with substantial ideas were deemed to be a threat and were treated accordingly.Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) only avoided the Inquisition because he died before he was to be put on trial.Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) was denounced by Church authorities and banished from his home town because of his pursuit of truth.

The beginnings of Christianity are a mystery--in more ways than one

Still today the beginnings of Christianity are shrouded in mystery.Many and various are the theories put forward to explain it.Initially Christianity grew out of Judaism in an almost parasitic fashion.To the Jews the Christians were heretics.Christians used Jewish scriptures as justification of their own teachings and scriptures.I believe that the major Christian doctrines emerged out of the mystery teachings that existed in Greece and the Middle East around 2000 years ago, but became distorted by the Church.Early Christian fathers such as Clement of Alexander and Origen mention the continuity between Greek philosophy, especially Plato, and the inner mystery teachings and Christianity.Both stated that Christianity had secret teachings for the few, just as was the case in the mysteries.

In its early years, what came to be called Christianity existed as a variety of mystery cults, limited to a small number of people and expounding esoteric teachings.These included the Nasseni, Essenes, Therapeutae and Gnostics.Over time a church hierarchy developed which wanted to attract the masses, so the mystery teachings were brought out into the open, to be made available to all.This was a fatal mistake which buried the truth for centuries, right down to the present day.The church did not follow its own teaching: it cast the pearls of the mysteries before the "swine" of the masses.The truths of the inner teachings were lost, leading to falsehoods and distortions being taught as the "truth".

The early church was called "catholic", which means universal.It claimed to be for all, and it attempted to combine elements of many religions.In Christianity there is Judaic monotheism, Persian dualism, eastern otherworldliness and asceticism, and various mystery teachings.A veritable potpourri of religious ideas, bound to cause confusion.

The Church hastened in the Dark Ages: 391 AD - ????

The "Dark Ages" are conventionally dated from 476AD when the Goths deposed the last Western Roman emperor, to about 1000AD.More accurate dating would start the Dark Ages in 391AD when Christians burnt many of the 500,000 to 700,000 scrolls in the library at Alexandria.The mob was stirred up by the Church in a fanatical attempt to destroy knowledge.Hadas informs us that "not a tithe" of the classical writings have come down to us.The sun of knowledge briefly broke through the clouds of ignorance during the Renaissance and the Romantic period.

Another type of darkness arose around 1600 with the philosophy of materialism, laughingly called the Age of Enlightenment.The spiritual basis of life was severely attacked, leading to gross materialism and the global predicaments we face today. I wonder how men like Rene Descarte, David Hume and John Locke would feel if they knew that with their materialistic philosophies they had sown the seeds which have produced the putrid culture that gives us junk like South Park, Married With Children, heavy metal, rap and so on.The more I study the human condition the more I understand that delusion is the normal lot of humankind.

The church did its best to cover up its deceptions.Tens of thousands of books were destroyed and many documents were forged, including some of their own scriptures.Those who kept to the truth of the inner teachings, such as the gnostic Christians, had their writings destroyed, their teachings distorted, and they were branded as "heretics." The widely respected Origen was declared anathema in 543AD. (Anathema: "a curse; a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction; a person or thing detested or loathed." Cursing someone to damnation was a common "Christian" way to treat those who endeavoured to proclaim the truth.)Classical philosphy and religion was trashed with outright lies and monstrous distortions.The last school of philosophy, in Athens, was closed in 529AD.Wild superstition and supreme ignorance have been  the order of the day for centuries.

Great and universal truths are hidden in Christianity, but their true nature is unknown to most people.Two writers in particular, Anna Kingsford(1846-1888) and Alvin Boyd Kuhn have cast much light on these truths.I want to present the issues and hope to add to our understanding.

The truth is found in the symbolism of scriptures

All scriptures are written in allegorical or symbolic language.Humankind has always used symbols to express the highest truths of life."This is the great function of symbols," said Paul Tillich, " to point beyond themselves, in the power of that to which they point, to open up levels of reality which otherwise are closed, and to open up levels of the human mind of which we otherwise are not aware."(Eliade, 1965,p.201)Allegory, symbolism, metaphor and such terms refer to the expressing of one thing in terms of something else.Eliade (1965,p.201f) has delineated six aspects of religious symbolism:

1."Symbols are capable of revealing a modality of the real or a condition of the World which is not evident on the plane of immediate experience." He gives the example of the symbolism of the Waters, which reveals the pre-formal, the potential, the chaotic.This is not a matter of rational cognition, but the point of departure for reflection and the cosmologies of World creation. Symbols reveal an inner pattern of the World, and a deeper , more mysterious Life than is known by everyday experience.They reveal the miraculous and sacremental dimensions of human life, which come from 'elsewhere' and have adivine origin.

2. "Symbols are always religious." "....at the archaic levels of culture, the real, - that is to say the powerful, the significant, the living - is equivalent to the sacred."The World is a creation of the Gods or supernatural Beings, so to discover a World pattern is to reveal a secret or ciphered meaning of the divine work.

3.Religious symbolism has "multivalence,its capacity to express simultaneously several meanings the unity between which is not evident on the planeof immediate experience." "The symbolism of the Moon, for example, reveals a connatural unity between the lunar rhythms, temporal becoming, the Waters, the growth of plants, women, death and resurrection, the human destiny, the weaver's craft, etc."

4. "The symbol is capable of revealing a perspective in which diverse realities can be fitted together or even integrated into a 'system.'"The symbol allows man to discover unity in the World " and at the same time become aware of his own destiny as an integral part of the World."Lunar rhythm reveals the law of Time and cyclic becoming, and that death and rebirth are in the very structure of life.Night symbolises the formlessness of beginnings, which has special revelance to initiation.

5. The religious symbol has the "...capacity for expressing paradoxical situations or certain patterns of ultimate realitythat can be expressed in no other way."The example Eliade gives is the symbol of the Symplegades, presenting passage from one mode of existence to another.Only symbols can express the ultimate unity of oppositions and antagonisms.

6 Eliade says " we must stress the existential value of religious symbols..that a symbol always points to a reality or situation concerning human existence." A religious symbol brings a meaning to human existence." "It reveals the unity between human existence and the structure of the Cosmos." This allows man to see beyond his own subjective situation and comprehend the universal.

Relevance of myth

The Russian philosopher Nicolai Berdyaev (1878-1948) provides a summary of the importance of myth:

"Religious philosophy ia always steeped in myth and cannot escape myth without abolishing both itself and its task....The driest scholastic theology and metaphysics are nourished by religious myths. Pure abstract metaphysics, completely free of myth is the death of living knowledge, a breaking away from being, a stoppage of nourishment. Living knowledge is mythological....Myth is a reality incomparably greater than knowledge....But in myth there is hidden the greatest reality, the basic phenomena of the spiritual life. The mythmaking life of peoples is real spiritual life, more real than the life of abstract concepts or rational thinking. Myth is always concrete and, better than rational thinking, it reflects life.

"The nature of myth is connected with the nature of symbol. Myth is a concrete story, imprinted in the memory of a people, in folk creativity, in its language, of the basic phenomena of spiritual life, symbolized and reflected in the natural world; the very first reality is grounded in the spiritual world and reaches down to mysterious depths. But the symbols and signs, the imaging and reflection of these first realities are given in the world of nature. Myth represents the supernatural in the natural, the super-perceptive in the perceptive, the life of the spirit in that of the flesh. Myth is the symbolic bond between two worlds." (Berdyaev, p.177)
 

James Hillman places great importance on myths."...myths offer the multiplicity of meanings inherent in our lives, while theology and science attempt singleness of meaning.Perhaps this is why mythology is the mode of speaking religion in polytheistic consciousness, and why monotheistic consciousness writes down theology.Polytheistic consciousness is ever reminded by myth of the ambiguity of meanings and the multiplicity of persons in each event at each moment." "Myths do not tell us how.They simply give us the invisible background which starts us imagining, questioning, going deeper.The very act of questioning is a step away from practical life, deviating from its high road of continuity, seeing it from another perspective."(Hillman, p.158)

"Mythical metaphors are not etiologies, causal explanations, or name tags.They are perspectives toward events which shift the experience of events; but they are not themselves events.They are likenesses to happenings, making them intelligible, but they do not themselves happen."(Ibid.p.101)"Remember: the enemy is the literal, and the literal is not the concrete flesh but negligence of the vision that concrete flesh is a magnificent citadel of metaphors." (Ibid.p.174)

The importance of speech

In Phaedrus Plato discusses the superiority of speech over writing.He notes several dangers of writing: people lose the use of memory; the written word is open to misinterpretation, and cannot defend itself.(Phaed.275)The spoken word has greater power than the written word in the transmission of sacred knowledge.The spoken word is like a seed sown in the soul of the hearer: it can grow and bear fruit.But if words are written in "water" with pen and ink, they "can neither speak for themselves nor teach the truth adequately to others."Phaedrus says to Socrates: "You mean the living word of knowledge which has a soul, and of which the written word is properly no more than an image?" Socrates replies: "Yes, of course that is what I mean."(Phaed.276a) Being an initiate himself, Plato understood the power of the spoken word, and he knew the the mischief that can be caused by the written word.

Mythos originally meant the telling of events or stories.The oral transmission of myths can be regulated only to those who are in a fit state to receive them.In oral cultures the young were (are) told the tribal myths and their meanings at initiation.Ther elders were (are) guardians of the sacred knowledge, and they prepare the initiates so that they can receive the knowledge with the proper respect and awe.

Truth is hidden in allegory and symbols

Some writers have claimed that spiritual truths are wrapped up in symbols to keep them from the profane and unworthy who would mis-use the truth.(Hodson v.1, p.23-)Hodson says that spiritual truth is more powerful than knowledge of atomic energy, so obviously is not for all and sundry to know, it has to be hidden. But, higher learning in any field is not deliberately made difficult to keep it from the ignorant, it is difficult by its very nature.Knowledge is not handed out to people on a plate, for like all worthwhile things in life it has to be earned by effort.For example, higher mathematics is a mystery to most people, but not so in order to mystify them.It takes some years and self discipline to master the subject.Sallustius (fl.360 C.E.) summed up the position when he wrote that truth is concealed in myths because it "compels the good to practise philosophy." (Murray, p.202)

A father of the church,Clement of Alexandria (c.150-216 C.E.) wrote:

"Very useful, then, is the mode of symbolic interpretation for many purposes; and it is helpful to the right theology, and to piety, and to the display of intelligence, and the practice of brevity, and the exhibition of wisdom.'For the use of symbolical speech is characteristic of the wise man,' appositely remarks the grammarian Didymus, 'and the explanation of what is signified by it.' "(Stromata,Bk.V, ch.8)

"...the Scriptures hide the sense...that we may become inquisitive, and be ever on the watch for the discovery of the words of salvation.(Str.Bk.VI, ch.15)

The sage or prophet wants all to know the truth, but he knows that people have to be ready for it.Knowing the truth only does good, it is half truths and distortions of the truth that do harm."Do not give to dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and attack you."(Mat.7.6) This means do not talk about higher things to people who are not ready to receive them.It is a waste of breath, and the ignorant will mock the mysteries which they do not understand.This is a practical approach, and does not intend to hide the truth from those capable of receiving it.

"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because the are spiritually discerned."(1 Cor.1.14) "But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it."(1Cor.3.1-2)

The history of Christianity has shown that the allegorical myths should never have been made public, because they are then taken literally and their meaning is distorted.This question will be explored later on in reference to the mysteries.For the moment , we will take a quick look at the crucifixion.If taken literally, it shows God to be sadistic and quite perverse.A literal reading has caused some Christians to indulge in torture and very cruel behaviour, having the attitude that Christ suffered, so people should "imitate Christ" and suffer too.Only the allegorical reading reveals the profound truth of the crucifixion.This is the dismemberment of the god as he comes into earthly manifestation.

Various attitudes to allegory and myth

"It has often been maintained, and is still widely held, that the civilization of ancient Greece underwent a development from myth to reason, or - to adopt the Greek derived terms which have sometimes assumed talismanic status in relation to the debate - from Mythos to Logos.Such a progress, embracing, among other areas, philosophy, historiography, medicine, technology, and various sciences, has frequently presented as a triumphal one."(Buxton,p.1)From Myth to Reason? Discusses some of the issues involved, and shows that there was no clear-cut "progress" from myth to reason.Some discussions on this topic assume that myth is "irrational" and inferior to "reason."

Among the ancient Greeks there was a range of attitudes to myth and allegory.Tate traces Greek use of allegory back to Pherecydes of Syros (born not much later than 600B.C.) In Contra Celsum (VI.42) Origen cites Celsus' examples of allegory in Homer put forward by Pherecydes.(Tate, 1927,p.214-215) Tate thus questions the widespread assertion that Theagenes of Rhegium (c.522 B.C.) was the first Greek allegorist.Tate points out that even though early Greek philosophers such as Heraclitus, Empedocles and Xenophones criticised Hesiod and Homer, it didn't necessarily mean that they were against allegory.(Tate,1934,p.107).These Greek philosophers attacked Hesiod and Homer in order to make way for their own philosophies. Others, such as Anaxagoras and his disciple Metrodorus of Lampsacus, supported the poetry of Homer and understood the use of allegory and its purpose "to teach virtue and justice."(Tate, 1929,p.142)

Pythagoras

Pythagoras (c.570 - c.496 BC) was a seminal figure in Western thought.Being "the first man to call himself a philosopher, this Greek cosmologist and mathematician was a religious reformer in the Orhpic tradition.He taught that Number is a universal archetype which underlies the structure of reality.He is said to have travelled widely, visiting priests and scholars in distant lands, before founding his own philosophical school at Croton in southern Italy."(Fideler 1993,p.385) Fideler states: "...perhaps it would be fair to view Plato as the most important Pythagorean thinker in the history of the West."(Fideler 1987, p.39) Early Pythagoreans sung extracts from Hesiod and Homer to calm the soul, and gave a moralizing interpretation of the Iliad.(Lamberton,p.35)

The Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus (c.250 - c.325 AD) in his The Life of Pythagoras says "Pythagoras considered most necessary the use of symbols in instruction.Most of the Greeks had adpoted it, as the most ancient, and it had been both preferentially and in principle employed by the Egyptians, who had developed it in the most varied manner." (Fideler 1987, p.83) The writings of the Pythagoreans "were not composed in popular or vulgar diction, or in a manner usual to other writers, so as to be immediately understood, but in a way not to be easily apprehended by their readers.For they adopted Pythagoras' law of reserve, in an arcane manner concealing divine mysteries from the uninitiated, obscuring their writings and mutual conversations." (Ibid.)

Iamblichus continues: "The result is that they who present these symbols without unfolding their meaning by a suitable exposition, run the danger of exposing them to the charge of being ridiculous and inane, trifling and garrulous.When, however, the meanings are expounded according to these symbols, and made clear and obvious even to the crowds, then they will be found analogous to prophetic sayings, such as the oracles of the Pythian Apollo.Their admirable meaning will inspire those who unite intellect and scholarliness."(Ibid.)

Various Pythagorean teachings were presented in the form of symbols or maxims, of which Fideler lists 75.Some examples are:

Go not by the public way. (Go not the broad popular way that leads to destruction.)
Wear not the image of God on your ring. (Profane not the name of God.)
Do not easily shake hands with a man. (Make no ill-considered friendships.)
Abstain from beans. (Avoid food causing flatulence; avoid democratic voting.)
Do not put meat in a foul vessel. (Do not give good precepts to a vicious soul.)
When it thunders , touch the ground. (Appease God by humility.)
Do not primp by torch-light. (Look at things in the light of God.)
Give way to a flock that goes by. (Oppose not the multitude.)
Write not in the snow. (Trust not your precepts to persons of inconstant character.)
 

Plato

Some commentators state that Plato would abolish poetry, including that of Homer, from the ideal state. However a close look at The Republic reveals that the situation is not so simple.Plato "admires" Homer (Rep. 383a) and in Laws it is stated "the poets are a divine race."(682a) Plato wants to keep poetry away from the young because they cannot understand its allegory."The doings of Cronos, and the sufferings which in turn his son inflicted upon him, even if they were true, ought certainly not to be lightly told to young and thoughtless persons; if possible, they had better be buried in silence.But if there is an absolute necessity for their mention, a chosen few might hear them in a mystery.(Rep.378a) "For a young person cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal; anything that he receives into his mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts."(Rep.378d)

Plato had doubts about imitative poetry becauses it arouses the "inferior part of the soul", leading to the impairment of reason.(Rep.605a) He says "...we are ready to acknowledge that Homer is the greatest of poets and first of tragedy writers; but we must remain firm in our conviction that hymns to the gods and praises of famous men are the only poetry which ought to be admitted into our State.(Rep.607a) However, he goes on to say "...let us assure our sweet friend and the sister arts of imitation, that if she will only prove her title to exist in a well-ordered State we shall be delighted to receive her."(Rep.607c) "We too are inspired by that love of poetry which the education of noble States has implanted in us, and therefore we would have her appear at her best and truest."(Rep.607d) Having re-admitted imitative poetry into the State, he says that whoever listens to it "should be on his guard against her seductions."(Rep.608c).

Philo

Philo Judaeus (c.30BC - 45AD) was a Jew from Alexandria who was much influenced by Platonic thought."The influence of Philo on the Alexandrian Christian Platonists, represented by Clement and Origen, is undeniable, and only the extent and importance of that influence are matters of dispute."(Lamberton, p.53) Evidence of influence by Philo on the Neoplatonists has not been forthcoming, but Lamberton thinks that it is entirely conceivable.(Ibid.)

Dawson says that Philo's "allegorical readings are designed to reinterpret Hellenistic cultural ideals according to the demands of scripture.And when the connection between literary revision and social practice is kept in view, it becomes unmistakenly clear that for Philo allegorical interpretation is an effort to make Greek culture Jewish rather than to dissolve Jewish identity into Greek culture.Philo's concern for the specific practice of Judaism in Alexandrian society reveals that for him allegorical interpretation is central to Jewish communal identity and survival in a hostile environment." (Dawson, p.74)

"It has long been recognized that Philo's allegorical method derives ultimately from Greek thought, and specifically from the Stoic tradition of interpretation, itself eclectic and only fragmentarily attested before Philo's time, but resting primarily on the recognition in texts or myths of three levels of meaning - literal, ethical, and metaphysical." (Lamberton, p.47) Dawson states in this regard that "Alexandrian Jewish texts that explicitly comment on scripture consistently draw upon the hermeneutical procedures favored by Greek etymologists and allegorical interpreters." (Dawson, p.75) Philo uses Greek methods to validate his own scriptures, yet at the same time condemns Greek mythology.

