A World Of Gods: March 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Savior is Born

It is December 24^th the year 3000 B.C.E. A bright star shines in the east. The people are gossiping about the arrival of the son of god. Three kings set out on a quest; they follow the star in the east, until they come upon a manger with a new born child. A child born to a virgin woman, named Mary, she was immaculately impregnated by the one true god. Her husband stood over the manger as the kings presented the newborn god with extravagant gifts, and pledged their service to him.

Many of you may recognize this story.

Many of you may even think you know who the story is about.

Would it surprise you to find out you are wrong?

No, this is not the story of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This is the story Horus, The Egyptian God of the Sun.

Horus And Jesus courtesy of Wiki commons

The similarities between Jesus and Horus (and several other gods) don’t stop there. At the age of twelve Horus was already a religious teacher, and at the age of thirty he began his ministry after being baptized. Horus was accompanied by twelve disciples who witnessed him performing miracles like healing the sick or walking on water. Horus was known by many names such as "The Light", "The

Lamb Of God", "God’s Anointed Son", and many others. Horus was eventually betrayed by one of his disciples and tortured to death on a cross. He remained dead for three days and was then resurrected.

You may look at this and think that Horus is a complete rip off of the bible and the story of Jesus.

But, this story has been found in hieroglyphs that were made in 3000 B.C.E. Nearly three thousand years before Jesus was even born.

According to D.M. Murdock author of Christ In Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, this story (or very similar ones) has been used repeatedly throughout history.

Attis
Wiki Commons

*Attis – A greek God from around 1200 B.C.E.- He was Born to a virgin on Dec. 25^th, betrayed by his followers he was crucified, buried for three days, and resurrected.

*Krishna – A Hindu God who’s story dated back to 900 B.C.E. – Born of a virgin and a star in the east signaled his birth. Krishna performed miracles with his disciples and was resurrected after his death.

Dionysus
Wiki Commons

*Dionysus – Another Greek god, his story is from roughly 500 B.C.E.- Virgin birth on Dec 25^th. He turned water into wine and performed other miracles. He was commonly referred to as The King Of Kings, The Alpha And Omega, and Gods Only Son. He was also resurrected after he died.

*Mithra – A Persian God from circa 1200 B.C.E. – Another Virgin Birth on Dec 25^th. He performed miracles with his twelve disciples, and was resurrected three days after his death.

Mithra
Wiki Commons

These are just few, the list goes on and on, dozens of gods, who all seem to share the same story.

Why do they all appear to have the same details?

Well the answer is actually quite simple, it’s in the stars.

The star in the east is actually Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

Picture from Post-Journal.

On December 24^th, Sirius lines up with the three brightest stars in Orion’s Belt. In many cultures referred to these stars as “The Three Kings.” and, come morning, on December 25^th all four stars are in line with the rising sun.

Picture From Wired.

This is why people said “The Three Kings, follow the star in the east, to the birth of the son (sun).”

Now, we can clearly see where the story originated. But why?

Why was this story so important that it needed to be retold over and over, in different forms to many different people, throughout history?

Well, as you may have guessed there is an answer for that too. According to D.M. Murdock, it is all based on ancient astrology and farming.

Picture courtesy of Chita

The story usually starts with a virgin mother. This is a representation of the constellation Virgo, which in Latin translates to “virgin.” This constellation becomes visible in August and September, the time for harvest

Picture From AccuWeather

The date also falls on the winter solstice, the time of year when the Earth is at is furthest distance from the sun. During the months between the summer and winter solstices the sun is slowly moving south in the sky, as a result the days get shorter. In the days leading up to the solstice the sun is at its lowest point in the sky, and the days are the shortest of the whole year. This, to ancient people, represented the death of the sun.

Picture from ClipArt

Then on December 22^nd the sun stops moving south, and for three days rises and sets in the same places. In the southern hemisphere, during these three days, the sun sets (rests) under the Southern Cross, also called “Crux.”

