The Sun of God (Part 2)

This is a continuation of Part 1, my notes on "The Threefold Sun and the Risen Christ" 

Here I present more details of the ancient world, especially in Greece and Egypt during the rise of Rome, before the widespread adoption of Christianity.

The Roman influence

In the centuries before and after Christianity c. 338 BC - 117 AD, the Romans were steadily expanding their territory beyond the Italian peninsula, to Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. 

The Roman Empire in 117 AD

Their unique political structure and powerful military helped them achieve their conquests with amazing efficiency. Rome's rise to prominence marked a time of transition between the ancient world and Middle Ages.

Roman Senate

"Cicero Denounces Catiline" — Cesare Maccari

"The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae" — John Trumbull

The Roman Republic battles Carthage in the Second Punic War (218 - 201 BC)

The Romans readily took aspects from the different cultures belonging to peoples coming under their rule, and adapted them to their society. As a result, their society was a cultural melting pot. 

They particularly admired the Greeks for their philosophy and art, and cultural exchange between Rome and Greece was a defining quality of this time period, known as Classical antiquity. 

"The Consummation of Empire" — Thomas Cole

Classical antiquity (8th century BC - 5th century AD) 

Between Greece and Egypt

The Greeks were the inheritors of a magnificent ancient wisdom and heritage from the East, notably Egypt's influence on Greek thought. Many Greek scholars, such as Herodotus, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates travelled overseas to study philosophy, religion, medicine, and science, especially under Egyptian priests. 

Herodotus 'the Father of History' c. 484 - 425 BC studied firsthand various cultures, including the Persians, Egyptians, and Scythians, collecting ethnographic information and detailing it in his book "The Histories"

For Egyptians, religious devotion was a way of life. The goddess Maa'at was central to their belief and practice. She symbolized truth, justice, balance, harmony, and order. All decisions were weighed against Ma'at, similar to the Greek idea of the Logos.

logos, in ancient Greek philosophy and early Christian theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning.

The weighing of the heart ceremony: the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of Ma'at. If it was lighter, the person had led a righteous life and would be granted eternal life.

During Ptolemaic (Greek) rule of Egypt around 305-30 BC, the Library of Alexandria was built as a center of research and comparative study, to gather knowledge and wisdom from various cultures (Egyptian, Persian, Hebrew, etc.) as well as preserving texts.

The Library of Alexandria was built around 295 BC but later destroyed throughout the centuries

In Greco-Egyptian myth, a figure known as Hermes Trismegistus appears, the combination of Greek god Hermes and Egyptian god Thoth. He is a revealer of Divine Truths, and through his teachings the Hermetic religion and philosophy is established. In the anthroposophical tradition, Hermes Trismegistus is the inaugurator of Egyptian cultural Age (2907 - 747 BC)

Hermes Trismegistus the "Thrice-great"

"As above, so below" is a central principle of Hermetic philosophy - what happens on a small scale reflects the bigger picture, similar to how a fractal's pattern repeats infinitely at any scale.

The Emerald tablet engraving by Johann-Daniel Mylius in "Opus Medico-Chymicum", his treatise on alchemy. The scene is divided into Above and Below.

Fractal geometry

Fractals in Nature

In the lecture, Steiner states:

"The world would never have had such a sublime Greek art, nor such a wonderful Greek philosophy, would never have had a Plato and an Aristotle, were it not that into the art and philosophy of Greece, streams from this ancient wisdom were able to flow."

"The School of Athens" by Raphael features Aristotle, Plato and other Greek philosophers

 

Rome and the decline of ancient wisdom

As we can see, spiritual wisdom flourished in the ancient world and was particularly important to the Greeks. However, the story changes once Rome rises to power and absorbs the neighboring traditions. The Romans were more imperially-focused and decadent than the philosophically-inclined Greeks. Initiation wisdom became susceptible to profanation, losing its original meaning due to ignorance and irreverence.

"Many teachings that had their source in initiation wisdom passed into the hands of distinguished Romans...especially Roman emperors...[There was] no understanding for the esoteric factor in Greek art and Greek wisdom, no recognition that these contained elements which could be traced back to the very most ancient wisdom teaching.

Consequently, the hopelessly prosaic, the semi-barbarous civilisation of Rome took over what we may call the surface brightness, the sheen, of Greek culture, but was quite incapable of handing on, in its true form, to later generations what lived at the heart of this culture."