Philo was against extreme literalism and extreme allegorism.Scoffing literalists, he says: "Some of the contentious type of people who wish always to attach blame to what is blameless, not so much in things material as in matters spiritual, and wage war to the end against what is holy, vilify and slander all [the scriptual passages] that do not appear to preserve what is seemly in expression, though in reality they constitute symbols of the nature that loves concealment, a nature into which these critics make no precise inquiry." (Mut.60. Winston, p.80) On the other hand, "There are some who, taking the laws in their literal sense as symbols of intelligible realities, are overprecise in their investigation of the symbol, while frivolously neglecting the letter...We ought rather look on the outward observance as resembling the body, and their inner meaning as resembling the soul, inasmuch as it is the abode of the soul, so we must attend to the letter of the laws.If we keep these, we shall obtain an understanding of those things which are the symbols, and in addition we shall escape the censure and accusations of the multitude.(Mig.89-93 ibid.p.81-2)

Philo does not always accept a literal interpretation of scripture:

"Narrated in this fashion, these things are like prodigies and wonders, one serpent projecting a human voice, playing the sophist with an utterly guileless character, and deceiving a woman with seductive persuasions; and another becoming an instrument of perfect salvation for those who behold it.But by deploying explanations derived from the deeper sense, the mythical vanishes from sight, and the truth becomes manifest.(Agr.96-97, ibid.p.80)

"'So Cain went forth from the face of God, and dwelt in the land of Naid, over against Eden' (Gen.4.16). Let us here raise the problem whether we ought to understand the content of the books in which Moses acts as God's interpreter figuratively, since the immediate impression made by his words is far from being in accord with the truth."(Post.1.1, ibid.p.81)

"Now Samuel was probably an actual man; but he has been taken by us not as a vital complex of body and soul, but as a mind that rejoices solely in the service and worship of God. For his name signifies 'appointed to God,' because he believes that all actions that have their origin in empty imaginings constitute a grievous disorder.(Ebr.144, ibid.p.81)

Philo defined "myth" to mean man-made falsehoods, a practice taken up by the Christian fathers to also denigrate Greek religion.As the quotation from Post. 1.1 above shows, Philo did admit there was myth in scripture, and there was no alternative but to interpret such passages allegorically: "the literal statement is a fabulous one, and it is in the mythical that we shall find the true." (Kuhn 1940, p.68) Philo's works contain the most comprehensive allegorical interpretations of scripture from aniquity that have come down to us.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus (1^st century AD) in Homeric Allegories defends allegory and offers his allegorical reading of Homer. (He is not to be confused with the pre-Socratic Heraclitus, the one who said you cannot step into the same river twice.) "According to Heraclitus, an allegorical approach to the epics is justified because Homer is both philosopher and poet, standing within a long tradition of philosophical poets and mythmakers."(Dawson,p.40)Heraclitus points out that Homer tells the reader to read his works allegorically.Homer uses allegory to reveal the truth, not to make it ambiguous.(Dawson, p.41)

Heraclitus "consistently separates Homer's narrative into two levels: a surface level of seemingly mythical poetry (the literal sense) and a deeper level of truth or philosophical insight (the allegorical sense)."(Ibid.) From Heraclitus's perspective, the critics of Homer are quiet mistaken in thinking that Homer was a failed moralist: he was instead a deep thinker writing philosophy by indirect means.Philosophically minded defenders of Homer like Heraclitus countered charges of immorality and impropriety by insisting that Homer was actually presenting a scientific and philosophical world view by means of the seemingly offensive portions of the Iliad and the Odyssey.To be offended by such passages was to simply miss the point."(Ibid.)

Plutarch

Plutarch of Chaerona (c.45 - c.125AD) was a philosopher, scholar, essayist, and also a priest of Apollo at Delphi.(Fideler, p.385)His On Isis and Osiris tells the story of how Isis saved Osiris and discusses other issues of Egyptian religion.It is the only work surviving from antiquity to present the true meaning of aspects of Egyptian mythology.Plutarch says that the priests of Egypt had a "philosophy that is hidden for the most part in myths and stories which show dim reflections and insights of the truth."(ch.9)Sphinxes are placed before shrines, "intimating that their teaching about the gods holds a mysterious wisdom."(Ibid.) The "wisest of the Greeks", Solon, Thales, Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras and Lycurgus went to Egypt to be instructed by the priests.(Ibid.,ch.10)

Plutarch is well aware of the allegorical content of Egyptian myths."Thus whenever you hear the myths told by the Egyptians about the gods, those, for instance, which tell of their wanderings, mutilations, and many other such tales, you should remember what was said above and not think that any of these things is said to have actually happened so or to have been enacted so; for they do not call Hermes 'the Dog' in a literal sense, but inasmuch as the animal discriminates friend and foe by recognition and non-recognition, as Plato says (Resp. 375E sqq.), they associate its qualities of guardianship, vigilance and sagacity with the most discerning of gods.Nor do they believe that the Sun-god arises from a lotus-flower as a newborn babe, but thus they represent sunrise, symbolizing the rekindling of the sun from amid moisture...

"If you hear the matters pertaining to the gods in this way, receiving the myth from those who interpret it reverently and philosophically, and if you perform and observe constantly the accepted rites, considering that nothing is more pleasing to the gods, whether sacrifice or ritual enactment, than the true belief about them, thus you will avoid superstition, which is no less an evil than atheism."(Ibid.,ch.11)

Plutarch makes his attitude to the myths quiet clear: "We must not treat the myths as wholly factual accounts, but take what is fitting in each episode according to the principle of likeness (to truth)." (Ibid.,ch.58) "Just as the scientists tell us that the rainbow is an image of the sun made brilliant by the reflection of its appearance into a cloud, so the present myth is the image of a reality which turns the mind back to other thoughts." (Ibid.,ch.20)To take the myths literally is to hold "extreme and barbarous views about the gods." (Ibid.) Plutarch tells us that "The dismemberment of Osiris into fourteen parts is interpretated in relation to the days in which the planet [the moon] wanes after the full moon until a new moon occurs. (Ibid.,ch.42)

Plutarch understands and supports genuine myths about the gods.He is opposed to "the flimsy stories and hollow figments such as poets and prose writers weave and spread out before us, like spiders creating from themselves, as first principles which are quiet unfounded." (Ibid., ch.20) In How to Study Poetry Plutarch criticises those poets who stray from the path of genuine myth by creating their own "fable and falsehood." (How to Study Poetry,17) Like Plato, Plutarch does not want the young to be corrupted by cryptic or misleading poetry.

In The Oracles at Delphi Plutarch tells about a change in attitude to myths.In the ancient days "...owing to this aptitude for poetic composition, most men through lyre and song admonished, spoke out frankly, or exhorted; they attained their ends by the use of myths and proverbs, and besides composed hymns, prayers and paens in honour of the gods in verse and music." (The Oracles at Dephi, 406) "But, as life took on a change in men's fortunes and their natures," (Ibid.) there grew a desire for clearness and the use of everyday language.

"However, the thing that most filled the poetic art with disrepute was the tribe of wandering soothsayers and rogues that practised their charlatanry about the shrines of the Great Mother and of Serapis, making up oracles, some using their own ingenuity, others taking by lot from certain treatises oracles for the benefit of servants and womenfolk, who are most enticed by verse and a poetic vocabulary.This, then, is not the least among the reasons why poetry, by apparently lending herself to the service of tricksters, mountebanks, and false prophets, lost all standing with the truth and the tripod." (Ibid.)

Understanding a need for clearness in his own day, Plutarch says, "For my part, I am well content with the settled conditions prevailing at present." (Ibid. 408)But Plutarch does not criticise the validity of allegories and metaphors as such, only those people who misunderstand them. These people are like children, who "take more delight and satisfaction in seeing rainbows, haloes, and comets than in seeing moon and sun; and so these persons yearn for the riddles, allegories, and metaphors which are but reflections of the prophetic art when it acts upon a human imagination." (Ibid. 409) These people miss the truth because they are dazzled by the surface of the allegories and don't get behind them to grasp the real meaning.
 

Plutarch was aware that some people misunderstood the nature of the gods.He says that some Greeks think that statues and paintings of gods are the gods themselves, not knowing that they are images of the gods. (On Isis, ch.71) Similarly, some Egyptians treat certain animals as gods, not understanding their symbolic significance. (Ibid.) As he says, "..nor we should we honour these animals, but rather the divine through them, as being very clear mirrors which nature provides; for these animals should be regarded as the instrument or art of the God who orders everything." (Ibid. Ch.76) Plutarch also takes pains to point out that "... one should take the greatest heed and care not unconsciously to reduce and resolve the divine to terms of winds, fluxes, sowings, ploughings, terrestial occurrences and seasonal changes, like those who explain Dionysus as wine and Hephaestus as flame." (Ibid. ch.66) As far as Plutarch is concerned, people who call natural objects and phenomena gods are "spreading dreadful and atheistic teachings... For it is impossible to believe that these things are themselves gods." (Ibid.)

Porphyry

"It is to Porphyry [233-305AD], the disciple, editor and friend of Plotinus [205-270AD], that we owe the single largely complete essay in the explication of a Homeric text [Homeric Allegories] - one even might say of a literary text - that survives from antiquity."(Lamberton,p.108) In a fragment from a lost work, The Styx, Porphyry says: "The poet's thought is not, as one might think, easily grasped, for all the ancients expressed matters concerning the gods through riddles, but Homer went to even greater lengths to keep these things hidden." (Ibid.,p113)

In his short work, The Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey, Porphyry shows the wealth of allegorical meaning contained in merely eleven lines of Homer which describe the said cave.He says the cave is not a piece of fiction created by Homer, but is full of symbolism and ancient wisdom.(The Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey 4.p.7)In essence, the cave is a symbol of the cosmos, and the extract discussed refers to the journey of the soul.Porphyry concludes: "...in the form of a fairy-tale the poet was imitating images of higher things." (Ibid. 36.p.35)

Sallustius

Sallustius' (fl. 360 AD) On the Gods and the World was an "attempt to communicate the basic truths of Neoplatonism to a wide audience."(Lamberton, p.139) Sallustius gives a succinct outline of the need for myths, and lists five categories of myth.He says : "That the myths are divine can be seen from those who have used them.Myths have been used by inspired poets, by the best of philosophers, by those who established the mysteries, and by the Gods themselves in oracles.But why the myths are divine it is the duty of Philosophy to enquire." (Sallustius, p.201) "..the myths state the existence of Gods to all, but who and what they are only to those who can understand." (Ibid.)

Myths "also represent the activities of the Gods.For one may call the World a Myth, in which bodies and things are visible, but souls and minds hidden. Besides, to wish to teach the whole truth about the Gods to all produces contempt in the foolish, because they cannot understand, and lack of zeal in the good; whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the contempt of the foolish, and compels the good to practise philosophy.

"But why have they put in the myths stories of adultery, robbery, father-binding, and all the other absurdity? Is not that perhaps a thing worthy of admiration, done so that by means of the visible absurdity the Soul may immediately feel that the words are veils and believe the truth to be a mystery?" (Ibid.p.202)

Sallustius divides myths into five categories:

1.Theological myths are about "the very essences of the Gods : e.g. Kronos swallowing his children. Since God is intellectual, and all intellect returns into itself, this myth expresses in allegory the essence of God."(Ibid. p.202)

2.Physical myths " express the activities of the Gods in the world: e.g. people before now have regarded Kronos as Time, and calling the divisions of Time his sons say that the sons are swallowed by the father."(Ibid.) (It would be absurd to take the myth of Kronos literally, and miss the truth of such a striking metaphor.)

3."The psychic way is to regard the activities of the Soul itself: the Soul's acts of thought, though they pass on to other objects, nevertheless remain inside their begetters."(Ibid.)

4.The material way sees material objects as being Gods ; e.g. the Egyptians call Earth Isis, moisture Osiris, and heat Typhon.(Sallustius does not grasp the fact that material objects are thus used to represent certain objects, as explained by Plutarch in On Isis and Osiris.)

5.Mixed myths combine a number of categories.

Different myths suit different types of people."Theological myths suit philosophers, physical and psychic suit poets, mixed suit religious initiations, since every initiation aims at uniting us with the World and the Gods."(Ibid.p.204) Sallustius gives here a hint at the use of myths in the mystery initiations.

Macrobius

Macrobius (fl.410AD) in Commentaty on the Dream of Scipio says there are two main types of myths or fables, with subdivisions (ch.II.6-20):

1.Those which are light entertainmanet and only "gratify the ear."

2.Those which encourage the reader to do good works:

i. Fictitious settings and plots,e.g. Aesop's fables.

ii. The fabulous narrative, which "rests on a solid foundation of truth, which is treated in a fictitious style," being of two types:

a. "Matters that are base and unworthy of divinities."
b. Those with a "dignified conception of holy truths" and a "modest veil of allegory."

Macrobius says that philosophers don't use 2.i.a when treating of the Supreme God (the Good or the First Cause) or Mind, because these concepts are beyond nature and cannot be described by worldly attributes.Macrobius then continues:

"But in treating of the other gods and the Soul, as I have said, philosophers make use of the fabulous narrative; not without a purpose, however, nor merely to entertain, but because they realize that a frank, open exposition of herself is distasteful to Nature, who, just as she has withheld an understanding of herself in variegated garments, has also desired to have her secrets handled by more prudent individuals through fabulous narratives.Accordingly, her sacred rites are veiled in mysterious representations so that she may not have to show herself even to initiates. Only eminent men of superior intelligence gain a revelation of her truths; the others must satisfy their desire for worship with a ritual drama which prevents her secrets from becoming common."(Ibid.ch.II.17-18) In other words, Nature is a coy damsel who does not reveal her secrets wantonly or to the unworthy.

Proclus

Proclus (c.410-485AD) was one of the last heads of the Platonic Academy in Athens, before it was shut down by Justinian in 529AD.In Commentary on the Republic Proclus defends Homer from alleged criticism made by Plato.Proclus points out that there are three types of poetry: the divinely inspired, didactic, and mimetic or imitative.He argues that Plato criticises imitative poetry because it is designed to arouse the baser passions.(Lamberton,p.192; Sheppard,p.194) Lamberton observes that "Perhaps the most striking and original point in Proclus' poetics is this:'Symbols are not imitations of that which they symbolize.'On the contrary, symbols may be just the opposite of that which they symbolize.That which is disgraceful may stand for that which is good, that which is contrary to nature for that which is natural.The highest level of art -the one Proclus claims is most characteristic of the Iliad and Odyssey - is not mimetic at all." (Lamberton, p.190)

In Commentary on the Timaeus of Plato Proclus says:

"The Egyptian priest compares the venerable and very ancient narrations of Solon to the fables of children.For the fables of the wise are about things of an eternal nature; but those of children about temporal things and which are of small consequence.And the former, indeed, contain intellectual concealed truth; but, the latter, truth of a grovelling nature, and which indicates nothing elevated."(1,127.p.122)

"...since the Egyptians also, who, as Plato says, were the fathers of this relation, obscurely signified the arcana of nature through fable. So that the development of this narration will be adapted to him, who speaks in the person of the Egyptians. For as Timaeus himself, conformably to the philosophy of the Pythagoreans, makes his discussion from numbers and figures, as interpreting nature through images; thus, also, the Egyptian priest will teach the truth of things through symbols adapted to himself. To which may be added, that Plato himself elsewhere acuses those who speak everything from what is at hand, in order, says he, that they may render their wisdom manifest, even to shoemakers.So that he who delivers true assertions through enigmas, is not foreign from the mind of Plato." (Ibid.1,130.p.124)

Early Christians and philosophy and mythology

Clement of Alexandria (c.150-216AD), much influenced by Plato and Philo, was the first major Christian thinker.Lilla says of him:

"Clement was the first who boldly undertook the task of defending the achievements of Greek thought against the attacks of some members of the Christian community to which he belonged. The problem of the reconciliation and synthesis between Christianity and Hellenism was felt by no other Christian author of the second century AD so deeply as by Clement.He was perfectly aware of the fact that the religion in which he firmly believed could never have become a science, or assumed the shape of a philosophical system, without taking into account the best products of Greek thought.These important considerations - which alone would suffice to place Clement's work in the first rank in the history of early Christian thought and theology - have been pointed out by several modern scholars and therefore no longer represent a problem waiting for a solution." (Lilla, p.9)

In The Stromata, or Miscellanies (literally, "carpets") Clement titles Bk.I,ch.13 "All sects of philosophy contain a germ of truth." He says: "But all, [barbarian and Hellenic philosophy] are illuminated by the dawn of Light.Let, all, therefore, both Greeks and barbarians, who have aspired after the truth...produce whatever they have of the word of truth." He continues later in the chapter: "So, then, the barbarian and Hellenic philosophy has torn off a fragment of eternal truth not from the mythology of Dionysus, but from the theology of the ever-living Word [Logos]...He who is conversant with all kinds of wisdom, will be pre-eminently a gnostic.Now it is written, 'Abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.' [Eccles.7.13]" Clement uses the word 'gnostic' often, to designate the true Christian.

Clement, after discussing various Greek and other philosophers, then says: "Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity, shedding its light over the nations.And afterwards it came to Greece.First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Samanaeans among the Bactrians; and the philosophers among the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came to the land of Judea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number...Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of Buddha; whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours." (Ibid.I.15)

Clement shows respect for the Egyptians. "The Egyptians were the first to introduce astrology among men.Similarly also the Chaldeans.The Egyptians first showed how to burn lamps, and divided the year into twelve months, prohibited intercourse with women in the temples, and enacted that no one should enter the temples from a woman without bathing. Again, they were the inventors of geometry."(Ibid.I.16)

The Stromata Bk.V.ch.7 is entitled "The Egyptian symbols and enigmas of sacred things", and begins thus: "Whence also the Egyptians did not entrust the mysteries they possessed to all and sundry, and did not divulge the knowledge of divine things to the profane; but only to those destined to ascend the throne, and those of the priests that were judged the worthiest, from their nurture, culture and birth." Clement then shows he is aware of various types of Egyptian symbolism.The sun depicted on a ship signifies it generating time.He mentions the symbolic significance of various animals such as the hawk, fish, lion, ox and dogs. He does not claim here that the Egyptians worshipped animals.In the next chapter he mentions a number of Greek poets and philosophers who used the "symbolic style."Clement says: "Very useful, then, is the mode of symbolic interpretation for many purposes; and is helpful to the right theology, and to piety, and to the display of intelligence, and the practice of brevity, and the exhibition of wisdom."

Book V.ch. 9 is entitled "Reasons for veiling the truth in symbols." Clement says: "For life would fail me to adduce the multitude of those who philosophize in a symbolic manner.For the sake of memory and brevity, and of attracting to the truth, such are the Scriptures of the Barbarian philosophy... Besides, all things that shine through a veil show the truth grander and more imposing; as fruit shining through water, and figures through veils, which give added reflections to them."Symbols have a multifaceted appeal, which stimulates the imagination to enrich our understanding.

Clement says that the Pythagoreans, Platonists, Epicureans, Stoics and disciples of Aristotle all have esoteric writings for the few, and exoteric works that are commonly available. "Further, those who instituted the mysteries, being philosophers, buried their doctrines in myths, so as not to be obvious to all." "But even those myths in Plato...are to be expounded allegorically."

Book V.ch.6 is called "The mystic meaning of the Tabernacle and its furniture."Clement begins: "It were tedious to go over all the Prophets and the Law, specifying what is spoken in enigmas: for almost the whole Scripture gives its utterances in this way." For "proof of the point," Clement selects some examples.He is not adverse to enlisting Greek philosophy and poetry, and astrology, in his explanations.For example, he explains : "The twelve stones, set in four rows on the breast, describe for us the circle of the zodiac, in the four changes of the year."

