Messages In This Digest (25 Messages)
- 1a.
- Re: This year's sage harvest From: LadyHawk_Jax
- 2a.
- Good Morning From: Tracy B
- 2b.
- Re: Good Morning From: Guamella Pellegrin
- 2c.
- Re: Good Morning From: Lady Nightshayde
- 3a.
- Re: magick radio From: Jacqueline Rocco
- 4.1.
- Topic Tag From: Lady Nightshayde
- 4.2.
- Re: Topic Tag From: Jenny Gleason
- 5a.
- apologies From: Gary Reese
- 5b.
- Re: apologies From: Guamella Pellegrin
- 5c.
- Re: apologies From: Gary Reese
- 6.
- Mugwort Water From: Lady Nightshayde
- 7a.
- A Spirit Summoning Spell From: Lady Nightshayde
- 8.
- Timecraft: Temporal Spellwork From: Lady Nightshayde
- 9a.
- Daily Wisdom From: Gary Reese
- 10.
- Beliefs From: Gary Reese
- 11.
- Qoute From: Gary Reese
- 12a.
- Positive Thinking/Gary From: Guamella Pellegrin
- 12b.
- Re: Positive Thinking/Gary From: Gary Reese
- 13a.
- Humor--Yoga for Wine Lovers From: Lady Nightshayde
- 13b.
- Re: Humor--Yoga for Wine Lovers From: LadyHawk_Jax
- 14.1.
- Re: Secret Witches Google Blog Stealing 13Witches COntent From: Mari
- 15.
- **Share A Spell Day**, 10/17/2011, 12:00 am From: 13Witches@yahoogroups.com
- 16.
- Topic Tag the sleepy hallow legends From: Jennifer Gleason
- 17.
- Jesus and Mithra From: Leeda
- 18.
- (no subject) From: Edward
Messages
- 1a.
-
Re: This year's sage harvest
Posted by: "LadyHawk_Jax" ladyhawk_jax@yahoo.com ladyhawk_jax
Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:08 am (PDT)
How wonderful!
Love, Light and Abundant Blessings,
LadyHawk
--- On Sat, 10/15/11, queensarcasmo@gmail.com <queensarcasmo@gmail.com > wrote:
I have a white sage patch right by my back door....it's one of the reasons I chose this house
-Stephanie-
.
- 2a.
-
Good Morning
Posted by: "Tracy B" brownie3970@att.net brownie3970@att.net
Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:17 am (PDT)
Good Morning everyone and to you Lady N
Thank you for all the info and to everyone who shares it helps all of us
to grow and to be better at our relationship with the Lady and Lord.
AutumnLMoon
- 2b.
-
Re: Good Morning
Posted by: "Guamella Pellegrin" glpellegrin@yahoo.com glpellegrin
Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:47 am (PDT)
Hello Tracy
Good morning (and afternoon) to you also. I feel the same way that YOU do here. I have been enjoying all the wonderful information and putting it all in my folders for future use. To all of you who have been posting (Lady Nightshayde especially), I so appreciate your hard work and efforts at getting this info to us here, the members. We ALL need a pat on the back sometimes, letting us know that what we do is appreciated.
Misti
_____________________ _________ __
From: Tracy B <brownie3970@att.net >
To: 13Witches@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 9:17 AM
Subject: [13Witches] Good Morning
Good Morning everyone and to you Lady N
Thank you for all the info and to everyone who shares it helps all of us
to grow and to be better at our relationship with the Lady and Lord.
AutumnLMoon
- 2c.
-
Re: Good Morning
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:18 pm (PDT)
Good Morning everyone and to you Lady N
Thank you for all the info and to everyone who shares it helps all of us
to grow and to be better at our relationship with the Lady and Lord.
AutumnLMoon
It is always my pleasure
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
- 3a.
-
Re: magick radio
Posted by: "Jacqueline Rocco" jacquelinerocco@yahoo.com jacquelinerocco
Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:26 am (PDT)
Thanks for sharing~
Blessings
Jackie
_____________________ _________ __
From: Jennifer Gleason <dakotamopar98@yahoo.com >
To: "13Witches@yahoogroups.com " <13Witches@yahoogroups.com >
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 12:49 AM
Subject: [13Witches] magick radio
http://www.magick-radio.com/
Here is a link to a radio show I found online. Its actually very intresting.
BB,
Jenny
- 4.1.
-
Topic Tag
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:11 am (PDT)
It's Topic Tag time. I tag Jenny Gleason. Jenny, you're IT!
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 4.2.
-
Re: Topic Tag
Posted by: "Jenny Gleason" dakotamopar98@yahoo.com dakotamopar98
Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:02 am (PDT)
Ok..ill find something good.. But after work.:-D Bb Jenny.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lady Nightshayde
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 11:11 AM
To: 13Witches@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [13Witches] Topic Tag
It's Topic Tag time. I tag Jenny Gleason. Jenny, you're IT!
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 5a.
-
apologies
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:17 am (PDT)
I apologize to everyone for not posting yesterday. I really needed a day to collect myself. I hope that you will pray for me tomorrow as I havea disability hearing. I really need this. It is tomorrow at 11:00 cst. I realize from past mistakes that I cannot hold everything on my shoulders. I thank you in advance.
Love,
Gae
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae - 5b.
-
Re: apologies
Posted by: "Guamella Pellegrin" glpellegrin@yahoo.com glpellegrin
Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:46 am (PDT)
Gary
I will be doing all that I can for you, sending you positive energies, putting your name on my prayer tree, and also burning a candle for you. Please, if you don't mind, send us an update of what all happened. Know this, though, always ALWAYS think positive thoughts when you are trying to gain some ground in your life. My motto is this: positive thoughts along with positive actions ALWAYS produce positive results. The positivity will draw all good things toward you. The thing is, we just need to be patient for the results to take place, all in good time. As humans, that is the hardest part of it, at least for me.
Sending blessings,
Misti
_____________________ _________ __
From: Gary Reese <hyperreal69@yahoo.com >
To:
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 11:17 AM
Subject: [13Witches] apologies
I apologize to everyone for not posting yesterday. I really needed a day to collect myself. I hope that you will pray for me tomorrow as I havea disability hearing. I really need this. It is tomorrow at 11:00 cst. I realize from past mistakes that I cannot hold everything on my shoulders. I thank you in advance.
Love,
Gae
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
- 5c.
