Serpent Saviour
Extract from Secrets of the Serpents available from www.reality-entertainment.com/books.htm as a book and DVD)
by Philip Gardiner
The saviour of mankind is a recurring motif. It has, like the sun, risen in every part of the world for thousands of years. It has cast its light upon every civilisation and every culture. But the light of this ancient sun has also cast dark shadows and today we wander around in the shadow of deception. You see, as civilisations grew so too did the power base of those who claimed authority from their saviour and great cultures began to move physically closer and closer, eventually crossing over into each others domain and the rest is history. There can only be one saviour, so went the cry, and for hundreds of years mankind has fought over the difference they perceived. But these differences are a phenomena and this study will highlight just how similar the various saviours of the planet are and how they are all based upon the same original ideals and belief systems ? that of the original serpent worshippers and the motions of the planets.
Buddha
According to Albert Churchward in The Origin and Evolution of Religion:
"The first Buddha was called Hermias, and can be traced back to Set of the Egyptians; he originated in the Stellar Cult. Later, however, the Solar Cult was carried to India, and the Buddha is there representative of Ptah of the Egyptians."
So, what we have here is a non-historical god-man based upon the sun and finding origin in Egyptian religion. He follows certain patterns, which as we will see, relate entirely to the idea of the later Jesus Christ. These patterns are the same the world over and follow a distinct astrotheological perspective. It is interesting to note that Buddha is seen as emerging from Set or Ptah of Egypt, especially when we consider the serpentine relationships of both deities.
The serpent was an emblem of the sun and of Buddha the messiah (Squire, Serpent Symbol, p 195). According to Hindu oral tradition and legend, Gautama (Buddha) "himself had a serpent lineage." Not surprisingly trees are sacred to Buddhists, as Gautama was ?enlightened? beneath the Bo Tree. In Ophiolatreia, Hargrave Jennings quotes Captain Chapman who was one of the first to see the ruins of Anarajapura in India "At this time the only remaining traces of the city consist of nine temples . . . groups of pillars . . . still held in great reverence by the Buddhists. They consist first of an enclosure, in which are the sacred trees called Bogaha" or Trees of Buddha.
The basis of the Tibetan healing arts comes from Bhaisajya-guru, Lapis Lazuli Radiance Buddha ? the ?master of healing.? The begging bowl is made of lapis lazuli and contains the very elixir of life.
An indication of what this Elixir is that resides in this bowl is found in a story related about the Buddha when he passes the night away at the hermitage of Uruvela.
The leader, Kashyapa, warned Buddha that there was only one hut available, and that a malevolent Naga (see Naga below) occupied it. Buddha was not phased by this and went to the hut regardless. However, a terrific struggle ensued culminating in the hut bursting into flames. The onlookers drenched the flames, but they had to wait until morning to find that Buddha had survived. The Buddha emerged with his begging bowl in his arms and inside was a peaceful, coiled snake. The Buddha had slain the dragon of its fiery notions and emerged with a beneficial result.
Now, to invoke the healing power of the snake, it is thought to be sufficient to simply call on the medicine Buddha. The serpent and Buddha are associated in symbolism because Buddha turned himself into a Naga (cobra) in-order to heal ? that is, Buddha probably became a member of the Naga serpent cult in-order to learn their healing ways, just like Apollonius of Tyana and many others. This Apollonius himself was worshipped widely at the time of Christ. He did many miracles that were reminiscent of Jesus and indeed the very worshippers of Apollonius were later known as Christian Gnostics.
The coming or future Buddha is said to currently reside near, under or even in the Naga tree, where he learns wisdom from the Nagas.
Buddha as the god-man:
:
Born December 25th to the virgin Maya ? announced by a star, wise men and angels.
Pronounced ruler of the world at birth and presented with costly gifts.
He ?crushed the serpents head? and was tempted by the ?evil one.?
He was baptised in water with the Holy Ghost present.
He fed the poor, healed the sick and walked on water.
According to some traditions he even died on a cross and was ascended physically to heaven (Nirvana).
Chrishna
Chrishna, Christna or Krishna is the Hindu god Vishnu in human form, like Christ is Yahweh in human form. And as all other healers, saviours and preserving gods, he was represented as a serpent. The serpent was a symbol of Vishnu as a preserving god and saviour.
The orthodox and post Christian position of his death is that he was shot in the foot while under a tree. However, as always with Hindu gods there are many variances. One states that the body of this ?god-man? was suspended on the branches of a tree ? that is, crucified.
The disciple, Arjuna, came to take the body away, but it had already disappeared. The use of many arrows to "pin" him to the tree is reminiscent of the crucifixion of Christ. As Doane points out in Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions:
"The Vishnu Purana speaks of Chrishna being shot in the foot with an arrow, and states that this was the cause of his death. Other accounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other words, crucified?. The death of Chrishna is very differently related. One remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a tree, to which he was nailed by the stroke of an arrow?. We find that Chrishna is represented hanging on a cross, and we know that a cross was frequently called "so cursed tree." It was an ancient custom to use trees as gibbets for crucifixion, or, if artificial, to call the cross a tree . . . In earlier copies of Moor?s Hindu Pantheon, is to be seen representations of Chrishna (as Wittoba), with marks of holes in both feet, and in others, of holes in the hands."
Many of the images of Chrishna have been destroyed or removed by Christians. In the 19th century the British Parliament sent a Christian Bishop to find out about the Hindu religion. The result was forwarded back to England for investigation and was found to be "horribly mutilated" and to be "scarcely recognisable." The crucifixion was completely removed. Indeed the Reverend Simpson, an erudite religionist noted that the "subject, a crucifix, is omitted in the present edition, for very obvious reasons." These obvious reasons were the Christian sensibilities, who, when they discovered such instances came up with the excuse that:
"These crucifixes have been introduced into India, I suppose, by Christian missionaries, and are, perhaps, used in Popish churches and societies." (Moors Pantheon)
(Moors Pantheon)
There were several other points of discussion, which startled many; namely the Coronet, which was probably of Ethiopian or Parthian descent and looked incredibly similar to the crown of thorns and even the halo?s seen around the gods. The fact however remains that India had its crucified victim long before Christianity.
With the travels of people such as Apollonius into the mysteries of India, there is little wonder that the idea of a crucified god got back to Greece, Italy and the pre-Christian world. Indeed Apollonius is connected with bringing back the ideas of Chrishna. Yet again we have a line drawn back towards the serpent worship of antiquity directly from Christianity. Christianity has "borrowed" extensively from the numerous, but singular, serpent cults and pagan beliefs of the ages. The relation of Chrishna in his various forms (Vishnu) as a serpent deity, and being hung upon the cross, has remarkable similarities to the ?Brazen Serpent? of Moses, which according to the Christian writer Barnabas, was set up on a cross, which Lundy says was a simple sign of salvation; and Moses himself makes the sign of the cross at Exodus 17:12. It is basically the Ankh, the serpent upon the T or Tau cross. It is life, immortality and rebirth; a universal image seen across the Atlantic even with Quetzalcoatl.
There is wide usage of the crucified form, being seen even in Assyrian Monuments of Nineveh, which predate and were the progenitors of the Christian cross. They were symbols of the resurrected serpent god; the serpent god entering a ritualistic rebirth on the sun symbol of the cross; a symbol, which would take on the symbolism of the serpent because of this very fact. The fact that, according to Tertullian, the Christians were accused of worshipping an ass-headed god points simply to Set or Seth, the Egyptian god, who is the twin to Horus, as Christ is the same as John the Baptist.
The Brahmans represented Chrishna as a crucified god-man; the Romans revered Sol crucified on December 25th; Zoroaster was born by immaculate conception and his soul suspended "a lingo" or from the wood or tree of knowledge; Prometheus was crucified, even nailed to a cross; Tammuz was crucified around 1160 BC according to Graves; and Julius Firmicus said that Tammuz was raised from the dead for the salvation of the world, the same Tammuz who is represented by the Tau cross; and the Assyrians had their sun god Baal with outstretched arms in the cruciform. The fact that this "sign" of the god-man or serpent on a cross was a symbol of salvation, which is basically ?immortality,? is seen even by Christians such as Reverend Cox who said "the Egyptian the cross . . . became the symbol of immortality, and the god himself was crucified to the tree which denoted fructifying power." The snake brings immortality and the tree, as the vegetation or solar power gives it "life." This Egyptian god crucified was none other than the twin of Set, Horus (Osiris too.) In fact Horus was even seen crucified between two thieves as we shall see later. But we must for the moment remain in the Hindu culture and turn now to India?s greatest ? the serpentine Naga.
