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The Victorious Solar Hero

The hero-victim alone can withstand the wrath-bliss of Eternity, sharing, as he does, the exact same indestructible nature.

And He drove the man out. And he caused to dwell the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword whirling around, to guard the way to the Tree of Life. Genesis 3:24 L.T

He (Jesus) died, To bring us to God, and, in order thereunto, to rend that veil of guilt and wrath which interposed between us and him, to take away the cherubim and flaming sword, and to open the way to the tree of life.” Matthew Henry

The Guardian of the Solar Gareway

According to Irish Myth, Diarmaid and Grainne once sought refuge under the rowan tree of immortality, in an attempt to escape the wrath of Finn MacCumhail. The berries of the tree were guarded by the immortal one-eyed giant Sharvan the Surly. Grainne was overcome with desire to eat some of these berries and told Diarmaid, who slew the immortal giant with three strikes of the giant’s own iron club (Footnote: The Mythological Victim’s weapon), gaining access to its ambrosial fruit.

The revolving sword of fire
Glyph of the sun god Utu

“In Genesis, the symbolism of the one-eyed giant of the tree of immortality appears again, as the revolving sword of fire that prevents access to the tree of life. ”

In Genesis, the symbolism of the one-eyed giant of the tree of immortality appears again, as the revolving sword of fire that prevents access to the tree of life. Compare also the Sumerian sun god Utu, which is actually a revolving solar wheel (see above). Like the Garden of Eden, it has four rivers flowing out from its centre (Genesis 2:10–14). In Homer’s Oddessy, it is the man-eating Cyclopes Polyphemus, whose single eye, “analogous to the sundoor to the yonder world” (Campbell, J, ‘occidental’, p.166), was penetrated by Odysseus.

Caught within the Cosmic World Cave

Odysseus and his companions become trapped within the cyclops’ cave, sealed with an immovable slab of stone. To their dismay, Polyphemus kills and devours two of them, before settling down to sleep. Odysseus was about to slay him, when he realised that the giant was the only one capable of removing the stone door. The following morning, the cyclops ate another two men for breakfast, and left the cave with his flocks, effortlessly closing the door behind him. Noticing the giant’s own club, Odysseus and his men fashion it into a stake and awaited his return. That evening Polyphemus ate two more men. Odysseus offered him a large bowl full of wine (the ambrosial drink), originally brought as a gift, and the giant, demanding more of the wonderful beverage, drank three bowlfuls before eventually passing out, human flesh and vomit dribbling down his chin. Odysseus heated the tip of the stake until it was red hot, and together with four other men, drove it into the cyclopes’ eye (Below), turning the stake around, until the eyeball burst, and Polyphemus was left screaming in agony.

Penetrating the Solar door

The giant later recalled the prophecy that he would be blinded by a man named Odysseus, but he had always anticipated someone equal in strength and stature to himself.

Penetrating the Solar Gateway

The eye of the cyclopes, the impenetrable solar gateway — corresponding with the immovable slab of stone sealing the exit of the cave — , is the Cosmological Problem that only the ‘Mythological Victim’ can solve. The revolving
stake of fire is the weapon of the Victim, with which he willingly strikes himself.

“ Odysseus acquires the awesome power of the giant, becoming identical in nature, and thereby gains access through the solar gateway to paradise.”

You will notice on the plate above that the stake is equated with an ivy-like serpent, and should therefore be compared with the ‘weapon’ of Dionysos. Odysseus acquires the awesome power of the giant, becoming identical in nature, and thereby gains access through the solar gateway to paradise. Similarly, when Herakles overcame the Nemean lion, he ever-afterwards became the lion himself by wearing the skin of the lion, whose hide was so tough it could only be flayed with its own claws.

The Solar Hero

In the Irish Book of Invasions, the Tuatha De Danann defeat the Fomorians at the second battle of Mag Tuired, led by Lugh Lamfhada, ‘the shining one of the long arm’ (known as Lleu Llaw Gyffes in Welsh myth), in the role of Solar King. The champion of the Fomorians is Balor, Lugh’s grandfather, whose single eye was infused with druidic magic as a child, and once opened had the power to incapacitate an entire army. When Lugh confronted his grandfather in battle, Balor ordered four of his men to raise his heavy eyelid (compare the four men required to help Odysseus pierce the eye of Polyphemus), and as his eye opened, Lugh aimed his slingshot and blasted the giant’s eye out through the back of his head. A comparable version of this myth can also be found in the Old Testament:

…As the Philistine (Goliath) moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground… …David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s (own) sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut of his head with the sword. 1 Samuel 17: 48–51 N.I.V

The solar-eyed ogre in the garden is simultaneously indestructible and vulnerable (like Talos and the centaur Cheiron) illustrating the self-sacrificing nature of God and the unyielding nature of wrath in the face of sin that the sacrifice was able (being of equal nature) to withstand. Eternally satisfied, the wrath unleashed in the garden of delight is gloriously transformed to bliss, as the Eternal One Himself, and those who are a part of his imperishable body, victoriously pass through the solar gateway into river’s of life.

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