Hippolytus Book V - The Refutation of All Heresies - Satan Worship
Fig. 53: Roman Fire-Worship and Serpent-Worship Combined
Contents.
Chapter II.-Naasseni Ascribe Their System, Through Mariamne, to James the Lord's Brother; Really Traceable to the Ancient Mysteries; Their Psychology as Given in the "Gospel According to Thomas; "Assyrian Theory of the Soul; The Systems of the Naasseni and the Assyrians Compared; Support Drawn by the Naasseni from the Phrygian and Egyptian Mysteries; The Mysteries of Isis; These Mysteries Allegorized by the Naasseni.
Chapter III.-Further Exposition of the Heresy of the Naasseni; Profess to Follow Homer; Acknowledge a Triad of Principles; Their Technical Names of the Triad; Support These on the Authority of Greek Poets; Allegorize Our Saviour's Miracles; The Mystery of the Samothracians; Why the Lord Chose Twelve Disciples; The Name Corybas, Used by Thracians and Phrygians, Explained; Naasseni Profess to Find Their System in Scripture; Their Interpretation of Jacob's Vision; Their Idea of the "Perfect Man; "The "Perfect Man" Called "Papa" By the Phrygians; The Naasseni and Phrygians on the Resurrection; The Ecstasis of St. Paul; The Mysteries of Religion as Alluded to by Christ; Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower; Allegory of the Promised Land; Comparison of the System of the Phrygians with the Statements of Scripture; Exposition of the Meaning of the Higher and Lower Eleusinian Mysteries; The Incarnation Discoverable Here According to the Naasseni.
Chapter IV.-Further Use Made of the System of the Phrygians; Mode of Celebrating the Mysteries; The Mystery of the "Great Mother; "These Mysteries Have a Joint Object of Worship with the Naasseni; The Naasseni Allegorize the Scriptural Account of the Garden of Eden; The Allegory Applied to the Life of Jesus.
Chapter V.-Explanation of the System of the Naasseni Taken from One of Their Hymns.
Chapter VI.-The Ophites the Grand Source of Heresy.
Chapter VII.-The System of the Peratae; Their Tritheism; Explanation of the Incarnation.
Chapter VIII.-The Peratae Derive Their System from the Astrologers; This Proved by a Statement of the Astrological Theories of the Zodiac; Hence the Terminology of the Peratic Heretics.
Chapter IX.-System of the Peratae Explained Out of One of Their Own Books.
Chapter X.-The Peratic Heresy Nominally Different from Astrology, But Really the Same System Allegorized.
Chapter XI.-Why They Call Themselves Peratae; Their Theory of Generation Supported by an Appeal to Antiquity; Their Interpretation of the Exodus of Israel; Their System of "The Serpent; "Deduced by Them from Scripture; This the Real Import of the Doctrines of the Astrologers.
Chapter XII.-Compendious Statement of the Doctrines of the Peratae.
Chapter XIII.-The Peratic Heresy Not Generally Known.
Chapter XIV.-The System of the Sethians; Their Triad of Infinite Principles; Their Heresy Explained; Their Interpretation of the Incarnation.
Chapter XV.-The Sethians Support Their Doctrines by an Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture; Their System Really Derived from Natural Philosophers and from the Orphic Rites; Adopt the Homeric Cosmogony.
Chapter XVI.-The Sethian Theory Concerning "Mixture" And "Composition; "Application of It to Christ; Illustration from the Well of Ampa.
Chapter XVII.-The Sethian Doctrines to Be Learned from the "Paraphrase of Seth."
Chapter XVIII.-The System of Justinus Antiscriptural and Essentially Pagan.
Chapter XIX.-The Justinian Heresy Unfolded in the "Book of Baruch."
Chapter XX.-The Cosmogony of Justinus an Allegorical Explanation of Herodotus' Legend of Hercules.
Chapter XXI.-Justinus' Triad of Principles; His Angelography Founded on This Triad; His Explanation of the Birth, Life, and Death of Our Lord.
Chapter XXII.-Oath Used by the Justinian Heretics; The Book of Baruch; The Repertory of Their System.
Chapter XXIII.-Subsequent Heresies Deducible from the System of Justinus.
What the assertions are of the Naasseni, who style themselves Gnostics, and that they advance those opinions which the Philosophers of the Greeks previously propounded, as well as those who have handed down mystical (rites), from (both of) whom the Naasseni taking occasion, have constructed their heresies.
Click for the Zoe - Sophia Movement of modern gnosticism from the The Hypostasis of the Archons
And what are the tenets of the Peratae, and that their system is not framed by them out of the holy Scriptures, but from astrological art.
What is the doctrine of the Sethians, and that, purloining their theories from the wise men among the Greeks, they have patched together their own system out of shreds of opinion taken from Musaeus, and Linus, and Orpheus.
Linus (Linos): In the Theban version, Linus was the son of Urania, Muse of astronomy, and the musician Amphimarus, and he was himself a great musician. He invented the Linus song but was put to death by Apollo (Apollyon, Abbadon) for presuming to be his rival.