Naga/Naaga
A Sanskrit term meaning literally Serpent (especially cobra); also holds the meanings ? a tree; a mountain; the sun; the number seven; wisdom and initiate ? all symbols and emblems we are familiar with in the worship of the serpent and amazingly also familiar motifs surrounding Christ.
These Naga are said to reside in Patala, however this has a meaning similar to antipodes, the same name given by the ancients to the America?s. It is a similar term to the Mexican Nagals, the medicine (healers) and sorcerers who always kept a god in the shape of a serpent. In Burma they are Nats or serpent gods. Esoterically Naga is a term for wise men. There is a folk tradition that Nagas washed Gautama (Buddha) at his birth ? the wise men visiting the deity on Earth. They are also said to have guarded him and the relics of his body after his death. The daughter of the Naga Ulupi, the king of Patala, married Arjuna who is the same as John.
According to H. P. Blavatsky in Theosophical Glossary, the Naga were descended from Rishi Kasyapa who had twelve wives (therefore he is the sun), by whom he had numerous Nagas (serpents or wise-ones) and was the father of all animals. Rishi Kasyapa can therefore be none other than a progenitor of the Green Man, who is the god of animals the world over, and this explains the reasons for the appearance of the snake in images of the Green Man and Horned God, such as the Gundestrup Cauldron.
The Naga of Kashmir instructed Apollonius of Tyana. This is the same Kashmir where the serpent tribes became famous for their healing skills. There is a theory that the Nagas descended from the Scythic race and when the Brahmins invaded India they found a race of wise men, half gods, half demons (snakes). These men were said to be teachers of other nations and themselves instructed the Hindu?s and Brahmans ? no wonder that Apollonius visited them.
In the Bhagavata Purana there is a description of the Bila-svarga or the regions of the Nagas said to be subterranean. Some of the names associated with this place relate remarkably to the Mesoamerican and South American terms such as Tlaloc.
"My dear king, beneath this earth are seven other planets [seven is important in Atlantean myths ? seven islands!], known as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rstala and Patala? the residents are known as Daityas, Danavas and Nagas . . . brilliantly decorated cities . . . wonderful houses, walls, gates, assembly houses, temples, yards and temple compounds . . . The houses for the leaders of these planets are constructed with the most valuable jewels, and are always crowded with the living entities known as Nagas and Asuras . . . Many great serpents reside there with gems on their hoods, and the effulgence of these gems dissipates the darkness in all directions. Since the residents of these planets drink and bathe in juices and elixirs made from wonderful herbs, they are freed from all anxieties and physical diseases. They have no experience of gray hair, wrinkles or invalidity." (See Mahakala below)
(See below)
There is currently a lot of debate about the original inhabitants of India ? whether Aryan or Naga, but the fact remains, whether the Nagas were Aryans or not, they were an ancient inhabitant. The very fact that they were mentioned in the ancient Rig Vedas shows this to be true. They also intermarried with the Royal families, hence the popular myths of serpent kings.
"Then come the Naaga, the Siren serpents, whose worship has been so important a factor in the folklore, superstition, and poetry of India from the earliest times down to-day. Cobras in their ordinary shape, they lived, like mermen and mermaids, more beneath the water, in a great luxury and wealth, more especially of germ, and sometimes, as we shall see, the name is used of the Dryads, the tree-spirits, equally wealthy and powerful. They could at will and often did, adopt the human form and though terrible if angered, were kindly and mild by nature. Not mentioned either in the Veda or in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads, the myth seems to be a strange jumble of beliefs, not altogether pleasant, about a strangely gifted race of actual men; combined with notions derived from previously existing theories of tree worship, and serpent worship, and river worship. But the history of the idea has still to be written. The Naagas are represented on the ancient bas-reliefs as men or women either with cobra?s hoods rising behind their heads or with serpentine forms from their waist downwards." Rhys Davies, Buddhist India, p.223.
Rhys Davies, , p.223.
These tree deities were Nagas anyway as Rhys Davies continues on page 223:
"The tree-deities were called Naagas, and were able at will, like the Naagas, to assume the human form and in one story the spirit of a Nunyan tree who reduced the merchants to ashes is called a Naaga-raja, the tree itself is a dwelling place of Naaga. It seems that they also left behind myths of healing as a story in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Asiatic Society demonstrates. When there was an epidemic among the children, it seems the only answer was to bring them to a snake skin which was hung on a pole and allow them to touch it ? reminding us of the idea of the Brazen Serpent of Moses, which was upon a pole and for the healing of the "children" of Israel. This may explain why it is that the tree-gods are not specially and separately mentioned in the Maha Samaya list of deities who are there said by the poet to have come to pay reverence to the Buddha."
The history of the Nagas that we do have, textually beginning around the 7th century BC is an amazing history of ups and downs. It parallels the rise and fall of the serpent worshipped by the Semites, with the Brazen Serpent being raised in the wilderness and then broken up in the temple.
Nagajurna
A hermit and wise teacher and who scholars relate to John the Baptist and who is said to have visited China in 3rd Century BC, converting many to Buddhism. He is often called the second Buddha as he established the Madhyamika School of philosophy. Most interesting however is that he is said to have received his wisdom and Tantric empowerment with the help of the "Nagas in the lake" beside which he meditated. In Tibet he is known as Lu-trub (snake in Tibetan is Lu). Nagajurna was from the wealthy background of a South Indian Brahmin family. By tradition he is said to have obtained the title of Naga by visiting Patala, the home of the Naga. The texts or twelve volumes that the Naga gave him called Prajnaparamita Sutra are still said to be kept in the temple dedicated to him in Kathmandu.
Another strange story relates Nagajurna with the Philosophers Stone:
There was much grief and famine in the land, which was affecting the monks as they could only survive from the generosity of the surrounding villages. Nagajurna went off and visited a distant planet, bringing back with him the Philosophers Stone, which could turn lead into gold. However, even after supporting the monks for six years with his new venture he was eventually found out and expelled as handling gold was forbidden.
An allusion to the sacred architectural skills of the serpent worshippers is shown by the legend that Nagajurna built many Temples with special clay that the Nagas had given him ? presumably from their underwater home and therefore indicative of the "good building source" to be found in the mind. In this instance Nagajurna is the builder of the mind Temple with the aid of the power of the otherworldly serpents.
Toward the end of his earthly days, Nagajurna was patronised by King Ativhana as he supplied him with his serpent elixir of life. However, one of the king?s sons wanted this opportunity to rule the kingdom and plotted Nagajurna?s death. This Prince Shaktiman crept up on Nagajurna and struck him with his sword. However the sword failed to decapitate the sage. Nagajurna said, "Don?t be worried that your plot will fail. Many life times ago, I accidentally cut an insect in half with a sharp blade of kusha grass. The present situation is a direct outcome of that act. Although no weapon can harm me, let me tell you that you can easily sever my head with a blade of kusha grass. And in this way, the law of karma will be fulfilled." Also, Nagajurna?s remains are said to still be preserved at Shri Pravarta in southern India ? everything except his head! His head had been severed by a blade of kusha grass, struck by Prince Shaktiman, and is said to be kept in a walled enclosure in the Swayambhu complex. As soon as Prince Shaktiman had decapitated Nagajurna he heard the headless voice "I will now depart for Sukhavati heaven, but will soon repossess this body." The prince fled in fear and a female spirit took the body several miles away. The body lay in the "wilderness" for many years until miraculously the head found its way back to the body and Nagajurna returned to life. Estimations of up to 600 years life span have been put forward for Nagajurna after this; however there seems to have been a mixing of other individuals to make up his legend and this may account for the longevity.
