My faith really did take a beating. More so after I started reading the New Testament from the perspective of Biblical history and the various methodologies used to separate the history from Church tradition. While I found it fascinating, I also began to mistrust what I read in the Bible. I had stepped outside the realm of dogma and no longer had any fixed truth to justify my place in the universe. I had become ontologically displaced. I had an interest in Hellenistic Mystery Religions (also called Cults) and the alleged parallels between various gods and goddesses of these religions and the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I had also read James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, and from his work and others learned about ritual regicide and other ritual practices that imitated the cyclic processes of death and life.

There’s a theory that Jesus never existed and rather than Christianity being singularly influenced by Jewish beliefs, in actuality, the early Church’s understanding of Jesus was shaped by these various mystery systems. Some claim that Christianity was directly influenced by specific mysteries, such as Mithraism or the Mysteries of Isis. Another more plausible view is that Christianity is an amalgamation of all the Mysteries. My own view is that the parallels go back much further into prehistory and there was no direct borrowing, although as the Mysteries apparently became more open, probably due to the growing popularity of Christianity, exchanges between Christianity and the Mysteries likely took place. Anyway, most of the mythical parallels between Jesus and the deities of the Mysteries (which proliferate the web) are actually incorrect. And many of the legitimate parallels don’t really prove anything if you learn a little bit about myth and ritual. Christianity is but one of many ways to interact with the divine and all religions have comparable practices one way or another.

The mythic notion of a divine being whose essence is bound up in the cyclic processes of the universe (either within the great cycle/s of time as in Hinduism or the continual ever-living ever-dying cycles of two co-existing opposites of the universe as expressed in Taoist philosophy), remains for me an important part of my spiritual cosmology. For me It is a being who destroys to create rather than creates to destroy. As I said in my previous post I have been influenced in my thinking via Christianity by the Rig Vedic Hymn to Purusha, which describes an act where God (gods) sacrifices ‘him’self to ‘him’self to regenerate the universe (also God). An event that is an ongoing process in ‘eternal time,’ and re-enacted by Hindu ritual specialists, who themselves become the sacrificial-god when performing the Great Sacrifice. Related to this particular Hindu creation myth is the Norse myth of creation involving the primordial giant Ymir, killed by Odin and two of his brothers, and whose body parts were transformed into the universe. This Indo-European theme is said to derive from a common creation myth involving a proto-god called *Yemo, who can also be split into two deities or aspects, one slaying the other, to create a cosmos, either the universe as a whole or a tribe of people. *Yemo and Ymir, If I remember correctly, means twin. The Chinese myth of Pan Gu/Panku (a god who dies and individual body parts become the universe) seems also to of derived from this I.E proto myth.

This Being takes on many mythic guises and adopts, through both ancient and modern story-telling, the names of many gods, goddesses, heroes (hunter, warrior, Shaman, magician, teacher, saviour etc.) and so on. Even in our own lives this Being may, in some aspect, be embodied. The Cosmic Being embodies all the skills of living. To me, he is like Lugh in Irish mythology, multi-skilled in all the arts, from whom all, including both human and divine, are derived. My sacred image of choice is that of the cross-legged horned/antlered god, I call by the name of Cernunnos…

Initially I had my reservations regarding the first few chapters of the O.T. I’m referring the the hardcore mythical stuff. I was, however, convinced that it was to be taken literally (a talking serpent, a world destroying flood and all), and very quickly my perception of reality was reorganized to accommodate the otherwise seemingly implausible, much to the amusement of my non-religious friends. A major factor in this was my acceptance of the Old Testament stuff that ‘foretold’ the coming of a sacrificial Christ. After that everything else (however unlikely) was easy to accept. Everything centred around my absolute certainty that Jesus was who the Bible (and tradition) said he was. Through that belief everything else was filtered. Talking donkeys were not a problem in comparison with the Christ.

Quite early on, after a year or so, I began to pick up on certain things mentioned in the Bible that no one else seemed to. I kept my interpretations to myself for the most part, although I did confide in my Dad, who told me that “no one had a monopoly on scripture,” so who was to say I was wrong? These ‘revelations’ were not exactly heretical, it was just that no one else (as far as I could tell) saw them, or talked about them. I will say that I came to my now current fuzzy spiritual-cosmological views via non-Christian religious texts (reinterpreted Biblically), that, back then, would of raised a red flag or two, and I knew it, so I kept quiet. A religious text that majorly affected my Christian world view was from the Rig Veda.

