APPENDIX EIGHT

 

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The Trees of Life
(Exposing the Art of Holy Deception)

by
Michael Tsarion

 

Thieves in High Places

The sacred tree, or tree of life, so universally recognized in eastern systems of theology, is called to mind; and we are naturally led to refer the traditions connected with it to a common origin – Austen Henry Layard (Nineveh and its Remains, 1849)

One of most common symbols to be found throughout our world is that of the tree. Tree imagery is frequently encountered in the myths and legends of world races, and the vast majority of religious scriptures feature floral motifs in one context or another. Consider Jesus in the “garden” of Gethsemane, Moses at the burning bush, Noah's dove with olive branch, Odin hanging from Yggdrasil, and Buddha beneath the Bodhi Tree.

Trees are repeatedly mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, and in the scriptures of various pagan nations. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in Genesis, the burning bush in which the angel appeared to Moses, the famous vine and fig tree of the New Testament, the grove of olives in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus went to pray, and the miraculous tree of Revelation, which bore twelve manners of fruit and whose leaves were for the healing of the nations, all bear witness to the esteem in which trees were held by the scribes of Holy Writ. Buddha received his illumination while under the bodhi tree, near Madras in India, and several of the Eastern gods are pictured sitting in meditation beneath the spreading branches of mighty trees. Many of the great sages and saviors carried wands, rods, or staves cut from the wood of sacred trees, as the rods of Moses and Aaron; Gungnir – the spear of Odin – cut from the Tree of Life; and the consecrated rod of Hermes, around which the fighting serpents entwined themselves – Manly Palmer Hall (Secret Teachings of All Ages, 1928)

In ancient Egypt, mystery schools were known as palmyriums, after the sacred date palm. Above the entrances to these colleges it was common to see the image of two palm fronds splayed in a similar fashion as the wings of the sun god Ra. To this day we refer to the pages of a book as "leaves;" and when we glance at the pages of history we find everything from fig leaves covering the genitalia of Adam and Eve to laurel-sprig coronets on the heads of Roman Caesars. According to the New Testament, Jesus was given myrrh at this birth, spikenard at his last Passover, and a crown of thorns before his execution. 

 

The very word bible comes from the ancient city of Byblos, where some of the world's first paper was made and transported. (The word paper comes from "papyrus," a Greek word referring to the sedge plant that grew along the banks of sacred rivers such as the Nile and Euphrates.) Byblos was a Phoenician capital, and the Phoenicians (or Arcadians), because of their expertise with wood and architecture, were commissioned to erect the Temple of Solomon:

I know how skillful your woodmen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent - (2 Chronicles 2:8-10)

The Book of Kings details the fine workmanship involved in the Temple's construction:

The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine. An inner room, called the Holy of Holies, was built in the rear of the temple. It was 9 meters long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling - (1 Kings 6:15-16)

The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen - (1 Kings 6:18)

The altar was covered with cedar panels - (1 Kings 6:20)

The word book comes from Old English "bōc" which comes from Germanic root "*bōk," cognate to beech. Similarly, in Slavic languages...it is cognate to "beech". It is thus conjectured that the earliest Indo-European writings may have been carved on beech wood. Similarly, the Latin word codex, meaning a book in the modern sense (bound and with separate leaves) originally meant "block of wood" - (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. Entry on Books)

Men with knowledge of architecture must certainly possess expertise in other fields. The Phoenicians excelled in the high sciences of astronomy, mathematics, and geography. Not only are they recognized as the originators of the alphabet, but they were also history's preeminent traders, mariners, and scholars. As we said, they were the first makers of paper. No surprise then that they established most of the ancient world's libraries. No wonder that their supreme god Adon presided over the city of Alexandria. Under the name of Canaanites, the Phoenicians were well and truly demonized in the Bible. Their Western origins - finally brought to light by the great revisionists L. A. Waddell and Comyns Beaumont - had been suppressed for millennia.

Another feature to be observed of the Giants is that nearly always they are described as red-haired, as were the Adamites and Edomites, names derived from the Hebrew adom or edom, red or ruddy...The same applies to the Phoenicians of like stock, whose name is but a derivation of the word meaning red or carroty, relating to a ruddy-faced people – Comyns Beaumont (The Riddle of Prehistoric Britain)

The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave a name "Be' al," which Celtic antiquaries tell us means "the life of everything," or "the source of all beings," and which seems to have affinity with the Phoenician Baal. What renders this affinity more striking is that the Druids as well as the Phoenicians identified this, their supreme deity, with the Sun - Thomas Bulfinch (Bulfinch's Mythology, Chapter XLI)

The names of the ancient people and rivers of Spain…undoubtedly conferred by the Phoenicians, when collated with the Gaelic, exhibit equally satisfactory evidence of the identity of that language with the Phoenician, without an exception – Sir Walter Bentham (The Gael and the Cymbri, 1834)

The Phoenician connection to the ruins is striking. The monuments, stone carvings and statutes found in Zimbabwe are identical in style to those which are predominant in Sardinia and other ancient Near Eastern cultures, including the worship of the god Baal…there is a “marvelous similarity” between these later Zimbabwes and many of the three thousand nauraghes, or terraced fortresses, which cover the island of Sardinia – Michael Tellinger (Slave Species of God)

I had recognized that the various ancient scripts found at or near the old settlements of the Phoenicians...were all really local variations of the standard Aryan Hitto-Sumerian writing of the Aryan Phoenician mariners, those ancient pioneer spreaders of the Hittite Civilization along the shores of the Mediterranean and out beyond the Pillars of Hercules to the British Isles - L. A. Waddell (The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons)

A Phoenician priest. Note his Caucasian features.

A coin featuring Phoenician queen Dido.
On the reverse of the coin we see the palm tree.

Church Father Clement of Alexandria marvelled at the beauty of Egyptian temples. He described them as follows:

Among the Egyptians the temples are surrounded with groves and consecrated pastures; they are furnished with propylae, and their courts are encircled with an infinite number of columns; their walls glitter with foreign marbles and paintings of the highest art; the naos is resplendent with gold and silver, and electrum, and variegated stones from India and Ethiopia; the adytum is veiled by a curtain wrought with gold

In his book entitled Symbols, Sex and the Stars, Ernest Busenbark explains the association of the palm tree with schools of mystical learning:

Early Spartans laid the dead upon olive leaves and palm branches. The male palm was a necessary accompaniment of all phallic and solar festivals and was used prominently in temple decoration. It is found repeatedly on ancient coins and tablets, always with seven branches. In Egypt a palm branch was an emblem of Thoth, the scribe of the gods. The branches were carried in religious processions as symbols of self-creation, time, and perpetually because they were said to add one new frond with each change of the moon. In the Book of Revelation palms seem to possess the same significance

The Hebrews named the date palm tamar, a word
also attributed to women of grace, beauty and virtue.

Sumerian goddess Inanna with the King of Nippur.
Note the date palm in the center and cedar tree on the left. Inanna
was the lady of grace, beauty and virtue. She was identical with Akkadian
goddess Ishtar, Phoenician Astarte, Ashtaroth or Asherah, Norse Freja, Irish Danu,
Grecian Aphrodite, and Roman Venus. The story of Persephone was largely based on her exploits.
Observe how the goddess stands erect like a column or pillar. In ancient Middle-Eastern religion,
a pillar or column was actually referred to as an asherah. Therefore, the many columns incorporated
into secular, religious, and Masonic architecture take on a new and important meaning.

A Babylonian omphalus. In the center we see the sacred tree.
Similar stones have been discovered featuring encircling serpents.

Heavy with sweet succulent fruits

The Great Mosque of Cordoba, Spain. The columns of most temples,
cathedrals, and state buildings represent the trunks of trees. The mosque's
columns were designed to represent the date palm, sacred to followers of Islam.

Baptism, by Leonardo Verrocchio. Note the palm to the left of the canvas. Symbolically,
sacred rivers such as the Nile, Euphrates and Jordan, etc, are terrestrial simulacras for heavenly
"rivers," that is, for the Milky Way or giant constellations such as Eridanus and Draco. 

Jesus with palm frond

Saint John under the palms receiving the apocalyptic visions he
would incorporate into the Book of Revelations. The artist is aware
that the disciples were, like Christ himself, characters styled on earlier sages.
Many of the Bible's characters (such as Moses, Melchizedek, Joseph of Arimathea
and Lazarus) are based on Druidic antetypes. The eagle seen beside John represents
Alchemy and also the astrological sign of Scorpio.

Speaking of temples, look at our cities today. What do we find? Numerous city streets have been named "Oak," "Pine," Redwood," and Cedar," and a plethora of state buildings feature columns representing the trunks of sacred trees. Ironically, while Earth is denuded of its exquisite forests and woods, we find acorns, berries, and oak leaves as decorations on bank notes, flags, medals, corporate logos, and government edifices the world over.

Not much more than one per cent of Ireland's surface now contains broad-leaved trees - Bob Quinn (The Atlantean Irish)

Despite the all-pervasiveness of ancient tree symbolism, few people ask why it exists and where it all came from. The intelligent observer who does ask these questions, and who begins to put two and two together, is eventually made privy to an alternative history of the world very different to that which he has been taught, and is commonly accepted by his fellows. He discovers that the creation and explanation of symbols was once the province of very special men and women. He comes to realize that visiting a modern city is to enter a temple of sorts, and be surrounded by important and suggestive symbols that once deciphered lead to insights and revelations of great profundity. Let us prove our point.

Sorcery in Plain Sight

There exists in our world today a powerful and dangerous secret cult. This cult is patronized and protected by the highest level government officials in the world. Its membership is composed of those in the power centers of government, industry, commerce, finance, and labor. It manipulates individuals in areas of important public influence - including the academic world and the mass media. The Secret Cult is a global fraternity of a political aristocracy whose purpose is to further the political policies of persons or agencies unknown. It acts covertly and illegally - Victor Marchetti (The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence)

The symbolic archive of the megalithic Arya was snatched from them by a powerful but sinister cult of deceivers bent on maintaining a corrupt hegemony. It is the existence and criminal history of this Atonist cabal that our work exposes. Our case for their existence and malignancy depends upon demonstrating their persistent misuse of a symbolic archive that once served a very different purpose. The unholy art of deception permits the elite Atonists and their lieutenants to manipulate the emotions and subconscious processes of human beings. This subtle manipulation constitutes a form of sorcery. In order to preserve our sanity and develop immunity against continued psychic attack, we must know our enemy and, more importantly, what weapons they use against us. One of the most valuable and deadly weapons in their arsenal is, as we have said, symbolism. So let's begin our study there.

Here we see a photograph of the circular rug inside the White House. It displays olive leaves and berries. During the latter part of the first dynasty, the second most important state building in Egypt was the treasury. It was known as Per Hetch or "White House." As we showed in The Irish Origins of Civilization, the White and Red Houses were departments that officiated for the ruling Pharaoh:

...the office rendered as ‘Chamberlain’ was responsible for all public functions undertaken by the king and for the management of his affairs. The ‘Chancellor’ attested from the early First Dynasty directed all the concerns of government with Egypt’s wealth, the collection of taxes and the control of the Treasuries of the Two Lands. Theoretically, and sometimes in fact, there were two treasuries, one for each of the kingdoms, known as ‘The White House’ and ‘The Red House’, for Upper and Lower Egypt respectively; each had its dependent bureaucracy under officials who reported to the Chancellor, who in turn reported to the Vizier - Michael Rice (Who’s Who in Ancient Egypt)

Here we see the Oval Office rug. At its center is the image of the sun with emanating rays. Around the edges we see what appear to be olive sprigs with berries, as also appear on the Great Seal. The solar rays represent the ancient Egyptian god Aton. It was the infamous Cult of Aton who were responsible for the obliteration of the ancient Arya. They, and their ideological and perhaps biological descendents, appropriated the symbolic gnosis of their betters and used it to empower themselves. As we will presently see, there is a good reason why the rugs and the Oval Office are circular in shape.

  • According to the "whistle-blowing" film National Treasure, the President's personal desk - known as the "Resolute Desk" - is the twin of another used by the Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace. The movie also alleges that there was correspondence between Queen Victoria and Scottish Rite Mason Albert Pike. Even if these alarming anecdotes are the result of artistic license, there is enough symbolism around to confirm the British control of the US Federal Government. They are especially relevant since, as we have shown elsewhere, both the royals of Britain and the Freemasons of America are crypto-Atonists.

The Knights of Malta honor Hanna Siniora (co-CEO of IPCRI - the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) for his lifetime dedication to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Siniora receives the Silver Papal Olive Branch. Officially the olive sprig represents peace. Esoterically, it represents the Davids or Atonists, the original Pharaonic Judites. As mentioned elsewhere, the Pope is a Judite even though he belongs to the Roman Catholic religion, whilst the Queen of England is also a Judite even though she is ostensibly a Protestant. The "opposames" know just how the great game is played.

For a complete analysis of the Seal's symbolism, see The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume Two

Here we see the famous and controversial image of the eagle on the American one dollar note. Notice the thirteen olive leaves and thirteen berries. As we have explained in The Irish Origins of Civilization, the olive leaves and number thirteen symbolize the Levites or, more correctly, the commanders of the Atonists. Before Akhenaton's time the word Levi referred to the Irish letter "L." The letter is rendered Luis, and it corresponded with the Rowan tree.

The emblem for the Tribe of Judah displays olive leaves and berries.
The lion is the emblem for the Tribe of Judah.

Statues of lions have recently been unearthed at Amarna where Pharaoh Akhenaton, the founder of Atonism, resided. The lion is the insignia of Vatican City and statues of the animal exist in the centers of most major cities, such as London's Trafalgar Square. The creature can be seen on countless royal crests the world over. We are to decipher it as one of the cardinal occult sigils of the Solar Cult:

Judah is a lion's whelp - (Genesis 49:9)

And on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies - (Numbers 2:3)

The lion was adored in the East and the West by the Egyptians and the Mexicans. The chief was styled a lion. The national banner of the ancient Persians bore the device of the sun in Leo. A lion couchant with the sun rising at his back was sculpted on their palaces - Dr. George Oliver (Signs and Symbols illustrated and Explained in a Course of Twelve Lectures on Freemasonry)

Here is the opening line from the famous Hymn to Aten, composed by Pharaoh Akhenaton himself:

At daybreak, when thou arisest on the horizon, When thou shinest as the Aton by day, Thou drivest away the darkness and givest thy rays

Akhenaton as the "Lion of Judah."
He is styled as a lion venerating Aton, the sun.

We would do well to consider the attitude of the Atonists in regards the mysterious symbols they employ. When such symbols are presented in the public domain they indicate occult ritual and secret knowledge. Speaking specifically of the lion symbol, Tony Bushby writes:

The lion was the symbol for the first degrees of initiation, the sign which allowed the opening of the book, so to speak. It possibly represented the royalty of initiation, the status that comes with being aware of what is concealed - (Secret in the Bible)

With this in mind, whenever we see the lion on a corporate logo, flag, or state crest, we would do well to remember the warning of Peter:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour - (1 Peter 5:8)

Suggestively, the emblem of the Unites Nations bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the Tribe of Judah. Each olive sprig contains thirteen leaves. Added together we have twenty six, the sum of the letters of the name of Jehovah. Incidentally, the English and Egyptian words for god - "god" and "neter" - also add to twenty six. The significance of this is clearer once we understand that Jehovah are Aton are one and the same. (We will presently discover precisely what the circular grid shape on this well known emblem refers to.)

The emblem of the World Health Organization features the Caduceus, that is, the symbol of a staff and serpent. This image can be seen on most medical institutions. It certainly represents the god Mercury, but also the Serpent Priests or Arya, who were the world's first mendicants. A study of serpent symbolism confirms our theory concerning the West to East migration of the fundamental elements of civilization. (More on that later.)

The insignia of Mossad, Israel's secret police

Here we see some high degree Masonic aprons and sashes featuring the
same olive and laurel sprigs seen on the political and national emblems above.

The Very Reverend Sir Israel Brodie was chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the British Commonwealth of Nations (1948–65). He wears the regalia of a Past Grand Chaplain, featuring olive, laurel and acacia leaf motifs. Compare the emblem on his apron and the emblem of the United Nations and Tribe of Judah seen above.

Crest of Jesuit (Illuminati) controlled Georgetown University.
Note the encircling floral sprigs.

Here from a frieze in Amarna we see the hand of Pharaoh Akhenaton holding an olive sprig with leaves and berries. We see now that his Atonist descendants continued to dutifully employ the few symbols he favored, such as the sun, lion, serpent, beams of light, and olive branch, etc. We see that the national insignias and crests, and Masonic emblems, do indeed cryptically refer to Atonism. Now, as we walk our city streets, we will know a great deal about the symbolism that surrounds us, from the local watering hole to the door of 10 Downing Street and beyond.

Masonic lodges of every variety serve as fronts for Atonism. The rituals of Masonry are designed to instruct neophytes as to the correct method of Aton veneration. The Atonist symbolism employed by Masons is, however, commonly mistaken for Judaic (or Jewish) symbolism. The Masonic "Princes of Light" (the Gaonim) know the truth we reveal here. They know who the Jewish Yahweh or Jehovah truly is. Those who enjoy high rank know quite well that there is no essential difference between Judaism, Masonry and Atonism. They know that Judaism, Christianity, and Masonry are merely branches on the rotten tree of Atonism that grew in the soil of prehistoric Amenism and Druidism. Their oaths bind them to never reveal their dirty big secrets in words or writing, only symbolically.

Author W. Winwood Reade accepts that Druidism was the origin of Masonry, and therefore of Atonism. He writes:

...in their emblems there is much also that is Druidic, and if Freemasonry did not emanate from Druidism, there can be no doubt that it sprang from the same origin - (The Veil of Isis)

Of the special significance of plants, Masonic writer Albert Mackey writes:

In all the ancient systems of religion, and Mysteries of initiation, there was always some one plant consecrated, in the minds of the worshippers and participants, by a peculiar symbolism, and therefore held in extraordinary veneration as a sacred emblem. Thus the ivy was used in the mysteries of Dionysus, the myrtle in those of Ceres, the erica in the Osirian, and the lettuce in the Adonisian - (The Symbolism of Freemasonry)

  

The regalia the Lord Mayor of London, like that of city aldermen,
is Druidic in origin, as is most royal symbolism. The royal-appointed
personage known as "Black Rod" is seen here knocking thrice on a court
door to gain entrance. This particular rite harkens back to the Druids.
(The word bard, signifying a member of the Druidic order, meant "branch.")
Black Rod is known as an "Usher" and this term, like alderman and mayor, comes
from the name of a tree, namely, the ash. (See also "ashram" and "ashlar," etc.)
One of Black Rod's titles is "Keeper of the Door." The word door comes from the
same root as Druid. (Here for more)

Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic columns represent the trunks of trees.
The pilasters on certain columns have floral motifs representing
the leaves that grow on boughs and branches. We still refer
to a division of a government organization as a "branch."

The "trees" of St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, Rome.

The Asherah of Masonry. The cube-shaped altar that stands in
the center of most lodges is referred to as an ashlar. In both
cases, the references are to the sacred tree and goddess.

A Masonic tracing board with the three columns representing the three sacred trees of the ancient Arya. The column on the left has no floral motif or scroll. This column denotes the initiated novice whose mind is rude and spiritually unawakened. The central column's pilaster bears a scroll, signifying the first stages of the awakening process. The column on the right bears floral motifs, denoting the flowering or blossoming of the mind. It is taller than the other two columns. The ladder is a simulacra for the Kabalistic Tree of Life and the journey toward enlightenment. The sun, moon, and star (Sirius) denote the Cults of the ancient world and their knowledge that begins in the heavens and descends to Earth through the minds of initiated and purified men. The black and white squares represent ignorance and knowledge, as well as night and day. The black squares in the center of the image are laid out like the Kabalistic Tree of Life. The two small blocks in the background are known by the term "Lewis," which comes from the Irish letter "L" (Luis) denoting the rowan tree. In Masonic enclaves, "Lewis" is a term used to describe the son of any Freemason. Apparently the nomenclature denotes Druidic influence.

Initiated artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Nicholas Poussin, incorporated Kabalistic and Hermetic leitmotifs in their canvases. In Poussin's painting entitled Grapes from the Promised Land, we see the Masonic ladder and tree. Millions of people view paintings of this kind unaware of the secret information incorporated into the designs.

The pillar of the sun (Spring Equinox) and the pillar of the moon (Autumn Equinox). At the base of the solar pillar, we see an upward pointing triangle, known as the "Blade." It denotes male gender and masculine mode of expression. The downward pointing triangle on the base of the lunar pillar represents the feminine polarity. It is known as the "Chalice," which is itself a symbol of the Holy Grail (Sacred Blood), which in turn signifies the Sophic or sacerdotal female. This entire image represents the northern arch, or the six spring and summer months through which the sun passes before its fall into the dark "underworld" of the winter months. Columns such as these are to be found on innumerable state and educational edifices as well as on porches of temples and Masonic lodges.

Our thesis concerning the appropriation of the ancient symbolic archive is dramatically reinforced when we find the symbols of Druidry turning up on the insignias and heraldry of the world's most powerful criminal families.

Here for example is the crest of the infamous Rothschild dynasty. The arrows and eagle appear on the American one dollar note, while the lion (representing British oligarchic control, and symbolizing the Judites, Levites, or Atonists) appears on innumerable national flags and royal coats of arms. Decipher the symbolism and the mysteries stand explained.

Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France. Note the coronet
of leaves and other floral motifs on the throne and regal attire.
Note also the staff in his left hand bearing a hand with two
raised fingers. This is the emblem of Freemasonry's thirty
third degree. The term "staff" is still used to refer to company personnel.

 

The beloved symbols of the Druids - oak leaves, acorns, and
olive sprigs, etc - are found on military regalia the world over.
Something certainly does not smell right here, because the Druids
were - unlike the Atonists - among the world's most peace-loving men.

The Biblical Jesus was a fictional character based on earlier pagan deities and heroes. We have listed the antetypes in The Irish Origins of Civilization. The findings of high level academics, such as R. A. Gabriel, confirm those of previous scholars whose work was suppressed; work which proves beyond doubt that Jesus was largely crafted on Osiris and other god-men. The elements of Jesus' story were rescripted from those of Osiris, Horus, Dionysus, Orpheus, Apollo, Serapis, and Mithras. They were also rescripted from the lives of various old world sages such as Apollonius of Tyana, as well as from the lives of Caesars such as Augustus, who was known as "savior."

The Grecian Apollo was a basis for the New Testament Jesus. Here we see his image found at Delphi. Note the sprig of laurel that was one of his main symbols. It can be seen on Masonic aprons, sashes and caps. Apollo was patron of Delphi where the famous serpent or "Pythonic" oracle once existed. Apollo is the origin of the Biblical name Paul. The name apparently meant "redeemer." It also connotes "apple" and "pole." (Here for more.)

At the famous oracle of Delphi the tree played as intrinsic, if not so predominant, a part as at Dodona, its function being shared by the fissure in the earth and the sacred spring, which testify to the chthonic origin of the oracle, whilst the use of the sacred tripod has been thought to connect it with the class of fire oracles. There is evidence that a laurel tree grew beside the oracular fissure in Gaia's time, and, according to tradition, the earliest temple of Apollo was a hut of laurel boughs erected by the god's own hands - J. H. Philpot (Trees in Religion and Myth, 1897)

Orpheus was one of the main prototypes for the Biblical Jesus.
Here he is with his "crown of thorns." Like Apollo, Sir Tristan, Krishna,
King David, and many other heroes and deities, Orpheus was a lover of
music. This again connotes a Bardic (or Druidic) connection.

This image is one of the most important ever found. It confirms that Egyptian iconography was liberally plagiarized by early Alexandrian Christians. The image of Horus standing upon the crocodile or serpent of the abyss was a common motif in Egypt. There are many examples of it. However, in this rendering, the sun god has a fish above his head. The symbol of the fish represents the name "Jesus." (Here for more)

The Old and New Testaments

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God – (Revelation 2:7)

The tropes and iconography of Judaism and Christianity are largely based on earlier pagan traditions. The scriptures themselves provide us with ample evidence of this fact. The Old and New Testaments are chock full of pagan references. Specifically, there are many passages that refer to sabean phenomena. In other words, there are many references, both cryptic and obvious, to the stars and luminaries. As revealed in our book Astro-Theology and Sidereal Mythology, solar symbolism frequently appears in the majority of Biblical chapters.

The Romans ridiculed the Gods of Egypt whom they themselves adored but under different names. They burnt Serapis, Anubis, and Isis; they revered Pluto, Mercury and Ceres. So the Roman Catholics while pretending to abjure the Gods of heathenism have actually adopted many of them - W. Winwood Reade (The Veil of Isis)

The Crucifixion, by Raphael. Note the sun and moon on either side of the
crucifix. There is no mention of this phenomenon in the Gospels.

Tree imagery is also conspicuous. Indeed, in the Book of Genesis we hear of three trees. There is the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the oak under which the prophet Jacob buried the pagan idols previously worshiped by the Israelites.

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem – (Genesis 35:4)

A typical example of Christian art. Note the numerous floral leitmotifs.

Adam and Eve at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The tree was also referred to as the Tree of Knowledge or Tree of All-Knowing. In
Middle-Eastern lore its fruit was not an apple but a pomegranate. According to the
Book of Enoch the Tree of Knowledge bore grape-like fruits and was similar
to a tamarind. In the Jewish tradition some rabbis contend that the tree was
a fig. This is interesting because the fig is symbolized by the vesica piscis
or mandorla shape so commonly found in Christian art. Rabbinic writings
tell of Eve preparing wine from the Tree of Knowledge. In some Christian
traditions the Tree of Knowledge is considered  identical with the Tree of Life.

What was this strange forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Why did the motif enter into the story of creation? It does not originate with Jews or Christians. In any case, why did God not want his firstborn to eat from its fruit? Why did he not immediately bestow upon Adam and Eve the ability to discern between good and evil? Why did the act of eating an apple cause God to react with eternal wrath toward his innocent children? Are we to believe that Adam and Eve were given curiosity before being bestowed with the capacities for obedience, loyalty, and intelligence? Does any father eternally condemn a newborn infant for forgetting one promise? Or was there some other reason for Adam and Eve's disobedience? In any case, nothing of this sort was to be found in the religion of Egypt before the rise of monotheism:

While the Romans doubted, and the Greeks ridiculed, their gods, the nobler and more primitive Egyptians loved, and were supposed to be loved, by them. The profane and the impure divinities of the Grecian Olympus, the debaucheries of Silenus and of Pan, the fraudulent Mercury, and the unchaste Venus, find no counterpart in the Egyptian pantheon - William Ricketts Cooper (The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt)

In Cranach's illustration we see the fruit laden tree and Eve holding onto a single branch. Between the couple we see grapevines. Esoterically, these represent Dionysus, a god associated with the sacred tree long before the rise of Christianity. Observe that the primal couple are depicted with red hair. This indicates that the Genesis story originated in the West among Caucasians. The presence of the stag also connotes the Western hemisphere. To the Irish Druids the stag was the most sacred of beasts.

Central to the Genesis story is the temptation of Eve by a supposedly evil "serpent." However, the serpent is not, as is commonly believed, identical to the Devil. The term devil does not appear in any passage dealing with the serpent in the garden. The attribution was interpolated at a later date by ignorant or deliberately duplicitous clerics.

The god Geb being fed by the serpentine "Lord of Food"
(from the
Coffin of Penpii, 9th Century BC). This image not only
reminds us of the Garden of Hesperides of Grecian myth,
but the Garden of Eden story in Genesis.

Pharaoh Tuthmosis III suckled by Isis in the form of a tree.
According to some Egyptian traditions, Isis and
Osiris took birth from an acacia tree.

One of the important events in the life of Jesus was his entry into the city of Jerusalem. Christians celebrate this day as Palm Sunday. Here we not only have the palm, as the seminal symbol of the mystery school or college of secrets, but we have the sun's day, standing for the solar complexion of Christianity. (Palm Sunday is often named Yew Sunday.)

Here we see Jesus greeted by men holding palm fronds. After decipherment we realize that this motif denotes that Jesus is paying a visit to a mystery school of Solar Cult adepts. He comes with his twelve disciples, representing the twelve standard signs of the zodiac. Christ the "King"  (or solar disk) enters the "city" (zodiac) to proclaim his intellectual and spiritual mastery. He is the matriculated adept who, having passed the final grade, can rightly present himself before the world as an Arch Druid. The donkey or ass which he rides symbolizes Cancer, the most northerly constellation of the zodiac. Esoterically, this sign was known as the "Gate of Silver" or "Gate of Birth." Additionally, in some traditions, Cancer was also known as the "Wilderness." The thirty degrees of Cancer represented a period of spiritual seclusion and trial. In this instance, the city of Jerusalem represents not only represent the zodiac but the sign of Leo in which the sun burns brightest and hottest and is most marveled. In some traditions the ass represents Set, the Egyptian god of darkness and evil. In this case, Jesus rides the ass to symbolize his conquest of evil. He is a personification of the sun god Horus who according to Egyptian myth avenged his father's death by slaying Set. Note how the artist has placed the palm tree in the center of the painting figuratively growing out of the body of Jesus.