-
Re: apologies
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:55 am (PDT)
Misti,
Thank you for you words of wisdom. I also possily have the best opportuniy in my life coming up. I promised notto tell exactly wha, but it could set me upfor a lifetime. I will tke your advice and noteven let negative thoughts cloud my future.
Huggs,
Gary
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
_____________________ _________ __
From: Guamella Pellegrin <glpellegrin@yahoo.com >
To: "13Witches@yahoogroups.com " <13Witches@yahoogroups.com >
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [13Witches] apologies
Gary
I will be doing all that I can for you, sending you positive energies, putting your name on my prayer tree, and also burning a candle for you. Please, if you don't mind, send us an update of what all happened. Know this, though, always ALWAYS think positive thoughts when you are trying to gain some ground in your life. My motto is this: positive thoughts along with positive actions ALWAYS produce positive results. The positivity will draw all good things toward you. The thing is, we just need to be patient for the results to take place, all in good time. As humans, that is the hardest part of it, at least for me.
Sending blessings,
Misti
_____________________ _________ __
From: Gary Reese <hyperreal69@yahoo.com >
To:
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 11:17 AM
Subject: [13Witches] apologies
I apologize to everyone for not posting yesterday. I really needed a day to collect myself. I hope that you will pray for me tomorrow as I havea disability hearing. I really need this. It is tomorrow at 11:00 cst. I realize from past mistakes that I cannot hold everything on my shoulders. I thank you in advance.
Love,
Gae
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
- 6.
-
Mugwort Water
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:24 am (PDT)
Mugwort Magic
------------------
Mugwort is used for: Clairvoyance, Scrying, and Protection.
Rub this herb on "Magic Mirrors" and "Crystal balls" to strengthen
their powers. Add to Scrying, clairvoyance and divination incenses.
Mugwort Water
Use 3 tablespoons Mugwort to 1\2 gallon spring (or rain) water
to cleanse your "Magical mirrors" crystals and stones.
It is also used in magic as a love-divining herb.
To experience interesting dreams that are said to reveal one's future,
Stuff a pillow with about a pound of Mugwort herb and sleep on it.
by Barbara Morris
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 7a.
-
A Spirit Summoning Spell
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:26 am (PDT)
A Spirit-Summoning Spell
To create an incense portal for summoning the ancestor
spirits from the otherworld, you will need an altar
complete with pictures and items to honor them.
In a strongly protected circle, place lavender,
cinnamon, and wormwood on the coals. Call out only
to benevolent and loving ancestor spirits by saying:
"Blood of my blood, you spirits of love,
Come from below and from above;
Entities loving who wish me well,
Come to this circle when I sound the bell."
Intone (ring) a bell three times and welcome the ancestors'
spirits. Afterwards, ring the bell seven times to send them
back through the portal so you can close your circle.
by Edain McCoy
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 8.
-
Timecraft: Temporal Spellwork
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:15 pm (PDT)
Timecraft: Temporal Spellwork
Time manifests in many different ways. In the workaday world, we experience "clock time," which is presented as an objective means of measuring the unvaried flow of moments. As magical practitioners, we experience time as a flexible medium, which we can sometimes alter according to our needs. The more you understand about time, the easier it will be for you to influence.
The Nature of Time
Physics teaches us about the space-time continuum. This is simply the "area" of the physical world that we inhabit, a broad curve of space and time woven together. The space-time continuum supports our bodies and gives our souls a chance to experience life on the material plane.
However, time is also an illusion--especially linear time. We tend to experience time as a one-way flow with three sections: the past, the present, and the future. This illusion springs from our mortality, which is a journey from birth through life to death (and so forth). From this perspective time "looks like" a line. When a soul is not attached to a body, it can perceive time as an area, not a line-- the soul can move freely, independent of the individual life-lines or history-lines. In this regard, life is a bit like a temporal gravity well. On the Earth, our bodies stick to the Earth, just as our lives stick to a timeline; but in space, our bodies float weightlessly because gravity has different effects there just as our disembodied souls are not bound by linear time. Quantum physics even gives us a hint in this direction, because some of its theories suggest that time flows in both directions.
These features of time help determine how we can manipulate it or move ourselves through it. When we shape our awareness of time, we can shape time itself.
Expanding Time
Time is elastic. It can stretch. This is most noticeable when something boring or embarrassing "seems to take forever." People experience this effect often, but if they don't consider it "real," then they can't take advantage of it. Once you realize that it's a valid experience, you can do it on purpose and use this to your advantage.
When you want to stretch, first decide the sphere. You can create just a subjective bubble, which is ideal for any solitary activity, such as studying, meditating, or sleep. It is much easier to alter time only for yourself. With more experience, you can carry another person (or a few) along for the ride. This is most useful when yo have a conversation that will take longer than the objective time you have available. If you're covering someone else, pay extra attention to the boundaries: you can only affect a small area, so it's best to look for a natural market, such as the walls of a room or edge of a clearing. Remember that you'll be out of phase with consensus reality, so if someone comes looking for you they may not find you.
There are different techniques for stretching time. One relies on its inherent elasticity. You can get a more precise effect (I want to study for three hours, but I only have one on the clock") because you're doing it by hand, and it's easier to let go of quickly. It's also more work to grab time with your mind and stretch it bigger. When you do this, think not just of stretching, but of the feeling you get when time seems to drag; that's what you're aiming to create. Another method is to sidestep our timestream, which is flowing at one rate, and enter another timestream that is flowing at a slower rate. This is basically the opposite of taking a shortcut: taking a longcut. It's less effort, but you need a sense of "when" you are and the rate the comparative stream flows. You step over, walk for a ways, and then step back.
These methods require you to have a sense of time and its layers, and some ability to manipulate it. Not everyone can, but that's okay--there are some other options later.
Contracting Time
Contracting time is essentially the opposite of expanding time. As the saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun! In this case, you want time to fly when you're not having fun, or when you need to be somewhere sooner than ordinary methods will allow.
Much the same concepts apply here as for expanding time. Decide whether you want to affect only yourself, or a small area including other people. Most folks who do temporal magic can handle a car-sized area, which is very useful! If you're contracting time to shorten a trip like that, it helps to put your hands on the vehicle when you cast the bubble; if you find that iron and plastics interfere with your magic, cast it big enough that the car won't touch the bubble edge.
