Archive for end times

Book of Revelation’s Bumpy History

Posted in belief, faith, random, religion with tags , , , , , on January 1, 2013 by chouck017894

The late appearance of the New Testament book of The Revelation upon the Christian scene, penned c. 135-137, followed closely upon the occurrence of the Jewish insurrection in Jerusalem under Ben Cocheba (132-135 CE).  It was a Jewish insurrection which spread to Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus and Mesopotamia.  With this NT book’s late appearance there is presented an inexplicable psychological change in the character of Jesus from a mild and peaceful teacher (as in Mark and Matthew) into the harsh judgmental figure of Revelation.  Missing in the new book was any attempt to attract or convert Jews to the emergent Jesus cult; the narrow focus was set upon the organization of a new Jerusalem, a situation that is picturesquely achieved at the end of the lumbering tale (Revelation 21:10).  There is strong but veiled anti-Jewish anger expressed in this tale written during Roman Empire times, and it is revealed in the contention that it is a new Jerusalem that is to be purified and lowered from Heaven, not Rome; the Jews were not to be saved as far as the author was concerned.  Add to this that the work is addressed to a definite group of seven new churches, all in the Roman province of Asia.

It is also worth noting that the description of the new Jerusalem asserts that it is to have a wall surrounding it with twelve gates—three each along the north, east, south and west.  As in Hebrew Scripture tales, where the number twelve is a prime clue in the story, it is a covert way of referring to the zodiac, as are numerous other descriptions in Revelation.  And clearly the symbolism used, such as the number seven, happens to be common in all Creation myths; so in this imagined re-creation of Jerusalem there are 7 angels, 7 horns, 7 stars, 7 seals, 7 vials, 7 plagues, 7 candlesticks, 7 churches, 7 spirits before the throne, and the great beast with 7 heads.  These references to the number seven are not unique to the book of Revelation, for the very same numerical symbols are to be found in the book of Ezekiel, chapter four.  Another example of zodiac plundering is found in Revelation in the opening of chapter four where the throne is beheld; “…and one sat upon the throne..”  The one allegedly seen sitting upon the throne is said to have the look “…of a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald.”  The mention of these stones—jasper, sardine stone and emerald—happen to be the gemstone symbols for Pisces, Gemini and Cancer.*  This type of borrowing continues through the book.  (*Prehistory teachings used these three constellations as illustrations on lessons of Creation: with Pisces was taught Creative Consciousness; Gemini taught Mental Matter; and Cancer taught about Astral Matter.  Modern science has other definitions for these energies.)

Much of the symbolism used in Revelation happens to be common to Apocalyptic tradition of the timeframe in which it was written, and doubtlessly parts of the text were also drawn from ancient Babylonian and/or Persian mythology.  The Apocryphal vision presented in Revelation was likely also inspired by the old Hebrew tales of Moses (tales which were not canonically approved).  In the non-canonized Moses-related tale it tells of a “war in heaven” which was allegedly fought between angels and Satan’s horde over the possession of the deceased Moses’ physical body.  These elements of Revelation made the text a divisive work from its inception, with many finding its style and brutal scenes as starkly out of character with the earlier books of Gospel which depicted a gentle Jesus.

The “mark,” “name,” or “number” which supposedly will indicate the unworthy beings as referred to in Revelation, asserts that the mark will be received and viewable “in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Revelation 13:16, 14:9, 20:4).  But nowhere does it say that either the name or number is received as being the mark, which may be interpreted that all three refer to one and the same thing.  So in this scare-the-hell out of believers harangue, those who receive this identification “…shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god, and be tormented  with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and the presence of the Lamb” (Revelation 14:9-11).  The horror tactic continues through chapter 20, which noticeably contradicts the message of god’s love and mercy which Jesus allegedly brought to the world.

So where did the idea of marking victims for eternal damnation come from?  From Hebrew scriptures, where else?  Remember the priest-composed Genesis, 4:5 where the Lord is said to have placed a mark upon Cain “…lest any finding him should kill him”?  And there is Ezekiel 9:4-6 where the Lord “…revealed to the “prophet” that there was to be “…set a mark upon the foreheads..” of those to be spared the Lord’s wrath.  In that account anyone who did not bear the mark were to be destroyed: “Slay utterly the old and young, both maids and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.” (Verse 6)  These “values” were completely reversed by the author of Revelation, but he kept the old-fashioned fear tactics for keeping the “sheep” in line.

