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The Importance of Conspiracies.
The term, "conspiracy" is used to denote 3 meanings here: a conspiracy of authority; a conspiracy of silence; a conspiracy of denial.
Conspiracies of authority arise in human groupings when the elected, appointed, or self-designated
leaders take a paternalistic stance regarding the passage of historical information to others in the
group, especially the younger and more impressionable members. Often rationalized as "well-intentioned", human leaders will choose to dramatize and promote their skills and successes while downplaying the successes of others and their own failures. Human history will show repeated expressions of leaders who, although beset with as many or more weaknesses of character as any human, become revered and remembered as superhumans and heroes. Ask yourself, "If I am equal in value to any other human in the direction of the universe, why should I require another human to make my most important decisions for me, to console me, to make me feel worthy?
Disinformation - the withholding of some truths and the substitution of lies and fantasy in their
place, will become a strategy of mythmaking and legitimization of human authorities also. It should
be noted that an alternative to human-based authority is God-based authority in which the individual
is expected to seek communication with a superior-to-human entity and use that communication as a
guide for personal direction. There are alternatives in every decision-making situation.
Disinformation is a deceptive strategy used by humans who want political power or who obsessively
wish to keep and extend the power they have. Disinformation, while sometimes used by spies
against an enemy, is most often used to deceive the participants within one's own political group. It
is as if the authorities concerned distrust the choices and inclinations of their own group
participants; thus, they send their spies into the midst of their own people to create unity in their
support, or, to create confusion among the unity which opposes them. Do you know how much
you and your parents have been manipulated by the political systems under the control of which you
and they have lived?
The destruction of historical information is another conspiracy of authority.
Historical information which these authorities, that is, social and political leaders, do not themselves understand, they often set aside, ridicule, or destroy the record of - on the presumption that such information will only confuse their group participants, or, at best, not prove to be of any practical worth. This expression
of pride becomes intolerance and prejudice, yet forms a status quo for the group with such a
leadership. What is learned from such conspiracies is idolatry for individual and groups of humans,
expectations of perfection and their resulting intolerance and lack of compassion, and, a loss of
experiential learning. Are you aware of the massive destruction of multiple collections of human
history that have occurred at the will of human authorities or by extension of the actions which they
have taken?
Conspiracies of silence form when individuals, both group participants and their leaders, chose not
to convey historical events in which they have participated to their children or to other groups
because of pride, guilt, shame, intolerance, or other destructive character trait. A murder or
massacre of others who were peaceable until abused, enslaved, or otherwise violated in their
freedoms, as self-directed responsible persons, is one such event. Another is the withholding of
information which has been demonstrated as real yet which threatens the high priests of human
authority which have justified their elitism with theories which they have taught as laws. The
successes of "enemies" in their rejection of, resistance against and battles with the group or leader
under consideration - also denotes a conspiracy of silence. Nothing can be learned from truths
which are withheld.
Conspiracies of denial largely arise from the dynamic of increased population density for humans.
As population numbers increase, through recent and recorded human histories, interpersonal
disagreements and conflicts have increased along with the introduction of problems of large group
lifestyles. Humans, before they had leaders, and before those leaders found it advantageous to
immortalize their exploits and to codify practical behaviours into "laws" - had led a peaceful, day-by-day existence in abundant surroundings.
Non-traumatized humans, essentially, wish to be left
alone, politically, to provide for themselves and others in the community for which they have love.
They do not see themselves as "leaders", nor as important participants in the political process. They
recognize their lack of awareness about many of the issues which are political in nature, or, do not
feel that such problems should concern them personally. They are involved in the maintenance of
their family and neighbourhood with the expectation that any additional time will be spent in
pleasurable pursuits: meals, sports, hobbies, art, entertainment, grooming, etc. Other "complicated"
and "distanced" concerns are ignored and given over as the responsibility of those who are the
leaders.
The abdication of personal self-direction is the essence of slavery: the voluntary following
of the direction determined by someone else.
In a conspiracy of denial, the individual, or sub-group, does not ask for details about the political
concerns being responded to by their leaders: the responsibility for the action taken, the awareness
of the nature of the problem, the determination of the options possible, and, the likely consequences
to their own lifestyle are rejected as unimportant. Denied or not, the responsibility for the political
actions taken on behalf of the group are still those of the individual - whether aware, or, chosen to
be ignorant. The actions taken, constructive or destructive, could not have been taken without the
tacit approval of the participants of the group which contributed energy, time, produce, capital - or
other benefits to the political cause. At the same time, information which would enable the
individual to be better prepared to assess and cope with the realities existing is avoided. Inherently,
this dynamic ensures that as a civilization ages politically it becomes weaker. Each individual
participant becomes less and less able to cope with the eventual realities which will threaten the
continuance of the civilization. How much have you abdicated your right to know, your need to
know, and your responsibility for decisions made on your behalf?
387 B.C. -
Rome is sacked by the Gauls and Celts.
Between 405-396, Rome turned her largely defensive army into an offensive one and perpetuated
a 10-year siege against the city of Veii, to the north. Flush with victory, the Romans then
extended their force over the tribes and bands of much of southern Italy. Depleted of resources,
the Roman army was defeated and routed by the Gauls in a battle only 11 miles north of the city.
The Romans had by now gained a reputation for being thieves, murderers and oppressors - as
every militarily expansive power is seen by those it attacks, and the Gauls determined to put an
end to the unrest. In 387, Rome was sacked and burned, resulting in the loss of most written
works and most of the knowledge that could not be remembered and recounted orally.
384-322 B.C. -
Aristotle of Stagira, a Greek, wrote down all of the popular knowledge of his era and established new divisions of learning including that of philosophy. His writings are marked by analytical
thinking, experimentation, and speculation. In an animal or a plant, besides the bones, the flesh,
the nerves, the brains, and the blood, in the former, and besides the pulpy matter, tissues, fibers,
and juice in the latter, there must be a form, which Aristotle named the soul. This "form" is
invisible yet powerful in presence and distinct from the matter of the being.
"Spontaneous generation" of life was assumed by rationalizing theorists for millennia.
That is, observation and deduction led to the presumption that because maggots were born from rotting
meat, they materialized out of nothing. The Jewish-Christian "Book of Judges" speaks of bees
coming to life and taking to flight from the carcass of a dead lion. Aristotle replied that "Bugs
come from humor that leaves animals and becomes congealed in the open air. Lice are born of
flesh ... In certain persons, the appearance of lice is in fact a malady originating from the great
abundance of moisture in the body."
For Aristotle, a living being was characterized by the
presence of a compound of factors which included "a vegetative or nutritive soul" (the capability
for growth and reproduction), a "sensitive or animal soul" (the presence of drives and needs and
the expression of emotions), and the potential for a "reasonable and thinking soul" (rational,
intuitive and spiritual decisionmaking). The extension of this form of rational thinking resulted in
a considerable number of superstitions which would remain popular until the 1900s. Bees were
considered to be spirits which had shrunk in form. To kill a bee could result in a sentence of
death, as if, a person had been killed.
Aristotle's division of learning into separate sciences was functional to human bureaucracy.
The simplest way to teach people is not to use the abstract. Indeed, in children the capability to
understand the abstract is not yet developed neurologically. By splitting up knowledge, teachers
were not required to know all knowledge in order to teach a small part. As time continued, such
distance from central and unifying concepts in knowledge took the "life" out of learning and
relegated much of human learning to rote exercises of mechanistic concepts concerned with the
manipulation of "dead" or static things.
The awareness of likenesses in other living beings to ourselves and a context of harmony in the ecosystem became increasingly difficult as a result. This form of education
encouraged the death of the human spirit by encouraging competition, struggle, material
presence, differentiation, and authoritarianism. The truly knowledgeable teacher is humble in
ignorance, gracious in awareness, and eternally in wonder of the possibilities of change and new
experience. Humanity would be advanced in materialism and militarism and monopolistic
power towards ever-widening influence of its destructiveness under such guidance.
The "soul" of which Aristotle wrote would be scientifically demonstrated by Semyon D. Kirlian
and Valentina H. Kirlian, through their high-frequency field investigations and their
photography by 1968. Had awareness of this taken place much earlier in human history and
been recognized for its importance, before the high states of denial present in human knowledge
in the 1900s, the future of humanity, and its present, would have been dramatically different. It
is difficult to acknowledge the existence of other forms of intelligent, even super-intelligent, life,
if such presents itself in the pre-learned conceptions of the human mind as threats to freedom,
happiness, and survival.
Humans would build an authoritarian dependency upon religious,
political, and, military institutions, which could not acknowledge the existence of anything
superior to their control. To do so would destroy their declaration of authority and threaten the
end of the subservience of individual humans to the accumulated power they gave to persons who
represented mechanistic institutions whose only historically demonstrated goal is survival,
whether beneficial or threatening to the survival of humanity.
374 B.C. -
Mencius (Meng Kho), the most influential disciple of Confucius, is born.
He would spend most of his life advising the rulers of Liang and Chhi. He emphasized the democratic
conceptions of Confucianism, declaring that the goodwill of the people was essential in
government: rites and usages (laws and principles) were made for man, not the reverse, and
became bad practice if they degenerated into routine meaningless norms. Mencius rationalized
that all humans "have a mind which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others". Both then and
later, others would oppose the view. History would prove him wrong on this point. History
would prove that humans did not care, in practice, about the former issues.
From before this time, human political institutions had become and would frequently continue
to express and be guided by leadership self-interest and deception. Primary, in the rationalized
and increasing incidence of physical conflict (warfare), survival would depend upon winning the
battle. Winning the battle and maintaining leadership and authority would often depend upon who
was more successful at the deception and manipulation of both the attackers and the defenders, of
both subject and stranger, of both friend and foe. Strategies found successful on the battlefield
would be utilized in the monarchies, economic systems, institutionalized religions and social
services, advertising, elections, and, family relationships. More constructive alternatives had been
effective for over a million years. Why change now ?
356-323 B.C. -
Alexander the Great builds an empire from Athens to India.
355 B.C. -
Plato makes the first modern record of the story of Atlantis.
He writes of a large island beyond the Straits of Gibralter, in the Atlantic.
It is larger than the sum of Libya (North Africa) and Asia (Minor). He notes that "in the island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire, which had rule over the whole island and others, as well as over part
of the continent (to the west); and besides these, they subjected the parts of Libya within the
Columns of Hercules as far as Egypt and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia."
During Plato's lifetime (427-347), the Greek port of Helike on the Saronic Gulf fell into the sea
with all its buildings and people so suddenly that it took down with it 12 Spartan warships then in
the harbour.
345 B.C. -
About this time, Iamblichus, a Greek of Chalcis, described the divination rites used at the Temple of Branchus. The oracle of Apollo at Didyma, usually called
the oracle of the Branchidae, in the territory of Miletus, was one who followed such rites. This
was the oracle usually consulted by the Ionians and Aeolians. The alter itself is said to have been
constructed by Heracles, and the temple by Branchus, a son of Apollo, who had become as a
priest from the oracle at Delphi.
The cult relied upon the mediumship of inspired priestesses, and the techniques employed to
obtain their divination trance.
"The prophetess of Branchus either sits upon a pillar, or holds in her hand a rod
bestowed by some deity, or moistens her feet or the hem of her garment with water ...
and by these means ... she prophesies."
A bronze tripod was also used by some oracles, in that they sat on this 3-legged seat over
various fumes which were toxic and took the priestess into a near death state. In response to
a question put to the prophetess, she would utter a stream of words, moans and sounds
which a priest or other person would write down and later interpret. In older rituals, the
priestess might be seated on a gold tripod, either over a fumarole - which might be expelling
carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia, a combination of these gases, or some other gas.
Varieties of incense and other fumes might be introduced into the nearby air to assist.
Sometimes the effect of the smoke and the fumes was so great that the priestess might leap
from the tripod, fall from it, go into convulsions, or even die. For this reason, as many as 3
priestesses were kept on standby.
334 B.C. -
Alexander the Great uses Counter-Espionage to determine the nature and degree of discontent amongst his troops. He was in the process of besieging the Persians, commanded by
General Memnon at Halicarnassus in Asia Minor when he began to hear reports of discontent
among his soldiers. While actively campaigning, Alexander typically forbade his soldiers from
communicating with their families to ensure that information about their strategies, losses and
concerns did not reach the enemy. At this point the men had been on campaign for some time.
Alexander raised the ban for a time and most of the troops wrote home. Several days after
leaving with the letters, the couriers turned aside from their route and handed the letters over to
Alexander. He studied each letter carefully. Never expecting that the privacy of their
communication would be violated, the troops had written openly of how they felt and of their
concerns. The result was that all legitimate grievances were redressed, while the chronically
disaffected and the unreliable were sent home.
332 B.C. -
Shimon Hatzadik, Jewish leader, welcomes Alexander the Great into Jerusalem.
Jewish social and cultural customs are given autonomy under the Persian rulers, and will remain
so for 20 years.
330 B.C. -
Alexander the Great and his soldiers, in a drunken carouse, set fire to the Persian city of Persepolis.
Sculptured scenes would first be uncovered in 1936 by members of an
archaeological team from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in the USA. Dr.
Erich F. Schmidt, field director of the expedition, would declare the sculptures found to be among
the finest examples of ancient art found to that date. King Darius and his son, Xerses, are shown
giant sized, seven feet tall; the other figures were found to be of normal size and included a carrier
of the royal mace and bow and two lance carriers.
It is relatively common for human conquerors of other territories and soldiers in general to
destroy much of the art, writings, and social norms in the areas through which they pass, either by
wilful violence and destruction, or, irresponsibly through drunkenness.
330 B.C. -
Ancient Dry Cell Batteries were made as early as this era and were used for electroplating metals with gold or silver, as is still done in the bazaars of the Middle East, as well
as for the illumination of temples. In 1936 A.D., Dr. Wilhelm Konig, an Austrian archaeologist
employed by the Iraq Museum, unearthed a vase measuring 6 inches high, which contained inside
it a copper cylinder set in pitch, and inside that an iron rod secured with an asphalt plug.
Similar objects had been collected earlier and were in the Berlin Museum. At the time, the scientists
could not conceive of the use for such devices and assumed that they must be "religious or cult
objects." It occurred to some later investigators that these might be dry cell batteries. When new
models were made from the old design and provided with an electrolyte, they worked!
329 B.C. -
Alexander the Great, reported that two shining silver shields dived repeatedly at his army.
Anaximenes tells Alexander that when he has conquered all of the Earth, there will
still be many other worlds in the infinity of space. He tells of planets beyond Saturn; Europeans
would not "discover" Uranus until 1781. Metrodotus expresses the belief that the planet Earth is
not the only inhabited planet. Alexander is not amused at what now appear to be limitations on
him. In 332, he had conquered Egypt.
325 B.C. -
The Mauryan dynasty, the first Indian empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya, came into existence. Under the direction of Asoka it would reach its greatest size (265-235) to
include an area of approximately a million square miles and a population of over 50 million.
Asoka undertook a military campaign upon coming to the throne, as was the tradition. While he
was victorious, he was struck by the suffering which such campaigns brought to both the victor
and the vanquished. At the age of 30, the Emperor was introduced to Buddhism. His
enlightenment led to his renouncing war and violence, seeking peace with his people and his
neighbours and the advent of a very positive political environment into India.
312 B.C. -
The Greek Era of conquest and empire begins.
In the Battle of Gaza, most of Alexander's empire falls to either Ptolemy (King of the South) or to Seleucis (King of the North). Greek cultural domination has spread over the previous 6 years to dominate much of the eastern
Mediterranean countries.
300 B.C. -
While the Tao Te Ching (Canon of Virtue) was written about this time to embody the message of Taoism, the principles originated much earlier with "mystics" who entered China
from the north. (see 1660 B.C.)
288 B.C. -
Geared Star Computers were used by Cretan and Greek sea captains to plot their positions at sea by the star patterns in the sky. In 1900 A.D., divers found an encrusted and fused
metallic object containing wheels on the sea bottom near Antikythera in the Mediterranean Sea. It
was relegated to the Athens Museaum, where it was initially classified as a child's toy because of
the wheels. Upon re-examination decades later by Derek DeSolla Price, the artifact was subjected
to a number of chemical baths and the "wheels" were revealed to be gears.
According to what could be read on the metal, the device turned out to be capable of use in plotting angles between the Sun, Moon and stars - an instrument more sophisticated than the average sextant. As a
technical aid, it then became plausible that sea captains from a much earlier era had been able to
sail by night out of sight of land and perhaps past the Pillars of Hercules to the far islands in the
Atlantic Sea.
285 B.C. -
The Septuagint translation of the Hebrew language Jewish Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Judaic Old Testament) is made to the Greek language by 70 men. A rationalised
legend later construed to encourage self-respect amongst the Jews and idolatrous reverence for
the Hebrew Testament credited the Eygptian king Ptolemy II (282-246 B.C.) with commissioning
it. 72 elders chosen from the 12 tribes of Israel were to have been selected for the task, a number
later changed to 70 for reasons of superstition and so that the even number of 70 could be used as
the name of the edition, LXX, Septuagint. In reality, the translation took place over a period of
80 years following which the other books of the Old Testament were translated over the next 130
years.
The Greek and Hebrew cultures did not share the same origin, geographical environment, history,
or religious symbolism - all of which are determinants of language: symbols adopted for the
communication of perceived reality. This is often true of translations and is magnified when
common day idioms and location specific analogies are included. There is seldom any way in
which a translation can be accurate in conveying the original meaning and a lack of awareness of
the assumptions, expectations and lifestyle of the originating peoples at the time of the writing can
often result in changes to the original meaning. Just one example is the word used to refer to the
concept of and the location of the spirit of a human when it leaves a dying or dead body.
Once the Greek translation appeared, several attitudes developed among the Hellenistic Jews.
Some considered the original translations inexact, as all translations are, and continually revised
them with the intent of improving their accuracy. Many such corrections are human
rationalizations and as such it becomes difficult to determine which corrections were changed out
of personal preference - and then justified, and, which changes were made on the justification that
a certain Greek idiom better matched the Hebrew idiom in the original more closely than what had
been used. Others simplified the question of relevancy by simply crediting the translators with
having been divinely inspired and thus sharing equal authority with the originators for the result.
Both of these coping options are frequently used by humans when religious texts are translated.
The LXX would become and remain into modern times the authoritative biblical text of the Greek
Orthodox Church.
In the Hebrew Bible, Sheol is used 65 times.
Since the "location" was expected to be
underground, conceptually opposite to "in the heavens," other phrases such as "the pit" (Isaiah
38.18), "the lower parts" (Psalm 63.10), and "the bottomless place" (Luke 8.31; Romans 10.7)
are considered idioms. Sheol was regarded as the dwelling place of all dead spirits regardless of
their righteousness. As moral judgement and an authoritarian character developed in the religion,
the suggestion that one's position in such an "underworld" was determined by one's righteousness
became more common.
Greek translations changed the word, Sheol, to the Greek "Hades", which was used 26 times in the later
books of the Old Testament and 10 times in the New Testament. For the Greeks, Hades held
little of the symbolism attached to the underworld and its consequences by the Jews. When Jacob
believed his son Joseph was dead, he spoke of going down to Sheol to mourn him (Genesis
37.35); this was impossible with the Hades concept.
Sheol is used with numerous references to analogies which are more indicative of a swamp or quicksand or drowning than to that of the later analogy of a fiery place of torture. As a power that endeavoured to attack life on Earth, cords of Sheol (2 Samuel 22.6; Psalm 18.5) and pangs of Sheol (Psalm 116.3) threatened even the righteous. Ultimately, God controls Sheol and has the power to rescue a pious soul from death
and hell (Psalm 16.10; Psalm 54.14). This was not the case with Hades.