There are multiple ways to work this trick, too. If you're contracting time itself, pull from the inside, don't push from the outside. If you push, it will push back; you want to make it shrink inwards on itself with you at the center. Alternatively, you can take a shortcut. Step aside into a timestream that is flowing faster, which will carry you through the area sooner, and then step back into the consensus timestream.
Bending Time
In addition to being stretched or shrunk, time can also be bent. tie usual application of this is to bend time so that it goes around something. This has two main effects: First, it makes the object last longer than usual, because most of the entropy is also going around it rather than through it. Second, it makes the object harder to find or manipulate from the outside, because the normal flow of time tends to carry things around it rather than let them get right on top of it. So it's similar in some ways to slowing time, but it's also akin to being "outside of time" as discussed below in ritual context.
A related matter is Fey or aerie nature. Faeries--and mortals touched by Fey magic--tend to be "slippery" with regard to time. It's as if the consensus space-time continuum just can't get a firm grip on them. Time is more fluid in Fey places (stone circles, tree rings, etc.) or around Fey people. But it's not necessarily altered in the same way every time--it may seem to run faster or slower, or have other odd effects, and then do something totally different on another occasion. If you know of places that have this effect, you can use their ability to influence timeflow, even if you don't have any of your own. So pay attention when you notice odd things happening with time.
Exiting and Entering Time
pagan rituals typically happen "in a time that is not a time, in a place that is not a place." This is a good way to reduce the chances of interlopers stumbling across your ceremony. It creates a more mystical and spiritual atmosphere. It also facilitates the focusing of energy for various purposes. Departing from and returning to ordinary time are functions of casting the circle.
However, this works a it differently than direct time manipulation, because it's more a side effect of creating sacred space. The gods and the world do the work. So you don't need an affinity for temporal magic per se, just a broader--and more common--ability to manipulate energy and consecrate the area.
The drawback is that you aren't in control of the timeflow, so you don't know exactly what's going to happen. Some rituals seem to take a long time, but after you release the circle only a few minutes have passed on consensus reality. Other rituals seem to take a reasonable amount of time, while hours and hours have passed on the clock. If you have a strong enough time-sense, you may be able to get an idea of what's going on in the consensus timestream. It's a good idea to make the best time estimate you can regarding how long your ritual will last--and make sure you've got some leeway in case time does something odd.
by Elizabeth Barrette
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 9a.
-
Daily Wisdom
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:23 pm (PDT)
Those who carry out their faith as th Daishonin taught will, as the Lotus Sutra states, "Gain the happiness of this world and the happiness of Nirvana". In this way, such a person cannot fail to attain happiness, and acheive enlightenment in any existence. Superficial happiness will not continue throughout ones life, nor will his current happiness last forever.---Daisaku Ikeda
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
- 10.
-
Beliefs
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:31 pm (PDT)
I have this in my BOS. I am sure I copied it from somewhere, but do not know where.
Beliefs and Affirmations:
- We create our futures every second that we live.
-We take responsibility for our own lives.
-Magick is not a cure-all, it is a tool that is used in conjunction with other tools.
-Magick is only effective if the magician allowes it to be; and only if he/she needs positive change.
-Magick does not work overnight.
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
- 11.
-
Qoute
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:36 pm (PDT)
The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of many worlds of consciousness that exist and that those other worlds must contain experiences which have a meaning for our life also.---William James
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
- 12a.
-
Positive Thinking/Gary
Posted by: "Guamella Pellegrin" glpellegrin@yahoo.com glpellegrin
Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:19 pm (PDT)
Gary, you are so welcome for the words of wisdom. I learned those from others, and thankfully there is still a lot of interesting things left to learn, that could fill many lifetimes.
I will add prosperity to your name on my tree which should help your business venture. Please keep us posted about everything.
Sending blessings,
Misti
- 12b.
-
Re: Positive Thinking/Gary
Posted by: "Gary Reese" hyperreal69@yahoo.com hyperreal69
Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:44 pm (PDT)
Thank you Misti, you are a real Goddess send!
Gae
I think I am going to talk to Hecate tonight. I know that the Moon is waning, and hope she will understand. She has been good to me.
Light Begots Darkness and Darkness Begots Light,
Dearest Hecate, Mother of the Night
Blessings to You and Yours,
Gae
_____________________ _________ __
From: Guamella Pellegrin <glpellegrin@yahoo.com >
To: "13Witches@yahoogroups.com " <13Witches@yahoogroups.com >
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 5:16 PM
Subject: [13Witches] Positive Thinking/Gary
Gary, you are so welcome for the words of wisdom. I learned those from others, and thankfully there is still a lot of interesting things left to learn, that could fill many lifetimes.
I will add prosperity to your name on my tree which should help your business venture. Please keep us posted about everything.
Sending blessings,
Misti
- 13a.
-
Humor--Yoga for Wine Lovers
Posted by: "Lady Nightshayde" LadyNightshayde9@aol.com nightshayde99
Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:20 pm (PDT)
Yoga_for_Wine_Lovers1.wmv
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/Whispering Witches/
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/MagickalMe als/
http://groups.yahoo/group/ NightshaydesNews
- 13b.
-
Re: Humor--Yoga for Wine Lovers
Posted by: "LadyHawk_Jax" ladyhawk_jax@yahoo.com ladyhawk_jax
Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:25 pm (PDT)
Loved it!
Love, Light and Abundant Blessings,
LadyHawk
--- On Sun, 10/16/11, Lady Nightshayde <LadyNightshayde9@aol.com > wrote:
Yoga_for_Wine_Lovers1.wmv
The light of a hundred stars cannot equal the light of the Moon.
Love Each Day,
Lady Nightshayde
- 14.1.
-
Re: Secret Witches Google Blog Stealing 13Witches COntent
Posted by: "Mari" frowningangel@yahoo.com frowningangel
Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:53 pm (PDT)
WOW I just have to say whoever is doing that blog is horrible. I just went to it and saw that they are even posting our messages in which we are discussing them stealing our messages? what in the world?? are you serious? I just really don't understand why anyone would do that and it seems that they have been doing it to several other groups
Blessed Be
MARI
Raverly : Nitez55
zone 10
www.facebook.com/mari. t.hernandez
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.†- Jimi Hendrix
- 15.