Unfortunately, by the time of “saint” Irenaeus (flourished 170-190), the book The Revelation began to be presented as the prophecy of God’s intention for the world, or as his plan for the church.  The third century theologian, “saint” Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 260) said of Revelation, “Even if I do not understand, I yet conceive some deeper sense to lie in the words.  Not measuring and judging these things by private reasoning but giving the chief right to faith, I have supposed it to be too high to be comprehended by me.”  But not all Christian cult theologians were so willing to abandon rationality and struck the book from their canon.

And so the debates continued.  By 340 the Christian Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (Constantia) of the Island of Cyprus, reinstated the book for use.  But then  in 375 the Bishop of Nazianzen, in SW Cappadocia, struck the book from his canon.  And in 380 Bishop Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (Lombardy, Italy) omitted Revelation from his canon.  Even “saint” Jerome (about 390) expressed doubt about the book being attributed to John the presbyter.  Even later reformers such as Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1431) were doubtful of the book’s authenticity.  In general many of those who attribute the fourth Gospel to have been written by “saint” John, judged that Revelation, because of its style, could not have been written by him.

The message presented in the Judgment Day tale is defined by local color that was found in the Roman Empire of the timeframe in which it was composed, and references to contemporary events and social issues clearly indicate that it was meant for its own age.  Without doubt the author was strongly connected to the Christian cult circles that had been recently established in the Roman province of Asia, but his broader purpose was to send forth a message of intimidation and warning to insurgent Jews that Christ would soon manifest and cleanse the world (the Roman world) of unbelievers.

Time has shown (well over 2000 years) that the things allegedly foretold in Revelation are not applicable to the technological world we know today; its imagery simply is not relevant, and more importantly it holds no applicable spiritual value.

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Mythic Beasts and Hobgobblins in Scripture

Posted in agnoticism, Atheist, belief, Bible, Christianity, culture, faith, Hebrew scripture, history, random, religion, thoughts with tags , , , , , , on September 23, 2011 by chouck017894

The key to any institutional religion’s functional success rests in the manufactured illusion that it is the lone faith that represents an out-of-this-world power.  To accomplish this impression there has to be put in place some worldly illustration of authority that the clerics may point to as their certificate for representing that imagined isolated power.  The sense of wonderment can be inspiring, but spiritual inspiration is not being well served when rationality is crucified upon a cross of myth.  A case in point is the inclusion of grotesque creatures in biblical texts that are featured as divine truth.  In the main, the Old Testament accounts that include such mythic beasts as Leviathan (Job 41:1, Psalms 104, and Isaiah 27:1), and Behemoth (book of Enoch 60:7-9, Job 40:15-24, and Esdras* 6:49-52) use beast imagery to symbolize the violent primordial elements out of which matter manifestation occurs.  Once a person understands that the monstrous creatures serve as metaphors for primal creative energies, the references then carry surprising scientific insight.  We will briefly examine here these better known fictional beasts that still inhabit scriptures.  (*Esdras: either of the first two books of the Apocrypha corresponding to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the King James version.)

Leviathan:  The word leviathan is a compound word that was interpreted in the Septuagint (a third century BCE Greek translation of the Old Testament) to mean drakon (dragon), and ketos (a whale).  However, it is most often said to be derived from words meaning a great fish and fastened (as bound together), and thus projected as a huge fish-like animal that was covered with armor-like scales and possessed monstrous tusks.  In other words, Leviathan is a mythological beast.  The origin of this mythic creature can be traced back to 15th-14th century BCE Ugaritic texts in which the monster was known as Lothan, and was described as “…a crooked serpent, the mighty one with seven heads…”  This image was resurrected in the New Testament book of Revelation 13:1 and 17:7-8, composed 135-138 CE.

