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Religious Roles in Judaism

0 Comments | February 7, 2007 at 1:32 pm by mahud
Filed under Judaism

The religion of the Jewish people, as it is presented in the Biblical texts appears to of been very much in the hands of men, and largely viewed through their eyes. God is portrayed as exclusively masculine with titles such as ‘Lord’ (Deut 10:17), ‘Husband’ (Hosea 2:16), and ‘King’ (Isaiah 43: 15).

Patriarchal Foundations

“In the foundations of Judaism, an imbalance can be perceived relating to the importance of the male sex over the female.”

The priesthood who officiated the sacrificial system were exclusively male, and the preservers of the written and oral tradition were also exclusively men, as shown in the Ethics of the Fathers (Beckerlegge, G ‘ed’, 2001, p.27). Already, in the foundations of Judaism, an imbalance can be perceived relating to the importance of the male sex over the female. A specific gender role is also seen to be placed (or imposed?) apon men that has given them control over religious matters that have been denied to women.

Reformed Judaism

In questioning the Divine Authority of scripture by scholars in the nineteenth century, there was a move away from the orthodox interpretation of the Bible.

“The family unit is highly valued within Judaism as it is the seat of individual and collective well being for Jews everywhere.”

This new attitude towards the Hebrew scriptures became part of the Jewish Reform Movement and has helped to open the doors for Jewish women such as Ellen. M Umansky, a Rabbi in the reform tradition. Umansky has expressed her dissatisfaction with a Judasim she views “as hopelessly patriarchal” and desires a Jewish religion that is of equal relevence to both men and women (Ibid, p.70). The family unit is highly valued within Judaism as it is the seat of individual and collective well being for Jews everywhere (Unit 1-2, 2001, p.38).

Specific Gender Roles

Rabbinic Judasim has placed specific gender roles on both male and females that are to be ingrained from infancy within the family unit (Study Guides, 2000, p.62). When a male child is eight days old he is circumcised. Circumcision is regarded as a mark of Jewish identity and symbolizes the covenant between God and Israel.

“The Biblical texts reflect an attitude of inequality between the birth of the two sexes”

The birth of a female child is celebrated with a thanksgiving service, where she is given a name and blessed as a member of Israel (Holm, J ‘ed’, 2001, p.120). The permanent mark of circumcision seems to place an emphasis on the male child that has no equal parallel for females. The Biblical texts also reflect an attitude of inequality between the birth of the two sexes, which only mention the birth of males as if the birth of females was of less importance to Israelite lineage (ibid, p.120).

The Importance of the Male

The emphasis on the male can also be seen in another life-cycle ritual known as Bar Mitzvah, which celebrates the male passage into manhood. There is no female parallel within Orthodox Judaism, and only recently has the female equivelent Bat Mitzvah, been introduced into Reform Judaism (Study Guides, 2000, p.63).

“The modern opinion holds that Jewish education is important for both men and women.”

According to the Halakhah, the father is only responsible for the education of his sons but not daughters. This didn’t mean that women were forbidden to receive an education, Although in Europe Jewish education was only considered to be of value to men. However, the modern opinion holds that Jewish education is important for both men and women, and the acceptance of female Rabbis in the reform tradition since the early and mid-seventies appears to reflect this (Holm, J ‘ed’, 2001, p.124 & 139).

Religious Roles in Marriage

Marriage, together with the family, provides a stable environment for the continuation of Jewish religious values (ibid, p.126). According to Jewish law, a women is considered to belong to her father until marriage and then the ‘ownership’ is passed to the husband. A wife does not literally become her husbands property, rather it reflects that she is exclusively with him and not with any other man. A women finally ‘owns’ herself through the death of her husband or divorce (ibid, p.127).

In the event of a man dying childless, the widow was permitted to marry her brother-in-law. Known as Yibbum (now forbidden), this law enabled the dead man to continue his family line through his brother, again expressing the importance of male lineage (ibid, p.126).

“Rabbinic laws concerning menstruation are even more rigid than the Biblical texts, which were probably primarily concerned with maintaining temple purity.”

In Jewish law, divorce is a husband’s preogative. The primary cause for divorce is adultery which is defined solely in terms of the woman as the offending party (ibid, p.134-5). Sexual relations between husband and wife are regulated by the women’s menstrual cycle. As a menstruating woman is concidered by Biblical law to be unclean during her period, all contact with women at this time is to be avoided. Rabbinic laws concerning menstruation are even more rigid than the Biblical texts, which were probably primarily concerned with maintaining temple purity. Although women have been known to seclude themselves voluntarily, laws concerning menstruation do not restrict women from activities within the synagogue (ibid, p.130).

