Paganism and the Christ Mythos: A Theosophic Perspective By Jack Vates
On the nature of what was deemed arcane in the Greco-Roman
world, an influx of esoteric knowledge passed both within and outside specific
initiatory schools. These Ancient
Mystery Cults were hierarchically structured networks where Mystae or initiates were granted cryptic
knowledge of the Self and the universe around them. The Mysteries spanned from
Greece and Rome to Egypt and Persia and the doctrines revealed were thought to
be precious spiritual truths.
Because of the abundance of both domestic and foreign deities
in the Greco-Roman pantheon, it was easy for various systems to incorporate nuances
of other methods into their own Mystery religion. For example, both the book of
Job and Noah’s Ark can be interpreted as narratives inspired by Egyptian
mythos. According to Blavatsky, “The Whole allegory of Job is an open book to
him who understands the picture language of Egypt as it is recorded in the Book
of the Dead.”[1] We
can surmise that the Ordeals Job suffered are analogous to initiatory terrors
associated with spiritual ‘judgment’. By taking away everything of value to the
initiate, the adversary or ‘Satan’ can act as instrument for spiritual
awareness and be the mediator between divinity and earthly attachments.
Likewise, the Old Testament narrative of a deluge and subsequent Ark can also
be interpreted in terms of initiation. The noticeable connotation of the flood
is as symbol for the unconscious or ‘abyss’. The building of an Ark then
embodies revelatory ‘safe passage’ as the initiate travels through the
subconscious mind or Egyptian Amenta.
The Hebrew god Yahweh was also influenced by pagan deities
as Judaism assimilated into the Roman panoply. The most thought-provoking
archaeological find that points to Yahweh being part of the pagan pantheon is a
fourth century BCE coin from Gaza that depicts Yahweh as a bearded man with a
mask laying at his feet. The Greeks associated masks with Dionysus and
according to Blavatsky, “When Antiochus Epiphanes tried to Hellenize Judaism
and incorporate Yahweh into the Greek pantheon, he identified the Jewish God
with Dionysus.”[2] Another
correlation between Judaism and pagan spiritual systems is in the concept of
resurrection. Nearly all the fertility cults of the region celebrated a deity
that was archetypal symbol, destroyed by death and subsequently reborn at
springtime.
Now that we’ve established a connection between pagan
fertility cults and the Hebraic God Yahweh, we can now turn to the influences
these two spiritual paradigms had on early Christian formation. We know that
early Christians met at isolated places such as caves and mountains in order to
avoid persecution. Because of the sects refusal to participate in the State
sanctioned Pax Deorum, and rumors of widespread cannibalism, Rome became
increasingly suspicious of the new cult. For these reasons, the first
Christians organized into small enclaves and created secret symbols, signs, and
passwords for their followers. Many of the characteristics promoting secrecy
came directly from the fertility cults that surrounded the early church.
Blavatsky states that, “nearly everything in Christianity is more baggage from
the pagan Mysteries. The primitive Christian worship is nothing but a Mystery. The
whole interior police of the church, the degrees of initiation, the command of
silence, and the crowd of phrases in the ecclesiastical language, have no other
origin.”[3]
The first aspects of the early Christian Mystery cult that
borrowed from pagan influences were a specific jargon exclusive to members of
the early church. We have read in the scriptures a series of words that would
leave us ambivalent if not for the deeper, esoteric meanings that hide beneath
the exoteric surface. For example, words like ‘dog’ or ‘the profane’
constituted somebody that had not been initiated into the cult. When we read of
somebody being ‘outside the kingdom of God’, the only intended connotation is
that they had not yet been initiated into the Mystery. We also know that the
term ‘shadow’ was an ancient Mystery term meaning ‘vehicle’ or ‘body’. So when
we read in John’s gospel: “And the light shines in the shadow/And the shadow
took it not up.” We can surmise that the light is ‘the body’. This would be a
replica of the ritualization that occurred in both the Osiris/Isis cult and the
Eleusinian Mysteries. In both cases, the
light of ‘becoming’ is said to reside within the neophyte. Purucker elaborates
that the verse is an ancient Mystery teaching that refers to the fact that
“primordial man has as yet evolved no vehicle or mind to facilitate the light
of becoming.”[4] So
what was needed was a teacher or Christos to initiate the vehicle and spark the
‘light’ of knowledge. It is also interesting that in Syria, outsiders were labeled
‘dogs’ or ‘swine’. And a ‘fox’ was characteristic of somebody who attempted to
ascertain the Mystery teachings unlawfully.
But it is in ritualization that we find the most stunning
early Christian adoptions of pagan ceremonies. For example, it is no accident
that Christian holy days correspond to the winter solstice. The association of
Solstice with Jesus is important because the Persian god Mithras and the
Egyptian Horus were said to have been born on this day. It stands to reason
that the Christian cult would seek to maintain a celebration on, or around the
time of other celebratory festivals so as to promote legitimacy in the region.