Again the artist depicts the tree emerging from the body of Jesus

In this rendition the artist depicts a homunculus in the tree
wielding a sickle, which clearly denotes the Druids and their gnosis.

A rendition of the Last Supper where Jesus is figuratively the trunk of the Tree of Life

The Crucifixion, by Fra Angelico

Crucifixion of St. Andrew, by Carlo Braccesco. Note the tree and the portal. Andrew is a
Christianized version of the ancient Aryan deity Andra or Indra.

Baal of the Phoenicians

Pharaoh with lotus

 Ma'at with feather and Horus with lotus wand

Where did Christian mythographers get the idea to personify Jesus as a living tree?

The Torah, Psalms, Four Gospels, Book of Revelations, and so on, are anemic revisions of mystery school "Wisdom Texts." A brief perusal of these texts reveals to us where the mythmongers found their theological motifs and precepts. Of course unbiased researchers who have done their homework know from which cultures and traditions the scribes borrowed the floral and vegetal motifs that appear in their writings. Uninformed Christians and Jews should spend time reviewing the tenets of their religions. They should ask probing questions of their priests, pastors, and rabbis, and press them to explain the existence of pagan symbolism in the architecture and holy books. Better still, they should go to the experts who spent their lives uncovering the truth about the origins of religious imagery.

  • Here for a list of original Egyptian wisdom texts

Here we see a striking image entitled Ecclesia or "Church." On the crown worn by the figure representing the Church of God we see the fleur-de-lis, a seminal goddess symbol often seen on the Pope's own garb. We also see many starry motifs. Streams of living water flow from the body of the "Church" to nourish the needy and the believers, which include a soldier with a drawn sword. Of course, the symbolism is explained when we realize that the word Church comes from Circe, Grecian goddess of sorcery and magic. She was the original life-giver, and was associated with the flower known as snowdrop. Circe's name is a variant of Taurt, Egypt's most ancient goddess of heaven.

"Madonna of the Sheaves."

Note the female garb and his hands making the sign of the womb

Transfiguration of Christ, by Fra Angelico.
Note the oval or egg-like background of light.
Goddess symbolism in plain sight.

A Christian image showing the tree and cross as one. Note the
bunch of grapes over the genital area of the female figure on the left.
We will see this again below on the attire of the Pope.

Christian crosses with floral shape and designs. In ancient times
the cross and tree symbolized the same metaphysical ideas.

Flowers of God. Note the Egyptian pyramid with the single all-seeing eye of Jehovah-Aton.

The Pope as a living tree. Note the embroidered vines and grapes, the symbols of the Grecian
androgynous deity Dionysus. The robes donned by the clergy are patently feminine
in type, so the Pope presents himself as a man inside a woman. The Church is
commonly referred to in the third person as "Mother Church" and "She."

Pope Pius X

The Papal tiara. Note the floral motifs.

Papal miters take their name from the solar deity Mithras. Mithraism
(to which Christian emperor Constantine belonged) was an offshoot of Atonism.

A painting by Giovanni da Modena with the unusual title Restitution of the Mystic Apple to the
Tree of Knowledge.
The artist has clearly fused the crucifix with the tree. He has also incorporated
the serpent. Jesus is being directly associated with Odin and other mythical heroes and deities,
not to mention historical personalities such as Pharaoh Tutankhamen. (See The Irish Origins of
Civilization,
for more on this.)

Christian image on a doorway in Sion Switzerland showing Jesus
on the cross surrounded by the vines of Bacchus or Dionysus.

A Christian artists rendition entitled Allegory of the Eucharist.
The triple cross held by the pope is a stylized tree (perhaps a date palm, cedar or yew).
One meaning of Nazarene - as in Jesus the Nazarene - is shoot or branch (from netser).

Dionysus holding a grape vine

Bacchus (Dionysus) as the grapevine. Let's remember the New Testament passages in which Jesus
describes himself as a vine: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." (John 15:1)
and: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 5:5)

Dionysus with thyrsus wand

The thyrsus wand of giant fennel wood, with pine cone head, was the standard of Dionysus, the antetype of the Roman Bacchus, god of wine, merriment, art, ecstasy, imagination, passion, sexual debauch, wildness, and frenzy. One of his pseudonyms was Adoneus, which means "ruler." He was originally a Western deity worshipped by the ancient Arya as Adon and Donar. Dionysus is unquestionably the antetype for Adonai, that is, for Jehovah, not to mention Aton. Robert Graves went so far as to say that Don was a masculanized version of Danu, the ancient Irish goddess. In other words, the adventures and symbols associated with the male god may have been originally associated with the goddess.

The monogram often used for Jesus - IHS - originally
stood for Iacchus, a pseudonym for Dionysus.

Since the pine cone is a symbol of Dionysus, we would do well to ask what it is doing in Vatican City. Dionysus, as we said, was worshiped by the Phoenicians and their racial cousins under the names Don, Adon, Adonis, and Atunis. The Irish referred to him as Autun; the Nordics as Odin; the Egyptians as Aton. Later he appears as the Adonai of the Israelites. However, Adonai was a pseudonym for Jehovah. So again the connections between the Judeo-Christian god and the natural forms is revealed. Below the statue of the pine cone we see the face of Dionysus/Adon/Adonai/Aton/Jehovah.

In Greek mythology, a thyrsus (thyrsos) was a staff of giant fennel (Ferula communis) covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and always topped with a pine cone...The thyrsus associated with Dionysus (or Bacchus) and his followers - (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. On the Thyrsus)

The thyrsus as an Hermetic Caduceus

An Assyrian god-king holds the pine cone symbolizing that his
lineage reaches back to the age of the gods.

Image of an old Hindu cross with floral design
 

Vatican City contains numerous examples of tree symbolism. The design of St. Peter's Square bears a striking figurative resemblance to images of Yggdrasil, the Nordic Tree of Life. The Square has also been correctly likened to a "womb."

According to Norse and German legend, Yggdrasil was the world ash tree that encircled the earth with branches all over the world and with roots in heaven where knowledge and wisdom were concealed by the well of Mimir and the sacred fountain of Urd where the gods had their doomstead (place of justice) – Henry Binkley Stein (Thirty Thousand Gods Before Jehovah)

A Canon of the Mass, as used by Bishops. Note the yew tree.

A mosaic in the Vatican depicting the yew tree. A comet-like star is also shown, along with the fleur-de-lis, another symbol of the Merovingian secret societies such as the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta. The trefoil fleur-de-lis apparently represents the Virgin Mary. Esoterically, it represents Isis who was herself based on a Western goddess. As we shall see, the fleur-de-lis is also a figurative representation of the sacred mushroom. Mushrooms grow in the shade of trees such as the yew, pine, and fir. Importantly, the yew was one of the most venerated trees in Druidism. The letter representing this tree can be rendered "I" and as such denotes the first Hebrew letter of Jehovah (IHVH) - the blood-soaked god of Masons, Jews, and Christians.

The design of the Vatican is that of a Latin cross. However, the dome in the center of the cross has been deliberately designed to represent a sun wheel. This design, of the cross and sun wheel, is curiously similar to the emblem of the Rosicrucian Order, namely, a cross with a sun-like rose in the center. The dome also bears a certain resemblance to the underside of an Amanita-type mushroom.

It is no coincidence that the Vatican was designed according to the rose cross, or that the headquarters of the Knights of Malta (identical to the Order of the Knights Templar) should be in Vatican City. The cross signifies the Church and the rose signifies the occult orders who operate behind official religious organizations. Numerologically, the letters of the word ROSE are 9615, same as the first letters of the Egyptian royal family

I for Isis = 9
O for Osiris = 6
N for Nephthys = 5
S for Set = 1

Interestingly, these letters also spell SION. This cryptically denotes the infamous Order of Sion and town of Sion in Switzerland, the country under Templar (Atonist) control. (The Vatican is policed by the so-called "Swiss Guard.") The word Sion is a direct reference to the Egyptian city of Zaon (Avaris) which was a capital of the Hyksos, or so-called "Shepherd Kings," who devastated the land of Egypt until they were banished by Pharaoh Ahmose during the early eighteenth dynasty. This cruel dynasty were part of the ancient Dragon Court or Brotherhood of the Snake. They gave rise to the Atonists and were, according to the superlative research of Ralph Ellis, identical with the Old Testament's Israelites and Judites.

The Vatican resides on the former temple site of the Roman sun god Mithras. The ancient obelisk phallic symbol in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Heliopolis...by a Roman Emperor, many centuries before Jesus Christ lived, and before Christianity - Zenith Harris Merrill (Roman Catholicism)

To understand who or what is symbolized by the rose, we need only turn to the Old Testament' "Song of Solomon." In that book, the "...rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys" is clearly a female lover. Therefore, the rose cross of the secret fraternity is really the cross of the female and not a rose, per se.

In the form of prayer called Litanię Lauritanę, there are more than forty addresses to the Virgin, invoking her as the star of the sea, as the mystical rose, and by a variety of other heathen epithets - W. Winwood Reade (The Veil of Isis)

This image depicts a female stellar goddess below a rose. The rose itself is surrounded by a halo of stars. Note also the symbol of the uroboric serpent which represents not only the female's sacerdotal status, but the circumpolar zone. As we will discover, in predynastic times Draco was not symbolized by a serpent, but by a woman. Indeed, the Egyptian hieroglyphic for a woman is a serpent. Even more mysteriously, the four letters (or Tetragrammaton) of the name Jehovah (IHVH or Yod, He, Vau, He) are inscribed in a Masonic triangle above the Christian cross. As we have already mentioned elsewhere, this name of the supposedly male god ends with a feminine vowel, making the entire word feminine. The same applies to the term Elohim. (Here for more on the Tetragrammaton.)

Of course it is impossible to speak of roses without thinking of the British royals. Since the coming of the Atonists, the British Isles has been under the control of one criminal dynasty after another, none of whom have any legitimate right to rule. They are the descendants of powerful Merovingian and Carolingian (Templar) dynasties from Germany and France. Their arrival and criminal activities is detailed in our book The Irish Origins of Civilization.

The so-called Tudor Rose is actually two roses, one inside the other. There is the white rose and the red rose. Ostensibly, the emblem connotes the famous "War of the Roses" fought between 1455 and 1487. However, the rose and its occult significance predates this period of history, representing the powerful secret societies and the occult knowledge they manipulate.

Interestingly, the design of the US Pentagon (however geometrically stylized) is not unlike a Tudor rose. Since the word Tudor (meaning tutor or teacher) is a corruption of Juda or Judah, the Atonist reference is again apparent. When we examine the design of the Pentagon, we see five concentric pentagons, and in the center five pentagrams within a sixth. If a line is drawn around the five inner pentagrams another pentagon is formed, the seventh. Then in the center of the five pentagrams we see the shape of an eighth pentagon. Esoterically, eight is the number associated with the sun.

The exquisite rose window of St. Michael's Church, Montreal

Rosettes are based on the shape taken by leaves and flowers.  Rosette shapes
are seen on civic and religious architecture, on doorways, windows, statues, fountains, etc.
Consider, for example, the window above 10 Downing St.

As we explained in The Irish Origins of Civilization, the Atonists of Britain spent the best part of 1500 years appropriating the gnosis and lore of the Arya they cruelly conquered. They positioned their own churches over Druidic groves and sacred sites, and erected their stately homes and other edifices near to mineral rich mines. Their ownership of mines generated the incredible wealth that gave rise to the so-called British Empire, on which the sun (Aton) would never set. To commemorate their coup, the royals have repeatedly commissioned their architects to incorporate the symbolism of the Druids into their own structures, be they palaces, stately homes, churches, or universities.

 

It is, therefore, not merely a coincidence that Prince Charles' estate is called Highgrove, that is - High Grove. The very term for the royal elite - aristocracy - contains the root ari, connoting the Aryans or Noble Ones. (Here for more.)

 

It is possible that St. Peter's Square was designed to represent the head of a Scottish thistle. After all, there are close ties between the Knights Templar, who own and control Britain, and the bishops and cardinals of Vatican City. Suggestively, the eight paths radiating out of the center of the Square resemble the design of the Union Jack, the British flag.  (The number eight represents the sun.) As shown in The Irish Origins of Civilization, Christianity was conceived in Britain.

The obelisk in the center of the Square is one of thirteen that stand in Rome, all of which were transported there from Egypt. Obelisks such as that in St. Peter's are phallic pointers to the circumpolar zone in the heavens. This is why, as in the case of Washington DC, we find an "Oval Office" near to the obelisk. (We will be examining the obelisk symbolism in a later chapter.)

Another symbol connecting the Vatican with powerful secret societies is the famous fleur-de-lis. We see it here on the flag of Scotland. It can also be found on royal crowns and coronets, as well as on a great deal of British heraldry. Historically it signifies the Knights Templar who were and are closely associated with the Vatican. The symbol can frequently be seen on the Pope's attire. The creature on the flag also appears on many crests and coats of arms. It is the Dragon-Lion representing the Dragon Court, that is, the Cult of Aton and Merovingian dynasty whose members established the Vatican, Cistercian Order, and Knights Templar. Before the rise of Judeo-Christianity the Dragon Court or Brotherhood of the Snake had its headquarters in Egypt although its origins go back to prediluvian ages.

During the fourteenth century the Vatican authorities persecuted some members of the Templar nobility who had stepped out of line. Their legendary obstinacy and wealth brought the wrath of "God" down upon them, However, as time past, most Templar individuals and dynasties fell back into lockstep with the Vatican hierarchy. We see no reason to believe that severe or prolonged rivalries continued to plague relations between the Latin or Roman Church and the Knights Templar. On the contrary, the evidence indicates that the "bad boy" Templars came back to the cross, so to speak.

  • For a detailed account of the important rivalry that existed between the Templars and their kindred brotherhood, the Knights Hospitallers, we refer the reader to the excellent book Born in Blood, by John J. Robinson)

That Judeo-Christianity is a branch of Solar Cultism is made evident from their own symbolism.

The Chair of St. Peter, designed by Renaissance master Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Solar Cult symbolism in plain sight. Note the columns representing trees.

The solar Christ

Saint Thomas Aquinas. Note the symbol of the sun on his robe.

Emperor Constantine and the sun. The Merovingian
psychopathic king Clovis was entitled “the light of the sun, already high in its path.”

Eye and pyramid motif above doorway in the Monastery
of the Cross in Jerusalem. (
Here for more information.)

All-Seeing Eye of Aton with solar rays, in the Vatican

Christ at the Last Supper, with eye of God in a triangle.

Book of Common Prayer. Note the triangle and letters
of the name of Jehovah within it.

Head of Christ with Crown of Thorns, by Lucas Cranach the Elder

The crown of thorns on the brow of Jesus is another plagiarized pagan floral motif. The original crown of thorns, so to speak, was the antlers (or horns) of the stag-god Herne. Herne, also known as Nikor and Cernunnos, was lord of the forests and the Earth. He was known by many names throughout the world. In India he was Pashupati, lord of the animals and prototype of Shiva. Expert on ancient Vedic traditions, Albert Pike, explained:

The genuine acacia, also, is the thorny tamarisk, the same tree which grew around the body of Osiris. It was a sacred tree among the Arabs, who made of it the idol Al-Uzza, which Mohammed destroyed. It is abundant as a bush in the desert of Thur; and of it the ‘crown of thorns’ was composed, which was set on the forehead of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a fit type of immortality on account of its tenacity of life; for it has been known, when planted as a door-post, to take root again and shoot out budding boughs above the threshold – (Morals and Dogma)

The original "crown of thorns"

Shiva Pashupati - Lord of the Animals.
This is among the first images of god found among ancient races.
In almost every case, early images of God feature him with horns.
The similarity between the images of Herne and Shiva confirm that the
Arya had indeed frequented Eastern climes. As we showed in
The Irish Origins of Civilization, the very word god derives from goat.

Prajnaparamita, the supreme mother goddess of Tibet.
Note her crown of "thorns."

One of the key pagan leitmotifs plagiarized by Christian mythmongers is that of the Madonna and Child. The image long predates the advent of Christianity. Often when we see images of the divine mother and child, we also see a protecting serpent. Indeed, sometimes the mother is herself depicted as a protecting and nurturing serpent.

An ancient Etruscan monument was discovered at Rome, the precise model of those pictures of the Madonna and her child so common in Italy and throughout the world - W. Winwood Reade

Mother goddess and solar child
protected by the cosmic serpent - her
tutelary emblem.

The goddess Rannut sucking the god Tem. Stellar goddesses
such Taurt, Rannut, Mersekert, and Isis represented the
protecting serpent and were the antetypes for the Biblical
Virgin Mary. Rannut was a version of the primordial goddess
Kep and was associated with the harvest.

Although the serpent is a symbol for god and spiritual wisdom, and although it symbolizes the spermatozoon (which is snake-like), it is primarily a feminine insignia. The hierarchs within the Church have done their best to conceal the positive connections between the female and the serpent (as in their mutilated Genesis story). However, this only goes to prove that they and their counterparts within Masonry know just what the symbols pertain to. Note how the artist has framed the goddess and serpent in an ovum-like circle. We shall be exploring the meaning of this shape later.

That Egyptian motifs were transmogrified is evident from a perusal of the canvases of great pre-Renaissance and Renaissance masters who habitually communicated the facts by way of their own symbolic language. The list of greats is too lengthy to present here; however among the cleverest artists to develop a "secret palette" were Paolo Uccello, Fra Angelico, Zanobi Strozzi, Carlo Crivelli, Andrea Mantegna, Filippino Lippi, Piero Della Francesca, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lucas Cranach (the Elder and the Younger), Luca Signorelli, Sandro Botticelli, and Albrecht Durer.

Deposition from the Cross, by Fra Angelico. Note the figure on the
extreme right of the canvas. The artist has depicted this character
with his arms crossed to symbolize death, and also to indicate
the Egyptian origins of the Biblical tale illustrated. Note the halo
with red cross behind the head of Christ.

St. Bridget and the Vision of the Nativity, by Niccolo di Tommaso. In this, and other illustrations
of the Nativity, we do not see an inn but a grotto or cave. This makes sense as long as we realize
that Jesus is symbolically identical with Osiris, Zeus, Dionysus, and other pagan deities.

Annunciation, by Fra Angelico

Virgin of the Annunciation, by Gerard David

Annunciation, by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
The angel of the Lord wears a garland and carries a frond.

The Annunciation, by Fra Angelico. Note the starry canopy above
the Virgin's head. It is a reference to the Astro-Theological subtext of this Biblical episode.

The Baptism of Christ, by Paolo Veronese. Note Christ's
pose. The figure of the angel is added to tell the informed
viewer of the painting's Astro-Theological subtext.

The blond Jesus as Pharaoh. The syllable raoh in Pharaoh is the origin of roy and roi,
meaning king. (In Gaelic ri means king, in Latin it is rex.) Ro or roe means "shepherd."
This implies that kings and pharaohs are shepherds or keepers and controllers of
sheep - that is, of ignorant human beings. The Church certainly adopts this
role toward its "flock."

Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds, by Bartolo di Fredi. Note the Virgin's pose and
the swaddling around the infant, suggestive of mummification and the legend of Osiris.

Mary Magdalene, by Giovanni Bellini. One of Mary's epithets is "Apostola Apostolorum,"
or Disciple of Disciples. In this case she can be regarded as the thirteenth disciple.
Thirteen is a number associated with the moon. (It takes approximately thirteen 
months for the moon to pass through every sign of the zodiac during a single year.)
It is also half of twenty six, the number of God.

The Ark of the Covenant was originally Egyptian. Images exist showing Theban priests carrying an ark through the streets during a religious festival. Other images show the ark protected by winged guardians. During state festivals an open ark was carried through the town. Coins and jewelry were thrown into it as it passed by.

Image of the Egyptian ark, found in Thebes

We see that the Jewish and Christian mythmongers simply adopted the customs, rites, and traditions of their betters. They set to work to incorporate pagan leitmotifs into their own muddled iconography. The point is directly addressed by Mrs. Valentia Straiton, who, quoting from S. A. Mackey's Mythological Astronomy, wrote:

Jewish history covers nothing that is new, but the early Jews had great ingenuity in "turning singular into plurals, and plurals into singulars, and what was feminine with their masters, they made masculine...in some places things inanimate have been turned into men by adding the sign of the masculine gender, this was frequently done by the Greeks"

Today, we take this mishmash as theology when it is in fact nothing more than priestly propaganda. As Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky perceptively wrote:

Judaism earlier, and later Gnosticism, Christianity, and even Christian Masonry, have all been erected upon identical cosmical myths, symbols, and allegories, whose full comprehension is possible only to those who have inherited the key from their inventors

The Bible of the Christian Church is the latest receptacle of their scheme of disfigured allegories which have been erected into an edifice of superstition, such as never entered into the conceptions of those from whom the Church obtained her knowledge

In her fine book on Christian atrocities, author Helen Ellerbe writes about the Church's vile acts of appropriation and obliteration:

Older temples and sacred sites, once dedicated to pre-Christian goddesses, were re-dedicated or replaced with churches for Mary. In Rome on the Esquitine hill the Santa Maria Maggiore replaced Cybele’s temple. Near the Pantheon a church dedicated to Mary adjoined Isis’ sanctuary, while another was built on the site which had been dedicated to Minerva. On the Capitoline in Aracoeli the Santa Maria supplanted a temple of the Phoenician goddess Tanit. In Cyprus, shrines that were Aphrodite’s hallowed ground easily became those of Mary, who to this day is still called Panaghia Aphroditessa – (The Dark Side of Christian History)

Amid the priestly jumble we still discern key Druidic motifs. For instance, in chapter eighteen of the Book of Genesis, we read that Jehovah visited aged prophet Abraham and his wife Sarah. A few minutes after God is seated and fed in the "tent" of Abraham, three other visitors arrive. They are clearly extraordinary beings and Abraham promptly bows before them. They ask for water and sit near a tree. Reading the strange account, we are alerted by the references to three travelers and to the tree beneath which they rest. We also note the similarity of these anecdotes to those in the Gospel of Matthew which tell of the three wise men or Magi who allegedly follow the "Star in the East" to the stable where Jesus was born. After accurate decipherment, we see that in both cases, the imagery involved is both Druidic and Astro-Theological.

Painting from the Monastery of the Cross, Jerusalem

In this artistic rendition of the famous story, we see Abraham and his three angelic guests sitting in the shade of a tree. Note that Abraham's wife Sarah (meaning Princess), stands right by the tree as if she is part of it. She is also depicted in a blue  head scarf similar to that seen in images of the Virgin Mary.

And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal...And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat

One of the most important and well known allusions to a tree is found in the Book of Exodus. In chapter three we read about the famous burning bush where God addressed Moses:

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground - (Exodus 3:2-5)

Let us now continue on our road of discovery and decipherment and discover where this striking image of the burning bush comes from and what it alludes to.

The Mushroom Cults

The ancient Israelite religion of Jehovah worship was based largely on the mushroom cult - John Marco Allegro

In chapter three of the Book of Exodus, we read that Moses encountered Jehovah at a "burning bush." Many interpretations have been proffered forth concerning this event. No commenter, however, has linked the phenomenon to Druidism. One man's research, however, comes close to the truth of the matter. That man is scholar John Marco Allegro. The retaliation from academia toward his revolutionary discoveries confirms that he had indeed grasped the essential facts concerning the theft and egregious misuse of secret ancient gnosis.

  John Marco Allegro (1923-1988). His exposure of the "mushroom" cults within Christianity caused consternation and reprisal. His controversial discoveries were incorporated into his books, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revealed, and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth. For more on Allegro's findings, refer to Astrotheology and Shamanism, by Jan Irvin and Andrew Rutajit, and The Holy Mushroom Evidence of Mushrooms in Judeo-Christianity, by Jan Irvin

Allegro, along with a few other perceptive commenters, believed that the mysterious term "burning bush" refers either to mushrooms or some other hallucinogenic plant once cultivated by priests and holy men. Drinking potions made from the juices, resins, and saps of potent plants allow human consciousness to expand. Higher senses and centers of awareness open and the imbiber enters into mental contact with preternatural intelligences often taken for gods. Scholars such as Allegro explored the manner in which various early Judaic and Christian sects and priesthoods made use of psychotropic, vision-inducing substances. Allegro's controversial books on psychotropic rituals in early Judeo-Christianity were ridiculed and suppressed. Apparently, his revelations set off the alarm bells. During an interview, Allegro said:

Thousands of years before Christianity, secret cults arose which worshipped the sacred mushroom — the Amanita Muscaria — which, for various reasons (including its shape and power as a drug) came to be regarded as a symbol of God on earth. When the secrets of the cult had to be written down, it was done in the form of codes hidden in folktales. This is the basic origin of the stories in the New Testament. They are a literary device to spread the rites and rules of mushroom worship to the faithful

Making use of natural substances to achieve mental clarity and psychological elevation long predates Christianity. The practice goes back to the ancient Arya. As historian William F. Warren explains:

The Aryans of India, as early as in the far-off Vedic age, had also their World-Tree, which yielded the gods their soma, the drink which maintains immortality. As we should anticipate, its roots are in the Underworld of Yama at the hidden pole, its top in the north polar heaven of the gods, its body is the sustaining axis of the universe - (Paradise Found)

Apparently ancient priesthoods were particularly interested in the genus Amanita. As we can see from the following photographs, there are uncanny similarities between the costumes and regalia of the Catholic clergy and the appearance of the Amanita Muscaria mushroom. Allegro's radical theories are not without credence after all.

Note the red cross on his tunic representing the sacred mushroom. Some researchers
are convinced that the cross or crucifix, as used by the Christian Church,
is itself a subliminal reference to the mushroom.

Here we see a bishop wearing garb that is certainly designed to resemble the form and color of the Amanita Muscaria mushroom. It must also be emphasized that the attire is conspicuously feminine. As Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky explained:

The pallium, or the ancient stole of the bishop, is the feminine sign when worn by a priest in worship - (The Christian Scheme)

The theft of the hierarchs of Judeo-Christianity extended to terms and words. On the Sumerian origin of the word priest, Allegro writes:

The most common Hebrew word for “priest” – kohen —familiar as well-known Jewish surname, comes from a Sumerian title meaning literally, "guardian of semen” - John Marco Allegro

The "skirt"

The "skirt"

Human mushrooms

The toadstool cap

The headgear of the clerics is designed to commemorate the mushroom
and Cult of Dionysus, god of hallucinatory states, excess, and carnal indulgence.

Squint at this photograph. The body of the kneeling Pope becomes
the stalk and skirt of the sacred mushroom.

Two men in red and white garments stand beneath the Tree of Life
or the Tree of Knowledge. The man nearest the Tree is handed a small branch.
This branch symbolizes the forbidden knowledge kept from the unworthy
and uninitiated. At the base of the trunk we see a crown. This indicates
the special nature of the Tree. Its fruits are sacred and reserved for those on
the "royal road." The two men personify the Amanita Muscaria. They are "mushroom-priests."

Fresco of the Virgin Mary in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Note the red cross flag.

The Virgin with red cross

Jacques de Molay, was the martyred Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
He wears the Templar insignia of a red cross on a white field.

The red floral cross of the Calatrava Order of Templars.
This Order, like the Knights Templar, was a military branch of
the monastic Cistercian Order. The chiefs of the super-wealthy Cistercians
were themselves tutored by Irish Culdean monks descended from the
Atonists who (under the name of Milesians) appropriated the Druidic archive. The Templar
and Cistercian nobility - Bernard de Clairvaux, Hugh de Payens, Godfrey de Bouillon, and others,
were recipients of the teachings of the deposed Arya. From these  Merovingian dynasties,
many a Pope was selected (such as Eugene III and Benedict XII). The royal houses have
consistently initiated their cleverest and most able sons in the ancient lore. This they
do via the alpha lodges of Freemasonry. The red cross (or red and white colors) appears on
the crests of most powerful secret societies (Knights Templar, Knights of Malta, Knights
Hospitallers, Order of Jerusalem, Military Order of Christ, Military Order of St. George,
and Order of the Garter, and many more.

Emblem of Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.
This Order was the brainchild of Godfrey de Bouillon. Note Atonist
sprigs on the cap.

Pope with red cross

The Queen is the head of the prestigious Order of the Garter. A blue "garter" or
belt surrounds the red cross. According to Ralph Ellis, the garter was connected
to the Egyptian god Set. The cross and solar rays around it symbolize Atonism.

Courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Note the intricately
decorated tree-like columns and red cross.

Hall of Lilies in the Palazzo Vecchio. Here we have it all; the red cross,
the fleur-de-lis, the ornate treeform columns, solar lion, and so on.

Crest of the City of London featuring a St. George's cross.
 Note the twin dragons and red cross representing, among many things,
the Amanita Muscaria and its properties.

