Sacred History, 20-28 

 

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20

The Buddha's Story

151-158

 

p. 156 not visionary?

"The Buddha's teaching ... was abstract and conceptual rather than visionary. {HOW SO? The Buddha himself consorted regularly with various deities, according to the Tri-pit.aka.} It was ... bare of imagery ... ." {UTTERLY FALSE! The Jaina and Bauddha religions are basically idol-worshipping, through-and-through.}

{INACCURATE! The Vajra-yana dharma aboundeth in vast multitudes of deities (such as dhyani-buddha-s), who are required to be devoutly visualized by devotees in the process of worship-services conducted in gaudily-painted temples with highly-ornate architecture well-adorned with gold-plated idols arranged in intricate man.d.ala-s.}

 

{The Vaidik religion, how-be-it, was (prior to the advent of Jaina and Bauddha religions) entirely devoid of idols and devoid of temples. Idol-worship was invented by Jaina religion and by Bauddha religion, and was introduced into Astika (Varn.a-As`rama) dharma through the mediaeval Kaula dharma.}

 

p. 157 There is no so-called "self"!

"Self is an error, an illusion ... ."

{The notion of "self" is an non-real illusion, because only the deities, who are the intrinsically intelligent principles of consciousness collectively constituting the totality of universe, can be fundamentally existent-and-real.}

 

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21

Sokrates and His Daimon

159-169

 

pp. 159-61 personal daimon

p. 159

"Socrates ... had his own personal daemon, an uncanny advisor who had supernatural knowledge of the world, ... repeatedly ... telling him what he should do. "It began in my early childhood," he said, "a sort of voice which comes to me.""

p. 160

"But what really distinguished him ... -- the voice of his own private daemon ... ."

p. 161

"According to his pupil Plato, we are all given a daemon at birth to guide us through our earthly lives.

{This personal daimon is, of course, our "guardian angel".}

 

According to ... Plutarch {that is, not the historian, but the neo-Platonist employing "Ploutarkhos" as his sobriquet} we are all able in principle to hear divine promptings, but Socrates could hear them more clearly than most people ... ."

 

p. 161, Fig. Sokrates as Silenos

"There is a tradition that Socrates was a reincarnation of the satyr Silenus ... ." {"Silenus, the wise teacher of Dionysos, was born again, and in his reincarnation he was none other than Sokrates. ... The reincarnated Dionysos ... was Plato." (WWTS18, p. 96)} {"Alcibiades ... offers ... Socrates as a silenus." (PQuD, p. 70)}

{Mayhap Platon recounted the tale concerning Atlantis in honor of Sokrates's immortal nature as Silenos; for, Silenos narrated his own dream about old men who (GM @83.b) "after passing backwards through middle age, young manhood, and adolescence, they become children again, the infants" -- this being another Platonic theme.}

WWTS18 = Rudolf Steiner : Wonders of the World : Trials of the Soul and Revelations of the Spirit. Series XVIII. London : Anthroposophical Publ Co, 1929. = https://books.google.com/books?id=952olGlRZ08C&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq= 

PQuD = Diskin Clay : Platonic Questions : Dialogues with the Silent Philosopher. PA State Univ Pr, University Park, 2000. https://books.google.com/books?id=awAPM2ygobYC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq= 

 

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22

The World Inside-Out

170-184

 

pp. 172-4 Apollonios of Tyana

p. 172

"Apollonius ... took a four-year vow of silence ... . ... Now he set out on his travels alone and on foot, visiting Athens, Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. ... After a while a young Assyrian companion joined him. Damis would record his deeds and sayings. Apollonius, he said, would ask to be left alone ... in the hour before dawn, when spiritual beings and the spirits of the dead speak most clearly to those who ... listen. ... Damis believed that his master understood the language of the birds, and ... that he could read minds. On the borders of India that came across a brass {read "bronze"} monument with an inscription stating that Alexander the Great had passed that way. ...

p. 173

As they were leaving, the Brahmins gave Apollonius seven rings, telling him taht they each sported the stone of one of the planets ... . Back home, Apollonius wrote a thesis, On Sacrifices, arguing for the abolition of animal sacrifices ... and against ... contests of the gladiators, and performed an exorcism on a man possessed by a demon who caused him to attack every woman he met. ...

p. 174

When he was brough before ... tribunal, he said, "You cannot touch me," and vanished in front of hundreds of people. ...