His real name was Siddhipada and he acquired the name following the saving of the life of the king of the Nagas, Mucilinda, who had fallen seriously ill following a fire set by an angry yogin. After this Siddhipada then went to the realm of the serpents and acquired great teaching. Arjuna (white) was a warrior of ancient times and Naga is serpent, so Nagajurna became his title ? the white snake.
Nagaraja
Nagaraja is a name given to the guardian spirits of the lakes and rivers in India and means literally dragon or serpent king. They became Arhats and were textually converted into Buddhists.
Nagayuna
Strangely the Indian branch of Alchemy is known as Nagayuna. The symbol of the entwined serpents is seen all over India looking virtually the same as the Western caduceus. These stone tablets or votive tablets are known as Nagahals or Nagakals. The idea of Indian Alchemy is purely the production and preservation of the Elixir, both physically and spiritually.
Mahakala
A very popular god and Naga King who was tamed by Majusri and Avalokitesvara and turned into a protector of Buddha. He helps beings overcome negative elements, especially spiritual ones. In depictions of him he stands over a lying corpse holding a vajra chopper and skull in front of him. The skull is full of the blood and guts of dead demons (Naga) that have been churned into the elixir. He has a serpent on his potbelly and is adorned with serpent bracelets and ear ornaments.
This is a remarkable image of a Hindu god holding a chalice containing the Elixir, which is made from churned snakes ? it is blatant in its symbolism.
Horus
It?s now time to shift angle slightly and look sideways at India?s close cultural and historical neighbour ? Egypt. Many people fail to realise that as Egypt was once a great and powerful Empire, so too was India and both shared similar time-scales for their growths.
In the myths of the Egyptian deity, Horus, we have starkly given to us the real reason behind the use of the Uraeus snake symbol by the Pharaohs. Horus is said to have recovered the eye of Osiris, his father, and to have placed over the wound the divine serpent Uraeus in-order to cure him. In fact his father then made Horus king of Egypt.
There are parallels here with Jesus in that he too healed the eye, but this time it was with clay. However, he spat into the clay, and it was this act, the "spit" of the serpent king, which cured the eye. Jesus then went on to become king like Horus. He was paired with Set, as Jesus was with John the Baptist or against Satan (Set) and he even had Set decapitated as John is beheaded.
Set later returned, taking the form of a serpent. Horus was crucified between two thieves and then resurrected, just like Christ. His earthly father was known as Seb, which is the same as Joseph. He walked on water, delivered a ?Sermon on the Mount? and was said to reign for 1,000 years. So, if Horus is the Egyptian equivalent of Jesus then what does it tell us about Jesus? And furthermore, what does it tell us about the Grail?
Well, in the 1st dynasty of Egypt there was a king called Djer. He was the third king and he had a son named Djet, although evidence of this relationship is sketchy. Djet was also known as Wadjit the uraeus snake. Djet?s tomb is at Abydos in a location known as Umm el-Ga?ab.
First excavated by Flinders Petrie it was later redone by Kaiser and Dreyer in 1988. There were steles found at the sight indicating the early names of this enigmatic pharaoh. It was a snake with a falcon above and a palace below the snake. Simply, this inscription means "Horus the snake." Remembering that this is one of the Pharaohs from the 1st dynasty then we have here an indication that very early on in Egyptian history the god Horus was seen in relation with the healing snake.
If Christ is seen as Horus, then he too is associated with the ?healing snake,? and no wonder that the early Christians called him the "good serpent." But there is yet a more revealing element of the names given to Jesus, which in the light of this new outlook is most revealing. Jesus is called the carpenter, but what is the root of this word and why was it used for a man that plainly did not have the inclination or time to sit and carve out wood?
The word carpenter contemporaneously was ?naggar? meaning wise man and serpent. Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter?" now reads "Is not this the serpent?" The blood that therefore flowed from Jesus into the Grail, and the spit that came from his mouth to heal the eye, were elements of the snake.
Mithras
The Roman and earlier Persian god Mithra or Mithras was represented encircled by serpents, as seen especially at Modena where he is entwined by the serpent whilst holding a staff and encircled by the Zodiac. In his rites, customs were observed similar to those of the mysteries of Sebazius ? that is, a serpent was thrown into the chest of the initiated and then withdrawn from the lower body.
Mithras often has a lion?s head, a human body, and a serpent coiled around him. The lion?s head is thought to signify the sun and the snake the ?cosmic path.?
A stone found at Lyons has "Deo invicto Mithir" under a raised figure of a large serpent. Mithras was often depicted as a young man. In the Roman mysteries and traditions of Mithras he is seen killing or sacrificing a bull, another symbol of the sun and yet in the Iranian stories there is no association with the bull at all. It was in fact Ahriman who killed the bull in the Iranian stories and it could be that this simply passed over with the Mithras that the Romans created.
One of the strangest mysteries of Mithras is the famous rock-birth. The scene shows Mithras emerging from the top of an egg shaped rock, normally depicted entwined with a snake-like symbol of the ?Orphic Egg.? Mithras is born from the egg of a snake as an immortal god. Yet again, the snake?s egg is associated with immortal birth. Mithras was seen as the redeemer and saviour in that he was able to transcend the ego, which can halt one?s spiritual progress. The ?bull? to be sacrificed is the ego ? one?s ?present personality.?
The ego is the source of division and duality ? being divided as it is between the ?objective,? ?conscious? male/positive aspects and the ?subjective,? ?subconscious,? female/negative aspects, and these two divisions are symbolised by the two horns of the bull.
It is the ego that has to be "sacrificed" before one can become enlightened and become a "god" or avatar like Mithras and the other gods and avatars he is associated with ? like Horus or Jesus for instance.
This "sacrifice of the self," implies that the ego must be "killed" or "dispensed with," but the real process is that this division in one?s consciousness be "healed" ? i.e., the two divisions of the ego are to become united and so reintegrated so that the ego can then become one with the source. In other words, it is the division in consciousness, which must be "sacrificed" ? by being Neutralised. This division within the ego reflects the same division between the ego and the centre of one?s consciousness, which is symbolised by the ?cosmic egg.?
As we can see, Mithras is born from the egg of a snake as an immortal god and yet again, the snake?s egg is associated with immortal birth. Mithras was seen as the redeemer and saviour. Like Mithras, one being "born" or "reborn" from the egg or ?cosmic egg? conveys the meaning that one has become enlightened by this reintegration or fusion in consciousness and therefore one is ?reborn? anew ? i.e., illumined ? possessing a profound knowledge of oneself and one?s reality. One?s division has been ?healed? by the serpent energy ? the neutral life force ? and this spiritual, psychical, "healing," also extends into the ?physical? healing properties of the snake.
Osiris
This Egyptian sun/earth-god as the saviour is associated with the snake. He enters the tail of the snake, to be reborn from the mouth ? like the egg emerging from the mouth of the snake, as in Irish and Celtic tales and the Ohio Serpent mound in America. Amazingly this ?being? born again from the serpent is widespread. Was it an ancient concept? Was this one of the first rituals of the serpent cult?
Australia is one of the oldest remnants of the serpent cult as it was split off thousands of years ago. In the Western Desert of South Australia there is a ritual called ?the making of the medicine man.? The ritual begins with the prospective medicine man (shaman) being mourned as if dead. He then goes to a water hole where two medicine men cover his eyes and "throw him into the jaws of the serpent." The prospective medicine man remains inside the belly of the serpent for an indefinite time until the other two medicine men bring rats to entice the serpent as an offering and the born again new medicine man is ejected from the mouth of the serpent. He falls alongside a "rock hole" indicating that this was no real snake; instead it simply must have been seen as a serpent mound. He has been reduced to the size of an infant ? which shows that he is young again in new life.
Mircea Eliade in Rites and Symbols of Initiation points out that, "what characterises all forms of this dangerous return to the womb is that the Hero undertakes it as a living man and an adult ? that is, he does not die and he does not return to the embryonic state. The state involved in the enterprise is sometimes extraordinary ? nothing less than winning immortality."
Others, such as James Campbell (Hero with a Thousand Faces) point out that now the postulant becomes not only the father, but also the son. The father and the son are one and this makes complete sense because Osiris is in fact the father of Horus, but he is also Horus himself. This is no different to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, but also God on earth. Mary, the mother of Jesus is therefore also the mother of God. She is in fact Isis, the mother, sister and wife.