Clement states: "So very mystically the five loaves are broken by the Saviour, and fill the crowd of the listeners. For great is the crowd that keeps to the [five] things of sense, as if they were the only things in existence."(Strom.V.6) Anna Kingsford points out that the parable of the loaves and fishes is "one of the numerous indications of the influence of Greek ideas in the composition of the Gospels.For the loaves represent the doctrine of the lesser Mysteries whose grain is of the Earth, the kingdom of Demeter and of the outer.And the fishes - which are given after the loaves - imply the greater Mysteries, those of Aphrodite, - fishes symbolising the element of the 'Sea-born' Queen of Love, whose dominion is the inner kingdom of the Soul." (Kingsford, Perf. Way p.227) Bread is a symbol of Virgo, the polar opposite to Pisces, the sign of the fishes. This is one example of how Christianity took over the Greek mysteries and distorted them, to be examined later in these pages.Throughout his works Clement takes over the unfounded view of the Alexandrian Jews such as Philo that the Greeks took all their ideas from Moses.The irrational ridicule of Greek religion by the Christians shows that they had something to hide, that is, their own borrowings from the Greks. "It must be pointed out that this criticism of popular piety had no interest in the original content and significance of religious phenomena.There is no question of a phenomenlogical."(Wessels,p.30)

"Clement reads allegorically when he wishes, but he is also a shrewd literal reader when it serves his polemical purposes." (Dawson,p.203) In The Stromata he shows he understands the use of allegory in many mythologies, but in Exhortation to the Heathen he reads mythology literally in order to ridicule it.We have shown already that in The Stromata he recognised that the Egyptians saw symbolic significance in various animals. But in The Exhortation he does a complete about-face and tells us that the Egyptians and Greeks worship animals. (Ch2.34P) He repeats the mistaken idea of Herodotus (ii.46) that the Egyptians at Mendes worshipped the goat.(ch.24.34P) In fact the animal in question was the ram (Erman,p.206), having similar significance for the Egyptians as it had for the Jews during the Age of Aries.

Clement's treatment of Dionysus indicates his approach to Greek religion.He says: "The mysteries of Dionysus are of a perfectly savage character." He briefly relates the fate of Dionysus including his dismemberment by the Titans, then comments: "Here we see what the mysteries are, in one word, murders and burials!"(11.16P) Clement conveniently omits the information that Dionysus is subsequently resurrected.Of course the same happens to another saviour, the Christ, who is murdered, buried, and raised up.

Towards the end of The Exhortation "Clement presents the essence of Christianity in the technical language of the mysteries of Dionysus."(Wessels, p.30) "I will show thee the Word, and the mysteries of the Word, expounding them after thine own fashion...I give thee the staff [of the cross] on which to lean...O truly sacred mysteries! O stainless light! My way is lighted with torches, and I survey the heavens and God; I become holy whilst I am initiated.The Lord is the hierophant...(Exh.12)

Origen

Origen (185-254) was a pupil of Clement at Alexandria, and "the most significant biblical scholar in the first three centuries of Christian history.(B.Nassif in McKim,p.52) "Origen's cosmology, shaped by a mixture of Christian doctrine with the Greek literary and philosophical tradition, formed his hermeneutical theory and exegetical method.In everything he wrote, he was simultaneously an exegete, theologian and mystic."(Ibid.)

Gregory the Wonderworker, a pupil of Origen, wrote: "He used to explain the obscurities in Scripture and he could shed light on them because he was such a wonderful understanding hearer of God's word - or he would expound parts that were clear in themselves or at any rate were so to him.Of all men now living, I have never known or heard of one who had pondered as he had on the pure and luminous words and had become so expert at fathoming their meaning and teaching them to others. The Spirit who inspires the prophets and all divine and mystic discourse honoured him as a friend and had appointed him His interpreter...The same grace is needed for understanding the prophecies as for making them...Nothing was kept from us, nothing concealed or made inaccessible.We could learn about any theory,barbarian or Greek, mystical or moral...go into them all...and enjoy the good things of the mind.Everything true in the teaching of the ancients provided us with a wonderful store of material for thought..."(Danielou,p.19)

Origen says that in Scripture there are "unspeakable mysteries" and "countless numbers of the most profound ideas" which can only be understood by those who have the "key of knowledge."(De Principiis, 4.1) He quotes Christ: "Woe unto you lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye have not entered in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."(Luke 11.52)

The truth of Scripture is to be found in the spiritual interpretation."And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpretating spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for thay are folly to him, and he is not able to understand because they are spiritually discerned."(1 Cor.2.13-14)

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless into the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."(1 Thes.5.23)To be in accord with this threefold aspect of man, Origen says Scripture has a threefold interpretation relating to each aspect.(Prin.4.1.11) The bodily or "obvious" sense of a text is the historical or literal meaning, directed to the multitude.The "soul" sense is for those who have "ascended a certain way" to perfection, and contains a non-mystical level of allegory.(Nassif, p.59) Only the perfect, spiritual man can understand the highest sense of Scripture: "We speak wisdom among them thta are perfect, but not the wisdom of the world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages, unto our glory."(1 Cor.2.6-7)

The "bodily" parts of Scripture are to be taken literally and they can improve the multitude, such as moral precepts: "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal" and so on.Origen expresses the idea of the Greek allegorical readers, that Scripture contains literal impossibilities to spur people on to discover deeper meaning.(However, in Contra Celsum Celsus and Origen both deny the value of allegory in the religion of the other.4.48-50) Origen says: "...the word of God has arranged that certain stumbling- blocks, as it were, and offences, and impossiblities, should be introduced into the midst of the law and the history, in order that we may not...fall away from the [true] doctrines...Scripture interwove in the history [of the account of] some event that did not take place, sometimes what could not have happened; sometimes what could, but did not.And sometimes a few words are interploated which are not true in their literal acceptation, and sometimes a larger number."(Prin.4.1.15)

Origen shows that some parts of scripture are not to be taken literally, for example: "For who that has understanding will suppose that the first, and second, and third day, and the evening and the morning, existed without a sun, and moon, and stars ? And the first day was also without a sky ? And who is so foolish as to suppose that God, after the manner of a husbandman, planted a paradise in Eden, towards the east, and placed in it a tree of life, visible and palpable, so that one tasting of the fruit by the bodily teeth obtained life ? And again, that one was a partaker of good and evil by masticating what was taken from the tree ?And if God is said to walk in the paradise in the evening, and Adam to hide himself under a tree, I do not suppose that any one doubts that these things figuratively indicate certain mysteries, the history having taken place in appearance, and not literally."(Prin.4.1.16) Little did Origen realise that many Christians would take these things, and many other parts of scripture, literally, with disastrous consequences for true spiritual understanding.

Origen continues: "And if we come to the legislation of Moses, many of the laws manifest the irrationality, and others the impossibility, of their literal observance."(Prin .4.1.17) He gives some examples: the ban on eating vultures, which no one would eat anyway; banishment of uncircumcised males (Gen.17.14); edicts on imaginary beasts- the goat-stag and the griffin; staying at home on the seventh day. Origen also notes some edicts in the Gospel that are not to be taken literally : "Salute no man on the way"(Luke 10.4); it would be more natural to smite someone on the left cheek, not the right cheek; why blame only the right eye when we see with two eyes ?He says these literal absurdities are used to promote a figurative interpretation.( Prin. 4.1.18)

Origen insists that the spiritual student must put his own effort into understanding scripture.The "exact reader must, in obedience to the Saviour's injunction to 'search the Scriptures,' (John 5.39) carefully to ascertain in how far the literal meaning is true, and in how far impossible."(Prin. 4.1.19) "For, with respect to wholly Scripture, our opinion is that the whole of it has a 'spiritual,' but not the whole a 'bodily' meaning, because the bodily meaning is in many places proved to be impossible." (Prin. 4.1.20)

As the Church gained political power it became authoritarian.The history of the Church is largely the history of power struggles, arguments, and the persecution of opponents.Late in the fourth century Origenism came under sustained attack from Epiphanius, Theophibus, Jerome and Shenute, for both political and theological reasons. (Clark,p.86) There were a number of issues involved in the Origenist controversy, but it is allegory only that we are concerned with here.In the Ancoratus of 374 Epiphanius took issue with Origen's allegorical exegesis, claiming that the events described in the Genesis creation story are literally true and to be taken as such. Epiphanius asserts that Eden was a real place on earth, the names of Eden's rivers are authentic, and God did make tunics of skins for Adam and Eve."Epiphanius is clearly more interested in pressing a literal reading of the Bible than engaging in philosophical debate about the status of materiality." (Ibid.p.88)

Jerome (340-420), in Against John of Jerusalem c.397, lists eight charges against Origen. (Ibid.p.133) Those relating to allegory are that Origen claimed the "tunics of skin" of Genesis 3.21 are not clothes but bodies; he allegorised the physical reality of Paradise; and he allegorised the interpretation of the waters above the heavens and below the earth in his exegesis of Genesis.(Ibid.)At the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 Origen was declared anathema. (Nassif, p.54)
 

Significance of the number four

At this point it is instructive to consider the significance of the number four.Four is "significant of system and order; and so there are to be found in the universe and the soul many arrangements in sets of fours, which sets have relations in correspondence with each other and binding them together."(Gaskell, p.291) The quaternary is " a symbol of the four planes of manifestation of the Divine Life."(Ibid.p.605)Four is especially relevant to our existence here on the earth realm."The quaternary of the sensible world, which is properly what Pythagoras meant by the word Kosmos, is Fire, Air, Water and Earth."([Oliver, Pythagorean Triangle,p.112]Gaskell,p.605)Here are just a few of the many examples of the symbolism of four:

• the four worlds: Earth, Lunar, Solar and Celestial
• the four world periods or cycles: Ages of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron
• the four seasons:Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
• the four ages of man: childhood, youth, adulthood, old age
• the four winds and points of the compass:East, South, West, North
• four years is the reign of the Sacred King chosen at the Games (e.g. the Olympiad)(de Vries,p.201)
• "The four kinds of the chariot of Artemis as Great Goddess correspond with the four horses of the solar carriage carrying the sun-hero to heaven."(Ibid.)
• the four humours: blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy
• the four functional aspects of consciousness: sensation, feeling, thinking and intuition.

"Thus, Phison, the first stream, is the Ancient, or the Body and Matter, and represents the agricultural or mineral Earth, wherein lies gold, prosperity, and renown.The second river is Gehon, signifying the vale of Gehenna or Purgation, the stream which traverses "Ethiopia" or Aeth-opis, a compound word meaning literally the Fire-Serpent, or Astral Fluid.This river, therefore, is the igneous body or magnetic belt.

The third river, which is Hiddekel, [Tigris] signifies the Double Tongue of Two Meanings, the stream which rises from and flows back to ancient or anterior ages, and which guides to Assyria, the land or place of Perfection.This river is the Soul, the permanent element in man, having neither beginning nor end, taking its origin in God anterior to time, and returning whence it came indivuated and perfected.Divine in nature and human in experience, the language of the Soul is double, holding converse alike with heaven and earth.

The fourth river is Euphrates, that is the power of the Pharaoh, - or Phi-ourah, Voice of Heaven, the oracle and divine Will of the human system.And the "paradise" watered by these four rivers is the equilibrated human nature, the "garde which the Lord God has planted in Eden," or the Kosmos; that is, the Particular in the bosom of the Universal."(Kingsford, 1996.p.148)

The Tabernacle of Moses was fourfold:

"The Outer Court, which was open, denoted the Body or Man physical and visible; the covered Tent, or Holy Place, denoted the Man intellectual and invisible; and the Holy of Holies within the veil, denoted the Heart or Soul, itself the Shrine of the Spirit of the man, and of the divine Glory , which, in their turn, were typified by the Ark and Shekinah.And in each of the four Depositaries were three utensils illustrative of the regenerative degrees belonging to each division."(Ibid.p.244)

As well as this fourfold structure, four (and other number symbolism) appears throughout the description of the Tabernacle.The ark and the table are to have a gold ring on each of their four legs.There are four cups for the lampstand, four pillars for the veil, four horns for the altar, and four pillars in the court.(Exodus,25-27)

Ezekeil had a vision of "four living creatures."Each one had the face of a man in front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle at the back.(Eze.1.10) Then Ezekiel saw four wheels, one for each creature.(Eze.1.15) The creatures of course represent the four fixed signs of the Zodiac: the man is Aquarius, the lion is Leo, the ox is Taurus, and the eagle is Scorpio ( the eagle being Scorpio in it's higher aspect).Each fixed sign anchors the attribures of the season represented.For example, Taurus, being in the middle of Spring, puts down roots and holds together the forces operating in this stage of the cycle.

Later, the Lord God instructs Ezekiel to bring back to spiritual life the house of Israel.He tells Ezekiel to say to the wind/breath/spirit :"Thus says the Lord God:Come from the four winds,O breath, and breathe upon the slain, that they may live."(Eze.37.9)

In a vision, Zechariah sees "four chariots come out from between two mountains."(Zec.6.1)Each chariot is drawn by horses of four different colours: red, black, white and dappled gray.The chariot with the black horses goes to the north country, the white horses go west and the dappled grays go south.(Zec.6.6) (It is not stated in which direction go the red horses, but presumably it is to the east.)

The symbolism of four makes various appearances in the New Testament.There are four Gospels, and this is for symbolic reasons.Each Gospel represents one of the four realms or planes of manifestation.Matthew (ox) represents the earth realm, Mark (lion) is for the rational realm, Luke (man or angel) is for the soul, and John (eagle) is for the spiritual realm.(Kingsford, 1996.p.228) Anna Kingsford points out that the ox and the angel are often mistakenly replaced by each other.

The Christ begins his missionary with four disciples : Simon who is called Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and his brother John. (Mat.4.18-21) When Paul's ship is drifting across the sea of A'dria, four anchors are dropped from the stern.(Acts 27.27-29) The four living creatures appear again,  in Revelation. (Rev.4.6) Four horses, white, red, black and pale appear with the breaking of the first four seals.(Rev.6.1-8)

Fourfold meaning in myth and scripture

After out brief survey of the significance of the number four, it is logical to find that myths and scriptures have a fourfold interpretation.Myths contain spiritual teachings that were originally transmitted orally.Scriptures are spiritual teachings contained in writing.Anna Kingsford has delineated the interpretation of myth and scripture in accordance with the fourfold nature of the kosmos and man: spiritual, intellectual, moral and physical.(The Perfect Way,p.92)

1.The highest meaning is spiritual, being addressed to the spiritual nature of Man."Truth is unutterable save by God to God.Only the Divine within can receive and comprehend the Divine without The word of God must be a spiritual word, because God is spirit."(Preface, Astrology Theologized,p.30)Myths and scriptures endure because they hold the highest spiritual truths.If at all deciphered, these truths resonate throughout our whole being.This corresponds to the element fire, denoting the spiritual realm.

2.Next is the intellectual or philosophical interpretation, relating to the intellectual aspect of Man.These interpretations vary widely, according to the predilections of the interpreter.They can be poetic, masonic, mathematical, alchemic, political or occult.(Ibid.)I would add to this list the astronomical and the astrological.(Kingsford puts these last two in her third category of interpretation, but in so doing omits the moral interpretation.I can't explain why this omission is made.)Much learning attends this type of interpretation, and it can lead us down fascinating pathways, but the vital spiritual content is lacking.The corrrespondence is to the element air.

3.The third type of interpretation is the moral.Myths and scriptures are often used to impart a moral or ethical teaching.For example, that people should obey God is the moral interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve.Naturally this story can be interpretated at the other levels too, which will be examined later on.Here the correspondence is to the realm of water.

4.The last level relates to the physical realm, where the literal sense only is acknowledged.Here, the letter of scripture is given prime importance, usually to the neglect of the spiritual meaning.As Kingsford observes, "This is the plane which produces fanatics, persecutors and inquisitors."(Ibid.p.32)The correspondence is to the element earth.

Astrological symbolism in the Bible

Most people only know a debased form of astrology, as presented in newspapers, magazines and popular books.This so called "astrology" only fosters superstition and ignorance.However, an informed study of one's birth chart allows one to "Know thyself " for progression on the path of enlightenment.The ancients knew that God made the heavens for the instruction of man in his quest for spiritual development.The heavens were the first "bible" for the guidance of mankind (Kuhn 1940,p.4) Predictive astrology pales into insignificance once the holy message of the stars is deciphered.It must be kept in mind that the stars, and planets, are symbols of spiritual concepts.We must look beyond the physical stars to ascertain the spiritual message.

Dobin has found much astrology in Jewish writings: in the Bible, Midrash and Talmud.Jewish astrologers called a Zodiacal Age a Prophetic Age, reflecting the prevalence and importance of prophets and prophecy.He lists the signs of the zodiac and their rulers, the twelve sons of Jacob.(Starting with Taurus, because this was the sign on the ascendant during the Age of Aries when scripture was written.) (Dobin,p.40):

Zodiac Sign Ruler Zodiac Sign Ruler

Taurus Reuben Scorpio Dan
Gemini Simon Sagittarius Gad
Cancer Levi Capricorn Asher
Leo Judah Aquarius Naphtali
Virgo Zebulun Pisces Joseph
Libra Issachar Aries Benjamin

There are many references in the Bible to astrology, some examples being:

"And God said,'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on earth.'"(Gen.1.14-15) Here we have the physical and spiritual purpose of the heavens.Spiritually, the heavens give "signs' and "light" to humankind.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." (Eccles.3.1) God has created a natural order for us to understand and live by.

"And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them, things which the Lord your God has alloted to all the peoples under the whole heaven." (Deut. 4.19) A warning to look beyond the physical stars to find the true spiritual meanings.The stars are for all peoples.

"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech, night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, there are no words; their voice is not heard;
Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.In them he has set a tent for the sun,
Which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs in course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and there is nothing hid from its heat." (Psalms, 19.1-6) The stars have a silent speech to inform humankind.Man must hear with the inner ear, not the physical ear.A clear statement is made about the sun passing through the zodiac.

"When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established." (Ps.8.3)
"The heavens declare his righteousness, and God himself is judge!" (Ps.50.6)God made the heavens (metaphorically with his "fingers") in order to instruct humankind.

"They [the arrogant and wicked ones] set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut through the earth."(Ps.73.9) They have denied the wisdom of the heavens and are arrogant with worldly matters.(This is extremely relevant to our current period of gross materialism where base "tongues strut", particularly in the media.)

"Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O Lord thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!" (Ps.89.5)

"The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory."(Ps.97.6)

"The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom over all."(Ps.103.19)

"The heavens are the Lords heavens, but the earth he has given to the sons of men."(Ps.115.16)

"For ever, O Lord, thy word is firmly fixed in the heavens."(Ps.119.89)

"...to him who by understanding made the heavens...who made the great lights...the sun to rule over the day...the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures for ever."(Ps.136.5)

"He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names."(Ps.147.4)

"Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all ye shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created!
And he established them for ever and ever; he fixed their bounds which cannot be passed." [or, he set a law which cannot pass away.](Ps.148.3)God created the heavens to tell of, and obey, his law.

"Look at the heavens, and see."(Job,35.5)

"But none says,'Where is God my maker, who gives songs in the night...' "(Job,35.10)

"...when morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy ?"(Job,38.7)

"And I will give portends [wonders] in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."(Joel,2.30-31)

"For as the heavens are higher then the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways."(Is.55.9)

"And in that day, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth."(Hos.2.21)

Astrologers without divine inspiration are given short shrift:

"...and you said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me."(Is.47.10)"You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons predict what shall befall you."(Is. 47.13) These astrologers only operate at a superficial level, they don't go beyond the physical stars to ascertain the spiritual truth.

"Daniel answered the king, 'No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery which the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals the mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnez'zar.'"(Dan. 2.27-28)These astrologers did not have divine inspiration.

"Thou, Lord, didst found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of thy hands; they will perish, but thou remainest; they will grow old like a garment, like a mantle thou wilt roll them up, and they will be changed [like a garment].(Heb.1.10-12) This refers to the precession of the equinoxes, or the change from one Age to another.The previous Age is rolled up like an old garment, or, the "book" of the heavens is rolled up like a scroll, to make way for the new Age.