Plato Cratylus, Socrates speaks: God of music, and prophecy, and medicine, and archery. "The name may refer to his musical attributes, and then, as in akolouthos, and akoitis, and in many other words the a is supposed to mean "together," so the meaning of the name Apollo will be "moving together,"
whether in the poles of heaven as they are called, or in the harmony of song, which is termed concord,
because he moves all together by an harmonious power, as astronomers and musicians ingeniously declare
A later, half-burlesque story related that Linus was the Greek hero Heracles' music master and was killed by his pupil, whom he tried to correct.
"Herodotus mentions that when in Egypt, he was astonished to hear the very same mournful but ravishing 'Song of Linus, sung by the Egyptians (although under another name)... Linus was the same god as the Bacchus of Greece, or Osiris of Egypt; for Homer introduces a boy singing the song of Linus, while the vintage is going on, and the Scholiast says that this song was sung in memory of Linus, who was torn in pieces by dogs... In some places in Egypt, for the song of Linus or Osiris, a peculiar melody seems to have been used. Savary says that, in the temple of Abydos, 'the priest repeated the seven vowels in the form of hymns,
and that musicians were forbid to enter it.'
"Now the name of Linus or Osiris, as the 'husband of his mother,' in Egypt, was Kamut."When Gregory the great introduced into the church of Rome what are not called the Gregorian Chants, he got them from the Chaldean mysteries, which had long been established in Rome; for the Roman Catholic priest, Eustace, admits that these chants were largely composed of 'Lydian and Phrygian tunes.' Lydia and Phrygia being among the chief seats in later times of those mysteries of which the Egyptian mysteries were only a branch.
These tunes were sacred--the music of the great god, and in introducing them Gregory introduced the music of Kamut. And thus, to all appearance, has it come to pass, that the name of Osiris or Kamut, 'the husband of the mother,' is in every day use among ourselves as the name of the musical scale; for what is the melody of Osiris, consisting of the 'seven vowels' formed into a jymn, but--the Gamut?" (Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, p. 22, Loizeaux Brothers)
Under Justification by Works Hislop connects the boy singer with the soprano style of singing which dominated the choirs in which boys were male and could therefore perform the clergy function but looked and sounded like women. To that end they were at times castrated.
"If the festival of Holy Week be really, as its rites declare, one of the old festivals of Saturn, the Babylonian fire-god, who, though an infernal god, was yet Phoroneus [father of Apis of Mt. Sinai fame], the great 'Deliverer,' it is altogether natural that the god of the papal idolatry, though called by Christ's name, should rise from the dead on his own day--
the Dies Saturni, or "Saturn's day." On the day before the Miserere is sung with such overwhelming pathos, that few can listen to it unmoved, and many even swoon with the emotions that are excited. 'What if this be at bottom only the old song of Linus, of whose very touching and melancholy character Herodotus speaks so strikingly?
Certain it is, that much of the pathos of the Miserere depends on the part born in singing it by the sopranos; and equally certain it is that Semiramis, the wife of him who, historically, was the original of that god whose tragic death was so pathetically celebrated in many countries, enjoys the fame, such as it is, of having been the inventress of the practice from which soprano singing took its rise." Footnote: A surname of one of the three Linuses was Narcissus. Now 'Nar' signifies 'child,' and 'Kissos,' as we have seen, is Cush, so that Nar-kissos is 'The child of Cush." (Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, p. 156, Loizeaux Brothers)
Orpheus ancient Greek legendary hero endowed with superhuman musical skills. He became the patron of a religious movement based on sacred writings said to be his own.
Traditionally, Orpheus was the son of a Muse (probably Calliope, the patron of epic poetry) and Oeagrus, a king of Thrace (other versions give Apollo). According to some legends,
Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Orpheus' singing and playing were so beautiful that animals and even trees and rocks moved about him in dance.
Aristotle in Politics supplies important information about the music connection. Click for More
What are the tenets of Justinus, and that his system is framed by him, not out of the holy Scriptures, but from the detail of marvels furnished by Herodotus the historian.
Chapter I.-Recapitulation; Characteristics of Heresy; Origin of the Name Naasseni; The System of the Naasseni.
I think that in the four preceding books I have very elaborately explained the opinions propounded by all the speculators among both Greeks and Barbarians,
respecting the Divine Nature and the creation of the world; and not even have I omitted the consideration of their systems of magic.
So that I have for my readers undergone no ordinary amount of toil, in my anxiety to urge many forward into a desire of learning, and into stedfastness of knowledge in regard of the truth.
It remains, therefore, to hasten on to the refutation of the heresies; but it is for the purpose of furnishing this (refutation) that we have put forward the statements already made by us.
- For from philosophers the heresiarchs deriving starting-points,
- (and) like cobblers patching together,
- according to their own particular interpretation,
- the blunders of the ancients,
- have advanced them as novelties to those that are capable of being deceived, as we shall prove in the following books.
The "serpent" in Hebrew is related to "brass" which "rings" or musical instruments. The sounds were piping and whispering, sounding and clanging and must be the music of the demons for how can a metal bell or tube speak of its own? The following musical instrument is a musical image of the spitting Cobra which has a bronze-red throat and was believed to charm people and then spit in their eyes and blind them.