By the description given in the book of Job, it is widely accepted that the beast in that version was modeled upon a crocodile found in tropical regions which was not known by experience to the priest-authors in 7th century BCE Jerusalem.  Some of the monster’s features do suggest a crocodile, but other elements, such as breathing fire, are clearly mythological.  For this reason Leviathan was sometimes linked haphazardly with another monster known as Behemoth (more later).  In the book of Job (3:8), the mythic Leviathan is identified with the sea, which as aways is allegorical reference to the primordial energies of Creation, commonly symbolized as waters.  And in Psalms 74, supposedly the poetic work of David, it is said in priest-lingo style, “…thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.”

The allusion of seven heads was metaphorical reference to the seven transformational dimensions that primal energies pass through to manifest into matter form.  The “wilderness” always refers to those primal conditions through which units of energy must “wander”—pass through, or pass over—to manifest as matter forms.  Thus the “people” of the verse that are being given “meat” refers to the energy units that are to manifest with matter identity.  This meaning simply echoes the Genesis account, the book of beginnings, in which the word wilderness also signified the pre-physical energy dimensions out of which matter is made manifest.  This is confirmed in Psalms 74:14, which alludes to God defeating Leviathan as a prelude to Creation.

This is rich story material, so the mythic Leviathan was presented by various Bible authors as destined to be involved with the final battle—or the End Times of apocalyptic literature.  This purposely reverses the representation which Pagan cultures had understood as characterizing the violent primal energies out of which Creation occurred.  As an example, in the book of Isaiah 27:1 it says that Leviathan is to be defeated once and for all in the End Time, and that line was latched onto enthusiastically in the New Testament book of Revelation 12:3; 17:1-14; 19:20; and 21:1.  In that butchered version the Leviathan image is cast as the Great Dragon with seven heads, but the image was obviously modeled on the northern circumpolar constellation Draco.

Elsewhere in the book of Job 41, however, Leviathan is said to be fully under God’s control and is something like a pet.  The “end” that is alluded to by Isaiah, therefore, is not of this material world; the pre-Bible reference was in regard to the end of the pre-physical conditions out of which the material world evolved.  It was not a prophecy that our immediate world is about to be phased out.  It originally signified the end of what may be termed the Edenic world, the pre-physical (prototypal) world shaped from the energy-making polar interaction (which was more personally symbolized in Genesis with Adam and Eve).

Behemoth:  Like the beast Leviathan, Behemoth had its origin in the Babylonian myths of Creation.  In that original, the roaring waters of the Deep (quantum Source) was presided over by their queen Tehom.  Queen Tehom represented energy-substance out of which matter will congeal.  By the queen’s command the primordial waters arose to threaten God’s handiwork of Creation.  The Babylonian Tehom is actually the plural of Tehomot.  An ally of Tehom was named Bohu, a land monster, and the plural of Bohu is Behomot, which was slyly altered by the Yahweh priests and cast as the male monster called Behemoth in the book of Job.  From this same Babylonian myth the priests of Yahweh, when writing the book of Genesis, misinterpreted Tobu and Bohu to mean “without form and void.”

In the Hebrew version of Creation, therefore, the Babylonian tobu and bohu were interpreted as the mingled energy-substance that composed the material Earth.  And the darkness that was said to have prevailed and blanketed the primordial conditions was the Hebrew version of the Babylonian darkness with which queen Tehom covered herself from God’s anger.  In the Babylonian version, God responded to that darkness with fury, hurling hail, lightning and universe-shaking thunder, which caused Tehom to withdraw her watery forces in trembling fear.

Rahab:  Another, but lesser known Babylonian monster was named Rahab, meaning “hautiness,” who contributed to the chaos in Babylonian, Ugaritic and Canaanite cosmogonies in which the Creator was known as El, Marduk, Baal, or Jehovah.  In each of these holy presentations, the Creator had to struggle against the boundless quantum energies to initiate a semblance of order over them.  This sea-monster, Rahab, was also known in Hebrew pre-Bible accounts and was designated as Prince of the Sea— the “sea” referring to primordial energies.  In the days before Creation, in one of the early Hebrew pre-biblical myths, when Yahweh wanted to drown all life on Earth, he commanded Rahab, “Open your mouth, Prince of the Sea, and swallow the world’s waters.”  Rahab was not enthusiastic and grumbled, “Lord of the Universe, leave me in peace.”  Apparently in that turmoil of pre-time, God had not yet perfected any emotions of compassion or love, for he responded by kicking Rahab to death and sinking the carcass beneath the sea.  In the 7th century BCE priest-revised version, this amoral violence and insensitivity within Creation’s energies was smoothed over.  However, the God of Genesis is still depicted metaphorically as tearing the upper waters—personified as male—from its embrace with the lower waters—personified as female.