-
**Share A Spell Day**, 10/17/2011, 12:00 am
Posted by: "13Witches@yahoogroups.com" 13Witches@yahoogroups.com
Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:58 pm (PDT)
Reminder from: 13Witches Yahoo! Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/13Witches/ cal
**Share A Spell Day**
Monday October 17, 2011
All Day
(This event repeats every week.)
Notes:
It's Share A Spell Monday! Please share a spell with fellow list members.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2011
Yahoo! Inc.
http://www.yahoo.com
Privacy Policy:
http://privacy.yahoo.com/ privacy/us
Terms of Service:
http://docs.yahoo.com/ info/terms/
- 16.
-
Topic Tag the sleepy hallow legends
Posted by: "Jennifer Gleason" dakotamopar98@yahoo.com dakotamopar98
Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:05 pm (PDT)
It was almost fitting today when I was chosen for topic tag.. Later at work, a co worker and I were discussing who Rip Van Winkel was. And to my suprise he was a part of the sleepy hallow legend.. He was in the village of sleepy hallow. So, I had found an article that tells a little about it.
Source~~~~~
About.com
Found among the papers of the late Diedrech Knickerbocker.
A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
Forever flushing round a summer sky.
Castle of Indolence.
In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides
through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility.
I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees that shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley.
From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a High German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights, and hear
music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols.
The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which
he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak.
Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a wild story in that region of shadows; and the spectre is known at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
It is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not confined to the native inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by every one who resides there for a time. However wide awake they may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, and see apparitions.
I mention this peaceful spot with all possible laud for it is in such little retired Dutch valleys, found here and there embosomed in the great State of New York, that population, manners, and customs remain fixed, while the great torrent of migration and improvement, which is making such incessant changes in other parts of this restless country, sweeps by them unobserved. They are like those little nooks of still water, which border a rapid stream, where we may see the straw and bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving in their mimic harbor, undisturbed by the rush of the passing current. Though many years have elapsed since I trod the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow, yet I question whether I should not still find the same trees and the same families vegetating in its sheltered bosom.
Enjoy,
Jenny
- 17.
-
Jesus and Mithra
Posted by: "Leeda" lkangelz@aol.com angel_75457
Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:56 am (PDT)
I know this is long but I think it is well worth reading. I remember
catching some of this information on the history channel while I was
watching it with my husband a few weeks back
But they did not go into this kind of information then. But this is very
interesting and I think more people should read it.
Leeda
Jesus and Mithra
Is Jesus' story a copy of the Persian mythology of Mithra?
Jesus as a Reincarnation of Mithra
The Vatican was built upon the grounds previously devoted to the worship of
Mithra (also known as Mithras) (600 B.C.). The Orthodox Christian hierarchy
is nearly identical to the Mithraic version. Virtually all of the elements
of Orthodox Christian rituals, from miter, wafer, water baptism, alter, and
doxology, were adopted from the Mithra and earlier pagan mystery religions.
The religion of Mithra preceded Christianity by roughly six hundred years.
Mithraic worship at one time covered a large portion of the ancient world.
It flourished as late as the second century. The Messianic idea originated
in ancient Persia and this is where the Jewish and Christian concepts of a
Savior came from. Mithra, as the sun god of ancient Persia, had the
following karmic similarities with Jesus:
Identical Life Experiences
Mithra was born on December 25th as an offspring of the Sun. Next to the
gods Ormuzd and Ahrimanes, Mithra held the highest rank among the gods of
ancient Persia. He was represented as a beautiful youth and a Mediator.
Reverend J. W. Lake states: "Mithras is spiritual light contending with
spiritual darkness, and through his labors the kingdom of darkness shall be
lit with heaven's own light; the Eternal will receive all things back into
his favor, the world will be redeemed to God. The impure are to be purified,
and the evil made good, through the mediation of Mithras, the reconciler of
Ormuzd and Ahriman. Mithras is the Good, his name is Love. In relation to
the Eternal he is the source of grace, in relation to man he is the
life-giver and mediator" (Plato, Philo, and Paul, p. 15).
He was considered a great traveling teacher and master. He had twelve
companions as Jesus had twelve disciples. Mithras also performed miracles.
The International Encyclopedia states: "Mithras seems to have owed his
prominence to the belief that he was the source of life, and could also
redeem the souls of the dead into the better world ... The ceremonies
included a sort of baptism to remove sins, anointing, and a sacred meal of
bread and water, while a consecrated wine, believed to possess wonderful
power, played a prominent part."
Chambers Encyclopedia says: "The most important of his many festivals was
his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day subsequently fixed
-- against all evidence -- as the birthday of Christ. The worship of Mithras
early found its way into Rome, and the mysteries of Mithras, which fell in
the spring equinox, were famous even among the many Roman festivals. The
ceremonies observed in the initiation to these mysteries -- symbolical of
the struggle between Ahriman and Ormuzd (the Good and the Evil) -- were of
the most extraordinary and to a certain degree even dangerous character.
Baptism and the partaking of a mystical liquid, consisting of flour and
water, to be drunk with the utterance of sacred formulas, were among the
inauguration acts."
Mithra was called "the good shepherd," "the way, the truth and the light,"
"redeemer," "savior," "Messiah." He was identified with both the lion and
the lamb.
Prof. Franz Cumont, of the University of Ghent, writes as follows concerning
the religion of Mithra and the religion of Christ: "The sectaries of the
Persian god, like the Christians', purified themselves by baptism, received
by a species of confirmation the power necessary to combat the spirit of
evil; and expected from a Lord's supper salvation of body and soul. Like the
latter, they also held Sunday sacred, and celebrated the birth of the Sun on
the 25th of December.... They both preached a categorical system of ethics,
regarded asceticism as meritorious and counted among their principal virtues
abstinence and continence, renunciation and self-control. Their conceptions
of the world and of the destiny of man were similar. They both admitted the
existence of a Heaven inhabited by beatified ones, situated in the upper
regions, and of a Hell, peopled by demons, situated in the bowels of the
earth. They both placed a flood at the beginning of history; they both
assigned as the source of their condition, a primitive revelation; they both
finally, believed in the immortality of the soul, in a last judgment, and
in a resurrection of the dead, consequent upon a final conflagration of the
universe" (The Mysteries of Mithras, PP. 190, 191).