After his death he is said to have appeared to his disciples."

 

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23

The Sun at Midnight

185-196

 

pp. 186-7 Caelestial Hierarchies {Peri tes ouranias hierakhias}

p. 186

"Later in Athens Paul met a man called Dionysus ... on the Mount of Mars, the Areopagus ... . Dionysius the Areopagite ... wrote ... The Celestial Hierarchies ..., giving a systematic account of the nine orders of angels.

{"[p. 351a] They are certainly not by St. Paul's Dionysius; they ... probably date from ... [p. 351b] another Dionysius (?Dionysius of Rhinocolura, c. 370) ... ." (OCD, s.v. "Dionysius (4) the Areopagite", p. 351a-b)}

 

The lowest is the [apparently nameless] Angels and above

p. 187

them come the Archangels, including Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

The third order in the hierarchy is called the Principalities by Paul. These have a care for nations.

The next order is called the Powers. These are the angels of the planets, who have a special role in the shaping of biological forms and also human consciousness. They are the spiritual beings referred to in Genesis as the Elohim.

The angels above the Powers are the Virtues, the Dominations, the Thrones -- the "Timelords" -- and

the Cherubim, the twelve angels of the constellations.

The highest order is made up of the Seraphim, the six-winged angels seen in a vision by Isaiah and ... by St. Francis. The Seraphim are the highest thoughts of God {God = YHWH}."

{Colossians 1:16 .“For ... all things ..., in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities ... ."}

OCD = N. G. L. Hammond & H. H. Scullard (edd.) : The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford, at the Clarendon Pr, 1970.

The Celestial Hierarchy. http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/CelestialHierarchy.html 

 

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24

The Age of Miracles

197-206

 

p. 197 loci of divine apparitions

"In his Life of Marcellus, Plutarch reported that the temple of Enguinum in Sicilia was revered because of apparitions of the mother goddess that took place there." {Enguon is "famous for an ancient temple of the Matres which aroused the greed of Verres." (EB1911, s.v. "Engyon")}

{This city, in Sikelia, is Enguon, "founded by Cretans (Diod. Sic. 4,79; Plut. Marcellus 20)" (P-W, q.v.).} {"It was colonized by Rhodio-Cretans, who brought with them the cult of the Great Mother." (PECS, q.v.)} {In Rhodos, Halia is mother of six sons (GM @42.c).}

"Philostratus reported frequent manifestations of of Aesculapius, the god of healing, at temple at Tarsus." {"The legend which was believed to be graven on the statue of Sardanapalus at Anchiale (12 m. S.W. from Tarsus) might have been the motto of most Tarsians: "Eat, drink, play, for nothing else is worth this (gesture)" (referred to by St Paul, r Cor. xv. 32)." (EB1911, s.v. "Tarsus")}

"Pliny reported apparitions of the gods above a consecrated stone seat in the temple of Hecules {actually, of Melk-qart 'king [of the] city'} at Tyre {\S.or\}."

EB1911, s.v. "Engyon" https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/e/engyon.html 

P-W, s.v. Enguon https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/engyon-e330500 

PECS = Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. https://www.gtp.gr/LocInfo.asp?infoid=49&code=EITSSC00PMOPMO34290&PrimeCode=EITSSC00PMOPMO34290&Level=10&PrimeLevel=10&IncludeWide=1&LocId=60898 

EB1911, s.v. "Tarsus" https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/t/tarsus.html 

 

p. 199 declaration by the Psukhe Kosmoio = Anima Mundi 

"Plotinus wrote about working with what he called the World Soul ... : "I am vision-loving, and I create by the vision-seeing faculty within me. I create the objects of contemplation ... . I gaze within and the figures of the material world take their being as they fall from my brooding.""

 

pp. 203-4 how Denis because patron-saint of Paris

p. 203

"Genevieve was born in 419.  ... she moved to Paris to join a convent. ... She talked

p. 204

of the different orders of angels described by Dionysius, and ...