St. George pierces the dragon with his phallic lance. The dragon is an important symbol
in Alchemy. It represents the nucleation of fire, water, air and earth. The symbolic
act of slaying the dragon has many meanings, one of which concerns a vital stage
in the preparation of the Amanita Muscaria potion. Observe the
crowned lady in red behind him and the trees beside her.

Jesus rising from out of the tomb (earth) holding the red cross emblem.

Translucent gills of a mushroom cap

The sun-like gills of a mushroom cap

St. Paul with "halo"

The Disputation of the Most Holy Eucharist, by Raphael

The Roman equivalent of Dionysus was known as Iacchus or Bacchus. The word tobacco derives from his name. Bacchus was the god of wine and merriment. His symbol was a chalice containing blood-red wine, or more correctly the potion of the Amanita Muscaria that enabled his followers to transcend the physical body and contact the gods.

  

Some researchers theorize that the cup of the Last Supper as well
as the so-called "Grail Chalice" symbolizes the Amanita Muscaria.

Bacchus, by Henry Gissey

Bacchus, by Caravaggio. Note how cleverly the artist has made the
wine glass subliminally appear like an Amanita mushroom.

The sacred chalice will certainly be familiar to Christians
as the Holy Grail or cup of the Eucharist. The rite is unmistakably Dionysian.

Jesus as the mushroom and solar disk

Detail from St. Sebastian, by Hans Holbein the Younger

The great mushroom-shaped fountain in St. Peter's Square, Rome. It is a goddess symbol,
but also represents the "blood-filled" chalice of Dionysus.

Some researchers believe that the waters represent the psychoactive urine imbibed by cult members who have partaken of the "Body of Christ," that is, the Amanita Muscaria:

I opened my mouth, and behold, a cup was offered me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire. I took it and drank; and when I had finished my heart overflowed with Understanding - (Second Esdras or Fourth Ezra 14:39-40)

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" - (John 4:13-14)

Satisfy yourself with the true wine in which there is no drunkenness nor error - (Teachings of Silvanus)

I gave to him from the Living Water, which strips away the chaos that exists in darkness - (Trimorphic Protennoia. A Gnostic text)

The souls of the righteous are separated by the spring of enlightening water which they have - (Book of Enoch)

The fountain in the Palazzo Vecchio features a cupid emitting water. This motif connotes the mysteries of Alchemy and the hallucinogenic properties of the Amanita Muscaria. The Dionysians
would first consume the Amanita mushroom and later carefully collect their own urine,
which was at this point highly psychoactive. The great fountains of the Vatican symbolically
denote this sacred "wine." Some researchers believe this potion to be the Soma consumed
by the ancient Aryans. It is thought to be the actual contents of the Eucharist
- the cup containing the blood of Christ. The design of the fountain above
is conspicuously mushroom-shaped.

Bacchus on the bottle

The Fountain of Wisdom. The painting commemorates the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Note the mushroom-like bowls held out to collect the "sacred waters."

This unrealistic painting depicts the coronation of Emperor
Constantine. Notice the "umbrella-like" object above his head.

Mushroom-headed priests see apparitions in the sky

  

  

Image on the right is from the Canterbury Psalter

Adam and Eve beside the Tree of Knowledge.
(From a 13th century frieze in Plaincourault Abbey, France)

The primal couple standing between the Tree of Life
 and Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

   

Controversial as it will sound to those indoctrinated by official Church dogma, we can see that those "in the know" regarded Mary Magdalene (as well as the Virgin Mary) as a personification of the sacred mushroom and its hallucinogenic effects. She was, in fact, a living "burning bush" or sacerdotal female - the Sophic initiator responsible for guiding the neophyte on his mystical journey. Since the mysteries of sex were a key part of Sophic initiations, the Church patriarchs chose to conceal the existence and activities of their Dionysian Cult. Thankfully, as we can see from their canvases, the great artists were not so discreet.

  Image from St. Michael's Church, Germany.
The polka dot cap of the amanita mushroom,
and the central tree with serpent. Are Adam
and Eve holding apples or mushrooms?

The distinctive red cap of the Amanita Muscaria with white "warts."

A Siberian shaman with the Amanita mushroom.
Note the design of her shirt.

The Last Supper (detail from The Passion Altar), by Conrad von Soest.

An apple-like mushroom (Amanita Hemibapha)

The apple-like stage of Amanita Muscaria

In the Adoration of the Magi, by Andrea Mantegna, we see the three wise men present their gifts to the Christ child. The so-called Magi of the Nativity tale are quiet clearly based on members of the Druidic Order. In fact, the Order was divided into three schools - the Ovates, Bards, and Druids. In this instance, Christ is the Arch Druid to be.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Andres Mantegna. Here are all the major Druidic elements. The triform tree in the background; the phallic standing stone behind the Madonna's head, such as can be found in Ireland; the sacred mound behind the triform tree; the tree of life with "apples" above Joseph; and the portal. (The word Druid, means "portal" or "doorway.")

The Madonna and Child, by Hans Memling

The Virgin of Mercy, by Filippino Lippi

The mushroom's "umbrella" and stalk

Church of the Minor Friars

The Cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague Castle.
Note the arched shape of the frieze.

Ceiling of the Chapter House of Wells Cathedral

A corridor in Wells Cathedral

The Convent of the Order of Christ in Portugal. The exquisite design
clearly resembles a great tree or mushroom.

  The sacred mushroom. No religion should be without one.

The Buddha beneath the Banyan Tree.
(Or that is what we are told.)

Lord Ganesha is one of India's oldest gods

As we can see from this image of the Buddha, the mushroom cults pervaded the Far East. This is logical since, as we advocate, the practices of most ancient religions were based on those of the Arya who had travelled far afield in prehistoric ages.

The Birth of the Buddha. Note how the female figure holds onto
a single branch of the tree. Observe also how the lotus blossoms serve
as cryptic symbols for the sacred mushroom.

Note the polka dot design of the dress

The goddess Durga rides her tiger

Krishna and Radha beneath there "magic" wishing tree

A Krishna Temple with mushroom-shaped statue

Senju Kannon is a well-known and highly revered Buddhist goddess with a
thousand arms and eyes. She is one of the most widely worshiped deities in Asia.
Images of a single eye within the palm of a hand denote her cult. In China
one of her epithets is "she who sees all." She is worshiped as an
androgyne and as a male. She presides over the "Western Pure Land"
where enlightened devotees are said to go after death.

Avalokitesvara - The thousand armed bodhisattva

A typical Tankha featuring Asian deities

Note the background made to appear like a cobra. It also
resembles the gills of the sacred mushroom.

Green Tara (also known as Arya Tara) is a Tibetan bodhisattva
or enlightened one.

A pre-Columbian magic mushroom-priest. Many such figurines
have been discovered at
Kaminaljuyu in Guatemala, dating to
approximately
1000 BC.

More of the family

Mushroom man from the Andes

The so-called "Prince of Flowers." This was the Aztec name of the
god Xochipilli. The flowers he holds - that make one drunk - are
clearly Amanita mushrooms. Other statues have been discovered
depicting several priests dancing around and worshiping a central mushroom.

A mushroom priest (Chimu Indians)

Mexican mushroom couple

Apollo sitting on the Tripod at the Oracle of Delphi.
The triform seat is evidently a simulacra for the sacred mushroom.
To imbibe the soma is to see visions and know the future.

John Allegro believed that the symbol of the cross or crucifix was a simulacra for the sacred mushroom. Speaking of the connection, he wrote:

The cross piece was the mushroom cap and the upright support was the stem of the fungus. Every aspect of the phallic mushroom was replete with sexual allusions, and the sign of the cross was primarily a sexual fertility symbol. It is with this significance that the cross became the sign of the phallic god Hermes, erected throughout the ancient world at cross-roads, and thought to bring good luck to travelers, as the Crucifix is commonly displayed by the roadside in Catholic countries today

Allegro emphasized the implicit phallicism of Judeo-Christian symbolism. It was another motif carried over from pagan iconography of earlier ages.

The Cult of Dionysus dominate the today's media. Their agents work behind the scenes of the music industry and movie business. (For more on their influence on fashion, counter-culture and media, see my DVD entitled The Subversive Use of Sacred Symbolism in the Media.)

Observe this image from the movie entitled Mary Poppins. The name Mary is a direct reference to the Sophic female, the keeper of the secrets of sexual initiation and symbol of spiritual transport and elevation. The term Poppins is a variation of Poppy, from which the powerful hallucinatory drug opium is abstracted. The phenomenal wealth of the world's royals was and is not only acquired by way of mining but by way of a vast and ancient opium trade.

In this image from the film, we see Mary Poppins flying high in the clouds. Note the mushroom-shaped umbrella and lack of rain. Mary flies by way of her magic "umbrella." She is, to all intents and purposes, the living mushroom. The image reminds us of the nursery rhyme that begins with the lines "Mary, Mary, quite contrary."

The virginal Snow White is presented with a beautiful "apple"
by her evil stepmother. To consume its flesh is to die.

Note the Amanita mushrooms to the extreme right of this clip from the Disney version of Snow White.

Jack and the Beanstalk. The story comes from an old Norse tale about a
young man who after receiving some magic beans, ascends
a beanstalk (or great tree) to get "high."

Mushroom symbolism is conspicuous in countless mainstream movies, such as Snow White, Altered States, Dune and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The poster for the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland is replete with them as are many the Disney productions. Additionally, the "Mad Hatter's" pose is reminiscent of the Templar icon Baphomet.

Land of the Tree and Serpent

In the religious history of the Aryan race in Europe the worship of trees has played an important part. Nothing could be more natural...From an examination of the Teutonic words for “temple” Grimm has made it probable that amongst the Germans the oldest sanctuaries were natural woods...tree worship is well attested for all the great European families of the Aryan stock – Sir James George Frazer (The Golden Bough, 1922)

Another intriguing interpretation that might explain the reference to a burning or blazing tree, comes from a study of Kabalism. Kabalistic magical systems (which are Irish and Egyptian, not Jewish), are based around a tree-like schemata which involves twenty two branches or pathways, and ten (sometimes eleven) spheres known as the Sephira. The divine intelligence located at the highest zone of the Kabalistic "Tree of Life" communicates its wisdom downward through the nine lower zones. The human world is positioned at zone number ten. The following diagram illustrates the manner in which the ancient adepts viewed the decent of divine intelligence:

The Kabalistic Tree of Life with twenty two branches or pathways and ten spheres (Sephiroth) through which the intelligence of Spirit descends. In the complete Kabalistic system there are really four trees, one for each letter in the name of God or each element. Sacred scriptures such as the Old and New Testaments, as well as apocryphal works, can be decoded by way of Kabalistic and astrological ciphers.

Interestingly, the descent of spiritual power and knowledge from zone one at the top of the tree to zone ten at the bottom was likened to a bolt of lightening. The Kabalists imagined spiritual wisdom descending from heaven in the form of a blazing lightening flash. In other words, what we read about in the Book of Exodus can be deciphered by a study of Kabalistic precepts. In short, the burning bush is the luminous Tree of Life.

The logo of the Opel Car Company. Many logos feature the lightening
flash with ring, orb, or sphere. This image connotes the intelligence or
power of God passing through a single sephiroth.

It is vital for us to remember that the Kabalistic system and Tree of the Sephira do not originate with the Jews. These motifs were known and revered by mystery school adepts thousands of years before the advent of Judeo-Christianity. They were sacred icons long before the rise of Greece and Rome.

That the Druids...revered the form of the cross can hardly be doubted. Schedius de Mor...informs us that it was their custom to seek studiously for an oak tree large and handsome, growing up with two principal arms in the form of a cross beside the main stem. If the two horizontal arms were not sufficiently adapted to the figure, they fastened a cross beams to it. Then they consecrated it by cutting upon the right branch in fair characters the word Hesus, upon the middle stem, the word Taranis, upon the left branch Belenus, and over them the word Thaw. The tree so inscribed, they would make their Kabala like the Jewish Jerusalem, the Turk's Mecca, and the Christian's altar to which they would direct their faces when they prayed - W. Winwood Reade (The Veil of Isis)

In fact, Egypt was once given the pseudonym "Land of the Tree and Serpent." This is because Egypt or Khem was the "Black Land" of magical arts. On the banks of the Nile the great healers, hierophants, architects, and astrologers set up their temples and schools.

The hieroglyphic sign for "year" (renpet) was a branch from a date palm with all the leaves stripped off...The presentation of a symbolic palm branch to the king was an important part of his jubilee festival...Heh, the god of eternity was depicted wearing a notched palm branch on his head or holding one in each hand - (Myths and their Settings)

The Egyptian word for "records" or "annals" was genut, from genu, meaning "branch" - ibid

The willow (tcheret), often identified as tamarisk, was sacred to Osiris...The jackal-god Wepwawet was said in the Pyramid Texts to have 'emerged from a tamarisk bush,' while Horus was believed to have come forth from an acacia - ibid

The Scandinavian world-tree, Yggdrasil, supports on its branches nine spheres or worlds - which the Egyptians symbolized by the nine stamens of the persea or avocado. All of these are enclosed within the mysterious tenth sphere or cosmic egg - the definitionless Cipher of the Mysteries. The Qabbalistic tree of the Jews also consists of nine branches, or worlds, emanating from the First Cause or Crown, which surrounds its emanations as the shell surrounds the egg - Manly Palmer Hall

  

Ancient Egypt was known as the "Land of the Tree and the Serpent." The symbol of the tree, serpent and twenty two letters (corresponding to the twenty two branches of the Tree), were Egyptian and Aryan leitmotifs. The Kabalistic system was once depicted as a living tree with its roots in the earth and its branches in the heavens.

The Tarot originated in Egypt by way of Ireland. The earliest reference to the four suits is found in legends pertaining to the four sacred treasures of the megalithic Irish. The word tarot is a variation of Taurt, the name of the most ancient goddess of Egypt. (More on her later.)

In any case, tree symbolism is found throughout the twenty two cards known as the Major Arcana. Arcanum II - the High Priestess - is particularly interesting. As we can see, the pomegranate tree (the Tree of Life) stands behind the body of the Priestess. She represents Isis and also the Nile. This is why the artist gave her a blue dress that flows like water over a crescent moon. The pillars on either side of the Priestess - known as Boaz and Jachin - symbolize the banks of the Nile river and also the portals at sacred temples on the Nile. The Greeks adopted the idea of the Tree of Life from the Egyptians. In their pantheon we have Persephone who ate the pomegranate. Like Isis, Persephone is associated with the underworld or, more correctly, "netherworld" or "neter" world, the world of the gods. She holds a partly open scroll representing the initial stages of understanding and insight. A fully open scroll symbolizes complete spiritual awakening. This Arcanum indicates the trials of the underworld that must be negotiated and passed before one can eat of the Tree of Knowledge. The fruits on the tree behind the Priestess are arranged in a similar fashion as the ten Sephira on the Kabalistic Tree. The Priestess represents the central pillar on the Tree. This pillar is known as "Equilibrium," and every path or branch on it is associated with a female Arcanum. This is why we see the Priestess between two columns. She is the living Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge. She is its fruit, so to speak, the living pomegranate.

The Medici Madonna, by Rogier van der Weyden.
Note the Tree of Life behind the Virgin, the three stepped podium,
 and fleur-de-lis in the foreground.

Mary between the pillars or trees

 

The pomegranate, like the apple, has been used as a stand-in for the Amanita Muscaria.
Rumor has it that the pomegranate was the only fruit allowed into the sanctum of the Temple
of Jerusalem. This is interesting because this fruit's interior is blood red, symbolizing the
menstrual fluid of the female.

Madonna of the Pomegranate, by Sandro Botticelli

  

There are three columns or pillars on the Kabalistic Tree of Life. The left-hand pillar is "Severity," the right-hand pillar is "Mercy," and the central pillar is that known as "Equilibrium." There are three Sephiroth on each pillar. The presence of the number three denotes the Druids and Arya. These three pillars or paths of ascent correspond with the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna pathways in the Vedic (Aryan) system of yoga. Energy - symbolized by a serpent - passes through these pillars and the Sephiroth (spheres) on them.

Man as the living god and living wand

Amen Ra - king of the gods - stands in the portal to the mysteries protected by
twin serpents. Above his head is the emblem of the winged solar disk
representing spiritual exaltation.

One reason why Egypt was known as the Land of the Tree and Serpent had to do with the shape of the Nile river and Delta. From the air, the river's tributaries resemble the branches of a great tree. And because water is the source of life, the "tree" (or river Nile) becomes a "Tree of Life." In the Book of Genesis we read of the four great rivers that ran out of paradise. And we hear of the two trees. Again, we must look to Egypt for the origin of these antique leitmotifs.

The ancients probably noticed that the placenta has a tree-like shape. This would have interested them and given them one more reason to make use of tree symbolism. Trees bore fruit, and so did the female body. In other words, woman is the veritable tree of life. (The goddess Nut gives her name to the fruits of the tree.) Temples were built to house real placentas.

Images of four standards, one of which bears a placenta

    

The Caduceus (or Kerykeion) of Hermes represents the Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge. The Greek Hermes is identical with the Roman Mercury, and both gods were based on the Egyptian dog-headed Thoth, who was himself based on the Irish Herne. Indeed, many of the world's chief deities and heroes (male and female) were intimately associated with the serpent. We understand of course that the symbol of the serpent (and dragon) connotes spiritual insight and power. Lore of a protecting serpent and special tree date to the time of the Sumerians:

In these early Sumerian/Akkadian myths we meet Etana, the chosen king, later a demigod, who must find the tree which stands at the center of the earth. This tree is the home of an eagle, who has devoured the young of the serpent who guards the tree. The serpent appeals to the Father god, Shamash, for justice, and Shamash shows the tree how to help the serpent capture the eagle. There exists an early Akkadian seal (ca. 2350 BCE) showing the serpent in human form enthroned with the caduceus emblem behind him and guarding him - R. T. Mason (The Serpent in Myth and Legend)

Many pagan deities and gods have been depicted holding wands, staffs, batons, and scepters. These wands represent spiritual mastery and also denote the human spinal cord. The ancient alchemists (from Khem, meaning "Egypt") and mendicants were adroit healers as well as experts on anatomy. They knew about the subtle centers of the body (the chakras and nadis, etc) that continue to elude modern-day "experts." Strangely, we find the caduceus of the ancient adepts on modern-day medical corporations.

...the Egyptians made use of an instrument called the ur-heka, or great magical power. It is sometimes a sinuous, serpent-like rod without the serpent’s head. At others it has the head of the serpent on it, united with the head of a ram - Gerald Massey (Ancient Egypt: Light of the World)

Yahweh and the Yew Tree

Those chapters...in the Book of Genesis which describe the Garden of Eden; its being watered without rain; the sacred tree; the cherub with drawn sword guarding the entrance; the serpent, at first upright and talking to Eve, then creeping on its belly, and the after war against it, and which attempts to explain the origin of sin and death, would seem to belong to the Egyptian mind rather than to the Jewish – Samuel Sharpe (Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity)

Mr. Sharpe is certainly correct. What he fails to mention, however, is where the Egyptians received the symbolism and leitmotifs appropriated by Jews and Christians of later ages. Nevertheless, he is right to draw our attention to the imagery of the Bible which, when correctly deciphered, betrays Western as well as Egyptian origins:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them – (Matthew 7:15-20)

The Druids were eventually eradicated in one of the world's first deliberately orchestrated campaigns of genocide. The Atonists invaders of Britain called upon their allies in Rome to assist in the process of extermination that was beyond their capacities. British history tells of the coming of the Romans, but makes it appear that they came at the behest of imperialist Caesars bent on conquering the land. The mythmongers have concealed the truth of the matter, and have obscured the fact that the armies of Rome were in fact mercenaries working at the behest of their elusive Atonist masters. The Atonist-Judites could not resist announcing their victory, albeit cryptically:

The Lord called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form…But with the roar from a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken – (Jeremiah 11:14)

I the Lord have brought down the high tree (the Druids and Amenists), have exalted the low tree (the Atonists), have dried up the green tree (Druidic colleges), and have made the dry tree (Christianity) to flourish. I the Lord (Aton) have spoken and have done it – (Ezekiel 17)

A little homework and we find out that Jehovah-Adonai can be traced back to the great Aryan deity Adon. The Phoenician cities Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon bore many statues of Adon, who can be found in Ireland as Autun, in Italy as Auton and Adonis, in Etruscia as Atunis, and in Egypt as Aton. The antetype was the Scandinavian Donar (or Thor) and Odin, the god who sacrificed himself on the Yggdrasil, the "World Ash Tree" that stretched between heaven and earth. How many nations have legends of the holy man or hero and the tree of knowledge? Many do so, and the motif originated in North-Western lands.

...the worship of the oak tree, or the oak-god, appears to have been shared by all the branches of the Aryan stock in Europe, that is by the peoples who descended from the Indo-Europeans – James G. Frazer (The Golden Bough)

Trees of cultic adoration would have a multivalent symbolism: as World Tree, Tree of Life. Locally, each tribal group would have had its own sacred tree marking the “center” of its territory, and at which its kings would be inaugurated – Paul Lonigan (The Druids: Priests of the Ancient Celts)

There is a tradition among the Jews that the tree of knowledge was named Dar and that this was supposed to be the oak, whence Dar, in Irish, means “an oak;” it also implies “wisdom” – Dudley Wright (Druidism: The Ancient Faith of Britain, 1924)

Maximus of Tyre also speaks of the Celtic...image of Zeus as a lofty oak, and an old Irish glossary gives daur, “oak,” as an early Irish name for “god” – J. A. MacCulloch (The Religion of the Ancient Celts)

The pass of Lyon, opening from the pleasant flat hill-girt Vale of Fortingall, is a natural gateway which for reserved grandeur is unsurpassed in Scotland. The Parish teems with memorials of bygone ages. It possesses the remnant of what is claimed to be the oldest tree in Europe, if not the world. Holy men and bards from Ireland have tarried within its bounds…The fact that the site selected of old for the church is within a few feet of the ancient yew is probably no accident. In Ireland certain very famous trees, usually yew trees, were closely connected with the tribes in whose territory they stood. They were held as sacred, and served as tribal meeting-places. This custom was pagan in origin, but the trees continued to be held in reverence in Christian times. When Christianity was introduced, pagan sacred sites were often converted into Christian sacred sites – Alexander Stewart (A Highland Parish or the History of Fortingall, 1928)

Another rendition of the name Jehovah is Yahweh. This word is a variation of yehew or yehu, which is a variation of yew (Gaelic Ihu.) It is not a surprise, therefore, that Moses met Jehovah at a burning bush or tree. The scribes were symbolically consistent to a degree.

The first letter of the name Jehovah also denotes the yew tree. The letter "J" is interchangeable with "I" and "Y." In Hebrew, the first letter of God's name is known as Yod, Jod, or Iod, meaning "one" and also "phallus." These letters derive from the Irish Jodh, which can also be found in Greek as Iota.

Along with the rowan, the yew tree was the most sacred of all trees in Druidism. The taller thinner variety (similar to the cypress), known as Taxus Baccata Fastigiata grew abundantly throughout Western Ireland and was sacred to warrior queen and goddess Banbha, of the Tuatha de Danann, after whom Ireland was once named. Botanists believe all other yews in the world to be descended from two Irish trees. County ”Mayo” takes its name from a word meaning ”yew forest.”

In Ireland certain very famous trees, usually yew trees, were closely connected with the tribes in whose territory they stood. They were held as sacred, and served as tribal meeting places. This custom was pagan in origin, but the trees continued to be held in reverence in Christian times. When Christianity was introduced, pagan sacred sites were often converted into Christian sacred sites – Alexander Stewart (A Highland Parish or the History of Fortingall, 1928)

The yew is often found in church yards from England and Ireland to Galicia; some of these trees are exceptionally large (over 3 m diameter) and may be over 2,000 years old. It has been suggested that the enormous sacred evergreen at the Temple at Uppsala was an ancient yew tree - Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (Entry on Taxus Baccata)

Taxus Baccata Fastigiata

Taxus Baccata

Suggestively, the most sacred Egyptian groves, orchards, and temple precincts appear to have had Irish yews in pride of place. According to Ralph Ellis the yew was the Egyptian’s original ”Tree of Life” and it featured prominently in Egypt’s mystery school traditions and initiatory rites. Like the elm it was a symbol of death and underworld rites. The oldest implements in the world dating to over fifty thousand years ago were made of yew wood. The tree may have been considered sacred because it poisoned animals that ate of its bark or leaves except the stag and deer. These animals were supremely sacred to the Irish Druids. There are yews as old as 4,500 years, some of which can be found in British churchyards. Given that the yews are older than Christian churches, it follows that Christian churches and cathedrals were deliberately positioned near to the tree for symbolic purposes. A study of the yew tree serves to confirm the West to East movement of the fundamental elements of religion. As we mentioned above, the last letter of the Irish Ogham alphabet - ”I” - signified the yew tree. This letter corresponds to and is interchangeable with "Y" and "J." This means that the letter is to be found as the initial letter of Iuda - that is of Judah (which itself originates from Yahuda or Yahud). We can now see that the original Judites or Jews were Men of the Yew, that is the initiates of Druidic colleges.

The incarnate god was probably representative of a god or spirit of earth, growth, or vegetation, represented also by a tree. A symbolic branch of such a tree was borne by kings, and perhaps by Druids, who used oak branches in their rites. King and tree would be connected, the king’s life being bound up with that of the tree, and perhaps at one time both perished together. But as kings were represented by a substitute, so the sacred tree, regarded as too sacred to be cut down, may also have had its succedaneum. The Irish bile or sacred tree, connected with the kings, must not be touched by any impious hand, and it was sacrilege to cut it down – J. A. MacCulloch (The Religion of the Ancient Celts)

“The groves were God’s first temples,” says Bryant. The groves, too, were among man’s first gods...Not only the Druids of Britain, but the Greeks, and the Semitic races of Asia were worshipers of trees. The giant oaks and the symmetrical evergreens were gods...”The worship of trees,” says Soury, “only disappeared in Syria at a very late date...The largest and tallest trees, and the evergreen ones, were adored as gods" – John E. Remsberg (The Christ)

In the works of Greek and Latin writers we hear repeatedly of sacred woods and groves, sanctuaries in forest clearings and on hilltops, beside springs and lakes and on islands, and of places set apart for the burial of the noble dead – H. R. Ellis Davidson (Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions)

Elohim and the Elm

For Yahweh is the great God of Gods, Lord of the Elohim – (Deuteronomy 10:17)

Early Christians and Jews were divided into several competing groups, some hardline, some moderate, and others more liberal in their beliefs and attitudes. There were Adamites, Ebionites, Simonians, Marcionites, Paulists, Nasoreans or Mandeans, Carpocratians, Cainites, Essenes, Samaritans, Zealots, Zadokites, and many more competing and antagonistic groups. There were monotheists who believed in one god and henotheists or polytheists who believed in a plurality of gods.

The term Elohim appears in the Old Testament over two thousand five hundred times and is usually translated as "Lord God," denoting Jehovah or Yahweh. However, Biblical scholars who have done their homework know that this is simply nonsense. This is because Elohim is a plural word that denotes more than one deity. As we showed in Astro-Theology and Sidereal Mythology, traditionally the Elohim were a pantheon of nine creator gods headed by Ptah. (The word putah connotes nine.)

For Jehovah is the synthesis of the Seven Elohim, the eternal center of all those attributes and forces, the Alei of the Aleim, and the Adonai of the Adonim – Madame Helena Blavatsky (The Secret Doctrine)

 Jupitar (seen here with horns) was based on the ancient god Ptah (Ju-Pitar), As the Roman king of
the gods he was identical with the Greek Zeus and Celtic Dis Pater. He is found in the Bible
as Saint Peter (Petra), the rock upon which Christ allegedly established his Church.

Jupiter as Zeus Ammon.
Note the horns symbolizing divine wisdom.

In fact, Elohim is simply a corruption of the Hebrew Aleim or Alim, which are themselves variants of the ancient Irish word Ailim, signifying "A," the first letter of the Irish alphabet. (In Egyptian it is Ahm or Ahom.) These Irish and Hebrew words can be correctly rendered alm or elm. The elm, ash, and yew (as well as the rowan, oak, pine, myrrh, myrtle, acacia, olive, almond, fig, sycamore, and palm) were sacred to the adepts and kings of the ancient world. Druidry was known worldwide and different groups were inclined to deify and worship the trees common to their specific region.

The myrtle performed the same office of symbolism in the Mysteries of Greece as the lotus did in Egypt, or the mistletoe among the Druids. The candidate, in these initiations, was crowned with myrtle, because, according to the popular theology, the myrtle was sacred to Proserpine, the goddess of the future life - Albert A. Mackey (The Symbolism of Freemasonry)

Chaldean priests

Among the Chaldeans, and probably among the Sumerians, Akkadians and Babylonians, the term Aleim denoted the members of a venerable priesthood. It connoted those who invoked the gods. The root el has been used for millennia as a moniker of godliness and spiritual status. This is why it appears as a prefix and suffix in words such as elevated, elite, elect, elder, angel, chapel, bell, gospel, and bible; as well as in names such as Raphael, Gabriel and Immanuel. It can also be found (as le or al) in words such as cathedral, altar, portal, aisle, steeple, circle, angle, and so on.