Reverend Charles Biggs stated: "The disciples of Mithra formed an organized
church, with a developed hierarchy. They possessed the ideas of Mediation,
Atonement, and a Savior, who is human and yet divine, and not only the idea,
but a doctrine of the future life. They had a Eucharist, and a Baptism, and
other curious analogies might be pointed out between their system and the
church of Christ (The Christian Platonists, p. 240).
In the catacombs at Rome was preserved a relic of the old Mithraic worship.
It was a picture of the infant Mithra seated in the lap of his virgin mother
while on their knees before him were Persian Magi adoring him and offering
gifts.
He was buried in a tomb and after three days he rose again. His resurrection
was celebrated every year.
McClintock and Strong wrote: "In modern times Christian writers have been
induced to look favorably upon the assertion that some of our ecclesiastical
usages (e.g., the institution of the Christmas festival) originated in the
cultus of Mithraism. Some writers who refuse to accept the Christian
religion as of supernatural origin, have even gone so far as to institute a
close comparison with the founder of Christianity; and Dupuis and others,
going even beyond this, have not hesitated to pronounce the Gospel simply a
branch of Mithraism" (Art. "Mithra").
Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter, at
which time he was resurrected. His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day."
The Mithra religion had a Eucharist or "Lord's Supper."
The Christian Father Manes, founder of the heretical sect known as
Manicheans, believed that Christ and Mithra were one. His teaching,
according to Mosheim, was as follows: "Christ is that glorious intelligence
which the Persians called Mithras ... His residence is in the sun"
(Ecclesiastical History, 3rd century, Part 2, ch. 5).
"I am a star which goes with thee and shines out of the depths." - Mithraic
saying
"I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star." -
Jesus, (Rev. 22:16)
History
In hundreds of underground temples scattered across the territory of the
Roman Empire from England to Syria, modern archaeologists have uncovered
paintings and carvings of a young man killing a bull. The significance of
this picture, the central icon of a secretive cult known as Mithraism, has
been one of the great unsolved archaeological mysteries of this century.
What mythical event is depicted by these figures? What clues does the bull
slaying yield about the teachings of the cult? I and several other
researchers have come to a conclusion that may seem unlikely at first: the
image does not represent a myth about events on the earth; instead it is an
astronomical code with strong religious implications.
This surprising interpretation gains credibility when considered in light of
the widespread religious and social upheavals of the time. Mediterranean
civilization in the seven centuries between Alexander the Great and
Constantine provided exceptionally fertile soil for the growth of new
religions. Alexander's conquests, solidified by his Hellenistic and Roman
successors, rapidly created a unified Mediterranean culture out of what had
formerly been a diverse collection of individual nations, city-states and
tribes. Older forms of religious expression, which had generally been the
product of smaller, close-knit societies, were losing their ability to
furnish a sense of meaning for individuals adrift in a vastly expanded and
increasingly impersonal empire.
As the Hellenistic and Roman empires swallowed up the older city-states and
tribes, people came to feel that the powers determining their lives lay out
of reach, in the distant parts of the empire. Any philosophy or religion
that could offer people a sense of understanding or control exercised a
strong attraction.
The emergence of Christianity was one response to these conditions. It
offered membership in a symbolic community--the "New Israel"-- to people
whose actual communities, now submerged in the imperial order, could no
longer supply a firm sense of identity. Another response was the rise of
fatalism, the idea that life completely controlled by an impersonal fate.
Indeed, a personified form of Fate or Chance came to be worshiped as a god
in many Hellenistic cults. The name of one Hellenistic philosophy that
embraced this fatalistic world view, Stoicism, survives today, signifying
resigned endurance of whatever life may bring.
The general fatalism of the time prepared the way for the success of the
more specific fatalism of astrology. Astrology, which first began to gain
popular acceptance during the Hellenistic period (the time following the
conquests of Alexander), claimed, with a persuasive aura of mathematical
accuracy, that all events were pre-determined by powers residing in the
stars. The growth of fatalism and astrology in this period makes it
plausible that a religion based on the stars should have arisen.
The cult known as the Mithraic mysteries, or Mithraism, was one of the most
important--and certainly one of the most intriguing--of the religions that
arose at about the same time as Christianity. It came into existence in the
first century B.C.; Plutarch writes that the Cilician pirates were
practicing Mithraic rites by 67 B.C. (The pirates, based in the province of
Cilicia in Asia Manor, numbered about 20,000; at their height their
operations extended over the entire Mediterranean Sea.) Mithraism reached
its peak in the third century and finally succumbed to the expansion of
Christianity in the late fourth century, about the time that the Western
Roman Empire was falling.
The cult's membership for the most part comprised soldiers, state
bureaucrats and merchants; women were excluded. Like a number of other
ancient religions (the mysteries of Isis and the Eleusinian mysteries among
them), Mithraism limited its membership to those who had passed through a
secret initiation ritual. Initiates were forbidden to speak to outsiders
about cult secrets, and hence, they were named mysteria, a word whose root
means to keep silent. The English word mystery and related words such as
mysticism are ultimately derived from the Greek name for the cults.
Mithraism was organized around seven distinct grades of initiation, forming
a hierarchical structure through which members gradually ascended.
The cult's secrecy meant that no written record of Mithraic doctrines
survives. As a result, the only information available to scholars attempting
to reconstruct the cult's teachings is the elaborate iconography that
decorates the temples. Most of it depicts various activities involving the
cult's god, Mithras; the crucial scene is the so-called tauroctony, or bull
slaying, in which Mithras, accompanied by various figures, is shown in the
act of killing a bull. A tauroctony is found in the most prominent location
in virtually every Mithraic temple, and it is clear that this icon holds the
key to the central secret of the Mithraic mysteries. In the absence of any
written explanation, however, deciphering it has proved a notoriously
difficult task.
For most of the 20th century scholarly attempts to explain the tauroctony
were dominated by the work of Franz Cumont, the famous Belgian historian of
religion. Cumont's interpretation, first presented in 1899, was based on the
fact that Mithras is the Greek and Latin name of a much older Iranian god,
Mithra. Cumont concluded that Mithraism was imported from the ancient
Iranian cult of Mithra, who represented light and truth and was believed to
be the special guardian of contracts and agreements. Cumont argued that
deciphering the tauroctony was simply a matter of finding parallels to its
symbolic elements in ancient Iranian mythology.
Cumont's approach had significant problems. Most important, there is no
known Iranian myth in which Mithra has anything to do with killing a bull.