{This Denis (venerated by Genevie`ve) is definitely not the same as the Hellenic author of the Caelestial Hierarchies, being instead a "bishop of Paris in the third century" (W, s.v. "Denis").}

 

of dark angels -- which is why she is often depicted with a demon on her shoulder. ...

{"beset by demons ... St. Genevieve is therefore represented in Christian Art with a lighted taper in her hand, and a demon trying to blow it out from behind her shoulder with a pair of bellows. " (C-S"Saint Genevieve")}

 

St. Dionysius -- St. Denis -- and Genevieve would become the patron saints of Paris."

W, s.v. "Denis" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis "Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christian legend, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon".

C-S"Saint Genevieve" http://www.catholic-saints.info/patron-saints/saint-genevieve.htm 

 

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25

The Mountain Cometh

207-213

 

p. 208 Simon Magos

"Simon Magus ... traveled widely, accompanied by a beautiful woman called Helena. He claimed she was a reincarnation of Helen of Troy. It was said that his power as a magus came in part from the sex magic he performed with her. His many well-attested feats of magic included healing the sick and raising the dead,

making statues come alive and speak,

{This sort of event is described by Aelius Aristides as occurring in his own dreams (AeA&ST).}

flying and making himself invisible.  

{These occurr during projection of the astral body; and are likewise feasible in dreams.}

... he could command ... demons."

{This is typical of shamanic dreaming.}

AeA&ST = C. A. Behr : Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales. Amsterdam : Adolf M. Hakkert, 1968.

 

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26

The Paladins of Pain

214-221

 

pp. 220-1 >al-H^id.r & the Green Knight

p. 220

"Khd{.}ir ... changes himself into a log and floats downstream.

He enables a schoolboy to remember the whole of the {Qur>an} instantly.

He asks a man to eat an apple, and looking at the apple the man sees an ocean running from the Throne of God to the Earth and shining like the sun.

A wicked king keeps trying to execute him, but he keeps reappearing ... ."

p. 221

"The Green Knight who arrived at the court of King Arthur was beheaded but "sprang up again and so amazed them all.""

 

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27

Perceval ... Himself

222-229

 

pp. 224-6 1st arrival of Parzifal at the Grail-Palace, with lack of success on account of his not having been instructed concerning what to do upon arrival thereat -- his lack of success thereat resulting from his not knowing who the personages residing there were, nor what their history was, and what their needs were -- so that he had to depart thence without success {This is the Wolfram von Eschenbach version of the incomplete account of the result of the visitation to the Grail-Palace, as written by authors prior to Wolfram von Eschenbach.}

p. 224

"The castle was a long way away, and it was dark when he arrived, but the servants ... led Perceval into a brightly lit hall.

 

Four hundred knights

{cf. the Centzon Totochtin '400 Rabbits' (PVSBM, p. 103)}

 

were already at table. They were all bearded and wearing white hauberks ... . They watched ... in silence as Perceval was led ... to the top table by the fire. Here a man sat on wooden throne, wrapped in sable ... this lord of the castle ... . ...

p. 225

Two nobly dressed women carried golden candelabras, each with seven candles, around the hall. Then a third woman, also nobly dressed, appeared, carrying a golden bowl. She too walked around the hall. ... Everyone else seemed to understand the significance of the ceremony ... . ... Before leaving the hall, they opened a door and showed him a room off to the side. Here, in front of a large tapestry ..., an extremely old man lay on a low couch. ...

That night Percival had ... dreams. He was attacked by beaks and talons. ... To his surprise ... in the morning, ... when he emerged from his room ... The place seemed completely deserted. He tried several doors ... .

p. 226

It took a while before he found one that was unlocked. It opened into another chamber, where again all the doors were locked except one. By this means Perceval found ... the maincourtyard, where his horse was saddled and waiting. He cross the drawbridge and immediately it was drawn up behind him."