Gradually, and closer to the Hebrew contact with the Greeks, the concept of God's ability and
compassion to resurrect the dead, both in spirit and in body, demonstrated a parallel with the
older Egyptian beliefs to which they had been exposed. This suggests that at least during the
earlier Egyptian, tomb building followed the quest to facilitate either, or both, a spiritual and
physical ability to rise into the sky and travel through space to specific star systems where their
life would continue in a "heaven."
This was too abstract and fanciful for the human intellect of the era to invent; it derived from the experience of actually seeing living beings come from and go
to such locations. The reality of the intergalactic distances and the technology involved was much
beyond human comprehension such that there was a belief acted upon which expected that if a tall
enough structure was constructed, one could climb to such a heaven. The perception of such a
resurrection is carried through in such passages as Isaiah 26.19; Isaiah 53.10; Ezekial 37.12.
The oft portrayed modern Christian association of fire with Hell is largely derived from the
authoritarian imagery promoted by the Roman Catholic Church during its period of materialistic
expression through paintings and its anti-heretical activities involved with the Inquisition.
Virtually no mention of fire is made in the Old Testament save acts of God of "fire from heaven"
against the wicked, or, of spectacular images of fire which seemed to burn without consuming
their source.
In the New Testament, numerous prophetic references are made to fires which will
consume a good deal of the Earth's surface in the future near the time when the Christ will return,
rescue his followers, and hold them in the heavens until it is safe to return to the Earth, at which
time his rule will last 1000 years. An uncontrollable and enveloping fire is a great fear to all
humans. The later use of it by the institutionalized Christian churches to coerce the conversion of
many to accept the human-based authority of the Church would become so well imprinted as to
be questioned by few. The evolving abstractness of the biblical description of hell and the
constraining finiteness of the institutionally promoted image are indicative of many of the basic
features of most institutionalized human religions.
280 B.C. -
Berosos founds a school of astrology at Cos.
Greek astrologers are taught there.
279 B.C. -
T'ien Tan of the Ch'i state was hard pressed in his defense of Chi-mo against the Yen forces, led by Ch'i Chieh. He openly said:
"My only fear is that the Yen army may cut off
the noses of their Ch'i prisoners and place them in the front rank to fight against us; that would be
the undoing of our city."
The other side, being informed of this speech, at once acted on the suggestion; but those within
the city were enraged at seeing their fellow countrymen thus mutilated, and fearing only lest they
should fall into the enemy's hands, were nerved to defend themselves more obstinately than ever.
Once again, T'ien Tan sent back converted spies who reported these words to the enemy:
"What I dread most is that the men of Yen may dig up the ancestral tombs outside the town, and by
inflicting this indignity on our forefathers cause us to become fainthearted."
Forthwith, the besiegers dug up all the graves and burned the corpses lying in them. And the
inhabitants of Chi-mo, witnessing the outrage from the city walls, wept passionately and were all
impatient to go out and fight, their fury being increased tenfold.
T'ien Tan knew that his soldiers were ready for any enterprise.
But instead of sword, he himself
took a mattock in his hands, and ordered others to be distributed among his best warriors, while
the ranks were filled up with their wives and concubines. He then served out all the remaining
rations and bade his men eat their fill. The regular soldiers were told to keep out of sight, and the
walls were manned with the old and weaker men and with the women. This done, envoys were
dispatched to the enemy's camp to arrange terms of surrender, whereupon the Yen army began
shouting for joy. T'ien Tan also collected 20,000 ounces of silver from the people, and got the
wealthy citizens of Chi-mo to send it to the Yen general with the prayer that, when the town
capitulated, he would not allow their homes to be plundered or their women to be maltreated.
Ch'i Chieh, in high good humour, granted their prayer, but his army now became increasingly
slack and careless. Meanwhile, T'ien Tan got together 1,000 oxen, decked them with pieces of
red silk, painted their bodies, dragon-like, with coloured stripes, and fastened sharp blades on
their horns and well-greased rushes on their tails. When night came on, he lighted the ends of the
rushes and drove the oxen through a number of holes that he had pierced in the walls, backing
them up with a force of 5,000 picked warriors.
The animals, maddened with pain, dashed
furiously into the enemy's camp, where they caused the utmost confusion and dismay; for their
tails acted as torches, showing up the hideous pattern on their bodies, and the weapons on their
horns killed or wounded any with whom they came in contact. In the meantime, the band of
5,000 had crept up with gags in their mouths, and now threw themselves on the enemy. At the
same moment a frightful din arose in the city itself, all those that remained behind making as much
noise as possible by banging drums and hammering on bronze vessels, until heaven and earth were
convulsed by the uproar.
Terror-stricken, the Yen army fled in disorder, hotly pursued by the men of Ch'i, who succeeded
in slaying their general, Ch'i Chieh. The result of the battle was the ultimate recovery of some 70
cities that had belonged to the Ch'i state.
The following may be noted:
1. Large armies attacked cities with few skilled defenders;
2. T'ien Tan sacrificed some of his own people to motivate others;
3. Spies were used to misinform the enemy;
4. The enemy were motivated by greed and the prospect of extending fear;
5. The enemy was weakened by making it feel proud and confident;
6. The townspeople became more determined with anger, rage, hatred & vengeance;
7. The suggestion of an agreement reduced the caution of the enemy;
8. Surprise, sloth, and confusion destroyed the harmony of the enemy;
9. It was "normal" for the victors to rape, beat and rob the conquered.
The earliest and major form of human racial intermingling resulted from the rapes which
attended military conquest and empire building. Voluntary selection by a process of attraction
and consent (love) was a minor factor. Many of such offspring lived lives of abuse being
victimized for the abuse and violence their fathers had brought to the community. In turn, these
"bastards" developed a rage against their community (acting out, lawlessness, etc.), or, against
the enemy whose arrival had led to their birth. For any degree of social acceptance in the
community, the latter was a dependable response. Thus, illegitimate sons could sometimes
become the worst enemy of those represented by his genetic father.
264-241 B.C. -
The First Punic War between Carthage and Rome would last 23 years and be fought over who
should control Sicily. Unlike either of the contestant's territories, Sicily had very fertile volcanic
soils which were ideal for high agricultural production. Fruits including oranges and lemons also
flourished. Exports were wine, sulfur, sardines, mined minerals, olive-oil, fruits and cream of
tartar. Oak and chestnut trees were also a supply of wood.
Excellent harbours provided a good base for foreign trade.
Central to the Mediterranean, Sicily would be a jewel to any imperialist.
At the end of the war, Carthage had depleted all her resouces through the war and was forced to
leave the island. Rome, with its increasing mass culture would build on 23 years of hate.
261-100 B.C. - During this period,
The Hindu Bhagavad-Gita was composed.
Although often loosely translated as "Song of the Lord", it is more accurately "Sung by the Lord". In the latter 1900s it would become the most important and influential religious text in India. The work corresponds in many
respects to the Svetasvatara Upanisad, which does for the Hindu god Siva in briefer compass
much the same as the Bhagavad-gita does for Visnu, making him the ultimate god, the source of
the whole cosmos.
The Bhagavad-gita is an insert into the Mahabharata epic.
The great battle of Kuruksetra, which was to result in the triumph of the Pandavas and the annihilation of the Kauravas, is about to commence. On both sides mighty warriors are drawn up in battle array in their chariots. The air is loud with the strident sounds of conchs blown by the troops on either side, each conch the
treasured possession of the owner and given its proper name. Suddenly, Arjuna, the third of the
five Pandavas, has misgivings. He speaks to his friend Krsna, who is acting as his charioteer.
Arjuna is not so much afraid of being killed as of killing.
His enemies are his kinfolk, many of them known to him since childhood.
They include elder statesmen, wise counsellors, men of untarnished reputation and profound wisdom. Rather than kill such people, he would give up all his claims to his kingdom and become an ascetic. He does not wish to fight.
The chariot is stationed at a spot midway between the 2 armies, presumably to avoid the din of
the conchs and other sounds of battle-readiness, and there, Krsna presents a lengthy sermon to
Arjuna on the duty of the warrior and on many other topics. The whole consists of 18 versified
chapters of varying length. The verses also are of varying length, but the shortest and commonest
is the "sloka" of 32 syllables.
A sloka takes at least 12 seconds to recite, which means that even if
Krsna spoke without pause, he must have taken well over two hours to complete his sermon to
Arjuna, even without the time taken by the descriptions of the 11th chapter. This sermon was
thus, obviously, added later for the presumed benefit of the listener as defined by the writer.
Or, the question to ask yourself is: "Would an opposing tribal army, stimulated for combat and facing
its enemy with the expectation of a fight to the death, calmly wait for over 2 hours while "the
rules of battle and life" were given to one of the opposing generals by a friend in the middle of the
battlefield?"
Content, however, is more important than form - from a spiritual standpoint.
Arjuna's moral dilema is reasonably quickly answered. Bodies can be killed, but you cannot kill the soul, which is eternal and must in any case pass from one body to another. Pleasure, pain, all the experiences of
the senses are transitory and must be put up with - the wise man is the same in pleasure and pain,
realizing that his soul is eternal and does not participate in the activities of everyday life. On
gaining full awareness of the eternity of the soul, he rises above mundane things and realizes that
there is no cause for sorrow in death.
Krsna then adds a further, more practical argument:
Arjuna is a member of the warrior class, and thus his duty (dharma) is to fight in a just battle. If Arjuna
does not do so he will become an object of scorn among friends and foes alike. On the other
hand, if he is killed he will go straight to paradise. So he should prepare for battle. Many other
passages were added later to this core and by at least 2 self-serving writers: one a Brahman
intellectual conjecturing the final truth of the universe; another, an impassioned devotee of the
Hindu god Visnu and willing to interpret Krsna as one of Visnu's incarnations.
Essentially, much of the Bhagavad-gita is neither spiritually inspired or spiritual in content.
Rather, it provides a human intellectualized justification of the trappings of material-based mass
cultures which are dependent upon the maintenance of order through the imposition of human-based authority structures which lead to a co-dependent enslavement of the population. In the
intellectual dissociation and denial common with the self-obsessed human philosopher, the writer
uses spiritual half-truths and rationalizations to justify murder - for war is an aggressive coercion
of others to fight for their mere survival.
The writer mimics the spiritual reality that the spirit is
not confined to the physical form of an individual and that it will continue to exist following the
death of the physical form. Intellectually, the writer then trivializes physical death with the simple
dissociation of spirit from body. The spiritual identity and responsibility present while in the
material form seems to be of no importance for one's spirit is simply going to move on to another
body. One would be encouraged to ask at this stage: Then, what is the purpose of life; why
should I care to do anything; if I don't like my life, why not commit suicide in expectation that the
next life may be better?" It is at this point that the element of class becomes important: it is a
definition of one's role or purpose in life.
Once the intellectualization is made that one's freedom and salvation rest upon the status quo of
the social system of authority, leadership is made divine and social obligation becomes a path to
righteousness. Since class is imprinted and is a reality beyond question, one's salvation becomes a
question of carrying out one's duties to one's social superior. This raises another academic
question: "What if my social superior tells me to do something which is unethical?" To this the
writer specifies that the battle (or task) must be "just", that is, righteous, legal, sanctioned. Of
course, any student of human history knows that any battle can be rationalized as just by either
side of the conflict resorting to truths, disinformation, slander, deception, and lies.
The final rationalization, which again ties the listener into a material-based ideology masquerading as
spiritual, is that if the individual fails to fulfill the obligations of his social status, then he will be
shamed before his peers, friend and foe alike. The reality of the passage is not that spiritual
identity is focused on as important but rather it is persistently one's social identity. If you stay
with the status quo and maintain the order of a human-based authority system maintained by ritual
(reverence to things), obedience (reverence to humans), and duty (reverence to one's social
position or profession) you will go straight to paradise.
In numerous chapters, Krsna refers to himself as the highest god.
A second collection of verses is much more descriptive of the Brahman theism and the
development or hindrance of spiritual skills. Thus, thoughts about the fruits of one's work, when
linked up with desire and selfhood, will prevent the integration of the self (by denying a true
awareness of reality) and the achievement of the highest spiritual goal.
A number of elements from the Upanisad reflections on reality are further expanded on in the Bhagavad-gita: the
doctrine of the 3 universal constituents; the system of mental and spiritual training known as
Yoga; the system of philosophy called Samkhya, closely associated with Yoga. The mystic,
impersonal absolute, Brahman - the intellectual's intellectual, a rational mind obsessed upon itself,
is added here.
The 3 universal constituents of the universe, that is, the gunas, are the following.
sattva : virtue, goodness, wisdom, joy, altruism, brightness;
rajas : passion, activity, greed, ambition, anger;
tamas : darkness, dullness, idleness, ignorance, delusion.
None of the three can be understood as wholly good or evil for each has the potential to distort
reality by obsession and dependency.
Yoga appears in the Bhagavad-gita as a practical system of mental and spiritual development,
whereby an individual may reach complete detachment. When fully integrated, the yogin
perceives friends and enemies, good and evil, as the same. The yoga of the Bhagavad-gita is
simplistic and cultivates an attitude of passivity and acceptance to all experience: a fantasy of
intellectual projection over reality. This was to be the state of the Brahman, the ultimate
impersonal spirit.
What is found in later history, is that such an orientation, rather than being
spiritual was simply ritualism. Brahmans memorized extensive passages for the recitation to
others, and, became completely ambivalent as to the meaning or intent of the passages. Passivity
and a denial of material awareness only enabled the continuance of destructive social practices and
the perpetuation of widespread caste-based abuses within the Indian society.
The caste order became both the enabling of considerable population impact on the environment through a
maintenance of social order through ritual, and, it also denied the possibility for constructive change
which could reduce the physical distress under which most Indians came to subsist. This
orientation to yoga both touched on and avoided the meditative benefits which can be gained from
such a practice. Too often, followers would simply seek to blank or close off their mental state
rather than a setting aside of rationalization in favour of an opening of the human mind to other
forms of awareness and creativity.
260 B.C. -
The Romans Reverse-Engineer a Punic Ship and build their own small fleet of 5-oared boats - they had found a stranded boat of their rivals. They add a boarding bridge to enable
hand-to-hand combat between boats. Boats had largely carried troops and supplies to a war
before, rather than being a part of the actual battles. "Punic" is a term applied to a group of
peoples sharing the same root language: Carthaginians, Phoenicians and Hebrew. All of these are
descendants of the mid-Atlantic Atlantis and the Hebrews are descendents of the Thera Atlantis.
250 B.C. -
The Alexandrian Lighthouse was built on the island of Pharos from white marble.
It was 135 meters high. Regarded as one of the seven Wonders of the World, it had a movable
mirror which at night projected its light so that it could be seen 400 kilometres away. Sunlight
was used during the day, and fire during the night. In 1326, an earthquake destroyed it.
237 B.C. -
In the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes of Egypt, the priests at Canopus finally became frustrated enough with their out-of-date calendar, and powerful and
influential enough, to decree a change in the length of the year. It was now "necessary to
harmonize the calendar according to the present arrangement of the world." One day was ordered
to be added every 4 years to the 360 days, and to the five days which were afterwards ordered to
be added. As in most human political bureaucracies, it was easier to institute the small change first, even though such would only complicate matters more until the greater change was adopted.
216 B.C. -
Hannibal ("grace of Baal") outflanks the Romans at the Battle of Cannae, leading to the worst Roman defeat in history. Carthaginian cavalry cut a Roman army of 86,000 down to
30,000 survivors (who would live to hate Carthage). The Carthaginian leader, Hamilcar, had
signed the Ebro Treaty of 226 promising not to cross the Ebro River for unfriendly purposes.
Hamilcar's eldest son had become the military leader and crossed the Pyrenee and Alps mountains
with 50,000 men, 9,000 cavalry and 37 war elephants to prevent the Roman's entry into Spain.
Hannibal lost many men through battle and hardship but gained the support of the Celts in 218.
When the city state of Syracuse joins with Carthage for defence, the Romans become vengeful.
212 B.C. -
The prince of Ch'in, Shih Huang 'Ti (First Sovereign Emperor), during the Ch'in Dynasty (221-206) ordered the burning of all historical, astronomical and philosophical works. In
221, cavalry was introduced and iron soon replaced bronze for weapons. The new emperor
immediately set about to enact the first (now existing) recorded unification of China. He first
built a network of roads. Secondly, he employed the labour of hundreds of thousands of workers
to build the Great Wall , a 10-year construction project, stretching some 1500 miles from the Gulf
of Chihli to Tibet. Thirdly, he abolished feudalism, which had maintained anarchy over the lands
for the previous 1000 years and replaced it with a complex state bureaucracy based on Confucian
principles.
The new unitary centralized state was governed by professional bureaucrats, which would
eventually provide a new form of human injustice. Weights, measures, coins and script was
standardized, thereby eliminating regional differences. Destruction of records was undertaken in
an effort to destroy all connection to the previous lengthy period of warring and conflict with the
assumption that the teachings were responsible rather than the cultural and human patterns which
seldom used or consulted the wisdom contained in the texts.
In trying to evaluate which texts promoted feuding and anarchy from those which would benefit society, those having to do with the subjects of law, horticulture and herbal medicine were preserved. All others were burned - to prevent conflict through adversarial discussion of histories - a common and unspiritual approach
to decisionmaking often followed by humans. 460 protesting rationalists supporting the feudalism
which had benefited them were tortured and buried alive.
To appease the nobility for the changes, a new military nobility with posts and pensions was
created. Advancement was achieved by merit won on the battlefield and gauged by the number of
heads taken. An irrigation canal, the Cheng-kwo Canal, 100 miles long, opened the alkali
wastelands of what would become the fertile heartland of Shensi province to immigrants.
In warfare, Ch'in borrowed the tactics of the Hsiung-nu, ancestors of the Huns, of the northern
steppelands. They fought on horseback with reflex bows; his armies would also. The state
monopolized both horse breeding and the iron industry. There was now a new political order and
a consolidation of military resources.
A goal of peace and harmony involving a large population of previously privileged
feudal lords and unhappy and abused peasants did not leave Shih Huang 'Ti with the longer-term
options of educating the masses in spiritual principles. Like the wiping clean of a dirty slate,
elimination of all connections with a turbulent, vengeful past would provide the possibility for a
new beginning. Moral excellence and employment in the bureaucracy on the basis of merit alone
were the foundations on which the empire was built.
Shih Huang 'Ti only lived for 12 years after he founded the state; the empire collapsed and the
feudal organization eventually returned. There had not been a spiritual basis to the culture and
one could not leave behind a materialistic co-dependent abusive society and introduce a spiritually
harmonious one in such a short period.
The "pien ch'ing", or ch'ing, the oldest musical instrument associated with humans, would have died
with this empire and its destruction of anything Confucian had one complete set not remained in a
pond until its discovery in 32 B.C. A lithophone, it consists of a set of 16 rectangular plates made
of jade or black calcareous stone and pitched to the Eastern pentatonic scale. A prototype was
found in South Vietnam in 1954.
What might have provided the answers to peace, was destroyed by those who believed their
power would be threatened by its existence. Feudalism was re-established at the end of the era,
in 206 B.C.!
212 B.C. -
Syracuse is Sacked by the Romans.
