ERM - Tape 157 - The Connection

 

TAPE NO. 157  -  BY ELLA ROSE MAST

 

THE CONNECTION

 

 

We are speaking of the connection between the ancient so-called cult of Mithras and Christianity at its beginning! This ancient religion which was in place at the time of the beginning of Christianity. Both Mithranic belief and Christian belief held at its core the belief in a God whose powers and dominions lay beyond the boundaries of the Cosmos.

Today the Internet is carrying a report about solving the Mithranic mysteries, and they have listed book such as "The Origins of Mithraic Mysteries, Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World,” by David Ulansey, and also "Jesus Christ, Son of God," by David Fideler. These helped in tracing this ancient belief of these so-called secret cults, at the time of Christ, as well as connecting them as we do by symbolism to the Adamic Race. From the Internet we found reference to a report from the magazine Biblical Archaeology of 1994. We went to our library and found this report.

Like the Eleusianian mysteries and the Isis mysteries these so-called cults maintained strict secrecy about their teachings and practices as it says they were revealed only to their initiates, or those who believed and practiced their religion. This should not be such a great surprise. Why bring them who oppose your faith into your congregations to cause trouble? Look at what has happened to Christianity over the years.

We touched on these old mystery religions when we reviewed the 'old big book.' But today with the Internet carrying this report we are once more interested because we see that archaeologist are uncovering and reporting on this ancient faith found thru out the old Roman Empire from England to Rome at the time of Jesus and seemingly also much before this time. The Archaeologists found this religion even in the far distant frontiers of the Ancient Roman Empire and surprisingly comes this information as well. It seems that the Roman soldiers made up a major portion of the cult of Mithra's membership.

Now should this be so surprising if you understand who the people are in the Biblical story which our modern writers do not. But these Roman soldiers were from the old tribe of Gad, and thus a part of ancient Israel, the Adamic race. As Rome spread her influence and captured more territory, then of course more Israelites would be involved. You will remember that from the Cross, as Jesus looked down on these Roman soldiers who were carrying out the orders from those higher up, that HE said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." It had been the Jews who had cried for the blood of the Christ, but the Roman soldiers were ordered to do the dirty work.

The rituals of this ancient religion were performed in the caves of the region. And Archaeologist found that in those subterranean caves or Temples as they were called, carved reliefs, statutes depicting a variety of enigmatic figures and scenes. We learn that this mystery existed until Christianity became powerful and then the switch came from the Mithranic mysteries to Christianity. Thus, you find your connection to the Aryan or Adamic race who were the Old Testament Hebrews or Israelites out of the family tree going back from Christ to Seth, to Adam, the Son of God. (Luke 3:30)

Archaeologist, so goes the report found in Heddernheim, Germany, an elaborately carved relief, and in this picture are the following symbols: 12 signs of the Zodiac. And here we see Mithras, the symbolic God, slaying the bull. And in this picture also is the raven, the dog, the scorpion, and the snake. And beneath the bull in the picture we see a cup and a lion. In the panel of trees are figures above the arched Zodiac, and at the right is the Sun god who kneels before Mithras. This dramatic gesture of submission demonstrates Mithra's enormous power, superior to that of the sun. Thus, making the sun but a symbol.

The stumbling block of modern scholars has been to understand the intelligence of the ancient, who developed their knowledge of symbolism called 'the knowledge of the gods,' into a theological, cosmological and psychological science. To wish to teach all men the truth about the gods causes the foolish, they who cannot learn, to despise, and the good to be careless. Wherein to conceal truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it. In the ancient days of Greece the word Myth meant truth or knowledge.

Falileo wrote that philosophy is written in the great book which is forever before our eyes, referring to the heavens. But we do not learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. (Unquote)

Thus symbolism, and yes, even numbers, holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ancients. This is also the key to tying these ancient mysteries to the Adamic race. In symbolism then is where we find the story that the age of Taurus (the bull of the heavens) is about over and a new age was dawning. And now these believers would look forward to the next age and what was to come. In other words, here they were coming into this New Age, the Christian Age, when Christ presents HIS True Church to the world. From the icons found connected to this old mystery this symbolism can thus be evaluated.

In Palestine, Herod had built a 96 foot long, 16 foot high vault as a storage complex for his port city of Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. This storage vault had then been converted into a Mithrean temple, probably by Roman soldiers stationed in Judea. The archaeologist found this ancient Temple and the ceiling had been painted blue, and stone benches had been added along with a stone altar. A marble medallion was found by archaeologists behind the altar, and it was 3 inches in diameter, and it depicted Mithras as killing the bull. Thus, helped in identifying this as a Mithranian Temple. Also at the eastern end of the vault or temple, archaeologists noticed that a shaft of light penetrated the ceiling. And it was also noticed that this shaft of light moved closer and closer to the altar until just after noon on June 21, the summer solstice sunbeams reached the altar flooding it with light. In keeping with Mithraism emphases on Celestial symbolism, this opening in the ceiling is also found in other ancient places, even in the U.S.A. in the writings of Barney Fell. (Remember-- "America B.C.")