The brass wind instrument looking more like the Black Assyrian Serpent
All known traditions attribute musical mind-altering instruments to the devil as the "spokesperson" to deceive. For instance,"Yobal (Jubal). (Note: Jubilee or "a blast of trumpets" is from Jubal which means "to lead with triumph or pomp.") and Tobalkin (Tubal-Cain), the two brethren, the sons of Lamech, the blind man, who killed Cain, invented and made all kinds of instruments (or metal weapons) of music.
"Yobal made reed instruments, and harps, and flutes, and whistles,
and the devils went and dwelt inside them.
When men blew into the pipes, the devils sang inside them,and sent out sounds from inside them. (Note: the "familiar spirit" of the Witch of Endor was an old "lifeless instrument" made of an old water or wineskin).
Tobalkin made cymbals, and sistra, and tambourines (or drums). And lasciviousness and fornication increased among the children of Cain, and they had nothing to occupy them except fornication--now they had no obligation [to pay] tribute, and they had neither prince nor governor--
and eating, and drinking, and lasciviousness, and drunkenness,
and dancing and singing to instruments of music,
and the wanton sportings of the devils, (Israel: "rose up to play" and so did David in moving the ark from God's tabernacle to his)and the laughter which affordeth pleasure to the devils,
and the sounds of the furious lust of men neighing after women.
And Satan, finding [his] opportunity in this work of error, rejoiced greatly, becausethereby he could compel the sons of Seth to come down from that holy mountain. There they had been made to occupy the place of that army [of angels] that fell [with Satan], there they were beloved by God, there they were held in honour by the angels, and were called "sons of God," even as the blessed David saith in the psalm, "I have said , Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High." Ps. 82:6 (In Rev 18 the craftsmen and musicians will go with Babylon the great whore into hell).
In the remainder (of our work), the opportunity invites us to approach the treatment of our proposed subjects, and to begin from those who have presumed to celebrate a serpent, the originator of the error (in question), through certain expressions devised by the energy of his own (ingenuity).
The priests, then, and champions of the system, have been first those who have been called Naasseni, being so denominated from the Hebrew language, for the serpent is called naas (Nachash in Hebrew).
Jesus gave us permission to see the Word "from the creation of the world" as having a parable or "superior form of speech" component which the Jewish clergy could not remotely comprehend because they didn't love truth. Remember that Moses was preparing the Israelites to go from a Babylonian-influenced religion to being able to comprehend a Spirit God not indwelling bulls and goats. They would again come under the Canaanite influence and it would eventially be dominant during the Monarchy period when Israel rejected God in favor of a human king. Their first test involved a return to the musical idolatry of Apis (the literal bull representing Osiris) and they failed the test. This worship had its origin in Babylon whose national symbol was the serpent.
The word "serpent" is from Hebrew but not from its crawling form but from the image of the Egyptian cobra which is a bronze-colored, venum spraying animal with a flared throat looking much like a bronze trumpet. The serpent sprayes his venum (rather than music) into the eyes and forehead of its victim to paralyze and blind them.
Cockatrice also called Basilisk, in the legends of Hellenistic and Roman times, a small serpent, possibly the Egyptian cobra, known as a basilikos ("kinglet") and credited with powers of destroying all animal and vegetable life by its mere look or breath. Only the weasel, which secreted a venom deadly to the cockatrice, was safe from its powers.
Sacred snakes, especially cobras, are also given offerings--partly to avert danger from these reptiles, partly to propitiate them with the aim of obtaining rain, fertility, or children; to that end women worship snake stones (nagalkals) or erect stone figures of cobras. Every joint family of the Coorgs in Karnataka state and most other peoples have a snake deity of their own that is said to embody their welfare. Here and there, Brahmans officiate in this cult, which usually takes place in small sanctuaries in private gardens. Although also known in other parts of India, the methods of exorcising evil spirits known as devil-dancing are most fully developed in South India.
The serpent is a recurrent figure in religious beliefs, ceremonies, activities, and legends. The decidedly unhuman appearance of the snake, its unwinking eye, its reputed ability to deliver unexpected and sudden death, the fear, hatred, and loathing with which it is regarded by many, the folktales and legends that have surrounded it in practically every culture, all have combined to produce religious overtones in many different parts of the world. While in many religions the snake is primarily a symbol, direct worship of the snake as a godlike creature (not as an indirect representation) is not uncommon.Python worshippers are found in Africa, and the cobra cults of India are well known. Quetzalcoatl was the feathered serpent of the Aztecs. The serpent is a symbol for the snake-handling Protestant sects of the United States, the snake dancers of the Hopi Indians, and perhaps the Burmese snake charmers, who end their ceremonies with a kiss on the top of a cobra's head.
Handling of snakes is done both as a gesture of belief and faith in the power of the gods and as an act of defiance of the same power.
Bites and fatalities are about equally distributed in both cases.Serpent is from the hebrew:
Nachash (h5175) naw-khawsh'; from 5172; a snake (from its hiss): - serpent.
Nechash (h5174) nekh-awsh'; corresp. to 5154; copper: - brass.Nachuwsh (h5153) naw-khoosh'; appar. pass. part. of 5172 (perh. in the sense of ringing, i. e. bell-metal; or from the red color of the throat of a serpent [5175, as denom.] when hissing); coppery, i. e. (fig.) hard: - of brass.