Zoroaster
Supposedly born around 1,500 BC or 660 BC (depends upon whom you believe) in Iran, there is evidence that this saviour-style figure or title had actually been in existence for at least 10000 years. According to some historians there have been up to seven different Zoroasters over time, making him not a single person but an ancient god humanised.
His teachings are to be found in the Avesta and Gathas. Zoroastrianism did not really take off until around the 6th century BC and lasted until it was taken over by Islam in the 7th century AD, although there are still some who cling on even today. These Zoroastrians are believed to have been the wise men or Magi of the Christian Bible, who brought gifts to Jesus at his birth, as a born god. If these Magi saw their gods as serpents, then there is little wonder that they should see and be associated with this serpent saviour born in human form.
According to Eusebius in the ritual of Zoroaster the great expanse of the heavens and nature were described under the symbol of the serpent (Ophiolatreia, Hargrave Jennings). This was doubly mentioned in the Octateuch of Ostanes and even to the point that Temples were erected across Persia and the east in veneration of the serpent deity. The serpents were esteemed the "supreme of all Gods and the superintendents of the whole world." The worship is said to have begun yet again in Chaldea. That the city of Opis (Op = serpent) was built on the Tigris is a testament to this fact.
Zoroaster in essence is a god-man archetype like Osiris. We can see this element of him when we run through some of the similarities between Zoroaster and Christ.
Zoroaster was born of a virgin via the immaculate conception.
He was baptised in a river and tempted in the wilderness.
He began his ministry at thirty (30 degrees is the measurement between the Zodiacal signs).
He baptised with water, fire and "holy wind" (ghost). It was said that one would follow who would baptise with the Holy Ghost.
He was "the word made flesh."
He revealed secrets of heaven and hell ? the resurrection, salvation, judgement and apocalypse.
He was slain and his followers had their own Eucharist.
He even had a sacred Grail or Chalice!
Messiah (Comparisons)
So there are many similarities between the various "messiahs" that the world has known and it is my view that they all emanate from one original and serpent cult source. We have seen above some groundwork from the realm of Hindu and Buddhist belief. We can see the beginnings and origins even of some of the more peculiar and even profound things we find in our Christian Messiah in the West. Let?s just take a look at some comparisons now and see what sticks out like a sore thumb!
Buddha was born of the virgin Maya who was known as the ?Queen of Heaven? on December 25th.
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, also known as the ?Queen of Heaven,? on December 25th in a cave or manger.
Horus was born of the virgin Isis-Meri on December 25th. Isis-Meri is also known as Mata-Meri or Mother Mary.
Mithra was born to a virgin on December 25th and in a cave or manger; also announced by a star and three wise men.
Chrishna was born of the virgin, Devaki (shining one). This goddess or ?Queen of Heaven? is known as Isis, Astarte, Asherah, Marratu, Marah, Mariham. In fact the Semites knew her as Mari-El or Mary God or indeed shining Mary.
Chrishna?s most beloved disciple was known as Arjuna or Ar-jouan (John.)
In Egyptian myth, Anup or Aan (John) the Baptiser also baptised Horus, and in Christian myth John baptised Jesus. Both Anup and John the Baptist were decapitated.
Buddha performed miracles and healed the sick, as did most of the others. Horus had twelve disciples like Christ and Mithra. Buddha was transfigured on a mountain like Christ and Horus. They all ascended into heaven.
Buddha was sacrificed for three days and was then resurrected like Jesus.
Horus was crucified, buried in a tomb and then resurrected.
Mithra was buried in a tomb and then resurrected three days later.
Chrishna was crucified between two thieves on a tree, then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven ? as did Prometheus.
The idea of being resurrected after three days has strong links to astronomy. The stone monuments of the world are also linked to astronomy and the serpent. The 12 disciples are the 12 zodiac signs and months and of course, the snake, seen as the Ouroboros is in control of the signs ? just like Christ, who controls and guides the disciples. But the snake is seen, not just in control of the stars, but also as the sun and the moon ? basically, the serpent is seen as the most powerful of the cosmic entities.
In December the sun makes a descent southward until 21st or 22nd December, which is then termed the ?Winter Solstice.? It stops then for three days and begins to move back again northwards ? it is resurrected. As the serpent and the sun are linked together in symbolism of new and regenerative power then there is no surprise to find this correlation.
Being born of a virgin implies the knowledge that the calendar began whilst in the constellation of Virgo. As the sun, the various messiahs are the "sun" of god and are the "light of the world." The Hindi word "Kris" actually means sun and it is from this root that the word Chrishna and Christ are derived. In fact Chrishna was known as "Jezeus" or "pure essence" and centuries before Jesus Christ.
The sun has a corona or horned crown, like the horns and the crown of thorns of Jesus and Chrishna. Most of these remarkable and ritualistic "sons of god" are come of age at 30 and there is no surprise to find that the sun enters into each zodiacal sign at 30 degrees.
Even the language barrier is overcome when we find that Buddha was considered the good shepherd, carpenter, saviour and light of the world. Horus was known as "the way, the truth and the light" ? again, like Jesus.
Also as God?s anointed, "the messiah," the "lamb of god," "the word," "the good shepherd," "the fisher," "the son of god" ? Horus was also known as the "KRST" or Christ. (There are in fact many depictions of Horus at his virginal mother?s breast, looking exactly like Jesus and Mary.
Horus also raised "El-Azar-us" or "El-Osiris" from the dead, just as Christ was to raise "Lazarus." This story in itself is an allegory of the sun god Osiris being reborn.
There are others who match those similarities seen above. Dionysius for instance, rode on a triumphant ass. He was sacrificed as the Dendrites or Young man on the tree and eaten in a sacred Eucharist. He turned water into wine; given the title king of kings and rose from the dead. His cult actually entered Jerusalem around the time of Christ and was indeed thought to have been worshipped by the Jews. His symbol was IHS, a symbol still used by Christians. He was called Iasius in Crete, which is an equivalent to Iesu or Jesus.
Mithra, like Jesus, has his principal festival at Easter when he was resurrected and he had a Eucharist like Jesus.
In Phrygia the god Attis was crucified on a tree ? a day known as ?Black Friday.? He was born on December 25th to a virgin named Nana. He had a Eucharist of bread as his body and was called the Son of God. After three days in the "underworld" of hell he ascended as god.
They are all basically descended from royal lineage and were generally wealthy. We know from looking around the folklore as well as these religious similarities that this royal lineage generally meant that they were descended from serpents or dragons. Jesus was of the line of David; Buddha the son of a Raj, and Chrishna descended of royal stock. They all are involved in some kind of trinity, as are many other faiths.
Chrishna, Buddha and Jesus all are ?dragon slayers? ? they all "crush the head of the serpent." To all, the serpent is an emblem symbolic of ?wisdom.? To all, the serpent is intricately linked to their entire myth as a symbol of healing and is highly beneficent. And to all, yet again, the serpent is linked to the Elixir.
The Christian Church, which has destroyed much of our history over the past 1,500 years jealously guarded most of this information. The very messiahs of the globe were written over. Even Buddha became a Christian saint as St. Josaphat, taken from the Buddhist title, Bodhisat.
Christianity as a literal truth is now so heavily entrenched in the culture of the West that there is almost no attempt made to put the record straight. Recent television documentaries prove that the idea of the Christian story is still seen today as being literally true, and these are documentaries made by Journalists! The fact remains that the story is widespread and is an astronomical, serpent-oriented device for symbolic immortality and realisation of the self.