Syracuse was the largest city on the island of Sicily, with 500,000 inhabitants, it is burned after 3 years of seige by the Romans. The triangular-shaped city was surrounded by 22 miles of walls. It had been
unsuccessfully beseiged by the Athenians in 414 B.C. Syracuse and Carthage, both popular
merchant towns, had formed an alliance during 264-241 to protect themselves from the military
advances of other groups who wished to break their control over western Mediterranean trade.
Battles had occurred between the Romans and the Carthaginians since 510 B.C. and in the interim
the Romans had tried to expand their territorial control in all directions and had improved their
military technology to include a navy.
Rome became increasingly authoritarian and imperialistic
and after making a treaty with Carthage in 236 B.C., they expected Carthage to ask their
permission before engaging in any future wars. Hannibal's surprise attack leading to the worst
Roman defeat in histoy in 216 B.C. led to the greatest test of the Roman's system of
indoctrination for war. Virtually the whole city was destroyed together with the librairies of
wisdom and any artistic works.
218-201 B.C. -
The Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and the Romans resulted in further economic changes.
Defeat of the enemy often resulted in a concentrating of the material wealth into the
possession of the victors. To sustain this material benefit of the victors, most captives were made
slaves. This meant that larger and larger estates were given over to retiring military officers as a
reward for their service and captives provided them with a cheap and expendable workforce.
The surplus agricultural and mining production was sold on the international market by way of sea and
overland trade. Barter became inadequate because there becomes a limit as to how much
foodstuff or other raw materials one has. Thus, surplus capital (symbolic of labour and resources)
was used to promote the development of more sophisticated products: the luxury of art and the
imperial practicality of war technology. By 180 B.C. the Roman silver dinar (coin) was minted
and used in the increasing long-distance trade. War was big business.
This was the second long period of war between Carthage and Rome in less than 70 years. Rome
was building its society based on the mass culture ethic. While the Carthaginians had left, the
Romans would continue to build military commitment and strategy on the basis of hate.
210 B.C. -
Petronius Arbiter, a Roman, noted the following:
"We trained very hard ... but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up
into teams we would be reorganized.
I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing: and
a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing
confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."
204 B.C. -
Han Hsin was sent against the army of Chao, in China.
He halted 10 miles from the mouth of the Ching-hsing pass, where, his spies had informed him, the enemy had mustered in full force. At midnight, he sent a body of 2,000 light cavalry, every man of which was furnished
with a red flag, with the instructions to make their way through the narrow defiles and watch the
enemy.
Han instructed:
"When the men of Chao see me in full flight, they will abandon their fortifications
and give chase. This must be the sign for you to rush in, pluck down the Chao standards and set
up the red banners of Han in their place." Turning then to his other officers, he remarked: "Our
adversary holds a strong position, and is not likely to come out and attack us until he sees a
standard and drums of the commander-in-chief, for fear I should turn back and escape through the
mountains."
So said, he first sent out a division consisting of 10,000 men, and ordered them to form in line of
battle with their backs to the River Ti. Seeing this maneuver, the whole army of Chao broke into
loud laughter. Han Hsin, displaying the general's flag in full daylight, marched out of the pass
with drums beating, and was immediately engaged by the enemy.
A great battle followed lasting some time, until Han Hsin and his colleague Chang Ni, leaving
drums and banners on the field, fled to the division on the river bank, where another fierce battle
was raging. The enemy rushed out to pursue them and to secure the trophies, thus leaving few
men behind on the ramparts. The two generals succeeded in joining the other army, which was
fighting with the utmost desperation.
Now, the 2,000 horsemen, having seen the men of Chao leave, galloped behind the deserted wall,
tore up the enemy's flags, and replaced them with those of Han. When the Chao army turned
back from the pursuit, the sight of these red flags struck them with terror for they became
convinced that the Hans had overpowered their king. They broke up in wild disorder, every effort
of their leader to stay the panic being in vain. Then, the Han army attacked them from both sides
and completed the rout, killing a great number and capturing the rest, among them King Ya
himself.
After the battle, some of Han Hsin's officers came to him and said:
"In The Art of War we are told
to have a hill or tumulus on the right rear, and a river or marsh on the left front. You, on the
contrary, ordered us to draw up our troops with the river at our back. Under these conditions,
how did you manage to gain victory?"
The general replied:
"I fear you gentlemen have not studied "The Art of War" with sufficient care.
Is it not written there: 'Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate
straits and it will come through in safety'? Had I taken the usual course, I should never have been
able to bring my colleagues round. If I had not placed my troops in a position where they were
obliged to fight for their lives, but had allowed each man to follow his discretion, there would
have been a general rout, and it would have been impossible to do anything with them." The
officers admitted the force of his argument, and said: "These are higher tactics than we should
have been capable of."
200 B.C. -
Wu Ch'i is fighting against the Chinese state of Ch'in.
Before the battle begins, one of his soldiers, a man of matchless daring, sallied forth by himself, captured two heads from the enemy, and returned to camp. Wu Ch'i had the man instantly executed, whereupon an
officer ventured to remonstrate, saying: "This man was a good soldier, and ought not to have
been beheaded." Wu Ch'i replied: "I fully believe he was a good soldier, but I had him beheaded
because he acted without orders."
200 B.C. -
Rabbi Elias, in writing about the duration of the [human] Earthly history states:
"The world endures 6,000 years: 2,000 before the Law, 2,000 under the law, and
2,000 under Messiah."
200 B.C. -
Ctesibius and Hero of Alexandra (Egypt) were allowed to learn some of the wisdom kept secret by the high priests only on condition that they use it for the benefit of the temples
only. Walter Kiaulehn, in "Die Eisernen Engel", describes some of the devices made by Hero:
"With his steam machines he transformed the temples into places of mystery. When the
sacred fires had been lighted on the alter, a stone trumpet sounded the signal for the
worshippers to enter. They saw the great doors open by themselves, and when they went
into the sanctuary, turning the bronze wheels that were in the entrance hall, a fine rain of
perfumed water fell, metal birds opened their beaks and supernatural singing came from their
throats.
In the sanctuaries, one could admire metal images of the gods that rose slowly toward the
ceiling, statues weighing several tons that remained suspended in the air, heavy bronze doors
that opened and closed on command, and priests in levitation.
Magical science often surpassed experimental science - the two were indissolubly linked - and
the priests were able to make phantoms appear, prophesy and hurl terrible curses against
profainers and evildoers.
According to their will, the temple was either wrapped in clouds or illuminated by a
superhuman light; sometimes darkness fell during the day and sometimes the night was
aglow, lamps lighted themselves, the gods became radiant, the rumble of thunder was heard,
and woe to the ungodly who had brought down the curses of the initiates upon their heads!"
Hero was allowed to make some devices for laymen: the steam engine known as aeolipile, which
operates by jet propulsion; the force pump; the clepsydra, a marvellous kind of clock; and even a
meter for indicating distances travelled.
200 B.C. -
The most ancient surviving representations of Chinese erotic art come from the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 24) and were found on bricks unearthed from tombs and found on
the gifts buried with the dead. Sexual intercourse was considered in China not only as a fact of
life to be accepted and enjoyed, but essential for human physical and mental well-being. The
emphasis on varied sex techniques and a multitude of positions was held necessary in order to
keep people interested in copulation.
Two factors are stressed by every ancient treatise on sexual activities:
1. Man's semen is the most precious possession, the source not only of his health, but of his very
life; every emission of semen will diminish this vital force, unless compensated by the acquiring of
a suitable amount of Yin essence through sexual intercourse.
2. Man should give the woman complete satisfaction every time he engages in sexual intercourse
with her, but he should allow himself to ejaculate only on certain specific occasions.
While incorrect, this belief did favour the self-control of the man in restricting his own orgasm
until the woman had achieved one or more of her own, her vaginal wetness equalling Yin essence.
As the male system generally adapts to produce semen according to demand, restricting the
demand, by not ejaculating, could, maintain a lower sexual need and a lessened compulsion for
sexual release. Also, masturbation would be highly discouraged.
In addition, it was erroneously believed that when the male ejaculated he was losing some of his lifeforce as experienced by the physical weakness which followed. There is no such connection as the weakness is the result of temporary exhaustion and release of the muscle and nerve systems involved in the act, in reaction
to the extended tensioning they have undergone in the preparation.
The act of ejaculation in the male, and climax in the female, depends upon a focusing of energies to successively tense and relax one's muscles in increasing strength until a resolution of spasm followed by complete relaxation occurs, or, the possibility of chronic tension from stimulation without resolution. Chronic pelvic tension can lead to many chronic health problems involving digestion and elimination which in turn can generate chronic mental problems including headaches and the destructive emotions of anxiety, fear, paranoia, anger.
Finally, repetitive stimulation without ejaculation for the man can result in pain, tension and/or
anxiety in the groin area. Without regular physical work or a full-movement meditative exercise,
mental anxiety is likely to result. Such anxiety often results in the development of compulsive
behaviours of which intellectualization is a common human culture preference. Also, the physical
aspect of the anxiety can encourage psychological impotence, and, reduced sexual activity. This
may, in some instances produce marital harmony or disharmony.
The birth regulation benefits are
minimal from the reduced frequency as human sexual activity engaged in several times a year
produces a maximum birth rate in healthy participants. Partial sterility may be achieved, however,
by the retaining of semen, as the older the supply, the less active and fertile it will be. Built on
misinformation and misunderstanding, these basic tenants provided both potential for marital
sexual harmony and disharmony, while encouraging industriousness.
190 B.C. - Beginning about this time,
The Hebrew Apocrypha (those books other than the Pentateuch) was translated into the Greek language of the then current day colonists.
Translations are never perfect for different languages usually arise from beings which have been
exposed to different climates and different political and technological histories. The norms and
expectations of one culture may lead to assumptions as to the "quality" of the meaning of the
phrase or word in the second language. Many examples exist and each of these would lead to
inappropriate expectations and misinterpretations later.
Many times, subtle differences can make great changes in the overall meaning of a verse or a chapter. These differences were sometimes magnified further when translations were made to English and other languages.
From the Book of Isaiah, note the following:
Chapter/verse Hebrew Greek or English
1:7 desolate, as the overthrow of strangers desolate, as overthrown by strangers
7:14 a young woman shall conceive a virgin shall conceive
14:6 with a stroke without removing with a continual stroke
14:21 O day-star O Lucifer son of the morning!
42:4 He shall not be ... broken He shall not be ... discouraged
42:13 behave himself mightily prevail against his enemies
42:23 for the after-time for the time to come?
43:4 will I give ... people (slaves) for thy person will I give ... people for thy life
43:10 before me there was nothing formed of God before me there was no God formed
43:13 who shall turn it back who shall let it?
50:7 to him that is despised in soul to him whom man despiseth
53:6 hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on him hath laid on him the iniquity of us all
53:8 He was broken away by distress and judgement He was taken from prison and from judgement
53:10 When his soul shall make an offering when thou shall make his soul an offering
55:2 Wherefore do ye weigh money Wherefore do ye spend money
The above is a tiny set of examples; more could have been chosen within the span of verses
represented and such could be multiplied hundreds of times through the texts.
to 180 B.C. -
In keeping with the ARIES astrological age (2323 B.C. - 180 B.C.) a considerable amount of the accumulated human knowledge of the previous millennia was destroyed through intolerance,
aggressiveness, pride, and other traits of the sign:
1531 B.C. Babylon - sacked by irrate Hittites
1425 B.C. Knossos - destroyed by fire during a rebellion
612 B.C. Nineveh - sacked by the Babylonians and Medians
587 B.C. - Solomon's Temple destroyed by Babylonians
560 B.C. Athens - Library of Pisistratus destroyed
480 B.C. Athens - Acropolis destroyed
387 B.C. Rome - sacked by the Gauls
330 B.C. Persepolis - burned by Alexander's troops
212 B.C. China - Shih Huang 'Ti burns all records
212 B.C. Syracuse - sacked by the Romans in revenge
146 B.C. Carthage - sacked by the Romans in revenge
The destruction of records of knowledge and reports will be destroyed over the next 2000+ years
almost exclusively by institutions rathers than under the direction of individual kings or military
leaders.
180 B.C. -
This marks the beginning of the PISCES Zodiac Astrological Age relative to the later positioning of the planets. There are 12 separate "ages" in one cycle, that is 25,725 years,
during which all of the configurations of the Earth's solar system planets are passed through.
Thereafter, the cycle would repeat, unless and until the Earth's position, or, that of any other
planetary body in the Earth's solar system, changes position. Such a change could be effected by
significant impacts on any of the masses by an asteroid, comet, meteor, or other force capable of
altering the path and position of the planet in the universe relative to the Earth's Sun, and, other
planets.
Significant "near misses" by such objects or forces where their gravitational pull is
sufficient to effect such a change is another consideration. With the cycle remaining stable and
the number of segments or durations within the cycle remaining set at 12, each "age" will last
approximately 2143 modern (1996) year lengths. Both the previous noted ages and this one will
be approximated because of the changes and improving accuracy within the standard calendar.
This "age" will last until 1962.
The traits and characteristics of Pisceans and the Piscean Age include these:
meek humble, compassionate, sympathetic;
excitable emotional, passionate;
philosophical unworldly, sensitive;
changeable adaptable, impressionable;
well intentioned kind, sympathetic, thoughtful;
intuitive instinctive, patterned;
receptive interested, attentive, pliable;
unfocused vague, careless, secretive;
weak identity easily confused and persuaded;
imaginative impractical and unrealistic in goals;
low self-esteem weak-willed, indecisive, over compensating.
The Piscean is the most easily influenced of all the zodiac characters by outward appearances.
Thus, a Piscean civilization is one which both seeks to exhibit and identify identity and
relevance by appearance. Architecture, art, authority, beauty, business, communication,
discovery, exploration, family, historical records, idealism, invention, leadership, love,
marketing, medicine, peace, planning, politics, power, religion, revolutions, science,
structure, truth - all are participated in and extended as a form of entertainment, or, a form of
lifestyle, or, a form of presentation.
The Piscean civilization cannot see alternatives which
revolutionize its heritage of Taurean structure and conservativism and the Arian striving for
excitement and ego fulfillment. The Piscean is easily swayed between the two, unable to
condemn either nor commit to either: unable to commit to any one plan for longer than the
short-term. Analytical and philosophical in a pragmatic way, the Piscean civilization is
unceasing in its efforts to enjoy and expand the benefits of earlier material-based civilizations
while rationalizing its intentions not to commit the abuses of those civilizations.
Simplistic rationalization is continually interspersed with intense and abstract intellectualism.
And while the Piscean either fails to commit to a plan of action until it is irrelevant, or, quickly adopts a
plan of action which was relevant but no longer continues to be - relevancy and focus seem to
defy longer-term constructive activity for the Piscean civilization. The adage that "Looks can
be deceiving" applies consistently here, yet wisdom is lost on those who seek for acceptance
and satisfaction and security by almost any means.
An extraterrestrial might assume, from appearances, that this Piscean civilization is
hypocritical for much of the voiced spiritual ideals seem to persistently become destructive
examples of material obsession. This will be an era of persuasive selling, emotional drama,
tremendous hardship and loss, sponsored individual expression and institution-defined
freedom. For those willing to work in denial of the destructive potential for their discoveries,
willing to rationalize the destructive decisionmaking of their political leaders, willing to bend
their morals to support those who appear influential, and, willing to strive with philosophical
purpose - success will become more possible than for others.
Any person with a true strength of spiritual direction will find themselves continually frustrated and challenged to anger - should they choose to remain within the civilization. For those who weaken before
such challenges, their fall from Grace will only serve further to strengthen the powers of the
Taurean structural foundations and conservativeness, or, the powers of the Arian reactive
extravagance and self-centredness. The watery mutable influence of the Piscean Age upon
the Taurean "earth" foundation will degrade and muddy the idealistic intent originally
expressed and serve to slowly covert such structures into inefficient bloated bureaucracies -
more determined to serve themselves than to serve their employers.
The watery mutable influence of the Piscean Age upon the "fiery" Arian desire for excitement and adventure will "steam" such energies into a fog which pervades humanity with dreams and fantasies: utopias
for commitment; riches of conquest; recognition for discovery; salvation for obedience;
heaven for intolerance; heroism for murder; acceptance for beauty; power for aggressiveness;
freedom for resistance; security for participation; control for abuse; contentment for sex. All
of these would develop into social addictions: a civilization built upon trauma and intensified by the traumas it creates. Means without purpose predictably yields opportunity twisted into failure and apparent achievements which increasingly endanger survival rather than ensuring it.
In the Piscean Age, humans are always looking back: back to the empires of the past; back to
the simplicity of the past; back to a "dream" family of the past; back to the adventure of the
explorers of the past; back to the romance and charm of the elite in the past; back to the
religious authorities of the past; back to the supposed dignities of the past; back to the
successes of the past - and asking "Why can we not bring the past into the present and the
future?"
Such denial of past failures and limitations and such a lack of awareness of the
present will frequently result in a repetition of the failures of the past. It is as though the
freedom of choice of humans has been placed in limbo while more and more energy and
resources are thrown at conflicts and frustrations without first attempting to determine what
would be a constructive (spiritual) focus for negotiation, cooperation and conciliation. The
light is on, but nobody is home. Humanity is on a journey - to somewhere, anywhere, to the
"good old days" which never were - within the status quo realities of today.
Romance will become an important aspect of this age.
Romance is doing all the "right" things so that you can fulfill your fantasies.
But romance before awareness and without trust and respect become manipulation and deception.
Everything appears to be better than it is in reality: easier, more perfect, more beautiful, more aggressive or gentle, more considerate, more lovable, more challenging, more .... And this enthusiasm, blinded by traumatic induced losses hidden deep in the past, must, eventually, be found to be simply human. This insecure
need for a hero, an authority, a human god, a material god, a monument, a medal, an official
title - recognition by association - will stratify societies increasingly into a leadership elite and
a common (usually) passive mass.
Failure and frustration, dissatisfaction and disappointment - will encourage leaders to become more devious and manipulative in their strivings for position and power. And the common masses will be encouraged to try and alleviate their despair and depression by activities sanctioned by the masses: acceptance of human authority; denial of self; acceptance of complacency; denial of the rights of other races and nations;
acceptance of materialism as a lifestyle; denial of reverence for the miracles of nature, life,
and the universe. Emotional relationships based upon form and appearance have the
disadvantage of always wavering on failure - of the truth being discovered.
Employment in the Piscean Age will no longer be focused on the functionality and
productivity of the Taurean. Nor will it be focused on how to "spice up" the monotony of
structure and predictability with the servitude of the mercenary, the employee. Now,
attempts to cope with a reality which becomes increasingly challenging and competitive as the
human population expands in size and thickens in density, pivotal fields of endeavour will
become those which "sell" the desires of the leadership to gain the support of the masses.
Entertainers will serve to distract, placate, and diffuse the energies of the masses in support
of their leaders.
Self-obsessed persons have no time to focus on others.
Entertainers will serve to dramatize, inflame, motivate, inspire, unify, and focus individual frustrations against
political identities sanctioned by the leadership. Storytellers, balladeers, poets, writers, and
historians will serve to manipulate the reality which was into the reality which inflates the
pride of the masses, the reputation of the leaders, and applauds the subservience of the
masses. Whether an officer in the armed forces before his troops, or, a nurse - medical
practitioner before a patient ... the role of illusion will become paramount. The officer will
prepare his charges for the "game", a game of desperation, injury, rage, ruthlessness, and
death. The nurse - practitioner will attempt, much of the time, to console the patient with
sympathy, belittlement, and, well-intentioned but false promises; with placebos and hypnotic
affirmations that infuse potions with the strength of one's own immune system; with
confidence and authority, in the face of ignorance.