Nechuwshah (h5154) nekh-oo-shaw'; fem. of 5153; copper: - brass, steel. Comp. 5175
Nachash (h5173) nakh'-ash; from 5172; an incantation or augury: - enchantment.
Nachash (h5172) naw-khash'; a prim. root; prop. to hiss, i. e. whisper a (magic) spell; gen. to prognosticate: divine, enchanter, (use) * enchantment, learn by experience
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. 2Chr.33:6
In the Septuagint Isaiah warned the people:
Now then sit down and write these words on a tablet, and in a book, for these things shall be for many long day, and even for ever. Isaiah 30:8 LXX
For the people is dlsobedient, false children who would not hear the law of God: Isaiah 30:9 LXX
who say to the prophets Report not to us; and to them that see vislons, Speak them not to us, but speak and report to us another error, Isaiah 14:10 LXXand turn us aside from this way, remove from us this path, and remove from us the oracle of lsrael. Isaiah 30:11 LXX
This led to the worship of Molech and burning children. Because they had been led astray by the nations around them, God shows how Assyria (and Israel) will be destroyed:
Must ye always rejoice, and go into my holy places continually, as they that keep a ieast? and must ye go with a pipe, as those that rejoice into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel Isaiah 30:29 LXX
and the Lord shall make his glorious voice to be heard and the wrath of his arm, to make a display with wrath and anger and devouring flame: he shall lighten terribly, and his wrath shall be as water and violent hail. Isaiah 30:30 LXX
and the Lord shall make his glorious voice to be heard and the wrath of his arm, to make a display with wrath and anger and devouring flame: he shall lighten terribly, and his wrath shall be as water and violent hail. Isaiah 30:30 LXX
For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be overcome, even by the stroke where with he shall smite them. Isaiah 30:31 LXX
And it shall happen to him from every side, that they from whom their hope of assistance was, in which he trusted, themselves shall war against him in turn with drums and with harp. Isaiah 30:32 LXX
That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: Daniel 3:5
The flute is also:
Maschorowqiy (g4953) mash-ro-kee'; from a root corresp. to 8319; a (musical) pipe (from its whistling sound): - flute.
Sharaq (h8319) shaw-rak'; a prim. root; prop. to be shrill, i. e. to whistle or hiss (as a call or in scorn): - hiss.
Saruq (g8320) saw-rook'; from 8319; bright red (as piercing to the sight), i. e. bay: - speckled. See 8291.
Saruwq (h8291) sar-ook'; pass. part. from the same as 8321; a grapevine: - principal plant. See 8320, 8321.Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; a prim. root [comp. 2470]; prop. to bore, i. e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute): - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.
Subsequently, however, they have styled themselves Gnostics, alleging that they alone have sounded the depths (chaos) of knowledge. Now, from the system of these (speculators), many, detaching parts, have constructed a heresy which, though with several subdivisions, is essentially one, and they explain precisely the same (tenets); though conveyed under the guise of different opinions, as the following discussion, according as it progresses, will prove.
In paganism all of the gods and priesthoods were homosexuality. The sin in the garden was a total seduction and Paul compares it to sexual seduction. Since both Adam and Eve "ate the fruit" the ancient scholars saw this as the sin of sodomy.
These (Naasseni), then, according to the system advanced by them, magnify, (as the originating cause) of all things else, a man and a son of man.
And this man is a hermaphrodite, and is denominated among them Adam; and hymns many and various are made to him.
<>The hymns however-to be brief-are couched among them in some such form as this:
"From thee (comes) father, and through thee (comes) mother, two names immortal, progenitors of Aeons, O denizen of heaven, thou illustrious man."But they divide him as Geryon [Jordan "flowing from earth"] into three parts. For, say they, of this man one part is rational, another psychical, another earthly. And they suppose that the knowledge of him is the originating principle of the capacity for a knowledge of God, expressing themselves thus: "The originating principle of perfection is the knowledge of man, while the knowledge of God is absolute perfection." All these qualities, however-rational, and psychical, and earthly-have, (the Naassene) says, retired and descended into one man simultaneously-Jesus, who was born of Mary.
And these three men (the Naassene) says, are in the habit of speaking (through Jesus) at the same time together, each from their own proper substances to those peculiarly their own.
For, according to these, there are three kinds of all existent things-angelic, psychical, earthly; and there are three churches-angelic, psychical, earthly; and the names of these are elect, called, captive.
Chapter II.-Naasseni Ascribe Their System, Through Mariamne, to James the Lord's Brother; Really Traceable to the Ancient Mysteries; Their Psychology as Given in the "Gospel According to Thomas; "Assyrian Theory of the Soul; The Systems of the Naasseni and the Assyrians Compared; Support Drawn by the Naasseni from the Phrygian and Egyptian Mysteries; The Mysteries of Isis; These Mysteries Allegorized by the Naasseni.