The Elohim may be accepted in one sense for gods or powers, and in another for Aleim, or priests — the hierophants initiated into the good and evil of this world; for there was a college of priests called the Aleim, while the head of their caste, or the chief of the hierophants was known as Java-Aleim - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (The Secret Doctrine)

An immense statue of Helios (the Roman Sol) once presided over the harbor
of the Aegean island of Rhodes. The island was a bastion of early Minoans,
Mycenaeans and Phoenicians. The word Helios may be a
derivative of Aleim meaning "holy one" or "divine one."

El is the origin of the Greek Heli as found in Helios, meaning "sun," and of Al as found in Allah, the name for the god of Islam. (See also the German Heil and English Heel as in Heel Stone. See also Hello.)

The sun god Ra. Note the holy trees and lotus in front of his throne,
and the two "eyes" of Ra at the top of the frieze.

The ancient Egyptian god Ra was known as Khepra when he rose as the sun in the morning. He was Atum when he set in the east at night. The hieroglyph of his name was LA or LE which, when reversed as AL or EL, became the name of the hieroglyph for the famous eye of Ra (later of Horus). Put the names of Ra and his eye emblem together and we get Ella, Alle and Alel. These terms are suggestively close to the Greek Helios and Arabic Ilah or Allah. It is also close to Elaha, the Aramaic name for Jesus Christ.

EL or AL - The Eye of Ra. In Egyptian, the single eye is known as ujat
or udjat, meaning "whole" or "whole one."

The Aramaic name for Jesus was Elaha, which, like the Arabic
Allah (from Ilah) derives from the names of Ra and his eye, as
well as from Aleim or elm. This makes sense since Jesus can
certainly be regarded as an enlightened priest as well as
a messenger of God. As we reveal here, trees of one sort or
another apparently played a large part in his story.

Allah in the center of a floral rosette, in the Fort of Rohtas, Pakistan.
Most editions of the Korans feature exquisite floral decorations.

Gerald Massey, the great expert on Egyptian myth, wrote that the Elohim or Ali, as he referred to them, were a development of the primordial seven Kabiri (Kab Ari) or "Seven Sleepers." In their earliest incarnation, as archetypes of the ancient Stellar Cult, they were the seven stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Traditions differ slightly, but the Kabiri or creator gods usually included Atum, Geb, Nun, Shu, Ptah, Horus, and Set. Their source was the supreme goddess Taurt. As Massey explained:

This first company of the gods in the fields of heaven were the Ali or Ari (as in the seven Kab-ari) by name, and the Ali are a group of companions who are herein set forth as co-creators of all that exists in heaven or in earth. The primordial nature-powers are mentioned under several types and names. They are the seven Uręus-gods, born of Mother-earth as non-sentient elemental powers...They are the seven Khus or glorious ones whose place in heaven was appointed by Anup on the day of “come thou to me”...They are the seven who assist the great judge in the Maat at the pole on the night of the judgment day, called “the seven arms of the balance,” as executioners of the guilty, who accomplish the slaughter in the tank of flame when the condemned are exterminated...They are the seven wise masters of arts and sciences who assisted Taht in his measurements of earth and heaven. In the solar mythos they are to be seen in several characters with Horus, Ptah, and Ra. They were portrayed as the seven with Horus, in the eight great stars of Orion. They are the seven souls of Ra, also the seven divine ancestors in the boat of the sun, the seven who support Osiris in Amenta. In whichever phase of phenomena, they are a group, a brotherhood, a companionship of powers originally seven in number. It is now proposed to identify this “first company” of creators who passed through these several phases in the Egyptian mythos as seven elementals, seven with the ancient Genetrix, seven with Anup, seven with Taht, seven with Horus, seven with Ptah, as the group of companions called the Elohim in the Hebrew Genesis, who were known to the Gnostics and Kabalists as seven in number, with Ialdabaoth, a form of Set, at their head - (Ancient Egypt: Light of the World)

Massey explained that our days of the week are based on the seven Kabiri or Ali. He emphasized that the Genesis story of the six day creation, with a seventh day of repose, was borrowed from the Egyptian texts that speak of the astronomical circuit of the seven northern stars. Furthermore, his research leaves us in no doubt as to who the Jesus of the New Testament was based on. Both Jehovah and Jesus were amalgamations of the seven great ones. Jesus was particularly styled on Horus.

Horus as the living papyrus or tree

Horus (also known as Heru) was one of the Elohim, Els, Ali, or Ari. In this illustration we see him holding a papyrus wand representing sacred knowledge and divine protection. (After Set vowed to murder him, Isis hid and raised Horus among the papyrus reeds of the Nile.) Behind him stands Ma'at, goddess of justice, balance, and harmony. Male gods such as Horus were agents of Ma'at, that is, of justice and rightness. The Christian mythmongers transmogrified Horus and Ma'at into Jesus and Mary. Gerald Massey comments on the Egyptian origins of Christianity, and how many gods were eventually transmogrified into a single deity:

The foundation of monotheism was laid when the various powers were combined in a single deity to be worshipped as the one true eternal spirit. These were primarily the Great Mother and her seven elemental powers. And when the goddess was superseded by the god Ptah, both sexes were included in the one Supreme Being who was now the Lord over all. It was the same with Osiris, as the pictures show. Asar was the mother and child (Hes-Ar) in one, and the perfect triune type was completed in God the father. There was no God the father without God the mother and God the child. In the mythological text from Memphis we read of Ptah in his divine forms. In one of these he is designated “Ptah of the earth.” “The Mother giving birth to Atum and his associate-gods”...Ptah of the earth was then “in the great resting-place” as the maker of Amenta. This was the place of that new creation and rearrangement of the things that were pre-extant before the time of Ptah the opener, and this one god who was latest is now considered to be the source of all the gods and goddesses who had preceded him - (Ancient Egypt: Light of the World)



The elm was chosen as the tree of the gods, that is, of the Els or Als.

Elm leaves

"Old Treaty Elm," in Chicago. It marked the boundary of Fort Dearborn Indian
Reservation. The Indian Treaty of 1935 was signed beneath its canopy.

The Liberty Elm of Boston became a focal point for rebels during the
first uprisings of American patriots against British imperial domination.
Erecting liberty trees and poles was a common practice during the French Revolution.
French liberty poles were usually a tall shaved pole with a red Phrygian cap on top,
appearing not unlike the stalk and cap of an Amanita mushroom.

In European folklore, the elm is closely associated with Orpheus. The first elm is said to have appeared after the god played his lyre. Since Orpheus is connected with the Underworld, the elm has become the symbol for spiritual trials and initiations. Like the yew, it is a symbol of death and internment, and can often be found near barrows, sidhes, tombs and passage graves. Coffins have long been made of elm wood.

The President was assassinated on a street named Elm. (Just a coincidence, of course.)

The Levites and the Rowan

Aryans do not kill even a small plant unnecessarily, not to speak of cutting trees for sense gratification…Aryans do not distinguish between lower and higher grades of life. All life should be protected. All living beings have a right to live, even the trees and plants. This is the basic principle of an Aryan civilization – Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 6.16.43, Purport)

Just as the word Jew derives from the Irish word for yew tree, so does the ancient name Levi (or Levite) come from the Gaelic letter ”L,” known as Lewi or Luis. It can also be rendered Lewis or Louis. The letter "L" (or Luis) alluded to the Rowan tree that was the most sacred of all trees in Irish Druidism. The rowan in Danish is rönne, and in Swedish it is rönn. The name Ron (or Ronald) may derive from the name of this tree.

The Rowan (Sorbus Aucuparia) is also known as the Mountain Ash.

A Mountain Ash (Rowan) in winter

Rowan berries

The worshippers or keepers of the rowan were known as the Lewi, and this is where the word Levite originates. The original Western Levites - the Men of the Yew - were astrologers, priests, healers, and teachers. The Biblical ”Levites” adopted the old Druidic title as their own, either because they had descended from Western Druids, or because they were initiates and adepts from Druidic colleges. The Isle of Lewis in Scotland was once a major Druidic center. Place names Lewisham and Lewes derive from the root. Additionally, the supreme solar deity of the ancient Irish was known as Lugh. He appears globally as the English Llud, Sumerian Lughal, Welsh Llew, Gaulish Lugos, Italian Logos. He appears in the Christian scriptures as Saint Luke, patron saint of surgeons and healers. The word London comes from Lludunum (or Lugh’s Hill). Lugh’s temple is now the site of the Christian St. Paul’s Cathedral. The rowan may have been given its name Luis because it was sacred to Lugh. His title was Samildanach, or ”Master of all Arts.” In Masonic tradition, the term “Lewis” refers to the son of a Mason. It also refers to a particular tool employed by stonemasons.

Here we see the sign of priestly blessing made by Jewish high priests (the Kohanim or Levites). Note the pyramidical shape made by the fore fingers and thumbs, emphasizing the Egyptian roots of most ancient Jewish traditions. The shape forms the letter "A" for Aton. (For more on the story of the Biblical Levites, see The Irish Origins of Civilization.)

The Jewish menorah is a stylized tree

According to Irish and Norse mythology, the first woman emerged from a Rowan tree. The ancients considered the tree a protector against sorcery and evil influence. Dowsing rods and Druid staffs were traditionally made of its wood. In Nordic legends the Rowan is associated with Thor who saved his life by clinging to it when almost swept away by the furious waters of the river of the Underworld.

The World Ash Tree

"The chief and most holy seat of the gods," say the Eddas, "is by the ash Yggdrasil. There the gods meet in council every day. It is the greatest and best of all trees, its branches spread over all the world and reach above heaven. Three roots sustain the tree and stand wide apart" - J. H. Philpot (Trees in Religion and Myth, 1897)

Known as Nion in Gaelic, the ash was one of the most important and revered trees of the Arya. It was associated with the Welsh god Llew (the Irish Lugh), perhaps because of the height to which it often grew. In Nordic myth, Odin sacrificially hung himself from Yggdrasil, the great ash, in order to discover the meaning of life. The tree is associated with sacrifice and arcane knowledge. As the "World Tree" its roots, trunk, and branches spanned the three worlds - under world, middle world, and upper world. Legend has it that evil serpents would avoid the tree at all costs. Ash wood is extremely hard, and legend has it that the heroes of European mythology made their spears and axes from its wood. The Welsh Druids made their wands from its wood which can be white or yellowish in appearance. The magician Gwydion made his wand from ash wood. The ash is associated with the sea and the lost lands of antiquity. The word root ash or as, can be found in many important names and words such as ashlar, ashram, Asir (Osiris), Aesir and Asa (meaning "gods"), Asgard, Ascalon, Asshur, Assyria, Asia, Astaroth, Asherah, Astarte, and so on. One of Ireland's earliest gods was known as Aesar or Iesa. The afterworld haven of the Nordics was Asgard, meaning "garden" or "grove of the gods:"

Asgard, the mountain of the gods, was pierced by a mighty tree trunk, the branches of which overshadowed the world and supported the sky, the stars, and the clouds, whilst its roots stretched downwards into the primordial abyss. The apples stored in Valhal, by eating which the gods preserved their youth, closely correspond to the amrita or soma which, as we shall see, was a peculiar feature of the Eastern conception of the world-tree - J. H. Philpot (Trees in Religion and Myth, 1897)

In Norse myths the tree Yggdrasil is intimately connected to the primal parents and sacerdotal female:

There stands a beautiful hall near the fountain beneath the ash. Out of it come three maids. These maids shape the lives of men and we call them the Norns. On the boughs of the ash sits an eagle, who knows many things - (The Prose or Younger Edda. Translated by G. W. Dasent)

...we read in the Eddas that when heaven and earth had been made, Odin and his brothers walking by the sea -shore came upon two trees. These they changed into human beings, male and female. The first brother gave them soul and life ; the second endowed them with wit and will to move ; the third added face, speech, sight, and hearing. They clothed them also and chose their names, Ask for the man's and Embla for the woman's. And then they sent them forth to be the parents of the human race - J. H. Philpot (Trees in Religion and Myth, 1897)

Here we see Asari or Osiris holding the flail and sickle, two symbols associated with cultivation and harvest. As Osiris was god of the Earth and of agriculture it makes sense to see him with these two emblems. However, the flail for winnowing and the sickle for harvesting are also associated with the Western Druids. There can be little doubt that Osiris or Wesir (who was referred to as the god of the West) was originally brought to Egypt in predynastic times by the Arya or Shemsu Hor. Note also the twin trees.

To the west, to the mansions of Osiris, To the west thou are going. Thou who were best among men, Who did hate the untrue – (Egyptian Hymn to Osiris)

Osiris came from the west according to myth. He was born from the sea. He appeared as a local god in the city of Ded in the Nile Delta. Isis was sometimes called the goddess of the west – Henry Brinkley Stein (Thirty Thousand Gods Before Jehovah)

Enough exists to show that the Nordic Gods were the same as the gods of the Levant. The gardens, halls, warfare, altars, sacrifices, marriage and family life were the same - (Priesthood of the Illes)

Ancient Egypt...was essentially a penetration of Caucasoid racial elements into Africa – Robert Gayre (Miscellaneous Racial Studies)

One of the oldest cities in Southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) was Lagash. This name also contains the syllable of the ash tree. Lagash (from Lagas) was constructed over three thousand years BC and it served as a capital of the Sumerian (Sum Arya), Akkadian, and Guti (or Gutean) empires. Lagash and the surrounding lands were frequented (from 2150 BC) by a race known to historians as the Guti.

The name Gudea not only derives from the root gut, meaning “goat,” but it is decidedly and suggestively similar to the word Judea. This is not so remarkable when the true meaning of the terms Judea and Jew is contemplated. They did not refer to race but were titles. They referred to the yew tree or, more specifically, to “Men of the Yew,” that is to the Western Arya. A secondary connotation of Judah and Jew was “Judge.”

King Gudea of Sumeria. Sumeria is similar to a Gaelic
word meaning "serpent." The names and words Judah,
Jude, George
, Tudor, Tutor, and Judge derive from the
same root as Gudea.

Gudea can certainly be considered the great judge of his people. Additionally, the syllable dea, in his name, might refer to “holy” or to “god.” The name Gudea could have meant “Holy Goth,” “God of the Goths,” or “Goat Man.”

Akkadian King Sargon (or Saru Kin) the Great (2270 BC-2215 BC).
The Akkadians overthrew the Sumerian empire and controlled Mesopotamia
for approximately 150 years. Sargon's capital city was Agade (from gade meaning “gate”
but perhaps also “goat”). He was purported to have been the builder of Babylon
(“Gate of the Gods”). His name may mean “Lord Sun,” “Lord God,” or “Lord of the Garden,”
because gan means "enclosed garden," and because one of his official titles was
"Lord Digger of the Earth.” We surmise that gardens and trees were important to
Akkadians and Sumerians because the pictograph for their great city of Lagash
was, again, a garden.

The name of the ash tree can be discerned in the place name Assyria (Ash Arya). The Assyrian King Ashur may have been given this title because he was considered a “god,” that is a highborn king and priest. Again, we emphasize that the trunks of trees were regarded by patristic cultures as phallic symbols, and worthy emblems of kingship and godhead.

Yggdrasil, by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.
This is the so-called "World Ash " from which the Norse god Odin hung himself
in order to learn the secret of the Runes. Vikings referred to themselves
as the Aescling or "Men of Ash."

The trunk of an old ash

The branches of a great ash

Ash leaves

Lady of the Tree

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her – (Proverbs 3:15–18)

The goddess specifically associated with the Tree of Life was known as Nuith or Nut. The English word “nut” (signifying the fruit of a tree) comes from her name. Paintings on papyrus can still be seen featuring the goddess standing by or even in the sacred life giving tree. Many pagan goddesses were associated with the Tree of Life. The mother of Adonis, for example, was known as Myrrha, a name that relates to the myrtle tree and fragrant myrrh plant. (Myrrha was turned into a tree by the gods and her son Adonis was born from her trunk.) The name Myrrha appears in the Bible as Mary the Virgin and Mary Magdalene, the fallen women. The Egyptian version is Meri, meaning "beloved." Many Egyptian goddesses had "Meri" as a pseudonym. The word merry, meaning "joyous," is also a derivation. The name Adonis means "lord," or "high one." The Babylon version of Adonis was Tammuz. He too was connected to trees and vegetation. (The river Thames comes from his name, as does the Biblical Thomas.)

Women sit by the gate weeping for Tammuz, or they offer incense to Baal on roof-tops and plant pleasant plants. These are the very features of the Adonis cult: a cult confined to women which is celebrated on flat roof-tops on which sherds sown with quickly germinating green salading are placed, Adonis gardens... the climax is loud lamentation for the dead god - Walter Burkert (Greek Religion)

Women in Athens would plant "gardens of Adonis" quick-growing herbs that sprang up from seed and died. The Festival of Adonis was celebrated by women at midsummer by sowing fennel and lettuce, and grains of wheat and barley. The plants sprang up soon, and withered quickly, and women mourned for the untimely death of the vegetation god - (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, on Adonis)

In what appears to be the most widespread version of his death, Adonis is killed by a boar, symbol of aggressive masculinity...The goddess Aphrodite mourns him excessively, and so did the women of Athens during the festival....the women moved to the roofs of their houses...and spent the night in the open amid flowerpots especially set up and filled with plants for the occasion - the so-called Gardens of Adonis...The fragrant plants probably had erotic associations, the myrrh was at the same time a reminder of Adonis' mother - Eva C. Keuls (Reign of the Phallus)

...This Holy Spirit, the Great Mother, is symbolized by a great Tree whose branches spread over the entire world and reach above the heavens. A more beautiful symbol can hardly be conceived. This Tree “has three roots, widely remote from each other. The first is amongst the gods; the second among the Giants (the blessed spirits); the third embraces hell" – E. Valentia Straiton (The Celestial Ship of the North)

The primal Stellar Cult paradise was the place of one tree. The paradise or garden in Amenta...is the place of two trees...These two trees appear in the Ritual as the tree of Hathor and the tree of Nut; the tree of the Earth and the tree of Heaven; the tree of the North and the tree of the East. The tree of Hathor was the tree of life – Albert Churchward (The Origins and Evolution of Religion)

The woman, tree, and cosmic serpent

The sacred tree

The date palm goddess bestowing her bounty and sweetness

 

The virgin goddess Nut or Nuith in proximity to the sacred sycamore, the "Tree of Life" or "Tree of the Virgin." As the imagery depicts, the goddess is the tree. Note the solar disks emanating fiery rays from her womb. She is the "burning one" or "burning tree;" the fragrant one; the original Holy Grail. (Here for more on Nuith.)

Hathor was sometimes referred to as "Mistress of the Date Palm...She could also be called "The Lady of the Sycamore"...or more specifically, "The Lady of the Southern Sycamore" - an actual tree that grew at the temple of Ptah in Memphis during the Old Kingdome (c. 2686-2181 BC) - (Myths and their Settings)

The most famous of these sycamores, the sycamore of the South, was regarded as the living body of Hathor upon earth and the tree at Metairieh, commonly called the Tree of the Virgin, is probably the successor of a sacred tree of Heliopolis, in which a goddess, perhaps Hathor, was worshipped. The district around Memphis was known as the Land of the Sycamore, and contained several trees generally believed to be inhabited by detached doubles of Nuit and Hathor - J. H. Philpot (The Trees in Religion and Myth)

The only goddess to play a part in Judaism was Asherah. She is clearly a version of the Canaanite Ishtar and the Babylonian goddess Astarte or Ashtoreth. This goddess's bore the title "treader on the waters or seas," a trait associated with the Biblical Jesus. Moreover, another title attributed to her was "She who gives birth to the gods," similar to the "Mother of God," epithet commonly attributed to the Virgin Mary. Asherah's name contains the syllable as or ash, referring to the tree of that name. As Mrs. Philpot explains in her excellent work The Tree in Religion and Myth:

Amongst the Canaanites every altar to the god had its sacred tree beside it, and when the Israelites established local sanctuaries under their influence, they set up their altar under a green tree, and planted aside it as its indispensable accompaniment an "ashera," which was either a living tree or a tree-like post, and not a "grove," as rendered in the Authorized Version. This ashera was undoubtedly worshipped as a sacred symbol of the deity. Originally it appears to have been associated with Ashtoreth or Astarte, the Syrian Istar...But the ashera was also erected by the altars of other gods, and in pre-prophetic days even beside that of Jehovah Himself, whence it may be concluded that "in early times tree-worship had such a vogue in Canaan, that the sacred tree or the pole, its surrogate, had come to be viewed as a general symbol of deity

...Baal and Astarte generally being represented by a pillar, known as the Asherah in the Bible, a Hebrew word, also common noun, meaning a sacred tree or pole used in the goddess cult - David Livingstone (The Dying God)

The very term ashera, derives from ash, meaning "holy" or "god" and era, meaning "earth" or "place." Era was also the name of the primordial goddess of the Irish or Arish. Indeed, the very names Irish and Arya derive from her name, as to words and names such as terra, Tara, Taara, Tyre, Taurt, and so on. The origin of the name Osiris or, more correctly, Asar or Asura, comes from the ancient Irish god Aesar (or Iesa), no different than the Celtic Esus. The name Asar means "sacred tree." Similar terms such as asa, aesir, or asha, mean "gods."

Of course the female counterpart of god was eventually displaced and forgotten. However, as we showed in our book Astro-Theology and Sidereal Mythology, the female was not only depicted in proximity to the sacred tree - she was the sacred tree. And where the goddess and tree was found, the serpent of wisdom was also apparent.

One striking and important specimen of early type in the British Museum collection has two figures sitting one on each side of a tree, holding out their hands to the fruit, while at the back one (the woman) is etched a serpent...thus it is evident that a form of the “Fall,” similar to that in Genesis, was known in early times in Babylonia – John G. Jackson (Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth)

In the Bible the Christian mythmongers inverted the story of the female and her connection to the life-giving tree. The proto-Christians were Atonists, or members of the Solar Cult. They were paternalistic and so was their god. Even though Jehovah's name meant "yew tree," his servants were determined to downplay the pagan elements of their theology, presenting their solar heroes (Solomon, David, Joseph, Samson, Moses, Aaron, Jesus, and others) as stand alone characters. In the New Testament the main women around Jesus are portrayed as being of low character, and Paul makes several scathing remonstrations against women in his writings. Apparently, this extremist attitude was a phenomenon that crept in after the second century AD. In early Judaism women were revered and there are hints throughout the scriptures indicating that women played a significant role in Christianity before its official codification at Nicea. Nevertheless, the Old Testament mythmongers made a complete travesty of the story concerning the goddess and her relationship to the sacred tree and serpent of wisdom. Despite the fact that the mythmongers radically skewed and adulterated the story of the primal parents in the garden, and despite the textual contradictions and improbable elements of their concoction - and despite it being proven that the main allusions predate both Judaism and Christianity - millions of adherents stubbornly believe that what they read in the Book of Genesis actually happened. They believe that Eve was responsible for man's sorry predicament, by tempting him to disobey Yahweh and eat the forbidden fruit.

From the Old Testament onward we read many diatribes against womankind. We also have remonstrations against the veneration of nature and other gods and goddesses:

And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat...Behold! the man has become one of us, to know good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live evermore – Genesis (3:13 & 22)

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger – (Jeremiah 7:17–18)

Sociologist Erich Fromm wrote the following statement about the conspicuous bigotry of the Old Testament's authors:

The document that most powerfully exemplifies an extremely male, patriarchal attitude is the Old Testament…It is not surprising that the subject of productiveness, the Creation itself, also finds an extreme male solution in its pages…The reason why the Old Testament exhibits such a one sided, male character is that as the primary text of Jewish monotheism it represents a male victory over female deities, over the matriarchal remnants in the social structures. The Old Testament is the triumphal hymn of the victorious male religion, a song of victory commemorating the destruction of all traces of the matriarchy in religion and society – (Love, Sexuality and Matriarchy)

What the mythmongers chose not to reveal is that the female was the forbidden fruit. In fact, in the earliest times, god was the tree. Before the Book of Genesis was written, god and the tree were one. In short, in the unadulterated version woman initiates man into his godhead. She brings him the fruit or leads him to the tree of knowledge. In the corrupted version she is the temptress who leads him away and causes his fall.

 

In pre-monotheistic ages the Sophic female was the guide and instructor. She is the portal to the mysteries. As Arcanum II of the Tarot shows, she sits at the portal of the temple, in front of the sacred tree. She is the first ambassador of god, not the male hero or saint. She is also the first sacrificed or crucified one, meaning that she gives up her "life," as the Earth does, that humankind can live and grow. Men begin as seeds in her  "garden" or womb, and at his death a man returns to her arms - his breath returns to the sky and his flesh to the Earth.

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations - (Revelations 22:2)

As we have stated elsewhere, Biblical concoctions such as the Genesis story are terribly mutilated renditions of Irish and Amenist (Aryan) creation sagas and initiation rites. When re-rendered in a pristine form, without the propagandist elements introduced by the Christian or Atonist priesthood, the mythographs take on a very different complexion. Our point is confirmed by Masonic author Albert Churchward, who wrote:

Caesar and other Roman writers, as well as the Greeks, knew nothing of the esoteric wisdom of Ancient Egypt, and therefore of the Druids. They perverted all that had been told them – (The Origins and Evolution of Religion)

Biblicists cannot provide us with a good reason as to why God was angry at Eve for eating of the Tree of Life. Apparently, once consumed, the fruit of the tree could have made Adam and Eve into gods. It could have opened their eyes and shown them the nature of good and evil. It was a unique and curious fruit to be sure. But if it was so important to God that man did not partake of the forbidden fruit, why did he draw Adam’s attention to the fruit’s existence? Why did he plant the tree if its fruit was so dangerous? Surely he could not have been testing Adam? Well, not surprisingly, answers to our questions are scarce. They are answered, however, by unbiased investigators in no doubt about the Vatican's insidious lie-machinery:

In the Persian myth of the creation, the first human pair that emerged from the mythical world-tree and were born upon this earth were named respectively Meshia and Meshiane. These are two unmistakable Irish named characters...That the Persians got their chief gods from the ancient Irish is indubitable – Conor MacDari

The Pope, though he permits our typifying Jesus as a fish, as the sun, as bread, as the vine, as a shepherd, as a rock, as a conquering hero, even as a winged serpent, yet, threatens us with hell fire if we ever dare to celebrate him in terms of the venerable gods whom he has superseded and from whose ritual every one of these symbols has been derived - Robert Graves

Note the twin sprigs at the top of the tree, similar
 in design to the wings of the hermetic caduceus.

Above we see a Grecian depiction of the tree ostensibly representing god, beside which stand the primal couple Dionysus and Minerva (re-scripted by the mythmongers as Adam and Eve.) The tree has a serpent coiling round its trunk. This symbol of the tree and serpent was the hierogram for the goddess Ishtar or Astarte. Some legends hold that the god of the tree created woman not as a companion for man but as consort for himself. He wished to mate with her, and from their union came man. Ergo, woman is not man’s equal or wife but his superior.

The reproduction of the species is feminine: it runs steadily and quietly through all species, animal or human, through all short-lived cultures. It is primary, unchanging, everlasting, maternal, plantlike, and cultureless. If we look back we find that it is synonymous with life itself – Oswald Spengler

Woman exists everlasting, self-subsistent, immutable; man, evolving, is subject to continual decay. In the realm of the physical, therefore, the masculine principle is of second rank, subordinate, to the feminine - J. J. Bacofen (Das Mutterrecht, Vol. II)

The prime datum is the earth, the basic maternal substance. Visible creation proceeds from her womb, and it is only then that the sexes become divided into two, only then does the masculine come into being. Thus the male and female do not appear simultaneously; they are not of the same order...The female is primary, the male is only what comes out of her - ibid

The Judeo-Christian priesthood drastically altered the role and significance of the Sophic female. She was no longer the consort and equal of God, but a disobedient miscreant who led man (God's first creation) into sin and perdition.

In no land or literature has the mythical mode of representation been perverted and reduced to driveling foolishness more fatally than in some of the Hebrew legends – Gerald Massey

We still have the motif of the divine woman and the tree, but in mutilated form. Nevertheless, it is there in the New Testament’s account of Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene standing near to the cross (tree) on Golgotha. As we said, the very name Mary denotes the myrrh tree. (Jesus was allegedly offered wine and myrrh during his ordeal on Mount Calvary.) Sadly, in the adulterated Christian version the women are demure and woeful and the tree reduced in aspect to an loathsome instrument of torture. It is neither a god nor a lover. It is not a goddess symbol. It is still a sacrificial object, but that is its only resemblance to the pagan antetype.

In the unadulterated version of the mythos, to be in the presence of the sacred tree and/or serpent meant to be near God. Originally, the woman shown in close proximity to either one, is in the company of God, her creator, consort, and lover. Clearly, given the imagery used by the Christian mythmongers, Jesus stands in the place of the serpent of wisdom. The paternalistic priests supplanted the goddess and replaced her with their masculine god and hero.

