Hello folks, this is look at the Exodus story using a Structuralist POV. Although it is unedited and in dire need of revisions, you get the gist of the idea. Furthermore, I will be continuing the Biblical theme of 'Wilderness' and how it pertains to Religious Paradox next week so stay tuned...................
The story of Exodus is filled with meretricious leaps of faith that are impossible to verify but contain themes by which history and myth can find common ground. Scientific Illuminism has sought to explain the ten plagues of Egypt as climatic, biological, and geological events. Using a largely cause and effect approach, this theory postulates that natural processes turned the Nile a blood red. While this theory is reasonable, it also takes away from the mystique of the story. In fact, the story takes on a deeper and more profound significance by examining it in terms of folklore. By analyzing the Exodus as an initiation, we supplant an anachronistic interpretation of the story. We find that one possible reduction of the events of Exodus can be outlined as thus:
Moses placed in basket. Womb. Plucked from Subconscious.
God comes to Moses. Reveals magical name: Ehyer Asher Ehyeh "I am" or "I Will Be" or "I Will Be What I Will Be."
Enters Wilderness. Subconscious. Amenta.
Rod becomes Serpent. Wand. Object of Ritual Specialist.
Meets Moses in wilderness and mountain of god (initiation)
Israelites search for straw all over Egypt. Appropriated Osiris myth?
Rod turns Nile to blood. Red, Fire, Symbol of at-one-ment and sacrifice.
Emergence of frogs. Symbol of regeneration and fertility.
Emergence of Lice. Cleanliness. need for anointing.
Swarms of insects. Karmic demons.
Pestilence. Disease. Trapped in Materia Prima.
Hail. Difficult Truths. Glimpses of enlightenment. Flashes of god.
Locusts. Impenetrable darkness.
Death of First Born. Attack on Divinity.
Wilderness again. Back in Subconscious.
Pillars of clouds and fire. Baptism.
Parting the Red Sea. Separation of the abyss to achieve revelatory experience.
Sinai. Mount of Initiation.
Initiatory struggle bathes the story of exodus in a whole new light. Instead of Judaic maledictions inflicted upon the Egyptian people, we are given an archetypal initiation narrative possibly the result of Judaic/Egyptian interaction. Giving credence to a theory of Peer Polity Interaction, these two States effected each others oral traditions and ritual by being within a spatial proximity that encouraged the lending of ideas. A natural result of two cultural traditions, Egypto-Judaic amalgamation would be the product of networking within economic, social, religious, and political arenas.
Exodus beautifully depicts the initiatory journey taken by every neophyte of the Mystery Religions. We witness Moses being placed in a wicker basket and set adrift on the Nile. This is the womb of the initiate or first steps into the initiation experience. Moses (Initiate) is then contacted by and given the magical name of God: 'I am', 'I will be', or 'I will be what I will be'. Although the translation is uncertain of the correct Hebraic meaning, the message of transformation is clear.
Next, the initiate travels into the Wilderness. Symbolic of the subconscious, the Wilderness is a place of introspection and self-knowing. The transmission of God's power is represented when Moses' staff or 'Wand' is imbued with magical power. At this moment, both the rod and Moses become an instrument for the divine. As ritual specialist, our initiate then returns to the Wilderness.
We are then confronted with the bondage of matter and earthly suffering symbolized by the Israelites being forced to search all over Egypt for straw needed to make bricks. Like Isis searching for her consort's remains, the Israelites search the physical reality of existence for a way to reach enlightenment. It is here that a crisis point is reached in the story. This crisis comes in the form of plagues or initiations.
With the Nile turning to blood, we are shown the at-one-ment or sacrifice that will be required when trespassing into the realm of the sacred. In the emergence of frogs, we have a symbol of regeneration and fertility. It is also a foreshadowing of the change in consciousness that will occur through the gradated steps of initiation. Cleanliness and the need to be anointed is apparent in the initiation of lice. As an essential facet of the spiritual life, hygiene is an initiatory step. After these seemingly innocuous but preparatory prerequisites, the initiate is then thrown into the purges of karmic release.
The first purge of our earthly vices, the insects have the potential to destroy everything in their path. In this we have not only fear for the crops but the spiritual sustenance that is yielded in the harvest. Next comes disease and physical hardships that come with pestilence. Lightning and hail are the next teaching that Moses undergoes. As symbols for difficult truths, hail is the continuation of spiritual purging . The use of lightning in the narrative makes reference to glimpses or 'flashes' of the divine. The swallowing of the desert sun would be the result of a swarming of locusts. This impenetrable darkness is reminiscent of the journey of Ra through Amenta and would also be the nadir of the entire experience. The death of man's first born is an attack on divinity itself. It is the last Bardo or karmic demon that threatens man's attainment.
The initiate then finds himself back in the Wilderness or subconscious. A period of liminality between one degree and the next, Moses prepares himself for the appearance of Apep, the serpent dragon that takes the form of the Egyptian army. God then follows the Israelites with pillars of cloud and fire. Baptism is traditionally achieved through the purifying aspects of water and fire. This baptism protects the chosen people as they flee the pursuing darkness of matter.
The culmination of the rite occurs with Moses parting the Red Sea. This separation of the abyss is the last obstacle keeping the initiate from spiritual transformation. The powers of light triumph as the water of spiritual
becoming engulf Apep and the initiate completes the sacred ritual. The covenant is complete when Moses ascends the mount of initiation and receives the commandments of god.
CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK FOR A DISCUSSION OF WILDERNESS AND DARKNESS IN OCCULT AGENCY.....ITS MUCH MORE THAN JUST THE SUBCONSCIOUS!
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