Wolfram von Eschenbach (transl. by Jessie L. Weston) : Parzival : A Knightly Epic. London, 1894. (reprint New York : G. E. Stechert & Co., 1912.) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47297/47297-h/47297-h.htm 

PVSBM = Allen J. Christenson : Popol Vuh : the Sacred Book of the Maya. O Bks, Alresford (Hants), 2003. (reprint Univ of OK Pr, Norman, 2007) https://books.google.com/books?id=rWr-_NXanhMC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq= 

 

pp. 228-9 a hermit's narrative, instructing Parzifal concerning Titurel, including a personal suggestion to Parzifal as to what was to be done upon arrival at the Grail-Palace; Parzifal's 2nd advent at the Grail-Palace, with consequent success in healing the hermit's brother Amfortas {This is the epilogue-account first endited by Wolfram von Eschenbach himself.}

p. 228

"Suddenly the voice of an angel came out of the cloud, telling Titurel that he had been chosen to build a castle on Monsalvaat to guard the Holy Grail. ... Thus Titurel and his family became guardians of the Grail. ...

But ... Titurel's grandson, Amfortas, and the land itself were now wasting away with illness. Titurel ... had been told of a prophecy that a chosen one ... would come ... -- and if he asked the right question before nightfall, the evil spell afflicting the family and the land would be broken. ...

p. 229

In no time at all he [Parzifal] found himself at the gates of the castle. Again he was expected. Amfortas and the 400 knights were in the same places as before. ... Turning to Amfortas, he said, "What ails you, great king?" Immediately the Grail shone with a great light ..., and Perceval suddenly found that Titurel was standing beside him,

 

holding crown over his head. A beam of sunlight came in through a hole in the roof and struck the crown, illuminating it so that is seemed to open up like a flower."

[p. 469, n. 27:3 "There is an allusion here to the activation of the crown chakra {Sahasra-ara '1000 spokes'; via the "Secret of the Golden Flower" (SGFChBL)}.]

SGFChBL = Richard Wilhelm (transl. from the German by Cary F. Baynes) : The Secret of the Golden Flower : a Chinese Book of Life. 1931.

 

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28

Tales of the {<}Arabian Nights

230-243

 

pp. 230-2, 234-5, 470 the City of Brass

p. 230

"Three explorers ... and their servants set off through unknown territory to find the fabled City of Brass. After nearly two years they came to a high hill where they found a brass statue of a horseman carrying a glistening spear {lance?}. On the spear was an inscription : "... the way that leads to the City of Brass ... ." ... The explorers continued their journey until ... they came across a pillar of stone from which protruded two stone wings and four stone legs like the legs of lions. ... A voice ... to speak

p. 231

to them ... was a jinn trapped in the pillar by Solomon.  ... they set off again. Then one evening they saw on the horizon ... a black object ..., and one of them remembered that The Book of Hidden Treasures described the City of Brass as having black walls ... . They had found the City of Brass! ... The walls were some eighty cubits tall ... . The Book of Hidden Treasures claimed it had twenty-five gates ... . ...

p. 232

The sheikh now walked along the top of the wall until he came to one ... small figure of a horseman ... . ... When he turned it twelve times, the gates ground open with a noise ... . The sheikh went it and ... the others who had been waiting outside ... entered the city, ... and ... came to a magnificent ultramarine palace. Venturing inside, ...

p. 234

They noticed a door inlaid with ivory and ebony and adorned with plates of gold. ... .  ... they found themselves in a passage paved with marble and with curtains running along both sides on which wild beasts and birds were embroidered in gold and silver thread. At the end of the passage, they arrived at a room ... . In the middle ..., they discovered a pavilion.  ... inside were birds made of gold and emeralds arranged around a fountain. By the fountain was a couch on which lay a girl ... . ... "She has been skillfully embalmed," said the wazir ... . The sheikh ... read an inscription on a gold tablet beneath the girl's feet : ...

p. 235

I am Tedmur {\Tadmor\, <arabiy name of Palmyra}, daughter of the king of the Amalekites {<maleqiym} ... .""

p. 470, n. 28:1

""Behold I have set thee today as a strong city, ... and a wall of brass ..." (Jeremiah 1:18). Henry Corbin ... recorded a tale which ... the hero's adventures take him to the fabulous world, ... where the mysterious Hidden Imam lives. ... Henry Corbin, Mundus Imaginalis; or, The Imaginary and the Imaginal, translated by Ruth Horine (Ipswich : Golgonooza Press, 1976)."

 

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Mark Booth : The Sacred History. Atria Bks (a division of Simon & Schuster), NY, 2013.