Now we tell you that before you can unravel this symbolism, you must go back to the beginning of your Biblical story and learn who the people of the Book are, what they are supposed to be doing here in earth, and just what this Biblical story really is. You will recall that the Adamic man -- Enoch was taken back into the heavens and all things brought to his memory as to his beginning, in the heavens as a son of God, and his mission then in earth. Remember, he returned to earth and gave his people and the world, as they could understand the outline of 'The Star Bible' and the Adamic place in this story. This man, Enoch, walked so perfectly with God while in earth, doing the work of YAHWEH so well, that he did not die, but was taken back into the heavens without experiencing a physical death. The map of the heavens then became 'The Star Bible' for the people of earth as the Adamic people watched the heavens for the sign of their coming redeemer, Father.

Our author, David Ulansey, after discovering that the mystery had to do with the constellations, then stumbled onto the explanation of the symbolism of the Icon connected to the Mithraic mysteries. He found that the bull is parallel by Taurus, of the heavens, the dog by Canis minor, the snake by Hydra, the Raven by Corvus, the Scorpion by Scorpio. And he also found that the Zodiac planets, sun, moon and stars were often portrayed in the Mithraic art. Then one of the most famous examples of Mithraic stone carvings shows the 'Lion headed god' standing on a globe that is marked with a Cross.

In your understanding of symbolism, what could this be but the Biblical story for that time as these people were looking for the end of the age of Taurus (the bull) and the entering into another age and realizing that ages always overlap. Over the years, this teaching of evolution drove all thoughts of these ancient secrets out of the minds of most of our people. But such mystery schools as 'The Rose Cross' tried to keep this Adamic story alive.

In the knowledge of the ancients, the number for the 'Rose Cross' was ‘seven’ as it is also Adam's number, and then will be 777 when Adam is perfected. And Mithras was then the equivalent of 365, the days of the year. And the number identifying the Redeemer was equivalent to 888. Knowing as the ancients did, that Taurus the bull was the symbol of the House of Joseph, then of course, they knew that this household would push to the ends of the earth the 'wheat' among the 'tares.' Another symbol found among the ancients of your race was the fetus in a circle of water with a cross on top of the circle symbolizing the physical birth with the promise of Redemption, by way of the Cross.

This ancient Mithrain religion can be explained as an Adamic or Aryan cult, if you like that word. But this religion of these ancient people traces back to Iran or the land between the two rivers and it would stay in place until the coming of Messiah and Christianity, and the true Church would be established. Our author did not seem to understand that the reason that Christianity replaced these ancient rituals was that Christianity would establish the coming of YAHWEH as YAHSHUA, Savior, Redeemer. And in this church age the people of HIS race now scattered thru out the known world would be informed that their Messiah had come, and now they were to move forward in this new age. The slaying of the bull just acknowledged that the people of the race knew they were leaving one age and moving into the next. In the era before the rise of Christianity, the constellations of Taurus, the dog, the snake and the scorpion beneath the bull, and the raven, were all located in a continuous band in the heavens. These astrological figures lay in a particular circle in the heavens on what the ancients called the Celestial Zodiac. And these figures then pointed to the heart of the Mithraic symbolism and the slow shifting of the point in the heavens where the equinoxes occur. Around Mithra's head in some pictures, were also 7 stars suggesting that the no. 7 was involved. The sun identified by rays of light shinning from the head is seen in the upper corner of most pictures and the moon is depicted as a crescent.

Plato, the great historian-philosopher, studied in ancient Egypt at the Temple of On, and he was recorded as having said that artists should depict that which might be past the sphere of the Cosmos. And in the picture to illustrate this as a figure who bravely pierces the boundary of the known Cosmos with his head and one hand while still grasping the familiar earth with his body within the arch of the heavens of earth are the known Celestial bodes. Outside are orbs and machinery that moves the heavens. It is here that Mithra rules, in this elaborate symbolism. And as Mithra is pictured slaying the bull, this shows him, Master of the realm, beyond the horizon of a certain star and into a certain spot in the Zodiac.

Now these people had no modern church theology to blind them. Thus, they believed in the promise which Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled. After all, our ancient relatives knew that the sun traced a circle during the course of a year, known as the Zodiac, and later called 'living figures. Thus, the sun passed in front of 12 different constellations which were represented by various animal and human forms. The Celestial equator was important because it pointed out the equinoxes thus marking the seasons.