See Egyptian worship at Mount Sinai
These are the heads of very numerous discourses which (the Naassene) asserts James the brother of the Lord handed down to Mariamne. In order, then, that these impious (heretics) may no longer belie Mariamne or James, or the Saviour Himself,
let us come to the mystic rites (whence these have derived their figment),-to a consideration, if it seems right, of both the Barbarian and Grecian (mysteries),-and let us see how these (heretics),
collecting together the secret and ineffable mysteries of all the Gentiles, are uttering falsehoods against Christ,
and are making dupes of those who are not acquainted with these orgies of the Gentiles. For since the foundation of the doctrine with them is the man Adam, and they say that concerning him it has been written, "Who shall declare his generation? [ Isa. liii. 8.] learn how, partly deriving from the Gentiles the undiscoverable and diversified generation of the man, they fictitiously apply it to Christ.
"Now earth," say the Greeks, "gave forth a man, (earth) first bearing a goodly gift, wishing to become mother not of plants devoid of sense, nor beasts without reason, but of a gentle and highly favoured creature." "It, however, is difficult," (the Naassene) says, "to ascertain whether Alalcomeneus, first of men, rose upon the Boeotians over Lake Cephisus;
or whether it were the Idaean Curetes, a divine race; or the Phrygian Corybantes, whom first the sun beheld springing up after the manner of the growth of trees; or whether Arcadia brought forth Pelasgus, of greater antiquity than the moon; or Eleusis (produced) Diaulus, an inhabitant of Raria; or Lemnus begot Cabirus, fair child of secret orgies; or Pallene (brought forth) the Phlegraean Alcyoneus, oldest of the giants. But the Libyans affirm that Iarbas, first born, on emerging from arid plains, commenced eating the sweet acorn of Jupiter.
But the Nile of the Egyptians," he says, "up to this day fertilizing mud, (and therefore) generating animals, renders up living bodies, which acquire flesh from moist vapour."
The Assyrians, however, say that fish-eating Oannes was (the first man, and) produced among themselves.
"At Babylon there was (in these times) a great resort of people of various nations, who inhabited Chaldaea, and lived in a lawless manner like the beasts of the field.
In the first year there appeared, from that part of the Erythraean sea which borders upon Babylonia, an animal destitute of reason [sic], by name Oannes, whose whole body (according to the account of Apollodorus) was that of a fish, that under the fish's head he had another head, with feet also below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish's tail.
His voice too, and language, was articulated and human, and a representation of him is preserved even to this day. (See the Pope's fish-like head dress)
"This Being was accustomed to pass the day among men; but took no food at that season; and he gave them an insight into letters and sciences, and arts of every kind.
He taught them to construct cities, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and shewed them how to collect the fruits; in short, he instructed them in everything which could tend to soften manners and humanize their lives. From that time, nothing material has been added by way of improvement to his instructions. And when the sun had set, this Being Oannes, retired again into the sea, and passed the night in the deep; for he was amphibious. After this there appeared other animals like Oannes." - Berossus, from Ancient Fragments (Isaac Preston Cory)
OANNES (BM)
Mesopotamian amphibious being who taught mankind wisdom. Oannes, as described by the Babylonian priest Berosus, had the form of a fish but with the head of a man under his fish's head and under his fish's tail the feet of a man. In the daytime he came up to the seashore of the Persian Gulf and instructed mankind in writing, the arts, and the sciences. Oannes was probably the emissary of Ea, god of the freshwater deep and of wisdom.
The 'fish' is an old and very suggestive symbol in the Mystery-language, as is also 'water.' Ea or Hea was the god of the sea and Wisdom, and the sea serpent was one of his emblems,
his priests being 'serpents' or Initiates. Thus one sees why Occultism places Oannes and the other Annedoti in the group of those ancient 'adepts' who were called 'marine' or 'water dragons' -- Nagas.
Berossus describes Oannes as follows: "At Babylon there was (in these times) a great resort of people of various nations,
who inhabited Chaldaea, and lived in a lawless manner
like the beasts of the field.
In the first year there appeared, from that part of the Erythraean sea which borders upon Babylonia, and animal destitute of reason [sic] by name Oannes, whose whole body (according to the account of Apollodorus) was that of a fish; that under the fish's head he had another head, with feet also below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish's tail. His voice too, and language, was articulate and human; and a representation of him is preserved even to this day. (From Ancient Fragments, by Isaac Preston Cory.)
ADAPA (BM) (Uan, Oannes) (See Eridu Genesis)
One of the sages and citizen of Eridu. Given super intelligence by Ea (Sumerian: Enki), god of wisdom, became the hero of the Sumerian version of the myth of the Fall of Man. In spite of his possession of all wisdom he was denied immortality. One day, while he was fishing, the south wind blew so violently that he was thrown into the sea. Lost his temper and broke the wings of the south wind, which then ceased to blow. Anu (Sumerian: An), the sky god, called him before his gates to be punished, but Ea warned him not to touch the bread and water that would be offered him. When Adapa came before Anu, the two heavenly doorkeepers Tammuz and Ningishzida interceded for him and explained to Anu that as Adapa had been endowed with all knowledge he needed only immortality to become a god. Anu, relented and offered Adapa the bread and water of eternal life, which he refused to take. Thus mankind became mortal.
Ea, the Akkadian counterpart of Enki, was the god of ritual purification: ritual cleansing waters were called "Ea's water." Ea governed the arts of sorcery and incantation. In some stories he was also the form-giving god, and thus the patron of craftsmen and artists; he was known as the bearer of culture. In his role as adviser to the king, Ea was a wise god although not a forceful one. In Akkadian myth, as Ea's character evolves, he appears frequently as a clever mediator who could be devious and cunning. He is also significant in Akkadian mythology as the father of Marduk, the national god of Babylonia.