Serapis and Jesus were both represented by a great serpent – E. Valentia Straiton (The Celestial Ship of the North)

Mrs J. H. Philpot agrees, and also explained the relationship between Osiris and the sacred tree. As we read her words we would do well to remember that Jesus of the New Testament was a character largely based on Osiris:

...there is evidence that the great Osiris was originally a tree-god. According to Egyptian mythology, after he had been murdered his coffin was discovered enclosed in a tree-trunk, and he is spoken of in the inscriptions as " the one in the tree," "the solitary one in the acacia." The rites, too, by which his death and burial were annually celebrated appear to couple him closely with Tammuz, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, and other gods whose worship was associated with a similar ritual - (The Tree in Religion and Myth)

On the night before his arrest and crucifixion Jesus prayed in a garden on the so-called Mount of Olives. This is the second instance in which Jesus ascends a hill or mount. The other instance is when he delivered the so-called "Sermon on the Mount." In both cases the image of the teacher on the mount or mound has its origin in Druidism. The mound (or sidhe) is a seminal goddess symbol.

Here we see Christ in Gethsemane, from Jean Duke de Berry's fifteenth century illuminated "Book of Hours." Note how the artist has solarized Jesus and set his head among the stars. Obviously, the Mount of Olives is a simulacra for the astronomer's observatory upon which the ancient Magi and Druid elders observed and charted the heavens. Note also the two trees reaching up into the night sky. In ecclesiastical parlance, this episode in the life of Jesus is known suggestively as the "Agony in the Garden." Perhaps the word "garden" should be replaced by the word "grove." We think it is more than a coincidence that Jesus and his father Joseph were "carpenters," that is, workers in wood.

In his treatise on ancient pagan beliefs, mythologist Sir James George Frazer explained that the concept of a crucified savior was not original to Christianity or Judaism. Nor was it only male heroes or saints who sacrificed themselves so that others could live. In pagan times the rites of sacrificial death and rebirth included female goddesses and heroines:

In Greece the great goddess Artemis herself appears to have been annually hanged in effigy in her sacred grove of Condylea among the Arcadian hills, and there accordingly she went by the name of the Hanged One...Every year the virgins sacrificed a young goat to the image by hanging it, because Aspalis was said to have hanged herself. The sacrifice may have been a substitute for hanging an image or a human representative of Artemis. Again, in Rhodes the fair Helen was worshipped under the title of Helen of the Tree...At Hierapolis also the victims were hung on trees before they were burnt. With these Greek and Scandinavian parallels before us we can hardly dismiss as wholly improbable the conjecture that in Phrygia a man-god may have hung year by year on the sacred but fatal tree - (The Golden Bough, 1922)

A Grecian depiction of the triform tree (representing God) and the primal parents Dionysus and Minerva. Curiously, the word tree and the word three are almost identical. In the New Testament's scene at Calvary there is no single triform tree, but three separate "trees," or crosses. Note how the figures point in different directions, not unlike the Templar icon Baphomet. Appropriately, the male god points heavenward while the chthonic female points earthward.

This Babylonian seal was discovered in the nineteenth century by antiquarian and scholar George Smith. It shows the pre-Christian primal parents, serpent, and central tree ostensibly representing God. The date palm is divided according to the 3-4 ratio and is conspicuously phallic. Indeed, as we have previously shown, the first letters of the names of Jehovah and Yahweh - Yod/Iod/Jod - were alphabetical sigils of the phallus and tree trunk. The serpent sits beside the female because it was a feminine initiation symbol. Symbolically speaking the tree is the world ash, the sacred cedar, sycamore, and/or yew, the antetype of the Mosaic burning bush.

In Babylonia the sacred tree was no doubt closely associated with Istar, the divine mother, who was originally not a Semitic, but an Akkadian goddess, and whose cult, together with that of her bridegroom Tammuz, was introduced into Chaldea from Eridu a city which flourished on the shores of the Persian Gulf between 3000 and 4000 B.C.  - J. H. Philpot (The Sacred Tree in Religion and Myth)

That the Akkadians were familiar with the worship of the tree may also be inferred from the fact that their chief god, Ea, was closely associated with the sacred cedar, on whose core his name was supposed to be inscribed - ibid

In these early Sumerian/Akkadian myths we meet Etana, the chosen king, later a demigod, who must find the tree which stands at the center of the earth. This tree is the home of an eagle, who has devoured the young of the serpent who guards the tree. The serpent appeals to the Father god, Shamash, for justice, and Shamash shows the tree how to help the serpent capture the eagle. There exists an early Akkadian seal (ca. 2350 BCE) showing the serpent in human form enthroned with the caduceus emblem behind him and guarding him - R. T. Mason (The Serpent in Myth and Legend)

The Garden of Hesperides with Tree and Serpent

Akkadian tablet with tree, serpent, and primal couple.
Note the tree behind the female who is the true "Tree of Life."

Ningirsu was the Sumerian-Akkadian god of the earth and the plough.
Here he is on his throne being served.

The Akkadian Tree of Life. Note the ithyphallic shape.

A Babylonia seal

The sun god Shamash. Note the sacred tree.

Mexican Tree of Life and primal couple

Note the similarity between the design of the Babylonian tree of life and the female reproductive organs.

The figure of Eve is based upon much older mythology and may be traced back to the ancient Mother Goddess or World Mother and the serpent cults of the pre-Biblical period. Closer examination of the name ‘Eve’ revealed her serpent origins, for the Hebrew for Eve is havvah, meaning ‘mother of all things,’ but also ‘serpent.’ Likewise, the Arabic words for ‘snake,’ ‘life,’ and ‘teaching,’ are closely related to the word or name “Eve’ – Philip Gardiner and Gary Osborn (The Serpent Grail)

The Uraeus is a serpent issuing forth from the forehead of many gods being also an ornament of the royal crowns...The amulet of the serpent head is the symbol of the goddess Isis who is often represented by a serpent – Karel Weinfurter (Man’s Highest Purpose)

Note that the reproductive complex appears like a tree or a woman standing. It can be thought of as one "person" inside another.

One "inside" the other. As the sun is in the sky, the child is within the womb.

   

The oracle at Delphi, Greece. The word delphi means "womb." In ancient times
the oracle was known as Pytho, which was also the name for the seer who gave
predictions at the site. She was the living oracle. The name Pytho denotes the
sacred serpent or python.

The Real Burning Bush

...This Holy Spirit, the Great Mother, is symbolized by a great Tree whose branches spread over the entire world and reach above the heavens. A more beautiful symbol can hardly be conceived. This Tree “has three roots widely remote from each other. The first is amongst the gods; the second among the Giants (the blessed spirits); the third embraces hell" – Valentia Straiton (The Celestial Ship of the North)

Moses at the "burning bush" in dialogue with Jehovah. The alternative rendition of Jehovah is Yahweh, from Yehew, which as we showed comes from yew.

An Irish yew in the grounds of Kenilworth Castle

Berries of the yew - Taxus Baccata. Sweet and succulent
on the outside, deadly poisonous on the inside. Ancient
Irish warriors would often dip arrowheads in the
poisonous concoction made from yew berries.

Numerologically, the first letter of Jehovah - known as yod - equals 1 or 10. In Hebrew yod is conspicuously ithyphallic. The letter is erect and represents the male member. This implicit phallicism is accepted by rabbis and students of Judaism. Jehovah is after all a purely male and consortless entity. His prophets and champions are likewise male. When the symbolism is correctly deciphered and the Druidic roots uncovered, it becomes clear why the mythmongers decided to have Jehovah announce his presence to Moses in the form of a tree, and why in Genesis an enigmatic tree is forbidden to Adam and Eve. In Druidic lore, God is the tree and the tree is God.

The jackal-god Wepwawet was said in the Pyramid Texts to have 'emerged from a tamarisk bush,' while Horus was believed to have come forth from an acacia - (Myths and their Settings)

The idea of the tree-oracle was familiar to other branches of the Semitic race, and is expressed in their common tradition of a tree of knowledge. Several allusions to oracular trees are met with in the Old Testament. That Jehovah should speak to Moses out of the burning-bush, if not to be regarded as a case in point, was at any rate quite in conformity with surrounding tradition, for there is no doubt that the belief in trees as places of divine revelation was very prevalent in Canaan. The famous holy tree near Shechem, called the tree of the soothsayers in Judges 9:37, and the tree or trees of the revealer in Genesis 12:6 and Deuteronomy 11:30, must have been the seat of a Canaanite tree -oracle. The prophetess Deborah gave her responses under a palm near Bethel, which, according to sacred tradition, marked the grave of the nurse of Rachel. And David, when he inquired of the Lord as to the right moment for attacking the Philistines, received the signal in "the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees." The ashra or artificial tree in which the deity was supposed to dwell also appears to have been used by the Canaanites for the purposes of divination - J. H. Philpot (Trees in Religion and Myth, 1897)

Note how the position of the goddess's feet figuratively resemble the labia.

Here we see a detail from Sandro Botticelli's Primavera. In the center of the canvas is the goddess Venus. She is red-haired to distinguish her as the fiery, burning (or burnished) one. Behind her we see sprigs, leaves, and a few trees. The negative space on either side of the goddess has an interesting shape suggesting the female reproductive system. Botticelli is obviously indicating that she is the actual tree of life.

The Triumph of Venus (by the Master of Charles of Durazzo).
Note the womb-shaped vesica or mandorla, tree of life, and sacred grove
of the goddess, and compare the image to the insignia of the Scottish church below.

Here we see the emblem of the Scottish Church. The mound and tree of flame are purely Druidic. The triform roots also denote the Druidic Order. Note how similar the tree is in form to a mushroom. Note also the "vesica pisces" (or mandorla "fish" shape) containing the living or burning tree. This womb symbol represents the goddess and feminine principle. It is the true "holy" place.

Given these facts, and given that we are in a figurative state of mind, we might muse on the matter and declare the so-called "burning bush" to be a simulacra for a sacerdotal priestess, possibly one with red hair.

Details of The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli. Venus or Aphrodite was
often referred to as the long fiery-haired goddess. Interestingly, the crucifixion
of Jesus took place on a hill sacred to Aphrodite.

The Red-Haired "Girl"

The hair-like gills of a mushroom cap

Hair-like gills of a mushroom cap

Madonna of the Pomegranate, by Sandro Botticelli.
Note how the body of Mary and the halo of emanating light
make the form of a mushroom. Clearly, images of apples,
and pomegranates are stand-ins for the Amanita Muscaria.

As the Tarot shows, the High Priestess sits in front of the sacred tree as its guardian and caretaker. In many ancient legends, such as that pertaining to Ishtar, the tree was a symbol for god, her lover. In other versions, Ishtar was, like Isis and Nuith, herself the living tree.

Our Lady of Dry Tree, Petrus Christus

The Burning Bush, by Nicolas Froment. This artist leaves us in
no doubt as to the true identity of the burning bush. He does not
depict a male god in its center, but the
female Mary. Observe also
that the tree is is on a mound. Furthermore, the Virgin appears
to be seated on a grove rather than a single tree. Suggestively, the
term
paradise means "enclosed garden."

Mary Magdalene, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Mary is evidently
the living tree and mushroom. Note the golden cap she stands upon,
and her richly colored and embroidered garment.

Madonna and Child, by Carlo Crivelli.
Note the halo styled to subliminally represent the cap of a Amanita mushroom.
Observe also the striking colors of her garment.

The wrinkled and speckled "skirt" of a dried mushroom.
Its white flecks are often referred to as "warts."

A wart encrusted cap

The Madonna of Humility, by Zanobi Strozzi. Note the large cushion
subtly styled to resemble the red cap of the Amanita Muscaria.

The Madonna, by Giovanni di Pietro.
Note the extraordinary red cape with monogram of Bacchus/Dionysus,
her floral tunic and golden mushroom-cap background.

Venus and Cupid, by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Note the goddesses red hair and mushroom-like headgear. She stands beside
the fruit-laden tree behind which stands a stag connoting Herne, the Aryan god of forests.
She is the living mushroom that appears (grows) in the shade of a tree. Cupid offers her a
honeycomb which (like grapes, figs and berries, etc) serves as a simulacra for the sweet
dish of the forbidden fruit. The artist wants us to regard Venus herself as the forbidden fruit.
He cleverly blurs the metaphors of the woman, tree, and mushroom.

An exquisite frieze on a government building in Stockholm, Sweden. Note that
the goddess and tree are one and the same being. Note also how the solar disk to
which she reaches has been stylized as a rosette. The story of a goddess emerging from or
turning into a tree can be found in the creation stories and myths of several cultures
(the Nymphs of Jupiter, Daphne, Isis, Ishtar, and so on).

The angry god Vajrapani. Note his tree of flame. (It's an old story.)

Vajrapani was the protector of Buddha. He is a very old god.
One of his symbols is the thunderbolt. Some scholars associate
Vajrapani with Aryan god Indra and Grecian hero Hercules.

When all is said and done, these legendary accounts make a great deal more sense than the Book of Genesis which tells us that God eternally condemned and punished Adam and Eve for disobediently eating of a tree's fruit. We are never told why the act was so forbidden and fatal or why a supposedly loving and good God would be so angry and vengeful. We have few answers until we realize that the Bible does not contain God's words, but man's words.

We are told that the prohibition to eat the fruit was issued to Adam before Eve was released from her imprisonment in Adam’s rib...before she became a woman and a wife; and it is not even implied that it was intended to extend to her. Why, then, in the name of God, should such curses be heaped upon her devoted head for eating the fruit when she had not been forbidden to do so? – Joseph Wheless (Bible of Bibles)

And so, given what we now know about the relationship between the female goddess and sacred tree, we might return to the relevant Biblical passages and question whether the term "burning bush" refers obliquely to the female goddess rather than to the male god.

Diana Lucifera, or Hecate, the Greek version of the illumined or "burning" goddess.
She represented resurrection and spiritual understanding.

The Lady of Columbia Pictures Company



The Lady of Columbia and Lady Liberty suggestively resemble
Diana Lucifera, the goddess of light and secret knowledge.

Pope as Diana Lucifera

The Pythonic Oracle of Delphi

The goddess Hecate was known as "the Savior"

Syrian goddess Atargatis, the "Lady Goddess of the Sea,"
is often depicted as a mermaid. She is associated with Canaanite
goddesses Anat, Asherah, and Astarte. Here she is
seen with her symbol, the serpent.

Mary as Diana Lucifera

While we ask this question, we should note what various "informed" artists of the Renaissance and other periods have secretly revealed to us in their canvases. We should also remind ourselves that the name Jehovah is made up of two masculine letters and two feminine letters. Both it, and the term Elohim, are plural words. In fact, the word Jehovah (like Havvah, meaning "Eve") ends with a feminine vowel.

The figure of Eve is based upon much older mythology and may be traced back to the ancient Mother Goddess or World Mother and the serpent cults of the pre-Biblical period. Closer examination of the name ‘Eve’ revealed her serpent origins, for the Hebrew for Eve is havvah, meaning ‘mother of all things,’ but also ‘serpent.’ Likewise, the Arabic words for ‘snake,’ ‘life,’ and ‘teaching,’ are closely related to the word or name “Eve’ – Philip Gardiner and Gary Osborn (The Serpent Grail)

...in the Near East the primordial serpent is described as feminine, and we may suspect that in this region the myth did indeed become a metaphor for the conquest of matriarchy. But its universality suggests that there is yet a deeper, psycho-spiritual meaning behind it - Ariel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson (Mythic Astrology)

The serpent energy is definitely one of the most primeval archetypes and in all ancient cultures was intimately connected with the mysteries of the divine female - Crompton

Then the Female Spiritual Principle came in the Snake Instructor, and it taught them saying..."with death you shall not die" - (The Hypostasis of the Archon)

The Madonna and Child. Note the tree and encircling
human-headed serpent on the right of the canvas.

As we said earlier, the Bible is full of sabean references, as well as vegetal leitmotifs plagiarized from the pagans. One of the best examples of priestly plagiarization and adaption is found in the Gospel of Mark. It is the beautiful account of the anointing of Jesus with priceless spikenard. The anointing, however, was not done by a priest or disciple, but by a woman, and a fallen one at that:

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me - (Mark 14:3-6)

Frederick Sandys' exquisite painting of Mary Magdalene, the anointer of Jesus

In Aramaic, Magdala means "Tower." In this context the surname is an oblique reference to Isis and Nephthys, the goddesses of Egypt. (The headdress of Nephthys was a tower.) However, in Sumerian Magdal means "Shepherd." This is a reference to astrology and Egyptian royalty. The implication is that Mary was a high-born adept. The term Meri was a pseudonym for many Egyptian queens and princesses, such as Meritaten. It meant "beloved," and is a variant of the word myrrh. The jar or alabastron is a symbol of the goddess Ma'at. It is the hieroglyphic for the word "heart." The English variant would be "love."

In some traditions Mary brings myrrh to Jesus, not spikenard. Here we see a mosaic entitled The Myrrh-Bearing Women, from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother in Sicily. Note the strange mushroom shape of the tomb from which Jesus has resurrected.

One of the Magdalene's titles is "Great and Holy Myrrh-Bearer." Jesus was not only presented with myrrh on his day or birth, but was also given myrrh wine to drink minutes before expiring on the cross.

Extracting aromatic resin from myrrh trees.

  

Mary (myrtle or myrrh) anoints Jesus with spikenard (or nard) and sanctifies him. In other words, he becomes the spikenard and becomes one with the natural order represented by the sacerdotal female and/or goddess - the same goddess who appears in Egyptian iconography as the tree.

Mary of Bethany ‘Christ-ened’ Jesus with the Spikenard, an unguent that had very likely, been kept for that occasion, and was an ointment associated with burial rites. Jesus himself remarked of the anointing (Mark 14:8); ‘…she has come a forehand to anoint my body to the burying’. In his mind, at least, it was intended to be a ritual...the ceremony is hardly typical of Judaic practice - Picknett and Prince (Templar Revelation)

Spikenard is a potent plant from which an extremely aromatic resin is extracted. In ancient times it was very rare and expensive and was used ritually. It was frequently employed by women during pregnancy, but had many other properties. The term "nard" (spikenard's original name) comes from an ancient city of that name in Syria and is a variation of narthex, the name for a church lobby where holy water and other sacred objects are often kept. The vegetal symbolism should not surprise us because simple observation shows us that the portals, doorways, spires, domes, and interiors of countless churches, cathedrals, mosques, and synagogues, bear floral motifs, not less the chapel of Rosslyn, Scotland. (Here for more on spikenard.)

Again, we see that the mythmongers simply plagiarized the pagan canon to borrow a well known image that relates not only to marriage, pregnancy, and birth, but spiritual awakening. This kind of appropriation is in evidence from Genesis to Revelation. The beautiful account in Mark lets the educated reader know that the Jesus story predates the advent of Christianity. Despite the Christian context, the story of Mary anointing Jesus with sacred oil harkens back to the age when priest-kings were ritually consecrated by women. Mark's account brings the sacred female and sacred plant together in one setting. Whether it is accounts of Mary Magdalene with her costly spikenard or mourning beneath the cross on Calvary, or whether it is Mary the Madonna with lilies, roses, and fleur-de-lis - in each mythograph there is a subtextual reference to trees and plants. As we said, the myths make more sense when we understand that, symbolically speaking, the sacerdotal woman is the tree or plant. To the pagan mind she (Eve, Mary, Isis, Nuith, or Taurt, etc) was literally the living tree or burning bush.

The Hebrew folkloric collection known as the Haggadah specifically identifies the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge as the fig. The woman’s name became Anglicized as Eve, Hava in Latin, which means “the mother of all”...from the Hebrew Havvah, or "Life," the "Living One...” - Carl A. P. Ruck (Sacred Mushrooms of the Goddess)

The Christians, from the time of the Catacombs, placed two figures on the sides of their principal emblems — not only of the Cross, which is also called "a Tree of Life," but also of the Chrism, the labarum, the rouelle, the Crown, the bunch of Grapes, the Eucharistic Cup, and so forth - Goblet d'Alviella (The Migration of Symbols, 1894)

Luca Signorelli's red-haired Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene. Officially the skull indicates Golgotha,
the "Hill of Skulls" where the crucifixion occurred. Esoterically, it is
added either to indicate hidden messages in the painting or to convey
that the artist was himself a initiate of the secret school.

Mary Magdalene mourning

Mary mourning

Mary at the tomb (in a garden or grove)

The Annunciation, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

A red-haired Mary Magdalene disguised as a male disciple sits at the Last Supper beside Jesus in the seat of honor. Her clothes match those worn by Jesus, and the negative space between the two figures makes the V-like "chalice" that indicates feminine mysteries. It is the symbol of the Grail that exoterically denotes the blood of Christ, but esoterically the bloodline or biological descendants of Jesus. (According to legend the female child of Jesus and Mary Magdalene was named Sarah, from Sarai, meaning "princess." Thus, a royal lineage is suggested.)

In recent times these facts have come to public attention because of popular books such as Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The da Vinci Code, etc. However, some researchers believe it was John the Baptist who was the true messiah, not Jesus. They believe there was factional rivalry between the sects who followed Jesus and John, and they believe that much of the symbolism surrounding Jesus actually belongs to John, the true "Teacher of Righteousness." In any case, we believe the entire Judaic and Christian corpus to be founded on feminine goddess imagery and Irish and Egyptian deities (such as Esus, Horus, Osiris, Isis, and so on). The feminine imagery that crops up in Christianity (as in Leonardo's painting above and in references to the various Marys), obliquely references goddesses of antiquity such as Isis, Ishtar, Sophia, Taurt, Nuith, Danu, Brigit, and the other female deities associated with the moon and night sky. In other words, the iconography of religion is ultimately astrological as well as natural and spiritual. (For more on the controversy between Jesus and John, refer to the books Templar Revelation and Masks of Christ, by Picknett and Prince.)

So there were four categories of missionary proselytizing the Empire: the Jewish version, Paul and those following his “revealed” form, others who also added a Hellenistic twist, and John the Baptist’s followers. It was a busy, chaotic, and heady mix, all inspired by those events that had taken place a few in a short few years in a far-flung corner of the Empire – Picknett and Prince (Masks of Christ)

We find it most appropriate that in the book and film The da Vinci Code, Professor Langdon tells Sophie, in the basement of Rosslyn Chapel, that she "is the secret." Perhaps that is the most pertinent line in the entire book.

Achilles, the archetypal hero.
Described as red-headed, his name allegedly means "sorrowful nation"
or "sorrowful world." However, the word Illes connotes "rulers,"
"eternals," or "gods." In Sanskrit Illa means "serpent," as in "eel."

Boudica, the Celtic Queen of the Iceni.
Greek historian Dio Cassius described her as "tall and terrifying
in appearance...a great mass of red hair...over her shoulders." Homer
described the hero Menelaus as being red-haired.

The archetypal red-haired female turns up today in the media
frequently styled as a temptress, succubus, or witch.

When is an ad just an ad?

Johann Godron's red-haired Madonna. Regardless of whether it is the Magdalene or the Virgin Mary, the symbolism is usually consistent. In every case and scenario she is the living "Tree of Life" or "Burning Bush."

The Bardi Altarpiece, by Sandro Botticelli

Annunciation, by Sandro Botticelli

In Christian iconography the lily is closely associated with the Madonna. However, this flower has been the insignia of Upper Egypt for millennia. The papyrus reed symbolized the lands of Lower Egypt. When Horus was born, Isis had to raise him in the swamps in order to hide him from Set who desired his death. This is why we see the lily in close proximity to Mary and Jesus. It symbolizes protection from evil and the care of the mother for her child. The Amenists who respected the goddesses of Earth and sky had their most important temples at Thebes in Upper Egypt. The Atonist Cult were situated primarily in Heliopolis, Avaris, Memphis, Giza, Amarna, and other cities and locales of Lower Egypt and Delta region.

Madonna and Child, by Sandro Botticelli.
We see the apple in the hands of Jesus and his mother. This identifies
Mary with Eve of the Genesis story or, more correctly, the sidereal story.

A red-haired Madonna. Note the berries, the tree and apple.

The Annunciation to Joachim and Anna, by Gaudenzio Ferrari

In Ferrari's rather bizarre painting we see the moment when the Holy Spirit comes onto Mary to conceive Jesus. However, Mary's heart appears to be pierced by a tree trunk that bends toward her. Or alternatively, the artist may be suggesting that the tree grows out of her body. Again, as in so many paintings of Mary, we see her in an enclosed garden or grove.

A red-haired Madonna with garland

Officially it is Jesus who was impaled on the cross. However, as we have emphasized above, this grotesque image is a priestly travesty. It is a mutilated version of a profound sidereal mythograph. Before the rise of Christianity it was the female goddess who personified the tree or cross which in turn represented the astronomical pole and circumpolar zone. The male figure was deliberately interpolated by paternalistic mythmongers. Through their egregious contrivance the male hero assumed the place traditionally reserved for the Sophic female. He sacrificed and bled as she did, and ascended to heaven as she had ascended to the stars millennia before the first stone of the first Christian church was set in place.

It was Rudolf Bultmann, the German Biblical scholar, who cited certain passages in the Gospels...as interpolations of Sophia herself, put into the mouth of Christ - Caitlin Matthews (Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom)

The incarnate god was probably representative of a god or spirit of earth, growth, or vegetation, represented also by a tree – J. A. MacCulloch (The Religion of the Ancient Celts)

The primal Stellar Cult paradise was the place of one tree. The paradise or garden in Amenta (Solar Cult) is the place of two trees...These two trees appear in the Ritual as the tree of Hathor and the tree of Nut; the tree of the Earth and the tree of Heaven; the tree of the North and the tree of the East. The tree of Hathor was the tree of life - Albert Churchward (The Origins and Evolution of Religion)

...certain cuneiform texts seem to prove that the Assyro-Chaldeans were acquainted with a “Tree of Life.” Whether it was thus styled because it served as a simulacrum of the Goddess of Life, or whether it represented this divinity by reason of its own mythical function, the fact is none the less certain, according to Mr. Sayce, that the “divine Lady of Eden” or Edin, was termed in Northern Babylon, before receiving from the Semites the name Bab Ilu, the “Gate of God”…in the old language of the country, Tintirkel, or Dintir-ra, which most Assyriologists translate as “the place of the Tree (or Grove) of Life” – Count Goblet D’Alviella (The Migration of Symbols, 1894)

Ezekiel complained that Jewish women spent much of their time "making hangings for the groves" (Ezek 16:16) - Ernest Busenbark (Symbols, Sex and the Stars)

In short, the Biblical "Jesus" who was born of a woman named Miriam (Mary), given myrrh at this birth and death, anointed with spikenard by another female named Mary, and hung on a cross, is - as a multiplicity of informed artists have figuratively implied - a compromise between the male god and female goddess. After all, Jesus is depicted as distinctly androgynous by most Christian artists. This makes him the equivalent of many gods of antiquity, such as the Babylonian Bel and Canaanite Baal:

Baal was one of two separate deities, at times represented the dual gender of a single androgynous deity. As twins, Baal and Astarte were two aspects of one god, who personified the reproductive energies of nature. Baal, came to represent the sky god, the god of thunder, who fertilizes the goddess, mother earth, to bring forth life...Baal and Astarte generally being represented by a pillar, known as the Asherah in the Bible, a Hebrew word, also common noun, meaning a sacred tree or pole used in the goddess cult - David Livingstone (The Dying God)

It was not until the sixth century that images of Jesus showed him as an adult bearded male. Before that century Jesus was always depicted as an androgynous youth. What is more, the crucifixion of Jesus took place on a hill sacred to the goddess Aphrodite (or Venus) who was often referred to as the fiery-haired goddess.

 

Descent From the Cross, by Hans Memling. The blood is
symbol of the goddess and of the sap of the sacred mushroom.

 Christ on the Cross, by Jan Van Eyck. Note the
 mushroom-shaped tree on the hill to the right of the crucifix.

Christ resurrected from the tomb, by Hans Memling.
The mushroom-shape is unmistakable. The raised arms made
by Mary and Jesus in art, derives from the pose of Egyptian god Shu.

At the Last Supper, Jesus may have broken and distributed the bread and offered his disciples the red wine, but as we saw above, the wine and bread are symbols that represent the sacerdotal female who in turn represents nature. It is mother nature who brings the vines to fruition and distributes the bread made from and containing flour, seeds, yeast, salt, and water. Again, we see the duplicity and cunning of the Judeo-Christian mythmongers. They interpolated their male hero and skewed the mythic motifs to suit their propagandist schemes.