Picture from NASA

Finally, on the morning of December 25^th, the sun would change position again, except this time it will be one degree further north. The sun had been reborn, bringing with it longer days, warmth, and soon spring. But they did not celebrate the coming of spring until the spring equinox (also called Easter) when they planted the food for this year’s harvest.

To long? Didn’t read?

Three Kings (Orion’s belt),

followed the star in the east (Sirius).

To the birth of the sun (Jesus, Horus, Mithra, Heracles, etc),

Who was born from the virgin (Virgo).

He had Twelve Disciples (the twelve zodiac signs),

died on the cross (the southern crux),

and was resurrected three days later (the sun starting to head north again).

So, that’s it. It is a very simple story, used to help people remember the important times of the year for planting and harvesting, centered on stories involving the stars and the sun. That is why all these saviors are “Son of God” or “God’s ONLY Son.” All these different religions are just another culture's form of sun worship. Horus, Prometheus, Attis, Mithra, And Jesus are just a few in a long line of Sun God’s, of which Jesus Christ is only the most recent adaptation.

Additional resources.

D.M. Murdock.

Zeitgeist 2007

Zeitgeist Sourcebook.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

5 Things You Didn't Know About Religion

1. Greek Gods Hated Babies. Now, some of you may have read my blog last week. So you may actually know this one. The Greeks version of creation is filled with baby hate. The god Erebus trapped all of his children in hell (until one escaped and castrated him). Cronos ate all his babies (except one, and he regretted that).

Picture from Faceplant Review

Zeus had many children (with MANY women) that he ignored, while his wife Hera would torment them and “test” them continuously. I guess Zeus didn't know how diabolical these baby gods can be.

“Origin of Species” By Godzillaz-strip

2.Getting High For Jesus. Have you been busted for trafficking 20 tons (40,000 lbs) of marijuana? Do you want to get off free and clear, and keep your pot? Well, just claim that you are practicing an old Jamaican religion, The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. A sect of Christianity founded by pot farmers, in Jamaica.

Picture from I Bud You

In 1979, the state of Florida recognized them as an official religion, and came to the decision that the “use of cannabis is an essential portion of the religious practice." Therefore it falls under the protection of the first amendment. With expensive lawyers and much persistence they beat the system, and people said pot heads are lazy.

3. Scientology. Here is a newer religion that is gaining much popularity, especially with celebrities. This religion was founded by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). Hubbard was a science fiction writer, but some people, for some reason, believe it as fact.

Picture courtesy of Citizen Warrior:

He wrote that people are actually immortal beings, who forgot our “true nature,” practitioners are often required to relive past traumatic events in order to “free themselves” form their past, this is called an audit. Auditing in scientology involves measuring the body’s resistance to electricity with a machine called an E-meter. An electrical current is passed through your body and the auditor asks questions and reads the E-meter to see if you have been “cleared.”

Picture from FL Dept, of Corrections.

“I’m ready for my audit now guys…. Guys? Ummm… guys?"

Scientologists believe we are the confused spirits of aliens frozen, transported to this planet, killed in a volcano, and then brainwashed (in that order) by the powerful Lord Zenu. The confused alien spirits then inhabited the bodies of pre-historic man.

Check out this short, two minute video from The BBC:

4. Burnt Souls. OK, so far everything has been fairly tame. No one has been offended yet, right? Well, I can fix that for you. According to the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi verse 5:21;

“And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”

Video courtesy of JeramiahFilms:

This one is a bit long, if you don't want to watch the whole thing, skip to 2:00 minutes, you'll only have to watch about 30 seconds.

Wow…. They actually believe that black skin is a curse, bestowed by God, as a punishment for not choosing a side in the battle between God and the Devil.

Picture from South Park.

5. Magic Underpants. It comes as no surprise that the same people, who believe that last statement, also believe some other crazy things. Mormons have what they call their “Temple Garments” but to the rest of the world these are known as Magic Underpants.

Picture courtesy of Motifake.com

Mormons believe that wearing these underpants provides them with “Spiritual Protection” and helps them resist the temptation of sin. Many Mormons insist that the underpants also provide physical protection, though they argue on the amount of physical protection it has. Some church leaders claim that their underpants have protected them in car wreaks, fires, and other natural disasters.