1. A THOUSAND heads hath Puru?a, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.
On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.
2 This Puru?a is all that yet hath been and all that is to be;
The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food.
3 So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Puru?a.
All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.
4 With three-fourths Puru?a went up: one-fourth of him again was here.
Thence he strode out to every side over what cats not and what cats.
5 From him Vir?j was born; again Puru?a from Vir?j was born.
As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.
6 When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Puru?a as their offering,
Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.
7 They balmed as victim on the grass Puru?a born in earliest time.
With him the Deities and all S?dhyas and ??is sacrificed.
8 From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gathered up.
He formed the creatures of-the air, and animals both wild and tame.
9 From that great general sacrifice ?cas and S?ma-hymns were born:
Therefrom were spells and charms produced; the Yajus had its birth from it.
10 From it were horses born, from it all cattle with two rows of teeth:
From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born.
11 When they divided Puru?a how many portions did they make?
What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?
12 The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the R?janya made.
His thighs became the Vai?ya, from his feet the ??dra was produced.
13 The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth;
Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and V?yu from his breath.
14 Forth from his navel came mid-air the sky was fashioned from his head
Earth from his feet, and from his car the regions. Thus they formed the worlds.
15 Seven fencing-sticks had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were prepared,
When the Gods, offering sacrifice, bound, as their victim, Puru?a.
16 Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim these were the earliest holy ordinances.
The Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the S?dhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.

Rig Vedic Hymn To Purusha (10.90)

The idea of a slaughtered God whose body parts became the universe was, for me, none other than a crucified Jesus. Somehow his death on the cross transcended time back to the very beginning of things and paradoxically cosmic reality, as we know it, was reshaped through his self-sacrifice, enabling human beings to continue to commune with the divine, even after the original sinful act of partaking in the forbidden fruit in the paradise of Eden. If it were not for self-emptying of Jesus, God would not of strolled back into the garden looking for Adam and Eve. His very presence thereafter would of annihilated his misaligned (unholy) creation, if it were not for the trans-cosmic act of Christ. If it wasn’t for Christ all would surely of died. Consumed by the sheer infinite presence of Godhead (God’s wrath). Like Semele in Greek myth.

To me, God’s wrath was not so much a pissed off deity, rather, I began to understand ‘God’s wrath’ metaphorically. It had more to do with his dangerous infinite essence, than a “holier than thou” deity. By participating in humanity, God (as Jesus) had inbuilt a fail-safe. Jesus was God’s contingency plan. The Serpent was fucked and trapped within his own messed up re-creation of things. An idea that I later discovered to be a Zoroastrian belief. Satan (or rather Ahriman/Angra Mainyu) was inadvertently “caged” within his own re-creation. No way out until the final eschatological comedown. I’m still amazed by how much of this I figured out without any prior knowledge of other mythologies, yet seemed to be confirmed by other devotees of comparative mythologies primarily Joseph Campbell, Robert Graves and Mircea Eliade.

The first of this trio was Robert Graves. I came across Greek Myths vol. one and was completely sucked in by his introduction regarding a pre-Greek culture centred around a Universal Mother Goddess and her lovers, that is, her sacrificial king and replacement in the wheel of the year. Back then (I guess around 2000), when I first read it, I had no idea that this was just Robert Graves idiosyncratic interpretation. I was enthralled. Later on a new edition of the White Goddess came out. By then I knew that Robert Grave’s intuitive reconstructions of a pre-historical Universal Goddess were not accepted academically, but I loved reading him all the same. I then came across Occidental Mythology by Joseph Campbell (part of the Mask of Gods series), which confirmed many of the reoccurring mythological motifs I was already familiar with, including the heiros gamos (Sacred marriage), that in Christian terms is the relationship between Christ and the Church, the cosmic directions, Tree of Life, etc. It was some time afterwards that I discovered Mircea Eliade and my original understanding of Christ’s supra-cosmic sacrifice was supported by the idea of an ‘eternal return.’ But by then, I no longer believed in a Christian world view….

My only solution, if I were a Christian, would be to accept that the Spirit of God is not only available to those who accept Christian doctrine, but rather to all who practice a Christian love. Love transcends all spiritual word views. Even non-religious people can have this love in their hearts. I think that we were born as living temples of divine essence.

There are some very hardened and closed off people who seem devoid of goodness, but regardless I believe it is within and can be drawn out, but not only though accepting a single religious set of doctrines, but rather through acceptance of one another and by embracing those fleeting moments of beauty that manifest throughout our short lives.