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast confession."(Heb.4.14) Jesus is the avatar for the Age of Pisces.The avatar passes through every sign of the zodiac, bringing the qualities of each sign when it is its turn to manifest.

"...he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Heb.9.26) The Age of Aries has become decadent.Self sacrifice is a feature of the Age of Pisces.

"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins." (Heb.10.4) The Age of Taurus is well gone and any lingering influence should be discarded.

"For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.So Jesus also suffered outside the camp in order to sanctify the people through his own blood." (Heb.13.11-12) Jesus is the sacrfice now instead of animals.

"And ther will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."(Luke,21.25) The heavens give signs.

"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory." (1Cor. 15.41) Each heavenly body has its own particular meaning.

The Revelation to John, or The Apocalypse, is not about the final end of the world, it is about the end of one Age and the commencement of a new Age.It contains much astrological symbolism, and some examples are:

The "four living creatures"- the lion, ox, man and eagle - are the four fixed signs of the zodiac, the pillars of the world.(Rev. 4.7)

"...the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."(Rev. 6.14) The heavens, likened to an astrological scroll or book, are "rolled up" as a sign of the end of the old age.

The eternal cycle of the Ages is affirmed by mention of the twelve tribes (here, each tribe consisting of twelve thousand).(Rev. 7.4-8)

"...on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month of the year..."(Rev. 22.2) The tree of life is likened to the Great Year, and each month or Age has its own particular characteristics.

"And a great portend appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery." (Rev. 12.1-2) Anna Kingsford has given the astrological interpretation.At midnight on 25 December the sign Virgo was rising (on the eastern horizon).In astrology each sign is divided into three segments of ten degrees each, called decans.Under the Chaldean system the sun rules the first decan of Virgo, hence Virgo the woman is "clothed with the sun."Libra is the next sign after Virgo, and its first decan is ruled by the moon, hence the moon is "under the feet" of Virgo.Libra is the balance, bringing harmony.The twelve stars represent the twelve signs of the zodiac."Thus the Heavens eternally witness to the promise of the final redemption of the Earth, and of the return of the Golden Age, and the Restoration of Eden.And the keynote of that desired harmony is to be found in the exaltation on all the universal fourfold planes, physical, philosophical, psychic, and celestial, of the WOMAN."(Perf. Way,p.167)

Life moves in cycles

Cycles operate everywhere, from the smallest cells to distant galaxies.As expressed by Lemesurier:

"Nature, we know, is cyclic.The universe abhors straight lines no less than it does a vacuum. The days, the tides, the seasons, the moon's phases, life and death, the ecological cycle, the dance of the galaxies. Nature forever moves in cycles, and any theory - whether of bilogical evolution, social progress, cosmic creation or human spiritual destiny - which attempts to reduce that progress to a straight line graph does violence to the laws of nature. Nature is not like that And we ignore the fact at our peril.

"Man has evolved on a turning planet to a cosmic symphony of cyclic rhythms that is faithfully reflected even in the breathing of his lungs and the beating of his heartSo long as he remains man he cannot escape that periodicity. He is reborn to it from generation to generation, from age to age.

"But if he is cyclic because his environment is cyclic, then there must surely be links between the two. And if his body reflects the rhythms of day and night, of the four seasons, should there not be similar links between the greater rhythms of the universe and the deeper movements of his very mind and soul?" (p.4)

E.Valentia Straiton has observed:

"All cycles symbolize the ebb and flow of life. In their ascent they reach towards the highest, and by the immutable law of opposites, their descent is towards the lowest, but every returning cycle in its re-emergence reaches higher and higher. Our present has touched the lowest point of transition, a dark period unproductive of understanding, and has seemingly failed to recognize the divine spirit within, materialism having superseded the Light."(Straiton,I, p.216)

Due to the wobble of the earth as it rotates on its axis, the north pole traces a path around the zodiac once in 25,920 years.This is called the precession of the equinoxes or the Great Year.There are twelve astrological ages, each lasting approximately 2,160 years.Some credit the Greek astronomer Hipparchus with the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes around 128 BC, but various ancient monuments and mythologies show that this knowledge goes back many thousands of years (Fideler,p.161)

Humanity must live through and learn the lessons of each astrological sign.In the words of Straiton:

"The Zodiac represents the material animal existence of physical life on earth, and every sign must be lived in its symbolical rendering and conquered if the soul is to receive its freedom, and awaken to the reality of a spiritual existence, the lower consciousness becoming merged with the Eternal.'Round and round, like a wheel, no part of which is more the starting point than any other, this is called the Equilibrium of God, or Heaven reminding us of the Wheel of Necessity.' "(Straiton,II,p.214)

Man is subject to many forces that circumscribe his life.We live in a material body and have to suffer the "ills of the flesh."Our lives are fated in one way or another.Some people dismiss astrology by saying it is fatalistic.But it takes a long struggle before anyone can truly say these words: "I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul"( from the poem "Invictus" by William Henley). Astrology says: "the stars do not compel, they impel" and "the fool is ruled by the stars, the wise man rules them."Paracelsus has explained:

"The art of astronomy helps us to discover the secrets of the innate disposition of the heart and makes manifest the good and evil qualities with which nature has endowed man. For man is a child of the Great World, and his nature is rooted in it. And because the earth and the stars are characterized by different natures, and the Kingdom of God by yet another, we must discover each of these by its signs....

"The stars are subject to the philosopher, they must follow him, not he them. Only the man who is still animal is governed, mastered, compelled, and driven by the stars, so that he has no choice but to follow them - just as the thief cannot escape the gallows, the murderer the wheel, the fish the fisherman, the bird the snare, or the game the hunter.But the reason for all this is that such a man does not know himself and does not know how to use the energies hidden in him, nor does he know that he carries the star within himself, that he is the microcosm, and thus carries in him the whole firmament with all its influensces. Therefore he can rightly be abused as stupid and unwise, and must live in dire servitude to all that is earthly and mortal." (Paracelsus, p.154)

Each Age has particular symbols that represent qualities of that Age, and they sometimes carry over to subsequent Ages.The Age of Leo began around 11,000BC, and in Egypt the lion typified "the Lion of the Double Force" and was represented in the sphinx. (Kuhn 1940, p.515)The Hebrews adopted the Egyptian typism in their divine avatar as the "lion of Judah," or the "lion of the house of Judah."(Kuhn 1944,p.446) The lion signified strength, and its tail, power.(Straiton II, p.155) Leo is ruled by the sun, and it was the age of the sun cult with its imposing and mysterious standing stones, symbols of the solar rays. (Lemesurier, p.15)

Next came the Age of Cancer the crab, more anciently the beetle or scarab in Egypt.The scarab was seemingly born of itself and was given the title of "the Only Begotten."(Straiton I, p.45) Its egg would hatch after 28 days, typifying the cycle of the moon, the ruler of Cancer.

Then came the Age of Gemini, called the Twins, being represented by Two Brothers.They are often in combat, one standing for the powers of darkness and the other light, such as Sut and Horus in ancient Egypt, and Cain and Abel in the Bible.Castor and Pollux, brothers in Roman classic fable, are the twin stars in the constellation Gemini.The duality of man's nature is represented in Gemini by the caduceus of Mercury bearing two intertwined snakes, one male and the other female.

Ancient mythologies abound with tales of the world being periodically destroyed, usually by fire or water, then recreated.This is the cyclic process of world regeneration.In Statesman (269) Plato relates a story from an "old tradition":

"There was a time when God himself guides and helps to roll the world in its course; and there is a time, on the completion of a certain cycle, when he lets go, and the world being a living creature, and having originally received intelligence from its author and creator, turns about and by an inherent necessity revolves in the opposite direction."

Plato goes on to tell of an idyllic time in the days of Cronos (272):

"...the earth gave them fruits in abundance, which grew on trees and shrubs unbidden, and were not planted by the hand of man. And they dwelt naked, and mostly in the open air, for the temperature of their season was mild; and they had no beds, but lay on soft couches and grass, which grew plentifully out of the earth."

Then "the inferior deities...let go the parts of the world which were under their control."This caused great disorder and evil, until it was righted by God.With these metaphors Plato describes the cycle of world destruction and regeneration.

In Indian thought there are many cycles, some of astronomical length.(Eliade 1959,p.113f)The Mahayuga is a 12,000 year cycle consisting of four ages or yuga, each of a diminishing length . Each yuga involves a progressive moral and intellectual decline humanity, similar to the familiar classical ages of gold, silver, brass and iron.A day in the life of Brahma is 4,320 million years.

A recognition of cycles is contained in this familiar extract from Ecclesiastes 3.1-9:

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;..."

In the Old Testament the patriarchs represent certain cyclic ages.This explains their impossibly great ages in human terms, such as Methuselah being 969 years old.(Kuhn 1944,p.427)

Symbolism of the Age of Taurus

"Taurus is the sign associated with the tilling of the soil, the production of an agricultural society, and a sense of determination in the face of obstacles."(Oken,p.517)Taurus is a feminine sign, ruled by the planet Venus.The Age of Taurus was the age of the Great Mother and lunar influence. There are many examples of the symbolism of the bull or cow from this period.

In ancient Egypt Hathor was depicted with a headdress of horns and the moon between them because the moon is exalted in Taurus."The goddess Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, was the fairest representative of Mother-earth.She was propitated as the Mother of Plenty, and was imaged in the likeness of the cow or sow, as the figure of food and fecundity.She was also the goddess of generation, maternity, and child-birth, as well as of music and the dance, of loveliness and love...the Mother of Food was primary as Mother-earth, and the Goddess of Love explains the phallic nature of the later cult of fertilization."(Massey 1907, p.105)

During this age in Egypt Osiris was designated the 'bull of eternity.'(Ibid.p.505) Frescoes from the Minoan civilisation show acrobats cavorting over bulls.The Assyrians and Persians had imposing stone carvings of winged bulls.

The Jews took a bull god "out of Egypt": "God brings them out of Egypt; they have as it were the horns of the wild ox." (Numb.,23.22) But it was now the Age of Aries and the old god had to make way for the new:

"And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.And he took the calf that they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it."(Ex.,32.19-20)(Note that Aries is a fire sign, reinforcing the symbolism.)

There is another instance of the overthrow of the bull cult among the Jews."So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold.And he said to the people, 'You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough.Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." (Kings, 12.28) He offered sacrifices to the calves upon the altar, but the Lord ordered that the altar be torn down. (Ibid,.13.3

Blood has long been used as a symbol for the divine life.Shedding of blood represents the divine influence bringing about a spiritual rebirth.In the Egyptian mythos, Sut was said to fertilise the fields with his blood "on the night of fertilising the field in Tattu."(Kuhn 1940,p.420) An Egyptian text reads: "O,Osiris-Pepi, the Sma-Bull is brought to thee cut in pieces."(Ibid.p.238) Peaking in the third century A.D., the cult of the sun god Mithras was widespread among Roman soldiers.The candidate for initiation underwent the taurobolium or bull's-blood bath, thus conferring on him the higher spiritual life.(Ibid.p.239)

Symbolism of the Age of Aries

Next came the Age of Aries the ram, ruled by Mars, the planet of war.The gentle influence of Venus was eclipsed as aggressive patriarchy was established.Questing, conquering male heroes were in vogue during this age, such as Achilles, Ulysses, Hercules, and Jason who sought the golden fleece.Various countries, such as Persia, Greece and Rome conquered many peoples and established empires.The impulse for empire passed into the next era, with European countries dividing virtually the whole world up between themselves.The forward thrust of Arian energy is typified by the ram, whose symbolism became widespread.In Egypt there was Ammon-Ra the ram-headed god.Horus, formerly portrayed as a calf, was now typified as a lamb and also as the "good shepherd."(Massey 1907, p.721,343)

Rams and lambs are featured in the Old Testament."On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; and he said to Aaron,'Take a bull calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord '"(Lev. 9.1-2) (Here the influence of Taurus still lingers.)

A burnt offering represents the purification of the lower nature and its transmutation by fire into the higher self. "For whoever kindles within himself this fire of love, places himself upon it as a burnt offering, because he burns out every fault, which wickedly lived within him.Forwhen he examines the secrets of his own thoughts, and sacrifices his wicked life, by the sword of conversion, he has placed himself on the altar of his own heart, and kindled himself with the fire of love."(Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job, v.3,pp.105-06 in Gaskell, p.134)

Conforming to the martial nature of the Age, there is much battle imagery in the Old Testament:

The Lord tells Joshua to have seven priests blow seven trumpets of ram's horns, causing the wall of Jricho to fall down."Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword."(Joshua, 6.21)

"For the Lord engaged against the nations, and furious against all their host, he has doomed them has given them over for slaughter.
Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; and mountains shall flow with their blood...
For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgement upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed.
The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom...
For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soul into brimstone; her land shall become burning pitch."(Isaiah, 34.2-9)

"Prophesy therefore, son of man; clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yea thrice, the sword for those to be slain; it is the sword for the great slaughter, which encompasses them, that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword; ah! It is made like lightning, it is polished for slaughter. Cut sharply to right and left where your edge is directed.I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken." (Ezek.21.14-17)

"Into his right hand comes the lot for Jerusalem, to open the mouth with a cry, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to beseige towers." (Ibid.21.22)

All battles in scripture represent the ongoing conflict between the lower, carnal nature and the higher spiritual nature of the human being.This is the battle of Armageddon, which occurs within the individual on the path to the higher, spiritual life.The sword represents divine justice, sweeping away carnal desires and passions. Much misery has been caused by those who take the martial imagery literally.It is common for people who have not resolved their inner conflicts to project them onto others.This leads to demonising people who are different, imaging them as the incarnation of evil, and thus giving an excuse for persecution and slaughter.This helps explain the inquistions, "witch" burnings, and religious wars of Christendom.A martial attitude is evidenced by the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers", and by the Salvation Army who wear military style uniforms.Fire and brimstone rhetoric has been common among Christians down through the centuries.Recently on the radio I heard Ian Paisley of Northern Ireland say that God [his God] was a God of war.

As Aries is a fire sign, it is no surprise to find much fire symbolism in the Old Testament.A few examples:

"He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."(Gen.3.24)

"And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked , and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!"And he said, "Here I am."(Ex.3.2-4)

"And fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces."(Lev.9.24)

"Now Nadab and Abi'hu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them.And fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."(Ibid.10.1-3)

"Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight."(Judges,6.21)

"While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you." (Job, 1.16)

For the Greeks, Apollo was the Sun god and he also became the patron of shepherds and flocks.The virgin goddess Pallas Athena, the patron divinity of Athens, was the personification of Wisdom.In the mythos she was born, fully armoured, from the head of Zeus.She was depicted with ram horns on her helmet, and carried a shield for defence and a spear for offence.Aries rules the head, and this period saw the development of philosophy by the Greeks.Zeus Ammon was depicted with ram horns. (Fideler, p.163) Roman soldiers wore a ram's head emblem on their uniforms, and their legions were accompanied by live rams. (Oken, p.523) They used battering rams which had a ram's head at the front.

There was a carry over into Christianity of the Age of Aries symbolism, not that of the active ram, but the passive sheep and lambs:

"...but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."(Mat. 10.5)

The parable of the lost sheep.(Mat. 18.12-14)

"And in that region there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night."(Luke, 2.8)

"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.!"(John, 1.29)

"I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."(John, 10.11)

"He said to him,'Feed my lambs...Tend my sheep.' "(John,21.15-16)

"You know that you were ransomed...with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."(Peter, 1.18-19) Only the most perfect animals were chosen for ritual sacrifice.

"Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals..."(Rev. 6.1)

"...Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne; and from the wrath of the Lamb.' "(Rev.6.16)

"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb..." (Rev.12.11)

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready."(Rev.19.7)

Decline of the Age of Aries

In the latter part of an astrological age a decline sets in, clearing the way for for the next age.Such times are much troubled, because one age has to die and a new age has to be born.In his poem "The Second Coming" W.B.Yeats described this transition in these words: "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold." Things fall apart because there is a moral decline.When the religious dominants change there is a moral vacuum for a period until the new parameters are established.

Around 2,000 years ago moral behaviour was in short supply among the Romans.In 71 BC Spartacus and some 6,000 slaves were crucified after staging a revolt.The slaughter of men and animals for entertainment by the Romans is one of the most grotesque episodes in man's catalogue of crimes down through history.Gladitorial combat began in a small way after funerals in Rome in 264BC.Killing animals for public entertainment began in 186 BC.Add real life naval battles and the casting of criminals to wild animals, and you have the brutal ingredients of the "spectacles" that became the mainstay of public entertainment.(See Auguet)

There were a number of ampitheatres in the Empire for the staging of spectacles, but the most famous one was the Colosseum at Rome.It was completed by Titus in 80AD and could seat 50-60,000.When the spectacles were on the people flocked to them, leaving the rest of the city deserted.Near the animal pens naked prostitutes would ply their trade.(Chateaubriand quoted by Auguet, p.16) The slaughter was horrific: thousands of animals could be butchered at a spectacle.In North Africa some species were wiped out.In 107AD Trajan had 10,000 men fight to celebrate a military victory.The last gladiator school closed in 399AD.Such utterly inhumane behaviour could only signify a morally bankrupt society.

The esoteric writer Edourd Schure states in his figurative style:

"After Numa, the Roman Senate burnt the Sibylline Books, ruined the authority of the flamens, [state priests] destroyed arbitral institutions, and returned to its old systems in which religion was nothing more than an instrument of public domination.Rome became the hydra which engulfed the peoples and their gods with them. The nations of the earth were gradually reduced to subjection and pillage. The Mamertine prison became filled with kings from North and South.Rome, bent on having no other kings than slaves and charlatans, destroys the final possessors of esoteric tradition in Gaul, Egypt, Judea, and Persia. She pretends to worship the gods, but the only object of her adoration is the She-Wolf.

"And now, away on the blood-stained dawn, there appears the final offspring of this ravenous creature, the embodiment of the genius of Rome - Caesar! Rome has conquered all the nations of the earth, Caesar, her incarnation, arrogates to himself universal power. He aspires not merely to become the ruler of mankind, for, uniting the tiara with the diadem, he causes himself to be proclaimed Chief Pontiff. After the battle of Thapsus [46 BC;10,000 troops of Pompey were slaughtered when Caesar's troops went wild], deification as a hero is voted him; after that of Munda, divine apotheosis is granted by the Senate; his statue is erected in the temple by Quirinus, and a college of officiating priests appointed, bearing his name.To crown all in irony and logic, this very Caesar who deifies himself, denies in the presence of the Senate the immortality of the soul! Would it be possible to proclaim more openly that there is no longer any other God than Caesar?

"Under the Caesars, Rome, inheritro of Babylon, extends her power over the whole world. What has become of the Roman State? It has engaged in destroying all collective life outside the capital. Military dictatorship is the order of the day in Italy, extortions of governors and tax-collectors in the provinces. Conquering Rome feels like a vampire on the corpse of a worn-out system." (Schure, p.252-53)

Decadence of Roman emperors

The behaviour of various Roman emperors signified that the age was in decline, and they in turn contributed to the decline.I will briefly mention the more notorious cases. Gaius Caligula (12-41; emperor 37-41) engaged in gross debaucheries and extremely capricious behaviour.He proclaimed himself to be a god.He squandered vast sums from the state treasury.His actions became so intolerable that he was killed by a member of the Praetorian guard.