Cumont seized instead on an Iranian creation myth in which Ahriman, the
embodiment of evil, kills a bull from whose blood and body spring all the
living creatures of the earth. He claimed that this myth must have existed
in a variant form (for which there is, however, no evidence) in which the
good god Mithra replaced the evil Ahriman as the bull slayer. Cumont's
eminence was such that his theories remained virtually unchallenged for more
than 70 years.
The Iranian connection, and with it Cumont's interpretation of the
tauroctony, came under concerted attack at the First International Congress
of Mithraic Studies, held at the University of Manchester in 1971. Several
scholars, chief among them John Hinnells of Manchester and R.L. Gordon of
the University of East Anglia, suggested that Mithraism had in fact been
created as a completely new religion somewhere in the Greco-Roman world and
that it had merely adopted the name of the Iranian god to give itself an
exotic flavor and an aura of antiquity.
If the tauroctony did not represent an Iranian myth, what did it represent?
Starting in the mid-1970's, several scholars (including Roger Beck of the
University of toronto, Stanley Insler of Yale University, Michael Speidel of
the University of Hawaii, Alessandro Bausani of the University of Rome and
me) put forward new interpretations of the tauroctony (and of Mithraism)
based on the hypothesis that the picture is actually a star map.
Astrological beliefs permeated Mediterranean religious and intellectual life
at the time Mithraism originated. In part this was the result of the
fatalism of the age. In addition, for individuals cut off from their local
traditions and free to move at will anywhere in the empire, astrology filled
the need for new symbols that could help make sense of everyday life but
were not tied to a particular locality or community, as were the older
religious forms. The configurations of the stars appeared the same no matter
where in the empire one traveled and so provided ideal raw material for such
a universal symbolic system.
The acceptance of astrology led to a growing belief that the dwelling place
of the gods was in the realm of the stars. For example, it was during the
Hellenistic period that it became the standard practice to call the planets
by the names of various Greek gods, such as Zeus (Jupiter) and Ares (Mars).
Astrology also encouraged a new conception of life after death, according to
which the soul did not go to the underworld, as had earlier been believed,
but rather rose through the planetary spheres to the sphere of the fixed
stars and then to the paradise that lay beyond the outermost sphere. In time
this journey came to be imagined as difficult and dangerous, with secret
passwords required to cross each planetary threshold.
Astronomical concepts must have been important in Mithraism, given the
frequent appearance of astronomical symbols in Mithraic iconography. The 12
signs of the zodiac and symbols of the sun, moon and planets often appear
together with the tauroctony and elsewhere in Mithraic art. The classical
author Eubulus, writing during the first or second century, said that the
Mithraic temple was meant to be "an image of the cosmos." It now appears
that the tauroctony itself was an astral symbol.
In addition to Mithras and the bull, the tauroctony contains a number of
other figures: a dog, a snake, a raven, a scorpion and sometimes a lion and
a cup. It cannot be coincidence that each has a parallel among the
constellations: Canis Minor, Hydra, Corvus, Scorpio, Leo and Crater; the
bull is paralleled by Taurus. My work has been directed toward explaining
how these constellations could come to form the central icon of a powerful
religious movement.
These seven constellations, I have found, are linked in the sky as well as
in the tauroctony. With the exception of Leo, they lie along a path defined
by an ancient position of the celestial equator. The celestial equator is a
projection of the earth's equator onto the celestial sphere. It is an
imaginary circle tilted at an angle of 23 degrees to the plane of the earth
s orbit (the ecliptic, or the plane that defines the circle of the zodiac).
The celestial equator crosses the zodiac at the equinoxes-- the points on
the celestial sphere where the sun appears to be on the first day of spring
and the first day of autumn.
In antiquity the celestial equator was far more than merely an imaginary
circle. Ancient astronomers believed that the earth was located in the
center of the universe and was absolutely immovable; the fixed stars were
attached to a great sphere that rotated around the earth once a day on an
axis running between the sphere's north and south poles. Features of this
sphere, such as its poles and equator, played a crucial role in the ancient
understanding of the structure of the cosmos. As a result, the celestial
equator was much better known in antiquity than it is today; for example,
Plato, in his dialogue Timaeus, writes that the creator of the universe
began the formation of the cosmos by shaping its substance into the letter X
to represent the crossing of the ecliptic and the celestial equator.
For most of antiquity it was believed that the axis of the celestial sphere
was, like the earth, immovable. In fact, the earth's rotational axis (the
modern equivalent of the ancient cosmic axis) is not fixed; it has a
wobbling movement. As it wobbles, the celestial equator wobbles with it, and
the relative positions of the equator and the ecliptic change. This
so-called precession of the equinoxes means that the position of the sun in
the sky at the equinox moves backward along the ecliptic, and so the equinox
occurs slightly earlier every year. The complete precession takes
approximately 25,920 years; the sun moves through one constellation every 2
160 years. Today the spring equinox is in the constellation of Pisces; in
about the year 2200 it will enter Aquarius. During Greco-Roman times the
spring equinox was in Aries, which it had entered in about 2000 B.C. Before
that it was in Taurus.
With the exception of Leo, all the constellations in the tauroctony lie on
the celestial equator as it would have been seen when the spring equinox was
in Taurus. (Leo marks the sun's location at the summer solstice-- the
position of which is also shifted by the precession-- in that era.) The
arrangement of constellations in the tauroctony, then, matches an
astronomical situation that prevailed 2,000 years before the origins of
Mithraism.
How could Mithraists have known of this ancient astronomical arrangement,
and why would they have seen it as having religious significance? The
precession of the equinoxes was unknown for most of ancient times. It was
discovered in about 125 B.C. by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, only a few
decades before the initial rise of Mithraism. His careful observations
showed the celestial equator was in fact gradually shifting backward through
the zodiac. His calculations also made clear which constellations would have
lain along the celestial equator when the equinox was in Taurus (its most
recent position before the Greco-Roman period).
From the geocentric perspective, the precession (a movement of the earth)
appears to be a movement of the entire cosmic sphere. For people who held
both a geocentric world view and the belief that the movements of the stars
influenced human fates, the discovery of the precession would have been
literally world-shaking: the stable sphere of the fixed stars was being
unseated by some force apparently larger than the cosmos itself. Ancient
intellectuals, accustomed as they were to seeing the work of the gods
reflected in the works of nature, could easily have taken this great
movement as evidence for the existence of a powerful, hitherto unsuspected
deity.