He that reads ecclesiastical history, reads nothing but roguery and folly of bishops and churchmen - Hugo Grotius (1583-1645. Philosopher)

Had the keys to the hieratic writings and the secret Egyptian and Hindu symbolism been known to the Christian Fathers, they would not have allowed a single monument of old to stand unmutilated - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Isis Unveiled)

It has already been stated in “Isis Unveiled” that so far back as in the days of Aristotle, the great Mysteries had already lost their primitive grandeur and solemnity. Their rites had fallen…and they had to a great degree degenerated into mere priestly speculation and had become religious shams - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Occultism)

The Vatican is the storehouse of an immense number of ancient manuscripts. During the long interval of nearly 1,500 years they have been accumulating, from trial after trial, books and manuscripts confiscated from their sentenced victims, to their own profit. The Catholics may plead that the books were generally committed to the flames; that the treatises of famous sorcerers and enchanters perished with their accursed authors. But the Vatican, if it could speak, could tell a different story. It knows too well of the existence of certain closets and rooms, access to which is had but by the very few. It knows that the entrances to these secret hiding-places are so cleverly concealed from sight in the carved frame-work and under the profuse ornamentation of the library-walls, that there have even been Popes who lived and died within the precincts of the palace without ever suspecting their existence. When one has such treasures at hand - original manuscripts, papyri, and books pillaged from the richest libraries; old treatises an magic and alchemy; and records of all the trials for witchcraft, and sentences for the same to rack, stake, and torture, it is mighty easy to write volumes of accusations against the Devil. We affirm on good grounds that there are hundreds of the most valuable works on the occult sciences, which are sentenced to eternal concealment from the public, but are attentively read and studied by the privileged who have access to the Vatican Library - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Magic in the Church)

The Chemycal Wedding

A great mind must be androgynous - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The unification of opposites is known in alchemical parlance as Coniunctionis, Hieros Gamos or Chemycal Wedding. The state has been symbolized by the cross, the cross or square within a circle, the hexagram, the marriage of a king and queen or prince and princess, the vesica pisces or mandorla, the nucleation of four stars, colors, animals, people, or other units, and by the eclipse of the sun and moon. It has also been symbolized by a single open eye. As we mentioned above, the very names Jehovah and Elohim connote androgyny and contain feminine suffixes. However, when it comes to gods and religion, androgyny is a very old story. From the Pyramid Texts, we read:

I am Atum, the creator of the Eldest Gods,
I am he who gave birth to Shu,
I am that great he-she.
I am he who did what seemed good to him,
I took my space in the place of my will.
Mine is the space of those who move along
like those two serpentine circles

Above we see a painting by the Renaissance master Rafael (1483-1520 AD). On either side of the crucifix (astrological pole) we the sun and moon occupying the sky during the day. We also see the four mysterious letters above the head of Jesus - INRI. This cryptic term does not mean "King of the Jews." It is a reference to the four elements. In Hebrew, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth are named: Iammim, Nour, Ruach, and Ibeshah. The initial letters of which are I, N, R, I. (In Latin the initial letters of the names of the elements are also INRI.) The unification of the luminaries represents androgyny, that is, the harmonization of masculine and feminine energies. The actualization of this numinous state was once the supreme goal of yoga, magic, alchemy, and religion.

...if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light - (Matthew 6:22)

When you make the two one, and when you make the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper as the lower, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male is not male and the female not female, and when you make eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then shall you enter the kingdom – (Gospel of Thomas)

If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move Away,' and it will move away – ibid

Make a circle of the Man and Woman, In the circle make a square, Within the square, Make a triangle, And you will have the Philosopher’s Stone – Alchemical Adage

The Tree of Iesa

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his root - (Isaiah 11:1)

In Mantegna's Adoration of the Shepherds we see Joseph leaning against the trunk of an apple tree "sleeping." This is simply a artistic device indicating to the initiated that Joseph is (to express it diplomatically) under the influence of a psychotropic substance. The image of a sleeping prophet reoccurs in an Old Testament prophesy concerning the birth of Jesus. The passage, from chapter eleven in the Book of Isaiah, is remarkably Druidic in its imagery, particularly when we acknowledge that the so-called Jesse was based on the ancient Irish god Esa, Esus or Iesa, antetype for Jesus, Horus, Bacchus, Orpheus, and many other deities.

In the Latin Vulgate the Druidic imagery is more pronounced. Instead of "shoot" the Vulgate has "green twig." In Latin this is virga, a pun on the word "virgin." Again we see that the mythmongers were completely aware of the relationship between the goddess and sacred tree.

 

Tree of Jesse with "salamanders" (serpents) representing fire
and mystical transport. A burning tree indeed. The customary imagery employed to
depict this Biblical passage is consistently floral and serpentine. (When mapping a
family's lineage we still commonly depict the line of generations in the form of a tree.)

The female Virgin as the Tree of Jesse

Mushroom-shaped Tree of Jesse

A mushroom-shaped Tree of Jesse inside the vesica or womb symbol

Mary as the living mushroom with Christ as the cap

The Serpent Priests

Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge (gnosis) and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves" - (Gospel of Thomas)

The Druids spread their traditions and knowledge throughout the world. We find relics of their presence in the Middle and Far East, in Egypt, India, and China. The hallmark of their theology was reverence for nature. To the Arya and Druids, the earth was alive, intelligent, and sacred. One meaning of the word Druid is "Keeper or Servant of Truth." Another is "Door of Gate Keeper." The Gaelic word Doire, refers to the Druids and is the origin of the modern word "door." Of course, we recall the many Megalithic sites and stone monuments, erected at the behest of the Druidic Order, that often resemble portals or doorways.

The Druids referred to themselves as the Naddreds or Adders. These terms, like the Hindu Naga, mean "Serpents." The Druids were, therefore, a Serpent Priesthood. This does not mean anything sinister. It merely means that they were astrologers and members of the Stellar Cult. It also means that they were geomancers, familiar with the subtle energy pathways of the Earth. We saw above how the Caduceus of Hermes represented the healing arts. The term for serpent in Hebrew, nahash, also means "those who know." This symbol of the staff and serpent was erected in the wilderness by Moses after the exodus. This act not only confirms that Moses was of Pharaonic bloodline, but that he was familiar with Druidic ways. In other words, he and his Israelites were Arya. The staff and snake appeared earlier in the Old Testament. In the Book of Exodus Aaron and Moses turn their royal staffs into serpents in front of the Pharaoh to negotiate the release of the Israelites:

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent – (Exodus 7:5-7)

The so-called ”Brazen Serpent” was the standard of a sect known as Naassians. In ancient Hebrew, Nasi referred to a spiritual or religious leader. Moses was an Atonist who understood that the sun had passed from the house of Taurus into that of Aries. He wanted his people to honor that sidereal change. The stories of the erecting of the standard in the "Wilderness" and the conflict on Mount Sinai cryptically conceal astrological phenomena. (See Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs, by Ralph Ellis for more on this subject.)

Of course, it is interesting to find out how important the serpent symbol was to the Western Arya and Druids. This is particularly so, given that snakes as a species are not found in Ireland. It is also significant because we see that the Egyptian priest-kings also showed inordinate reverence for the symbol. The Pharaohs donned the Uraeus serpent coronet as a sign of mastery and enlightenment. (The word pharaoh comes from "pharos nous," meaning "enlightened or fiery mind.")

The priests of the Mysteries were symbolized as a serpent, sometimes called Hydra...The Serpent Kings reigned over the earth. It was these Serpent Kings who founded the Mystery Schools which later appeared as the Egyptian and Brahmin Mysteries...The serpent was their symbol...They were the true Sons of Light, and from them have descended a long line of adepts and initiates - Manly Palmer Hall (The Secret Teachings of All Ages)

It was, however, not physical snakes or reptiles that interested the adepts and caused them to adopt serpentine iconography. It was the stellar antetype that fascinated these astrologically-minded men. It was the giant constellation of Draco that caught their eyes and imagination. It was the protector of the heavens, of Eden, of paradise. It coiled around the pole and kept watch over the sacred apples or stars. It was the circumpolar dragon, the guardian of the imperishable Khus, or everlasting souls that traversed the many demanding trials of the afterlife to enter Amenta in a morally uncorrupted state.

...the Uraeus...is frequently represented as guarding the sacred cypress groves of the Amenti (Sheol) by breathing out fire to destroy any invading or unjustified soul. Hence the origin of the Grecian myth of the Hesperides garden and the fire-breathing dragons which guarded it - William Ricketts Cooper (The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt)

The great constellation of Draco was seen and revered by most of the civilized cultures and tribes of the Northern hemisphere. The Nordics shaped their great boats in the form of Draco the cosmic dragon. The Native American Indians named their tribes after it, and performed many dances to represent celestial movements. The Irish Druids made good use of the symbol on their monuments.

A symbol of sacred knowledge in antiquity was a tree, ever guarded by a serpent, the serpent or dragon of wisdom. The serpent of Hercules was said to guard the golden apples that hung from the pole, the Tree of Life, in the midst of the garden of Hesperides. The serpent that guarded the golden fruit...and the serpent of the Garden of Eden...are the same – E. Valentia Straiton (The Celestial Ship of the North)

...the nuptial tree, round which coils the serpent, is connected with time and with life as a necessary condition; and with knowledge – the knowledge of a scientific priesthood, inheriting records and traditions hoary, perhaps, with the snows of a glacial epoch – Kennersley Lewis

The term Messiah is not a Jewish term. It is an Egyptian pseudonym for the initiated man. Specifically, it signified an adept and astrologer. This is why the serpent becomes the symbol of the adept. It represents Draco in the sky. He is emblazoned with the emblem of his school, so to speak. He wears the symbol of his college and his level of matriculation. The word itself comes from messe or messeh, which referred to the fat of the crocodile. The modern word Mass (as in a Christian "Mass") comes from the same root. The initiate was anointed in the oil from the Nile crocodile. The crocodile god, Sobek or Sebek, represented the astrological or stellar serpent, Draco. And astrology was what Messiahship was originally all about.

The king was not anointed with oil, but with the fat of the crocodile. This is the original source of the word “Messiah.” Messeh was the word for crocodile, in ancient Egypt. The image of the two crocodiles formed the title of his coronation - Moustafa Gadalla (Historical Deception)

The most common Hebrew word for “priest” – kohen — familiar as well-known Jewish surname, comes from a Sumerian title meaning literally, "guardian of semen” - John Marco Allegro

...you have been anointed by the Holy One and have knowledge of all things...the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you; as his chrism teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him - (I John 2:20 and 27)

Sobek, Sebek, or Sobek Ra, the friendly and protecting dragon
or serpent god. He was the prototype for the Holy Spirit. In this
scene he is followed by the goddess Isis. As we have emphasized
throughout our work, the serpent and goddess are closely related
and represent the same sidereal and metaphysical principles.
On the headdresses of both figures, we see the Uraeus serpent.

The anointing of the priest-king or Messiah.

John Allegro leaves us in no doubt of the connections between this "oil" or Chrism and the sacred mushroom. He wrote:

The semen of the fertility god could be seen spurting as rain from heaving during an orgasmic thunderstorm; in concentrated form it appeared in certain powerful plants like the Mandrake, or Holy Plant, identified in many cultures with the sacred fungus, Amanita muscaria, or in the aromatic gums and resins that formed part of the traditional unctions of priests and kings. Such functionaries thus became `holy,' that is separated to the god's service, being smeared, or `anointed' with his divine substance. They were therefore called `the anointed ones,' that is, `messiahs,' or christs, more specifically in the Old Testament, `those anointed with Jehovah/Yahweh' - (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth)

Another name for the polar region was "Meskhen," meaning "womb" or "birthplace." This celestial garden turns up in the Bible as the Garden of Eden. It is the origin of paradise (from para dios or “park of the gods”), and of Zion, which, like the English word zone, signifies a sacred enclosure. It is the antetype upon which Caer Sidi, Arcadia, Aaru, Avalon, Asgard, Emrys, Camelot, Swarga, Elysium, and the Garden of Hesperides were based. To members of the Stellar Cult, the “apples” of Hesperides are the seven everlasting stars of the northern sky. The “apple tree” being the pole.

It is likely that the main cult of the prehistoric people was that of a Mother Goddess who was also the sky - R. T. Rundle Clark (Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt)

The pole had been the tree first planted in the astronomical mythology. It was the tree of Nut, or heaven, in the stellar phase, and being astronomical it was naturally the tree of knowledge – Gerald Massey

Here we see the circumpolar womb or "Meshken" with Taurt (the hippo goddess) and Draco (the crocodile god) protecting the zone.

Taurt's primordial symbol - the Nile river hippopotamus - can be
seen in the very center of the Dendera zodiac.

The circumpolar region is depicted in the center of the ancient zodiac of Dendera dedicated to Hathor and Isis, goddesses who were later personifications of the primordial Taurt.

Taurt is identical with the Irish Tara or Eri.

Here we see Taurt (pronounced TA URT) suckling Pharaoh Heremheb. He partakes of her body, and becomes awakened to higher life. Note the Uraeus serpent that emanates from her body, and the another coiled around the sacred plant or tree, the "Tree of Life." Note the similarity of the plant's blossoms to the fleur-de-lis, that appears on Vatican iconography and British and French heraldry. As we can see from this image, the fleur-de-lis is hardly connected to the Christian Virgin Mary, as most historians erroneously allege. The symbol of the Vulture above Taurt is one of her main totems, and was later converted to the eagle seen on the American seal. Taurt is identical to the Phoenician-Canaanite goddess Astarte or Ashtaroth, the Akkadian Ishtar.

In Palestine, the Bible tells us, they venerated...the simulacra of Ashtaroth, representing this goddess of the fruitful and nourishing earth under the form of a tree - Goblet d'Alviella (The Migration of Symbols, 1894)

Once we have perfected the art of decipherment, and become aware of the Astro-Theological significance of Christian iconography, we enrich our insight and gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism of deception set into motion by the mythmongers. The idioms and traditions, customs and rites, that churchmen instruct their flock to deride and suspiciously avoid, remain in use, but in a manner not observed by the masses under priestly control. Most importantly, the ancient insignias of truth, wisdom, and sanctity have been corrupted and mutilated by the worst breed of deceivers this world has ever had to endure. The present state of the world can be directly traced to this pestilence. Few there are today who know the truth and who take time to uncover and disclose the lies that keep man from understanding his own divinity. Those few who have labored to bring the truth to light have done immeasurable service to humanity.

In Eve’s scene at the tree…nothing is said to indicate that the serpent who appeared and spoke to her was a deity in his own right, who had been revered in the Levant for at least seven thousand years before the composition of the Book of Genesis – Joseph Campbell (Occidental Mythology)

...Nut, the lady of heaven, who presents the fruit of the tree to the man in the garden of the earthly paradise (Papyrus of Ani)...has been converted into the woman that tempted Adam to eat of the tree as the cause of the fallacious fall. The biblical rendering of this representation is a blasphemy against the Ritual, against womankind, against nature, and against knowledge. The goddess Nut, who offers the fruit of the tree of knowledge to the kneeling man, is in shape a woman, and the meaning could be only too easily misread, as it has been in the legend of the first woman who tempted the first man to eat of the forbidden fruit and to cause the loss of paradise – Gerald Massey

We are told that the prohibition to eat the fruit was issued to Adam before Eve was released from her imprisonment in Adam’s rib...before she became a woman and a wife; and it is not even implied that it was intended to extend to her. Why, then, in the name of God, should such curses be heaped upon her devoted head for eating the fruit when she had not been forbidden to do so? – Joseph Wheless (Bible of Bibles)

We now know what the so-called "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" refers to. Given the preposterousness of the Genesis account, we conclude that the forbidden fruit was certainly not fruit, and that the tree was not a tree. Originally, before the skewing took place, the tree was the celestial polar axis; the “World Tree” of the universal garden that stretched between heaven and hell. Its fruits were the stars of the circumpolar region. The guarding serpent was Draco. It was this mystery school of the heavens that was not meant to be approached by the uninitiated. It was the telestrion of the stars that was off limits. It was astrology that had the power to intellectually and spiritually transform ordinary men and women.

Porphyry holds that the Egyptians know of no other gods "but the Planets and those Stars that fill up the Zodiack" - Jan Assmann (Moses the Egyptian)

From these stories of the stars originated the angels of the Jews, the genii of the Arabs, the heroes of the Greeks, and the saints of the Romish Church - W. Winwood Reade (The Veil of Isis)

We can now read the following Biblical passage and know for certain what it refers to:

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God – (Revelation 2:7)

The Circle and Serpent

No country in Europe is so associated with the Serpent as Ireland, and none has so many myths and legends connected with the same. As that creature has furnished so many religious stories in the East, and as the ancient faiths of Asia and Egypt abound in references to it, we may reasonably look for some remote similarity in the ideas of worship between Orientals and the sons of Erin – James Bonwick (Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions)

Irish Druids referred to themselves as Naddreds or Adders. Their god Herne holds the serpent and ring, representing Draco and the circumpolar enclosure. Their great monuments (from the Hebrides to Scotland, from Wales to Cornwall) feature the serpent symbol over and over again. The Egyptians anointed priests of the highest level with the oil of the "serpent," and crowned their kings with the Uraeus or "good serpent," representing the celestial protector. Clearly, the unbiased investigator cannot doubt that serpentine symbols and rites link Western adepts to their Eastern counterparts. It links the Druids to the Amenists.

It is singular to find a white race spoken of in the ancient monuments. Dr. Brugsch, the learned German, notices the word Tam-hou or white men. As it occurs on tablets dated 2,500 years before Christ, it is puzzling to indicate the people. Brugsch traces them to Libya. Champollion recognized in the Tamh’ou a type of European ancestry. M. Deveria remarks upon hieroglyphics recording the fact that Horus, the god, leading and guiding a white race. As there are still many Celtic monuments in the north of Africa, over many hundreds of miles, he contends for the existence of an original Celtic people in Egypt, or, in modern language, that the Welsh and Irish were once in Egypt – James Bonwick (Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, 1878)

Nobody knows just who these blue-eyed, fair-skinned people were, or even where they came from...Anthropologically, they were termed Caucasians…These people, Elliot Smith concluded, were more than intelligent enough to accomplish the amazing building feats that the modern world marvels at on the banks of the Nile – Gerald O’Farrell (The Tutankhamun Deception)

It is stated on a parchment found in a brick wall in the foundations of Denderah at the time of King Pepi: “The Great Pyramid was built by the followers of Horus;” the Stellar Cult people were the followers of Horus in the same sense as the Christians are the followers of Christ...The Architect who drew the plans was Nu-er-nub-ari, “the Keeper of the Secrets” – Albert Churchward (The Origins and Evolution of Religion)

The forest god Herne was doorkeeper and guide of those who moved between the physical and non-physical dimensions. Known as Cernunnos or Nikor, he was the antetype of Hermes, Thoth, and Mercury. This means that the Caduceus of Hermes, Brazen Standard of Moses and the Nassians, and the Uraeus coronets of the Egyptian Pharaohs, originate in the Western hemisphere.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee - (Job 12:7-8)  

In Herne's hands are the sabean symbols for the constellation Draco and the circumpolar region. In the esoteric traditions and lore of the Druids and Amenists (of the Stellar Cult), this region, in which the star never rise or set, was known by many names, such as Eden, Garden of Hesperides, Paradise, Aaru, Avalon, Camelot, etc. In other words, these terms do not represent an earthy location, but a heavenly one on which earthy gardens, groves, and civic centers and precincts were based.

In many and far-severed countries, horns became the symbols of sovereign power. The corona or crown, that still encircles the brows of European monarchs, seems remotely to be derived from the emblem of might adopted by Kronos, or Saturn...The first regal crown appears to have been only a band, in which the horns were set. From the idea of power contained in the "horn," even subordinate rulers seem to have worn a circlet adorned with a single horn, in token of their derived authority - Alexander Hislop (The Two Babylons)

The giant constellation of Draco, the heavenly dragon or serpent, could be seen by people in the northern hemisphere. Under the coils of Draco we see the Bear, or Ursa Minor, which is, with Ursa Major, one of the most important constellations in the northern sky.

The stars of Ursa Minor were circumpolar. They showed the seven in a group who never could be drowned by the deluge of darkness. The waters did not reach them, nor so the seven in the Greater Bear, the seven that were not circumpolar stars - Gerald Massey

The Bear's annual movement forms a cross or "swastika" in the heavens. This is why the cross and swastika are common symbols throughout the lands of the northern hemisphere. When we see images of a cross and serpent, we know that reference is being made to astrology and Astro-Theology.

What the sun is at the center of the solar system, the pole-star had been at the center of the stellar universe in the most ancient astronomy – Gerald Massey

Draco coils around Polaris, the pole star and polar region, known in ancient times as Eden. Of course, over time the position of the stars change, and this goes for the everlasting stars of the northern sky. Their movement is very gradual. When a new star becomes the pole star, or when another star newly appears over the horizon, the mythos changes. This means that the symbolism associated with a certain star or constellation alters over time. (See our book Astro-Theology and Sidereal Mythology, for more on the symbolism of the circumpolar region.)

…The outer darkness is a great serpent, the tail of which is in his mouth, and it is outside the whole world, and surroundeth the whole world: in it there are many places of punishment, and it containeth twelve halls – Egyptian Passage (from E. A. Wallis Budge’s The Gods of the Egyptians, vol. 1)

Sobek, the crocodile god, protects the souls of the wise and good who have ascended to heaven. They are the Khus or everlasting stars that never set below the horizon. Draco, the good serpent (or Agathodaemon) was the antetype of the so-called "Holy Spirit" now symbolized by a dove. As we have seen, in the predynastic period, Draco was identified not with a serpent but with Taurt. In other words, the Egyptians saw no difference between the astrological serpent and the goddess. Undoubtedly, the Irish Druids also saw no difference between them, and also used the symbols interchangeably. Over time, the serpent was rendered as the child of son of the goddess.  (Here for more information.)

The male Holy Spirit is a product of Latin grammar - spiritus is masculine - and of early Christian mistrust of female deities...Conception by a male principle is illogical and this is the only instance of its occurrence in all Latin literature - Robert Graves (The White Goddess)

…it was the Serpent of Wisdom that first offered the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge for the Enlightenment of Mankind; whether this be Egyptian, Akkadian, or Gnostic, it is the Good Serpent. And as Guardian of the Tree set in Heaven it was the Good Serpent, or intelligent Dragon, as keeper of the treasures of Astral knowledge. It was the later Theology, Persian and Hebrew, that gave the character of the Evil One to the Serpent of Wisdom, and perverted the original meaning, both of the temptation and the Tempter who protected the Tree; which has been supplemented by the theology of the Vitriol-throwers who have scarified and blasted the face of nature on earth, and defiled and degraded the starry Intelligencers in heaven – Gerald Massey (The Hebrew and Other Creations Fundamentally Explained)

From the Christian myth cycle we know that the Holy Spirit is a pseudonym of the Goddess. Heracleon and Ptolemy tell us that the dove symbolizes “Sophia, the Mother above.” The dove was a widespread symbol of the goddess in the ancient world and was adopted by the Christians as symbol of Mary. Christians of the Ophite school teach that at his baptism “Christ and Sophia, the one enfolding the other, descended upon Jesus and he became Jesus Christ - Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Goddess)

Had not the ancient creeds been speedily obliterated, it would have been found impossible to preach the Christian religion as a new Dispensation, or the direct Revelation from God the Father, through God the Sun, and under the influence of God the Holy Ghost - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

 

Stellar goddesses and solar child protected by the cosmic serpent representing Draco

The sun god Ra, crowned by the heavenly Uraeus.

The serpent coronet represents the Holy Spirit.

As in Ireland, the serpent was the symbol of royalty and spiritual wisdom. Like the Druids of the West, the pharaohs were priest-kings. Their various initiatory rites have been sorely misinterpreted and misunderstood to this day.

The word Uraeus comes from ouro meaning "kingly." In other words, the serpent was the king and the king was the "wise serpent." We find the concept of the kingly serpent in Britain under the appellation Pendragon, meaning "Head" or "Chief Dragon." We must remember however, that the winged serpent was the antetype for the so-called Holy Spirit. The princes and kings who employed the serpent symbol are, therefore, to be considered "enlightened" or "Christed" men.

The worship of the serpent was therefore universal - George Smith (Gentile Nations)

...the serpent was the most ancient of the heathen gods - J. B. Deane (Worship of the Serpent)

The twin guardian serpents and solar beetle.

The heavenly circle and cross.

Christ in the sky. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last.
In other words, he is great circle or period of rotation.

The terms Alpha and Omega, implying "first and last," are attributed to Jesus. But we are rarely given an explanation for what these terms truly pertain to. In fact, the terms refer to the uroboric circumpolar zone. They might also refer to other astrological circuits, such as that of Draco, or the sun's passage through the twelve signs, or the larger "Platonic" year lasting 25,920 years. The Greek letters for Alpha and Omega are similar in form to the Blade and Chalice, which represent the masculine and feminine hemispheres of consciousness. (Here for more.)

The Transfiguration of Christ as described in Matthew 17.
After his transfiguration, Christ is not only identified with the sun,
but with the pole star. He has risen to the empyrean, as an everlasting Khus.

Here we see Michelangelo's rendition of the temptation in the garden. However, we must bear in mind that the Garden of Eden is neither a Jewish leitmotif or a Christian one. It is a myth found in the creation legends of many ancient peoples, such as the Assyrians, Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. It was, however, not a physical location on Earth, but a celestial garden in the heavens. Specifically, it was the circumpolar region containing the everlasting stars, known as the "Khus." Jewish and Christian mythmongers simply plagiarized the story of the garden, tree, serpent, and goddess, and adapted these motifs to fit their own propagandist purposes. The key elements of the original unadulterated sidereal story were completely skewed. Instead of preaching reverence for nature, the Book of Genesis has the evil tempter use the forbidden fruit to waylay Adam and Eve. It has the primal parents sin against God who angrily expels them from the paradisiacal garden. Of course, it is not God who has damned man, but the priests who have created this monstrosity and work in his name. They are the ones with a great deal to lose should men and women discover the truth about what has been hidden from them.

...certain cuneiform texts seem to prove that the Assyro-Chaldęans were acquainted with a "Tree of Life." Whether it was thus styled because it served as a simulacrum of the Goddess of Life, or whether it represented this divinity by reason of its own mythical function, the fact is none the less certain, according to Mr. Sayce, that the "divine Lady of Eden," or Edin, was termed in Northern Babylonia "the goddess of the Tree of Life," and Babylon, before receiving from the Semites the name of Bab Ilu, "Gate of God," was called, in the old language of the country, Tin-tir-kī, or Dintir-ra, which most Assyriologists translate as "the place of the Tree (or Grove) of Life" - Goblet d'Alviella (The Migration of Symbols, 1894)

On the true meaning of the two Edenic trees, Gerald Massey wrote:

The two trees in the Garden of Eden can be accounted for upon Egyptian ground, but on no other; one being the tree of the pole in the stellar mythos, the other the tree of life or of dawn in the garden eastward. The two typical trees are recognizable as Egyptian in the Book of the Dead. In one chapter (97th) they are called the two divine sycamores of heaven and earth. The sycamore of heaven is identified as the tree of Nut. It stands in the “lake of equipoise,” which is at the celestial pole. The tree of earth is the tree of Hathor and of dawn. Atum-Ra, the solar god, is also described as coming forth from betwixt the two trees...The tree of earth, or Hathor, and the tree of heaven, or Nut, were brought on together and united in the tree of burial for the mummy. Wherever it was possible the Egyptian coffin was made from wood of the sycamore tree, the khat-en-ankhu, or tree of life, so that the dead might be taken in the embrace of the mother of life, who was represented by the tree – (Ancient Egypt: Light of the World)

The Mystic Wheel of the Vision of Ezekiel, by Fra Angelico.
The wheel with its twelve divisions is blatantly zodiacal.

Mosaic and dome in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.
Few visitors get to see this patently zodiacal dome. The area
is repeatedly closed to the public.

A zodiac of twelve signs found in an ancient unearthed Jewish synagogue.

The giant ceiling mosaic by Antonio Barluzzi, in the Church of the Flagellation, Jerusalem.
Note the stars studded amid the circlet of thorns.

It should be clear now that Christian art is replete with cryptic references to the circumpolar zone and other zodiacal phenomena.

Adoration of the Shepherds, by Domenico Ghirlandaio

In the painting above, observe the shape of the Madonna's cloak on the ground. She is literally in the center of a zodiacal ring, as is the infant Jesus. We see the two pillars with floral motifs, and how Joseph - in the center of the canvas - is curiously shown peering upward as if contemplating the sky.

The Circumpolar Lady

The circumpolar region or zone is symbolized by a circle of light,
flames, or stars. Some circular megalithic sites represent earthly versions of the zone.

Shiva Nataraj doing the cosmic dance.

The Irish triskelion..

Images or descriptions of walled or fenced gardens or groves are often cryptic references to the circumpolar region, that was the original "garden of Eden."

The stellar mother Taurt in her sacred circular precinct. She is surrounded
by animals representing various circumpolar constellations and stars.
We also see the trees representing the polar axis.

Here we see the stellar mother Taurt or Nuith (Mary) in her circumpolar
 enclosure attended by the lion and unicorn, representing the signs of Leo
and Cancer. These animals are also seen on royal heraldry. Note the lunar crescents
on the pennant. The moon and the unicorn of Cancer represent the mother.

St. John on his "island" writing the Book of Revelations.

The unicorn symbolizes the astrological sign of Cancer, which is the
most northerly sign. The fence around the animal has twelve posts representing
the signs of the zodiac. The tree within the fence represents the celestial pole or axis.