Moreover, if we analyze the narrative of Jesus Christ, we
find that many of the events described correspond to Mystery religions. The
birth of the ‘anointed one’ in humble settings fits perfectly into the hero
paradigm of a great leader or king who is discovered by shepherds or sometimes
even animals. For Jesus, three probably Persian magi follow distinct signs to
discover the holy family. Already we have links to both Zoroastrianism and
Mithraism. There are also indelible connections to ancient Egyptian Osiris/Isis
motifs in the gospel accounts. We are told in Mk 8: 22-26 that Jesus heals a
blind man by spitting in his eyes. This peculiar act seems to have a basis in
the Egyptian story of the war between Set and Horus. In the Egyptian account,
Horus ripped out Set’s genitals and Horus plucked out one of Horus’ eyes. It is
at this time that Khenti-Amenti arrives and heals the eye of Horus by spitting
in his face. In both narratives, the healing attributed to spitting in one’s
eye is meant as a veiled esoteric teaching.
Another aspect of the Jesus story that takes on ancient
Egyptian mythos is in the concept of resurrection. It is easy to infer the
raising of Lazarus as an allegory of initiation. In this sense, Lazarus has to
give up his worldly concerns, or symbolically die, in order to be reborn in the
spirit. All ancient Mysteries were privy to the mystic death and resurrection
sequence that entails an ontological liminality between separation and
reincorporation. But the story of Lazarus also has striking liturgical
similarities to the Egyptian Book Of The Dead. For example, if we compare the
Egyptian:
Utt. 703:
O King live, For you are not dead,
Horus will come to you,
That he may cut your cords,
And throw off your bonds,
Horus has removed your hindrance.
With John 11:44:
The dead man came forth,
His hands and feet bound with bandages,
And his face wrapped with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him and let him go’.
In both passages we find nearly identical portrayals of
resurrection. Furthermore, if we deduce that the Lazarus story is influenced by
Egyptian mythology, we should note that Lazarus was mourned by two sisters-
Mary and Martha-just as Osiris was grieved over by Nephthys and Isis.
In addition, the goddess Isis makes its way into the
Christian mythos in the personification of Mary. The Madonna and child images
we have become so accustomed to seeing were co-opted from the iconography of the
Isis cult. What is more, Blavatsky remarks that, “As the goddess who gathers
the remains of Osiris and mourns for him, Isis would also seem to be the
original model for Mary’s gathering Jesus’ body from the cross in the many
paintings and sculptures of the pieta.”[5]
The correlations between The Madonna, and in particular, the Black Madonna and
Isis are truly profound. The reasons for shaping, at least in part, the early
Christian message on that of Egypt suggests that the already flourishing
Hellenized cult held powerful influence in the area.
Some of Christianity’s most revered ceremonies and doctrines
were in circulation long before Jesus entered the Greco-Roman world. If we look
at the notion of the Eucharist, we find that this ritual was customary to
practitioners of Mithraism. In this pre-Christian Mystery, the mystae who succeeded in various
initiatory trials was given a small piece of unleavened bread as a symbol for
the sun. The Christian writer Justin Martyr himself recognized the Mithraic
ritual when he sarcastically wrote: “Which
(the Lord’s Supper) the wicked devils have imitated in the Mysteries of
Mithras, commanding the same to be done.” Although Martyr attributed the
Mithraic ceremonies to demons, the fact remains that Mithraism was a successful
pagan religion long before the emergence of Jesus Christ. The Dionysian cult
also had sacraments and miracles comparable to the Christian Eucharist. When
Jesus stated that the bread was his body and wine his blood, we are immediately
reminded of the Titans who ate the flesh and blood of Dionysus. The miracle
during the wedding feast at Cana is another episode in the life of Jesus that
may have been structured on Dionysian myth. The transformation of water into
wine was actually believed to occur during a festival of Dionysus in Ellis
Greece. During this festival, the springs that ran near Dionysian temples were
thought to run with wine instead of water. Blavatsky remarks that, “Dionysus is
a reasonable source for this miracle, as he was the god of wine, and, as a
dying and resurrected God, his miracles were readily transferable to Jesus.”[6]
It is not only the story of Jesus that has elements of
ancient Mysteries infused in its doctrines and ritual. The apostles also are
laden with esoteric and initiatory characteristics that were prevalent during
the Greco-Roman era. The name ‘Peter’, along with Ptah, Patera, and Patras all
come from the same root. The designation of the name is supreme pontiff and
hearkens back to the pagan Mystery. As we know from Christian mythos, Peter was
given the keys to heaven and hell by Jesus.
Mithraism also had a Pater Patri who held the keys to the afterworld.