What we have seen here in this quick study is that India and Egypt, to name just two, are full of stories and religious texts that perfectly parallel the Christianity of the West and especially, pre-date it. The incredible stark reality of these facts are often fought over on the internet and in books and magazines and yet the force of faith is blind to the logic of reality and evidence. The battle will rage for a long time yet, but what we have today is a little more freedom of speech than our ancestors. The saviour is the sun, which gives us birth by seeding the earth mother with energy and then ticks away the hours of our life and ushers in our end. It is the ouroborus, the beginning and the end, the cycle of life and our saviour deities mimmick its every move.
by Philip Gardiner
The saviour of mankind is a recurring motif. It has, like the sun, risen in every part of the world for thousands of years. It has cast its light upon every civilisation and every culture. But the light of this ancient sun has also cast dark shadows and today we wander around in the shadow of deception. You see, as civilisations grew so too did the power base of those who claimed authority from their saviour and great cultures began to move physically closer and closer, eventually crossing over into each others domain and the rest is history. There can only be one saviour, so went the cry, and for hundreds of years mankind has fought over the difference they perceived. But these differences are a phenomena and this study will highlight just how similar the various saviours of the planet are and how they are all based upon the same original ideals and belief systems ? that of the original serpent worshippers and the motions of the planets.
Buddha
According to Albert Churchward in The Origin and Evolution of Religion:
"The first Buddha was called Hermias, and can be traced back to Set of the Egyptians; he originated in the Stellar Cult. Later, however, the Solar Cult was carried to India, and the Buddha is there representative of Ptah of the Egyptians."
So, what we have here is a non-historical god-man based upon the sun and finding origin in Egyptian religion. He follows certain patterns, which as we will see, relate entirely to the idea of the later Jesus Christ. These patterns are the same the world over and follow a distinct astrotheological perspective. It is interesting to note that Buddha is seen as emerging from Set or Ptah of Egypt, especially when we consider the serpentine relationships of both deities.
The serpent was an emblem of the sun and of Buddha the messiah (Squire, Serpent Symbol, p 195). According to Hindu oral tradition and legend, Gautama (Buddha) "himself had a serpent lineage." Not surprisingly trees are sacred to Buddhists, as Gautama was ?enlightened? beneath the Bo Tree. In Ophiolatreia, Hargrave Jennings quotes Captain Chapman who was one of the first to see the ruins of Anarajapura in India "At this time the only remaining traces of the city consist of nine temples . . . groups of pillars . . . still held in great reverence by the Buddhists. They consist first of an enclosure, in which are the sacred trees called Bogaha" or Trees of Buddha.
The basis of the Tibetan healing arts comes from Bhaisajya-guru, Lapis Lazuli Radiance Buddha ? the ?master of healing.? The begging bowl is made of lapis lazuli and contains the very elixir of life.
An indication of what this Elixir is that resides in this bowl is found in a story related about the Buddha when he passes the night away at the hermitage of Uruvela.
The leader, Kashyapa, warned Buddha that there was only one hut available, and that a malevolent Naga (see Naga below) occupied it. Buddha was not phased by this and went to the hut regardless. However, a terrific struggle ensued culminating in the hut bursting into flames. The onlookers drenched the flames, but they had to wait until morning to find that Buddha had survived. The Buddha emerged with his begging bowl in his arms and inside was a peaceful, coiled snake. The Buddha had slain the dragon of its fiery notions and emerged with a beneficial result.
Now, to invoke the healing power of the snake, it is thought to be sufficient to simply call on the medicine Buddha. The serpent and Buddha are associated in symbolism because Buddha turned himself into a Naga (cobra) in-order to heal ? that is, Buddha probably became a member of the Naga serpent cult in-order to learn their healing ways, just like Apollonius of Tyana and many others. This Apollonius himself was worshipped widely at the time of Christ. He did many miracles that were reminiscent of Jesus and indeed the very worshippers of Apollonius were later known as Christian Gnostics.
The coming or future Buddha is said to currently reside near, under or even in the Naga tree, where he learns wisdom from the Nagas.
Buddha as the god-man:
:
Born December 25th to the virgin Maya ? announced by a star, wise men and angels.
Pronounced ruler of the world at birth and presented with costly gifts.
He ?crushed the serpents head? and was tempted by the ?evil one.?
He was baptised in water with the Holy Ghost present.
He fed the poor, healed the sick and walked on water.
According to some traditions he even died on a cross and was ascended physically to heaven (Nirvana).
Chrishna
Chrishna, Christna or Krishna is the Hindu god Vishnu in human form, like Christ is Yahweh in human form. And as all other healers, saviours and preserving gods, he was represented as a serpent. The serpent was a symbol of Vishnu as a preserving god and saviour.
The orthodox and post Christian position of his death is that he was shot in the foot while under a tree. However, as always with Hindu gods there are many variances. One states that the body of this ?god-man? was suspended on the branches of a tree ? that is, crucified.
The disciple, Arjuna, came to take the body away, but it had already disappeared. The use of many arrows to "pin" him to the tree is reminiscent of the crucifixion of Christ. As Doane points out in Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions:
"The Vishnu Purana speaks of Chrishna being shot in the foot with an arrow, and states that this was the cause of his death. Other accounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other words, crucified?. The death of Chrishna is very differently related. One remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a tree, to which he was nailed by the stroke of an arrow?. We find that Chrishna is represented hanging on a cross, and we know that a cross was frequently called "so cursed tree." It was an ancient custom to use trees as gibbets for crucifixion, or, if artificial, to call the cross a tree . . . In earlier copies of Moor?s Hindu Pantheon, is to be seen representations of Chrishna (as Wittoba), with marks of holes in both feet, and in others, of holes in the hands."
Many of the images of Chrishna have been destroyed or removed by Christians. In the 19th century the British Parliament sent a Christian Bishop to find out about the Hindu religion. The result was forwarded back to England for investigation and was found to be "horribly mutilated" and to be "scarcely recognisable." The crucifixion was completely removed. Indeed the Reverend Simpson, an erudite religionist noted that the "subject, a crucifix, is omitted in the present edition, for very obvious reasons." These obvious reasons were the Christian sensibilities, who, when they discovered such instances came up with the excuse that:
"These crucifixes have been introduced into India, I suppose, by Christian missionaries, and are, perhaps, used in Popish churches and societies." (Moors Pantheon)
(Moors Pantheon)
There were several other points of discussion, which startled many; namely the Coronet, which was probably of Ethiopian or Parthian descent and looked incredibly similar to the crown of thorns and even the halo?s seen around the gods. The fact however remains that India had its crucified victim long before Christianity.
With the travels of people such as Apollonius into the mysteries of India, there is little wonder that the idea of a crucified god got back to Greece, Italy and the pre-Christian world. Indeed Apollonius is connected with bringing back the ideas of Chrishna. Yet again we have a line drawn back towards the serpent worship of antiquity directly from Christianity. Christianity has "borrowed" extensively from the numerous, but singular, serpent cults and pagan beliefs of the ages. The relation of Chrishna in his various forms (Vishnu) as a serpent deity, and being hung upon the cross, has remarkable similarities to the ?Brazen Serpent? of Moses, which according to the Christian writer Barnabas, was set up on a cross, which Lundy says was a simple sign of salvation; and Moses himself makes the sign of the cross at Exodus 17:12. It is basically the Ankh, the serpent upon the T or Tau cross. It is life, immortality and rebirth; a universal image seen across the Atlantic even with Quetzalcoatl.
There is wide usage of the crucified form, being seen even in Assyrian Monuments of Nineveh, which predate and were the progenitors of the Christian cross. They were symbols of the resurrected serpent god; the serpent god entering a ritualistic rebirth on the sun symbol of the cross; a symbol, which would take on the symbolism of the serpent because of this very fact. The fact that, according to Tertullian, the Christians were accused of worshipping an ass-headed god points simply to Set or Seth, the Egyptian god, who is the twin to Horus, as Christ is the same as John the Baptist.
The Brahmans represented Chrishna as a crucified god-man; the Romans revered Sol crucified on December 25th; Zoroaster was born by immaculate conception and his soul suspended "a lingo" or from the wood or tree of knowledge; Prometheus was crucified, even nailed to a cross; Tammuz was crucified around 1160 BC according to Graves; and Julius Firmicus said that Tammuz was raised from the dead for the salvation of the world, the same Tammuz who is represented by the Tau cross; and the Assyrians had their sun god Baal with outstretched arms in the cruciform. The fact that this "sign" of the god-man or serpent on a cross was a symbol of salvation, which is basically ?immortality,? is seen even by Christians such as Reverend Cox who said "the Egyptian the cross . . . became the symbol of immortality, and the god himself was crucified to the tree which denoted fructifying power." The snake brings immortality and the tree, as the vegetation or solar power gives it "life." This Egyptian god crucified was none other than the twin of Set, Horus (Osiris too.) In fact Horus was even seen crucified between two thieves as we shall see later. But we must for the moment remain in the Hindu culture and turn now to India?s greatest ? the serpentine Naga.