Religious Roles in the synagogue

Within the synagogue, and Judasim in general, women have been treated as religiously subordinate to men, and denied the status of leadership (ibid, p.138-9). Within the orthodox tradition, women in the United States are included in the synagogue worship, while in the U.K this is not the case, although they do, of course, attend the synagogue. Women are not included in the Minyan which is the requirement of ten men in constituting a synagogue.

“Within the orthodox tradition, women in the United States are included in the synagogue worship, while in the U.K this is not the case.”

In Reform Judaism women have a more equal status and, as already mentioned, may be ordained as Rabbis, and fulfil other roles of leadership (ibid, p.138-9). Traditionally the obligation to observe the divine commandments, or Mitzvot, was more binding for men than for women. The duty of a wife towards her husband, family and household matters were seen to be in conflict with the obligation towards God and the Torah, and she was directed towards a more domestic role, as the spiritual head of the household (ibid’ p.136-38). Shlomo Deshen tells us that as a consequence of the restrictions placed on women in the synagogue, domestic rituals were of major importance to women. The lighting of the candles on a sabbath eve was of particular importance and Deshen describes the ritual as “a virtual symbol of female religious identity” (Beckerlegge, G, ‘ed’, 2001, p.71-2). The Dietary laws (Kashrut) would also be maintained by women as “the primary preparers” of Kosher food (study Guides, 2000, p.63). In the past, women have found themselves confined within their own homes, and even Jewish literature has remarked that “she is banished from people and confined to prison” (Holm, J, ‘ed’, 2001, p.133).

Today, women have much more freedom in social and religious life within Judaism and are free to choose a career in the secular world (ibid, p.133).

Bibliography

1. Beckerlegge, Gwilym ‘ed’, 2001 ‘The World Religions Reader 2nd Edition’ Routledge.
2. Holm, Jean ‘ed’, 2001 ‘Women in religion’ Continuum.
3. Open University Study Guides, 2000.
4. O.U Units 1-2 ‘Judaism’, 2001.

Lunar beasts (part two)

2 Comments | February 6, 2007 at 3:46 pm by mahud
Filed under Mystery Religions, Greek (Classical) Mythology, The Cosmic Mysteries

1. Lunar Beasts (part 1)
2. Lunar Beasts (part 2)
3. Lunar Beasts (part 3)
4. Lunar Beasts (part 4)
5. Lunar Beasts (part 5)
6. Lunar Beasts (part 6)
7. Lunar Beasts (part 7)
8. Lunar Beasts (part 8 )

The God Dionysus

Dionysus , accompanied by his army of bacchic revellers, was accredited as the universal distributor of his own worship and the knowledge of the vine (The ambrosial plant). Like Noah, he was the inventor of wine, and like Soma, he himself was the ambrosial drink poured out, everywhere releasing mankind from suffering.

“Like Noah, he was the inventor of wine, and like Soma, he himself was the ambrosial drink poured out, everywhere releasing mankind from suffering.”

He was originally depicted as a bearded man, sometimes wearing a fawn or leopard-skin, and often carrying a wine cup (kantharos). From the 5th Century B.C onwards he primarily took the form of an effeminate youth.

In Euripides’ Bacchae, the god is invoked by the chorus to manifest himself as a bull and multi-headed serpent, both reflecting the god’s temporal aspect, as well as a fire breathing lion, representing his eternal all-consuming nature.

The Bull Dionysus

To demonstrate the rampant bull-ness of Dionysus, I need only to quote a paragraph from The Golden Bough:

…he is spoken of as “cow-born,” “bull,” “bull-shaped,” “bull-faced,” “bull-browed,” “bull-horned,” “horn-bearing,” “two-horned,” “horned.” He was believed to appear, at least occasionally, as a bull. His images were often, as at Cyzicus, made in bull shape, or with bull horns; and he was painted with horns. Types of the horned Dionysus are found amongst the surviving monuments of antiquity. On one statuette he appears clad in a bull’s hide, the head, horns, and hoofs hanging down behind. Again, he is represented as a child with clusters of grapes round his brow, and a calf’s head, with sprouting horns, attached to the back of his head. On a red-figured vase the god is portrayed as a calf-headed child seated on a woman’s lap. The people of Cynaetha held a festival of Dionysus in winter, when men, who had greased their bodies with oil for the occasion, used to pick out a bull from the herd and carry it to the sanctuary of the god. Dionysus was supposed to inspire their choice of the particular bull, which probably represented the deity himself; for at his festivals he was believed to appear in bull form. The women of Elis hailed him as a bull, and prayed him to come with his bull’s foot. They sang, “Come hither, Dionysus, to thy holy temple by the sea; come with the Graces to thy temple, rushing with thy bull’s foot, O goodly bull, O goodly bull!” The Bacchanals of Thrace wore horns in imitation of their god. According to the myth, it was in the shape of a bull that he was torn to pieces by the Titans; and the Cretans, when they acted the sufferings and death of Dionysus, tore a live bull to pieces with their teeth. Indeed, the rending and devouring of live bulls and calves appear to have been a regular feature of the Dionysiac rites.
James Frazer: The Golden Bough, Ch. 43 Dionysus

Representations of Dionysus

In one of many magnificent mosaics from the House of Masks in Delos, a youthful Dionysus rides on the back of a leopard (another solar beast), holding up a libation dish*, deliberately at an angle, identifying it with the new moon of rebirth.

An Attic vase from the 5th Century B.C (below), portrays the god (or rather an effigy of the god) hanging from a vertical post. Branches of ivy sprout from his body, a circular wreath hangs from his belt, and before him stand two large vases upon a table. He is flanked by four female attendants. On the left, one holds a flaming torch pointing downwards towards the realm of death, whilst to the right of the god — hanging, as it were, in liminal space — another holds a torch upwards towards the realm of life, that also correspond with the waning and waxing moons. Dionysus was known as Dithyrambos, ‘he of the double-door’, further identifying the god with the old and new moons.

Dionysus was also said to have married Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, who helped Theseus navigate the labyrinth and slay the half-man half-bull Minotaur.

Lunar beasts (part one)

0 Comments | February 5, 2007 at 1:29 am by mahud
Filed under Iranian Mythology, The Cosmic Mysteries

1. Lunar Beasts (part 1)
2. Lunar Beasts (part 2)
3. Lunar Beasts (part 3)
4. Lunar Beasts (part 4)
5. Lunar Beasts (part 5)
6. Lunar Beasts (part 6)
7. Lunar Beasts (part 7)
8. Lunar Beasts (part 8 )

Previously, I have referred to the bull and lion as the animal representatives of the temporal-lunar and eternal-solar aspects of divinity, and how both further symbolize their respective modes of existence in the cosmos and the world beyond. Whereas the solar representative is limited to mainly two animal forms (the lion and the eagle), the lunar representative has numerous zoological forms, including bull, serpent, stag (or other assorted horned beasts), and the boar (or pig).

Attributes of Lunar Beasts

The bull appears to be symbolic of the temporal nature due to it’s horns, being reminiscent of the crescent moon. The boar with it’s tusks and the stag’s antlers seem to be prototypical of the bull, while the serpent, with it’s association with water (a reoccurring cosmic motif), and the ability to shed it’s skin (rebirth motif), occupies a unique class of it’s own, although even the serpent is sometimes depicted with horns.

The lunar aspect of the divinity

Here, I intend to focus on the lunar aspect of the divinity in theriomorphic form, although, due to the mutable nature of myth, and the interdependence of both the solar and lunar aspects of god, it is often difficult not to mention one without the other. For example, Dumuzi’s temporal-theriomorphic transformation is actualized through the power of the sun god Utu, and likewise the destruction of the temporal aspect of the vedic god Soma, produces the eternal-solar ambrosia. To entirely exclude references to the coinciding aspects of the temporal and eternal is both problematic and unnecessary, however I shall draw up a more wide-ranging presentation of the temporal-eternal interplay further on.

The cosmic bull sacrifice in Zoroastrian mythology

In the Zoroastrian Bundahishn (The Creation), the cosmic sacrifice is inadvertently performed by the evil Angra Mainyu, who, in the act of corrupting Ahura Mazda’s perfect creation, kills both the primal bull and Gayomart, the primal man. The seed of the bull is purified within the moon, giving birth to all living creatures (10.1-4; 14.1-5), while the seed of Gayomart is purified by the sun, engendering a double-sexed plant (Rivas), that becomes Mashya and Mashyana, the first human couple (15.1-5). At the end of time, the cosmic saviour Saoshyant will sacrifice another bull called Hadhayosh (Sarsaok), and mix it’s fat with haoma (Vedic: soma) to create Hush, the ambrosial food of immortality (30.25).