I have a very passive open approach to my fellow human beings. I don’t have expectations or project high standards on people. I’m patient. Today there might be difficulty communicating, but a week a month a year from today there may be a connection. You see, you are just as complicated as I am. You probably have your own complex set of neuroses. Perhaps you’re a well adjusted human being with a lot of stuff on your mind. I’m just guessing. I don’t know.

Human beings to me are elusive creatures and difficult to get to know and understand. Divine beings that exist beyond the physical and biological level are just as, if not more difficult to know.

I’d like to believe that there are divine beings out there open to me. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but I like to believe it. Despite my problems, I hope that, out there, there are gods and spirits who take an interest in me. And perhaps in the near or far future a relationship will be forged.

I’d like to approach the sacred from two vantage points. The sacred that is aware of itself, awake, the conscious sacred, and the sacred that is unaware, sleeping, the unconscious sacred.

The conscious sacred is experienced in the world. Crashing tides, drifts of snow, wind-blasts and ripples on the surface of a pond. The living breathing heartbeat of manifest reality can be either slow and steady or fast and erratic. The conscious sacred, at its most wild and dangerous is like a wheel of fire, throwing off sparks of itself. This is the sacred that doesn’t need to be drawn out. As a child of chaos it is forcefully born of itself, like the tail devouring serpent, imprinting itself onto the picture, the story or the song, It’s impression as indelible as its desire. This is the conscious sacred that is often defined and surrounded by a boundary, lest the fire of its heart reduce all else to ashes, or drown everything in the dark depths of the other unconscious sacred.

The introvert conscious is content to just be, aware more of itself than its surroundings, yet ‘comes to life’ when it chances upon another like-minded spirit, just as dust particles will dance upon a current of air, illuminated by beam of sunlight in a darkened room. Conscious beings of this kind thrive in the sunlight. They are calm and gentle, more approachable yet easily frightened and like birds they tend to fly away. To connect with these sacred spirits, you must participate on their level and learn how to drink from the same stream. These are the sacred beings more acceptable in our current spiritual climate, yet often our thirst so often stays unquenched and we give up and shrink back into the secular realm for less spiritual beverages.

Regarding the unconscious sacred, it resides within the world yet remains without form. It is the sacred that will neither be seen or experienced in its shapeless state. It sleeps in its own perfection. When it awakes it shifts into a conscious state and the dream is immediately forgotten. It is motionless. A silent song. Timeless and forever forbidden. It is the one door that should not and cannot be opened. And it cannot be opened without being closed. The doorway of the unconscious sacred is reached—by both the extroverted sacred conscious in active confidence, as well as more passive timidity of the introverted sacred conscious—but never penetrated. What it exactly is is what everything in the waking world is not. This paradoxical state of being can only be achieved by the sacred itself. Whether conscious or unconscious, sacredness retains its essence.

king City Years of Reign
1. Alulim Eridu 28800
2. Alalgar Eridu 36000
3. Enmenluanna Badtibira 43200
4. Enmengalanna Badtibira 28800
5. Dumuzi Badtibira 36000
6. Ensipazianna Larak 28800
7. Enmenduranna Sippar 21000
8. Ubartutu Shuruppak 18600

Total years of reign 241200 years

John Van Seters (Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian In Genesis: 1992) highlights at least three similarities shared by both the Sumerian King List and the Sumerian Flood Story: a) Kingship is lowered down from heaven; b) The five pre-flood cities, Eridu, Badtibira, Larak, Sippar and Shuruppak are presented in the same order, and c) the similarity in the wording of the flood, “Sweeping over,” and “After the flood Swept over.” These three similarities seem to indicate a certain amount of dependence of SKL on the The Sumerian Flood Story.