Ishtar or Inaana, whom we meet in the Bible along with Tammuz (Eze 8) chants a hymn in an ancient text thanking Ea fore the me which were like gifts of the Spirit:
Inanna , standing before her father, Acknowledged the me Enki (or Ea, patron god of music and gnosis) had given her by chanting about dozens of gifts from Ea. Some of them are:
- He gave me the art of lovemaking.
- He gave me the art of kissing the phallus.
- He gave me the art of prostitution.
- He gave me the high priesthood.
- He gave me the dagger and sword.
- He gave me the resounding musical instrument
- He gave me the art of song.
- He gave me the craft of the copper worker.
When the Jews in the wilderness complained to Moses, "the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Num 21:6); wherefore "Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent has bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (21:9).
As the Hebrew words for serpent and brass are the same when the Massoretic points are omitted (N H SH), some have sought for an interpretation by referring to the Evil One, called by the later Jews the Deprived (Nahash), but the fiery serpents "were the Seraphim, each one of which, as Isaiah shows (6:2), 'had six wings.'
Just as the serpent is connected with knowledge, wisdom, and magic, so likewise has copper or brass since immemorial time in all mystic schools been a metallic compound supposed to be under the particular governance of the planet Venus, (Lucifer, Zoe) which is the ruler or controller of the human higher manas -- manas being at once the savior as well as the tempter of mankind,
for it is in the mind (nous) where temptation and sin or evildoing ultimately arise.
Nahash and Lahash make a close connection between the tempter in the garden of Eden, the offspring of Lamech (reincarnated as Ea) and the musical enchanters of Mesopotamis.
The Chaldeans, however, say that this Adam is the man whom alone earth brought forth.
And that he lay inanimate, unmoved, (and) still as a statue; being an image of him who is above, who is celebrated as the man Adam, having been begotten by many powers, concerning whom individually is an enlarged discussion.
In order, therefore, that finally the Great Man from above may be overpowered, "from whom," as they say, "the whole family named on earth and in the heavens has been formed, to him was given also a soul, that through the soul he might suffer; and that the enslaved image may be punished of the Great and most Glorious and Perfect Man, for even so they call him.
Again, then, they ask what is the soul, and whence, and what kind in its nature, that, coming to the man and moving him, [vanquishing him] it should enslave and punish the image of the Perfect Man.
They do not, however, (on this point) institute an inquiry from the Scriptures, but ask this (question) also from the mystic (rites). And they affirm that the soul is very difficult to discover, and hard to understand; for it does not remain in the same figure or the same form invariably, or in one passive condition, that either one could express it by a sign, or comprehend it substantially.
But they have these varied changes (of the soul) set down in the gospel inscribed "according to the Egyptians. [Gospel of Thomas] They are, then, in doubt, as all the rest of men among the Gentiles, whether (the soul) is at all from something pre-existent, or whether from the self-produced (one), or from a widespread Chaos.
And first they fly for refuge to the mysteries of the Assyrians, perceiving the threefold division of the man; for the Assyrians first advanced the opinion
that the soul has three parts, and yet (is essentially) one.
For of soul, say they, is every nature desirous, and each in a different manner.
Note this passage in context below:But the third angel (Naas), by the soul which came from Edem upon Moses, as also upon all men, obscured the precepts of Baruch,
and caused his own peculiar injunctions to be hearkened unto. For this reason the soul is arrayed against the spirit, and the spirit against the soul. [Gal. v. 17.]
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Gal 5:17
For the soul is Edem, but the spirit Elohim, and each of these exists in all men, both females and males.
For soul is cause of all things made; all things that are nourished, (the Naassene) says, and that grow, require soul. For it is not possible, he says, to obtain any nourishment or growth where soul is not present. For even stones, he affirms, are animated, for they possess what is capable of increase; but increase would not at any time take place without nourishment, for it is by accession that things which are being increased grow, but accession is the nourishment of things that are nurtured. Every nature, then, as of things celestial and (the Naasene) says, of things celestial, and earthly, and infernal, desires a soul.
And an entity of this description the Assyrians call Adonis or Endymion; and when it is styled Adonis,
ENDYMION was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on Mount
Latmos. One calm, clear night Diana, the moon
(Selene), looked down and saw him sleeping. The cold heart of the
virgin goddess was warmed by his surpassing beauty, and she came down
to him, kissed him, and watched over him while he slept.
Another story was that Jupiter (Zeus) bestowed on him the gift of perpetual youth united with perpetual sleep (Hypnos). Of one so gifted we can have but few adventures to record. Diana, it was said, took care that his fortunes should not suffer by his inactive life, for she made his flock increase, and guarded his sheep and lambs from the wild beasts.
Venus, he says, loves and desires the soul when styled by such a name. But Venus is production, according to them. But whenever Proserpine or Cora becomes enamoured with Adonis, there results, he says, a certain mortal soul separated from Venus (that is, from generation). But should the Moon pass into concupiscence for Endymion, and into love of her form, the nature,[creation] he says, of the higher beings requires a soul likewise.