In time, the styles and purposes of the above skills will be translated anew by photographers, movie and documentary makers, and news and information providers. As the era progresses, increasingly more of what is
communicated will be censured, classified, embellished, twisted, and otherwise "managed" in
a consistent effort to preserve humanity from fundamental constructive change. The reality
which will build in the Piscean Age will leave the "visitor" confused as to what can be
believed by what humans say and write, when actions will decide the fate of the day.
175 B.C. - Beginning now,
Confucianism was made a religion.
Intended to be a guideline for a "Way of Life", Han Kao Tsu, the first Han emperor, offered important sacrifices at the Khung family temple in honour of Confucius. In A.D. 59, the Emperor Han Ming Ti ordered sacrifices to him in every school in the country. Once again, humanity had avoided the self-responsibility necessary to the following of ethical guidelines in favour of simpler idol-worship.
175 B.C. -
The Counterfeiting of Gold by Alchemical Methods is made illegal in China, by law.
Such a practice obviously existed for such a law to be passed and the practice was large
enough to cause concern by the government. There is an important issue of ethics involved here
relative to the concepts of capitalism and currency use.
When trade existed simply by means of barter, the exchange of material goods and/or services was
one of a negotiation of the personally perceived worth of such items. All trading had to be done
personally and directly and any calculation of worth of a shipload or caravan supply of an item
was impossible. One buyer might "pay" a merchant a young sow for a silk shirt; another might
exchange 3 chickens for a silk shirt; yet a trade of 3 chickens for a young sow might be
considered unequal to many other people. Thus, third party and multiple party transfers of
"worth" or value were difficult in a barter environment.
With the advent of politics ... rulers, administrators and full-time soldiers, a medium of common
exchange had to be found such that the "taxes" collected to pay for the above services would
readily "purchase" both adequate and specific amounts of food, supplies, access to housing and
other services, etc. Rulers came to an awareness that if they accepted responsibility for the debt
of the currency circulating in their economy, a level of worth could be maintained.
In brief, a percentage of produce would be collected from the governed/protected persons.
Quantities of grain and other substances not required to sustain the government bureaucracy and leadership would be "sold" to the needy for a trading value as determined by the current worth of coinage produced by
the government. That is, the worth collected by the government would be dispensed by means of
unique symbols which inferred that the labour or product value attached to the coin was being
traded. When an adequate supply of currency circulated in the market, the formation of
wholesaler, distributor, and retailer could be stabilized. To a degree, some commonality of
market price would be established according to need, attractiveness, usefulness, availability,
transportation and delivery efforts, and other factors.
Early human cultures used cowrie shells, ivory, lead discs, and stamped metal coins as forms of
currency: symbols of capital. Shells deteriorated with age and degree of climatic exposure; ivory
was not uniform nor adequately available; hard metals could not be cast into coins at this time;
gold was easy to work with and was widely appreciated for its colour - it was also sufficiently rare
such as to limit availability. The yellow colour of gold also mirrored the yellow of the Sun from
which most of the light came which blessed the Earth and which symbolically represented the
direction from which the "gods" and "angels" had come to counsel and assist humanity. Coinage
carried the symbol of the human authority which stood as responsible for its worth. In theory, the
individual could always take the capital, represented by his quantity of coinage, to the government
and request the value back in some other market form.
The integrity of such a "capital" system depended upon the ability of the conquered, governed, or
administrated peoples being able to surrender a surplus or profit of their endeavours to the human
authority, or institution of humans, either by coercion, adopted obligation, or in gratitude for the
orderliness and peacefulness (protection) of the social and political environment. Once a medium of exchange
had been chosen, it was obligatory that it remain in near exclusive control of the state; otherwise,
the state would be overdrawn by the generation of counterfeit capital. Such currencies would not
have the backing of any goods or services received by the state and resold, nor of the ability of the
state to tax its citizens and acquire the worth of the currency which had been minted in advance of
collection.
Transmutation of common metals into gold was no different than "selling" colour photocopies of
dollar bills: once it was distributed in the form of currency - the government became legally
responsible for its worth - not the person who had made it and now circulated it. A government
which allowed such abuse of its minting authority could soon be bankrupted by the circulation of
large quantities of currency which it could not honour. First, the rising availability of the currency
would increase market activity and increase wages and prices - as more people wanted to buy a
limited supply of services or products. In turn, the relative value of the currency would begin to
diminish.
The result would be that the government would face the inflationary cycle and would suddenly find itself
having to pay higher prices for the goods and services which it required in order to function
effectively. To remain current, the government would have to raise taxes - relative to the
currency decline in value and relative to the amount of circulating counterfeit currency, whether it
be represented by minted gold or printed paper. As taxes increased, the populace would become
distressed; if the rise was too fast or too great, political rebellion would occur. Political leaders
who wanted to retain their power and to have a peaceful and orderly society could not allow
counterfeiting. Transmutation of common metals into gold was only a short step from the minting
of gold currency.
175 B.C. -
Antiochus Epiphanes becomes King of Syria and determines to completely subjugate Palestine as well as on the eradication of the heretical Jewish faith which promotes individualism
at this stage. By holding in reverence a non-material and non-human God-Spirit, which promoted
authority on the basis of the individual's acknowledgement of spiritual guidance provided without
preference to human authorities, human political leadership would remain open to challenge. For
a dictatorial leader whose attitude was that he did not have the time nor wish to extend the
patience to an apparent infantile and irresponsible sect which promoted social anarchy in potential
resistance to him, eradication of such an abstract-based religion was imperative.
170 B.C. -
Shih Chi, a Chinese alchemical record, assures that "you may transmute cinnabar into pure gold," and notes that cinnabar is also used in the preparation of "gold-juice," the elixir of
youth.
Cinnabar is mercury sulfide (HgS), the chief ore of mercury. It is commonly encountered with
pyrite, marcasite, and stibnite in veins near recent volcanic rocks and in hot spring deposits.
Major deposits are found in Almaden, Spain; Huancavelica, Peru; Indrio, Italy; and the Coast
Ranges of California state, USA. Mercury, sulfur and gold may all be encountered in volcanic
rocks; these may have been exposed to tremendous heat (i.e. 2,200 degrees F.).
It is possible that volcanoes sometimes provide an alchemic furnace capable of transmuting elements into
neighbouring periodic table elements. Gold has an atomic mass of 196.967 and is noted with
atomic number 79. Mercury has an atomic mass of 200.59 and is stated with atomic number 80.
Expressed opinions in ancient China, India, Egypt, and Western Europe - all stated that mercury
and sulfur had unusual properties for transmutation.
168 B.C. -
Epiphanes enters Israel and captures Jerusalem and proceeded to destroy the Jewish sacred places.
In June, he insults the Jewish faith by sacrificing a pig (considered
"unclean" to the Jew) on the Second Temple altar and discontinued the their tradition of daily
sacrifices. He had an alter to the Greek deity Zeus set up in the Temple; swine were offered in
sacrifice and their blood was sprinkled on the holy places. All copies of the Pentateuch (Old
Testament Law) which could be found were burned. Jewish priests were forced to take part in
the Greek ceremonies and offer sacrifices to Zeus.
The Maccabees or Hammerers, then known by their family name of Hasmonean, after their
ancestor Hasmon, lived in a the town of Modein, 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. When the
representative of Epiphanes reached them in his journeys through the country, their aged priest
Mattathias was obliged to offer a sacrifice to the Greek god Zeus. Before his five sons,
Mattathias refused. Threatened by the representative, Mattathias slew him. Antiochus sought
revenge for the death of his servant-official and Mattathias and his sons fled to the mountains.
Mattathias and his sons were soon joined by other Jews desperate to retain their religious beliefs
and practices in denial of the Greek ones, even to death. Mattathias died early and his third son,
Judas, took command of the rebels. Knowing the countryside thoroughly, his guerrilla force were
able to keep the army of Antiochus under duress by harassing the Syrian army, avoiding direct
confrontation and slaughtering detached divisions and inflicting severe losses in the difficult
terrain. The Syrians became decimated and dispirited, and, at that point, Judas attacked and
routed the Syrians in a pitched battle and regained possession of Jerusalem, in 165 B.C. The
Temple was ritually cleansed and the Jewish practices were resumed.
Repeatedly, Antiochus returned to Palestine in an attempt to recapture the countryside and
Jerusalem. Each time, the skill of Judas drove he and his army back, until in a final engagement,
with greatly outnumbered soldiers, Jerusalem became in danger of being lost. At that point. At
that point a spy informed the Syrian general that his presence in Antioch, the Syrian capital, was
required immediately. He offered terms of peace to Judas, who gladly accepted them, and
departed. The Syrian monarchs would continue to be frustrated and angered by the successful opposition
offered by what they considered to be a rebel group of lowly unsophisticated herders.
164 B.C. -
The Book of Jubilees becomes a rewriting of the Hebrew scriptures of Genesis and chapters 1 - 14 of Exodus. There is immense chronological interest at this time, partly because of
the inherent tendency of the Jews towards superstition and partly because of the anxiety
engendered by the political upheaval of the times. "Jubilee" periods of 49 years are used to
measure the recorded history and "adjust" the dates for a more accurate (rational) chronology.
Thus, the entry of Israel into Canaan is now recorded as exactly 50 jubilees, that is, 2450 years
from the creation; like the Samaritan Pentateuch, it dates the Great Flood from 1307 after the
creation. At this time, much of the dating within the Greek Empire was referenced to the 137th
year of the kingdom: 312/311 BCE. This was an important date for secular Jews.
The antiquity of the Jewish people was an issue in Hellenistic times, when they were sometimes
regarded as newcomers on the scene of world culture. Against this, Josephus insisted on the
ancient origins of the Jews; their possession of books (histories) that went back to the beginnings
of the world was a powerful argument in favour of such an ancient origin.
Without reference to the modifications made to the calendar in the interim in the context of
greater accuracy relative to astronomical reality, consider the following:
Jewish calendar Significance Modern popular calendar
1307 The Great Flood 2618 BCE
2450 Exodus (50 jubilees) 1311 BCE
3449 137 yr of Greeks 312/311 BCE
3597 Rededication of Temple 164 BCE
3761 Birth of Christ 0
4000 end of 4th millenium 239 A.D.
4900 (100 jubilees) 1139 A.D.
5756 modern era 1995-1996
6000 Coming of Messiah? 2239/40
Consider that according to Jewish superstition, or prophesy, the world is to last a round
number of years. Also, Hebrew scriptures note that, for God, a thousand years is like a day.
Further, that God called for the 7th day to be a day of rest. Some scholars have projected
this to mean that the Jews (and/or Christians) would be raised up to heaven at the end of the
6th day. Jubilees (49) do not a millennium (1000) make. Could it be that we have too much
intellectualizing and a desperation to find significance in events and dates so as to provide
significance to predictions?
161 B.C. -
The Syrians sent a huge army into Judah and in a desperate battle at Il'asa, near Bethoron, the Jews were defeated. Judas was slain. The Syrian general believed that the
spirit of the Jews had been broken and that now order and Syrian authority would be the norm.
The Jews, believing in their abstract heavenly Powerful Being - Holy Spirit, were not disheartened
by the loss of their leader. Most other political nations, revering human god-leaders would have
surrendered their individuality to the new more-powerful human god-leader.
Jonathan, the youngest of the Maccabaean brothers, aided by his elder brother, Simon, rallied the defeated Jewish army. Attacking with surprise, the Syrians were routed to a position in which they were
completely hemmed in. Not wishing to lose all of his forces, the Syrian general made a treaty of
peace. The next 12 years were peaceful for the Jews with the Syrians being occupied with a civil
war and a division of leadership. In recognition of his leadership and bravery, Jonathan was made
High Priest and became recognized as head of the nation. A Syrian general persuaded Jonathan,
in his new pride, to enter a fortress for political negotiations, and there slew him.
150 B.C. - For the next 7 years,
Simon, the eldest Maccabaean brother - a humble and strong spirited man, led the Jews and maintained a state of tolerance with the Syrians. The citadel in the
Temple area, built by the Syrian forces, was passed into Jewish control. The payment of tribute
to Syria was remitted as the new Syrian leaders came to acknowledge that trade was more
valuable to their nation than the expense of armed invasions for the purpose of procuring "income
taxes" from a poor and resistant nation. Simon was allowed to coin money and the Jewish state
became a reality. So great was the joy and respect of the Jews that they made Simon perpetual
High Priest and ruler and placed a brass plaque honouring him into the wall of the Temple. To
mark the occasion, all documents were dated from the year - 143 B.C.
146 B.C. -
Carthage is seized and Sacked by the Romans in the third Punic War (150-146).
Building on their cultural ethic of using "intelligence" to succeed over one's adversaries, Rome
encouraged the north Africans of Maninissa (south and west of Carthage : Numidia) into constant
rebellion until Carthage, in frustration, declared war. Manipulated by Rome into a war not
approved by Rome (a condition of a prior treaty), Rome took the opportunity to declare war on
the Carthaginians. Despite pleas for mercy and understanding, the Romans destroyed the city and
made its survivors into slaves. Roman culture had fostered a century of hatred and revenge in
accord with its ethic of mass culture.
Carthage had been a major merchant centre and had developed exclusiove trafing relationships
over the western Mediterranean. It had developed a navy and army from 650. Once again, the
victors destroyed most of the written wisdom and history that had accumulated and been stored in
this huge city. Its gods were Baal (or Moloch) - Hebrew = "god", Hammon and Astarte (Moon-goddess of love and nature's productivity and fertility). Human sacrifice was offered to the Sun-god, Baal. Such practises were also part of the central Atlantic Atlantis and the central American
natives.
136-132 B.C. -
Eunus, a Syrian slave, unified the slaves of the Roman Empire into a revolt.
As many as 200,000 were fighting at one time, indicating both the reliance of imperialistic
governments on cheap and dependent labourers and the degree of resentment which can be
inspired by the abuse so often present in an authoritarian society. After the capture of Enna and
Tauromenium (on Sicily), 20,000 slaves were crucified. That is, they were usually beaten and
tortured and then tied to a wooden cross erected in an open area. Death was often slow from
dehydration, sun stroke, hypothermia, starvation, exhaustion, shock or any combination thereof.
The wailing, sceaming, moaning, and stench was intended to coerce the remainder of the
population not to resist the human-based authority.
133 B.C. -
Whenever Emperor Chia required money his friend Chen, the alchemist would rub a black stone on a tile or brick and transform these commonplace articles into precious silver.
112 B.C. -
John Hyrcanus, third son of the Jewish Maccabaean, Simon, served as High Priest and civil ruler of the Jewish nation between 143 and 112 B.C. Born into the role of political
authority he assumed the authority of the state in providing greater freedom and prosperity for its
members. He had extended the boundaries of the nation, captured the city of Samaria and
destroyed a rival temple which the Samaritans had built on Mount Gerizim. he had improved the
roads through the country and developed the level of commerce. The material welfare of the
Jews had become quite enhanced.
At the same time, the priest class, the Pharisees, were
becoming richer, more powerful and more resistant to the imposition of a "political" human
authority which garnered more immediate and daily acknowledgement than their traditional
abstract heavenly Powerful Being - Holy Spirit God. It is difficult to tell at this stage as to the
degree to which the Pharisees resisted political authority on the basis of its assumption of material
power ahead of them versus the basis of a diminishment of the power of spiritual direction in
favour of physical human self-interest authority.
This degree of concern became more directed when Aristobulus, the son of John, in 112 B.C.,
took the title of "king" which his succeeding brother, Alexander Jannaeus, continued with. Both
had grown up with the privileges of being sons of a national leader and the material benefits of a
growing and prosperous society. They had been witness to the religious intolerance demonstrated
by their father and to the human weakness of pride and confidence encouraging the abuse of
power by the seizure of property or the imposition of human authority over others through
political expansion. These were their norms and they openly expressed their envy, greed, gluttony
and vice through their proud authority.
The Jewish commoner became less and less supportive of
the nation in spirit, for they realized that national expansion of borders was no different than the
Syrian abuse which they had fought for religious survival from. They also recognized that the
material wealth of the state, that was used to justify such land thievery and such wanton
preoccupation with the possessions and physical appearance of individuals - was demeaning of the
spiritual values which had been their declaration of religious supremacy.
100 B.C. - By this time,
Chang Chhien, a Chinese diplomate, travelled from the Han Dynasty westward some 5000 miles to the state of Bactria (north Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan and
Uzbekistan) to meet with the Yueh-chih with whom the Chinese wished to create an alliance
against the Huns. Chhien's visit led to the westward expansion of Chinese influence via the trade
route which would become known as the Old Silk Road. In reality, China found Europe first, not
the reverse.
100 B.C. -
The Old Silk Road passed through many countries and towns so there were many middlemen who taxed the silk trade.
Some of the cities and countries reached included these: Hanoi; Siam;
Singapore; Tibet; India; Ukraine; Khyber Pass; Persian Gulf; Red Sea; Gaza; Alexandria; Tyre;
Antioch; Bactra; Tashkent. Attempts to avoid the middlemen led to the search for sea and other
routes. Other produce and articles being exported to the west included oranges, pears, peaches,
lacquer boxes and vessels, ivory carvings, spices, steel.
Imports into China included the grape
vine, alfalfa, chives, coriander, cucumbers, figs, safflower, pomegranates, sesame, walnuts, glass,
wool, linen textiles and artificial gems. As the trade was in favour of China, the Romans balanced
their deficit by sending gold bullion east to the Chinese treasury. Between 65 A.D. and 300 A.D.,
the annual amount of capital remitted to India alone, for silks, brocades, muslims, and cloth of
gold is estimated to have been USA (1970) $40 million.
100 B.C. -
Su-ma Ch'ien adds the following to the Chinese manual "The art of War" written by Sun Tzu:
"If a general is ignorant of the principle of adaptability, he must not be entrusted with
a position of authority. The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the
brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man delights in
establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous
man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death."
78 B.C. -
Hyrcanus, son of Alexander Jannaeus, ruler of the Jewish state, inherited the state leadership on his father's death. In a short time, his younger brother, Aristobulus, an
ambitious and devious strategist, organized a sufficient following to gain the leadership from his
brother. Hyrcanus, by weakness of character, could be easily manipulated according to his need
for acceptance and desire for material sloth and gluttony; this made him a desirable associate for
those who wanted subtle political control. Antipater, Governor of Idumea, the father of Herod
the Great, encouraged Hyrcanus to resist his brother's coup and raised an army to assist him in
doing so. Soon the country was in civil war.
70 B.C. - 70 A.D. -
Roman State Religion grew with the Roman Empire and its Piscean character of rationalization.
Supervised by state officials, religion was expected to provide security, contentment, focus, and
direction to the civilian by providing answers, justifications, and practices, which, by the power of
mass participation assumed authority. Pontifial priests would divine the will of god by observing
the flight of birds. Haruspices would study entrails of dead animals to divine the future. Public
and private cults would prosper. Reciprocal sanctions between state administration and state
religion added authority and power to both. Each existed to further one dominant rational aim: a
happy, content, and orderly people. The means: material prosperity.
While the early practices were more a demonstration of reverence and respect for the nature of
powers unseen yet undeniable, institutionalization of individual experience into group experience
resulted in personifications. With mass religions, the process was extended further in dissociating
the reverence from the spiritual power and relating it increasingly to the material entity. Practices
became increasingly based upon superstition, spurious associations, magic, and the most deceptive
of all, rationalization.
