The Ancient Roots of Western Religion
Subterranean Streams
Orthodox science, like orthodox religion, faces challenges from alternative
theories usually arising out of the ranks of dedicated amateurs. Some of these
challengers are cranks, while others are highly qualified in their own fields
and have applied their knowledge and experience to their amateur passion. It
requires an open mind and a lot of cross-referencing to separate the cranky
ideas from the meritorious. The trouble is that, all too often, the orthodoxy
tends to dismiss all alternative theories as crackpot ideas. It is an
understandable human reaction: why should someone who has spent his/her life
working hard, studying, researching; someone who has followed the correct
academic and professional path, face a challenge from unqualified upstarts with
few or no credentials in the field? And the truth of the matter is that the
majority of the would-be challenges probably do turn out to be poorly researched
speculation that can be dismissed with a few well chosen references (usually
accompanied by some equally well chosen and barbed put-down). Nevertheless it
seems to me - the casual observer - that the orthodoxy has been somewhat guilty
of smug self-satisfaction in ignoring or dismissing some of these new theories.
New tributaries are forming which are now merging into an alternative stream.
Whether that stream ever becomes the mainstream remains to be seen. If it does,
then the universities will have new or amended courses and doctorates and the
alternative will become the orthodox. It was ever thus.
So what are these theories and how do they impact on the
archaeological/historical orthodoxy and traditional religions? Well, the
theories are alternative because they disagree with the conventional
explanations for so many ancient mysteries, for example: the Ancient Egyptians
and the Pyramids, biblical events such as the great flood, the stone circles of
Europe, the Grail myths, the meaning and influence of ancient texts and the
origins of mystery schools and secret societies. The impact? From the
scientific/academic side: scathing dismissals and furious debunking (visit the
Hall of Maat
website for a taste of this). From the religious: support when the theory
appears to support their religious texts, rejection when it doesn't. The
debunk-fest from the sceptics is all very reminiscent - in tone and ferocity -
of the treatment reserved for parapsychologists or Darwin-doubters by the good
folks over at CSICOP/CSI. No surprise then that two of the most vociferous
critics of what they term "pseudo-archaeology", Ed Krupp and Ken Feder, are
listed as
Fellows of CSICOP
(now called CSI).
But what I am interested in when sifting through all this speculation is to
discover whether that stream of new theories reflects and confirms an actual
underground stream of arcane knowledge: a common concept of spirituality -
indeed, a common concept of reality itself. It has been called the "Perennial
Wisdom" or the "
Perennial
Philosophy" and it can be found underlying many - if not all - major
religions, both Western and Eastern. It is at the very core of Egyptian
Hermeticism, the
Jewish
Kabbalah,
Islamic
Sufism and
Esoteric
Christianity including
Gnosticism. Ever since my interest in these matters was piqued many years
ago, I have suspected that - whatever the faith - there is one religion for the
masses and another for the adepts. Throughout the ages, religion has been a tool
used by the powerful to control the masses. Some would have it that this is all
that religion has ever been but I wouldn't go that far. Any tool can be used for
good or bad, to build or destroy, and religion has been no different. Some great
works have been done in the name of God while at the same time awful atrocities
have been committed in the very same cause. This is the dual aspect of orthodox
religion: a faith which espouses virtuousness and altruistic values contrasted
with the cynical machinations of a priestly hierarchy, bent on mass domination.
Evidence of the former can be seen in a million-and-one everyday saintly deeds
performed by clergy and congregation alike. Evidence of the latter is, sadly,
all too abundant in our history books and on our TV screens to this very day.
What is the definition of oxymoron? Answer: the term "holy war".
Underlying the surface infrastructure of the mass religion, however, there
appears to be this quiet but potent subculture. Just how potent remains to be
seen. Some would have it that - in the form of one or several
secret societies - the members of this subculture are the real rulers of the
world. Others believe they are the leaders in waiting - hatching plots and grand
designs to bring about the
New World
Order. Others yet would have it that these are the enlightened few: those
whose time has not yet come but who work in preparation for a general or mass
shift towards that enlightenment which is our collective birthright. I suspect
that there are varying degrees of truth in each of those positions. I think that
there is an
ancient knowledge,
kept alive throughout the millennia by various (though not necessarily coherent)
groups of adherents, often at the risk of discovery and a certain death penalty.
This knowledge, like the superficial mass religion if often underlies, can be
used for means either virtuous or nefarious.
I'd like now, if I can, to trace the source of this subterranean stream of
knowledge through the ages and events - historical, religious and scientific -
to the present day. This is inevitably, of course, mostly speculation on my part
and, indeed, on the part of other more qualified authors whom I have read before
coming to my own conclusions. But I do think there is strong evidence out there
and that it does form a pattern or a fabric when woven together.