But if, he says, the mother of the gods emasculate Attis, [Or, "Apis." See Diodorus Siculus, iii. 58, 59. Pausanias, vii. 2O, writes the word Attes. See also Minucius Felix, Octav., cap. xxi.] and herself has this (person) as an object of affection, the blessed nature, he says, of the supernal and everlasting (beings)
alone recalls the male power of the soul to itself.
For (the Naassene) says, there is the hermaphrodite man. According to this account of theirs, the intercourse of woman with man is demonstrated, in conformity with such teaching, to be an exceedingly wicked and filthy (practice). [forbidden]
Homosexuality in all priesthoods believed that sexual perversion bound the flesh and spirit together. Since "worship" was based on sensual feelings usually induced by wine and music, the homosexual priests claimed that only they could "lead you into the presence" of the homosexual gods.
For, says (the Naassene), Attis has been emasculated, that is, he has passed over from the earthly parts of the nether world to the everlasting substance above, where, he says, there is neither female or male, [ Gal. iii. 28, and Clement's Epist. ad Rom., ii. 12.] but a new creature, [ 2 Cor. v. 17, Gal. vi 15.] a new man, which is hermaphrodite. As to where, however, they use the expression "above," I shall show when I come to the proper place (for treating this subject). But they assert that, by their account, they testify that Rhea is not absolutely isolated, but-for so I may say-the universal creature; and this they declare to be what is affirmed by the Word.
"For the invisible things of Him are seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made by Him, even His eternal power and Godhead, for the purpose of leaving them without excuse. Wherefore, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, nor gave Him thanks; but their foolish heart was rendered vain.
For, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into images of the likeness of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore also God gave them up unto vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature." What, however, the natural use is, according to them, we shall afterwards declare.
"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly"-
now the expression that which is unseemly signifies, according to these (Naasseni), the first and blessed substance, figureless, the cause of all figures to those things that are moulded into shapes,
"and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.[Rom. i. 20-27.]
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Rom 1:23
For in these words which Paul has spoken they say the entire secret of theirs, and a hidden mystery of blessed pleasure, are comprised. For the promise of washing is not any other, according to them, than the introduction of him that is washed in, according to them, life-giving water, and anointed with ineffable ointment (than his introduction) into unfading bliss.
Just as in Buddhist and Catholic priesthoods, the flock of young priests and a cappella singers (castratos) were told that their love INITIATED them into the presence of god.
But they assert that not only is there in favour of their doctrine, testimony to be drawn from the mysteries of the Assyrians, but also from those of the Phrygians concerning the happy nature-concealed, and yet at the same time disclosed-of things that have been, and are coming into existence, and moreover will be,-(a happy nature) which, (the Naassene) says, is the kingdom of heaven to be sought for within a man. [ Luke xvii. 21.]
And concerning this (nature) they hand down an explicit passage, occurring [not in extant versions] in the Gospel inscribed according to Thomas, expressing themselves thus:
"He who seeks me, will find me in children from seven years old; for there concealed, I shall in the fourteenth age be made manifest."
This, however, is not (the teaching) of Christ, but of Hippocrates, who uses these words: "A child of seven years is half of a father."
And so it is that these (heretics), placing the originative nature of the universe in causative seed, (and) having ascertained the (aphorism) of Hippocrates, that a child of seven years old is half of a father, say that in fourteen years, according to Thomas, he is manifested.
This, with them, is the ineffable and mystical Logos. They assert, then, that the Egyptians, who after the Phrygians, it is established, are of greater antiquity than all mankind,
and who confessedly were the first to proclaim to all the rest of men the rites and orgies of, at the same time, all the gods, as well as the species and energies (of things), have the sacred and august, and for those who are not initiated, unspeakable mysteries of Isis.
Rubel Shelly: In John's language, Jesus has always been the Word -- the Logos who was not only with but also a full-fledged member of the divine family, the Godhead, the Holy Trinity.
One of the things I look forward to in preaching the Gospel of John is getting to "walk around in" the life of Jesus -- much as Exodus has had us "walking around in"the shoes of our spiritual ancestors of 1500 years before Jesus' time.
As I read John, he is far less concerned with Luke's "orderly account"(1:3) or Matthew's prophecy-fulfillment motif (1:22, et al.) than simply to reflect on the spiritual impact of God's presence in human form on Planet Earth.
He takes the sort of liberty you and I have encouraged this church to take with the slavery, redemption, wilderness trek, and other aspects of Exodus.
It is dangerous not to be aware of the meaning of to "rise up and play." This was the Egyptian practice of the Etyptian trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus. This was the Bull Cult of Egypt and homosexuality was part of the play along with dancing and instrumental music.
These, however, are not
anything else than what by her of the seven dresses and sable robe was sought and snatched away, namely,
the pudendum of Osiris.
See how this showed up in The Abomination of Desolation in Egypt.
And they say that Osiris is water. But the seven-robed nature, encircled and arrayed with seven mantles of ethereal texture-for so they call the planetary stars, allegorizing and denominating them ethereal robes,-is as it were the changeable generation,
and is exhibited as the creature transformed by the ineffable and unportrayable, and inconceivable and figureless one.