Photo from Autoalerts.com

I think I’ll nickname my underpants “Magic Brown"

So, you need not be offended by what Mormons think, they believe some weird stuff. I mean, the entire religion was founded when a man supposedly found some gold tablets in the woods, he was the only one allowed by god to see or read these tablets. Man, some people are gullible.

Picture By David Horsey

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

As The Gods Turn.

It was a quiet night. A handful of us were huddled around a fire, our stomachs only half filled with spoiled food. We were trying to keep our mind off the fact that tomorrow we go to battle. Tomorrow many of us will die, maybe all of us. But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shift my mind to different thoughts. I was wishing for a distraction when an old man finally broke the silence, “you know, several of you may die tomorrow, and I bet most of you don’t even know where you came from. Why our homeland is sacred and has to be defended from those damn Romans, do you?”

Zeus

The statue of Zeus in the temple at Olympia stood
more than 40 feet high.(Copyright Lee Krystek, 2011)

We all looked to one another and shook our heads. “Not really,” I said, “I mean, I know it’s something about Zeus and Mt Olympus, right?”

“Yes,” he chuckled, “It is something like that, but there is so much more to it. Greece is the birthplace of all the races of gods and men.”

“In the beginning,” he continued, “there was only chaos, and out of this chaos was born Erebus god of darkness and Nyx goddess of the night. Erebus and Nyx had sex”

One of the boys interrupted “you didn’t say you were going to tell us a dirty story Uncle Homer.”

“Yeah, well there is a lot of it.” Homer replied, “And if you interrupt me every time it comes up, we will never finish this story.

“That would be fine with me,” another boy said, “means we wouldn’t have to fight tomorrow.”

A Depiction of Gaia the Earth Goddes

Homer cleared his throat “anyways, Nyx then laid a giant, golden egg an egg she sat on for ages. Slowly, life began to stir in the egg, until one day it finally hatched and

Eros, the God of Love, was born. When his shell broke the bottom of it fell and became the Gaia (earth). The top became Uranus (heaven). Nyx and Erebus had several other children including Tartarus the God of a place of torment, and pain that exists beneath the underworld. When you die and are judged, if you are a wicked person of deserve divine punishment you will be sent to Tartarus. Then Eros made Uranus fall in love with Gaia, and from their union sprang many children. Their first three children were monsters with fifty arms on each side, and fifty heads. Uranus, who never wanted offspring to begin with, trapped them in Tartarus. They were the most hated of his children. Uranus and Gaia then conceived many other children Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. She delivered the Cyclopes, who were strong spirited and stubborn-hearted. They would be the ones to give Zeus the thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else, they were like the gods. But they had only one eye, and it was set in the midst of their fore-heads. Uranus trapped all of his children in Tartarus. Last she conceives Cronos, the King of the Titans. Gaia conspired with her children against heaven but they were all gripped by fear. Only Cronos was willing to ambush his father. Gaia laid herself out and soon Uranus came along bringing night with him. Uranus spread himself upon her and Cronos sprung from his hiding place and castrated his father. He flung the severed member into the ocean where a maiden grew from it, Athena goddess of fertility.”

“Whoa! So Cronos cut off his own fathers penis?” Someone asked. I looked up and noticed the size of our little group had grown slightly. About a dozen men standing around listening intently to this old man’s story.

“Yes, he did, and in doing so, he freed his brothers and sisters.” Homer answered. “Cronos then became the king over all the other titans which, which were all his brothers, sisters, and cousins. Because he was the one who had over thrown Uranus. Cronos takes his sister Rhea as his queen, and took to living on Mt Olympus, and all was well. But then Uranus decided to take steps toward his revenge. Cronos and Rhea are delighted in the news that Rhea is with child, Hades the god of the underworld. During the celebration Uranus told Cronos that it is his destiny that he be overthrown by his son, just like Cronos over threw his father (Uranus). These seeds of doubt grew in Cronos’ mind and he knew what he must do. As soon as Hades, was born Cronos ate him.”