Cosmic Sacrifice

The Zoroastrian myth of cosmic sacrifice discriminates between the evil slaying of the primal bull, that plays a part in the creation of the cosmos, and the good sacrifice of the ambrosial bull, performed by the eschatological Saoshyant, at the end of the alloted cosmic span of twelve thousand years. Zoroastrian mythology introduces the idea of time as a straight line, the beginning and end of all creation being distinct, whereas, in the myth of Mithras, both the beginning and the end are bound together in cylindrical time through a single cosmic sacrifice (an idea which like pre-dates the notion of linear time ), that also impartments the ambrosial boon of life, not at the resurrection at the end of the world, but actually within the temporal realm itself, here and now, which is exactly what we find in the earlier Vedic Soma sacrifice of India.

Sacred Space in the Bible

0 Comments | February 1, 2007 at 9:24 am by mahud
Filed under Christianity, Biblical Mythology

The most striking use of sacred space in the Old Testament appears to be employed to reflect the relationship that exists between God and Israel, His chosen people. The same understanding of sacred space is also apparent in the New Testament where the relationship is between God and ‘spiritual Israel’, through the person of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:29).

Both Israel and the Christian Church are ideally God-centred communities which have been chosen by God and set apart (made holy) from the rest of the world (Exodus 19:5-6; 1Peter 1:15-16; 2:9). If it is the relationship Between God and his chosen people which constitutes sacred space, then the rest of mankind who live outside a relationship with God also live beyond the boundary of sacred space and are therefore in profane space.

“Both Israel and the Christian Church are ideally God-centred communities which have been chosen by God and set apart (made holy) from the rest of the world.”

The Divine Circle (Model of Sacred Space)

Think of the relationship between God and his people as a circle (God) within a circle (God’s people). Outside of the circle of God’s people (sacred space) are the rest of mankind (profane space). This conception serves as a template for the various examples of this type of sacred space found in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.

In both the Old and New Testaments this relationship between God and his people is founded on a covenant, which is basically a contract, or mutual agreement, between two parties. According to Genesis, the Hebrew book of beginnings, Adam and Eve, our primordial parents, lived within a specially created garden east of Eden (2:8).

The Garden of Eden

The garden of Eden can be seen to correspond with the above model of sacred space, with both Man and Woman living within its boundaries, in a harmonious relationship with their Creator. However, this arrangement was maintained on the basis of a divine command, that man “must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (2:17). When Adam and Eve disobeyed the command, the arrangement was nullified and they were both driven outside the garden into profane space, into a world of death (3:17) that was never meant to be, and no longer in a perfect relationship with God (Genesis 3). Both the Old and New testaments present a way back for mankind into sacred space (or relationship) with God.

Brought within the Divine Circle (The Call of Abraham)

In the Jewish scriptures, the call of Abr(ah)am illustrates the transition from sacred to profane space. The Lord instructs Abraham to leave behind the pagan influences of his fathers household and country, and travel to Canaan where he is promised to become a “great nation” (Genesis 12:1-2; Joshua 24:2-3).

“Abraham made the transition from The profane realm of idolary into the sacred realm of the true worship of the One True God.”

According to a certain Jewish commentary on the Pentateuch, this separation was necessary for reasons of spiritual cleanliness (Hertz, J.H ‘ed’, 1960, p.45). And so, Abraham made the transition from The profane realm of idolatry into the sacred realm of the true worship of the One True God. The most memorable account in Biblical history, concerning a transition from the profane to the sacred, has to be the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

Crossing over from Profane to Divine Space (The Red Sea)

The Red Sea can be seen to correspond with the boundary between the sacred and profane spaces. The Israelites, as Gods chosen people, passed through the Red Sea (a kind of mass baptism) to safety, whereas, when the Egyptians attempted to cross over the Red Sea they all perished (Exodus 14:26-30). It would seem that sacred space can be destructive towards those who are not permitted to enter into it.