Nero (37-68; emperor 54-68) became emperor thanks to Agrippina his mother, who had killed his potential rivals.In turn he put her to death in 59, and then his wife Octavia in 62.He began building a palace in Rome which would have covered one third of that city's area.His brutality caused much fear and eventually he was assassinated."The revolt his misrule caused provoked sparked a series of civil wars that for a time threatened the survival of the Roman empire and caused widespread misery."(Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Claudius (10BC-54AD; emperor 41-54) put to death his wife Messalina and her lover, then married his niece Agrippina.He put to death forty senators for treason.

Commodus (161-192; emperor 177-192) put to death in 182 those senators who plotted against him.His rule became arbitrary and vicious.He imagined that he was Hercules and entered the arena as a gladiator. His advisers had him strangled by a champion wrestler.Soon after his death the empire slid into civil war.

Caracalla (188-217; emperor 211-217) had killed Fulvia his wife, Geta his younger brother, and many of his friends.He "senselessly massacred" an allied German force and conducted a massacre in Alexandria.He led a dissolute life.He was killed by Macrinus of the imperial guard.

The "loss of nerve"

It has been noted that a decline took place.Gilbert Murray has described it this way:

"Any one who turns from the great writers of classical Athens, say Sophocles or Aristotle, to those of the Christian era must be conscious of a great difference in tone.There is a change in the whole relation of the writer to the world about him. The new quality is not specifically Christian; it is just as marked in the Gnostics and Mithras-worshippers as in the Gospels and the Apocalypse. It is hard to describe. It is a rise of ascetism, of mysticism, in a sense, of pessimism; a loss of self-confidence, of hope in this life and of faith in normal human effort; a despair of patient inquiry, a cry for infallible revelation; an indifference to the welfare of the state, a conversion of the soul to God.

"It is an atmosphere in which the aim of the good man is not so much to live justly, to help the society to which he belongs and enjoy the esteem of his fellow creatures; but rather, by means of a burning faith, by contempt for the world and its standards, by ecstasy, suffering, and martyrdom, to be granted pardon for his unspeakable unworthiness, his unmeasurable sins. There is an intensyfing of certain spiritual emotions; an increase of sensitiveness, a failure of nerve."(p.157)

Murray does not place his discussion in the context of a transition from one age to another, but his words aptly apply to such a scenario.He writes of "the sudden and enormous spread of the worship of Fortune." (p.165) "It is worth remembering that the best seed-ground for superstitution is a society in which the fortunes of men seem to bear practically no relation to their merits and efforts."(p.164). These words have relevance to our own transitional age.Witness the rise in gambling, especially encouraged by governments as a source of revenue; the rise and fall of fortunes on the stock market and computer industry.A few sportspersons and entertainers receive tens of millions of dollars for no social benefit.What but a decling age would pay a mediocre talent like Madonna tens of millions? Or a similar amount to a tennis player (Venus Williams), just to wear a certain brand of sandshoe? Salaries of senior executives have shot into the stratosphere, bearing no relation to their real worth or social contribution.At the other end of the scale of course, real wages have fallen and job insecurity has increased.

Dean William Inge has observed:

"I am asking you to accompany me in a visit to an age of decadence.The third century was not dark, like the dismal interlude, five or six hundred long, which divides the sunset of ancient civilization from the first streaks of dawn which heralded the Renaissance. It was not dark; but it was an age of lenghtening shadows and waning light. So we think; and so, on the whole, thought those who lived in it. 'The world has grown old.' 'This is indeed the fin de siecle.' 'Humanity is at its last gasp.'

"Pagans and Christians are equally pessimistic. To both alike, civilization seemed to have no future. This feeling of hopelessness is intelligible. The government of the Empire had fallen into anarchy. Septimis Severus [146-211] was the last emperor for eighty years to die in his bed.There were seven puppet emperors , set up and deposed by the army, between 235 and 249. The only possible end to these disorders was that which actually ended them - the cast iron Oriental despotism of Diocletian [245-313].The arts and sciences were in decay. The population was dwindling, and the long blockade of civilization on the north and east could only end in the capture of the fortress.

"But this is not the whole story.May there not be catabolic and anabolic ages - generations which are glorious spendthrifts, and generations which are storing force for some new development? And may not political calamities actually liberate philosophy and religion, by compelling them to attend exclusively to their own business? This kind of liberation, I think, actually occurred at the period to which I am inviting your attention. We are witnessing the last sighs of classical antiquity, and the birth of Catholic Christianity. But the second is the child of the first.

"The Christian Church is not the beginning of the Middle Ages; it is the last creative achievement of classical antiquity, which may be said to have died giving birth to it. In the history of ideas, death in childbed is the rule rather then the exception. Think of the limitations of the Hebrew, with their tribal religion, their Bedouin morality, their blindness to art and science. But in their pure desert air arose the prophetic religion which culminated in the Galilean Gospel, and at last shattered the mould into which it had been poured.And consider how in the same way Hellas had to die in giving birth to Hellenism - to that Hellenistic civilization the significant facts of which we are now trying to recover, and under the influence of which we are living even to this day."(p.105)
 

Symbolism of the Age of Pisces

You don't have to look far to see the prevalence of fish and water symbolism in Christianity.The apostles were known as "fishers of men," while the early Christians were called "little fishes." (Fideler 1993, p.162) In the New Testament we find the parables of the loaves and fishes, and the casting of the fishing net. The Christ "walks" upon the water, symbolising control of the elemental or lower nature.Early Christians used Ichtys,the Greek word for fish, which spells out "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour."(Ibid.) The name Mary can be derived from words meaning "the sea": maya in Sanskrit, and mayam in Hebrew (Oken, p.525) and the Latin for sea is mare. Life comes from the sea in a literal sense, and the sea represents the waters of spiritual birth.For Roman Catholics, Mary is Maria, stella maris, the Star of the Sea.(Fortune,p.160)

The early Christians used a fish symbol in order to recognise each other, and drew it on the walls of the catacombs.The ring with which the Pope is invested has on it the sign of the fish.(Massey 1907,p.736) The bishop's mitre not only represents a fish's head, but is in two sections with two ribbons hanging down at the back to indicate the dual nature of Pisces (Pisces is two fish).Friday is the day of Venus, the planet which is exalted in Pisces, hence fish are eaten on this day.

Some examples of Piscean symbolism in the New Testament are:

"As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' "(Mat. 4.18-19)

"They said to him,'We have only five loaves and two fish.' "(Mat. 14.17)

CHARACTERISTICS OF PISCES

We will examine the features of Pisces in order to further our understanding of Christian doctrines and behaviour.Christianity was the religion of the Piscean age.It was ( and is) the religious expression of Piscean values and the Piscean world view.Christian values such as faith, belief, universal love are expressly Piscean.

Pisces is the end of a cycle

"The Fishes - the twelfth sign of the zodiac, represents the completion of the zodiacal ring beginning with that of Aries.The number twelve Kabalistically means "Born in Affliction," and no sign was thought to be more unfortunate, probably owing to its being one of darkness. Esoterically it is of great importance. In the backward passage of the signs due to the precessional period, when Pisces is reached, it would represent the point where the final struggle would take place between the dragon of darkness, or the casting out of the dragon, as it were, and the incoming Light of Aquarius....

"Anciently the Fish sign represented birth and rebirth from the waters. The original birthplace was from the Waters of the Abyss, Darkness. This fish sign was lastly given as the human birthplace in this sign Pisces, so closely connected with the primal waters. In ancient zodiacs Fish goddesses were placed in this sign."(Straiton II, p.176)

"The fishes were called "The Leaders of the Celestial Hosts," and swimming in different directions signified mind and body swimming in illusion and fleeing from the bondage of this sign. For Pisces as the twelfth and last house of the zodiac is called the House of Bondage, ending the Age and the bondage of the Past, and acting as agent for that freedom from which the spiritual rebirth is attained.It is the house of undoing, or degeneration, prior to regeneration.

"There is a very subtle magnetism connected with this sign. It is paradoxical, and in its highest development gives an impersonal love, silent as the great deep, whose underlying principle is universal love and sympathy. It gives great understanding, though its spiritual symbology has been sadly misinterpreted.But the new down-pouring of the Divine Light with its Ray of Justice, will reach out over the world, bringing a true responsiblility that will awaken in humanity the higher side of this dark yet prophetic sign."(Straiton II, P.202-03)

Dane Rudhyar further illuminates the nature of Pisces as the last sign of the zodiac:

"Pisces is an era of storms and wholesale disintegration. But Piscean winds of destiny may impel men of vision and courage to discover many a 'new world,' as much as they do destroy or suffocate the many who stubbornly resist change.Pisces is an era of often sharp and violent repolarization....the devotee of the New Life must learn to identify himself willingly with the death of all established structures. He must be willing to face the chrysalis state for the sake of the butterfly-to-be. Pisces is the mythical Deluge and the age of universal dissolution.Man must accept structural dissolution under the insidious power of Neptune, ruler of Pisces.He must cling to no stability or no past greatness. 'No security' is for him the only possible security."(Rudhyar 1978, p.124)

"Pisces symbolizes a state of social, collective crisis.At the stage of life represented by this last of the zodiacal signs, man finds hikself swept by social storms against which he is powerless. He is controlled by the fateful consequences of the "sins" of his fathers, and of his past cycles as an individual. He has to give up all solid things, all comfort or security, and lose all reliance upon social, cultural, or religious structures, if he is to be reborn....he must give up his allegiance to old gods and ancient laws and face God whose countenance ia as yet revealed."(Rudhyar 1972, p.172)

"Transcendence, overcoming, piercing through illusions and false security, severance of social ties, embarking for the great adventure with utter faith and in denuded simplicity of being: all these things are to be learned in Pisces. Man is here face to face with himself, and with that Greater Self which he names: God."(Rudhyar 1972, p.126)

Pisces is the sign of universal love, compassion and self-sacrifice.We can find Pisces helping the less fortunate members of society, the sick, the deprived and the disabled.Pisces has idealistic precepts: love your neighbour; turn the other cheek.Liz Greene puts it this way:

"...the urge towards self-sacrifice. Now this can be of the noblest kind, and one of the characteristic renditions of this can be found in the lives of the saints. These figures - whether one believes in saints or not - are in a sense the epitome of this side of Pisces. Everything devoted to the ideal - whether it is God, a country, a people, the poor, the suffering, or whatever. Pisces may often be found searching desperately for a cause to which he can devote himself, even sacrificing himself. It is an ecstasy which the other signs want no part of, since they all still have left some shred of a personal sense of their own 'I' ness. Pisces doesn't. It's the completion of the cycle, the end. And there's a very strong tendency to want to give up everything, offer it up, disintegrate, disappear."(Greene 1991, p.339)

"End of the world" in Christianity

The fact that Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, the end of a cycle, has had major implications for Christian teachings and has resulted in fateful misunderstandings.For example, if we look at the parable of the tares in the field:

"He answered and said unto them,'He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man;
The field is the world; the good seeds are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnance of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."(Matt.13.37-42)

This parable is repeated with Piscean symbolism:

"Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.
Which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just,
And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."(Matt.13.47-50)

The above quotations from Matthew are from the King James version of the Bible, where the phrase "the end of the world" is used.The Greek word aion, meaning "age", has been rendered as "world". (Kuhn 1944, p.427) The Revised Standard Version (1973) has corrected this to read "the close of the age." This parable can be made comprehensible and reasonable when it is read as "the close of the age (or cycle)."It must be also be read in its allegorical sense, and not taken literally.When this parable was written it was the close of and age, Aries, and a new age was beginning.It was a time of great change and spiritual fervour.A new consciousness was being born.It was a time to grapple with fundamental questions about man's spiritual life and destiny.Vivid allegorical language was used to make an impact on people and shack them out of complacency.People who live a spiritual life are "saved", they live in truth.Those people who live a purely material existence in the lower self do not know the truth, they live in a "hell" of their own creation.

Many Christians take this and similar passages literally and mistakenly believe in the end of the world and a Judgement Day, when the good will be saved and the sinners sent to eternal punishment in hell.They don't stop and ask themselves how a loving God can countenance the horrible torture of millions of people.Some Christians have disturbing sadistic leanings.Alice Turner calls this quotation on Judgement Day from Tertullian (c.160-c.230) a "revenge fantasy":

"What a panorama of spectacle on that day! Which sight shall I turn to first to laugh and applaud? Mighty kings whose ascent to heaven used to be announced publicly groaning now in the depths with Jupiter himself who used to witness that ascent? Governors who persecuted the name of the Lord melting in flames fiercer than those they kindled for the brave Christians? Wise philosophers, blushing before their students as they burn together, the followers to whom they taught that the world is no concern of God's, whom they assured that either they had no souls at all or that what souls they had would never return to their former bodies? Poets, trembling not before the judgement seat of Rhadamanthus or of Minos, but of Christ - a surprise? Tragic actors actors bellowing in their own melodramas should be worth hearing! Comedians in the fire will be worth praise! The famous charioteer will toast on his fiery wheel; the athletes will cartwheel not in the gymnasium but in flames....These are things of greater delight, I believe, than a circus, both kinds of theatre and any stadium." (Turner, p.76) Such noble feelings of Christian foregiveness, charity and love!

Faith, knowledge and Christianity

The thought of Clement of Alexandria was a bridge between Greek philosophy and Christianity. However, the developing Christian orthodoxy disdained any links with the Greeks.Clement emphasised gnosis or knowledge for the Christian.He repeats the Greek injunction for the initiate:

"It is then, as appears, the greatest of all lessons to know one's self. For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God he will be made like God, not by wearing gold or long robes, but by well-doing, and by requiring as few things as possible."(Instructor,Bk.3,ch.1)

Clement saw some truth in Greek philosophy:

"But all, in my opinion, are illuminated by the dawn of Light. Let all, therefore, both Greeks and barbarians, who have aspired after the truth, produce whatever they have of the word of truth....
So, then, the barbarian and Hellenic philosophy has torn a fragment of eternal truth not from the mythology of Dionysus, but from the theology of the ever-living Word....
He who is conversant with all kinds of wisdom, will be pre-eminently a gnostic.Now it is written,'Abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.'" (Strom.Bk.1,ch.13)

Clement had a high place for knowledge:

"For we now dare aver (for here is the faith that is characterised by knowledge) that such an one knows all things, and comprehends all things in the exercise of sure apprehension, respecting matters difficult for us, and really pertaining to the true gnosis, such as were James, Peter, John, Paul, and the rest of the apostles.For prophecy is full of knowledge (gnosis), inasmuch as it was given by the Lord, and again explained by the Lord to the apostles.And is not knowledge (gnosis) an attribute of the rational soul, which trains itself for this, that by knowledge it may become entitled to immortality?" (Strom.Bk.6,ch.8)

"If, then, the love of knowledge produces immortality, and leads the kingly man near to God the King, knowledge ought to be sought until it is found....it is our aim to discover what doing, and in what manner living, we shall reach the knowledge of the sovereign God, and how, honouring the Divinity, we may become authors of our own salvation....Now it is well-pleasing to Him that we should be saved; and salvation is effected through both well-doing and knowledge, of both of which the Lord is the teacher." (Strom.Bk.6,ch.15)

According to Clement, faith and knowledge are both necessary:

"Now neither is knowledge without faith, nor faith without knowledge.Nor is the Father without the Son; for the Son is with the Father....For that investigation, which accords with faith, which builds on the foundation of faith, the august knowledge of the truth, we know to be the best." (Strom.Bk.5,ch.1)

Clement alludes to secret teachings in Christianity for the elect only (a subject we will examine later):

"And he still more clearly reveals that knowledge belongs not to all....It is but for few to comprehend these things....wherefore instruction, which reveals hidden things, is called illlumination, as it is the teacher only who uncovers the ark."(Strom.Bk.5,ch.10)

Pisces is a water/emotional sign

Pisces is a water and therefore emotional sign.For comparison,Cancer the Crab is represented by water at the shoreline, the continual motion of the tides. Scorpio is still deep water, like that behind a dam wall, a potential source of great power.Pisces is symbolized by the ocean, a place of mysterious depths, the source of life, and that to which life returns.The Piscean has an emotional approach to life.Stephen Arroyo has stated:

"The water element represents the realm of deep emotion and feeling responses, ranging from compulsive passions to overwhelming fears, to an all-encompassing acceptance and love of creation.Since feelings by their very nature are partly unconscious, the water signs are simultaneously aware of the power of the unconscious mind and are themselves unconscious of what really motivates them."(Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements, CRCS Pubs.1975, p.96, quoted by Merlin, p.100)

The glyph of each sign of the zodiac explains the inner nature of that sign. In Pisces there are two fish joined by a cord, representing the dualism of this sign. One side of Pisces aspires to spiritual liberation and universal consciousness, a mystical oneness with the universe and God.This fish swims toward Aquarius (Pisces lying between Aquarius and Pisces). The other side of Pisces is directed to the material realm, desiring "complete authority over those around him in order to complete his personal goals." (Oken, 1988.p.160) This fish swims toward Aries.

Pisces thus has a battle on his hands, summed up in the words from Mark 14.38: "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." The dualism of Pisces helps explain why the churches have been other worldly and worldly at the same time.Many individuals have felt a battle raging within, a conflict between their higher aspirations and their lower passions. The Piscean solution is self-surrender or self-sacrifice. Pisces can surrender to God and achieve the heights of mystical union, or surrender to the lower drives and become a complete sensualist and materialist.Some oscillate between these two positions.

As it is a water sign, "the Fish can slip through the nets of a rationally evolved system of thought as easily as water through a sieve." (Oken,1988.p.165) Pisces is not comfortable with logic or rational thought.If you look at books on Christian thought or doctrine you will see endless discussion as to what the various doctrines mean.There is no general agreement on doctrine, and this has been a feature of Christianity virtually since its inception.

If you observe fish swimming, they have complete freedom in the water, darting hither and thither, changing direction in a split second.Our friend Pisces refuses to be confined, and may avoid situations that he feels are limiting his freedom.This, however, can work against his best interests, and it is why Pisces is called the sign of "self-undoing."

An example of emotional preaching is to be found in the career of the Calvinist Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), born in Connecticut. He conducted his first strong revivalist campaign in his parish in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1734-35.His sermons were of the hellfire and brimstone variety, designed to scare his congregation into belief. "The more he seemed to condemn his people to perdition, while still encouraging them to strive against the odds, the greater grew his list of converts."(Tracy, p.175)

His most celebrated conversion was that of the four-year- old Phebe Bartlett, whose "ecstatic piety" caused her to lecture and exhort her family to be more pious. This was simply a case of emotional excitability, as a small child cannot have any real understanding of religious issues.The dark side of Edwards' hellfire approach surfaced with the suicide of his uncle Joseph Hawley, who was in great despair over the state of his soul.Edwards rationalized the situation by stating it was the devil (that handy Christian standby) who tormented his uncle into suicide. Emotionally induced religious fervour can never last for long, and by the fall of 1735 the revival had petered out.

For the next few years Edwards tried in vain to whip up his flock.Another revival did occur in 1740-42, largely aided by visiting preachers. In mid 1740 Edwards preached Sinners in the Hand of God, his most famous sermon and a classic in the hellfire genre.Some extracts follow:

"There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God...
"The wrath of God burns against them; their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared; the fire is made ready; the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow.The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened her mouth under them...
"That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of. There is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up." (Frost, p.112f)

When he preached this sermon at Enfield an eyewitness stated "the shrieks and cries were piercing and amazing ."(Tracy, p.133) Edwards wrote with apparent relish that during this revival the children left their "social religion" to go home "crying aloud through the streets...it was a very frequent thing to see an house full of outcries, faintings, convulsions and such like, both with distress, and also with admiration and joy."(Tracy, p.136) His own wife Sarah "frequently lost 'all ability to stand or speak' and sometimes leapt involuntarily."(Tracy, p.140) To Edwards this was a sign of her remarkable holiness and piety.