The Sumerian Flood Hero Ziusudra is further listed as the last pre-flood king on two Old Babylonian SKL tablets from Diyala (listing eight kings) and Sippar (listing ten kings). According to Jean-Jacques Glassner in ‘Mesopotamian Chronicles:2005, the SKL tablet from Sippar is as follows:

king City Years of Reign
1. [Alulim] Eridu 36000
2. [A]lalgar Eridu 72000
3. [X]kidunnu Larsa 72000
4. [X]alima Larsa 21600
5. [divine Dumu]zi the shepherd Badtibira 28800
6. [Enm]e(n)-lu-ana Badtibira 21600
7. [En]-sipazi-ana Larak 36000
8. Enme(n)-dur-ana Sippar 72000
9. Suruppak son of Ubar-Tutu Suruppak 28000
10. Ziusudra son of Suruppak Suruppak 36000

Total years of reign 38800 years

In the 3rd Century B.C. a Babylonian priest called Berossos, clearly aware of both the SKL tradition and the Flood myth of Ziusudra, compiled another Pre-Flood king list. This list was part of a history of Babylon (Babyloniaca), which survives partially now in extensive quotations found in the writings of historians Josephus and Eusebius (the latter via Alexander Polyhistor and Apollodorus). Berossos’ list is as follows:

king Years of Reign
1. Aloros 36000
2. Alaparos 10800
3. Amelon 46800
4. Ammenon 43200
5. Amegalaros 64800
6. Daonos 36000
7. Euedorankhos 64800
8. Amempsinos 36000
9. Otiartes 28800
10 Xisouthros/Sisuthros [i.e. Ziusudra] 64800

Total years of reign 432000 years

A further comparison can be made between the ten Pre-Flood kings of the Sumerian King List with the ten pre-Flood Patriarchs of the Hebrew book of Genesis (5). There are obvious similarities, however, Hamilton (The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17: 1990) points out there are notable differences. The SKL deals primarily with the divine gift of kingship. Those kings are not necessarily descended by blood, rather by divine prerogative. The Genesis account deals with the descendants of Adam and is strictly geneology and measured by length of life rather than kingly reign. What is striking is that all men are pre-deluvial, live extraordinary lifespans and the last pre-deluvian according to some of the lesser SKL tablets (as well as Berossos list) is also, like Noah, a flood hero.

1. Adam Lived 930 years
2. Seth Lived 912 years
3. Enosh Lived 905 years
4. Kenan Lived 910 years
5. Mahalalel Lived 895 years
6. Jared Lived 962 years
7. Enoch Lived 365 years
8.Methuselah Lived 969 years
9. Lamech Lived 777 years
10. Noah after the World Flood Lived to be 950 years

A further Parallel between the Mesopotamian and Hebrew traditions concerns Enmenduranna the king of Sippar, also known as Enmeduranki, and again called Euedorankhos according to Berossos. His name appears at least twice as the seventh Pre-Flood king on the SKL tablets. Berossos also places Euedorankhos seventh. According to a tablet recovered at Ninevah (circa 1100-900 B.C.) published by W.G. Lambert (Enmeduranki and Related Matters JCS: 1967) as King of Sippar, the city of the sun deity Shamash, Enmeduranki was transported to heaven by the sun god and Adad and brought before the divine assembly where he was sat upon a golden throne and bestowed all the mysteries of divination, the tablets of the gods and a cedar rod, precious to all the great gods. Enmeduranki was taught mathematics and became a long-haired priest of the sun god Shamash and custodian of the secrets of the gods. The person of Enmeduranki, the seventh king of the Sun god’s city of Sippar, may well be the prototype for the seventh Pre-Flood biblical patriarch Enoch, who according to Genesis 5:24 “walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Enoch’s 365 year lifespan may also be symbolic of the solar year, adding another possible link with the Mesopotamian priest-king Enmeduranki and his solar deity.

Magic, in my limited experience, is primarily effortless. It doesn’t ask for much. I don’t need to work at it or believe it will work. Magic will flow through my life, through the processes of the natural world at an unconscious level, affecting endless cyclic change.

All phenomena is magical and conscious of itself, even though it may lack awareness of the dynamic powers setting all things in motion. Creation is magic. Creation myths reveal the primal act of magic. They are magical blueprints revealing the origin of all things. Creation is an ongoing process. Timeless. Desire is a powerful magical force that directs the processes of change in accordance with itself.

All is potentially sacred and innately magical. The mundane is either entirely illusory, or an incomplete creation. Through the process of re-creation the sacred can manifest. This is where awareness or conscious effort is required. After its initial emergence, the sacred may continue to hide itself. It requires a connection between itself and a conscious mind to recognize, or sense its existence, to bring the magic forth.

Myths are basically narratives that require a deep connection to activate the magical element. It’s the same thing with sacred space.

Nature is a cyclic process complete within itself, flowing, re-creating, manifesting, dissolving. It is an entity of continual potential realization. To fully realize is to live magically. Every moment is an opportunity. With every lost opportunity a new opportunity arises. “Now is the time,” and so is tomorrow.