A floor mosaic in the Vatican with the term Stella Matutina, referring to the Heavenly Virgin, or, more correctly Stellar Mother, not Mary, but Isis or Taurt. (The term "virgin" simply emphasized independence and autonomy.) The circle inside the Chapel represents the circumpolar zone as well as the zodiac.

...the Holy Virgin is repeatedly invoked in the Romish liturgy as the Queen of Heaven - W. Winwood Reade (The Veil of Isis)

Modern sculpture subliminally representing the
circumpolar lady in Belfast Northern Ireland.

Astrological mosaic in the Vatican

Now, finally, we can re-examine the design of the Oval Office and the astrologically-shaped rugs that have appeared therein. Obviously, an oval shape connotes an egg or, analogously, the female and her physical and heavenly womb. (The ancient Hindus, for example, symbolized all creation as a cosmic egg or anda.) Men and women walk about in a "city" or womb, and the politicians administrate from within their womblike precincts.

An Oval Office rug featuring stars within the circumpolar zone.

We can also re-examine the famous Seal found on the one dollar note and other state emblems. Above the Eagle's head is the symbol for the circumpolar zone. Within the circle of clouds there are thirteen five-pointed stars. These in turn form a fourteenth star made of six sides. It is the so-called "Star of David" or, more correctly, of Aton and his commanders - the "Davids" or "Dividers." The Eagle itself represents the constellation Aquila, near Scorpio. In the past, the winged totem of the Federal United States was a Phoenix, an animal that was reputedly half bird, half serpent.

Draco and the circumpolar zone.

As we can see, the symbols of the ancient Arya have been appropriated and adapted by some very cunning, although ultimately unworthy, religious and political despots. Sadly, the symbols, emblems, numbers, colors, and zoomorphic totems, that are sidereal in origin, are now to be found on products, corporate logos, and national decals. Their true sabean meanings and significance is deliberately kept from the masses of mankind who, due to ignorance and identification with their imperious masters, remain spiritually comatose and under complete mental control.

Men have been trained to prefer ignorance to learning, and have chosen to be driven mad and wild by faith, rather than to be instructed, enlightened and improved by reason and philosophy - Rev. Robert Taylor (The Devil's Pulpit)

Astrologically, the Masonic "G" signifies the circumpolar region and Draco the protecting serpent. The serpentine attribution is more obvious when the letter is rendered in lower case - as "g." The Princes of Light - known as the Gaonim - were from their inception adept astrologers. They are the Levites who became keepers of the Aryan symbolic archive. Although the image bears a six-pointed star and appears "Jewish," it is in fact an astrological sigil. The twin arches represent the spring and autumn equinoxes. The arch in turn represents the passage of the sun through the six signs of the northern sky (April to September).

...the serpent is uraeus is simply the phonetic of the letter g - William Ricketts Cooper (The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt)

On either side of George Washington, observe how the coiling serpents around the two pillars/poles/trees have become less conspicuous floral wreaths. We see that the symbols for the serpent, tree, and vine, are interchangeable. The Masonic compass and rule connote the Chalice and Blade, the symbols for the feminine and masculine sexual energies. The emblem is on the Masonic apron covering the genital area, suggesting androgyny. The Templar icon known as Baphomet also represents androgyny. In Washington DC there is a statue of George Washington in the pose of the Templar icon. The fusion of opposites was and is a major esoteric theme in societies such as the Freemasons and Rosicrucians.
 

Stellar motifs are common in Masonry.

Note the Masonic G and between the two trees.

The obelisk has been stylized as the phallus of the
male god, and also as the unicorn's horn.

Obelisks that stand in plazas and squares such as St. Peter's are phallic pointers to the circumpolar circle in the heavens. This is why, as in the case of Rome, we find the obelisk in the center of a large civic circle, and, in the case of Washington DC, an "Oval Office" near to a tall phallic obelisk.

...the unicorn's single exalted horn represents "the upper pole" which reaches from the king directly up to the zenith, to the hottest point attained by the sun. The unicorn's horn in Egyptian architecture is the obelisk - Robert Graves

As said, the points we make concerning the Astro-Theological interpretation of scripture is corroborated by an observation of Christian art. A simple but frequently employed device is to have a character or two peering upward into the heavens. The expressions of these characters inform us to "look up! The secrets are in the stars."

Adoration of the Shepherds, by by Domenico Ghirlandaio.
 Note the twin columns and portal or doorway.

A mosaic

Saints, by Piero Della Francesca. In Gaelic the word for "saint"
(niamh) is akin to the word "heavens" (neamh).

John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci. The entire story of Jesus
being baptized by John is Astro-Theological. (See Astro-Theology
and Sidereal Mythology
, for more on this.)

A detail from The Oberried Altarpiece, by Hans Holbein the Younger

Felling the Tree of Life

A careful attention to the history of the world for the last eighteen hundred years has shown me, that the priests of all religions have practiced fraud to forward their objects...I cannot forget that the priests of every age have protected, as ours do now protect, impostures, and that in every age numerous examples of pious fraud may be found...Magic is pretty nearly over, but fraud seldom throve better - Godfrey Higgins (Anacalypsis)

The word Nephilim is thought to mean "fallen ones," or "those who fell from heaven to earth." However, a secondary meaning of the strange term is "those who cause a fall." Yes, the so-called "fallen angels" are fellers. They were the mighty men of renown, the Anakim or Titans who lived long but corrupt lives. They caused moral declination and spiritual arrestation and those under their control lost their virtue. Some scholars believe the term Nephilim relates to demonic extraterrestrial "archons" while others believe it refers to earthly princes. In any case, be they kings or fallen angels, we can take the word to denote a coterie of sorcerers with power to corrupt, pervert, and pollute.

Rulers of this kind are sure to have a corrupting influence on large groups and even on entire nations. Their infection may contaminate a world, and perhaps they and their descendants are capable of controlling the thoughts and emotions of millions. Although it is not a pleasant possibility to consider, we have to face the fact that beings wielding such power could certainly make a truth seem like a lie. Moreover, we must face the fact that the masters of subterfuge and inversion, the proverbial wolves in sheep's clothing, can expertly conceal their identities.

Look everywhere, look everywhere, and you will see the priests reeking with gore. They have converted popular and happy nations into deserts, and have made our beautiful world into a slaughter house drenched with blood and tears - W. Winwood Reade

With this in mind we pose some important questions. We ask, who rules our world today? Who has subtly controlled the hearts and minds of millions of men and women, and enjoyed centuries of earthly dominion? Who has robbed man of his sanity and reason and seduced him into murdering his own soul? Who has succeeded in turning men into guilt-ridden, self-hating, world-denying, god and devil-fearing slaves? Who has denigrated women and animals, darkness, silence, and inwardness? Who has filled the world with blustering extroverts, fanatics, ignoramuses, mass murderers, tyrants, and psychopaths? Who has rewarded the bringers of death and disorder and condemned every sane healer, inventor, and peace maker?

The Christian Church has left a legacy, a world view, that permeates every aspect of Western society, both secular and religious. It is a legacy that fosters sexism, racism, the intolerance of difference, and the desecration of the natural environment…Christianity has helped to create a society in which people are alienated not only from each other but also from the divine – Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of Christian History)

The story of the Roman Church is quite different and not a pleasant one to dwell upon. She made her advance through the medium of intrigue, war, fire and sword, persecution, torture, confiscations, and death, the exemplification of force and intolerance. By such means she gained control and increase in power and the Irish Church missionaries were gradually forced to withdraw from the continent. It was only by such forcible means that she could make gains against the Irish Church whose representatives surpassed hers in every field of peaceful endeavor...in learning, the sciences, philosophy and spiritual culture – Conor MacDari (The Bible: An Irish Book)

Bearing in mind the catalog of crimes committed by the Christian Church, and other ministers of the world's perverse religions, we pose another important question:

How did this...

...become this?

Well, in previous sections we saw that the sacerdotal female of ancient civilizations and goddess figure of mythology were intimately connected with certain sacred trees and plants. We saw that the Sophic female is the veritable burnished or bright one, the burning tree through which the voice of "god" (or more correctly goddess) speaks. We learned that in many cases the Tree of Life works as a symbol for the poles of the Earth and celestial sphere. In short, it can be said that the sacerdotal female - the Tree of Life or Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - and symbol of the serpent, are to all intents and purposes indistinguishable. Sidereally and mythologically they represent the same phenomena.

The ancient Germans called their World-tree the Irmensul, i.e., "Heaven-pillar." Grimm speaks of its close relationship with the Norse Yggdrasil, and lends his high authority to the view that it was simply a mythical expression of the idea of the world's axis - William F. Warren (Paradise Found)

We have provided examples to demonstrate how the sidereal motifs of ancient cults were appropriated and adapted to suit the needs of a misogynist and profoundly phallocentric priesthood that has ruled the world for centuries. It goes without saying that the feminine garb worn by Christian priests and clergy, as well as the innumerable goddess symbols employed by the Church, were not incorporated to express adoration or venerate the female spirit and feminine mode of expression. On the contrary, their incorporation represents a wholesale desecration of the female sex and feminine principle. The male priest adorns himself in the garb of the priestess to symbolize conquest over her and her kind, not to represent spiritual androgyny. The priest has pillaged her holy garb and, symbolically speaking, has raped her body in order to assume the power he covets but despises.

Kneeling before the sacred vagina

We have come to accept the catalog of wreck and ruin perpetrated by early Christians on the pagan world's shrines, temples, statuary, and libraries. We are less inclined to contemplate the desecration that occurred to the iconography of pagan traditions. As the nineteenth century author W. Winwood Reade said: "The simplicity of men, and the cunning of their priests has destroyed or corrupted all the religions of the world."

Baron Avro Manhattan addressed the matter of scandalous priestly intrigue and wrote:

Pagan temples were either closed, transformed into Christian shrines or demolished. Their properties were summarily added to the Church’s patrimony. The wealth of sundry religions were mercilessly expropriated, their clergy dismissed or persecuted, when not civilly or even physically obliterated – (Vatican Billions)

Author Helen Ellerbe also commented on the violent and relentless campaign of eradication. In her fine book entitled The Dark Side of Christian History, she wrote:

After Christians had spent years destroying books and libraries, St. John Chrysostom, the pre-eminent Greek Father of the Church, proudly declared, “Every trace of the old philosophy and literature of the ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth”

Ironically, even the destroyers of the ancient elders admitted that their victims were high-minded and deeply knowledgeable about the mysteries of being. As the writings of Julius Caesar reveal, the Druids of Britain and Western Europe were men of the highest spiritual level:

As one of their leading dogmas, they include this: that souls are not annihilated, but pass after death from one body to another, and they hold that by this teaching, men are much encouraged to valor, through disregarding the fear of death. They also discuss and impart to their young many things concerning the heavenly bodies and their movements, the size of the world and our earth, natural sciences, and the influence and power of the immortal gods – (Gallic Wars)

Caesar's words were corroborated by those of historian Ammianus Marscellus who wrote:

The Druids are men of penetrating and subtle spirit, and acquired the highest renown by their speculations, which were at once subtle and profound. Both Caesar and Mela plainly intimate that they were conversant with most sublime speculations in geometry and in measuring the magnitude of the earth

W. Winwood Reade went on to say:

It can easily be proved that the science of astronomy was not unknown to the Druids. One of their temples in the island of Lewis in the Hebrides, bears evident signs of their skill in the science. Every stone in the temple is placed astronomically. The circle consists of twelve equidistant obelisks denoting the twelve signs of the zodiac. The four cardinal points of the compass are marked by lines of obelisks running out from the circle, and at each point subdivided into four more. The range of obelisks from north, and exactly facing the south is double, being two parallel rows each consisting of nineteen stones - (The Veil of Isis)

The overt patritism that distinguishes the doctrines of Judaism and Christianity  can be discerned far back in history. It was particularly conspicuous during the eighteenth dynasty, during the advent of Akhenaton's brand of monotheism. However, there are patristic expressions in religion before Akhenaton's time. When we see images of Akhenaton and his father Tuthmosis III with distended stomachs to impersonate pregnancy, we are not seeing an homage to female sexuality. On the contrary, we are seeing a rejection of it. The hermaphrodite negates the separate presence and role of the female. She has been figuratively and mythologically displaced as wife, mother, priestess, and queen. Akhenaton and Tuthmosis assume for themselves the sexual traits that position the female close to the level of the gods. They assume a form that dispossesses the female and symbolizes their ability to reproduce without her. Symbolically, the Pharaoh becomes a god and a goddess. Ultimately, to the average monotheist there is only the male god. The goddess is marginalized and the symbols of her overthrown suzerainty are flagrantly appropriated and skewed to fit the patristic brand of theology.

Akhenaton walks upright in procession with his body bathed in the rays of the sun. He bears the classic ankh and was signs, representing life and governance...What is most striking is that the drawing centers of the person of the Pharaoh in an advanced stage of pregnancy!...A similar interpretation is given to the earlier festival of Akhenaton's father. In a pair of torsos carved from basalt in full relief, Amenhotep III is presented "with his abdomen distended like that of a pregnant woman." An explanatory text clarifies the figure's underlying theology: "The king can create by himself" - Professor Thomas L. Thompson (The Messiah Myth)

Akhenaton worshiping Aton-Adonai-Jehovah.

Atonism alive and well.

As preposterous as it is, the male hermaphrodite concocted by the mythmongers eventually usurped the place of the sacerdotal female. She remains beside the sacred tree in the garden, yes, but as a temptress and servant of evil. A male Jesus was interpolated and placed on the cross, in the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane. He is entitled the "First and Last." However, the "Alpha and Omega" is not Jesus or for that matter Jehovah. It is the mother of heaven and Earth, the matriarch who gives birth to men and women and stands as a symbol of nature's everlasting bounty, who is the true "Alpha and Omega," the beginning and end, first and last. Clearly, therefore, we see that the entire corpus of the ancients was radically mutilated by the mythmongers. The travesty began in earnest during the rise of monotheism and rose to its paternalistic peak in Athens of the fourth century BC and subsequently during and after the rise of Christianity in Rome.

The priests who were illegitimate preservers of the knowledge of the Druids and Arya, knew about the spiritual significance of the goddesses they emasculated and dethroned. They knew women give birth to men and that it is not the other way around. Therefore, sexually speaking, women are inarguably higher up the ontological ladder than men. In other words, woman creates as the gods create. Woman is closer to the divine than man. Over the centuries, men have become infected by subconscious envy towards women, and the priests are for the most part the worst afflicted specimens. They have disfigured the mythographs and denigrated nature and the feminine principle because they regard women as rivals. They have built a world full of ithyphallic towers to permanently imprison her suppressed and conquered spirit.

Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee...But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into his mind? So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day – (Jeremiah 44:17)

Ezekiel complained that Jewish women spent much of their time “making hangings for the groves” (Ezek 16:16) – Ernest Busenbark (Symbols, Sex and the Stars)

A worship of the powers of fertility which includes all plant and animal life is broad enough to be sound and healthy but as man's attention centers more and more on his own humanity, such a worship is an obvious source of danger and disease - Jane Ellen Harrison

The earliest societies gave special importance to the mother and thus to woman in general. The Hebraic tradition, in which woman’s status was diminished and god became a solitary male warrior or shepherd, and in the Islamic religion which it inspired, were both conceived by nomads used to the dryness of the desert. And the female divinity undoubtedly sank to her lowest position during the period when Rome forced its empire to accept both its patriarchal regime and its amazingly sterile religious formalism, part of which survived in early Christianity – Jean Markale (The Celts)

According to the Talmud a service can take place in the Synagogue only if ten persons are present, which number ensures the presence of God in the assembly. Drach explains however that these persons must all be men. “If then there were nine men and a million women there could be no assembly, for the reason that women are nothing” – (From Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, by Nesta Webster)

Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life – St. Peter (Gospel of Thomas)

Woman! You are the gateway of the devil…because of you  of God had to die – Tertullian (Church Father, 160–220 AD)

The propagandists never admit that before their hegemony women enjoyed prominent social status and considerable spiritual prestige. Certain passages and tropes in the Bible's Song of Solomon, and a few oblique references to Mary Magdalene and the Madonna, allude to this lost power. However, to really know what was what, we must not trust the words of official historians and clergymen. We must dig deeper: 

...a Celtic woman had rights and power even Cleopatra might have envied – Philip Freeman (The Philosopher and the Druids)

Goddesses permeated Ireland. Mountain, rivers, valleys, wells, all testified to her presence. Around the eleventh century, Ireland became known predominately as Eire, a name derived from the Goddess Eriu, one of the triple Goddesses: Eriu, Banba, and Fotla...Eriu makes it clear that anyone wishing to enter Ireland would have to revere the goddesses if they wished to prosper and be fruitful – Mary Condren (The Serpent and the Goddess)

Up to the last the Babylonian woman, in her own name, could enter into partnership with others, could buy and sell, lend and borrow, could appear as plaintiff and witness in a court of law, could even bequeath her property as she wished – A. H. Sayce (Babylonians and Assyrians, Life and Customs)

The Egyptian women were entrusted with the civilization. The woman (princess), and not the male, was the legal heir to the throne, and the man she chose to marry, would become the ruling Pharaoh - Moustafa Gadalla (Historical Deception)

A man may not become a king without a queen, and a queen must be of the royal blood – A. M. Hocart (Kingship)

Because of their spiritual pathology, the priests have manifested a perverse religion to guide them and a preposterous god to rule them. It was only a matter of time before their god was elevated above all others and made lord of the world. It did not matter that Destruction is their god's middle name.

Pagan temples were either closed, transformed into Christian shrines, or demolished. Their properties were summarily added to the Church’s patrimony. The wealth of sundry religions was mercilessly expropriated, their clergy dismissed or persecuted, when not civilly or even physically obliterated – Avro Manhattan (Vatican Billions)

Mythologist Robert Graves understood the kind of travesty that occurred in antiquity. He summed up the entire predicament in the following passage from his book The White Goddess:

The curse in Genesis on the woman, that she should be at enmity with the serpent, is obviously misplaced: it must refer to the ancient rivalry decreed between the sacred king Adam and the Serpent for the favors of the Goddess

In his masterly work entitled The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, author  Leonard Shlain investigated the reasons for male animosity toward the female and the feminine. Remarking on how old the problem is, he discussed the abnormality of a religion based entirely on exaggerated masculinity:

…the Babylonians elevated to the supreme position a god who had conquered and then mutilated a goddess

Patriarchy is the dominant theme is Hammurabi’s code. Sons are commanded to obey their fathers, not the mothers

…monotheism does not mirror human society. Humans are first and foremost social animals. A deity who was alone, not by choice but because there were no other companions for Him, was a concept without parallel in human society. The god of the Israelites did not have a wife, a son, a daughter, or a mother

His point is echoed by Jan Assmann in his book Moses the Egyptian. Reviewing the theories of the great Sigmund Freud (who pondered on the metaphysical abnormalities of monotheism), Assmann writes:

Freud wanted to discover the roots of anti-Semitism. Strikingly enough, his question was not on how the Gentiles, or the Christians, or the Germans came to hate the Jews, but "how the Jew had become what he is and why he has attracted this undying hatred." Freud traced this religion to the father. Not the Jew but monotheism had attracted this undying hatred...Akhenaton is shown to be a figure both of enlightenment and intolerant despotism, forcing his universal monotheism onto his people with violence and persecution...It is this hatred brought about by Akhenaton's revolution that informs the Judeophobic texts of antiquity

Psychologist Esther Harding linked the rise of pathological religion to the hegemony of the Solar Cults:

The rise of masculine power and of patriarchal society probably started when man began to accumulate personal, against communal, property and found that his personal strength and prowess could increase his personal possessions. This change in secular power coincided with the rise of sun worship under a male priesthood...Sun worship was usually introduced and established by an edict of a military dictator, as happened in Babylon and Egypt, and probably other countries as well - (Woman's Mysteries)

Harding's findings are corroborated by those of scholar and mythologist Joseph Campbell. He wrote:

Toward the close of the Age of Bronze and, more strongly, with the dawn of the Age of Iron...the old cosmology and mythologies of the goddess mother were radically transformed, reinterpreted, and in large measure even suppressed, by those suddenly intrusive patriarchal warrior tribesmen whose traditions have come down to us chiefly in the Old and New Testaments and in the myths of Greece - (Occidental Mythology)

Leonard Shlain agreed and described the problem as follows:

Around 1500 BC there were hundreds of goddess-based sects enveloping the Mediterranean basin. By the fifth century AD they had almost been completely eradicated, by which time women were also prohibited from conducting a single major Western sacrament

In the introduction of Shlain's book Love, Sex and Matriarchy, editor Rainer Funk writes:

Six thousand years ago patriarchy triumphed over women, and society became organized on the basis of male domination. Women became the property of men and were obliged to be grateful to them for every concession

Literary critic and art historian Camille Paglia addressed the vexatious relationship between the male and female and the so-called Apollonian and Dionysian modes of expression. In her definitive work entitled Sexual Peronae, she wrote:

Every fetus becomes female unless steeped in male hormone, produced by a signal from the testes. Before birth, therefore, a male is already beyond the female. But to be beyond is to be exiled from the center of life. Men know they are sexual exiles. They wander the earth seeking satisfaction, craving and despising, never content

Apparently the perversion that Paglia and Shlain allude to started a long time ago. It existed in Babylon, in Egypt during the eighteenth dynasty, in Athens during the Periclean Age, and in Rome after the rise of Christianity. Historian and author Eva C. Keuls explains:

Until the end of the Periclean age, 430 BC, a pronounced phallicism prevailed in classical Athens, which we will take to mean a combination of male supremacy and the cult of power and violence - (Reign of the Phallus)

According to Keuls, Athena (the patron of Athens) was markedly defeminized as a goddess figure:

Athena's birth was as sexless as her mature personality. She was the result of one of Zeus' great feats of male pregnancy and parturition, the other being Dionysus. Athena was born, highly symbolically, from her father's head - that is, out of patriarchal male fantasy. In the most common version of her birth, when Zeus' cerebral pregnancy had come to term, the divine craftsman Hephaestus split Zeus' head open with an ax and out sprang Athena, fully equipped with the armor of militarism

Speaking specifically about male envy, Keuls writes:

The governing principle of a phallocracy is that the human race is essentially male, the female being a mere adjunct, unfortunately required for the purpose of reproduction

The Greek mythological obsession with monstrous women and with gynecocracy (literally "women's rule," but more accurately "women getting out of hand") reflects man's irrational fear of the female and his feelings of guilt...The Jungian psychologist Erich Neumann wrote the most influential book on the worship of the female in the man's prehistoric past, The Great Mother...Neumann sees phallic worship as a reaction in man's development, an attempt to free himself from bondage to the female development, and attempt to free himself from bondage to the female principle and canonize the penis as the fundamental generator of life

According to Keuls, the writings of many Athenian philosophers and playwrights are saturated with animosity toward females. These scholarly works clearly demonstrate the hostile attitudes of men during the so-called Classical Age:

In Aristophanes' Lysistrata, a male fantasy about a women's uprising, the heroine of the play tells a magistrate to be quiet. He answers in indignation, "You accursed creature. Should I be quiet for you, who wears the veil around your head?" - (Reign of the Phallus)

The Greek literary texts constantly reiterate the commandment to women not to be seen or heard, thus reducing them to a state of nonbeing - ibid

The perceptive points made by Keuls are corroborated by Bradley A. T. Paske. In Rape and Ritual, he discusses the problem of male envy:

Depreciation and loathing of woman, her body and by extension the feminine, has been expressed repeatedly by our intellectual and psychological forefathers

The Christian Church continued the policy of suppression and ruthlessly and speedily eradicated the significance of nature and the goddess who represented nature. In the Book of Genesis that was, along with rest of the Judaic Pentateuch, subsequently added to the New Testament, we see Adam's first wife, Lilith, portrayed as a demon, and we find his second wife, Eve, cast as a disobedient temptress. In the Church's perverse works, male Adam gives birth to female Eve, as Jehovah had given it to him. In a supreme act of illogical inversion, woman is born of man.

However, as we have shown, although the customs, rites, and traditions of the goddess were officially and publicly suppressed, the Church deliberately incorporated key elements of the goddess tradition into their own iconography and dogma. Of course, the process of misrepresentation and cannibalization started long before the Christian era. We need only look to the Old Testament to find evidence of it. In the following passages from the Book of Isaiah and Book of Exodus, we find blatant examples of theocratic colonization:

The sun will not more be your light by day, nor with the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your God will be your glory. Your Sun will never set again, and your moon will set no more; the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your days of sorrow will end - (Isaiah 60:18-20)

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me - (Exodus 20:1-3)

Historical evidence clearly demonstrates that the role and standing of women in society and in the home radically altered for the worst after the rise of monotheism or, more specifically, after the advent of Solar Cult theology and theocracy. This fact is emphasized by psychologist M. Esther Harding who wrote:

The rise of masculine power and of patriarchal society probably started when man began to accumulate personal, against communal, property and found that his personal strength and prowess could increase his personal possessions. This change in secular power coincided with the rise of sun worship under a male priesthood...Sun worship was usually introduced and established by an edict of a military dictator, as happened in Babylon and Egypt, and probably other countries as well - (Woman's Mysteries)

The matter of conquest by patristic tribes is discussed at length in the works of author Leonard Shlain. In The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, he wrote:

Around 1500 BC there were hundreds of goddess-based sects enveloping the Mediterranean basin. By the fifth century AD they had almost been completely eradicated, by which time women were also prohibited from conducting a single major Western sacrament

Reviewing the discoveries of archeologist Marija Gimbutas, sociologist Theodore Roszak wrote:

In Marija Gimbutas’s influential formulation, it was the Indo-European incursion of warlike Indo-European nomadic tribes, worshippers of masculine sky-gods, that replaced the matricentric cultures of Old Europe with an “androcratic warrior” society and that henceforth claimed all virtues of “civilization” for itself. But before that there had been a “civilization of the goddess” marked by peace and high art. Under the spell of this original version of Gaia, there was even a different kind of “city,” one that honored the Earth and rested lightly upon it - (The Voice of the Earth)

Referring to the discoveries of author Phyllis Chesler, Eva Keuls comments:

Phyllis Chesler cites the myth of Demeter and Kore in the introduction of her well-known book Women and Madness. Considering it a celebration of the mother-daughter relationship, she laments that it ceased with the arrival of monotheism - (Reign of the Phallus)

In short, the god of Jews and Christians, like the gynephobic gods of Babylon, Athens, and Rome, is self-made and self-sustaining. Apparently, he does not require the female to exist or procreate:

It is not the mother who is the parent of the child, although she is so called; she is merely nursemaid to the newly planted fetus. He who mounts is the one who gives birth, she, a stranger to a stranger merely preserves the seed if god does not destroy it…there can be fatherhood without a mother – Aeschylus (Eumenides. Voice of Apollo)

Let a woman not develop her reason, for that would be a terrible thing - Democritus (Greek Philosopher, 460–370 BC)

He who teaches letters to his wife is ill-advised. He's giving additional poison to a horrible snake - (Lines from a play by Meander of Athens)

The culture of the Western world is based on just this kind of spiritual and intellectual perversion. Every element of the present state of decay is traceable to the demented precepts of Judeo-Christian religion. Truly, the tree of life has long been felled and, as William Blake wrote, in the place of the fragrant gardens and groves of truth, we have religion's blackened and bloodied thorns and briars, strangling the reason, passion, and imagination of man.

I went to the Garden of Love,
 And saw what I never had seen:
 A chapel was built in the midst,
 Where I used to play on the green.
 
 And the gates of this chapel were shut,
 And "Thou shalt not" writ over the door;
 So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
 That so many, many sweet flowers bore;
 
 And I saw it was filled with graves,
 And tombstones where flowers should be;
 And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
 Binding with briars my joys and desires.

Conclusion

...The wave of religious terrorism that swept Egypt for twenty years seemed to some Egyptians to herald the end of the world. "If we are alive," one wrote, "then life itself is dead"  - R. A. Gabriel (Jesus the Egyptian)

For two millennia Western man has quiescently and faithfully listened to the chants and hymns, chorals and "Alleluias," and in a perfectly sedated and delusional state has committed atrocities in the name of a religion that arose like a specter from the frenzied flames of war and murder. Bishops have blessed armies as they've trudged off to genocidal conquests and priests have blessed wars that have lasted as long as one hundred years. With their words and deeds, priesthoods of the Western world have confounded man's psyche and turned him into a obsessed, blood crazed savage. Their holy books have denigrated womankind and mutilated the rites and iconography pertaining to Sophic mysteries. Their ideology has turned man from the zodiac, the telestrion of night that was his first church and college. From that heavenly palmyrium, man's attention was trained on depraved images of the cruciform tree and nails of pain, the whips, chains and broken tablets, the serpentine devil, guilt and sin. If he sailed to the West he'd fall off the edge of the world. If he questioned the scriptures, his soul would be damned.