As a predictable aspect of the Piscean Age, institutionalized religions would
seek to be sympathetic ("I'll accept your god"), philosophical ("Why not one more god"),
adaptable ("The more gods/idols the better"), and emotional ("This god answers MY needs") in
their goal of providing the ultimate authority for the lives of all. In seeking to answer all, accept
all, do all, and be all to all - they would frequently become spiritually unfocused, weak willed and
over compensating. The Roman state religion would do it better than any other.
Beginning with the earliest and adding towards the present, the following represent a few of the
hundreds of gods, saints, and talismans which would be adopted:
Jupiter - "Radiant Father of the Heavens", then
"god of rain, wind, storm, and thunder";
Mars - "god of agriculture", and then
"god of war and master over life and death";
Quirinus - (same functions as Mars);
Janus - "the god of beginnings" - January;
Liber - "the god of freedom and joy", also Dionysus;
Volcanus - "the god of fire", also Hephaistos;
Mercurius - "the god of trade", also Hermes;
Vesta - "the goddess of the hearth";
Ceres - "the goddess of fruitfulness", also Demeter;
Attis - "the supreme god" or "the Father"
Cybele - "the Great Mother"
Mithras - "god of the Sun," or "works of the Sun"
Penates - "protector of supplies";
Genius - "potency in males";
Lares - "protector of field and home"
Attis (also Atis, Atys, Adonis, Adonai, Jehovah) is perhaps the oldest and most widely spread
personification of a supreme God. Certainly part of the culture of the mid-Atlantic Atlantis, its
presence was dominant in all of the Semitic-based languages (Hebrew, Phoenician, Carthaginian)
and was carried throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East, Asia Minor, and
southern Europe by the trade they transacted. Each region added or varied the worship and finer
characteristics of the god.
The Hebrews called their primary God, Jehovah, a verbalization of
four consonants, (J,H,V,H), the sound of which they considered so sacred that they adopted
"Adonai" as an acceptable verbalization. The combination of four consonants bear some
resemblance to some of the sacred chants of native North Americans. For hunting bands, Adonis
was the god of the hunt. For the shepherd, Atys was the god of allegiance, possession, morality.
Cults often promoted castration or sexual impotence as a means of facilitating the acquisition of
some of the spiritual powers and strengths of this Supreme God.
Cybele and Mithras would become two of the most influential for 2 millennia. The name would
change but the function and worship would remain the same. Traditions (habits by modeling and
imprinting) seldom are replaced when they have been adopted by the state and the populous for
800 years. Hinduism would share many parallels with the Roman religion.
Mithras is one of the oldest and most widely worshipped god personifications.
The Mitra of the
Hindu Rig Veda, the Sun-god, reverence for him and Cybele were prominant everywhere in the
Roman Empire by 100 B.C. Mithras represented the warmth of the Sun and its light. To a world
of seasons and nights with fires of twigs and sticks for cooking, heat and light - the Sun was the
difference between everlasting life and permanent death, the contentment of warmth and the
misery of cold, the hope of light and the fear of dark, the joy of socializing and the sadness of
abandonment. Before the 1900s A.D., the significance of the Sun was made clear to every human
at least once every day.
Cybele is one of the oldest and most widely worshipped goddess personification.
Originally,
she was a symbol for the powers and significance of the Moon. Her worship was celebrated by a
loud noise of musical instruments and frolicking through fields and woods: the equivalent of
modern carnivals, festivals, and mardi gras. Later, according to the power of the state and the
material sophistication of the worshipper, she became a maternal image with a crown on her head.
The former was more an agricultural appreciation; the latter became more common in urban areas
and signified the "improved" condition of humans who made the transition from agriculture to city
artisan or bureaucrat. Cybele, the Great Mother, was the goddess from whom one could expect
benevolence, patience, empathy, compassion, and forgiveness. Mithras gave life; the Great
Mother gave quality to that life.
65 B.C. -
Pompey, a Roman General, arrives in Judah, the Jewish state, finds it in the midst of civil war and lays seige to Jerusalem. After a considerable struggle, Jerusalem is
captured. Mystified as to what the Jews worshipped, Pompey entered the inner secret sacred
chamber of the Temple to see what it was that the Jews worshipped. Finding no idols, he left
confused. Imperial Rome, with its military organization, expansive empire feeding a huge army
and political institution through plunder, taxation and economic control and regulation now faced
a Jewish state enfeebled and distracted by civil war with leaders who were more interested in their
material welfare than in any sense of spiritual direction.
The common people wanted peace.
Aristobulus was captured and sent to Rome, a prisoner.
Hyrcanus was restored to the High Priest's office, with Antipater as his political advisor and chief assistant. Gradually, Antipater became the behind-the-scenes decisionmaker. Herod, his son, gained the favour of Rome and the confidence of the Jews by his skilful use of strategy, tact and diplomacy. Herod was promoted to
the position of chief political leader, previously conquered territories were returned to their
original owners, and Judah became a simple Roman province.
The Jews, by following their God and focusing on Spiritual Guidance had retained their religious
and individual freedom and maintained a state of peace and prosperity. By shifting their focus
to human authority and material benefit they had encouraged self-centredness amongst their
people and their leaders such that the abuses which brought them privileges also influenced the
development of a state of anarchy which invited an imposition of authority by another state.
Even greater now was the possibility of their loss of religious, cultural and individual freedom.
This "human" social behaviourial cycle had, and would continue to be, repeated with
monotonous consistency. Failure to be humbled by one's mistakes and strengthened by spiritual
guidance commits humans to a repetition of such mistakes and a reliving of one's miseries
through one's offspring. God provides choice rather than imposing direction. The weakness not
to request guidance and to assume godliness is not the responsibility of God. Humans create
their own miseries.
63 B.C. - From now until 14 A.D.,
Augustus will have the currency - coins of the Roman Empire stamped with his astrological sign, Capricorn.
48-47 B.C. -
The Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt is partly burned when the Roman, Julius Caesar, and his troops are surrounded during an attempt to defeat his Roman enemies and bring
order to Egypt and the Roman Empire. Political anarchy arose in Rome when while Caesar was
away conquering and extending the boundaries of the Empire, slave revolts and supply shortages
in Rome led to civil anarchy and gang warfare. Pompey and the Council effectively voted to
remove Caesar from the post of military leader and disband his army for failing to protect the
Republic. Caesar conquered Rome and Italy and Pompey and the Council fled to Greece. It was
after this, while in Egypt meeting with Cleopatra, that Caesar was surrounded and a part of the
library burned.
The Great Library was considered to be the most extensive collection of recorded human
knowledge of the time with several million rolls of papyrus books. Part of it would be restored.
40 B.C. -
In the middle of the 1400's, near the Appian Way in Rome, a tomb was discovered in which the body of a young girl was lying in an unidentified liquid. Her face was perfectly
preserved such that she appeared to be asleep. At her feet was a lighted lamp. An inscription
revealed that she had been dead for more than 1500 years, and that she was Tullia, daughter of
Cicero (106-43). Shortly after the tomb was opened, the lamp went out. No one has ever been
able to explain how it could remain lighted so long nor what liquid would be capable of perfect
preservation of a biological form for 1500 years.
12 B.C. -
Commodity Trading Markets operating under sets of rules and regulations exist in China, Egypt, Arabia and India at this time.
8 B.C. - 37 A.D. -
Tiberius of Rome took his first command between 8-6 advancing the conquests to the Elbe River in Germany.
After receiving tribunal powers, he quarrelled with Augustus and
instead of reorganizing Armenia, went into voluntary exile to Rhodes (5-2 B.C.). Owing to the
fact that those chosen to succeed Augustus had died, Augustus secured the succession by the
adoption of Tiberius in 4 B.C. ( Tiberius Julius Caesar ).
Tiberius took a second command in Germany and conquered the Danube frontier. He ruled between 14-37 during which the power to elect officials transferred from the people to the Senate. The German tribes rebelled; Tiberius mounted a counter campaign later cut short due to lack of funds to cover high costs; the German
tribes then fought amongst themselves.
With the advice of astronomer Sosigenes, the Julian Calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar.
The previously used lunar month calendar was discarded in favour of a 365.25 day length of year.
This period was divided into 12 months of 30 or 31 days duration. The regular year had 365
days, and, to make up the extra 1/4 day, an extra day was added every 4 years. The tropical year,
near the equator, is .0078 day less than 365.25 days; after 1000 years, the un passes through the
vernal equinox 7.8 days earlier than the original March 21st.
Unbreakable glass (plastic), according to Pliny, Petronius, Dio Cassius and Isidore of Seville,
was known to the Romans and was becoming so popular that Tiberius had the factory destroyed.
He feared that the new invention might diminish the value of gold and silver, thereby endangering
the conquest weakened economy.
6 B.C. - During the year,
Jupiter and Saturn came into astrological conjunction 3 times.
According to the astrological symbolic meaning accorded to the planets, the meaning of the
association would have been translated as "King's Planet/Shield of the Hebrews; King's
Planet/Shield of the Hebrews; King's Planet/Shield of the Hebrews."
5 B.C. -
An asteroid barely missed hitting the Earth during this year.
It was recorded by Chinese astronomers.
1, or 4 B.C. -
Considered by many historians to be a the more accurate time of the birth of
Jesus Messiah [Christ (Greek)] ("Joshua, the anointed of God"). It is further expected that the birth took place in the winter solstice season of the year. A Greco-Roman festival was also celebrated during that annual period and it becomes the foundation of the Christmas celebration.
The Roman Catholic facination with the virgin birth is based on the texts of the gospels of
Matthew and Luke, both Hellenized (Greek educated) Jews. In Luke 1.5-38, Zacharias, a Jewish
priest, is approached in the temple by an angel who assures him that his wife, Elizabeth, who is
old now and has been barren throughout her life, will become pregnant, in answer to their prayers.
She is to bear a son and he is to be called John. The angel, Gabriel, prophesies that John will be
filled with the Holy Ghost ('Ghost' is substituted throughout by Luke for 'Spirit'), even before
birth, and that he will convert many people during his life to a reverence of God. No mention is
made as to how or who impregnates Elizabeth.
Zacharias thinks this is some form of practical joke-illusion or hallucination and doesn't really
believe it. For his lack of faith Gabriele makes him unable to speak until after John is born. For
the next 5 months, Elizabeth hides herself from the public in order to avoid their scorn and the
possibility of the church leaders having her stoned. A common belief in many Greek and Roman
influenced human societies, faced with such an occurrence would be that either Elizabeth had
been raped or that the devil had impregnated her.
Spontaneous fertility was unheard of and the
rare occasion of an hermaphroditic (bisexual) birth would usually have been rationalized as
justification for a quiet infanticide. Spontaneous fertility can sometimes be induced in either the
male or female deficient partner by herbs. Previously infertile women may not ovulate and thus
their storage of eggs in their ovaries may not decrease over their lifetime. Under such
circumstances, fertility in an older woman is entirely possible, and fertility in men has been
demonstrated well into their 80s. Thus said, the history, introduces the reader to the concept of a
virgin birth, attended by the Grace of God, communicated by an angel, and the reverence of which
is mandated by God. The psychological inference conveyed to the reader is that if the reader
should doubt the reality of a virgin birth as sanctionned by God, the unbeliever will be chastised
by God.
During the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriele returns to the area.
It visits a virgin, named Mary, betrothed to a man named Joseph and tells her that she will bear a son and that she must name him Jesus. Gabriele reassures Mary not to be afraid and compliments her on having
been chosen for her being favoured with the Son of the Highest. Jesus will be sired by the Holy
Ghost, and he will come to be known as the Son of God. To strengthen Mary's Faith, the angel
draws reference to Elizabeth, who happens to be a cousin of Mary. In haste, Mary goes to visit
her cousin. When Mary recounts her experience, Elizabeth is overcome with enthusiasm and
receives the Holy Ghost into her. So done, she exclaims
"Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."
The Roman Catholic Church would later use this and other scriptural statements as an
ingredient in its rituals which are designed to effect idolatrous reverence of things and people
rather than of God and the Holy Spirit.
What Elizabeth goes on to say in verse 45 is:
"Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which
were told her from the Lord."
Spiritually, this is a reminder to ALL readers and followers that for those who choose to have
faith in the guidance-reply-information which they have received from the Holy Spirit (the
communications medium for God), and presumably for which they have humbly asked,
whatever has been related to them will prove accurate and real as it has been stated. There is
an underlying expectation here that the individual will almost always be challenged with
information which cannot be rationalized and immediately accepted: only faith will provide
the individual with the confidence to proceed without fear and anxiety and disbelief.
Frequently, in the later practices of the Church, the spiritual message will be downplayed; the
acknowledgement will be enhanced to become a magical incantation - serving to diminish the
spiritual powers of the individual.
Luke records that Mary stays with her cousin Elizabeth for the next 3 months until she is
about to give birth and then returns home. Elizabeth gives birth and the family relatives
gather around to celebrate in the Jewish style. As a clanish society which places great
significance on one's heredity rather than on one's self, they expect the parents to name the
son after the father. (Remember how in the ancient texts, a span of time numbering in the
centuries was associated with one name.) Elizabeth remembers the direction of Gabriele and
insists on the name "John." Aghast, the family turns to the father, who has been unable to
speak for the full term of the pregnancy. Zacharias writes the name out on a tablet and then
miraculously regains his speach and receives the Holy Ghost into himself. It should be noted
that part of the concern by the family arises from the meaning of the name, John.
The Jews have always had a tradition of swearing and the use of oaths and magical incantations.
In the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20.3-17), God had made a covenant with
the Jews: they follow the commandments and He would make them a favoured people
(Exodus 19.5). One of the first commandments was not to "take the name of the Lord in
vain" - swearing. That is, to curse somthing or someone is to transfer the responsibility for
an experience of frustration from oneself to another, and, often, to call upon God to take a
penalty against the target selected.
Most human experiences of frustration derive from iniquities: too proud to admit one's own failings; too impatient to do something correctly; too angered to shut up and listen to the feelings and concerns of another person; too envious to acknowledge the benefits one already has; too greedy to fairly treat another person; too easily despaired when not humble enough to ask for guidance; too addicted to a substance or an
activity to change one's life trends; too revengeful to accept remorse and offer forgiveness;
.... In the late 1900s, scholarly studies of the propensity to swear as exhibited from one
culture to another would confirm that the Jewish tradition has, by far, a greater usage of and
variety of curses than any other human society. Obviously, the covenant has not been kept -
on just this one commandment.
The name "John" was a term of derision used in the Middle East, usually directed at a foreigner, or non Jew. It's common meaning was that of a "latrine."
Think of all of the common derogatory racial epithets in your culture.
If you were not of the
ethnic or cultural group commonly refered to by the derogatory name, would you have the
spiritual strength to name your son such - if so directed by the Holy Spirit: whitey, spic,
nigger, kraut, slant-eyes, ... (or any of a host of even less respectful names)? So named,
John, and his family, would have the challenge from his birth to develop their spiritual skills
and model them for others. If unsuccessful, the status quo society surrounding them would
crush them; if successful, they would receive great respect from those who had developed
some spiritual skills, or, were receptive to doing so.
Matthew (1.18-25) records the virgin birth differently from Luke.
First, Matthew sets out the lineage of Jesus to prove his ethnicity and his clan superiority.
This says more about the Jewish community than it does about Jesus, who was to be received as the Son of God.
Matthew says nothing about the angel coming to see Mary. Suddenly she is "with child of
the Holy Ghost." Here, it is Joseph who is most concerned about the status quo - he has
already been warned socially to hide his betrothed on the likely public assumption that he has
made her pregnant before his social commitment to her through marriage. Joseph is
wondering whether he can trust Mary and whether he should proceed with the marriage.
At this point, an unnamed angel visits Joseph and encourages Joseph to proceed with the
marriage with the knowledge that Mary has conceived by way of the Holy Ghost. She will
bear a son and they are instructed to name it Jesus. Matthew continues his history as a
confirmation of what Isaiah and other prophets have predicted - that a God will be born of a
virgin (the Greek Septuagint had translated the Hebrew original phrasing of "a young
woman" to read "a virgin") who would come to be known as Emmanuel ("God with us").
In the expectant, apologetic and intellectual mood of the times, one has to wonder how
much of what Matthew is writing is to authenticate Jesus through the apparent fulfillment of
the prophesy and how much is fact, which, in reality, does match the prophesy. If the reality
actually matched the prophesy, there would be no need of a virgin birth nor the ethnocentric
justification by clan lineage. Matthew only knew the Greek version and he was writing for
Hellenized Jews. Spiritually, the representative of God could come to the Jews from any race
or lineage. Neither would there be a need of supernatural circumstances in the arrival, unless
humans were incapable of differentiating between the god-like and the normal person.
Matthew explicitly connects the birth of Jesus with the government of King Herod (Matthew
2.1) and the reference to this ruler's successor Archelaus (2.22) proves that he meant Herod
the Great, rather than another Herod. The years during which Herod was elected king of the
Jews are known from Josephus. According to those reports, Herod was elected king of the
Jews by the Roman senate in 40 BCE, and he died at springtime, 36 years later, giving a year
of 4 BCE. Therefore, by Matthew's record, Jesus was born sometime before 4 B.C.
The birth was originally prophesied in Isaiah as taking place with "a young woman"; however,
when the Hebrew was translated to Greek the Greek norm for the slang phrase "a young
woman" was "a virgin"- so the latter was written as an assumption of the Greek norm.
The Tibetan civilization (an "Eastern" culture like that of Palestine) had long acknowledged
the rare reality of a virgin birth whereby a hermaphroditic person possessing both sets of
genitals would self-impregnate and produce a virgin birth. This occurrence was so rare and
unusual that the Tibetans revered the person so born and made the person their next spiritual
leader. In many other human cultures, particularly the European and so-called Western
cultures, such a birth was considered to be a manifestation of evil or the devil and it usually
resulted in infanticide. Jesus was probably born in the former fashion - by a young woman
married to a largely impotent old man - a miracle and a blessing to the parents. If "Jesus
Christ" was a manifestation of God, why should humans require the superstitious "magic" of
a physical abnormality in order to "prove" spiritual superiority ?
Three Magi or Witches (Wise Persons) who travelled the countryside and represented
walking universities to the people of Eastern Babylonia and Lebanon, visited the Christ child
during the first year of his birth. Astrologers themselves, they had predicted the holy birth.
Consequently, when they entered the Middle East, they asked for the "newborn king of the
Jews" in Jerusalem. Herod, the reigning king, feared the prophesy suggesting an end to his
reign and he demanded that all male children of the age of 2 or under be put to death. With a
population at the time of about 1000 persons in Jerusalem, about 12 infants were likely killed.
Herod even killed two of his own sons in his desire to banish his fear in the prophesy. Jesus
Christ had been born in Nazareth. When the Magi learned of Herod's deception, for he had
asked them to seek out Jesus for him, they warned Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus,
who then took Jesus to Egypt.
Two versions of the birth of Christ appear in the Christian New Testament.
The Gospel according to St. Matthew mirrors much of the life of Moses and speaks of Jesus's life being
threatened by the current ruler, how he escaped, and of his return after the local ruler, Herod,
dies. Matthew's version satisfies the expectations of the Hebrews who had read the Greek
translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The Gospel of St. Luke conveys a more cosmopolitan perspective of the birth of Jesus and describes it relative to developments in the common history of the gentiles.
Superstitions abounded regarding menstruating women as unclean and evil. A woman who
had been bleeding for 12 years was first cured by Jesus (St. Matthew 9:20-22):
And, behold , a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came ... But
Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy
faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
and St. Mark:25-34
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many
things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but
rather grew worse, When she heard of Jesus ... If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be
whole. And straightaway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that
she was healed of the plague. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone
out of him, ... turned ... and said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in
peace, and be whole of thy plague.