Plate, in his dialogue "Timaeus," said that when the creator of the universe first formed the Cosmos, HE shaped its substance in the form of the letter ‘X’ representing the intersection of the two Celestial circles, the Zodiac and the Celestial Equator. This cross shaped symbol was often shown in ancient art to indicate the cosmic sphere. One of the most famous examples of this is the Mithraic stone carving showing the so-called 'lion headed’ God whose image is found often in the Mithraic temples, standing on the globe that is marked with the cross X representing the two circles of the Zodiac and the Celestial equator.

Today, we find that the Equinoxes, because of the procession of the Universe, moves slowly backward along the Zodiac, passing thru one Zodiacal constellation every 2,100 years, and thru the entire Zodiac in 25,920 years. Thus, the procession of the equinoxes provides the key to unlocking the secret of the astronomical symbolism of the Mithraic tauroctomy. Thus, the constellations pictured in the Mithranic mysteries all lay along the Celestial equator as it was positioned during or rather immediately proceeding the Greece-Roman age of Christ. During the earlier age proceeding the age of Christ, the Celestial equator passed thru the constellation of Taurus the Bull which was the Spring Equinox of that era, and thru Canis Minor, the Dog, Hydra, the snake or serpent, Corvus the Raven and Scorpio the scorpion. And then became the Autumn Equinox. Going a step further in that age of Taurus when the equinoxes were in Taurus and Scorpio, the two solstices were in Leo the lion and Aquarius the Water bearer, for they were also shifted. Thus, in some parts of the Roman Empire a pair of symbols were sometimes added to the taurectony which were a lion and a cup, symbolizing in every mind the 'Lion of Judah,' Jesus the Christ, who was to come and the cup HE would take.

Thus the death of the bull in symbolism, meant the age of Taurus would be over and the universe is pictured as shifting the cosmic sphere in such a way that the Spring Equinox moved also out of the sign of Taurus the bull, at the time the Israelites were moving now in migration led by the House of Joseph.

Our modern authors so suggest that these ancient people worshiped such a god who was able to guarantee the soul a safe journey thru the Celestial spheres after death. How close the modern authors come to the fundamental truth they seem to have no knowledge of, because of this blindness which seems to bind them.

As the new age came in, you take a closer look at the Icons and you find that in the possession of the early Christians, then you would find such scenes as a youthful Mitrae holding the cosmic sphere in one hand while with his other hand he rotates the circle of the Zodiac.

Clements of Alexandria, Egypt, and Origen, both early church fathers, taught that the Christian church while open to all, none the less possessed secret doctrines. Clements of Alexandria, referred to the secret traditions of true knowledge possessed by the early church. It was not wished that all things should be exposed to all and sundry or the benefits of wisdom communicated to those who have not even in a dream been purified in soul, nor are the mysteries of the word LOGOS to be expounded to the profane. Since the Savior teaches in Divine and Mystic wisdom, we must then investigate, and use intellect to search out and learn the hidden meanings. Within the early Christian age, and yes, even in Greek cosmology, gematria or numbers, were also a symbolic language, this was also to express the mathematical order of the Universe.

In the ancient mind the sun gave forth out of itself without ever being diminished. Thus, it established itself as the most perfect symbol of the Eternal. Actually, to the ancients, the sun was an image and manifestation on a lower level of being within the confines of space and time. To modern authors this was interpreted as the worship of the sun which was not correct, but led to the book --"Jesus Christ --sun of God." This author, David Fideler, then tells us that the Greeks and the Pythagorean philosophers, used symbolism, mythology, parables, and other types messages to transmit a higher message for those who had ears to hear. Jesus, Himself, spoke in parables saying, -- “It is given unto you to know (this Adamic race) the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,---to them those not of the race, it was not given.” In symbolism in the old big book and in other places, then the kingdom of heaven is shown as a triangle pointing up and it is all in white and then a triangle pointing down in black. Thus, the two triangles fused together formed the so-called ‘six pointed’ star. The triangle pointing to the heavens is white or perfect, for Satan was driven out of the heavens, but there is still darkness in the earth. Thus, the part of the kingdom in earth will remain dark until all is fulfilled and--- “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.” Then someday both triangles will be seen in white and will shine as the sun. Thus, the ancient Aryans, the people of the Old Testament, had their symbolism and early Christianity also has its symbolism. And still does. But church doctrine has tended to hide this.

But we have been promised that ‘nothing is to be hid, that all shall be made manifest, and nothing secret that shall not come to light.’