However, like the first revival, the wells of enthusiasm soon ran dry.Genuine and lasting religious behaviour has to be built upon a solid basis, not upon intense emotion alone.In 1749 Edwards himself knew that most of his conversions had not been genuine. (Tracy, p.175) He lost the support of his church and was dismissed from his post in 1750. (Tracy, p.181)

Characteristics of Neptune, the planetary ruler of Pisces

The nature of Christianity is further illuminated by a consideration of Neptune, the planet which rules Pisces.Although modern man only discovered Neptune in 1846, this mystical planet was known to sages in ancient times.(Straiton II, p.125) The characteristics of Neptune are set out as follows.

Neptune is the planet of "agape or compassion - love which has no motivation other to give and to heal. Within this idea lies the total identification of self with others; the sense of being part of, and therefore indistinguishable and inseparable from, the needs and pains others experience.... The possibilities within this Sun sign actually conflict since the Neptunian urge, which breaks down boundaries and dissolves self, can manifest either destructively or constructively depending on whether the self is broken down in service of a higher ideal or simply broken down. The urge to give the self over is so strong for this sign that Pisces is renowned for its gullibility and lack of worldliness; for succumbing to the role of victim." (Merlin, p.24-25)

"Taking on others' suffering and sacrificing oneself for others' salvation is the essence of the Neptunian experience and is also in total conflict with the instinctive drives which demand personal survival at all costs....As an urge to break down ego and boundaries , Neptune encourages a disparaging attitude toward self; an undermining of all qualities that set self apart from others. The meekness and humility attributed to Christ are Neptunian virtues, and those strongly under Neptune's influence tend either consciously or unconsciously to follow that example by not claiming power, abdicating rewards, not demanding what they give." (Merlin, p.83-84)

Although Hyam Maccoby shows no acquaintance with astrology, his words on Pauline faith illustrate an influence of Neptune on Christianity:

"It is through 'faith' in Christ that a person shares in the crucufixion and resurrection of Christ, and thus shares in his divinization. It is through 'faith' too that a person becomes 'in' Christ, sharing in the life and personality of Christ, and thereby achieving mystical fellowship with all those who are similarly 'in' Christ, since they all form one supernatural personality together with Christ and are no longer mere individuals."(Maccoby, p.81) The Christian aim is to break "down the barriers which divide one human personality from another, so that all form part of one supernatural entity."(Maccoby, p.83)

In the words of Liz Greene:

"Neptune opens the floodgates to the experience of the suffering of the world and the agony of the spirit incarnated in flesh. The longing is for release from the body's prison and union with the divine source, whether this is taken in a spiritual sense as God or in a reductive sense as the original unity of mother's womb. Therefore the Neptunian person is inclined to experience the mortal passions as full of sin and grief, himself as guilty, and his expiation as the only possible means of cleansing and atonement." (Greene 1989, p.117)

Isabel Hickey says of Neptune:

"Neptune's vibration is not of the earth. It rules the next dimension and is an elusive, mysterious and subtle emanation. It is a pervading energy that seeps into consciousness. Neptune is the mystic...It gives mediumistic ability and psychic powers. In some charts it gives a strong dislike of facing reality. It prefers to dream rather than act. " ( Hickey, p.37)

Myrna Lofthus has observed:

"The similarity between this planet and the sign it rules is that both have subtle strength, are elusive, appear mysterious, and are little understood. They differ because Pisceans are attempting to establish firm foundations built on faith in the unknown, while Neptune's aim is to dissolve life patterns in order to try to bring about a new and better life....Today, the planet Neptune is known to cause confusion in man, chaos of his emotions, and self deception.It is regarded as nebulous and vague....Pisceans, too, are very seldom understood and are prone to vague feelings of unrest and turmoil.Neptune's area of influence seems to be more in the psychic realm than in the physical or material realm.It is mystic, working through feelings and imagination.It represents inspirations and feelings from deep within the unconscious mind." (Lofthus, p.176-77) Neptune, because it throws a veil of delusion over things, is the planet par excellence of deception.

Sacrifice, suffering and self-undoing in Christianity

Sacrifice, as with other doctrines, has a variety of interpretations in Christianity.The ransom theory of Irenaeus (c.130-c.202) was the dominant theory for nearly one thousand years. (Rashdall, p.247) Irenaeus held that man's sin caused the devil to become lord of man.Christ's sacrifice was seen as a payment to the devil to free man.Rufinus said that Christ's humanity was the bait which the devil was induced to swallow, and he was caught on the hook of Christ's divinity.(Rashdall calls this idea "grotesque "p.248.) Augustine used a similar analogy, calling Christ's humanity the bait in a mouse-trap to catch the devil.(Rashdall, p.333)

Since the twelfth century two theories of sacrifice have been very influential in Christianity.One is associated with Anselem ( 1033-c.1109) and states that sin should be punished, so Christ substituted himself for sinful man, and took man's punishment upon himself.Christ thus acquired infinite merit which discharged the infinite debt.(Rashdall, p.354) (Thus in the Middle Ages, people could buy some of this merit from the Church in the form of indulgences to save themselves.) This view of sacrifice accords, however irrationally, with the strong punishment mentality in patriarchal Christianity.In the mythos it says that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, therefore they were punished by being expelled from the Garden of Eden, Eve being told "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" and Adam told "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."Man continued to be sinful, so God destroyed nearly everyone with a great flood.This strategy did not work either, so God sent his son to be punished instead of man.

The other theory, as formulated by Abelard (1079-1142), says that God sacrificed Christ as an an act of love and self-giving, in order to reconcile man with God.Frances Young states her Christian view:

"So if we are realistic, we soon become conscious of human helplessness to create utopia; we are conscious, individually as well as being members of society, of human failure to live up to ideals of love and justice to which the value systems of our culture subscribe.In this context, the sacrifice of Christ is revelant, because it faces up to and accepts the situation. It shames us into climbing down from our pillars of pride and self-sufficiency, into recognizing our inadequacy and the depths of our sin and guilt, into seeing our need for repentance; and having shamed us, it deals with the problem by offering acceptance, by offering unconditional forgiveness, by wiping away the guilt and alienation, by mending the estrangement."(Young, p.127-128)

With these words Young reveals more than maybe she intended.This theory of Christ's sacrifice is simply religious and emotional blackmail.It is Christian tenet to say "Christ died for you," in an attempt to make people feel guilty if they do not respond. The implication is that only a very low person would refuse to accept someone who has died for him.Of course, no one asked Christ to die for him in the first place!This sort of emotional appeal will not work in the coming Age.

Christians like to suffer (and some inflict suffering)

In the Middle Ages the Passion of Christ reached a new pitch of significance among Christians. The Passion was pervasively disseminated: in various pictures, in the mass, processions, Passion plays, sermons, verse and meditational writings.(MacDonald, p.viii) Descriptions of the Passion in meditational works were "typically marked by vivid grotesque and near sadistic details." (Barratt, p.57) Barratt says of the Meditation B manuscripts by Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole: "the author seems to take a disquieting, almost perverse delight in dwelling on what is repulsive and appalling. There is a particularly vivid description of the dead Christ at II.542-45: 'by chyn hangeth upon by brest, be white of by eyghen is cast upward, by lippes shrynken, by white tethe shewen, by lovely face is become al pale, by here clotred al with blode.' " (Barratt, p.58)

Barratt remarks that the dangers of such meditations were the inducement of "narcissism and despair", and the "manipulative and disempowering" effects. (Barratt, p.58) An old saying goes, "we become what we behold." People were encouraged to imitate Christ and identify with his sufferings.This can only be described as morbid behaviour, leading as it did in many cases to acts of self humiliation and self torture.

Karen Armstrong in her book The Gospel According to Woman gives examples of Christian women who have humiliated and tortured themselves in the name of religion:

"Margaret Mary Alacoque [1647-1690] perhaps did more than any other saint in the Roman Catholic world to link the image of divine love with suffering and bleeding hearts.Her vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is now present in every church, convent and chapel, and is part of the imagery and psychological equipment of every Catholic woman." (Armstrong, .208) From a young age she liked to inflict pain on herself, saying, "I only knew what my Divine Master taught me and what he made me do with loving violence." As a girl she wrote:

"I tied this wretched criminal body with cords full of knots, and I bound it so tight that I could hardly breathe or eat.I left these cords there so long that they buried themselves in the flesh, and I could not tear them from it except with great violence and cruel pain. I did the same with little chains which I fastened on my arms; I could remove them by taking away with them pieces of flesh. I lay during the night on a plank, or on knotty sticks which I placed in my bed, and afterwards I took the discipline." (Armstrong, p.208) This deluded child went on to be a professional masochist, and did so well in her chosen career that she was canonised in 1920.

Margaret Mary had erotic fantasies about Jesus in which he asked her "to offer herself up as the ' victim' of this love, suffering to appease the wrath of God and so redeem sinners." (Armstrong, p.209) On one occasion she cut the Holy Name into her breast with a penknife and later burnt the scars with a taper.As Armstrong says, " Love and self-mutilation were for women like Margaret Mary....seen as identical. You expressed your love by injuring yourself." (Armstrong, p.210) One day Margaret Mary "disobeyed" Jesus by showing her wound to others. (Many of these masochists were also exhibitionists, using their self debasement as a means of exulting the self.) In her fanatsy, her punishment was to be trampled upon by Jesus for five days.Armstrong notes that it is a widespread image in Christendom for women to express their "love" by allowing men to degrade them. (Armstrong, p.210) Armstrong acutely comments:

"It is possible that the woman in the pornographic movie who crawls about loaded with chains or is beaten and trodden underfoot by men is a tired secular relic of this Western tradition of Christendom which links female sexuality with pain and humilation. The alliance of pain and punishment with women and sex is clearly in line with the sexual disgust that informed Christian emotion. Men have been taught in our culture to take pleasure in the sight of a woman suffering; suffering is seen as a female virtue and it is also, obscurely, seen as sexy." (Armstrong, p.210)

THE MYSTERIES AND CHRISTIANITY

The Ancient Mystery Religions

"The mysteries were secret religious groups composed of individuals who decided, through personal choice, to be initiated into the profound realities of one deity or another.Unlike the official religions, in which a person was expected to show outward, public allegiance to the local gods of the polis or the state, the mysteries emphasized an inwardness of worship within closed groups. The person who chose to be initiated joined an association of people united in their quest for personal salvation." (Meyer, p.4)

The word mystery derives from the Greek verb myein, meaning "to close," referring to the closing of the lips or eyes.The initiate into the mysteries, or mystes (plural, mystai), was required to to keep silent and not reveal the details of the private ceremony.(Meyer, p.4)Secrecy was considered to be so vital that breach of this rule invoked the death penalty.There are no records of the death penalty being imposed, but some, such as Alcibiades, were brought to trial for profaning the mysteries. (Meyer, p.4) Secrecy and silence in religious matters have a long history.For example, a candidate for Pythagorean initiation had to observe silence for five years during his probationary period.(Fideler 1987, p.74)

It is important to differentiate between the inner and outer aspects of the mysteries.The outer or exoteric side included processions, ritual dramas, music, dance, the display of symbolic objects, sometimes ritual animal sacrifice, and feasting.These were regular festive occasions and greatly anticipated by the populace.Participation in the inner mysteries was only open to those who had special training and preparation. I am primarily concerned with this esoteric aspect, because it is here that the true meaning of the mysteries can be found, by unravelling the symbolism embedded in the mythos.

Christians, from their earliest days, through a combination of ignorance and deceit, focussed only on the outer displays of the mysteries and therefore lambasted them as being heathen debaucheries or orgies.The word "orgies" was originally used by the Pythagoreans to mean burstings forth or emanations of the gods, an esoteric aspect of the mysteries.( Mead 1965, p.39) In some cases the popular rites involved a re-enactment of the mythos, such as the Bacchanalian revels and eating of raw flesh, and the self castration by devotees of Attis.This shows that the popular mind will take any mythos literally, not having the symbolic understanding. The inner mysteries remained a secret, known only to the initiates.It is my intention to show that the inner teachings passed on into Christianity, albeit dressed in new clothes to fit the new age that was dawning.

Usually the mysteries were well organised, as evidenced by the rules and regulations dated 92 BC that governed the conduct of the Andanian Mysteries in Greece.(Meyer, p.51) These regulations were comprehensive and give an insight into the organisation and background of the mysteries. They related to such matters as the sacrifice of animals, musicians for the dances, offences, cutting of wood in the sacred area, preparation of the treasuries, the sacred meal, water, and the market. (Meyer, p.57)

Eleusinian mysteries

The most renowned mysteries were those held at Eleusis, not far from Athens.Famous initiates were Plato, Augustus, Plutarch and Marcus Aurelius. These mysteries began as far back as 1800 BC (Taylor, p.xx, editor's footnote) and ended in 396AD when invading Goths led by Alaric destroyed the temple. (D'Alviella, p.95) This saved Theodosius, emperor in the east, the trouble, for he too was busy with his concerted campaign of smashing pagan shrines and temples.

The Eleusinian Mysteries centre on the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, as related in the Hymn to Demeter, the oldest of the Homeric hymns.Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, is attracted by many bright flowers in a meadow where she goes to play. As she reaches to pluck a narcissus, the earth opens up and Hades, Lord of the Underworld, jumps out and takes her to his kingdom.Demeter is distraught and pleads in vain to Zeus to help her. She sends a famine to earth and threatens to wipe out mankind. Zeus relents and he sends Hermes to rescue Persephone.Hades has to release her, but he slips her a pomegranate which she eats.Persephone is joyfully reunited with her mother, who suspects a trick by Hades.Having eaten the pomegranate, Persephone now has to spend one third of each year underground in the kingdom of Hades.

Mysteries of Orpheus

Orpheus was a legendary figure who, before the time of Homer, brought to the Greeks religion, the arts and the sciences. The Orphic teachings inspired Pythagoras (c.570-c.496 BC), Plato, and many other Greek sages. The Orphic myth concerns Dionysus, the son of Zeus, who was captured by the malignant Titans, torn apart and eaten. Athena retrieved the heart of Dionysus and took it to Zeus, who then, in his anger, blasted the Titans with his thunderbolt. Humans arose from the ashes of the Titans, thus man has a destructive side to his nature. Zeus swallowed the heart of Dionysus, who was later reborn. The mother of Dionysus is variously named: Demeter, Dione, Persephone, Lethe or Semele. (Graves, p.56)

Worship of Dionysus, which began in Thrace and then spread widely, is well known from the Bacchae, a play by Euripides. (c. 484-407 BC) In this work the drunken devotees were said to tear apart an animal and eat the flesh raw.Frazer states that the Cretans tore a bull to pieces, and he mentions examples of animal sacrifice in rites of other religions. (Frazer, p.389f.) But worship of Dionysus (or Bacchus as he was known to the Romans) did not always involve such excess."In more serene Bacchic rites, such as those of the Iobacchoi in Athens, the meal was a banquet." (Meyer, p.63)

Livy states that originally the Bacchic rites were held on three fixed days in a year in the daytime, and were for women only. When Paculla Annia of Campania was priestess she changed all this by admitting men, and having five days of initiation each month, at night.(Meyer,p.86) (A sure recipe for trouble!) Early in the second century BC the Roman Senate became concerned about the conduct of Bacchic rites in Rome. Livy outlines the objections:

"The pleasures of drinking and feasting were added to the religious rites, to attract a larger number of followers....The corruption was not confined to one kind of evil, the promiscuous violation of free men and women; the cult was also a supply of false witnesses, forged documents and wills, and perjured evidence, dealing also in poisons and in wholesale murders among the devotees, and sometimes ensuring that not even the bodies were found for burial. Many such outrages were committed by craft, and even more by violence; and the violence was concealed because no cries for help could be heard against the shriekings, the banging of drums and the clashing of cymbals in the scene of debauchery and bloodshed." (Meyer, p.82)

Livy mentions other objections to these Bacchic rites."The Fathers were seized with extreme panic, as well as on account of the community, fearing that these conspiracies might lead to some secret treachery or hidden peril." (Meyer, p.87) The Senate also objected to the fact that these were imported rites which they saw were usurping the traditional Roman ceremonies.(Meyer, p.90) In 186 BC the Senate issued a decree ordering the destruction of the Bacchic shrines in Rome and then throughout Italy. However, a sincere devotee of Bacchus could put his case to the Senate, and if successful he could perform his rites provided no more than five people were present and there was no priest. (Meyer, p.92)

Mysteries of the Great Mother

Another significant mystery religion was the worship of the Great Mother, the Magna Mater, which originated in Phrygia in central Asia Minor. In 204 BC a black monolith of the Magna Mater was taken to Rome and set in place with much ceremony, and "the Great Mother won her way to popular favour immediately and her worship whetted the appetite of the Romans for emotional cults." (Angus, p.35)

The Great Mother mythos concerns Attis, a fair young shepherd who was born of the virgin Nana.Cybele, the goddess-mother, fell in love with Attis, but he was unfaithful to her.In a frenzy of remorse Attis castrated himself under a pine tree and died.Cybele greatly mourned her dead lover, then restored him to life.

The festival of Cybele and Attis took place in Spring. On March 22 a pine tree was cut down in the woods and carried to the sanctuary of Cybele. The trunk was swathed with cloth like a corpse and decked with violets, the flower which is said to have sprung from the spilt blood of Attis. An effigy of Attis was tied to this pine trunk. The next day various ceremonies were held, including the blowing of trumpets.The festival reached a climax on the third day, called the Day of Blood. Roused to a frenzy by music and dancing, followers of Attis slashed their arms and splattered blood over the tree and the altar.This was to identify with Attis in his passion, and their blood was to aid Attis in his resurrection.When novice priests reached the pitch of their frenzy, they would castrate themselves in imitation of Attis.

Attitudes to the Mysteries
Ancient writers

The inner mysteries were held in high regard by the thinkers of the ancient world.Initiation into the mysteries were seen to have great benefits not only for this life, but also for the afterlife.Plato says of the vision of the higher worlds:

"There was a time when with the rest of the happy band they saw beauty shining in brightness, - we philosophers following in the train of Zeus, others in company with other gods; and then we beheld the beatific vision and were initiated into a mystery which may be truly be called most blessed...."(Phaedrus 250B)

"The founders of the mysteries would appear to have had a real meaning, and were not talking nonsense when they intimated in a figure long ago that he who passes unsanctified and uninitiated into the world below will lie in a slough, but that he who arrives there after initiation and purification will dwell with the gods. For 'many,' as they say in the mysteries, 'are the thyrsus-bearers, but few are the mystics,' - meaning, as I interprete the words, 'the true philosophers.'" (Phaedo 69C)

The orator Aristides said of the mystic state:

"I thought I could touch the god, and feel his very presence. I was then in a condition between sleeping and waking. My spirit was so light that no one except an initiate could comprehend or speak of it.' (Steiner 1997, p.7)

Sophocles wrote of the benefit of initiation for the afterlife: "Thrice blessed when they come to the realm of shades who have seen these rites! They alone have life, for the rest there is only pain and toil." (Steiner 1999, p.8)

Pindar expressed a similar sentiment: "Blessed is he who has seen these things, and then is laid in the hollow earth. He knows life's end; he knows the beginning ordained by Zeus." (Steiner 1997, p.35)

The Homeric Hymn declared: "Happy is he among deathly men who has seen these things! But he who is unitiated, and has no lot in them, will never have equal lot in death beneath the murky gloom." (Willoughby, p.63)

The Stoic Epictetus stated that the mysteries " were established by those of old for our education and the amendment of life." (Discourses iii. 21. Willoughby, p.65)

Cicero said: "For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life, none in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage mode of life and educated and refined to a state of civilization; as these rites are called 'initiations,' so in very truth we have learned from them the beginnings of life, and have gained the power not only to live happily, but also to die with a better hope." (De Legibus II.14.)