His longest recorded conversation was with a Samaritan woman at a well, who he advised in St.
John 4:7-42
But whomsoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ... For
thou hast five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband ... the hour cometh
... worship the Father ... God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth.
4 A.D. -
Regent Wang Mang convened the first assembly of scientific experts in Chinese history.
By A.D. 9, he had out manoeuvred the Han family and established himself as the first,
and what would be the last, Hsin emperor. He strengthened the bureaucratic state by declaring all
land as state property, distributing large holding amongst tenant-farmers, imposing a tax on all
uncultivated fields, declaring male slaves free (although impossible to enforce), placing a heavy
tax on slave owners, replacing all gold coins for bronze (bringing enormous wealth into the state
treasury), and a granary system which purchased all grain from the farmers and then sold it in an
open market.
Corrupt officials accepted bribes and manipulated the granary system such that
most grain was purchased at a low price and resold at a high price. Merchants, financiers, and
commoners all became desperate. In A.D. 19, one man in 30 had been conscripted to fight the
Huns. He enlisted experts who stated that they would be able to provide scientific and technical
assistance to the army. A secret society, the "Red Eyebrows" was formed and a popular revolt
ended in the assassination of Wang Mang in A.D. 24. Liu Hsiu, a cousin of the former Han
emperors eventually emerged from the chaos in A.D. 25, and formed the Eastern Han dynasty.
During this period, more gold would be accumulated in the Chinese treasury than would ever be
available in medieval Europe.
20 A.D. -
The Dead Sea Scrolls become a collection of hundreds of Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls which would later be found in several areas including Qumran (16 km, 10 miles south of
Jericho) and the more southern sites of Murabba'at, Seelim, and Masada. Dated between 200
B.C. and 65 A.D., they were principally maintained in their later active years by a group of
Essenes who chose to depart physically from society and live in the deserts of Judea. Essentially a
secretive, ascetic, intellectual religious group, previous scriptural texts were both transcribed to
make copies and altered in accord with the beliefs of the sect. A rationalized hierarchical order
and a lifestyle ordered by copious rules was intended to bring the adherents closer to spiritual
perfection by eliminating most of one's opportunities for inequities.
Removal of choice and coercion to a legalistically interpreted lifestyle is an attempt to reach
greater spirituality by self-denial, sacrifice and shame in which the only motive is the
aggrandisement of oneself. This ego-centric intellectualism becomes a reactive extension of
materialism rather than a rebellious "change" from materialism to spiritual development. The
focus becomes the materialism which one is denying rather than the spiritual grace which is the
presumed goal.
Spiritual strength develops from the challenge of opportunity, without an
obsession for same, through which the individual can build Faith by carrying out the often
intellectually confusing guidance given by the Holy Spirit from which the adherent has asked for
assistance in humility and reverence. This contradiction of intent and reality was experienced by
Jesus in his contact with the group and it strengthened his Faith in the divinely inspired lifestyle
WAY which he would come to preach.
This sect of Essenes were much concerned about the Roman occupation of their country and the
increasingly secular and materialistic approach being taken by the Jewish leaders. Intellectually,
they looked for rational linearity of history and desired a forced enactment of the prophesies of
Isaiah and others - which increasingly were getting old, and, rationally, should be closer to
fulfillment.
In their "War Scroll", they depicted how their members, "the Sons of Light" would battle against "the Sons of Darkness" - a reference to Jewish Freedom Fighters mounting a holy
war against the governing Roman forces. This style of armed combat and military resistance was
understood by Jesus to be spiritually destructive and he denied it. Rather, Jesus advocated an
overthrow of the Roman culture by the modeling of a more spiritual lifestyle, the benefit of which
would persuade others to adopt it: a conquest of hearts rather than of bodies and minds.
As history would affirm, the increasing ethnocentrism of Zionism would eventually result in a
regional bloodbath of the Jews as well as periodical persecutions worldwide. The sponsors of
these librairies of copies and textual modifications sought to extend the legalistic materialism and
the cultural intolerance already present in Judaism; they represented an opposing and extremist
viewpoint, relative to that which would be preached by Jesus. In the 1990s, a comparable sect
would be described as militant idealists intent on preserving a Jewish expansionist state exclusive
of international influence and willing to use nuclear weapons to the point of self-annihilation, if
necessary, in order to succeed.
28 A.D. -
A Jew, later known as Jesus Christ (Joshua, the anointed one of God) begins his ministry at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth by reading from the prophecy of Isaiah 61: 1, as follows:
"The (Holy) Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. ... This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears" [Luke 4: 18-21]
This was the 30th Jubilee (of 49 years: 30 x 49 = 1470) since the Israelis had crossed the
Jordon River in 1451 B.C.
29 A.D. -
St. Peter (Symeon, or Simon in Greek) becomes one of the first disciples and apostles of Jesus Messiah (Christ).
A Greek native of Bethsaida, a village on the Sea of Galilee,
son of Jonas, he was married and living at Capernaum with his mother-in-law and his brother
Andrew when Jesus began his mission. Both he and his brother were fishermen. As Greeks,
Simon and Andrew were "foreigners" to the Jews, were more aware of the expanse of the Roman
empire and of trading routes than most Jews, and were more open minded and less bound by the
status quo than most Jews. By the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asked Simon, his brother Andrew, and
James and John to assist him in changing the world for the better.
What began as a discussion group about moral and lifestyle norms (the essence of the original
"churches") would soon come to be dominated by Simon due to his confidence, self-assertiveness,
organizational and motivational skills, chairmanship and acceptance of Jesus. As he stayed longer
with Jesus, his experience of the accuracy and effectiveness of Jesus' methods of prayer and
meditation increased his faith. Even so, when Jesus was arrested, Simon fearful of death, denied
knowing Jesus three times before Roman and social authorities. The guilt of such denials would
later strengthen his will to seek to determine, to acknowledge and accept, and, to risk his freedom
and life in his testimony of the rising of Jesus from the tomb after being pronounced dead.
With Simon's self-directedness and enthusiasm he made a good leader.
Whenever groups had gathered to hear Jesus teach or to discuss his teachings Simon was able to maintain peace and
order and keep the proceedings moving constructively. In modern times (1990s) he would have
been termed a presenter, an instructor, a group leader, an administrative assistant, a conference
organizer, a media spokesman, marketing vice-president, or, similar. When Jesus asked his
disciples (friends) who (what) they believed him to be, Simon confidently answered for them all
that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus pronounced him blessed because of his insight
and nicknamed him the Aramaic name "Cephas" (meaning "rock"), which was later rendered
"Peter", the Greek equivalent.
Jesus further confered on Simon the responsibility to continue to
be the stable foundation of future lifestyle discussion and coping skills learning groups (churches)
which he hoped would be formed based on his teachings. Simon was further charged with
receiving the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" - the responsibility for spreading the teachings of
Jesus by the practice of which persons could gain entry to heaven - for Jesus knew that he would
not be allowed to continue his preaching for long in the rising anarchy and intolerance of the
Middle East. In addition, Jesus further acknowledged Simon's skill at "binding and loosing"
persons into the new faith and norms by virtue of his persuasiveness, confidence, motivational
ability, commitment, salesmanship, and, building faith.
Three times, Simon was asked by Jesus to feed and shepherd his sheep. As a fisherman, rather
than a merchant or civil servant - Simon would have understood this to mean that he was
responsible for mentoring those who expressed any interest in the new "Way" of life. After the
death and rising up of Jesus, the strengthening of Simon's faith and resolve, together with his
earlier demonstrated people management skills, resulted in his becoming the leader and
coordinator of all subsequent "churches". While James, the brother of Jesus, was acclaimed as an
excellent teacher, he lacked the other skills which Jesus recognized would be important to the
efficient and effective spread of the "Word" concerning the "Way".
30 A.D. -
The man known as Jesus Messiah (Christ) continues his third year of preaching a new and more spiritual "Way of life" to the people of Judaea, Samaria and Galilee in opposition to
the materialistic, human authority centred lifestyle of the Romans or the materialistic bureaucratic
lifestyle of the Jews. Opposition grows in reaction to the growth of his following and the
concerns of the political authorities that civil unrest be prevented. His performance of miraculous
healings and the provision of freely given blessings are accompanied by parables to provide
experiential meaning to an illiterate following.
31 A.D. -
Tiberius deposes Sejanus, who had been a cruel dictator in Rome and an especially great antagonist of the Jews.
By the end of the year or in early 32, he ordered his
representatives in the provinces to pay attention to Jewish interests. Thus an exceptional rapport
between the colonial administrator, Pilate, and the native Jewish religious and administrative
officials, the Pharasees, developed. Tiberius was well aware of the benefits which the Jews, as
traders and merchants, provided to Rome and the Empire.
Without the duties collected from such transactions, the Roman empire could suffer greatly. In addition, such aggravations could instill the necessity for revolt in the provinces in which Jews were prominant. The Roman empire was already having to cope with civil uprisings in the provinces. The intent of Tiberius was to work
together with the regional authorities and end the bloodshed. Peace would bring order, and order
would bring profits and taxes.
33 A.D. - On Palm Sunday,
Jesus Messiah (Christ) enters Jerusalem on the back of a foal and his followers acknowledge Him as the Messiah ("the anointed"), proclaiming: "Blessed
be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."
[Luke, 19: 38]
To the challenge placed to all other people to accept the "Way of Life" expressed in the "Word"
of this human and to adopt the spiritual relationship which He had with God as a son or daughter
of God, most people would reject the option, or, reinterpret the reality presented by His actions.
The reaction of the religious and political leaders was rejection and hostility leading to the
crucifixion of this Jesus 5 days later.
The Greek word for "heaven" can be interpreted in either of 3 meanings: the atmosphere around the
Earth; outer space; the place where God dwells. The Greek word for sign is used to refer to a
supernatural phenomenon intended to point its observer to a profound truth.
The year is often suggested as 32 A.D., yet historical reconstruction of the facts favours 33 A.D.
in the current calendar. A good part of Jesus' ministry followed the capital punishment of John
the Baptist who was 6 months older than Jesus (Luke 1.26). John had criticized the marriage
between Herod Antipas and Herodias, whom he accused of adultery because the latter had been
the wife of the former's brother. A further consequence of the marriage was that Antipas was
attacked in the year 36 by the army of the Nabatean king, whose daughter the ruler had divirced in
order to marry Herodias. John's criticism cannot have been uttered many years earlier, so that his
death would have taken place around 32 A.D.
Accordingly, the death of Jesus is more historically relevant during the year 33 A.D.
This is also
supported by the timing of Tiberius' decree in late 31 or early 32. Additionally, the Last Supper
of Jesus was on the same day as his death, according to Jewish tradition. That is, each day begins
in the evening and extends to the next evening. According to all four Gospels, the eucharist and
the crucifixion took place just before Passover on the so-called day of preparation, which that
year was a Friday, so that it served to prepare Passover and the Sabbath (a Saturday) at the same
time.
In the Jewish calendar, the day of preparation for the Passover was the 14th of the month,
Nisan. The beginning of this (Jewish) lunar month was established year by year according to the
first visibility of the crescent Moon in March, and though no exact timing was available in those
days, modern studies have shown that 14, Nisan, fell on a Friday April 7, 30 and April 3, 33. The
political factors deny the first date as too early leaving the Last Supper and the crucifixion to the
evening and the subsequent day of April 3, 33.
33 A.D.- On April 3,
The crucifixion of Jesus Messiah (Christ), along with numerous convicted criminals, occurs as a result of a Roman-Jewish conspiracy and trial. Following his
entombment, He regains conscious life and speaks to His friends before disappearing into the
heavens. Humanity has rejected an opportunity to take up a spiritually-directed lifestyle and it will
have to wait for another 2000 biblical years of 360 days each.
That is 2000 times 360 = 720,000 days.
Divided by 365.25 we find 1972.6 Julian days;
divided by 365.2425, we find 1971.29 Gregorian days.
The expected return would thus arrive between the years 2004 and 2005, depending upon which
calendar accuracy you use and which calendar you are using.
Jesus was accused of inciting civil disobedience and rebellion by the Roman political
administration and upon being tried by Pilate, the local Roman representative, the local clergy and
the pious (the status quo) lobbied against his freedom and eventually gained a sentence of death.
Pilate, under orders from the emperor, Tiberius, and charged with maintaining order in the colony
and eliminating rebellious civil leaders - followed his duty and authorized the sentence.
The followers and friends of Jesus, fearful of incurring the same treatment if they showed their
support, stayed away. Only Jesus' mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and
Mary Magdalene stood by the cross to console and mourn for him as he died - all women; all
politically consider unimportant in political discussion or activities.
After being publicly executed and entombed, the spirit of Jesus Christ comes alive in form and
two women are the first to see Him at the tomb: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother
of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children).
34 A.D. -
Peter (Simon, Cephas), boldly continues to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, a convicted and executed Jewish rebel who lived in a Roman colony. On numerous occasions he
heals sick persons, defends the teachings of the Messiah, visits and inspires new "study groups",
and opens membership in the new faith to all genders, races and cultures - as was intended by
Jesus Messiah, and is furthered by Paul. That is, Paul and others were often the pioneers who
began new congregations of persons wanting to know more about the teachings of Jesus. Peter's
contribution was often more one of a visiting authority who came to the new congregation and
converted interest, hope, and sincerity into committed membership.
Peter was an outsider as a Greek.
He would be respected but not accepted as either a Jew in the
Middle East, or as a Roman within the Roman empire or in Rome. For this reason, he attracted
more attention and less abuse than if he had been either. To express the teachings of Jesus within
either the Jewish community as a Jew or in the Roman community as a Roman - would have
invited accusations of religious, racial, or, national treason. To his benefit, for this reason, he was
arrested by Herod Agrippa I for inciting opposition, imprisoned, and, released, against orders, by
the guards as harmless.
While Paul learned much of his knowledge of Jesus' teachings from Peter,
he later criticised Peter for only trying to convert the Jews and Romans. From Peter's point of
view and organizational ability, a close and dense religious community would have a much greater
chance of survival than one in which congregations were spread out sparsely and were more at
risk of local oppression. A strong religious community would more easily form and survive, Peter
believed, if most of the friends and associates of the members shared the faith and the "Way."
36 A.D. -
Saul, the Roman becomes converted to Christianity and becomes known as Paul.
Saul had been sent the Jerusalem area by the Roman High Council as a counter-intelligence officer
charged with determining the strength of the Christian insurgents and to break their unity. He had
taken an active part in the persecution of the Christians.
In the year 36, political conflict with the Parthians led Vitellius, the governor of Syria, to secure
Jewish goodwill: he deposed Pilate in Caesarea, as the Roman secular authority, and appointed a
dynamic Jewish high priest. The latter was allowed to rule independently until 37, when a less
powerful high priest was appointed with subordination to a new Roman administrator. It was the
authoritarian ruling high priest of 36/37 who had Stephen executed, independent of Roman
sanction, and who sent Saul, a Roman army officer, as far as Damascus in order to arrest political
and religious dissidents.
While continuing his evidence gathering and victimization of the followers of Christ he
experienced a little described transformation of spirit:
The Christian New Testament, The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9: 3-9
"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus; and suddenly there shined round
about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And
the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a
voice (mental telepathy), but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and
when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand and brought
him into Damascus. And he was 3 days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Paul (his new name) will spend the next 3 years in Arabia gaining spiritual strength and
awareness. As part of his background, he had become an expert in the study and practice of
Judaism; he had shown his political zeal in the persecution of the followers of Jesus to more
closely endear himself as an friend to the colonists he would one day administer. Following
his "revelation", during which he "sees" the Way of the Christ, he immediately takes up the
commission given him of preaching Christ's principles among the Gentiles (non-Jews).
As a Roman, clearly versed in Judaism, and a former officer with the Roman administration, and,
with a clear knowledge of the Roman-Jewish political environment - he was an apt choice.
So inspired and clearly directed was he, that never having met the Christian leaders in
Jerusalem, or Jesus while alive, he bagan preaching. It would be 3 years later, in 39, that
Paul would make a short visit to Jerusalem and meet Cephas (Simon Peter) and James, the
brother of Jesus. He would find that his former allies, the Jews, plotting to kill him. For
safety, Paul will then go to Tarsus. Barnabas will meet him in 43 and both of them will go to
Antioch.
In several years time, Paul would return to Jerusalem to meet the leaders of the church as
selected by Jesus: James, Peter and John. As Jews, they understood their mission as one of
converting Jews and were sometimes later criticized by Paul for their ethnocentric selection
of followers. At this meeting, they acknowledged that Paul and Barnabas had been uniquely
chosen to preach to the gentiles. So stated, the trio never gave any direct authorization to
the latter to do so, perhaps believing that such authority could only rest with Jesus and God.
37-41 A.D. - During this period,
The Roman Pontificate came into being when Caligula changed the Principate of Augustus into a Hellenistic-Oriental divine monarchy. Caligula considered
himself to be Alexander, Caesar and God (military, political and spiritual leader). Lust for power
resulted in incursions into Germania and Britain.
The "sophistication" of the Roman nobility had risen from the use of wooden and ceramic
drinking vessels to that of bronze. Wine, the drink of the nobility, was effective in leaching toxic
amounts of lead from the goblets and producing lead poisoning. Symptoms of chronic aches and
pains, depression and mental confusion (which encouraged anxiety) were influential in attracting
persons into alcoholism. While the influence of the alcohol makes many persons less sensitive or
aware of their aches and pains and anxieties, it also often influences the imbiber to feel
overconfident, lustful, gluttonous and envious.
Under such influences, self-awareness decreases
as does tolerance for the rights and opinions of others, and, an increase in physical, verbal, or self-depreciating behaviours have a tendency to be manifested. The reign of Caligula is often
identified synonymously with immoral lack of self-restraint. Caligula was, as the first Pope,
murdered. While he died, the Papacy would endure.
39 A.D. -
Paul visits the Galatians both this year and in the year 50, that is, 3 years after his conversion and 14 years after (Galatians 1.18; 2.1). The Galatians were Celts from
central Europe who invaded Asia Minor and established themselves there in 300-200 B.C. The
king of Galatia extended their authority over neighbouring territories populated by other ethnic
groups. Galatia was made a Roman province in the empire. Some of the non-Celtic towns in
Galatia to which Paul and Barnabas evangelized included Pisidium, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and
Derbe. The letters sent to the Galatians originated between 48 and 55 A.D.
47/48 A.D. -
Under the Leadership of Barnabas, Paul makes his first missionary journey to convert gentiles to Christianity.
Directed by the Holy Spirit, they sailed to Cyprus and began
preaching in the synagogues of the Jews. Closer to Greece, at Paphos, they sought to convert a
high administrative official but were thwarted by Jewish sorcerers. Paul castigated the jew and a
mist fell on the man's eyes and resulted in his blindness for 6 months. This astonished the official
such that he immediately converted.
At Antioch, he and his company attend a synogogue on the
Sabbath and after the readings, Paul stands, proved a brief Jewish history, and, ends with the
introduction of Jesus and his principles. Many of the congregation became interested. On the
following Sabbath, almost the whole of the town, Jew and Gentile, gathered to hear the news
from Paul.
In their pride and possessiveness, and envy, the Jews spoke against Paul and Barnabas.