Naga/Naaga
A Sanskrit term meaning literally Serpent (especially cobra); also holds the meanings ? a tree; a mountain; the sun; the number seven; wisdom and initiate ? all symbols and emblems we are familiar with in the worship of the serpent and amazingly also familiar motifs surrounding Christ.
These Naga are said to reside in Patala, however this has a meaning similar to antipodes, the same name given by the ancients to the America?s. It is a similar term to the Mexican Nagals, the medicine (healers) and sorcerers who always kept a god in the shape of a serpent. In Burma they are Nats or serpent gods. Esoterically Naga is a term for wise men. There is a folk tradition that Nagas washed Gautama (Buddha) at his birth ? the wise men visiting the deity on Earth. They are also said to have guarded him and the relics of his body after his death. The daughter of the Naga Ulupi, the king of Patala, married Arjuna who is the same as John.
According to H. P. Blavatsky in Theosophical Glossary, the Naga were descended from Rishi Kasyapa who had twelve wives (therefore he is the sun), by whom he had numerous Nagas (serpents or wise-ones) and was the father of all animals. Rishi Kasyapa can therefore be none other than a progenitor of the Green Man, who is the god of animals the world over, and this explains the reasons for the appearance of the snake in images of the Green Man and Horned God, such as the Gundestrup Cauldron.
The Naga of Kashmir instructed Apollonius of Tyana. This is the same Kashmir where the serpent tribes became famous for their healing skills. There is a theory that the Nagas descended from the Scythic race and when the Brahmins invaded India they found a race of wise men, half gods, half demons (snakes). These men were said to be teachers of other nations and themselves instructed the Hindu?s and Brahmans ? no wonder that Apollonius visited them.
In the Bhagavata Purana there is a description of the Bila-svarga or the regions of the Nagas said to be subterranean. Some of the names associated with this place relate remarkably to the Mesoamerican and South American terms such as Tlaloc.
"My dear king, beneath this earth are seven other planets [seven is important in Atlantean myths ? seven islands!], known as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rstala and Patala? the residents are known as Daityas, Danavas and Nagas . . . brilliantly decorated cities . . . wonderful houses, walls, gates, assembly houses, temples, yards and temple compounds . . . The houses for the leaders of these planets are constructed with the most valuable jewels, and are always crowded with the living entities known as Nagas and Asuras . . . Many great serpents reside there with gems on their hoods, and the effulgence of these gems dissipates the darkness in all directions. Since the residents of these planets drink and bathe in juices and elixirs made from wonderful herbs, they are freed from all anxieties and physical diseases. They have no experience of gray hair, wrinkles or invalidity." (See Mahakala below)
(See below)
There is currently a lot of debate about the original inhabitants of India ? whether Aryan or Naga, but the fact remains, whether the Nagas were Aryans or not, they were an ancient inhabitant. The very fact that they were mentioned in the ancient Rig Vedas shows this to be true. They also intermarried with the Royal families, hence the popular myths of serpent kings.
"Then come the Naaga, the Siren serpents, whose worship has been so important a factor in the folklore, superstition, and poetry of India from the earliest times down to-day. Cobras in their ordinary shape, they lived, like mermen and mermaids, more beneath the water, in a great luxury and wealth, more especially of germ, and sometimes, as we shall see, the name is used of the Dryads, the tree-spirits, equally wealthy and powerful. They could at will and often did, adopt the human form and though terrible if angered, were kindly and mild by nature. Not mentioned either in the Veda or in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads, the myth seems to be a strange jumble of beliefs, not altogether pleasant, about a strangely gifted race of actual men; combined with notions derived from previously existing theories of tree worship, and serpent worship, and river worship. But the history of the idea has still to be written. The Naagas are represented on the ancient bas-reliefs as men or women either with cobra?s hoods rising behind their heads or with serpentine forms from their waist downwards." Rhys Davies, Buddhist India, p.223.
Rhys Davies, , p.223.
These tree deities were Nagas anyway as Rhys Davies continues on page 223:
"The tree-deities were called Naagas, and were able at will, like the Naagas, to assume the human form and in one story the spirit of a Nunyan tree who reduced the merchants to ashes is called a Naaga-raja, the tree itself is a dwelling place of Naaga. It seems that they also left behind myths of healing as a story in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Asiatic Society demonstrates. When there was an epidemic among the children, it seems the only answer was to bring them to a snake skin which was hung on a pole and allow them to touch it ? reminding us of the idea of the Brazen Serpent of Moses, which was upon a pole and for the healing of the "children" of Israel. This may explain why it is that the tree-gods are not specially and separately mentioned in the Maha Samaya list of deities who are there said by the poet to have come to pay reverence to the Buddha."
The history of the Nagas that we do have, textually beginning around the 7th century BC is an amazing history of ups and downs. It parallels the rise and fall of the serpent worshipped by the Semites, with the Brazen Serpent being raised in the wilderness and then broken up in the temple.
Nagajurna
A hermit and wise teacher and who scholars relate to John the Baptist and who is said to have visited China in 3rd Century BC, converting many to Buddhism. He is often called the second Buddha as he established the Madhyamika School of philosophy. Most interesting however is that he is said to have received his wisdom and Tantric empowerment with the help of the "Nagas in the lake" beside which he meditated. In Tibet he is known as Lu-trub (snake in Tibetan is Lu). Nagajurna was from the wealthy background of a South Indian Brahmin family. By tradition he is said to have obtained the title of Naga by visiting Patala, the home of the Naga. The texts or twelve volumes that the Naga gave him called Prajnaparamita Sutra are still said to be kept in the temple dedicated to him in Kathmandu.
Another strange story relates Nagajurna with the Philosophers Stone:
There was much grief and famine in the land, which was affecting the monks as they could only survive from the generosity of the surrounding villages. Nagajurna went off and visited a distant planet, bringing back with him the Philosophers Stone, which could turn lead into gold. However, even after supporting the monks for six years with his new venture he was eventually found out and expelled as handling gold was forbidden.
An allusion to the sacred architectural skills of the serpent worshippers is shown by the legend that Nagajurna built many Temples with special clay that the Nagas had given him ? presumably from their underwater home and therefore indicative of the "good building source" to be found in the mind. In this instance Nagajurna is the builder of the mind Temple with the aid of the power of the otherworldly serpents.
Toward the end of his earthly days, Nagajurna was patronised by King Ativhana as he supplied him with his serpent elixir of life. However, one of the king?s sons wanted this opportunity to rule the kingdom and plotted Nagajurna?s death. This Prince Shaktiman crept up on Nagajurna and struck him with his sword. However the sword failed to decapitate the sage. Nagajurna said, "Don?t be worried that your plot will fail. Many life times ago, I accidentally cut an insect in half with a sharp blade of kusha grass. The present situation is a direct outcome of that act. Although no weapon can harm me, let me tell you that you can easily sever my head with a blade of kusha grass. And in this way, the law of karma will be fulfilled." Also, Nagajurna?s remains are said to still be preserved at Shri Pravarta in southern India ? everything except his head! His head had been severed by a blade of kusha grass, struck by Prince Shaktiman, and is said to be kept in a walled enclosure in the Swayambhu complex. As soon as Prince Shaktiman had decapitated Nagajurna he heard the headless voice "I will now depart for Sukhavati heaven, but will soon repossess this body." The prince fled in fear and a female spirit took the body several miles away. The body lay in the "wilderness" for many years until miraculously the head found its way back to the body and Nagajurna returned to life. Estimations of up to 600 years life span have been put forward for Nagajurna after this; however there seems to have been a mixing of other individuals to make up his legend and this may account for the longevity.
