THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: occult@hollyfeld.org (Occult Elist) From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva) Subject: (O) History -- Magi(c) Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 16:43:37 -0700 (PDT) 49980421 aa2 Hail Satan! for your perusal and review. blessed beast! tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com nagasiva ====================================================================== From: Yahya MOrig-To: tariqas@world.std.com The frankincense caravan routes of antiquity led up the Red Sea to Syria. Frankincense was exported from Southern Arabia to Egypt and Rome, and no doubt other places as well. Anywhere in Syria it would have been available. The point of frankincense in the Christ mythos seems to me not so much the commercial distribution of it as the symbolism of Jesus being a Hierophant; gold symbolizing kingship, and myrrh symbolizing mortality. Speaking of the Magi, I have been wondering why the hereditary priest caste of the ancient Iranian Medes (corresponding to Kohanim, Brahmins, & Druids) should have become the epitomes of wonder-working mysticism for the ancient Mediterraneans. This was the origin of the word "magic," and the "Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster" was a magician's manual of ancient Rome--not actually Zoroastrian at all, but it traded on the exotic resonance of the name. I have not found any evidence that the magical practices of the ancient Greeks or Romans had the slightest thing in common with the Zoroastrian religion! Probably the average Roman had little or no idea of actual Zoroastrianism, so the void in his information could be filled in by all kinds of wild fantasies. After all, the Zoroastrians were mystics of the mysterious Orient (Rome had no direct contact with India or China, but they did deal with Iran), and the Magi had long been tripping on the mythical psychedelic haoma. In the Christ mythos they got associated with astrology, but the original astrologers came from the other mysterious Oriental land, Chaldea (Iraq), which at the beginning of the Christian era was part of the Sassanian Empire. So to an ancient Greek or Roman, the mystical/astrological thaumaturgists came out of this somewhat hazy idea of the magical Orient. The reputation of the Magi persisted even stronger in Islamic Iran, as you can see in the poetry of Hafiz, where the "Pir of the Magi" symbolizes the Sufi shaykh, and in the metaphysics of Mulla Sadra, where the ancient "Pahlavi sages" are given credit for first understanding the symbolism of Light as Being. beh may sajjadeh rangin kon garet pir-e moghan guyad keh salek bi khabar na-bud ze rah o rasm-e manzel-ha Stain your prayer mat with wine if the Magus tells you to, for such a traveler knows the road, and the customs of its stations. (Hafiz) EOF ____________...oooOOO---occult@hollyfeld.org---OOOooo..._____________ To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe" to occult-request@hollyfeld.org To unsubscribe your@email.com send "unsubscribe your@email.com" http://www.hollyfeld.org/heaven/elists/occult.phtml
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|