Paul responded by saying that he had been required to offer the news to he Jews first, and, since they
were not interested in everlasting life, it would be offered to the Gentiles (The Acts 13). This
pleased the Gentiles who were very receptive to the teachings; the teachings were published
throughout the region. This attention angered the Jews who encouraged persecution by the
influential women and the government officials against Paul and Barnabas.
Paul and Barnabas continued to Iconium where the Jews angered both Jew and Gentile against
them. They proceeded on to Lycaonia, and its cities, continuing to preach. At Lystra, they meet
a crippled man who receives the Spirit and becomes healthy. Those who see the healed man,
familiar with the idolatrous worship of men and things, spread the word that Paul and Barnabas
are gods come to Earth in human form.
The community prepared to worship the two men; both are astonished at the crowds and rebuke them.
Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and incited
the locals against Paul and Barnabas. Paul was stoned and left for dead. He got up and was
escorted into the city by the interested students. He recovered by the following day, and left the
town with Barnabas. They retraced their journey preaching at the centres which had previously
denied them - this time with greater success.
48 A.D. -
The Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem leads to a recognition of the leading position of the Jerusalem sect.
Numerous study groups (mini-churches, ascetic gatherings) had
begun to evolve throughout the Empire through word of mouth and gossip. Peter and the original
apostles assumed the missionary activity among the Jews; Paul and Barnabas, not being Jews by
heritage, were more suited to missionary work within the gentile communities. Paul's teachings,
an extension of his "mystical" conversion, included taking independence from Jewish law and
tradition and the acceptance of the Grace of God. These were also accepted at this time.
50 A.D. -
Christianity begins to rise in presence in Rome, Italy.
St Cecilia is persecuted for her faith and when she survives smothering as an execution, she is beheaded.
Many other women are persecuted for refusing to marry unconverted men.
Women perform all aspects of the "church" services surrounding Christianity.
Christianity would be used commercially to encourage the human masses to
a) downplay the importance of capital;
b) barter and exchange fairly and orderly;
c) obey the laws of the state;
d) pay taxes as levied;
e) resist conflict and rebellion;
f) idolize a god turned human -
Christianity would become an optimal tools for empire builders, who as an elite
A) removed "excess" capital from the "guilty" masses to themselves;
B) reinforced the practice of commerce with laws, coinage, facilities;
C) used laws to subdue and eliminate opposition and extend empire;
D) use taxes to buy mercenaries to murder foreigners in wars;
E) enjoy the passivity of the masses through their own extravagances;
F) turn a teaching of spirituality into one of authoritarianism.
Any spiritually-based practice can be subverted through deception and manipulation
UNLESS the individual is encouraged to develop and given the means or training to become
proficient in such practices and the determination of what is spiritually constructive as
options for action. Failure to do this, and, the intentional obstruction of this - encourage
co-dependency, idolatry, superstition, materialism. In ANY mass society of humans, the
latter is easier.
52 A.D. -
The Epistle of Barnabas was written to the early churches and was recognized as authentic by Origen and Jerome, although it has never been included in the compilation of writings
known as the Christian New Testament. Of the creation account in Genesis, it states:
"And God made in 6 days the works of His hands; and He finished them on the 7th
day, and He rested on the 7th day and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that
signifies, He finished them in 6 days. The meaning of it is this: that in 6000 years, the
Lord God will bring all things to an end. For with him, one day is a thousand years;
as Himself testifieth, saying, behold this day shall be as a thousand years.
Therefore
children, in 6 days, that is, in 6000 years, shall all things be accomplished. And what
is it that He saith, and He rested the 7th day; He meaneth this; that when His Son
shall come, and abolish the season of the wicked one [the AntiChrist], and judge the
ungodly; and shall change the Sun and the Moon, and the stars, then he shall
gloriously rest in the 7th day."
52/53 A.D. -
Paul makes his Second Journey and stays 18 months in Corinth.
Neither circumcision nor Jewish dietary laws are advocated. This had largely to do with the fact that
circumcision had been initiated as a means of facilitating genital cleanliness in an arid climate
where water was scarce and dust great. Once out of the Middle East, this factor was no longer
relevant. Jewish dietary laws also served well in a hot dry climate and a culture lacking
refrigeration. Within the Roman Empire, the increasing availability of water for cleaning and
boiling, and, of spices and herbs and the knowledge of their use in helping to preserve foods,
together with the greater availability of wood and effective methods of smoking, drying and
pickling foods made the Jewish dietary habits less mandatory for good health.
The Christian New Testament, I Corinthians 7:19-20
"Is any man being called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is
any called in(to the church) uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
Circumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God (is). Let every
man abide in the same calling (physical nature) wherein he was called."
The question of marriage and sexuality for the Christian is also stated.
Little attention would be given to the advisory for it went against one of the strongest facets of human biochemistry now and hereafter. To become a son-of-God was to put the will, desires and direction first before self or other human. Marriage is portrayed as a commitment between two humans in which each
places the happiness of the other before all else. Thus a conflict is introduced by marriage for the
Christian for "no man can serve two masters."
Following his conversion, Paul came to believe
that the return of the Messiah and the Judgement before the believers would be taken into the
heavens - was imminent. He sought to advise that a marital commitment was better than to
conceive children without a commitment; a commitment to the direction of God, as
communicated by the Holy Spirit. Neither human appointed pope nor minister would declare this
direction to future adherents.
The Christian New Testament, I Corinthians Chapters 6, 7, and 8
"... the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; ... Know ye that your bodies are
the members of Christ? .... Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one
body: for two saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit.
It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
Nevertheless, (if necessary) to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife dur benevolence: and likewise also the
wife unto the husband. ...
But I speak this by permission (only should it become necessary), and not of
commandment. For I would as all men were even as I myself (abstinent and single).
But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner and one after that.
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as
I. But if they cannot contain (their sexual desires), let them marry: for it is better to
marry that to burn (in hell for fornication - sexuality without commitment). ....
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed.
Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wwife. But if thou marry, thou hast not sinned: and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh ....
He that is married careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please
the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he
may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The
unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may
please her husband. ....
So then he that giveth (the virgin) in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in
marriage doeth better."
Paul attempts to place the benefits of his new redeemed self (as an advanced Walk-In) into
perspective for potential future and present Walk-Ins as well as for those who aspire to high
spiritual power, yet with an acknowledgement of the exaggerated sexual drives thrust upon
humanity by bioengineering good intentions and mistakes (made by past visiting "angels") as
well as by the cultural failures which have led to trauma induced bio-behavioural
modification.
It is true here, and in many other cases, that Paul, as a Walk-In, does not know that he is a
Walk-In. His "conversion" has left him spiritually advanced compared to his previous self as
Saul. He has been gifted with the body and memory of Saul - but NOT the emotional
attachments and feelings developed in Saul's life. It would be a mistake to view Paul's post-conversion relationships as highly rationalistic. The lack of emotional and sexual
attachment he felt was not as a result of intellectual distancing. In spirit, he simply was not
Paul.
Living a spiritual life is a threat to the abuses of human political and religious leaders. The
population level stabilizes or diminishes - encouraging peace and prosperity rather than
foreign conquest, capitalism and discontent: the importance of government decreases.
Historically, human religious and political leaders have shared, or been in conflict about,
which would dominate the lives of their subjects. But Paul acknowledged that, as he knew
existed in his (Saul's) past, many humans are not "gifted" in the manner which he has been.
53 A.D. -
St. Paul writes two Letters to the Thessalonians presenting his understanding of the Christian belief and his witness to the experience of conversion and spiritual awakening.
Written relatively soon after the "execution" and "return to life" of Jesus Christ, Paul and many
other Christian followers believe that Christ will return within their lifetime. The return of Jesus
Christ was described together with a statement of the requirements for one to become a Christian
son of God:
I Thessalonians 4:16-17; 5:8, 11-23.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout (sharp loud sound), with
the voice of the archangel (mental telepathy), and with the trump of God (an
unbelievable presence): and the dead in Christ shall rise first (those committed to the
Way of Jesus Christ are taken from the Earth): then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds (a second "rescue" from the
Earth), to meet the Lord in the air (in a spacestation/mothership); and so shall we ever
be with the Lord.
But for us, who are of the day (positive in spirit), be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. ...
Wherefore comfort yourselves together (befriend other Christians), and edify one
another (acknowledge and encourage), even as also ye do. And we beseech you,
brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord (more
spiritually skilled), and admonish you; And to esteem them (respect and encourage)
very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded,
support the weak, be patient (not intense in emotion) towards all men. See that none
render evil for evil (vengeance) unto any man; but ever follow that which is good,
both among yourselves, and to all men.
Rejoice evermore (be thankful for Grace and Forgiveness).
Pray without ceasing (regularly and often).
In every thing give thanks: (appreciate and respect all things) for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
-- Quench not the Spirit (resist depression, anger, emotional intensity).
-- Despise not prophesying (encouragements to be self-responsible).
-- Prove all things; (seek faith and trust through effort & experience) hold fast that which is good (honour, reward, encourage the good).
Abstain from all appearance of evil (avoid inequities).
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
54 A.D. -
Nero Claudius Caesar, prefect of the Praetorian Guard (an equestrian aristocratic order with authority over the imperial bodyguard unit), takes over the rule of the
Roman empire. The son of Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina II, the daughter of
Germanicus - whose wife was the daughter of Agrippa, a famed general, he was born into a
clannish, bureaucratic, ambitious social order. His mother married her uncle, the Emperor
Claudius, after his father abandoned her. Claudius adopted him as his son. Agrippina, his mother,
poisoned Claudius when he was aged 17 thus manipulating her son's rise to emperor. At his
junior age, his mother fully expected to dominate his rule.
Absolute power and immaturity were not a good combination.
At first he was guided by the philosophers Seneca and Burrus.
The opportunities and spiritual challenges of luxury, envy, pride, insecurity lust, greed, addiction, gluttony and vice gradually prevailed over him - with Agrippina equally participating. Obesity, alcoholism, sexual addiction, gambling, and, lead poisoning soon began to degrade his judgement and actions.
In 55, he and his mother poisoned Britannicus, the rightful heir.
In 59, he had his possessive and domineering mother murdered.
In 62, he arranged for the murder of his wife Octavia.
With no status quo rival to his position of power, Nero reintroduced trials presided over by the Emperor,
himself. In much earlier days, the chief of the Roman clan was also the judge. Fearing disclosure
of his weaknesses in public by his mistresses, he had them murdered. To these were added the
murders of the philosopher Burrus - who had protested his madness.
54-56 A.D. -
Paul undertakes his third missionary journey and begins by staying with the Ephesians.
57 A.D. -
St. Paul writes the "Letter to the Galatians" in which he declares that faith in the Way (Lifestyle) of Jesus Christ supersedes all human legal (state and religious) regulations.
That is, according to a promise between God and Abraham, laws were introduced to restrain the
population from their inequities much as a child is disciplined and guided until maturity is reached.
The order and peace which the society so structured would develop would benefit both Jew and
Gentile. With the coming of the Messiah and the exercise of faith in His WAY (self-responsibility,
...) the people of God had reached maturity and could now enjoy their freedom as fully matured
Sons and Daughters.
It was the SPIRIT of God's Son within the hearts of the faithful which
would guide them in the Way. So said, the necessary (rational) shortcomings of every law could
be set aside in favour of the (spiritual) direction of the newly gained Faith. (Galatians 4. 1-7).
Paul is somewhat disappointed when he later finds that the Galatians are still stuck in their old
patterns of status quo and legalism. The latter provided a black and white judgement of all
circumstances. A Spiritually-directed WAY enabled such factors as empathy, compassion,
forgiveness, remorse, ... to be considered, through meditation and prayer, before an individualized
and RELEVANT penance was subscribed.
The Christian liberty which Paul preached so confidently of was a weakness of his Walk-In status.
With his new highly spiritual identity conferred to him, it was as if he had not lived his former life;
as if the emotional attachments to that old legalistic lifestyle had been cut away. Paul was living a
new life and with his raised spiritual strength, he knew of a spiritual afterlife and held no doubts as
to its greatness beyond all facets of human Earthly life. Paul was unafraid of, and able to totally
ignore, the anxieties, threats, human-made laws, and other associations of the material life. He
had no fear of death - the ultimate sacrifice too often threatened by rejecting, ignoring, or
lobbying against the status quo which maintains injustices in human societies.
It would always be difficult for other humans to see the obligations, opportunities, and freedom associated with a willing surrender of the direction of one's life to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in preserving one's integrity to the WAY expressed by Jesus. An experienced Faith was required for one to enter this
endframe of existence before graduating to everlasting spiritual life. In this lifestyle, the individual
had to be willing to lay their life on the line every day in the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment. ALL
else - friends, spouse, family, relatives - came second to one's allegiance to God, through the
medium of the Holy Spirit. Few humans would accept second place in a "committed"
relationship.
During this period, Paul also writes several Letters to the Corinthians .
I Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you?
I Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is in the law.
This is a crucial definition of the downfall of much of humanity during the period of the
written histories. Definition of right and wrong with rigid interpretations and without regard
to circumstances and intent and forgiveness is the legacy of human-based authority "eye-for-an-eye" retribution. Such an approach to social order is neither constructive nor spiritual.
Vengeance exacted as justice frequently promotes the endless violence of feuds. A spiritual
approach to justice and the interpretation of right and wrong seeks to assign responsibility
and degree to the nature of punishment according to the intent of the law
rather than to the letter of the law.
Legalistic approaches tend towards the practice of the magical and the superstitious in
theological areas rather than to the expression of reverence, prayer and faith. The message
of Jesus Messiah was that sincere intent to do good according to the individualized
guidance of God as expressed through the Holy Spirit and as shown by the Way which he
modelled far excelled beyond the rote following of laws and the profuse rationalizations
associated with them which many humans used to justify all matter of iniquities.
58 A.D. -
St. Paul, after spending a few months at Corinth, writes a "Letter to the Romans", returns to Macedonia, from which he was forced to leave in 57, revisits Philippi with Luke, and
eventually makes his way to Jerusalem where he meets considerable opposition and is imprisoned
at Caesarea.
He describes the characteristics of a Christian as:
The Christian New Testament Epistle of Paul to the ROMANS, Chapter 13
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, For there is no power but of God ...
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they
that resist shall receive themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they
that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good
works, but to evil. ....
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. ...
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. ... Let
us walk honestly, ... not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
60 A.D. -
The tone of the Code of the Christian New Testament is considerably different from that of the Old.
First, it covers a relatively short period of time in its record of history.
Secondly, while it has a number of writers, they are ALL close OBSERVERS; in the Old
Testament, some books were written by the leader, or by "historians" who viewed the events from
a distance.
Thirdly, the New Code involved the teachings of but one man whose major message
was that your worth is determined by what you do and why you do it. His authority as a leader
was superstitiously, or divinely indicated by the presence of uncommon cosmic occurrences, by an
uncommon virgin birth (only recently recognized in Western cultures as possible though
uncommon) and by his abilities in middle age to perform scientific and medical functions which
were largely unknown at the time.
He demonstrated by his life, and accordingly taught, that one should seek to grow in spiritual
strength and awareness of God throughout their life seeking guidance from the "Holy Spirit", as
the messenger of God, and like a son to a father (the Hebrews were a paternalistic society) the
individual should seek to mirror the behaviour of God. He put forward himself, first as a boy
seeking religious learning and awareness from the religious leaders; secondly, as an adult allowing
himself to be challenged by physical needs and egotistical weaknesses; thirdly, as an adult acting
responsibly and with care for the well-being of others - as an example of this son-like behaviour.
Similar to the Old Testament, Jesus Christ appears to be "selected" by divine forces.
He states laws, which others record, which relate more to ethics and selection of action rather than to
secular concerns. In place of a history of events to provide examples for guidance, the Christian
Jesus Christ acts out his faith as an example and relates parables (stories) to provide examples of
judgements. Laws and commandments recorded in the books adopted by the English would
include these:
The Law of Forgiveness: Matthew 5
The Law of the Sabbath: Matthew 11
The Law of spiritually (heart) motivated actions: St. Mark 7
The Great Commandments: St. Mark 12
- 29: ... the Lord our God is one Lord: ...
- 31: ... love thy neighbour as thyself ... none greater than these
The Law of Prayer: St. Luke 11
- 9: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; ...
- 13: ... your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ..
It is at this time that Paul appeals to the judgement of the Roman Emperor and begins the long
journey there.
63 A.D. -
The Christian "Letter to the Ephesians" is written expounding the concept of the ideal Church and drawing practical conclusions from it. Written by St. Paul or one of his close
associates, several facts should be noted:
a) The gospels were written in Greek;
b) There is no Greek word for "church";
c) "A Gathering of People" is a true representation of the writing;
d) Paul was a Roman, in a Roman country, preaching to Romans;
e) The Roman culture acknowledged that its greatness was organization;
f) "Jesus Christ" was a Jew from Judah, not a Roman;
g) Humans must converse in the concepts which their language permits, or,
h) Concepts which exceed the bounds of language may be described through
the use of allegory, simile, metaphor, or abstract description.
"Letters to the Colossians", to "Philemon", and to the "Philippians" are also written at this time.
64 A.D. -
St. Peter writes the Christian first and second "Letter of Peter" to those who have fled Roman emperor Nero's persecution of them to take refuge in Asia Minor. Patience and
hope is encouraged through this period of adversity.
Nero Claudius Caesar has just come through a period (54-63) during which his father was
murdered (54), he has reconquered Armenia (regained control of), established a compromised
peace with the Parthians (lost control of). Along with all of these events, the Roman nobility
were increasingly becoming undependable owing to the increasing prevalence of alcoholism and
lead poisoning. It began to seem to Nero that he could trust no one. His officials were becoming
increasingly manipulative, deceptive, braggarts, envious, slothful, and retarded - it was difficult to
tell who was speaking the truth rather than voicing an expectation, exaggeration, or outright lie.
Nero's mother, wife and 2 close associates were murdered. All of this anarchy and rebelliousness
had to stop.
A general persecution of Christians is called for by Nero in 64, who in guilt and paranoia, tries to
pass the blame for the burning of Rome from himself to them. So ruthless and fanatic are his
rullings, in an effort to placate the anger of the many citizens and elite who have lost many or all
of their belongings, that he orders some Christians to be wrapped in animal skins and torn to
shreds by vicious dogs. Other Christians are burned alive as beacons at the entrances to Rome.
On October 13, 64, Peter is crucified, hanging upside down, in Rome by the Roman authorities.
For perhaps as long as 15 years, Peter had been building Christian congregations and membership
in the area of Rome, a city called by the codename of "Babylon" in I Peter 5:13. Gatherings of
interested followers had taken to meeting secretly in the underground tombs of Rome, called the
Catacombs. Paul fails in his defense before the Emperor and is beheaded on the road to Ostia.
Remember, Peter would not be identified as the first bishop of Rome until the early 200s,
exceeding his death by over 150 years. His burial spot would be presumed to have been found by
1949 . Pope Paul VI, on June 26, 1965, would declare that Peter's bones had been discovered:
they were not, and would not be. The earliest "popes" were little more than senior municipal civil
servants with little or no religious significance. The Roman culture had a history of extreme
clanism such that almost all positions of authority were the result of genetic lineage from the
founding of Rome until it fell.
The earliest succession lists of the popes did not even mention
Peter until at least the appointment of Victor I (189-98), an African by birth and the first Latin
pope, as well as the first to attempt to institutionalize aspects of the church community, the first
to interfere with the administration and practices of other churches and congregations, and the
first to have negotiations with the imperial household. Only when the spectre of power and
empire arose did the importance of Peter being perceived as the first pope in a pseudo-lineage of
authority become noticed. Thereafter, lists of the earlier popes showed Peter first and advanced
the positions of subsequent holders of the office from their former position one position ahead.