Christian attitudes to the Greek Mysteries

Early Christian writers focused only on the outer rites of the mysteries, failed to see or did not want to see the symbolic significance, and criticised them severely. Clement of Alexandria in Exhortation to the Heathen provides a typical Christian attack on the outer rites:

"To me, therefore, that Thracian Orpheus, that Theban, and that Methymnaen, - men, and yet unworthy of the name, - seem to have been deceivers, who, under the prentence of poetry corrupting human life, possessed by a spirit of artful sorcery for purposes of destruction, celebrating crimes in their orgies, and making human woes the materials of religious worship...." (Ch.I, p.172)

"These I would instance as the prime authors of evil, the parents of impious fables and of deadly superstition, who sowed in human life that seed of evil and ruin - the mysteries....are not the mysteries absurdity?" (Ch.II, p.175)

Clement takes the myths literally:

"These mysteries are, in short, murders and funerals." (Ch.II, p.176)
"Such are the mysteries of the Atheists. And with reason I call those Atheists who know not the true God, and pay shameless worship to a boy torn to pieces by the Titans..."(Ch.II, p.177)

In typical Christian fashion Clement resorts to emotive language in the above.He also uses the stock Christian misrepresentation that the Greeks worshipped demons and images of stone and wood. However, the mysteries were so powerful and apppealing that Clement calls on the heathens to join the "true" mysteries, namely the Christian mysteries:

"Then shalt thou see my God, and be initiated into the sacred mysteries, and come to the fruition of those things which are laid up in heaven reserved for me...." (Ch.XII, p.205)

"O truly sacred mysteries! O stainless light! My way is lighted with torches, and I survey the heavens and God; I become holy whilst I am initiated. The Lord is the hierophant, and seals while illuminating him who is initiated, and presents to the Father him who believes, to be kept safe forever. Such are the reveries [also translated as "orgies"] of my mysteries. If it is thy wish, be thou also initiated; and thou shall join the choir along with angels around the unbegotten and indestructible and the only true God, the word of God, raising the hymn with us." (Ch.XII, p.205)

Clement also uses concepts straight out of Pythagorean thought:

"Behold the might of the new song! It has made men out of stones, men out of beasts. Those, moreover, that were as dead, not being partakers of the true life, have come to life again, simply by becoming listeners to this song. It also composed the universe into melodious order, and tuned the discord of the elements to harmonious arrangement, so that the whole world might become harmony." (Ch.I, p.172.Fideler 1993, p.100 discusses Clement and the "new song.")

These words by Clement could equally be applied to the inner Greek mysteries:

"Hail, O Light! For in us, buried in darkness, shut up in the shadow of death, light has shone forth from heaven, purer than the sun, sweeter than life here below. That light is eternal life; and whatever partakes of it lives." (Ch.XI, p.203)

Secrecy in Christianity

There are a number of occasions in the New Testament where secret teachings in Christianity are mentioned.

"Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." (Mat.7.6) Besant explains: "...for the word 'dogs' - like 'the vulgar,' 'the profane' - was applied by those within a certain circle to all who were outside its pale, whether by a society or association, or by a nation - as by the Jews to all Gentiles. It was sometimes use to designate those who were outside the circle of Initiates, and we find it employed in that sense in the early Church; those who, not having been initiated into the Mysteries, were regarded as being outside 'the kingdom of God,' or 'the spiritual Israel,' had this name applied to them." (Besant 1904.p.47)

"All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Mat.11.27)

"The the disciples came and said to him,'Why do you speak to them in parables?' And he answered them, 'To you it has been given the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.'" (Mat. 13.10-11)

"Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying,'Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.'"(Mat.13.36) The deeper meaning is given not to the masses, but to the disciples or initiates privately "in the house." This is also stated in Mark:

"With many such parables he spoke the word to them,as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything."(Mark 4.33-34)

"And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon-Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.'... Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ."(Mat.16.17, 20) Knowledge of the Christ comes from spiritual understanding and must be kept secret from the profane.

"'I have yet many things to say to you, you cannot bear them now.'"(John 16.12) The disciples will only know the truth when they are ready for it. '"I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father.'"(John 16.25)

"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification."(I Cor.2.7)

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."(I Cor.4.1)

Clement on secret Christian teachings

Clement of Alexandria wrote about secrecy, and the need for secrecy, in Christianity:

"...it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a mystery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God taught....And even now I fear, as it is said, 'to cast pearls before swine, lest they tread them under foot, and turn and rend us.' For it is difficult to exhibit the really pure and transparent words respecting the true light, to swinish and untrained hearers. For scarcely could anything which they could hear be more ludicrous than these to the multitude; nor any subjects on the other hand more admirable or more inspiring to those of noble nature." (Strom.I,Ch.XII, p.312)

Clement (Strom.V, Ch.IV, p.450) quotes I Cor.2.6-8 to show that truth is hidden:

"Howbeit we speak wisdom among those that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery."

Clement supports his case for secrecy by referring to the Egyptians and the Hebrews:

"Whence also the Egyptians did not entrust the mysteries they possessed to all and sundry, and did not divulge the knowledge of divine things to the profane; but only to those destined to ascend the throne, and those of the priests that were judged the worthiest, from their nurture, culture and birth. Similar, then, to the Hebrew enigmas in respect to concealement, are thos of the Egyptians also." (Strom.V, Ch.VII, p.454)

Clement then explains some of the Egyptian symbolism.The sun is shown on a ship or a crocodile to signify the generation of time.On the Pylon temple at Diospolis, the figure of a boy is a symbol of production, and that of an old man is decay.The hawk was used as a symbol of God.The sphinx, with the body of a lion and the face of a man, represents strength combined with intelligence. (Ibid.)

Clement mentions secrecy among the Greeks:

"It was not only the Pythagoreans and Plato, then, that concealed many things; but the Epicureans too say that they have things that may not be uttered, and do not allow all to peruse those writings. The Stoics also say that by the first Zeno things were written which thy do not readily allow disciples to read, without their first giving proof whether or not they are genuine philosophers. And the disciples of Aristotle say that some of their treatises are esoteric, and others common and exoteric. Further, those who instituted the mysteries, being philosophers, buried their doctrines in myths, so as not to be obvious to all." (Strom.V,IX, p.458)

"Thus Sophocles the tragic poet somewhere says:

'And God I know to be such an one,
Ever the revealer of enigmas to the wise,
But to the perverse bad, although a teacher in few words.'" (Strom.V,Ch.IV, p.450)

Clement cites various examples of secrecy in the Bible. For example:

"And he still more clearly reveals that knowledge belongs not to all, by adding: 'Praying at the same time for you, that God would open to us a door to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am bound; that I may make it known as I ought to speak.'[Col.4.3-4]....Blessed be our Lord, brethern, who has put into our hearts wisdom, and the understanding of His secrets. For the prophet says, 'Who shall understand the Lord's parable but the wise and understanding, and he that loves his Lord?' It is but for few to comprehend these things....Wherefore instruction, which reveals hidden things, is called illumination, as it is the teacher only who uncovers the lid of the ark....But only to a few of them is shown what those things are which are contained in the mystery." (Strom.V,Ch.X, p.459-460)

Origen on secret Christian teachings

Celsus had alleged that Christianity was a secret system.Origen countered by saying some doctrines were witheld from the uninitiated, just as was the case in Greek philosophy and mysteries.

"The existence of certain doctrines, which are beyond those which are exoteric and do not reach the multitude, is not a peculiarity of Christian doctrine, but is shared by the philosophers. For they had some doctrines which were exoteric and some esoteric. Some hearers of Pythagoras only learnt of the master's 'ipse dixit'; but others were taught in secret doctrines which could not deservedly reach ears that were uninitiated and not yet purified. None of the mysteries in any place, in Greece and barbarian lands, has been attacked for being secret. Therefore Celsus has no reason to attack the secrecy of Christianity and has no accurate understanding of it."(Contra I.7)

Origen is quiet explicit about secret teachings for the elect based on wisdom, leaving faith for the masses:

"If you also come to the books written after the time of Jesus you will find that the crowds of believers hear the parables outside, as they were worthy only of exoteric teaching. But the disciples privately learnt the explanation of the parables. For 'privately to his own disciples Jesus expounded all things,'[Mark 4.34] honouring above the crowds those who were deemed worthy of his wisdom. And he promises to send to those who believe in him wise men and scribes, saying: "Behold I will send to you wise men and scribes, and some of them you will kill and crucify.'[Mat.23.34] Moreover, Paul in the list of spiritual gifts given by God puts first the gift of wisdom, and second, as inferior to that, the word of knowledge, and third, even lower, I think, faith. And as he values reason above miraculous workings, on this account he puts 'workings of miracles' and 'gifts of healing' in a lower place than intellectual gifts."[I Cor.12.8-10]

"We have much of a mysterious nature to say about this, to which the quotation is appropiate that 'it is good to hide the mystery of a king.' [Tobit 12.7] For we do not want the truth about the way in which souls become bound to a body ( though not by reincarnation) to be cast before an uneducated audience, nor that holy things should be given to the dogs, nor that pearls be cast before swine. For that would be impious, as it implies a betrayal of the secret oracles of the wisdom of God, of which it is finely written: "Wisdom will not enter into a soul that devise evil, nor dwell in a body that is held in pledge by sin.' [Wisd. Of Sol. 1.4] It is enough to give an account of the doctrines which are obscurely set forth under the guise of a story by following the course of it, in order that those that have the ability may work out the meaning of the passage for themselves." (Contra 5.29, p.287)

Mention of the elect in the New Testament

In a number of places the New Testament makes a distinction between the elect (the initiates) and the masses:

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Mat.7.13-14) This reflects the Orphic saying quoted by Plato, "Many thyrus bearers there are, but few Bacchi." [or, initiates]

In the parable of the king who gave a marriage feast, at first no one came to the feast. Later the servants collected many people, "both good and bad," and a guest who had no marriage garment was tossed into the "outer darkness". " For many are called, but few are chosen." (Mat.22.14)

"But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh." (I Cor.3.1-3)

The story of the woman who anoints Christ with expensive ointment at Bethany (Matt. 26.1-13) recognises two classes of believers.This story must not be taken literally.When Christ says "For you always have the poor with you" he is referring to the spiritually poor. He is saying that there will always be unenlightened people around, and this shouldn't stop people who are capable of becoming spiritually awake to go ahead and give a maximum effort.Everyone cannot be enlightened at the same pace.(This story is sometimes taken literally and used to justify repressive economic and social conditions.)

New Testament teachings for the elect only

Confusion occurs because in the New Testament a clear distinction is not always made between teachings meant for all and those for initiates only.Basic morality like the ten commandents are straightforward and obviously for everyone.As has been shown, there is mention of secret teachings in the New Testament itself, and by church fathers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen.But in the New Testament there are also teachings which apply first and foremost to initiates.

"But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away....And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." (Mat. 5.27-30) Then follows the injunction to turn the other cheek, to he who wants your coat give him also your cloak, and "if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Mat. 27.39-41) You must "love your enemies " (Mat. 5.44) and "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mat. 5.48) These teachings indicate the need for complete control over the self and the everyday passions, as is required in all schools of initiation.Total self mastery (not self mortification) takes many years of dedicated practices to achieve, and is not for every one.To be perfect like the heavenly Father is the highest goal, but virtually impossible to achieve by initiates.

The would-be initiate must give up all worldly attachments if he is to follow the path:

"Another of the disciples said to him, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' But Jesus said to him, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.'"(Mat.8.21-22)

"He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it."(Mat. 10.37-39)

Christ said to the rich young man, "' If you would be perfect, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"(Mat.19.21)

Christian Mysteries

"What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
'See, this is new'?
It has been already,
in the ages before us." (Eccles.1.9)

Much as Christians may deny it, there are many influences of the past on Christianity, not the least of which is the ancient Mysteries.Palestine is the centre of a general area where various Mysteries were observed: the Mysteries of Isis, of Bacchus, of Eleusis, of Mithra and so on.It is not surprising that the words "mystery" and "mysteries" appear a number of times in the New Testament:

"Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but now is disclosed and through the prophetic writing is made known to all nations..." (Rom. 16.25-26) Here is a plain statement that the secret Mysteries are to be told to all by Christianity.

Paul often mentions mystery and mysteries:

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." (I Cor. 2.7)

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." (I Cor. 4.1)

"For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit." (I Cor. 14.2)

"Lo! I will tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed..." ( I Cor. 15.51)

"...how the mystery was made known to me by revelation..." (Eph. 3.3)

"...to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages by God who created all things..." (Eph. 3.9)

"This mystery is a profound one..." (Eph. 5.32)

"To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening the mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak" (Eph.6.18-20) This statement has an obvious antecedent in the following from the Egyptian Ritual:

"May the god Ptah open my mouth, and may the god of my city loose the swathings, even the swathings which are over my mouth. Moreover, may Thoth, being filled and furnished with charms, come and loose the bandages of Set which fetter my mouth..." (Ch.23) The ceremony of Opening the Mouth referred to the soul of the initiate, which, once freed from its bondage to the lower self, could utter the truth.Budge comments: "The allusion here is to the belief that Thoth was the great master of the use of magical names and formulae." (Budge 1989, p.133)

"Great indeed is the mystery of our religion..." (I Tim. 3.16)

Revelation uses the word "mystery":

"As for the mystery of the seven stars..." (1.20)

"...but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel. The mystery of God, as he announced to his servants and prophets, should be fulfilled." (10.7)

"...and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon..." (17.5)

"...I will tell you the mystery of the woman..." (17.7)

In view of the prestige accorded to the inner Mysteries in the ancient world, it is little wonder that the Christians used this word and mystery concepts in their religion. The early Church called their sacraments of baptism and communion or the eucharist "Mysteries."Ambrose (c.340-397) Bishop of Milan wrote:

"The season now warns us to speak of the Mysteries, and to set forth the purport of the sacraments, which if we had thought it well to teach before baptism to those who were not yet initiated, we should be considered rather to have betrayed than to have portrayed the Mysteries. And then, too, another reason is that the light itself of the Mysteries will shed itself with more effect upon those who are expecting they know not what, than if any discourse had come beforehand."(On the Mysteries, ch.1.2)

"Consider not the bodily forms, but the grace of the Mysteries." (Ibid., ch.2.6)

"For water without the preaching of the Cross of the Lord is of no avail for future salvation, but, after it has been consecrated by the mystery of the saving cross, it is made suitable for use of the spiritual laver and of the cup of salvation." (Ibid., ch.3.14)

Those not initiated were called Catechumens and were not allowed to take the sacraments.They had to leave the service before the sacraments were performed.Similarly, in the Greek Mysteries the neophytes could not take part in the rites of the Greater Mysteries.Cyril wrote:

"Thou wert called a Catechumen, which means, hearing without ears, hearing hope and not perceiving, hearing mysteries yet not understanding." (The Pracatechesis, 6)

"...for we deliver to thee a mystery, even the hope of the life to come: keep the mystery for Him who pays thee." (Ibid., 12)

"Prepare thine own heart to receive doctrine, to have fellowship in holy mysteries. Pray more often, that God may make thee worthy of the heavenly and immortal mysteries." (Ibid., 16)

"...as ye have been fit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, having been counted worthy of divine and life-giving Baptism." (Mystagogical Catchesis I, 1)

"These introductions into the Mysteries day by day, and these new instructions, which are the announcements of new truths, are profitable to us..." (Ibid., II, 1)

"After this ye hear the chanter, with a sacred melody inviting you to the communion of the Holy Mysteries, and saying, O taste and see that the Lord is good. [Psalms 34.8] (Ibid., V, 20)

Prototypes of the Christian sacraments have been traced back to ancient Egypt.Massey has noted:

"We might call the Egyptians very Particular Baptists for in the first ten gates of Elysium or entrance to the great dwelling of Osiris the deceased [i.e. the initiate] is purified at least ten times over in ten separate baptisms, and ten different waters in which the gods and goddesses had been washed to make the water holy." (Massey, p. 235, referring to the Egyptian Book of the Dead,which he calls the Ritual, ch.145) At each gate the initiate announces that he has washed himself in the appropriate water and anointed himself, and the presiding deity answers, "Pass on, then, thou art pure."

Purification by water was a common feature in the ancient Mysteries. During the Greater Mysteries at Eleusis a cry would go up, "To the sea ye mystics." In procession the initiates would head to the sea where they would bathe in a rite of purification and the banishment of evil. (Harrison, p.152)

In the novel about the Mysteries of Isis, The Golden Ass, Lucius is transformed into an ass, a symbol of the lower self. As an ass he goes down to the sea to purify himself and dips his head under the waves seven times because "seven, according to the divine philosopher Pythagoras, is a number that suits all religious occasions. " (Apuleius, p.226) When Lucius has changed back into himself he undertakes initiation in the rites of Isis. To prepare himself he takes a bath, a priest washes him then sprinkles him with holy water, "offering up prayers for divine mercy." (Ibid., p.240)

A ritual meal was common to various Mysteries.In ancient Egypt Osiris was symbolically "eaten as the Bull of Eternity, who gave his flesh and blood as sustenance for humanity, and who was the divine providence as the provider of food." (Massey, p.221)

Chapter 106 of the Ritual says:

"Hail, Great God, thou lord of heavenly food! Hail, Great God, thou prince of the celestial habitations which supply bread for the god Ptah! Grant ye unto me bread, grant ye unto me ale, and let me cleanse myself by means of the haunch and by the offerings of cakes. Hail, thou divine boat of Sekhet-Aarru, let these cakes be brought to me by thy stream, even as thy divine father, the mighty one, passed theron in the divine bark."

"And bread, and cakes, and sweetmeats, and wine, and pieces of flesh shall be given unto him [i.e. the initiate] upon the altar of the great god..." (Rit.ch.125)

In the Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden, from about the time of Paul, "Osiris gives to Isis and to Horus his blood to drink in a cup of wine, so that after his death they will not forget him, but must search for him eith longing and lamentation, until, brought back to life, he is re-united with them." (Reitzenstein, p.77)

The ancient Egyptian initiatory text, The Liturgy of Opening the Mouth for Breathing,tells us about Mystery rituals:

"Betake yourself to earth daily. Isis and Nephthys will favour you. Thoth has made you a Liturgy of Opening the Mouth for Breathing. He has made you a Book of Going Forth by Day. You will take them to your house of rejuvenation. Anubis, the foremost one of the gods, will rejuvenate you, the archpriest, the overseer of the mystery and foremost of the Westerners." (Column I.10-14)

"You will receive water of rejuvenation behind Osiris. I will bring you water from the great sea.

I will offer you a loaf at the offering table. I will pour out a libation of water for you at the offering table of bwsn-stone.

I will offer you a libation of sweet beer and a receptacle of dates. I will pour out a libation of wine for you at a vine way-chapel.