“Cronos did what?!” exclaimed another new audience member. The number of people listening had nearly doubled in the last few moments.

Replica of the Omphalos stone. It is located in Delphi.

“He ate baby Hades.” Homer replied, now having to speak a bit louder for everyone to hear. “Now where was I? Oh yes, Cronos ate Hades because he was afraid of his child rising up against him. Now, just like we have seen with past the first generation of gods, just because they don’t want kids doesn’t mean they stop having sex. Cronos and Rhea conceived four other children that Cronos also ate Hera, Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. At this point, Rhea is distraught - she desperately wants to have a child that she could watch grow up. So, she conspired against Cronos with Gaia and Uranus. Rhea was pregnant with her sixth baby, Zeus. Uranus and Gaia agreed to help Rhea conceal the child. When Zeus was born, before Cronos saw him, Gaia switched the baby with a special stone. The same stone that we have in our home city at Delhpi.”

“I wish we could eat rocks” mumbled a soldier near him as his stomach growled.

Homer sighed and continued “Rhea swaddled the stone in baby blankets and presented it to Cronos, who ate it without giving it a second look. Gaia raised Zeus in a cave on Mt Ida, far from where Cronos would look for him. Years passed and young Zeus grew strong, he was often reminded of his brothers and sisters still living and growing to adult hood in his father’s stomach. Uranus helped sow seeds of hate, towards Cronos, in Zeus. Zeus formed alliances with Cronos’ brothers the Giants, the Cyclopes, and Cottus, Briareos, and Gyes the beasts with fifty arms and heads. Together with his uncles, Zeus stormed Mt Olympus and brutally defeated Cronos and the other Titans. Zeus took a blade and split his father’s belly, releasing his trapped brothers and sisters. Zeus took the defeated Titans and cast them deep into Tartarus, and took the throne as King of The Gods.”

“Zeus is great” exclaimed an excited listener. I looked up to see the crowd was still growing.

“Now, Gaia didn’t exactly like how roughly Zeus had treated the Titans because, after all, most of the Titans were her children. So to punish him for his deeds, she sent two of her other children to fight him, the monsters Typhon and Echidna. It was a magnificent battle, ending with Zeus standing victorious. After Zeus defeated Typhon, he trapped him in a mountain, but he allowed Echidna to live. As the newly crowned King of The Gods, Zeus needed a queen. So, he married his sister, Hera. Together they had several children, And Zeus ha many more childeren without Hera, but that is another story. Zeus saw that the world was far too empty now that the Titans had been locked awaty in Tartarus. So, together, with two other gods Prometheus (fore-thought) and Epimetheus (after-thought), Zeus started working on the races of the world. The Gold men came first, followed by the the Silver men, the Bronze men were third, and finally the Iron men. The Gold men lived in a paradise. Crops grew wildly everywhere, meat and fish was plentiful. Everyone was peaceful and they never fought any wars.” Homer sighed wistfully, “if only we had the fortune to live in those days, huh?”

“Unfortunately all good things end, and one day, for no known reason, the gold men disappeared. Zeus soon replaced them with the Silver men, but these men were a weak race. They spent most of their lives as infants, they had a short time of healthy adulthood and then they had a long, agonizing period of old age. Zeus didn’t take much time in replacing them with the bronze men. But, these men were too vicious and very quickly killed each other off. Zeus finally found the right ingredient when he made us, the Iron men. He made us after multiple failed attempts and finally got it prefect.”

Bust of Homer (British Museum, London)

Homer stood up, and looked out at his audience. Now there were too many heads for me to count in such low light. “So you see men, you need not be scared of the battle tomorrow. For we are the men made of Iron, nothing is stronger than Iron!” He yelled. His statement was met with thunderous applause. "With the true Gods on our side, we cannot lose!"

“Now men, it’s late and we all have something we have to do tomorrow,” he chuckled. “But, I’ll tell you what, for those of you who are brave enough to survive, tomorrow night I’ll tell you about the first women, Prometheus bringing fire to the humans, the many children of Zeus, and the trials of Hercules. Goodnight men.”