The meaning of the tauroctony now becomes clear: the death of the bull aptly
symbolized the end of the reign of Taurus as the constellation of the spring
equinox and the beginning of the most recent era. The other figures in the
tauroctony all represent constellations whose special position in the sky
was also ended by the force of the precession.
By killing the bull-- causing the precession of the equinoxes-- Mithras was
in effect moving the entire universe. A god capable of performing such a
tremendous deed would be eminently deserving of worship. Furthermore, the
ability to move the cosmos would be seen as endowing Mithras with other
powers as well, such as the ability to overcome the forces of fate residing
in the stars and to guarantee the soul a safe passage through the planetary
spheres after death.
Other Mithraic images indicate that Mithras was in fact believed to embody
such cosmic power; there are scenes that show Mithras bearing on his
shoulder the sphere of the universe or in which a youthful Mithras holds the
cosmic sphere in one hand while with his other he rotates the zodiac. In
several tauroctonies, the starry sky is shown contained beneath Mithras's
cloak.
The status of Mithras as the motive force behind the precession of the
equinox could also explain the secretive nature of the Mithraic mysteries.
Adherents could well have believed that their knowledge constituted a
powerful secret best kept to themselves and among selected initiates. For
those chosen, an understanding of the complex astronomical structure
underlying the nature of Mithras would have required a lengthy period of
indoctrination. Only after acquiring the requisite knowledge could initiates
properly appreciate this new god.
An important question remains: If all the figures in the tauroctony
represent constellations, then what constellation does Mithras represent? In
the tauroctony, Mithras is located directly above the bull and is always
depicted as a young man carrying a dagger and wearing a distinctive conical
hat known as a Phrygian cap. The sky directly above Taurus, in fact,
contains a constellation typically represented as a young man carrying a
dagger and wearing a Phrygian cap: the Greek hero Perseus. Moreover, Perseus
was worshiped as a god in Cilicia--precisely the region to which Plutarch
traces the origins of Mithraism.
Tarsus, the capital city of Cilicia, was the home of one of the most
important intellectual communities in the Mediterranean. This community was
dominated by Stoic philosophers who were famous not only for their fatalism
(which led them to be firm believers in astrology) but also for their
tradition of personifying natural forces in the form of gods and heroes.
Most likely, Mithraism arose as intellectuals in Tarsus, speculating about
the force responsible for the newly discovered precession of the equinoxes,
personified that power in the local Cilician god Perseus. Perseus, after all
was already identified as a constellation, and the message of his position
in the sky was clear to read.
But if Mithras was originally in some sense Perseus, how did his name come
to be Mithras? First, of course, it would make sense for a mystery religion
to conceal the true name of its deity. Second, because of the sound of his
name, Perseus was believed in antiquity to have been the founder of Persia
(Iran) and thus could easily have become linked mythologically with the
Iranian god of light and truth, Mithra. Third, around the time of the
origins of Mithraism, most of Asia Minor came under the control of King
Mithridates of Pontus, who formed a strong alliance with the Cilician
pirates. Mithridates belonged to a dynasty named after Mithra; in addition,
he and his ancestors believed that they were descended from Perseus. It was
probably in the circles around King Mithridates-- who fancied himself an
intellectual and took a special interest in Greek religious beliefs-- that
the link was formed between Perseus and Mithra that eventually led to the
adoption of the name Mithras (the Greek form of the name Mithra).
Today Christianity is one of the world's dominant religions; Mithraism
(along with any number of other cults) died out. Why?
One crucial difference between the two is that from its beginning
Christianity sought to make as many converts as possible. The author of the
gospel of Matthew, for example, ends by having Jesus say, "Go, therefore,
make disciples of all the nations." Mithraism, in contrast, was based on a
secret, and secrets lose their appeal in direct proportion to the numbers of
people who know them.
In addition, Mithraism took hold mostly among groups of people-- soldiers,
bureaucrats, merchants-- who were intimately bound up with the existing
social order of the empire, and the cult's hierarchical structure fitted
that order in a way that early Christianity, with its apocalyptic doctrine
of the return of the messiah and disregard of earthly matters, did not.
Early Christians (who were typically people whose social status was
problematic in one way or another) possessed a revolutionary zeal that was
completely absent in Mithraism.
While early Christians sought to enlighten the world, then, adherents of the
Mithraic mysteries sought individual enlightenment and advancement within
the existing culture. As a result, Mithraists had no hesitation in adopting
practices that would necessarily limit the size of the cult's membership,
such as excluding women from the cult, constructing temples as small
underground cavities and establishing a complex series of initiation rites.
The heart of the matter, then, is not so much why Mithraism did not grow as
Christianity did but rather how Christianity achieved the spectacular
success that it sought: by the end of the fourth century it had led to the
almost total elimination of competing religions in the Mediterranean world.
The precise reasons for Christianity's success are, of course, a matter of
intense scholarly debate. There is a general consensus, however, that one of
the most important factors was exclusivity. Becoming a Christian required
that a convert give up all other forms of religious worship. Other religions
of the times demanded no such single-mindedness: one could be an initiate of
Mithras as well as of Isis, participate in sacrifices to Jupiter and at the
same time venerate the spirit of a dead emperor. In a time when many people
were experiencing the collapse of their traditional sources of meaning, the
radical exclusivity of Christianity exercised a powerful appeal: it gave
prospective converts the opportunity to make a truly decisive choice; those
who did convert could believe that their lives had gained a real purpose and
significance. In an age of confusion, Christianity offered its adherents a
clear sense of identity.
It is particularly interesting to note that Christianity appealed to some of
the same astral-religious conceptions that lay behind Mithraism and other
cults. Jesus was frequently described as having a power over the world of
the stars. The author of the gospel of Mark (the earliest of the Christian
gospels), for example, begins his story by describing how Jesus, at the
moment of his baptism, "saw the heavens torn open." Through this image the
author seems to have been attempting to convey the idea that the life of
Jesus constituted a rupture of the cosmic order, the expression of a power
greater than that of the heavens.
The same author also presents Jesus as saying, "In those days... the stars
will fall from the sky.... Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away." Paul's letter to the Galatians reads in part: "When we
were children, we were enslaved to the elemental forces of the cosmos, but
when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son.. .to free [us]."