Early Christians appropriated this idea and the title developed into papa, then
pope. The name Peter is a variation of the title. The pope can also be equated
with the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Like the pope, the hierophant
was assigned the presiding power of the sacred rite. According to Besant, “the
organization of the celestial hierarchies was one of the subjects in which
instruction was given in the Mysteries. And of the high priest, or hierophant,
the holy of holies has been committed, and who alone has been entrusted with
the secrets of God.”[7]
The concept of initiatory secret knowledge being transmitted
to some while others only taught exoteric surface teachings is customary in
both Pagan and Christian systems. Even the classical writer Origin stated, “if
you come to the books written after the time of Jesus, you will find that those
multitudes of believers who hear the parables are, as it were, ‘without’. And
worthy only of exoteric doctrines, while the disciples learn in private the
explanation of the parables.”[8]
In his letters to the Corinthians, Saint Paul himself asserts that,
“We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom,
which God predestined before the ages to our glory;”
In the same letter, Paul goes on to state:
“According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a
wise ‘master-builder’, I have laid the foundation.” (1- Corinth. 3:10)
This seemingly ubiquitous remark holds certain connotations
to the Mysteries. By asserting himself as a master-builder, Paul is declaring
himself an adept of initiatory rites. This honor would also include the right
to initiate others thus shedding new light on early missionary work. Likewise,
the concept of master-builder is no stranger to adherents of Freemasonry and
its allusions to both operant and speculative design.
Another statement by Paul that hearkens back to the
Eleusinian Mysteries can be found in the second epistle to the Corinthians. In
this passage, Paul is describing a ‘vision’ of witnessing events that he could not speak about.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-whether in
the body I do not know, or out of the
body I do not know, God knows-such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And
I know how such a man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not
know-was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is
not permitted to speak.” (2 Corinth. 12, 2-4)
Here we have what many scholars have deemed a description of
the liturgical rites of the Eleusinian epopteia. The wording of the Christian
verses alludes to the climax of mystical initiations that took place at
Eleusis. For example, the phrase ‘caught up in the third heaven’ carries both
Judaic and Pagan undertones. Besant remarks that, “these different regions of
the invisible supernal worlds are known to initiates, and they are well aware
of those who pass beyond first heaven need the truly spiritual body as their
vehicle, and that according to the development of its three divisions is the
heaven into which they can penetrate.”[9]
It can only be speculated whether or not Paul intentionally alluded to the
epoptai as a way to attract more followers to the Christian cause but this sort
of evangelizing would certainly have been advantageous for the growth of the
cult.
Perhaps the most profound piece of esotericism in the New
Testament is the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. As we know, Jesus divided his followers
into neophytes, brethren, and the perfect. As the apostles were closest to him,
it stands to reason that it was them that undertook the most secret of
initiatory teachings. The ‘sermon’ was one of those teachings. Besant describes
it as a metaphor of the hierarchical degrees of spiritual awakening. She states
that, “if you refer guardedly to the ‘mountain’ which Jesus ascended, from
which he came down again to help ‘those who were unable to follow him whither
his disciples went.’ The allusion is to the mountain of initiation.”[10]
The sermon then is evidently a mystery
teaching. If we analyze just a few verses during the sermon, we find it
laden with Mystery school and pagan connotations.
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your
pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear
you to pieces. Ask, it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock,
it shall be opened to you.”
As discussed earlier, the word ‘dog’ referred to somebody
not yet initiated into the Mysteries. When Jesus warns about not giving what is
holy to the ‘dogs’, he simply meant to keep secret the teachings that made
Christianity a Mystery cult. The verse also alludes to the Dionysian Mysteries.
When Jesus warns about the profane ‘tearing you to pieces’, we are immediately
reminded of the Dionysian sequence of events. And when Jesus prompts initiates
to ‘seek’ so that they may find; and to ‘knock’ so it can be opened for them,
there is another implication of Mystery. We know that both Mithraic and
Eleusinian schools entailed secrets being divulged in caves or secret places.
It is possible that the opening of the sanctuary and subsequent showing of
sacred ‘things’ could be the inspiration for these remarks.
When Christianity spread its wings and began to grow within
the Greco-Roman state, qualities of pagan religions were infused in the young
cult. While we can say that the
Christian church is the most successful of Mystery religions, it is in every
way a product of the influences that helped shape it. Because of the strength
of its early master-builders, this Mystery has survived thousands of years and
still retains, perhaps now hidden in its cavernous foundation, a very esoteric
origin. There is a strange fascination that comes with realizing that many of
the rituals so commonplace in every Christian church are descendents of the
pagan fertility religions. Seeming to take on new connotations and deeper
meanings, these truths have been passed along and created a Christianity that
is both unique and reminiscent of the past.
[1] H.
P. Blavatsky. Isis Unveiled: A Master Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and
Modern Science and Theology. 1877. J.W. Bouton. New York. pp. 495.
[2]
Ibid. pp. 20.
[3]
Ibid. pp. 334.
[4] G.
Purucker. Fundamental Aspects of Esoteric Philosophy. 1932 Theosophical University
Press. Covina, CA. pp. 385.
[5]
Ibid. 387.
[6]
Ibid. pp. 403.
[7]
Annie Besant. Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries. 1957. Theosophical
Publishing House. New York. pp. 51.
[8]
Ibid. 68.
[9] Besant.
pp. 165.
[10]
Ibid. pp 63.
No comments:
Post a Comment