His real name was Siddhipada and he acquired the name following the saving of the life of the king of the Nagas, Mucilinda, who had fallen seriously ill following a fire set by an angry yogin. After this Siddhipada then went to the realm of the serpents and acquired great teaching. Arjuna (white) was a warrior of ancient times and Naga is serpent, so Nagajurna became his title ? the white snake.
Nagaraja
Nagaraja is a name given to the guardian spirits of the lakes and rivers in India and means literally dragon or serpent king. They became Arhats and were textually converted into Buddhists.
Nagayuna
Strangely the Indian branch of Alchemy is known as Nagayuna. The symbol of the entwined serpents is seen all over India looking virtually the same as the Western caduceus. These stone tablets or votive tablets are known as Nagahals or Nagakals. The idea of Indian Alchemy is purely the production and preservation of the Elixir, both physically and spiritually.
Mahakala
A very popular god and Naga King who was tamed by Majusri and Avalokitesvara and turned into a protector of Buddha. He helps beings overcome negative elements, especially spiritual ones. In depictions of him he stands over a lying corpse holding a vajra chopper and skull in front of him. The skull is full of the blood and guts of dead demons (Naga) that have been churned into the elixir. He has a serpent on his potbelly and is adorned with serpent bracelets and ear ornaments.
This is a remarkable image of a Hindu god holding a chalice containing the Elixir, which is made from churned snakes ? it is blatant in its symbolism.
Horus
It?s now time to shift angle slightly and look sideways at India?s close cultural and historical neighbour ? Egypt. Many people fail to realise that as Egypt was once a great and powerful Empire, so too was India and both shared similar time-scales for their growths.
In the myths of the Egyptian deity, Horus, we have starkly given to us the real reason behind the use of the Uraeus snake symbol by the Pharaohs. Horus is said to have recovered the eye of Osiris, his father, and to have placed over the wound the divine serpent Uraeus in-order to cure him. In fact his father then made Horus king of Egypt.
There are parallels here with Jesus in that he too healed the eye, but this time it was with clay. However, he spat into the clay, and it was this act, the "spit" of the serpent king, which cured the eye. Jesus then went on to become king like Horus. He was paired with Set, as Jesus was with John the Baptist or against Satan (Set) and he even had Set decapitated as John is beheaded.
Set later returned, taking the form of a serpent. Horus was crucified between two thieves and then resurrected, just like Christ. His earthly father was known as Seb, which is the same as Joseph. He walked on water, delivered a ?Sermon on the Mount? and was said to reign for 1,000 years. So, if Horus is the Egyptian equivalent of Jesus then what does it tell us about Jesus? And furthermore, what does it tell us about the Grail?
Well, in the 1st dynasty of Egypt there was a king called Djer. He was the third king and he had a son named Djet, although evidence of this relationship is sketchy. Djet was also known as Wadjit the uraeus snake. Djet?s tomb is at Abydos in a location known as Umm el-Ga?ab.
First excavated by Flinders Petrie it was later redone by Kaiser and Dreyer in 1988. There were steles found at the sight indicating the early names of this enigmatic pharaoh. It was a snake with a falcon above and a palace below the snake. Simply, this inscription means "Horus the snake." Remembering that this is one of the Pharaohs from the 1st dynasty then we have here an indication that very early on in Egyptian history the god Horus was seen in relation with the healing snake.
If Christ is seen as Horus, then he too is associated with the ?healing snake,? and no wonder that the early Christians called him the "good serpent." But there is yet a more revealing element of the names given to Jesus, which in the light of this new outlook is most revealing. Jesus is called the carpenter, but what is the root of this word and why was it used for a man that plainly did not have the inclination or time to sit and carve out wood?
The word carpenter contemporaneously was ?naggar? meaning wise man and serpent. Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter?" now reads "Is not this the serpent?" The blood that therefore flowed from Jesus into the Grail, and the spit that came from his mouth to heal the eye, were elements of the snake.
Mithras
The Roman and earlier Persian god Mithra or Mithras was represented encircled by serpents, as seen especially at Modena where he is entwined by the serpent whilst holding a staff and encircled by the Zodiac. In his rites, customs were observed similar to those of the mysteries of Sebazius ? that is, a serpent was thrown into the chest of the initiated and then withdrawn from the lower body.
Mithras often has a lion?s head, a human body, and a serpent coiled around him. The lion?s head is thought to signify the sun and the snake the ?cosmic path.?
A stone found at Lyons has "Deo invicto Mithir" under a raised figure of a large serpent. Mithras was often depicted as a young man. In the Roman mysteries and traditions of Mithras he is seen killing or sacrificing a bull, another symbol of the sun and yet in the Iranian stories there is no association with the bull at all. It was in fact Ahriman who killed the bull in the Iranian stories and it could be that this simply passed over with the Mithras that the Romans created.
One of the strangest mysteries of Mithras is the famous rock-birth. The scene shows Mithras emerging from the top of an egg shaped rock, normally depicted entwined with a snake-like symbol of the ?Orphic Egg.? Mithras is born from the egg of a snake as an immortal god. Yet again, the snake?s egg is associated with immortal birth. Mithras was seen as the redeemer and saviour in that he was able to transcend the ego, which can halt one?s spiritual progress. The ?bull? to be sacrificed is the ego ? one?s ?present personality.?
The ego is the source of division and duality ? being divided as it is between the ?objective,? ?conscious? male/positive aspects and the ?subjective,? ?subconscious,? female/negative aspects, and these two divisions are symbolised by the two horns of the bull.
It is the ego that has to be "sacrificed" before one can become enlightened and become a "god" or avatar like Mithras and the other gods and avatars he is associated with ? like Horus or Jesus for instance.
This "sacrifice of the self," implies that the ego must be "killed" or "dispensed with," but the real process is that this division in one?s consciousness be "healed" ? i.e., the two divisions of the ego are to become united and so reintegrated so that the ego can then become one with the source. In other words, it is the division in consciousness, which must be "sacrificed" ? by being Neutralised. This division within the ego reflects the same division between the ego and the centre of one?s consciousness, which is symbolised by the ?cosmic egg.?
As we can see, Mithras is born from the egg of a snake as an immortal god and yet again, the snake?s egg is associated with immortal birth. Mithras was seen as the redeemer and saviour. Like Mithras, one being "born" or "reborn" from the egg or ?cosmic egg? conveys the meaning that one has become enlightened by this reintegration or fusion in consciousness and therefore one is ?reborn? anew ? i.e., illumined ? possessing a profound knowledge of oneself and one?s reality. One?s division has been ?healed? by the serpent energy ? the neutral life force ? and this spiritual, psychical, "healing," also extends into the ?physical? healing properties of the snake.
Osiris
This Egyptian sun/earth-god as the saviour is associated with the snake. He enters the tail of the snake, to be reborn from the mouth ? like the egg emerging from the mouth of the snake, as in Irish and Celtic tales and the Ohio Serpent mound in America. Amazingly this ?being? born again from the serpent is widespread. Was it an ancient concept? Was this one of the first rituals of the serpent cult?
Australia is one of the oldest remnants of the serpent cult as it was split off thousands of years ago. In the Western Desert of South Australia there is a ritual called ?the making of the medicine man.? The ritual begins with the prospective medicine man (shaman) being mourned as if dead. He then goes to a water hole where two medicine men cover his eyes and "throw him into the jaws of the serpent." The prospective medicine man remains inside the belly of the serpent for an indefinite time until the other two medicine men bring rats to entice the serpent as an offering and the born again new medicine man is ejected from the mouth of the serpent. He falls alongside a "rock hole" indicating that this was no real snake; instead it simply must have been seen as a serpent mound. He has been reduced to the size of an infant ? which shows that he is young again in new life.
Mircea Eliade in Rites and Symbols of Initiation points out that, "what characterises all forms of this dangerous return to the womb is that the Hero undertakes it as a living man and an adult ? that is, he does not die and he does not return to the embryonic state. The state involved in the enterprise is sometimes extraordinary ? nothing less than winning immortality."
Others, such as James Campbell (Hero with a Thousand Faces) point out that now the postulant becomes not only the father, but also the son. The father and the son are one and this makes complete sense because Osiris is in fact the father of Horus, but he is also Horus himself. This is no different to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, but also God on earth. Mary, the mother of Jesus is therefore also the mother of God. She is in fact Isis, the mother, sister and wife.