The Dangerous Aspect of Sacred Space (Mount. Sinai)

From the Red Sea the Israelites were led to another area of sacred space at the foot of Mount. Sinai, where Israel willingly enter into a covenant with God (Exodus 19:8). Again, the sacred can be seen as destructive. Limits are placed around the foot of the mountain, setting it “apart as holy” (Exodus 19:23) and any unwarranted approach is to be punished with death (Exodus 19:12-13). Also, the Israelites must be ritually clean before they can approach the sacred area. The area around Mount Sinai corresponds well with our concept of sacred space. The people must wait outside the boundary of the mountain in profane space until they are ritually pure (Exodus 19:10-11, 14), only then are they permitted to cross the boundary into sacred space.

“The area around Mount Sinai corresponds well with our concept of sacred space. The people must wait outside the boundary of the mountain in profane space until they are ritually pure ”

The mountain itself corresponds with the inner circle where God dwells and manifests himself (Exodus 19:3, 16, 18, 20). Entrance into this sacred space is regarded as “meeting with God” (Exodus 19:17), further illustrating that a relationship between God and mankind is something that takes place within sacred space, in one form or another.

Sacred Space in the Wilderness

The arrangement of the Israelite camp, during the forty years spent in the desert wilderness also conforms well with our model of sacred space. The twelve tribes were arranged around the Tent of Meeting (Numbers 2) where God had made his dwelling (Exodus 25:8; 40:34). Inside the Tabernacle of God there was an area considered to be most sacred known as the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, which was separated from the Tabernacle by a curtain and housed the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 26:33).

The Role of the High Priest and the Most Holy Place

The high priest of Israel was alone permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, and then, only once a year when he would sprinkle blood over the cover of the Ark, making atonement for the sins of Israel (Leviticus 16). Unauthorized entrance into the Holy of Holies, as at Mount Sinai, was punishable by death (Leviticus 16:2) and also ritual purity was necessary (Leviticus 16:4).

The Tabernacle, especially the Holy of Holies, corresponds with the sacred space of the inner circle, the surrounding camp fits with the sacred space of the outer circle, while the profane area, the Desert wilderness, lies outside the boundary sacred space. Later, the Temple of Jerusalem came to replace the desert Tabernacle, sharing the same arrangement of sacred space as that of its predecessor, with a Holy of Holies as its most sacred area (1 Kings 6), that served as a dwelling place for God (1 Kings 8:13).

Sacred Space in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the above model of sacred space as a God-centered sacred area remains conceptually the same, although there is no specific sacred geographical location such as that at Mount Sinai or the Temple of Jerusalem. Rather, sacred space is located in the invisible spiritual realm (John 4: 20-24).

“In the New Testament, sacred space is located in the invisible spiritual realm.”

It is now Jesus, as God incarnate who occupies the inner circle, and is the center of attention relative to the Lord God of the Old Testament (Psalm 141:8; Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 2: 9-11).

Jesus as High Priest

Also, Jesus replaces the function of high priest as mediator and purifier, providing access for God’s people to the inner circle without the threat of death (Hebrews 8:2; 10: 19-22; Romans 5:1-2).

The Kingdom of God

The kingdom of God, which is connected with both heaven and earth (Matthew 6:9; 16:18; 18:18) also conforms to the same model of sacred space.

Revelation

In the book of Revelation there is a symbolic representation of the kingdom of God, with God’s throne in the centre (the inner-most circle) surrounded by ‘twenty-four elders’ (the outer-most circle) who have been interpreted by New Testament scholar William Hendriksen as “probably representing the entire church of the old and new dispensation” (1995, p.85).

Heaven and Hell

In the gospels there is mention of a profane area beyond the kingdom of God that is described as both a ‘fiery furnace’ and a place of “darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; 13:41-42).

The New Jerusalem

The final description of God’s Kingdom is found at the end of the book of Revelation. It is described as “a new Jerusalem” descending from heaven:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 21:3 kjv

Again we have a clear representation of sacred space as an area of relationship between God and his people. At the centre of the new heavenly Jerusalem is “the Lord God Almighty and the lamb” (21:27 N.I.V). Outside the city wall, in profane space, are all those who do evil and are excluded from the sacred space of God’s kingdom (21:8; 22:15). Also, access to the tree of life is restored indicating that the kingdom of God is a restoration of the untainted relationship mankind had with God in the beginning in the garden of Eden (Revelation 22:14).

The Lion Slayer

0 Comments | January 27, 2007 at 12:51 am by mahud
Filed under The Cosmic Mysteries

The slaying of the lion is another motif closely related to the theme of the solar giant.