Curiously, in later Hebrew writings the name Rahab was still being linked with creation activity and was cunningly inserted into the coded story of Joshua 11:18.  There the name is used for a prostitute who is portrayed as aiding the Israelites in the capture of Jericho.  For story purposes Rahab had undergone a sex change operation, and we should remember that the Israelites always symbolize the undeveloped particles which are in movement toward matter manifestation.  In the book of Joshua the city of Jericho is used to symbolize the energy dimension at which energy is in the process of manifesting into dense-matter form, so metaphorically the walls of energy come tumbling down so the energy units may pass over into their matter identity.

Tracking these mythic scriptural creatures to their origin gives new meaning to what the faithful refer to as “revealed wisdom.”

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Casting Out the Devil

Posted in agnoticism, Atheist, belief, Bible, Christianity, faith, Hebrew scripture, history, humanity, life, random, religion, thoughts with tags , , , , , , , on August 9, 2011 by chouck017894

The belief in the existence of evil spirits or demons is as ancient as the earliest man.  Primitive man tended to think in terms of the continuing influence of their departed ancestors, which he believed affected his experiences of good or bad fortune.  These same spirits were also thought to be even capable of entering into a person’s body, causing diseases and pain.  That some ancestors were malevolent was the basis for belief in demons, and earliest concepts of a demon was an entity with human attributes.  And, not surprisingly, there was then also thought to be certain individuals who possessed the power to exorcise those hostile spirits and demons.

Pagan cultures also struggled with such concepts of negative entities, but the belief that every animal, plant, river, body of water, rock, mountain or human was a development of a soul put a more favorable balance on perceived spiritual influence.  As lesser gods became demoted to the rank of daemons (meaning neither good nor bad, but which usually became bad), the more educated persons encouraged a ban on sorcery, magic and “black arts.”   In the third century BCE, however, there was a widespread revival of popular demonology—even among the Hebrews.

To the Old Testament’s credit, despite its numerous flaws and contradictions, the insinuation that evil spirits or demons exist remained relatively infrequent, and those that do skate near that idea are found for the most part in the later accounts of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels.  Indeed, the nearest thing to an exorcism to be found in Hebrew Scriptures is in 1 Samuel 16:14 where David uses music to calm the paranoid King Saul.

But time, of course, changes all things, and during the approach to the first century of our Common Era, Judaism had become more exposed to various people that had been absorbed into the Roman Empire, and a belief in malevolent influences taking possession of persons or situations again began to displace rationality.  A reference in Mark (12:27) indicates that there were those among the Pharisees who held status as professional exorcists.  Rabbinical literature in this timeframe did indeed have references to individual demons by name and gave specific illnesses they could inflict.

Christian theology, developing primarily in Rome, expanded upon earlier Hebraic ideas, and being influenced also by empire-building mentality expanded upon those ideas into an elaborate hierarchy not only of angels and archangels, but with fallen angels, demons, and devils led by an emperor-like Satan.

The New Testament authors drew upon a wide field of cultures which had been bound into the Roman Empire, and the widespread idea of possession consequently colored early accounts of alleged incidents surrounding Jesus’ ministry.  These show up prominently in Mark 1:21-28; Mark 5:1-20; Mark 9:14-29; Matthew 8:28-34; Matthew 9:32-33; Matthew 15:21-28; Matthew 17:14-21; Luke 4:31-37; Luke 8:26-39; and Luke 9:37-43.  These particular books, it should be remembered, were the earliest of the “Gospels,” with Mark penned c. 55-60, and Matthew written c. 70-75 (Mark was revised c. 70-80), and Luke was compiled c. 84-90.  The only other mention of exorcism in Gospel is found in the Acts of the Apostles (also written c. 84-90), with 16:16-18 and 19:11-19 being in regard to explicit incidents, and two nonspecific incidents are referred to in 5:16 and 8:7.