And this, (the Naassene) says, is what is declared in Scripture, "The just will fall seven times, and rise again. [ Prov. xxiv. 16; Luke xvii. 4.] For these falls, he says, are the changes of the stars, moved by Him who puts all things in motion.
They affirm, then, concerning the substance [spirit] of the seed which is a cause of all existent things, that it is none of these, but that it produces and forms all things that are made, expressing themselves thus: "I become what I wish, and I am what I am: on account of this I say, that what puts all things in motion is itself unmoved. For what exists remains forming all things, and nought of existing things is made. He says that this (one) alone is good, and that what is spoken by the Saviour [Matt. xix. 17; Mark x. 18; Luke xviii. 19.] is declared concerning this (one): "Why do you say that am good? One is good, my Father which is in the heavens, who causeth His sun to rise upon the just and unjust, and sendeth rain upon saints and sinners. [Matt. v. 45.] But who the saintly ones are on whom He sends the rain, and the sinners on whom the same sends the rain, this likewise we shall afterwards declare with the rest.
And this is the great and secret and unknown mystery of the universe, concealed and revealed among the Egyptians.
For Osiris, (the Naassene) says, is in temples in front of Isis; and his pudendum stands exposed, looking downwards, and crowned with all its own fruits of things that are made.
A standing, non-functional pillar is like an Asherah pole and is crowned by fruit. The pomegranate on Solomon's was figurative of the fertility of the pagan gods and goddesses and stood between the people and the symbol of God's presence.
And (he affirms) that such stands not only in the most hallowed temples chief of idols, but that also, for the information of all, it is as it were a light not set under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, proclaiming its message upon the housetops, [Matt. v. 15, 27. ] in all byways, and all streets, and near the actual dwellings, placed in front as a certain appointed limit and termination of the dwelling, and that this is denominated the good (entity) by all.
For they style this good-producing, not knowing what they say. And the Greeks, deriving this mystical (expression) from the Egyptians, preserve it until this day. For we behold, says (the Naassene), statues of Mercury (Hermes or Logos), of such a figure honoured among them.
Worshipping, however, Cyllenius with especial distinction, they style him Logios. For Mercury is Logos, who being interpreter and fabricator of the things that have been made simultaneously, and that are being produced, and that will exist, stands honoured among them,
Not Penelope's suitors, says he, O wretches! but (souls) awakened and brought to recollection of themselves,fashioned into some such figure as is the pudendum of a man, having an impulsive power from the parts below towards those above. And that this (deity)-that is, a Mercury of this description-is, (the Naassene) says,
a conjurer of the dead, and a guide of departed spirits, and an originator of souls; nor does this escape the notice of the poets, who express themselves thus:-
- "Cyllenian Hermes also called
- The souls of mortal suitors.
"From honour so great, and from bliss so long.
That is, from the blessed man
from above, or the primal man or Adam, as it seems to them,
souls have been conveyed down here into a
creation of clay, that
they may serve the Demiurge of this creation, Ialdabaoth (Click
to see the harp connection), a fiery God, a fourth number; for so they call the
Demiurge and father of the formal world:-
And in hand he held a
lovely
Wand of gold that
human eyes
enchants,
Of whom he will, and those
again who slumber rouses.
This, he says, is he who alone has power of life and death. Concerning this, he says, it has been written, "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. [Ps. ii. 9.] The poet, however, he says,
<>being desirous of adorning the incomprehensible (potency) of the blessed nature of the Logos,
invested him with not an iron, but golden wand. And he enchants the eyes of the dead, as he says, and raises up again those that are slumbering, after having been roused from sleep, and after having been suitors. And concerning these, he says, the Scripture speaks: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise, and Christ will give thee light [ Eph. v. 14.]
This is the Christ who, he says, in all that have been generated, is the portrayed Son of Man from the unportrayable Logos. This, he says, is the great and unspeakable mystery of the Eleusinian rites, Hye, Cye. And he affirms that all things have been subjected unto him, and this is that which has been spoken, "Their sound is gone forth unto all the earth, [Rom. x. 18.]
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Rom 10: 4
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Rom 10: 5But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Rom 10: 6
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Rom 10: 7
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Rom 10: 8That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom 10: 9
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10:10
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom 10:17
But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. Rom 10:18
just as it agrees with the expressions, "Mercury waving his wand, guides the souls, but they twittering follow." I mean the disembodied spirits follow continuously in such a way as the poet by his imagery delineates, using these words:-
- And as when in the magic cave's recess
- Bats humming fly, and when one drops
- From ridge of rock, and each to other closely clings.
The expression "rock," he says, he uses of Adam. This, he affirms, is Adam: "The chief corner-stone become the head of the corner. Ps. cxviii. 22; Isa. xxviii. 16.] For that in the head the substance is the formative brain from which the entire family is fashioned. [Eph. iii. 15.] "Whom," he says, "I place as a rock at the foundations of Zion." Allegorizing, he says, he speaks of the creation of the man. The rock is interposed (within) the teeth, as Homer says, "enclosure of teeth," that is, a wall anti fortress, in which exists the inner man, who thither has fallen from Adam, the primal man above. And he has been "severed without hands to effect the division, [Dan. 2. 45.] and has been borne down into the image of oblivion,