In 356 C. E. Constantinus II ordered the Egyptian temples of Isis-Osiris closed and forbade the use of Egyptian hieroglyphics as a religious language. In 380 C. E. Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the official Roman state religion, and all pagan cults were thereafter forbidden. These edicts were devastating to Egyptian culture and religion, both of which had been preserved over millennia through the Egyptian language and the writing systems of Egyptian priests. In 391 C. E. the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilus, summoned the monks to arms and turned them against the city of Memphis and the great shrine of Serapis, the Serapeum, the main temple of the Osirian-Isis religion. The attack was akin to ordering the destruction of the Vatican. Egyptian priests were massacred in their shrines and in the streets. The ferocity of the violence consumed priests, followers, and the Egyptian intellectual elite of Alexandria, Memphis, and other cities of Egypt who were murdered and their temples and libraries destroyed. The institutional structure of Egyptian religion, then more than four millennia old, was demolished in less than two decades - R. A. Gabriel (Jesus the Egyptian)

Every science was regarded as an outcast, an enemy. Every fact held the creed of the church in scorn. Investigators were enemies in disguise. Thinkers were traitors, and the church exerted its vast power for centuries to prevent the intellectual progress of man. There was no liberty, no education, no philosophy, no science; nothing but credulity, ignorance, and superstition. The world was really under the control of Satan and his agents. The church, for the purpose of increasing her power, exhausted every means to convince the people of the existence of witches, devils, and fiends. In this way the church had every enemy within her power. She simply had to charge him with being a wizard, of holding communication with devils, and the ignorant mob were ready to tear him to pieces - Robert Green Ingersoll (The Great Infidels, 1881)

…the great library at Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, the repository of some of the ancient world’s oldest records, was put to the torch not just once but three times – by Julius Caesar, by a Christian mob, and by an Islamic caliph. Most of the records are deemed to have been destroyed, although it seems that a few later found their way to Byzantium, and others may well have been stored safely elsewhere…the emperor Diocletian then had yet further esoteric works (again of the Egyptians) burned in AD 296, at both Alexandria and Byzantium – John Gordon (Egypt: Child of Atlantis)

...Christian Literalism, now the only legal religion in the Roman Empire, launched a brutal crusade to completely eradicate its old rivals, Christian Gnosticism and ancient Paganism. In an orgy of violence, armies of fanatical Christian Literalists tore down the architectural wonders of the Pagan world. They built infernal bonfires of books containing the spiritual wisdom and scientific knowledge of the ages. They subjected to grisly torture and a painful death philosophers, priestesses, and scientists - anyone who disagreed. They did not stop until they had cut the head off Western culture, leaving it to wander like an amnesiac in an ignorant stupor. They did not stop until they had cut the heart out of Western spirituality, bleeding it dry of its mystical vitality. The corpse of a religion which remained offered nothing but hope of a better afterlife in return for blind belief in its irrational opinions and unquestioning allegiance to power-crazed popes. This tyrannical empire of the soul extended the arm of the state right into the inner sanctum of every individual, denying the right to spiritual autonomy and compelling all to acquiesce or burn - Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Goddess)

Due to the influx of spiritual poison, man's reason has atrophied to such an extent that he now finds it difficult to correctly discern right from wrong, good from bad, truth from falsehood. A study of the human moral predicament tells us that man is not progressing but regressing. He is not modern, but primitive. He is not a lover of order but of chaos. He does not seek freedom, he's scared to death of it. And his "love," for want of a word, is narcissistic and necrotic. It is the "dark secret love" of the poets, and it has turned him from a intimate relationship with the sky and stars, mountains and trees, animals, birds, and winds.

Spiritual ignorance is the mother of all evil. Ignorance will eventuate in death, because those who come from ignorance neither were, nor are, nor shall be - (Gospel of Philip)

Modern man does not stand upright in kingly fashion in the world made for him by his priests. On the contrary, he hangs upside-down in the world and does not see the real. He sees the image and the chimera. He is not sober, he is drunk. He is not well, he is poisoned and infected by the same psychic pathogens that have corrupted his misleaders. He acts and speaks as they act and speak, and covets whatever they enjoy and covet. He and they are not sane, they are unsane, not rising but falling. Inwardly, man is not satiated, he is starving. Spiritually naked, he craves to make his empty existence better, brighter, faster, freer, healthier, and cleaner. And at that at least he has succeeded. His starless, treeless, loveless world sparkles with its own morbid beauty. It is exquisite in its intricacy and sterile efficiency; scintillating in its obscene complexity.

...the priestly account of Creation is but kindergarten cosmology, yet we have accepted it for two thousand years. This is because Western man is incapable of abstract thought...In his metaphysical incompetency Western man has put the stamp of his own ego on everything, including the Creator - Lloyd Graham (Myths and Deceptions of the Bible)

Man is haunted by the fact that he cannot emulate or rival the negentopic power nature has over his body and mind. He covets that power and wants it for himself, but it won't come into his hands. Therefore, he has become obsessed with technological advancement, thinking it will bring him nearer to the stars and the elusive sanctum he believes lies at the end of his fitful search. He is wrong, because nothing he contrives to do in the name of vanity will bring him nearer to the stars and luminaries. It will only drive him closer to the vile perfidious demon-god enthroned at the center of his psychosis. It will only lead him and his world to the unhallowed portals of oblivion. 

Loud is the claim of the nineteenth century to preeminence in civilization over the ancients, and still more clamorous that of the churches and their sycophants that Christianity has redeemed the world from barbarism and idolatry. How little both are warranted…The light of Christianity has only served to show how much more hypocrisy and vice its teachings have begotten in the world since its advent, and how immensely superior were the ancients over us in every point of honor – Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Man can't own the stars in heaven, so he makes them here on Earth from plastic and stone. He feverishly decimates forests while he blithely marvels at the columns that hold up the Parthenon and Lincoln Memorial. The civilization in ruins around him was created by men who did not think of a leaf as something that merely hung from a branch. They did not think of stars as something outside and far away. They did not consider nature to be their private backyard or as something to be controlled, owned, probed, and pillaged. Their religion did not tell them that man came into the world from elsewhere. It told them that man was a part of nature, not apart from it. It told them that man's existence was similar in kind to that of trees, clouds, and river water, and that if a man peered deeply into nature, into the world around him, he would find his own reflection gazing back at him.

...All the glories of Nature - the imposing silence of the night; the aroma of the flowers; the pale rays of the moon through the green tufts of the trees; the stars, flowers of fire strewn over the sky; the glow-worms, flowers of fire strewn over the grass - all these have been created to render the Adept worthy of NATURE, at that moment when for the first time she exclaims to Man, "I am yours," - words formed of a divine perfume from the soul, which, breathed forth, ascends to heaven together with the perfume of the flowers - the one moment of his life when he is king, when he is God; the moment which he expiates and pays for with a whole life of bitter regrets. That moment - it is the price of all our miseries - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Man is the world and the world is man. Nature is the self and the self is nature. A natural religion is a human religion. Consciousness, of one sort or another, is shared by everything living here and now in the creation, from the neutron star to the subatomic particle. Nothing is dead. Nothing is inanimate. A thing lives, and has an everlasting relationship with everything else. Man is not alone in the creation and does not require remote invisible voices behind the clouds or the dark places beneath the Earth to instruct or waylay him. Man is his own student and teacher and his prestigious school is nature, the House of Life. Nothing is missing in the life of a man who has nature as his mentor.

Come to the center of the earth and there you will find the Philosopher's Stone - Alchemical Adage

…thinking which does not start from and continue in close relation to its foundations in the physical universe must lead to falsity - Alvin Boyd Kuhn

The Druids and Arya knew they were born from the womb of nature, not from somewhere beyond or outside it. They knew their life-force came from nature and that death simply meant a return to the sacred bosom of the universal mother. And they knew they must return to her eternal bower pure and unsodden, not corrupted and unsane. They, like Moses, realized that the day will come when the earthy sandals will be removed in the presence of the inextinguishable burning tree.

Moses heard Jehovah describe himself as the god of his "fathers." Yes, but what about the mother? What about the goddess? Why is she nowhere to be found in Judaism and Christianity? Are men born only from men? Are men afraid of the power that can never be theirs? Has that fear turned the world into a hellish vale of iron and tears?

It took an incredible decadence for man to accept materialistic theories such as those of Lamarch and Darwin! All traces of confidence in divine harmony and of legitimate pride must have vanished in our lack of reaction against a science that lowers us to the brute state of so-called prehistoric man or anthropoid. Those who steer humanity toward such stultification are madmen or criminals - R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz (Egyptian Miracle)

Man did not lose his connection with the divine. It was taken from him - stolen in the night by clever, ruthless, but demented men who desired power over man and nature. Under their perverse dominion, both man and nature have been victimized, humiliated, and cheated. Nevertheless, nature is going nowhere, because although nature can be abused and altered, it cannot be destroyed. It is humankind that is endangered and in need of constant warning. Human beings are the ones who need to be strictly reminded of the need for moral and spiritual immunity and psychic sovereignty. Man needs to remember that he and nature are one and that a crime against nature is a crime against his own being, his own soul. The violation of a single plant or tree, flower or animal, is a sin against nature - and against the spirit of man - nature's privileged but dreadfully neglectful child.

Here - Gnostic Media Interview on the Trees of Life


 

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Appendix One
Druidic Symbolism in Hollywood

The truth about the origins of Judeo-Christianity can be found in the Bible's testaments by unbiased and objective researchers. The truth has also been cryptically disclosed down through the ages in artwork, and today that truth is disclosed in certain popular movies. Let us take a moment and analyze the hidden information contained in the epics Ben Hur, Solomon and Sheba, and The Ten Commandments:
 

  Towards the end of Ben Hur, the makers of the epic film begin letting their viewers subtextually know the truth about the life of Jesus. Ben Hur ("High Man" or "High Sun") is on his way home after making a painful visit to his mother and sister who have been confined to a leper colony. He comes across a great multitude gathering to hear Jesus speaking from the "mount." Now curiously, all the way through the film, the topography has been typically arid, that is, barren and sandy, as one would expect to find in most parts of Palestine, Galilee, and Judea. Suddenly, in this scene, for no apparent reason, the appearance of the topography dramatically changes. We see green fields filled with leafy trees and a flowing river from which Ben stoops to quench his thirst. The hills are of a type found in Britain, not Judea or Galilee.
 
 

  Suddenly, a strange man appears. He recognizes Ben and walks eagerly toward him. He is Balthazar, one of the three wise men or Magi who attended the birth of Jesus. He has come to hear Jesus give his sermon on the mount. However, the actor chosen to play the apostle has the appearance of a Westerner, in fact, a Druid. He is dressed in purple and white (the colors of the Druids) and he carries a staff. He walks through the verdant land, across the bridge toward the mount and although we are not consciously aware of it, we are in merry ol' England, not Palestine. We are at Silbury Hill or Glastonbury Tor, not the Sea of Galilee. That, at least, is what the makers of the movie symbolically imply. Interestingly, Ben Hur's cloak has the appearance of Irish or Scottish tartan. In this context, the scene is uncannily similar to one that occurs toward the end of the recent blockbuster movie The da Vinci Code, when Sophie (Sophia/Mary) stands in the grounds of Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (on the Rose Line) wrapped in Scottish tartan. Let us recall that Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaton, gave her name to the land of Scotland. Let us understand also that popular movies and dramas about ciphers, secret codes, and lost relics, etc, are themselves cryptic. They contain valuable intimations and implications that go unseen and undeciphered by the vast majority of viewers.
 
 
  When Jesus appears upon the mount to address the multitude, we see that the makers of the film have chosen an actor with red hair. Jesus is also wearing white, the color designated for the High Druid. Again, we notice the English-type countryside, not at all typical of the Middle East, and not typical of that shown throughout the film until these scenes.
 
 
  The whistle-blowing dramatically continues with the fascinating scenes that follow after a few minutes. We are taken to Calvary and to the moment when Jesus is executed by the Romans. Again, the topography is distinctly English in appearance. Looking on are eight members of the tribes of Israel. Their headdresses are mushroom-like or even "penis-like." However, what are we being told subtextually about the identity of these bizarre characters? That information is given in the very next scene.
 
 
  The camera moves from the "Israelites" to the figure of Balthazar the Druid. He appears and stands in the shade of a tree containing a beehive, the symbol of the goddess Spes (Roman Elpis), and the astrological sign of Cancer. It is also a symbol of Masonry. Balthazar's caucasian features and attire go consciously unnoticed even though they speak volumes about the true origins of Christianity.
 
 
  Almost immediately, Balthazar is joined by Ben Hur and they mournfully watch as Jesus is crucified. The sequence obliquely lets us know that the death of Jesus is occurring in Britain, and that the Israelites or "Jews" are Druids.
 
 
  When the camera shows the scene of the crucifixion, we see Jesus on his cross framed against the sky. Of course, this is pure astro-theology. The cross is indeed to be found in a certain house or quadrant of the heavens.

The term Ben is Gaelic, meaning "hill" or "high place." The term Hur is Egyptian, meaning "Horus" (or Sun). Ben Hur, therefore, does not mean "Son of Hur," but "Son of the Sun," or even "High Sun," a reference to Aton. Hur can also be a variant of the Germanic Herr, meaning "man."

The cross in heaven

 

Another whistle-blowing epic is the United Artists spectacular Solomon and Sheba, with Yul Brenner and George Sanders. Let's take close look at a few scenes in this fascinating movie:
 

  In an early scene we see King Saul on his death bed, speaking to his son Solomon. On Solomon's armor we see the symbol of the sun. He is about to inherit the mantle from his father, who, sidereally speaking, is the old and dying sun. (Solomon's brother and rival is Adonijah, a name that is a combination of Adon or Aton, and Jah for Jehovah/Yahweh. The name Solomon is clearly a reference to the sun and moon. It is, however, a variant of the Latin word Sol and the Egyptian word Amon. The latter word is the name of the most ancient sun god. He was worshiped almost exclusively by Egyptian high priests and royals. Atum Ra was worshiped publically.)
 
 
  In the following scenes we find that Saul (Sol) has regained enough strength to address his people concerning his legacy. He wishes to let them know about Solomon's succession to the throne of Israel. But what's this? We find that the actor chosen to depict Saul is the same actor (Finlay Currie) who played Balthazar in Ben Hur (and also St. Peter in Quo Vadis.) Apparently, the makers of the film could not find a more Anglo-Saxon looking actor. And we may wonder why that is. What is more, he is yet again dressed in the colors of the Druids. In fact, he wears the colors of each division of the Druidic Order. Blue signified the Ovates or Poets. (We get the words faith, fate, and Vatican from this Irish word denoting this particular class of Druid.) Purple designated the main body of the Druidic Order, and white was the color reserved for the High Druid.
 
 
  While King Saul (Sol) addresses the chiefs of the twelve tribes, he directs his daughter to display the emblems of the twelve tribes, that also appear on the so-called Hoshen Breastplate. However, underneath the twelve diadems, we see what appears to be either Nordic runes or Irish Ogham script. There is really nothing surprising about this when we realize that every name of the twelve tribes is of Irish origin. The movie-makers obviously know what the masses are never supposed to know about their religion and god. Interestingly, the diadems of the Hoshen Breastplate were also known as the Urim and Thummim and, like the runes and Ogham, were used for divining. (Here for more.)
 
 

  After Saul dies and Solomon prepares to become the king of Israel, he retires to meditate and commune with Jehovah. The scenes that follow are truly revealing. We see Solomon entering a Druidic megalithic site with three giant ithyphallic stones. Around these mist-covered obelisks are four trees. Compare these three monoliths to those from a typical Druidic cromlech in Ireland:
 
 

  As King Solomon meditates, he hears the voice of Jehovah (Yahweh). The scene is reminiscent of the moment when Moses heard God addressing him at the so-called "burning bush." In this scene we see the sacred tree, the great megalithic stones, found throughout Britain (as well as in Middle Eastern countries), and we see the sacred flame representing Brigit, the ancient Irish goddess of the groves. Masonic author Albert Churchward wrote of the meaning of the three totemic pylons held sacred by many world cultures:

The Druids in their temples or lodges had the same, that is, the Adytum was supported by three stones or pillars…The Maya in Mexico and the Incas in South America had also the “Three Pillars” to represent symbolically the triune God or their Trinity – Albert Churchward (Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man, 1910)

 The Three Pillars as now used in our lodges, called Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, and situated in the east, south and west…We venture to say that very few of our brethren are acquainted with the origin, which dates back to the Stellar Mythos, and then represented Horus, Shu and Set - ibid

 

Many important revelations are made throughout the epic film The Ten Commandments. On of the most important scenes involves a startling revelation concerning the physiognomy of Egyptian royalty...

  After Moses is expelled from Egypt, he takes refuge with a shepherd by the name of Jethro - referred to as a priest of Midian - who lived near Mount Sinai. His eldest daughter Zipporah (meaning "bird") falls in love with Moses, and seeking to ingratiate herself with him and appear attractive in his eyes, remarks enviously but poetically on the beauty and elegance of Egyptian women. The movie's dialogue is as follows: "She was very beautiful wasn't she, this woman of Egypt who left her scar upon your heart? Her skin was as white as curd, her eyes green as the cedars of Lebanon, her lips tamarisk honey...like the breast of a dove, her arms were soft, and the wine of love was in her veins..." Clearly, the movie moguls know something most don't about the racial origins of the Pharaohs.

This particular scene cryptically reveals many important facts about Moses and the Israelites, as does the Old Testament account itself. For example, the name Jethro means "His Excellence," and thereby implies royalty. Additionally, Mount Sinai is a simulacra for the Great Pyramid at Giza and the "Wilderness" connotes a period of ritual asceticism undergone by high priests of Egypt. Most importantly, the term "shepherd" is a indirect reference to the Hyksos dynasty of Pharaohs to which Moses (or more correctly Akhenaton) belonged.

Interestingly, the Quran deems Jethro to have been a member of the "Druze" people. This term, believed to mean anything from "those who read" to "mountain dweller," is probably derived from a term denoting the ancient Druids – the true “learned ones”- who frequented the Middle East in ages past.

 

Another vital revelation in the movie concerns the royal identity of the so-called Israelites or Jews...

 

In the early scenes of the film, we see Moses' Egyptian mother, a princess, coming across the basket of reeds in which Moses lies. When she removes the infant, her maid notices that the child has been wrapped in a piece of cloth from a Levite cloak. She remarks on its presence and asks why it was around the child. The princess responds as follows: "If my son is covered in it, it is a royal robe." Her servant then exclaims: "Royal?...It's the Levite cloth of a Hebrew slave!" She continues to say: "I will not see you make this son of slaves a prince of Egypt." The princess confidently responds by saying: "...we'll see...you will see him walk with his head among the eagles." During this revealing scene, the princess is also heard to say: "I am the Pharaoh's daughter and my son shall be reared in my house as Prince of the Two Lands." In this particular scene we have been told, albeit obliquely, that Moses and the Levites were pharaonic. They were royalty in the land of Egypt, not oppressed slaves. We have been told that Moses was a "eagle," that is, a high-ranking priest-king of Egypt.
 

 
 


 

Our god is made to take all forms as a “consuming fire,” a “still small voice,” and all through his early worship until the reign of Hezekiah he was worshipped as the serpent Nehushtan which Moses had made in the wilderness (II Kings 18:4) – John Martin Woolsey (Symbolic Mythology)

Above Right: In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, we read that Moses erected a "Brazen Standard" in the wilderness, after leaving Egypt with the "Chosen People." This act clearly defines Moses as a Pharaoh, or of Pharaonic descent. His Israelites were a powerful dynasty within Egypt, whose desecration and megalomania compelled the people to rise up against them. When Moses and Aaron come to negotiate with the Pharaoh, we also hear of rods and snakes. As we will see later, the staff and snake represents, among other things, the polar axis of the earth.

Left: The serpent standard was a symbol of Egyptian priest-kings. The Uraeus wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. In the scene mentioned above, from the Ten Commandments, the princess said that she will raise Moses to be a Prince of the Two Lands. In other words, Moses was a Serpent Prince.

Another movie with equally important subtextual references to the true origins of Judeo-Christianity is the 1951 epic Quo Vadis. The title, meaning "where are you going," was derived from a passage in the Acts of Peter in the New Testament.

  In one of the most important scenes, Saint Peter, while walking on the Appian Way outside Rome, hears the voice of Jesus instructing him to return to Rome and attend to the plight of the Israelites who are being persecuted by the Emperor Nero. However, in the movie's rendition of the Biblical passage, St. Paul hears the voice of Jesus coming from a tree. What is more, the actor playing Saint Peter is yet again Findlay Currie. And yet again he is attired in the fashion of a High Druid. The dialogue in this scene is as follows: "These tree-tops there, do they not bend with the wind...and that sudden brightness coming...it is the light of the Lord."
 
 
  While kneeling to listen to the voice of Jesus, St. Peter rests his staff, which looks remarkably like an Pharaonic crosier, up against a large oak. This image of the crosier or staff leaning against a tree is a very ancient motif. It was associated with the god Dionysus, known to the Greeks as Bakus or Bacchus.

Tree and staff with masks and pipes of Bacchus. Bacchus or Dionysus was a prototype for the Biblical Jesus.
 
 
  In the movie's closing scenes, the main protagonists travel out of Rome along the Appian Way, and pass the place where St. Peter heard the voice of Jesus. Peter's young companion tells the party: "It was here the Lord spoke to us," to which his female companion, Lygia, replies "then this is a blessed place." (Note Lygia's appearance and red hair of which more will be said later.)
 
 
  The final scene is of St. Peter's staff. He inadvertently left it up against the oak on the Appian Way after hearing the voice of Jesus. Now we see it again with the light of god behind it. However, the staff has sprouted blooms and leaves. In other words, it has become a tree. Were the film makers attempting to emphasize something important about the staff and tree at the very end of their movie? After all, what is the rod or staff that has serpentine vines coiled about it?
 
 

  In another important scene, the hero Marcus Vinicius, Tribune of Rome, rides triumphantly into the great city after returning from successful conquests in the East. He salutes Emperor Nero and we see that he is literally "crowned" with thorns, that is, with laurel leaves. (Here for more information.)
 
 

 

These examples come from a few scenes in a mere four epic films. We could analyze hundreds of movies in the same manner to gain profound insight into the truth about the pagan origins of Judeo-Christianity. For instance, in the movie Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, when the protagonists are seconds away from an encounter with a Jehovah-like god, they are first surrounded by ithyphallic pylons that erupt violently from under the earth to enclose them. These stones appear identical in form to those erected by the ancient worshipers of Priapas, Bel, Cronus, Yahweh, and other Earth gods. Is it just by chance that the movie makers decided to use these time-honored images? We don't believe so.

In the movie, the protagonists finally locate "God" at the very center of the universe, that is, at "Galactic Center." Many nations and races have elaborate myths and legends that pertain to this region of space.

The gods and shaman of the Maya, for example, had to ascend a "tree" to reach the door in the center of the galaxy, whereas in Egyptian myths, the god or hero travels on a barque (boat) to the location. Of course, the phrase "center of the galaxy or universe" may subtextually refer to the circumpolar region. (More on that later.)

 

 

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Appendix Two
Trees of Mind and Hyperspace

 


 


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Important
Research Material

Symbolism of the Halo
http://theartofoneness.blogspot.com/2008/10/halo.html

Johannes Bureas (Connections Between Nordic and Hebrew)
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=244

The Burning Bush
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_bush

John Allegro
http://johnallegro.org/

Allegro's Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
http://johnallegro.org/Allegro-SundayMirror.htm

The Borborites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borborites

Dr. Stephan Borhegyi
http://www.mushroomstone.com/partibreaking.htm

Gnostic Media
http://gnosticmedia.com/

Ambrosia Society
http://www.ambrosiasociety.org/index.html

The Sacred Mushroom (Terence McKenna)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yw2nrHcock

Mary Magdalene in Art
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/davincicode/magdalen-life-art.html

Plant Symbolism in Christian Art
http://arthistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/plant_symbols_in_christian_art

Plant Symbolism and the Virgin Mary
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/madonna-2.shtml

The Great and Holy Myrrh-Bearer
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Mary_Magdalene

Spirit of the Trees
http://www.spirit-of-trees.net/

Magnificent Trees
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/21/10-most-magnificent-trees-in-the-world/

The Ancient Yew
http://www.ancient-yew.org/

The Yew: A History
http://www.whale.to/a/hageneder_b.html

The Yew Tree
http://www.yewshamanism.com/home.html

The Golden Bough (Frazer)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/

Bulfinch's Mythology
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/bulf/

Crown of Thorns
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Thorns

Agony in the Garden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agony_in_the_Garden

The Lost Word
http://www.thelostword.dk/index3.htm

Protoevangelium of James
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoevangelium_of_James

Red Hair
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair

Queen Boadicea (Red Haired Queen)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica

The Red-Haired Tocharians (Toc Aryans)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocharians

Teshub of the Hurrians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teshub

Illuyanka the Serpent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuyanka

The Serpent Vritra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vritra

Pythia and Delphi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia

The Aesir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86sir

Horgalles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horagalles

Masonic Street Geometry (Astana)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc441C-jKd4

Masonic Street Geometry (New York)
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=7828

Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence

Interview with James DeMeo

Important Books

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess - Leonard Shlain
Sex, Time and Power - Leonard Shlain
Saharasia - James DeMeo
Trees in Religion and Myth - J. H. Philpot
The Symbolism of Freemasonry - Albert A. Mackey
The Veil of Isis - W. Winwood Reade
Ancient Egypt: Light of the World - Gerald Massey
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross - John Marco Allegro
T
he Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revealed - John Marco Allegro
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth -
John Marco Allegro
Astrotheology and Shamanism - Jan Irvin
The Holy Mushroom - Jan Irvin
Failed God: Fractured Myth in a Fragile World - J. A. Rush
Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy - Clark Heinrich
The Golden Bough - James George Frazer
Symbols, Sex and the Stars - Ernest Busenbark
The Serpent in Myth and Legend - R. T. Mason
The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt - William Ricketts Cooper
Worship of the Serpent - J. B. Deane
Mythological Astronomy - S. A. Mackey
The Symbolism of Freemasonry - Albert A. Mackey
The Dark Side of Christian History - Helen Ellerbe
Thirty Thousand Gods Before Jehovah - Henry Brinkley Stein
Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity - Samuel Sharpe
The Druids: Priests of the Ancient Celts - Paul Lonigan
Druidism: The Ancient Faith of Britain - Dudley Wright
The Religion of the Ancient Celts - J. A. McCulloch
Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions - James Bonwick
Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought - James Bonwick
A Highland Parish or the History of Fortingall - Alexander Stewart
The Christ - John E. Remsberg
Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions - H. R. Ellis Davidson
Nineveh and its Remains - Henry Austin Layard
Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly Palmer Hall
The Secret Doctrine - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Symbolic Mythology - John Martin Woolsey
Greek Religion - Walter Burkert
Reign of the Phallus - Eva C. Keuls
The Celestial Ship of the North - Valentia Straiton
The Origins and Evolution of Religion - Albert Churchward
Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth - John G. Jackson
Love, Sexuality and Matriarchy - Erich Fromm
Das Mutterrecht - J. J. Bacofen
Morals and Dogma - Albert Pike
The Serpent Grail - Gary Osborn and Philip Gardiner
Bible of Bibles - James Wheless
Mythic Astrology - Ariel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson
The Migration of Symbols - Goblet d'Alviella
Sacred Mushrooms of the Goddess - Carl A. P. Ruck
Masks of Christ - Picknett and Prince
Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom - Caitlin Matthews
Historical Deception - Moustafa Gadalla
The Tutankhamun Deception - Gerald O'Farrell
The Two Babylons - Alexander Hislop
Jesus and the Lost Goddess - Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy
The White Goddess - Robert Graves
The Gods of the Egyptians - E. A. Wallis Budge
Gentile Nations - George Smith
The Devil's Pulpit - Rev. Robert Taylor
The Bible: An Irish Book - Conor MacDari
Vatican Billions - Baron Avro Manhattan
The Messiah Myth - Prof. Thomas L. Thompson
Babylonians and Assyrians, Life and Customs - A. H. Sayce
The Philosopher and the Druids - Philip Freeman
Woman's Mysteries - Esther Harding
Occidental Mythology - Joseph Campbell
Rape and Ritual - Bradley A. T. Paske
Jesus the Egyptian - R. A. Gabriel
The Great Infidels - Robert Green Ingersoll
Egypt: Child of Atlantis - John Gordon
Myths and Deceptions of the Bible - Lloyd Graham
Egyptian Miracle - R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz
The Prose or Younger Edda - Translated by G. W. Dasent

Additional Research Material

Irish Origins of Civilization DVD Series
http://www.originsandoracles.com

Michael Tsarion Interviews on Astro-Theology and Irish Origins
http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/regulars/mtsarion.html

More Interviews and Webstreams
http://www.redicecreations.com/mtsarforum/viewtopic.php?t=19

Chapter Forty One (The Scarlet Thread)
http://www.irishoriginsofcivilization.com/irishoriginsexcerpts/book2_chap41.html

Here - Gnostic Media Interview on the Trees of Life