Zoroaster
Supposedly born around 1,500 BC or 660 BC (depends upon whom you believe) in Iran, there is evidence that this saviour-style figure or title had actually been in existence for at least 10000 years. According to some historians there have been up to seven different Zoroasters over time, making him not a single person but an ancient god humanised.
His teachings are to be found in the Avesta and Gathas. Zoroastrianism did not really take off until around the 6th century BC and lasted until it was taken over by Islam in the 7th century AD, although there are still some who cling on even today. These Zoroastrians are believed to have been the wise men or Magi of the Christian Bible, who brought gifts to Jesus at his birth, as a born god. If these Magi saw their gods as serpents, then there is little wonder that they should see and be associated with this serpent saviour born in human form.
According to Eusebius in the ritual of Zoroaster the great expanse of the heavens and nature were described under the symbol of the serpent (Ophiolatreia, Hargrave Jennings). This was doubly mentioned in the Octateuch of Ostanes and even to the point that Temples were erected across Persia and the east in veneration of the serpent deity. The serpents were esteemed the "supreme of all Gods and the superintendents of the whole world." The worship is said to have begun yet again in Chaldea. That the city of Opis (Op = serpent) was built on the Tigris is a testament to this fact.
Zoroaster in essence is a god-man archetype like Osiris. We can see this element of him when we run through some of the similarities between Zoroaster and Christ.
Zoroaster was born of a virgin via the immaculate conception.
He was baptised in a river and tempted in the wilderness.
He began his ministry at thirty (30 degrees is the measurement between the Zodiacal signs).
He baptised with water, fire and "holy wind" (ghost). It was said that one would follow who would baptise with the Holy Ghost.
He was "the word made flesh."
He revealed secrets of heaven and hell ? the resurrection, salvation, judgement and apocalypse.
He was slain and his followers had their own Eucharist.
He even had a sacred Grail or Chalice!
Messiah (Comparisons)
So there are many similarities between the various "messiahs" that the world has known and it is my view that they all emanate from one original and serpent cult source. We have seen above some groundwork from the realm of Hindu and Buddhist belief. We can see the beginnings and origins even of some of the more peculiar and even profound things we find in our Christian Messiah in the West. Let?s just take a look at some comparisons now and see what sticks out like a sore thumb!
Buddha was born of the virgin Maya who was known as the ?Queen of Heaven? on December 25th.
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, also known as the ?Queen of Heaven,? on December 25th in a cave or manger.
Horus was born of the virgin Isis-Meri on December 25th. Isis-Meri is also known as Mata-Meri or Mother Mary.
Mithra was born to a virgin on December 25th and in a cave or manger; also announced by a star and three wise men.
Chrishna was born of the virgin, Devaki (shining one). This goddess or ?Queen of Heaven? is known as Isis, Astarte, Asherah, Marratu, Marah, Mariham. In fact the Semites knew her as Mari-El or Mary God or indeed shining Mary.
Chrishna?s most beloved disciple was known as Arjuna or Ar-jouan (John.)
In Egyptian myth, Anup or Aan (John) the Baptiser also baptised Horus, and in Christian myth John baptised Jesus. Both Anup and John the Baptist were decapitated.
Buddha performed miracles and healed the sick, as did most of the others. Horus had twelve disciples like Christ and Mithra. Buddha was transfigured on a mountain like Christ and Horus. They all ascended into heaven.
Buddha was sacrificed for three days and was then resurrected like Jesus.
Horus was crucified, buried in a tomb and then resurrected.
Mithra was buried in a tomb and then resurrected three days later.
Chrishna was crucified between two thieves on a tree, then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven ? as did Prometheus.
The idea of being resurrected after three days has strong links to astronomy. The stone monuments of the world are also linked to astronomy and the serpent. The 12 disciples are the 12 zodiac signs and months and of course, the snake, seen as the Ouroboros is in control of the signs ? just like Christ, who controls and guides the disciples. But the snake is seen, not just in control of the stars, but also as the sun and the moon ? basically, the serpent is seen as the most powerful of the cosmic entities.
In December the sun makes a descent southward until 21st or 22nd December, which is then termed the ?Winter Solstice.? It stops then for three days and begins to move back again northwards ? it is resurrected. As the serpent and the sun are linked together in symbolism of new and regenerative power then there is no surprise to find this correlation.
Being born of a virgin implies the knowledge that the calendar began whilst in the constellation of Virgo. As the sun, the various messiahs are the "sun" of god and are the "light of the world." The Hindi word "Kris" actually means sun and it is from this root that the word Chrishna and Christ are derived. In fact Chrishna was known as "Jezeus" or "pure essence" and centuries before Jesus Christ.
The sun has a corona or horned crown, like the horns and the crown of thorns of Jesus and Chrishna. Most of these remarkable and ritualistic "sons of god" are come of age at 30 and there is no surprise to find that the sun enters into each zodiacal sign at 30 degrees.
Even the language barrier is overcome when we find that Buddha was considered the good shepherd, carpenter, saviour and light of the world. Horus was known as "the way, the truth and the light" ? again, like Jesus.
Also as God?s anointed, "the messiah," the "lamb of god," "the word," "the good shepherd," "the fisher," "the son of god" ? Horus was also known as the "KRST" or Christ. (There are in fact many depictions of Horus at his virginal mother?s breast, looking exactly like Jesus and Mary.
Horus also raised "El-Azar-us" or "El-Osiris" from the dead, just as Christ was to raise "Lazarus." This story in itself is an allegory of the sun god Osiris being reborn.
There are others who match those similarities seen above. Dionysius for instance, rode on a triumphant ass. He was sacrificed as the Dendrites or Young man on the tree and eaten in a sacred Eucharist. He turned water into wine; given the title king of kings and rose from the dead. His cult actually entered Jerusalem around the time of Christ and was indeed thought to have been worshipped by the Jews. His symbol was IHS, a symbol still used by Christians. He was called Iasius in Crete, which is an equivalent to Iesu or Jesus.
Mithra, like Jesus, has his principal festival at Easter when he was resurrected and he had a Eucharist like Jesus.
In Phrygia the god Attis was crucified on a tree ? a day known as ?Black Friday.? He was born on December 25th to a virgin named Nana. He had a Eucharist of bread as his body and was called the Son of God. After three days in the "underworld" of hell he ascended as god.
They are all basically descended from royal lineage and were generally wealthy. We know from looking around the folklore as well as these religious similarities that this royal lineage generally meant that they were descended from serpents or dragons. Jesus was of the line of David; Buddha the son of a Raj, and Chrishna descended of royal stock. They all are involved in some kind of trinity, as are many other faiths.
Chrishna, Buddha and Jesus all are ?dragon slayers? ? they all "crush the head of the serpent." To all, the serpent is an emblem symbolic of ?wisdom.? To all, the serpent is intricately linked to their entire myth as a symbol of healing and is highly beneficent. And to all, yet again, the serpent is linked to the Elixir.
The Christian Church, which has destroyed much of our history over the past 1,500 years jealously guarded most of this information. The very messiahs of the globe were written over. Even Buddha became a Christian saint as St. Josaphat, taken from the Buddhist title, Bodhisat.
Christianity as a literal truth is now so heavily entrenched in the culture of the West that there is almost no attempt made to put the record straight. Recent television documentaries prove that the idea of the Christian story is still seen today as being literally true, and these are documentaries made by Journalists! The fact remains that the story is widespread and is an astronomical, serpent-oriented device for symbolic immortality and realisation of the self.
What we have seen here in this quick study is that India and Egypt, to name just two, are full of stories and religious texts that perfectly parallel the Christianity of the West and especially, pre-date it. The incredible stark reality of these facts are often fought over on the internet and in books and magazines and yet the force of faith is blind to the logic of reality and evidence. The battle will rage for a long time yet, but what we have today is a little more freedom of speech than our ancestors. The saviour is the sun, which gives us birth by seeding the earth mother with energy and then ticks away the hours of our life and ushers in our end. It is the ouroborus, the beginning and the end, the cycle of life and our saviour deities mimmick its every move.
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