There has been a lot of squirming among evangelicals over these alleged exorcism incidents, and on the whole they prefer instead to direct attention of the faithful to the spiritual gifts of Jesus, and broadly infer that Jesus bestowed the gift of healing (and by extension of exorcism) upon his twelve apostles.  Curiously, this spiritual gift was a one-time-only offer if we consult Mark 3:16, Matthew 10:1 and 8, and Luke 9:1.  The indication in these books is that the authority to heal and/or exorcise was limited to the apostles’ life time.  The underlying problem with this is that exorcism as a feature presented to his apostles is an activity that later became mixed up with promises of the world’s end time and indications of Jesus’ immediate reappearance, and/or the lowering of god’s kingdom to Earth.  Satan and his evil brood are then to be decisively defeated.  Never explained is: If the apostles’ lifetime ended some 2000 years ago, how has that power of exorcism been relayed to a clique of priests?

In the Roman Catholic Church the name exorcist is given to the members of a third of the minor orders.  This ranking was allegedly established by Pope Fabian (also called a “saint”) in the third century (d. 250).  In the Roman Catholic Church, exorcism is practiced according to their version of Scriptural teaching.  Exorcism also plays a role in the blessing of holy water and oil, and in the rite of baptism for, in accordance with the doctrine of “original sin,” all unbaptized persons are claimed by Satan.  Pope Innocent I (d. 417, also regarded a “saint”) forbade priests to exercise this exorcising power without express permission of their bishop—a rule still in effect.

Does later history offer any advancement of rationality?  In 1614 Pope Paul V established the rites of exorcism of demons in the Rituale Romanum, which was, more or less, recast from Babylonian rites.  It was not much of a  stretch for the pope, who was then distressed at the sexual activities going on in Rome, to latch onto the theatrical means of exorcism to combat the “sins of the flesh and the devil.”  It helped that the belief in possession had again become widespread, and the church could point to the book of Luke which related an alleged incident where a “possessed” man had come to Jesus on the shores of Galilee.  The story goes that when Jesus inquired of the man’s name, the man replied “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.  Jesus, of course, saved the man by commanding the demons to enter nearby herd of swine, which then galloped away to drown themselves in the sea.

Leap ahead another 383 years from 1614: Things had not changed all that much in Catholic fascination with “possession.”  It was 1997, and Mother Teresa was hovering near death, and the archbishop of Calcutta, Henry Sebastian D’Souza, ordered a priest to perform exorcism upon the woman because the Archbishop suspected that she was being attacked by the devil.  Her reputation of often letting her patients suffer needlessly in the name of god probably had nothing to do with it.

That little exorcism incident drew some scathing comments from around the globe.  Perhaps it was coincidence that Pope John Paul II approved the new rites for exorcism in October 1998.  The exorcism rites were formally released in January 1999.  The 84-page procedure was published entirely in Latin; and as far as the holy church was concerned it had done its duty, and it was up to each foreign language Catholic faction to translate it.  The 1999 pope-approved version was really only an update of the 1952 and the 1964 versions, however.  Sadly, at the threshold of the twenty-first century the belief in demons was once again given church recognition.

If we take the priestly assertion that “all that is good comes from god, and all that is evil or negative is from the devil,” we have bought into a marketing ploy, not spiritual truth.  Scriptural “evil” and the negative circumstances that matter-life encounters are not instigated by demons or evil spirits; it is commonly human desire and greed that is the cause of the bulk of man’s encounter with “evil.”

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Book of Revelation, More Sacred Subterfuge

Posted in agnoticism, Atheist, belief, Bible, Christianity, culture, faith, freethought, Government, history, life, politics, random, thoughts with tags , , , , , , on July 11, 2011 by chouck017894

There is a modern myth circulating in United States political circles that is based upon taking the New Testament’s “prophecy” called Revelation as inescapable destiny, and thus believe that the contemporary nation of Israel, established May 14, 1948, will play a deciding role when “end times” judgment is levied upon Earth.  It is known that the book Revelation was actually written c. 135-137, and its declared author was “St” John the Divine, who, inexplicably, has never been authenticated.  Oddly, Revelation begins in letter form, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace.” (1:4)  And, peculiarly, the book ends like Paul’s epistles to the same churches, with the “grace” of Jesus being invoked (22:21).