The indestructible nature of the giant can only be overcome by a hero who has attained an identical form of indestructibility. In the conflict with Balor of the evil eye, Lugh’s solar identity is disclosed by his single blazing eye, and the indestructible solar power is turned inward upon it’s source, when the solar hero, blasts a hole through the back of Balor’s head. In the myths concerning David and Goliath, Diarmaid and Sharvan, and Odysseus and Polyphemus, the weapon of the giant is also turned upon it’s source.

“The indestructible nature of the giant can only be overcome by a hero who has attained an identical form of indestructibility.”

One of Heracles’ early labours, the slaying of the Nemean lion, is a good example of a hero who attains an indestructible nature. Heracles is unable to penetrate the lion’s hide, and instead crushes the beast to death, simultaneously achieving oneness in both life and death. Heracles then flays the lion’s skin, cutting the hide with the beast’s own claws, much in the same way as David severs Goliath’s head, with his own sword. The hero afterwards wears the skin of the lion, that is, he clothes himself in indestructibility, becoming again, identical in nature to the all destroying, yet life giving, divine force.

The same idea of acheiving a divine nature can be found in African puberty rites:

…This comes out quite clearly in African initiation ceremonies; here too circumcision is equivalent to death, and the operators are dressed in lion skins and leopard skins; they incarnate the divinities in animal form who in mythical times first performed initiatory murder. The operators wear the claws of beasts of prey and their knives are barbed. They attack the novices genital organs, which shows that the intention is to kill them. The act of circumcision is expressed by the verb “to kill.” But soon afterward the novices are themselves dressed in leopard or skins; that is, they assimilate the divine essence of the initiatory animal and hence are restored to live in it. (Rites and symbols of initiation: the mysteries of birth and rebirth, Mircea Eliade, p.23, 1958 Harper & Row)

Gilgamesh also killed and wore the skin of lions before he passed through the gate of the scorpion men. The scorpion gate is equivalent to the old and new moons, discussed in my previous article The old and new moon boat, and are representative of the temporal realm, as opposed to the solar-eternal realm.

A steatite stamp seal (above) from north Mesopotamia, dating to 3300 B.C, represents the duel lunar-solar mystery of the temporal-lunar double-door, and the eternal-solar gateway. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, once the hero has clothed himself in lion skins and passed the scorpion men, he must then traverse the ocean of death — that, as mentioned in my previous article, only the sun god himself can cross — in order to reach the island of immortality. It is only by attaining an indestructible nature (symbolized by the lion skins), and becoming at one with the solar principle, that Gilgamesh can achieve his goal, at least in the preexistent mythos of the solar hero, upon which the journey of Gilgamesh is clearly based.

The Hebrew hero Samson, whose name means ‘sunlight’, also killed a lion, obtaining the gift of ambrosial honey from the beast’s carcass. This act is the equivalent of Odysseus obtaining the ambrosial wine from Polyphemus’ eye. The myth that Samson unhinged the gates of Gaza and carried them upon his shoulders to the top of hill, is probably an interpretation of an iconic representation of the god in solar aspect standing within a lunar style double-door upon the cosmic axis-mundi (Judges 16:3).

The Solar Giant

0 Comments | January 26, 2007 at 12:44 am by mahud
Filed under The Cosmic Mysteries

…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 off his head with the sword. 1 Samuel 17: 48–51 N.I.V

Behind the historicized myth of David and Goliath, lies an ancient symbolic tale of a definitive conflict between an often youthful hero and cyclopean giant.

We find a readily comparable version of the tale in Irish-Celic mythology of the Tuatha De Danann.

At the the second battle of Mag Tuired, the hero Lugh circumvents the field of battle hopping on one foot, with a single eye blazing, in imitation of the one-legged Fomorian enemy, and their leader (also Lugh’s grandfather) Balor of the evil eye. Balor’s enormous eye was infused with druidic magic, and required four men to lift the heavy lid. The gaze of Balor’s eye was devastating, and no one could resist it’s all destroying power, except Lugh. Using a slingshot, Lugh shot a stone directly into Balor’s eye, out through the back of the giant’s head, recoiling the dreadful power of the eye onto the Formorians, killing the entire army.

“Sharvan is the counterpart of the cherubim and revolving sword of fire, that denies access to the tree of life in the Hebrew garden of Eden.”