Just as Mithras, by shifting the celestial sphere, upset the order of the
universe, so the coming of Jesus was believed to have produced a rupture in
the fabric of the cosmos.
Not only early Christianity and Mithraism but also many other religions and
philosophical movements of that period expressed this same yearning for
identification with a force that could break the boundaries of the cosmos
and provide access to realms outside the limits of ordinary experience. Such
a yearning was spurred by the upheavals of the time: as the local
foundations of culture were undermined, individual horizons could expand. At
the same time, scientists' imaginations suddenly stretched out to encompass
a grand vision of the celestial spheres. Today's world, with its
increasingly global culture and a science that in a single generation has
leaped past the farthest galaxies, shows striking parallels with that
ancient Mediterranean age.
by David Ulansey, originally published in Scientific American, December 1989
(vol. 261, #6), pp. 130-135.
Other references of Mithraic lore and Christianity
Origins
"Dating from around the 15th century BC, Mithraism emerged in ancient Persia
'Mihr' (the Persian form of Mithras) was the word not only for the Sun but
also for a friend; and that seems to be how this pagan god was originally
worshipped - as both supreme sun god and god of love."
- Quest for the Past
"It is probable…that the western Mithras had its roots in a daevic cult of
the god as practiced in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and not in the cult of the
Zoroastrianized Mithra in Iran. The western Mithras is a savior god in an
era of savior gods."
- Richard N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia
"The only dated Mithraic inscriptions from the pre-Christian period are the
texts of Antiochus I of Commagene (69-34 B.C.) in eastern Asia Minor. After
that there is one text possibly from the first century A.D., from Cappadocia
one from Phrygia dated to A.D. 77-78, and one from Rome dated to Trajan's
reign (A.D. 98-117). All other dated Mithraic inscriptions and monuments
belong to the second century (after A.D. 140), the third, and the fourth
century A.D. (M. J. Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum
Religionis Mithriacae, 1956)."
- Edwin M. Yamauchid, "Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?"
The Taurobolium
"A central feature of the ceremonial associated with Mithras was the
taurobolium, the ritual slaughter of a bull which commemorated and repeated
Mithras' primeval act. The initiate was baptized in its blood, partaking of
its life-giving properties. It may be noted that this part of the ceremonial
closely resembled the ritual of the cult of Cybele, the Great Mother of Asia
Minor, which had been brought to Rome three centuries before Christ.."
- Ninian Smart, The Religious Experience of Mankind
Born Again
"The liturgy of the Eucharist that John prescribes to the converted in being
'born again' is necessary 'so that the speaker might gaze upon the immortal
beginning (Jesus) with the immortal (Holy) spirit … and be born again in
thought.'
- [Grese]."
"Some modern Christian believers are familiar with this concept of being
born again through a spirit and regard it as unique to Christianity. The
just-quoted text however is from the pagan Mithras Liturgy, a guidebook of
sorts that assists in the Eucharist and prepares the sojourner for his
heavenly journey. It advises the seeker of the Sun-god (father of Mithras)
to pray saying:"
- James Still, "The Gospel of John and the Hellenization of Jesus"
"[F]irst beginning of my beginning, …spirit of spirit, the first spirit in
me, …now if it be your will, …give me over to immortal birth and, following
that, to my underlying nature, so that, after the present need which is
pressing me exceedingly, I may gaze upon the immortal beginning with the
immortal spirit, that I may be born again in thought."
- Mithras Liturgy
"A usual feature of the ancient mystery religions was the partaking of food
and drink, and this communion celebration often reenacted a holy meal
established by the gods and goddesses. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter the
Mother drinks the kykeon instead of read wine, and her devotees likewise
drank the ceremonial kykeon instead of red wine, and her devotees likewise
drank the ceremonial kykeon in their mystic repast. Mithraic monuments show
Mithras and Sol (the Sun) sharing a meal on the body or the hide of a bull,
and this sacred feast functioned as the prototype for a holy meal eaten by
the Mithraic mystai….One symbolon from the mysteries of Attis claims that a
mystes ate from a tambourine and drank from a cymbal in the initiatory rites
"
- Marvin W.Meyer (Editor), The Ancient Mysteries - A Sourcebook
Both Mithraism and early Christianity "included a baptism and a sacrament of
bread and wine, and both guarded their central rites from nonbelievers."
- Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects
"He who will not eat of my body, nor drink of my blood so that he may be one
with me and I with him, shall not be saved."
- Mithraic Communion (M. J. Vermaseren, Mithras, The Secret God)
"And as they were eating, Jesus, having taken bread, when he had blessed,
broke [it], and gave [it] to them, and said, Take [this]: this is my body.
And having taken [the] cup, when he had given thanks, he gave [it] to them,
and they all drank out of it. And he said to them, This is my blood, that of
the [new] covenant, that shed for many."
- Mark 14:22-26
"The Mithraic Holy Father wore a red cap and garment and a ring, and carried
a shepherd's staff. The Head Christian adopted the same title and outfitted
himself in the same manner. Christian priests, like Mithraic priests, became
'Father', despite Jesus' specific proscription of the acceptance of such a
title (Matthew 23:9). That Jesus had been repudiating, not the Mithraists
with whom he was unfamiliar, but the Sanhedrin, whose President was styled
Father, is hardly relevant.
"Mithra's bishops wore a mithra, or miter, as their badge of office.
Christian bishops also adopted miters. Mithraists commemorated the sun-god's
ascension by eating a mizd, a sun-shaped bun embossed with the sword (cross)
of Mithra. The hot cross bun and the mass were likewise adapted to
Christianity. The Roman Catholic mizd/mass wafer continues to retain its
sun-shape, although its Episcopal counterpart does not. "All Roman Emperors
from Julius Caesar to Gratian had been pontifex maximus, high priest of the
Roman gods. When Theodosius refused the title as incompatible with his
status as a Christian, the Christian bishop of Rome picked it up. Magi,
priests of Zarathustra, wore robes that featured the sword of Mithra.
Identical robes are worn by Christian priests to this day."
- William Harwood, Mythologies Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus
- 18.
-
(no subject)
Posted by: "Edward" darkness.3434@yahoo.com darkness.3434
Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:56 am (PDT)
Blessed Be
I just wanted to say Thank You to all the wonderful people that has
welcomed me to the group. I haven't been here long. I think the group is
great, and I appreciate all the information you all share.
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