The locale for the alleged transmission of Revelation to John was on the island of Patmos off the coast of the Roman province of Asia.  It was there that the risen Christ supposedly appeared to John and instructed him to write to those seven particular churches to tell them about future conditions (chapters 2 and 3).  Chapters 4 and 5 had John whisked off to heaven where he sees god enthroned and holding a sealed scroll which can be opened only by the “lamb” standing beside god’s throne, a figure who bears the marks of sacrifice.  Chapters 6 through 19 relates a sick orgy of gory violence, which then launches into god’s judgment of the  world.  Predetermined is a new creation (chapter 21), and the “New Jerusalem” is to descend like a “bride of the lamb.”  The ending, chapter 22, is rampant with typical religious name-calling and contemptuous imaging, assuring the reader that outside the gates to the new city “…are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”  The same stock-in-trade hate rhetoric is still being used by religious bigots today. Apparently the isolationist city of New Jerusalem is destined to have for its next door neighbors the rowdy citizens of Hell.

The timeframe in which the writing of the New Testament’s final book occurred is pertinent to understanding the alleged “prophecy” that it depicts.  (In spite of it placement, Revelation was not the last book written: the book of Hebrews was written later, c. 137-140.)  The late appearance of Revelation upon the scene followed upon the Jewish insurrection in Jerusalem under Bar Cocheba (132-135), an insurrection that spread to Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia.  The Roman’s were pissed.  And Roman authors were responsible for all the New Testament writings.  Thus the character of the mild teacher Jesus became presented as gradually transforming psychologically through the early gospels to culminate as the harsh judge presiding over the elimination of all faith systems except what the authors represented.  It should be noted also that the format of Revelation borrowed heavily from the Old Testament book of Daniel, which the priests of Yahweh in Jerusalem happened to have reworked from a Babylonian poetic epic.

The long recounting of planned godly rampage which makes up the tale of Revelation thus concludes with Jerusalem, the seat of Jewish faith, being whisked off the Earth and a “New Jerusalem” being plunked down far from heaven to replace it.  How the expected Christian rapture is equated with all the soot and ashes and bones and desecration upon which the New Jerusalem is to be put in place is another unanswered divine mystery.  Perhaps it is simply because the book of Revelation was written in the heyday of the Roman Empire which accounts for the city of Rome being spared a similar replacement policy.

A large percentage of Christian evangelicals in the US believe that the second coming of Jesus (do they mean the early gentle teacher or the later death-dealing judge?) hinges upon the Jews gaining and maintaining control over the so-called “Holy Land.”  Thus in the US we have fanatic believers such as newly installed (January 2011) Republican congressman from Florida, Daniel Webster, using Revelation logic to advocate doling out excessive “aid” to Israel because, as he put it, “…if we stop helping Israel, we lose god’s hand and we’re in big trouble.”  This was aired on “Good Life 45,” a televangelist TV program and replayed on YouTube.  Somehow that assessment of god’s character is more in keeping with the Republican characteristic of cutting backroom deals for personal gain and political domination.  The political power merchants in Israel smile and shrug at such Religious Right interpretations in the US, and humbly accept the “help” of $2.4 billion a year while laughing up their sleeves.  This is the political savvy that makes Israel the top recipient of foreign aid money from the United States—while the poor of our own nation are callously disregarded.

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Revelation, Fraudulent Prophecy

Posted in Astronomy, Atheism, Atheist, belief, Bible, Christianity, culture, enlightenment, faith, freethought, history, humanity, life, logic, random, religion with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 21, 2009 by chouck017894

The book of Revelation, the  canonically approved conclusion to New Testament myths, cannot truthfully be termed “revelation.”  It was fashioned upon cosmological teachings that were regarded as ancient even in the time when Revelation was edited for propagandist purpose, c. 135-138 CE.  The alleged author, John, did not have to rely on visions or divine insight for his imitative version: he needed only access to the myths and cosmological knowledge of older cultures, the use of well-known Pagan symbolism, and a familiarity with the revelatory style from Ezekiel to fashion an ecclesiastical deception.

