The Ancient Roots of Western Religion
The Esoteric Tradition
"
The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were
fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."
Genesis 6:2
"
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men
of renown."
Genesis 6:4 (King James Version)
The "
Sons
of God" - or "sons of the gods" as interpreted elsewhere - were also
referred to as the
Nephilim:
sons of the
Grigori. The
Grigori, in turn, are also known as the "
Watchers",
believed to be angels. Thus, the Nephilim - as a consequence of their lust for
human women - were known as "
fallen
angels". Now I am a firm believer that mythical stories almost always have
some basis in truth though that truth is often cloaked in layer upon layer of
symbolism and allegory. So to try to uncover the truth behind this particularly
fascinating myth, many commentators have speculated about the nature of these
"angels". The Watchers are often depicted as having wings or are said to have
descended from heaven and there has been a natural inclination among some to
suggest that they were an
alien race.
Others maintain that they were the remnants of an advanced
antediluvian civilisation who
"seeded" our own. Both are interesting positions though I tend to favour the
idea that we are not the first human civilisation to have come to prominence on
this earth, nor will we be the last. Thus, in some way, we must have inherited
something - even if it is only in the form of myths and legends - from our
predecessors.
So let's speculate a little further: what if the stories of the Watchers (or
Grigori or Nephilim or Annunaki - whichever you prefer) do represent that kernel
of truth present is all myths? Let's say that these beings were highly advanced
in some ways: perhaps in astronomy, perhaps also in engineering and
construction. Perhaps they had discovered a technology that we, for all our
advanced physics, have yet to find. Maybe they used - for example - some
properties of sound to move and manoeuvre big, heavy objects. Possibly, and most
importantly, they were highly advanced spiritually. What if these ancestors were
a shy, retiring race? Maybe they saw the coming of their own demise and tried to
pass on some of their accrued wisdom for the benefit of the new kids on the
block - you and me. But, in doing so, in trying to select worthy candidates to
carry forth this important message, they - wittingly or otherwise - created a
priestly elite amongst the tribal society of the time.
A parable is what is used to convey a message to the masses when it is known
that the masses would not be able to comprehend the pure, unadulterated text.
The bible is full of them. So are all the other religious scriptures. Today, TV
producers and scriptwriters use the very same device for getting across their
point, whether that be philosophical, moral or merely commercial. The masses are
not now, nor ever have been, particularly sophisticated. In the past, without
the benefit of education, reading or exposure to intellectual debate, the
sophistication gap between the learned elite and the humble farmer must have
been a yawning chasm. Gods and angels they understood; cosmology and advanced
physics might have been a tad beyond their ken. So it seems to me entirely
plausible that there could have been an ancient and dying civilisation,
overlapping the genesis of our own, and that any interaction between the two has
come down to us in two forms: one being the common myths and legends (arising
out of the parables used in the early times), the other being an arcane
metaphysical codex, guarded and kept alive by trained initiates. Some (most?) of
these initiates might not have understood the true nature of the work they
dedicated their lives to preserving, but preserve it they must because the time
will come when the masses are ready to understand and accept.
Romantic nonsense? Maybe, but it might just go some way to explaining some of
the anomalies besetting the study of ancient history in Egypt and other, equally
mysterious, parts of the world. These are now well known due to a number of
alternative history bestsellers, TV documentaries, novels and films. Generally
speaking the sequence goes thus: a book with alternative theories on aspects of
ancient history catches the public imagination (think:
Fingerprints of the Gods
or
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
and, more recently, the novel
The Da Vinci Code
) and the copies fly off the shelves. Nothing will miff an academic more
than an outsider cashing in on his or her field of study so the debunkers
marshal their forces, sharpen their pens and acerbic wit and sally forth to do
battle with the usurpers. The strategy is deceptively simple: pick out the
weakest point of the new theory and systematically demolish it, then assert that
every other claim made in the book hangs upon this now discredited hook so the
whole thing is a shambles. Both of the non-fiction examples mentioned above (the
third title being a fictional rehash of much of the speculation contained in the
Holy Blood, Holy Grail) do have obvious weaknesses: a point that has been
readily admitted by the authors. However they do raise some important questions
and it is the clamour for answers that the debunkers have so effectively and
cynically stifled. "Nothing to answer" would be the stock response; "We were
right all along"; "You want answers? Ask a real expert". The trouble is that
they seem to be bogged down in the minutiae - shards of pottery or carbon dating
a piece of wood found in a tomb. So who's asking the big questions? Questions
such as WHY?
Why - in the case of the pyramids - build such huge structures to house the
earthly remains of a king? Vanity? I don't see that. Egyptian pharaohs believed
in the afterlife - the tomb was a way-station or a departure hall for the trip
to the stars. Perhaps many of the lesser pyramids (and there are many) were
tombs and perhaps that's why most experts assume that all pyramids are tombs.
But there does seem to be a different quality about the Giza pyramids -
especially the Great Pyramid. As
Dr. Robert Schoch says:
"
In many ways, tracing the history and meaning of the Great
Pyramid is key to understanding our origins as civilized beings. The Great
Pyramid is not just a stagnant pile of ancient rock, but a structure that
embodies the human spirit and it has lessons to teach us today".
Whether or not any lost civilisation had a hand in the design or building of
some of the ancient wonders of the world, it might be that they did leave behind
something equally (or more) important. By this I mean the wisdom which, by way
of myth and legend, became the source material for the great western religions
we know today. The message will surely have been grossly distorted along the way
but, in the mystery schools operating just beneath the surface of those
religions, we might yet rediscover that kernel of truth that the readers (myself
included) of the above mentioned popular books so desperately seek.