64/65 A.D. -
The Christians of Palestine Emigrate to Transjordon before the Jewish War of 66-70 breaks out.
The separation of Judaic and Christian congregations becomes much more defined
and separate from this point.
65 A.D. -
The Conspiracy of Piso is discovered by Nero and it results in the philosopher, Seneca, being executed along with the torture and execution of many others. With the
ruthlessness and vice of Nero's rule and his unpredictability, arising from lead poisoning (from
drinking wine out of metal cups) and addictive behaviours, conspiracies and revolts continued to
increase. C. Julius Vindex, governor of Gaul (France), and Salvius Otho (Germany) plotted
revolts which failed.
68 A.D. -
The Revolt by S. Sulpicius Galba (Spain) against Nero succeeds.
Rather than be arrested and be executed, and possibly fearing the experience of like tortue to which he had
exposed many others, Nero stabbed himself and died at age 31.
70 A.D. - On the 9th day of Av (Jewish month of August),
The Roman legions conquer Jerusalem.
More than 1 million inhabitants are massacred by the Romans who are intent upon eliminating a rebellious group of colonials as an example for the rest of the empire. The reward of
God for their denial and murder of his messenger and example, Jesus Messiah (Christ) was
evident in the description of Flavius Josephus. He wrote that the hills surrounding Jerusalem were
studded with thousands of crosses as far as the eye could see during the final siege. A year after
the fall of Jerusalem, in 71 A.D., as a final reaction against the un-Christian and typically
ethnocentric Jewish conflict with the Roman nation, the Romans ploughed the Temple Mount and
the city and the nearby land around Jerusalem, and sowed it with salt - an effective sterilizer of the
soil, which would make the lands a desert.
The Christian response, promoted by Jesus Messiah, would have been peaceful co-existence,
politically, and an adoption of a spiritually-based lifestyle. Instead, rather than be reactionaries -
seeking to change the human status quo, the Jews had continually rebelled - to adopt the status
quo equally for themselves apart from the Romans. They had sought the materialistic seeking and
human authority-based lifestyle of the Romans, and, as an independent nation, they presented
themselves as direct opposition to the Roman nation and empire.
For almost 600 years, the Roman tribal military state had been expanding, consolidating, losing,
and recapturing territory. Particularly during the past 30 years, the quest for territorial power and
the degradation of the office of the emperor had been dominant trends. The emperors saw that
they were on the verge of their power and territory beginning to slip away: civil disorder and
terrorism had to be crushed, now.
Despite the firm orders of the Roman centurions, their enraged soldiers threw torches into the
Jewish Second Temple and within minutes it was fully ablaze. The Roman General Titus, had
seen the beautiful Temple, then considered the greatest building in the Roman Empire, and had
not wanted it to be destroyed. He had implored the Jewish defenders to surrender on the terms
that the Temple and the city not be destroyed. A huge number of pilgrims had entered the city
shortly before the Roman encirclement, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover: the population had
swelled to 1,250,000.
As the Temple burned, the heat melted the sheets of gold that covered much of the building, and
the molten gold ran down into every crack between the foundation stones. When the fire finally
cooled, the Roman soldiers used wedges and crowbars to overturn every stone to search for this
gold, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus Messiah (Christ):
The Christian New Testament: The Gospel of St. Luke, 19: 43 - 44
"For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, an compass
thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy
children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou
knewest not the time of thy visitation"
73 A.D. -
At Masada, a plateau fortress built by King Herod near the Dead Sea, 950 surviving Jews from the Jerusalem assault of 70 A.D. had defended against the Roman army of
Titus for 3 years. Jewish slaves were finally used by the Romans to build an earthen ramp to the
top of the fortress walls. As the frustrated Romans were preparing to breach the walls, the Jews
inside murdered their wives and children and committed suicide. This proud, non-spiritual
response to ultimate military defeat would become revered by the Jews and come to be known as
the Masada Complex. Well into the 1990's, from the time of the creation of the Jewish state in
the mid-1940's, Jewish children would be taught to revere the action of suicide before surrender
when militarily opposing an enemy.
Such is this human political interpretation often given to the word "bravery."
Such bravery in this
example was based on the refusal of the Jewish people to graduate to the spiritual level advocated
by Jesus Messiah. He advocated conquest by infiltration and example within the admonishment of
"Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's", and "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate
you." Instead, and in the time-driven manner of tribalism, the Jews stood firmly in military
opposition to the Romans - which had found their entry into and conquest of the Middle East
favoured by the fragmented power of the Eygptians and the Jews and the ready adoption by the
Jewish people of the material benefits of the Eygptian and Greek occupations.
The Jews sought to preserve the status quo of materialism and superstitious ritual while fantasizing a return to domination over others. Numerous times throughout the Old Testament, the Jews had formulated
and adopted policies regarding the treatment of slaves - their slaves. It was not bravery - in the
form of intelligent courage, which was expressed by those at Masada: it was the intolerance and
rigidity of pride which made the Jews forsake the spiritual guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Repeatedly, the Holy Spirit was available as the Communicator of God to counsel the individual;
repeatedly, the "angels", as messengers of God, had tried to convey the importance of learning
more spiritually-based skills: would the Jews ever hear and obey?
The Way of Jesus Messiah was NOT to arouse defensiveness by rebelliousness and
aggressiveness. If indeed you were a more spiritually strong person than your enemy, you would
not feel threatened from an acknowledgement of their aspects of superior strength. If they had
better organizational skills than you, positive coping would encourage you to learn those skills
from them. If they possessed greater military strength than you, it would be spiritually
constructive to try and work with them for the creation of a harmonious state so that their military
forces could be diminished or disbanded.
If your enemy sought to force you to acknowledge
those religious and cultural precepts which they worshipped, a spiritual response might take one
of several possibilities for any one individual - a response which would be divined from the Holy
Spirit by way of your personal humble reverent request for guidance. These simple and effective
WAYS of constructively modifying the attitude of the enemy to one which would be more
spiritually centred proved ineffectual against the steel-like barrier of traumatic stress response
reactions traditionalized and mandated within the Jewish culture.
79 A.D. -
The eruption of Vesuvius buries Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum.
Pliny the Elder, the early scholar of natural science dies in the disaster. ALL major volcanic eruptions
which spew large amounts of ash and dust into the atmosphere have the capacity to modify the
climate for a period of years or decades to result in cooler and wetter weather. This may
influence crop yields and disease frequency. Remember these factors when you read of other
similar eruptions.
84 A.D. -
The "Letters of St. John" are written:
The First is a short message of Inspiration to Christian followers;
the Second is addressed to a woman;
the third commends a man named Gaius for his hospitality.
New Testament, First Epistle of John 1: 5, 6, 8-10; 2: 4, 9-11, 15-17, 23, 29; 3: 1-3, 9, 11, 15-18;
4: 1-3, 12, 13, 18; 5: 7, 21
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God
is light (truth, honesty, good will, joy, happiness, hope, forgiveness, light-heartedness), and in him is no darkness (intensity of emotion: hate, lust, rage, vengeance, greed, sloth, envy, pride) at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk (practice, feel) in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth ...
If we say
that we have no sin (pride, lack of self-awareness), we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins (humility and reverence), he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that
we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word (principles, "Way",
commandments) is not in us.
He that saith, I know (am aware of his desires) him, and keepeth not his
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ... He that saith he is in the light
(practising the Way), and hateth his brother, is in the darkness (of negative
spiritedness) even until now. He that loveth (respects, encourages, assists, shows
compassion and patience towards) his brother abideth in the light (of positive
spiritedness), and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his
brother is in darkness (without grace), and walketh (behaves, practices) in darkness,
and knoweth not whither (the consequences of) he goeth, because that darkness hath
blinded (like an addiction) his eyes. ...
Love not the (material) world, neither the (material) things that are in the world.
If any man love the (material) world, the (spiritual) love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
...
Whosoever denieth (does not acknowledge and follow the example of) the Son, the
same hath not (knowledge of) the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the
Father also. ... If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one who doeth
righteousness is born (a son or daughter) of him.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be
called the sons (obedient children and recipients) of God: therefore the world
knoweth us (Christians) not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now we are the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him (whatever His state of being or shape); for we shall see
him as he is. And every man that hath his hope in him (reverence for, respect for,
belief in) purifieth (improves) himself, even as he is pure.
... Whosoever is born
(becomes a son or child) of God doth not commit sin; for his seed (semen/ova)
remaineth in him: he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ... For this is the message
that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love (respect, help, share with, be
compassionate towards, forgive), one another.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer (of the spirit): and ye know that no
murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down (shared, sacrificed) his life (principles, being) for us: and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good
(benefit of material prosperity, power, respect, privilege), and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion (is greedy and possessive) from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Beloved, believe not every spirit (being that speaks to you), but try (test) the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets (deceivers, manipulators,
addicts) are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (was fully human) is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
god: and this is that spirit of anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come;
and even now already is it in the world. ...
No man hath seen (become fully aware of in all dimensions of being) God at any time.
If we love one another, (the essence or spirit or nature of) God dwelleth in us, and his
love is perfected in us (according to our practice of love). Hereby know we that we
dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. ... There is no fear in
love: but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment (anxiety, anger,
frustration, impatience, rage, insecurity, rebelliousness). He that feareth is not made
perfect in love. ...
For there are 3 that bear record in heaven, the Father (Creator), the Word (Principle
of Balance and Harmony), and the Holy Ghost (Divine Guidance): and these three are
one. ... Little children, keep yourselves from idols (worship and lust of material
things). Amen [So be it].
Humanity has only chosen to translate and circulate widely about 5% of the
sacred writings which have been made available to it. The principle of abstention from sexual
intercourse as a "natural" result of a spiritual life based on Christian standards is neither
addressed in these Christian works or in any New or Old Testament writings. Without such
guidance, the human can only fail in his or her efforts to attain to this "purity". It is not a
state of being which is intended to be forced upon oneself. Rather, it evolves naturally from a
life dedicated to the following of the Will of God as communicated by way of the Holy Spirit
to the humble and ever self-improving Christian follower. Such a son of God has "died" from
their "human" life through a willful and positive choice, through an awareness of the Grace
of God, to become an "instrument" of God. Typical aspects of this lifestyle include these:
A. Avoidance of all addictive substances and behaviours;
B. Balance of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual activities;
C. Compassion, patience, sympathy and empathy for others;
D. Development of self-awareness, self-directedness and self-esteem;
F. Food selections which are vegetarian or low in meats;
G. Generous use of prayer and meditation every day;
H. Humility before God for Grace and Direction, hourly.
85 A.D. -
The Chinese use gunpowder and firearms against the Tartars.
88 A.D. -
In China, Pan Ch'ao goes to battle with 25,000 men from Khotan and other central Asian states with the object being to crush Yarkand. The King of Kutcha, a defender, replied by
dispatching his chief commander to safeguard the place with an army drawn from the kingdoms of
Wen-su, Ku-mo, and Wei-t'ou, totalling 50,000 men.
Pan Ch'ao summoned his officers and also the King of Khotan, an ally, to a council of war, and
said: "Our forces are now outnumbered and unable to make headway against the enemy. The best
plan, then, is for us to separate and disperse, each in a different direction. The King of Khotan
will march away by the easterly route, and I will then return myself towards the west. Let us wait
until the evening drum has sounded and then start.
Pan Ch'ao now secretly released the prisoners, defenders, whom he had taken alive, and the King
of Kutcha was thus intentionally informed of his plans. Much elated by the news, the defender set
off at once at the head of 10,000 horsemen to bar Pan Ch'ao's retreat in the west, while the King
of Wen-su rode eastward with 9,000 horses in order to intercept the King of Khotan, thus
splitting the defense.
As soon as Pan Ch'ao knew that the two defending chieftains had gone, he called his divisions
together, got them well in hand, and at cockcrow hurled them against the enemy, as it lay
encamped. The barbarians, panic-stricken, fled in confusion, and were closely pursued by Pan
Ch'ao. Over 5,000 heads were brought back as trophies, besides immense spoils in the form of
horses and cattle and valuables of every description. Yarkand then capitulating, Kutcha and the
other kingdoms drew off their respective forces. From that time onward, Pan Ch'ao's prestige
completely overawed the countries of the west.
92 A.D. -
The Hsiung-nu nomads, gathering outside the Great Wall of China became unified, grew in military power and political deception. Coming out of what is modern Mongolia, they
struck south into the Han empire of China with such viciousness that they devastated and
depopulated many large areas. Growing up in an arid harsh geography they had been forced to
adapt to a nomadic lifestyle for survival. They owned herds of goats, cattle and horses and
pastured wherever they found good pastures.
Rejected by agricultural societies as boors because
of their lack of organization, stability of location and disrespect for the property of others - they
were aggressively met wherever they went. Their belief was that the Earth was a free resource
for all people and that the benefits of pasture, wild game and the air belonged to anyone who
needed them. Their repeated exclusion by other societies intolerant of their ways and averse to
incorporating them was to modify their simple yet active lifestyle to one of aggression. If they
could not take from their surroundings what they needed because others jealously guarded large
territories, they would take it by force. As humanity often responds to rejection, they developed a
hatred for anyone who was not of their culture. Death to strangers and foreigners was a grace
they lavished.
They knew everything about horses - how to tame their wildness but not their spirit; how to ride
them in intricate fast manoeuvres; how to breed them for speed, strength and stamina; how to
fight and attack on horseback. They quickly learned that in order to minimize their own losses,
militarily, the surprise onslaught and total annihilation were the best strategies. Appearing
suddenly and attacking swiftly did not allow the agricultural family, small town or agricultural
community to mount a defense. Killing everyone reduced the later possibilities for revenge by the
survivors, something they knew intimately about, and, instilled fear into others - which would
hopefully lead to panic or docility.
Panic would result in an uncoordinated defense and docility might result in the adversary offering all of their goods in hopes of peace - usually allowing for a
close and unexpected slaughter. These nomads equipped themselves with short strong bows
made from layers of animal bone and wood - stronger than any European model would ever
approach. They wore silk shirts and leather outerwear, hats and shields. Unlike other fabrics, silk
acted like an arrow-proof vest, penetrating the wound with the arrow and preventing flesh from
being snagged by the barbs. Enemy arrows were thus easily withdrawn and their penetration was
often minimal. Ruthlessness was their key tactic.
The Chinese hired some of the Hsiung-nu as mercenaries, adopted their tactics, and managed to
drive them westward. Little impeded their progress before they reached eastern Europe. There,
the Hsiung-nu were called the Huns. They quickly overran the local tribe and band nomads, the
Goths and Vandals, forcing them westward. The Goths were driven into Italy and France, were
they exacted their own terror. Humans who have been abused and terrorized by others whom
they cannot fight back against often use the anger and frustration of their experience to exact
equal or worse aggression against some other more peaceful group. A desperate human grouping
fighting for survival against environmental adversities and the rejection of materially wealthy
societies have little patience for building tolerance, understanding, compassion, diplomacy and
encouraging integration.
96-192 A.D. - During this period,
Roman Emperors were chosen on the basis of most fit to rule, thereby setting aside the prior emphasis on succession by heredity. This changed Roman rule
from somewhat of a personal dictatorship pattern (tyrant) to that of political strategist. Those
who could best negotiate, persuade, deceive, manipulate and enthuse by their actions and their
speeches would control the empire.
Trajan, after the mutiny of the Praetorian Guard, was the first emperor (98-117) to have a
countryside origin. The Roman Senate gave him the title Optimus in 114. He conquered the
Dacians in several campaigns, established the province of Dacia (northern Greece); the kingdom
of Nabateans (Northern Arabia); the province of Arabia; the conquest of Armenia and
Mesopotamia. This was the greatest extent ever reached by the Roman empire.
98 A.D. - Near this time,
The Christian, St. John the Divine received and wrote the Christian New Testament book, "The Revelation".
He was asked to take a message to the each angel (follower) of each of the 7 churches (fellowships) in Asia.
The churches are likened to candlesticks in that they are a firm foundation (group support) from which the spirits (as mirrored
in their attitudes and behaviours) of the followers rose and spread light (awareness, knowledge,
testimony) to brighten (make more spiritual) the (human) world surrounding them. These
messages, in Chapters 2 and 3, contained acknowledgement of deeds and weaknesses and a
promise of future benefits:
Ephesus: will give to eat of the tree of life
Smyrna: will not be hurt by the second death
Pergamos: will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give a white stone
Thyatira: will give power over the nations and the morning star
Sardis: shall be clothed in white and receive recognition
Philadelphia: will make (it) a pillar in the temple of my God
Laodicea: will I grant to sit with me in my throne
All seven churches were in the westernmost part of modern day Turkey.
Then:
Revelations 4:1-8.
"... a door was opened in heaven (in a mothership): and the first voice which I heard was as if it
were a trumpet talking to me (mental telepathy); which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee
things which must come hereafter.
And immediately I was in the spirit (a non-physical form of being familiar to some abductees);
and, behold, a throne (spaceship) was set in heaven (the sky), and one sat on the throne (within
the UFO) ... and there was a rainbow (of colours) round about the throne (spaceship/UFO) in
sight like unto an emerald (clear and sparkling in the light).
And round about (inside of) the throne (UFO) were 24 seats: and upon the seats I saw 24 elders
(personages with light, confident, strong features and expressions) sitting, clothed in white
raiment; and they had on their heads crowns (auras) of gold (indicating a spirit of empathy,
generosity, sensitivity to others and inner strength).
And out of the throne (spaceship) proceeded lightnings (bright beams of light) and thunderings
(vibrations of the body) and voices (mental telepathy): and there were 7 lamps of fire (beams)
burning before the throne (which are directed from the spaceship/UFO), which are the 7 Spirits of
God (that is,
1. Nehemiah 9:20 ... the spirit to instruct
2. 1 John 4: 6 ... the spirit of truth
3. Romans 8: 16 ... the Spirit itself beareth witness
4. Romans 8: 26 ... helpeth our infirmities ... makes intercession
5. Hebrew 9: 14 ... the eternal Spirit
6. 1 Corinthians 6: 17 ... he that is joined to the Lord in one Spirit
7. Revelation 11:11 ... the Spirit of life).
And before the throne (leading down from the spaceship) there was a sea of glass (a walkway
to) like unto a crystal (which appeared semi-transparent and the colour of a crystal): and in
the midst of the throne, and round about (inside) the throne, were 4 beasts (machines) full of
eyes (video screens) before and behind.
And the first beast (machine) was like a lion (mounted majestically on the floor), and the
second beast (machine) like a calf (connected to something as a calf is to its mother), and the
third beast had a face as a man (a face on a visual display), and the fourth beast (machine)
was like a flying eagle (moved like a drone ship). And the 4 beasts had each of them 6 wings
about it (was as brilliant as a 6-pointed star); and they (the devices) were full of eyes
(sensors) within: and they rest not day and night (work as machines and not as beings with
physical bodies), saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, (doing whatever is instructed
of them) which was, and is, and is to come (by God).
John is then shown and told about a number of predicted events.
[Remember, that this was seen and experienced by a man who knew nothing of machines, had
been taught that anything which moved was alive, had a vocabulary smaller than a modern
North American grade 6 student, was in awe of anything seen which was not an everyday
reality, believed that the Earth was flat, expected that the sky was like a firm canopy or
ceiling, and, whose primary vocabulary described herding, hunting and very basic commerce -
plus mythological fantasies of Egyptian, Greek and Roman history.]
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