This “judgement day” mishmash of godly retribution upon wicked humanity is the deliberate perversion of ancient teachings regarding the different energy aspects involved as the creative process responsible for matter manifestation.  These ancient cosmology lessons had once been taught by using imagined figures outlined upon various groups of stars, i.e. constellations.  Hence, in this propaganda for the young Christian faith, the source-clues pop up everywhere: the symbolism and the repeated use of the number seven, for example, are  common to all ancient Creation myths, not end-time prophecy.  Elsewhere, in chapter four, a “throne” is described with “…a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”  But the “throne” that is referred to is not the seat of some divine being; it refers to green Earth, and the “rainbow” round about it refers to (gasp) the Zodiac!   In the verse prior to this, other gemstones were mentioned: jasper, sardine stone, and the emerald–the stones associated with the constellations Gemini (emerald), Pisces (jasper), and Cancer (sardonyx-alternated bands of brown and white).

With chapter five of Revelation the propaganda for the Christian version of faith really takes off with reference to a book that is sealed on the backside (prephysical conditions) with the usual seven seals.  The only one worthy to pop open the seals and read it is “…the Lion…” of Judah (the undisguised symbol of Leo), “the root of David,” and therein stood a Lamb (symbol of Aries).  Only this “lamb” had been slain (from the foundations of the world), “having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of  god sent forth into all the earth.”   In the ancient teachings from which these symbols were taken, the “lamb,” or  Aries lessons, had taught of the life principle that rises to preside in the four energy dimensions of matter and was explained in seven lessons on energy manifestation as matter.

Only one more example, out of many, of  “John’s” theft from ancient sources to be used as scare tactics to inspire conversion to Christianity. Chapter six of the twenty-two chapters of Revelation contains the well known “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”   The “lamb,” of course, opens the first of the seven seals and what is seen?—a white horse.  There is here an abrupt jump to symbols associated with Sagittarius, where Centaurus aims his arrow at the center of galaxy energy.  There are four horsemen rather than seven, for the ancient lessons on Creation and cosmology taught of  four energy planes that combine as matter.  The colors given the horses charging into John’s nightmare are given as, 1) white, 2) red, 3) black, and 4) pale.  These are intentionally mixed up to present a tale of calculated slaughter of non-Christians by the Prince of Peace.

In the ancient Creation lessons from which these images were taken, the four colors represent the amoral energies that involve in the process of matter manifestation, and so properly represented stages of energy amassment in which life arises as once taught with the contellation lessons Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpius.  The original and proper order of the four colors was: 1) pale, 2) red, 3) black, and 4) white.

  • The word pale signifies no given color, which corresponds to the stage of Creation activity where energies are not fully defined as discernable form.  The closing lesson given with Leo concerned the pale framework of light that slowly manifests into matter forms.
  • Red, a primary color, represents the earlier matter-forms—mineral and plant life; this dimension of rising life was taught with the constellation Libra.  The reference in Revelation to wheat, barley, oil and wine clearly refer to Libra.
  • The color black results when every band of light is reflected back from a surface, and thus indicates the lessons of Virgo, which were concernd with dense matter.  In Revelation the rider on the black horse carried a balance and would seem to indicate Libra.  However, when Revelation was  penned, the constellation signs Virgo and Libra were commonly intermixed and regarded as reciprocal (inseparable) units.
  • White symbolizes purity striven for and attainable only through establishment of harmony with creation forces.  This inspiration for life continuance was in the lessons given with Scorpius.  Thus the use of the white horse in Revelation to symbolize the Life Principle “going forth conquering and to conquer” is an intentional defilement of more scientific, more honest understanding of the role of conscious life in the universe.

Not all Christian representative were supportive of Revelation, being outright suspicious of its origin and connection to “pagan” teachings.  In the General Council of the Church of Nicaea, 324, there was considerable argument over whether or not Revelation should be included in Christian canon.  Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem in 340 omitted the book from his canon.  The Synod of Bishops in 364 elected not to include Revelation from the New Testament.  In 370, however, Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis of the Island  of Cyprus reinstated Revelation.  But then in 375 Bishop Gregory Nazianze in S.W. Cappadocia struck Revelation from his canon.  And in 380 Bishop Philastrius of Brescia also chose to omit Revelation.

It is notable that over 1200 years later (16th century) there was still rational objection to Revelation as not harmonious with Christ’s teachings. Luther, for example, advocated the removal of the book as well as three other books closing the New Testament; James, Jude, and Hebrews–all deemed as “inferior.”

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