Another ancient image shows Mithras in the roll of the god Atlas supporting on his shoulders the great sphere of the Universe, as Atlas traditionally, is shown. Then another Icon shows the snake entwined around the image, thus, the cosmic egg out of which the creator God, Thanes emerged from it at the beginning of time. The Mithraists also identified themselves with Phanes. An inscription found in Rome and from iconography found in England---a Mithrate icon brings this connection to Phanes. And going further, we find that Phanes was also another name for the Eternal God. And this was also found in Greek from the ancient philosophers.

Thus, back we go to the ancients to find the truth. Plato, several centuries before the known origin of Mithraism, since he wrote about 247 B.C.----Plato then wrote of the envisioned journey by a soul to the outermost boundaries of the Cosmos, and gives us a glimpse of what the soul would see if for a brief moment, it was able to look upon the regions without and that place beyond the heavens. (Quote) ‘None of our earthly poets has yet sung, and none shall sing worthily. But this is the manner for it, for assuredly we must be bold to speak what is true above all when our discourse is upon truth. For it is there that truth dwells without shape or color, that cannot be touched, reason alone, the souls pilot can behold it, and all true knowledge is knowledge thereof.’ (Unquote)

Everyone has heard the story of how Eratosthenes, the great mathematician and keeper of the library at Alexandria, Egypt, measured the earth. The Egyptian town of Syene was located on the Tropic of Cancer. Therefore, the day of the Summer Solstice, the sun is directly overhead at noon, everything thus casts no shadow. Alexandria further to the north, had building that cast a shadow. By taking into account the distance between Syene and Alexandria and the angle of the sun at Alexandria on the Summer Solstice, Eratosthenes was able to calculate the circumference of the earth. Thus, many of the secrets of earth became the knowledge for the western world coming from the Greeks who gave much to the Western world,---much knowledge which has been lost over the years.

In the fourth Gospel not carried in most modern Bibles, this Gospel of Nicodemus---we find Nicodemus asking how a man can be born once again when he is old. Hermes (Enoch) says the womb of the rebirth is wisdom, and that the will of God is the begetter. Thus, this mystery of rebirth, the race of Divine Sonship cannot be taught. But when the time is right, God recalls the knowledge of the spiritual realities to one’s awareness, this knowledge the soul possessed before being born into a body. He who has thus become a God, or a son of God, can never cease to be that which he has become.

As you have noticed, we have been trying to bring to you the connection between the faith of our people of the Old Testament and how this carried forward in the New Testament. The same people, the same faith, just a further development of that faith, as prophecy was fulfilled. No longer did our people terry in the ancient religions of Mithras and others which were only pointing out the further development of the faith. Thus, they moved on, not especially with the ancient Star Bible, but with the New Testament teaching, and on into the Church Age, understanding that the church is the spiritual center of this kingdom of earth, and it consists of all Israel. And they are the people who carry spiritually the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 12:17)

Here today, as we are now crossing from the Church Age to the beginning of the age of the Empowered Kingdom, we in Discipleship must stand ready to resist the evil, to cleanse our nation and lift up again the standards of the Christ and do it without fear. Ever since 1962, we more or less have been asleep and an enemy has been moving in and has gained a powerful position in our nation.

Looking back as to what has happened and then to our position as we stand today, we well realize that we are still standing at the crossroads trying to decide for ourselves where we should go. There seems to be only two choices . . . backward to where we used to be before we lost our way, or forward into a one world set up with no hope. Which way then will YAHWEH allow us to go here in 1996? Remember we are on the edge of the Age of the Emerging Empowered Kingdom which cannot come in under a One World or United Nations leadership. An Empowered Kingdom must have an Empowered people, a 'latter rain' much greater than the former 'rain' at the time of the disciples and Apostles.

If you are a student of the Swift ministry, then you have an understanding as to what took place in this nation and in the world from the early 1900's on up. And you would see that there are many prophecies yet to be fulfilled. But you would also know that when the Children of God move without fear to cleanse their nation, to face the enemy, this will be the most powerful force the enemy has ever faced. You should also remember that Salvation is being lifted out of an area of a pattern of error into a position of spiritual, mental and permanent security. Thus, you can then move without fear, as Jesus said, “All Israel shall be saved, as it is written.” HE was talking about the gathering of HIS sheep.

At this stage, we presume that you have progressed in your Biblical understanding to know that this does not mean the transference of our Inheritance, or God's covenants to the enemy. The blueprint of this Bible tells us the end of the story and we must realize that we are at the end of an age and walking into the Age of an Empowered Kingdom. The fear of the LORD is wisdom and turning from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28)

Yes, we look forward, not with fear, but for guidance as this new age brings in the Kingdom Administration and the 'Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdoms of our LORD and HIS Christ (or anointed ones.)

 

Until next time, YAHWEH willing.