I will bring you wine from the oasis and water which has issued forth from Elephantine. Drink, decade by decade.

Osiris of N the son of N, you will receive incense and a sweet libation from me, that you might be reinvigorated thereby and be well thereby.I will offer you water, together with cakes and loaves at every offering platform." (Col. II.3-7)

In the Bacchic rites raw flesh was consumed. (Harrison, p.482f) In the Eleusinian Mysteries kykeon was consumed, a kind of soup made of barley, cheese, honey and onion. The initiate would say, "I ate from the timbrel, I drank from the cymbal." (Ibid. P.156f) In the Mysteries of Mithra "repeated ablutions were prescribed to neophytes as a kind of baptism to wash away their guilty stains." (Cumont, p.157) There was an oblation of bread, water and wine, over which a priest pronounced the sacred formula.(Ibid.p.158) Cumont reproduces a relief showing a "Mithraic Communion," where initiates are engaged in a ritual meal with bread and wine.(Ibid. P.159) Early Christian apologists such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian blamed the devil for stealing Christian sacraments ( in advance of Christianity!) and giving them to the Mithraic initiates.(Meyer, p.226)

Besides baptism and communion, Hatch has noted other parallels between the Mysteries and the Christian sacraments, including placing a seal or mark on the forehead; having a secret password, formula or creed; and seeing a blaze of light during the initiation. (Hatch, p.294)

The secret of the Mysteries revealed

Only those with a grasp of esoteric knowledge get to the true meaning of the ancient Mysteries.In the Greater Mysteries the initiate realised that portion of divinity which lies within.Naturally this was not for everyone and could only take place after years of suitable training.Kuhn has stated the matter more plainly than any other author I have read:

"Deity for man is at home, not afield in distant skies. The kingdom of heaven and the hope of glory are within. They lurk within the unfathomed depths of consciousness. Divinity lies buried under the heavier motions of the sensual nature and the incessant scurrying of the superficial mind. It is the still small voice, drowned out mostly by the raucous clamor of fleshly, material interests. It is a pure, mild Presence, awaiting the day when the outer man will give more heed to its quiet speech.The Supreme God is not available; but within the quietude of his [or her] own being every man [or woman] may find a fragment of that same God, made personal in his [or her] own individuality.This is the burden of the lost wisdom of antiquity...

"God...has projected into our nature a portion, a ray, of his own life. He has apportioned among all his creatures that measure of his ineffable power which each is capable of receiving...In man the divine seed is the Christos, the son of the Almighty Father....

"The indwelling god is himself being brought to birth within the womb of humanity. Each individual is gestating a divinity within the deeps of his own nature. Christianity has fervently exhorted us to look into the empyrean to find the unapproachable God.All the while the infant deity slumbers unheeded within the heart. Christianity has largely nullified the force of Paul's almost frantic cry to us: "Know ye not that your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is within you? [2 Cor. 13.5)

"The seers of old distinguished between the Unknowable God of the thought theorem and the actual Presence in the human constitution by denominating the former "God" and the latter "the god." Intermediate deities were called variously "the Gods" and "the gods." (Kuhn 1940, p.46-47)

Anna Kingsford explains the god within as follows:

""For the Christos or Anointed, the Chrestos or Best, are but titles signifying Man Perfect; and the name of Jesus, at which every knee must bow, is the ancient and ever divine name of all the Sons of God - Iesous or Yesha, he who shall save, and Issa the illuminated or initiate of Isis [Light]...

"Christ Jesus then, is no other than the hidden and true man of Spirit, the perfect humanity, the express image of the divine Glory. And it is possible to man, by the renunciation - which mystically is the crucifixion - of his outer and lower self, to rise wholly into his inner and higher self, and, becoming suffused or anointed of the Spirit, to "put on Christ," propitiate God, and redeem the earthly and material." (Kingsford 1996, p.110-111)

In the early 1900's the Reverend Reginald J.Campbell illuminated with these words:

"God is the original sower. He has taken of His own eternal life and sown it upon the earth as upon a ploughed field. Into every human heart some of that divine seed has fallen, and will spring up and grow as we give it opportunity. Ever and anon it ripens into the full corn in the ear, some perfect revealing of some aspect of eternal truth. Then it is reaped; for the man in whom that fruitage appears remains to all eternity what he has thus achieved. Nor does the process stop there. Every consecrated life becomes the spiritual seed of other lives in which Christ has yet to be formed." Reaping for Eternal Life.(Gaskell, p.711)

"Humanity as a whole, and every human being in particular, is a portion of the Eternal Divine Essence subjected to earthly conditions that its latent spiritual qualities, the qualities which constitute the ideal good, may find opportunity to declare themselves.Or, to put it another way, the travail of earth has been necessary that a glorious divine idea might be brought to the birth and live forever in the eternal world - an idea in whose fulfilment the highest welfare, the fullest self-realisation of every being taking any part in the work will be included. " God's Use of Time (Ibid. P.706)

The German mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) states:

"Relative to the aristocracy of the inner, spiritual man and the commonalty of the outward, physical person, the heathen philosophers, Tully and Seneca, maintain that no rational soul is without God. The seed of God is in us. Given an intelligent farmer and a diligent fieldhand, it will thrive and grow up to God whose seed it is and, accordingly, its fruit will be God-nature. Pear seeds grow into pear trees; nut seeds into nut trees, and God-seed into God!" (Blakney, p.75)

Fideler points out that the "realization of Christ within...is the secret of initiation, and was referred to by the early Christians in a number of ways." (Fideler 1993. P.50) The fourth gospel says:

"But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God: who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1.12)

(Fideler translates "children of God" as "sons of God."(Fideler 1993, p.44))

This shows that the birth of the Christ within is a spiritual birth, as does John 3.3:

"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you,unless one is born anew, [or from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Clement alludes to the Christ within:

"For the sun could never show me the true God; but that healthful Word, that is the Sun of the soul, by whom alone, when He arises in the depths of the soul, the eye of the soul itself is illuminated." (Exhort. Ch.6)

Origen explains the Christ within this way:

"If anyone should want to see many bodies filled with a divine spirit, ministering to the salvation of men everywhere after the pattern of the one Christ, let him realize that those who in many places teach the doctrine of Jesus rightly and live an upright life are themselves called Christs by the divine scriptures in the words: 'Touch not my Christs and do my prophets no harm.'[Ps. 105.15]...in the same way knowing that Christ has come we see that because of him there have been many Christs in the world..."(Con.Cels.6.79)
The two sides of Christianity: inner and outer

As we have seen, there were secret teachings for the elect in early Christianity. But the spirit of the new Age required universalism.This scenario led to majors conflicts in the early church. Hatch says: "There are proofs of the existence in the very earliest Christian communities of those who endeavoured to live on a higher plane than their fellows." (Hatch, p.165) Hatch calls these Christians the "Puritan party," and they are often called "gnostics."(Hatch, p.165) On the other hand there was an impetus for universalism by apologists such as Irenaeus (c.130-202), Tertullian (155-222) and Hippolytus (c.170-236), who could be called levellers or popularisers.They waged unrelenting war against the "gnostics" and "heretics," and they were part of a movement that changed Christian teachings by literalising the Mysteries to make them palatable to the untutored masses.

Nicolai Berdyaev has some perceptive things to say about the inbuilt conflict in Christianity:

"In Christianity two elements are always in conflict: the inward- mystical and the outward-everyday; the aristocratic and the democratic; the spiritual and the intellectual; the intimately-secret and that which is adapted to the average level of human society. We must always remember that Christianity, as a historical world phenomenon, is not only divine relation, but also an adaption to the humanity which accepts this revelation in the degree of its spiritual growth and development. The Christianity which is the mysticism of the inward man, and the Christianity which is an historical adaptation to the outward.Only thus can we understand the tragic duality of Christianity in in history....

"Mystically, Christianity has followed the line of greatest resistance, the line of foolishness for the wisdom of this world. Historically, Christianity has followed the line of least resistance, the line of adaptation to reason and the reckoning of this world - adaptation to man's pagan nature, to the physical plane of life. This dualism presents a great temptation and it must be recognized and thought out. Any everyday Christian, a true believer and not devoid of religious experience, be he priest or layman, will tell you that in Christianity there is nothing mystical, that mysticism in Christianity was always a sign of abnormality and heresy, that the gnostics and sectarians were mystics, and that the Church is against mysticism.

"And along with this no one will attempt to deny that the greatest and most authentic saints were mystics; that the depths of church-consciousness are mystical, that the Gospel of John, the Epistles of the apostle Paul and the Apocalypse are mystical books, and the religion of Christ is a religion of the mystery of redemption and that there is an Orthodox mysticism and a Catholic mysticism, recognized by the church. In Christianity there is a profound mystical tradition which goes back to the apostles.

"The church in its world-historical action and its necessary adaptation to the level of humanity has been pre-eminently the Church of Peter, from whom the priestly succession derives. From Peter comes the tradition of Judaeo-Christianity. The Catholic Church openly recognises itself as the Church of Peter, but the orthodox Church also accepts the succession from Peter. Peter was the apostle of the average level of humanity. In him is the spirit of involution, of condescension. But Christ's beloved disciple was John, and from him comes the mystical tradition. The mystical church, which because of man's low estate has not yet been fully revealed, is the Johannine Church.

"The saints and the mystics have been the living bearers of the Johannine tradition: St Francis is of the spirit of John rather than Peter. But holy tradition is not Petrine alone, but Johannine as well. The fearful torpidity of the Church of Peter, the decay of its upper ranks, must bring about a revelation of the Church of John, an incarnation of the mystical tradition of Christianity. Here, in the mystical sense, the apostolic succession will not be broken. The Church of Peter and the Church of John are one single Church of Christ, but seen from different sides, directed towards different aims which are subordinate to one sole purpose." (Berdyaev, p.245)

Rudolf Steiner is one of the few who state that Christianity brought the ancient Mystery teachings out into the open.The objective was to enable everyone to partake in the Mysteries.Steiner states that in Christianity "the Mystery-temple is the entire world....There is no secrecy; the way opens out for all." (Steiner 1997, p.138) In Steiner's view the masses are supposed to become initiates vicariously through faith.He does admit, however, that people could only absorb the Mystery teachings according to their level of development:

"Here we see a democratization of the aims of the Mysteries - though inevitably such a democratization brought a softening of the original character of the cults....Christianity extended the process further...though naturally weakening their Mystery character." (Ibid. P.142)

In Esoteric Christianity Annie Besant takes a similar line to Steiner, seeing the Mysteries being transferred to Christianity.She says that the Mysteries sufffered "a lack of suitable pupils" and were absorbed into Christianity.(Besant, p.108)However, both authors omit to explore the consequences of this development.The true meaning of the Mysteries was lost in the process and mainstream Christianity distorted the truth.Christians are still wrangling over the meaning of their basic concepts.Back around 178 Celsus wrote of the Christians:

"And these slander one another with dreadful and unspeakable words of abuse. And they would not even make the least concession to reach agreement; for they utterly detest each other." (Origen, Contra Celsum, 5.63)

In the third century, in order to achieve unity, the church held meetings of bishops.The majority vote of these bishops became official church policy, and all other opinions were called "heresies."Hatch, in discussing this development, says:

"But I will not pain your ears by quoting, though I have them at hand, the torrents of abuse which one saint poured upon another, because the one assented to the speculations of a majority, and the other had speculations of his own." (Hatch, p.329)

Christianity spread in the fourth century thanks first to Constantine who made it legal in 313 and then the official Roman religion in 325.Emperor Theodosius outlawed pagan religion in 392, requiring all citizens (except Jews) to be Roman Catholics. Theodosius also instigated a campaign of the mass destruction of non-Christian temples.In 435 pagan worship carried the death penalty.The "New Song" of early Christianity was forever stifled by a highly political church and a distortion of the teachings.

Consequence of opening up the Mysteries

Christianity's opening up of the Mysteries was akin to the opening of Pandora's box.All sorts of unintended consequences occurred.Mead outlines the result:

"The new method was to force out into the open for all men a portion of the sacred Mysteries and secret teachings of the few.The adherents of the new religion itself professed to throw open 'everything'; and many believed that it had revealed all that was reveable.That was because they were as yet children. So bright was the light to them they perforced believed it came directly from the God of all gods - or rather from God alone, for they would have no more of gods; the gods were straightway transmuted into devils. The 'many' had begun to play with psychic and spiritual forces, let loose from the Mysteries, and the 'many' went mad for a time, and have not yet regained their sanity." (Mead 1906, p.113)

In the ancient world the Mysteries were carefully guarded for very good reasons. The initiates knew of the dangers incurred by ignorance and the misuse of occult or hidden forces. (McCaffery has pointed that "the Bible is the greatest occult book in the world" p.80.) Helena Blavatsky has stated the problem:

"There is a strange law in Occultism which has been ascertained and proven by thousands of years of experience; nor has it failed to demonstrate itself, almost in every case, during the years that the Theosophical Society has been in existence. As soon as anyone pledges himself as 'Probationer,' certain Occult effects ensure. Of these the first is the throwing outward of everything latent in the nature of the man; his faults, habits, , qualities or subdued desires, whether good, bad, or indifferent.

For instance, if a man be vain or a sensualist, or ambitious, whether by atavism or by karmic heirloom, those vices are sure to break out, even if he has hitherto successfully concealed and repressed them. They will come to the front irrepressibly, and he will have to gifht a hundred times harder than before, untils he kills all such tendencies in himself.

On the other hand, if he be good, generous, chaste, and abstemious, or has any virtues hitherto latent and concealed in him, it will work its way out as irrepressibly as the rest. Thus a civilized man who hates to be considered a saint. And therefore assumes a mask, will not be able to conceal his true nature, whether base or noble.

This is an immutable law in the domain of the Occult. Its action is the more marked, the more earnest and sincere the desire of the candidate, and the more deeply he has felt the reality and importance of his pledge." (Secret Doctrine v.5, Paper 1)

Dion Fortune has also made comments that are relevant to this matter:

"Occult science is a very potent thing, and many people are protected in their researches therein by their own ineptitude.Did they succeed in some of the operations they undertake, their natures, unpurified and undisciplined, would be shattered by the result. It is only because no power comes through that no disaster follows. If we desire to safely investigate the Mysteries, we must first approach them under their nobler aspect, as part of a system of spiritual regeneration, and only after we have submitted to their discipline and offered the dedication of the lower self to the purposes of the Higher, and had that dedication accepted, can we safely study the magical aspects of occultism which usually attract the unenlightened....Occultism is not child's play, and it is very far from being fool-proof. For its pursuit strength is required, as well as purity; but all who have touched its deeper issues unite in declaring that it is no will o' the wisp, dancing over a bottomless bog, but a true path to the Light, though narrow as a razor's edge." (Fortune 1929)

To protect both the Mysteries and the pupils, the ancient Mystery schools were very strict as to the students they accepted, and had rigorous training.For example, the Pythagoran neophyte had to spend five years in silence.By throwing opening the Mysteries, Christianity unleashes psychic forces in a most haphazard manner.Christianity has never understood what it is doing, and has caused much suffering in the process.These comments by Mary Harding are pertinent to the matter in hand:

"The idea of the struggle against evil is frequently represented in terms of actual warfare - the 'soldiers of Christ' are urged to 'fight the good fight,' etc. - and indeed it is a battle. But only too often this combat is not recognized as a contest that should be waged in the subjective realm, within a man's own heart. Instead, he sees the forces of evil only outside himself: they are projected and thus personified in another being as the mortal enemy.

"This psychological mechanism of projection has been the cause of many brutalities throughout the centuries. Religious persecutions - inquisitions, [witch hunts and burnings], pograms, and crusades - have been carried out by men who believed themselves to have all of the truth, with the consequence that the enemy had only its opposite, all the error. Such a one-sided and fanatical attitude always denotes complete ignorance of what lies in one's own unconscious.

"It seems to the zealot that God himself demands that the evil in the other man be attacked and overcome.Campaigns against evil, of the most brutal and barbarous type, have been undertaken, over and over again, at the instigation of God - or so their perpetrators believed - a God who like the God of Hosts of Old Testament days could brook no opposition." (Harding, p.112)

The core concepts of Christianity are "pagan" Mystery teachings. But due to their ignorance and distortions, Christians are not aware of the fact.They are like infants playing with matches and gunpowder.Christianity activates unconscious forces which exist within the person, but it has no idea of what it is doing.It has no understanding of genuine self development, and therefore no appropiate practises which can integrate the unleashed psychic forces.In their bewilderment Christians call these unruly forces devils and demons.

It is little wonder that those following the monastic life, especially in the Middle Ages, saw themselves as beset by "devils" and "demons." A representative view is that of Richalmus, abbot of Schonthal, who, around 1270, wrote about "demons" who try and thwart the sanctity of monks.According to him, at every monastery there was a team of demons at work, attempting to subvert the monks and lead them astray.He wrote, "It is untrue what some people say, that each human being is pursued by only one demon, for several demons pursue each human being. Just as a man who plunges into the sea is wholly surrounded by water, so demons too flow around a man from all sides. " (Cohn, p.71) When Richalmus shut his eyes he saw tiny demons surrounding him and everyone else, as thick as dust specks dancing in the sunlight.The more pious the man, the more violently was he attacked by demons.

It is obvious that Richalmus projected his own paranoia onto the external world.He often heard demons talking together, plotting ways of undermining Christian piety. He heard the voices of demons in the song of birds, in human coughs, and in every sound that breaks the silence of meditation. (Ibid.,p.72) In his disturbed state of mind he blames demons for causing him to often rush from holy communion and vomit up the host he has just received. Demons cause him flatuence, give him fleas, and they make him fall asleep at choir, snoring loudly themselves to implicate him.The only counter-measure that Richalmus can offer to repel demons is the sign of the cross, but its power is short-lived and the demons soon return and continue with their persecutions.

Cohn has observed how demons took over the Christian mind:

"It is a far cry from the self-confidence of the early Christians. Now demons are no more external enemies, doomed to be defeated again and again and finally cast down for ever, by the bearers of a militant faith. They have penetrated into every corner of life, above all they have penetrated into the souls of individual Christians. No longer imagined as causing drought or bad harvests or epidemics, demons have come to represent desires which individual Christians have, but which they dare not aknowledge as belonging to themselves. People feel themselves victims of forces which they are quite unable to master - and the more concerned with religion they are, the more grievious their afflictions: monks and nuns suffer most of all. These menacing forces are, above all, temptations to irrevence and sacrilige, indiscipline and rebellion...

"It is not surprising that in such an atmosphere people should have elaborated the fantasy of a secret society of Devil-worshippers...It was because Christians, and particularly monks, were so obsessed by the power of Satan and his demons that they were so ready to see Devil-worship in the most unlikely quarters." (Ibid., p.74)

The Christian concept of satan or the devil has been an integral component of their religion. (Later we will examine the true meaning of satan.) The Church Fathers wantonly called the (pagan) gods demons, and never tired of their slander that "pagans" worshipped demons. The views of so-called "heretics" were never rationally discussed, but were summarily dismissed as being the work of the devil. The devil became the scapegoat for those things which the Christians did not like or could not understand. As the years rolled on, it became obvious that Christianity had not fulfilled its promises: there was no second coming and evil still abounded.How was this to be explained? Not by rational examine of Christian premises, but by irrational and emotional blaming techniques. It is beyond the scope of this work to explore scapegoat theory, except to say that still today it is a widespread practice to blame others, particularly minority groups, for all sorts of problems in society.

 
 
 
  To be continued... one day

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