We meet another one-eyed giant of Irish mythology in the ‘The pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne’, called Sharvan. He is the Formorian guardian of the Rowan Tree of immortality, and is himself immortal and indestructible. When the lovers Diarmaid and Grainne seek refuge in the tree, Grainne is overcome with desire to eat the rowan berries, and so Diarmaid slays Sharvan with three strikes of the giant’s own iron club.

Sharvan is the counterpart of the cherubim and revolving sword of fire, that denies access to the tree of life in the Hebrew garden of Eden.

And he (Yahweh) 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

“The image of the revolving sword appears to be derived from the Mesopotamian glyph of the sun god Utu/Shamash”

The image of the revolving sword appears to be derived from the Mesopotamian glyph of the sun god Utu/Shamash; a stylized eight-pointed solar symbol comprised of four swords (as if in rotation) and four streams or rivers, emanating from the centre, comparable with the four rivers that flowed from the middle of the Hebrew paradise. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the island of immortality, said to be the source of all rivers, is surrounded by the ocean of death, that no one, apart from the sun god Shamash, could cross.

The glyph of Utu/Shamash represents the god’s own duel nature of wrath, symbolized by the sword, and of ambrosial bliss, symbolized by the rivers of life. This is the duel nature of the divinity, which functions as an impassable barrier to the transcendent realm.

The giant is an indestructible, unyielding, and merciless force that cannot be reckoned with, his single eye analogous with the all destroying nature of the sun, whose power is further extended through the giant’s weapon.

In the myth of David and Goliath, after David struck the giant in the forehead (his solar eye), he cuts off his head using the Philistine’s own sword. Again, in the case of Sharvan, the giant is slain with his own weapon.

The hero also shares in the self-same indestructible nature of the sun, and it is this adamantine quality that qualifies the hero alone with the ability to sustain the giant’s impenetrable solar glare, and turn the weapon inward upon it’s source, reversing the verdict of death to life.

“The hero also shares in the self-same indestructible nature of the sun”

The tale of Odysseus and his men caught inside the Cyclops Polyphemus’ cave, is another variation of the solar giant mythos. Here the all devouring divine nature is illustrated through the act of cannibalism. Polyphemus mercilessly devours Odysseus’ men, much like Kronos devouring his own children. Odysseus manages to beguile Polyphemus into drinking large quantities of wine until he falls into a drunken sleep. He then heats up the giant’s club, that has been sharpened into a stake, and with the help of four of his companions (compare the four attendants who lifted the giant eyelid of Balor), pierces the giant’s eye.

The Greek painting above represents the cosmic mystery primarily in solar terms, in contrast to the previous article that represented the same cosmic mystery though lunar imagery of the Bull and ambrosial cup. Aligned above the burning stake is a serpentine image of a vine, which seems to identify the stake with the tree of life. One of the four men holds a (lunar) cup below Polyphemus’ eye, catching the solar blood, Identifying it with the ambrosial drink, like the rivers of life flowing from the paradise of God.

The Iconic image of solar (eternal) essence arising from a lunar (temporal) vessel has a myriad of different religious associations, ranging from the Virgin Birth to the Holy Grail, all pointing to the same primordial idea; that the temporal inexplicably gives birth to the eternal.

In Christian theology the same cosmic act is performed by Christ upon the cross, who, in the word’s of Matthew Henry:

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

Old and New Moon Boat

0 Comments | January 24, 2007 at 12:54 am by mahud
Filed under Mesopotamian Mythology, The Cosmic Mysteries

This iconic representation of a cylindrical stamp seal from Bahrain (Dilmun), depicts the image of a bull standing upon a high-prowed boat, feeding upon a plant, with a rotated lunar crescent adjacent with the bull’s head.

Between the repeating image of the boat stands another plant or tree, enclosed within the crook-shaped prows surmounting the bow and stern.

The Lunar Cycle

This image can be understood as a representation of the ever-revolving lunar cycle of 29.5 days, particularly when the waning moon disappears and later reappears as a waxing crescent, as if reborn.

The Lunar Bull

The bull is the animal representative of the moon, and the bull’s horns are here identified with the rotated image of a lunar crescent.

The bull feeds upon the plant of life, the ambrosial source of the moon’s rebirth. The Plant itself can be understood as concealed within the brief period of darkness, where the dead moon must pass, if it is to be revived. The boat’s prow and stern represent the waxing and waning moons that enclose the mysterious plant.