 

"The Romans in their Decadence" — Thomas Couture

This period of history witnessed some of the most dramatic shifts in the Mysteries. The ancient Wisdom gradually disappeared from the common knowledge of the people. The pagan religions were replaced by monotheistic worldviews ('pagan' was a term used to refer to the followers of polytheistic and ethnic religions under the Roman Empire.) 

Though it was a natural consequence of humanity's evolution, nevertheless, the cultural dominance and influence of Rome played a key role in this process. Although philosophically unsophisticated, the Romans were technologically advanced, especially in construction and engineering. Their organized society and impressive infrastructure was unique in the world, which contributed to the expansion of their vast empire.

Pax Romana: Two hundred years of economic prosperity and stability under Roman rule 

In Part 3, we will discuss the descent of Christ in world evolution, and the early history of Christianity in relation to ancient myths.

The Sun of God (Part 1)

In this series of posts, we will explore esoteric concepts that show the connection between ancient myths, Christianity, and our life today. History is not just something abstract, it is a never-ending story of cycles of change in the world, and lives within us. My notes are taken from this lecture by Rudolf Steiner - "The Threefold Sun and the Risen Christ" with some additions and pictures I feel will help give more context.

With this post, but also the blog in general, my hope is to be as accessible as possible to those interested in the subject. I am by no means an expert or even an academic! Just a student of life whose search, with all its ups and downs, led them to these teachings. 

Part 2 here

The divinity of the Sun throughout the ages

According to the Esoteric Tradition, our current human civilization is divided into 7 cultural Ages. Humanity goes back even further to the time before the Great Flood, known as Atlantis. There are many flood myths recorded in different religions and cultures that point to a universal awareness of this event. 

Lord Matsya warns King Manu of a great flood

"The Wrath of the Seas" — Ivan Aivazovsky (1886)

We are in the 5th cultural Age, the Age of Pisces (1413 - 3573 AD), characterized by the dominance of Western European culture and science. In this lecture, Steiner begins at the 2nd cultural Age, called the Ancient Persian, with most significant human developments happening within the Iranian plateau.

Cultural epochs

Emergence of civilization 4000 - 3000 BC

Ancient Persia

This second cultural Age, also known as the Age of Gemini (5067 - 2907 BC) was characterized by a redirection of focus from the spiritual world to the physical world, and a conquest over it. Hence the emergence of agriculture and domestication of livestock during the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age period. Though this age is called "ancient Persian" it's not to be confused with the Persian Empire which came thousands of years later.

Artifacts from 4th millennium BC

Development of farming in late Neolithic

The teacher of mankind at the height of this civilization was Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster) c. 4000 - 3000 BC. It was customary for pupils of Great Teachers to carry on their name, and the one who is historically regarded as Zarathustra, who lived c. 600 - 500 BC, was 'the last of a succession of pupils.'

Zarathustra was an exalted Initiate of the Mysteries - the secrets of existence. In the Mystery Schools of ancient times, sacred knowledge and exercises for soul development were imparted onto pupils by their teachers. Through a rite of passage, initiation, they were formally admitted to a role in higher planes of existence/consciousness. 

"An Idealistic Depiction of the Atlantean Mystery Temple" by J. Augustus Knapp

Zarathustra taught of a great, radiant Spiritual Being, Ahura Mazda, that resides in the Heavens, in the same place of today we would perceive the physical Sun. He taught that the one day, although far away, this Being would descend to Earth and unite with it. Ahura Mazda had an adversary, his twin Evil Spirit called Ahriman, who we will revisit later. 

Ahura Mazda

Zarathustra

This cosmic Sun-Spirit emitted divine rays, like sunshine, 'that enkindle in soul and spirit the Higher man we aspire to be.' In fact, all the kingdoms of Life on Earth - mineral, plant, animal, and human - their activity and flourishing springs forth from these divine rays. It was the source of all human goodness, and life and existence itself on Earth.

All Life is sustained by the Sun

Ancient Egypt

In the next cultural Age, the Egyptian-Chaldean (2907 - 747 BC), the initiates could no longer perceive the radiant Cosmic Being of the Sun, only its elemental forces that come to Earth. These are the chemical forces of fire and light from the Sun, the 'light of Heaven' that carries with it spiritual forces of life and movement.

The Sun, the progenitor of everything, they called Ra, and his representative Osiris, the One who represents on Earth the forces of the Sun that man carries within him. Osiris is the god of the underworld and resurrection, which is an important theme we will revisit.

Ra and Osiris

The Book of the Dead - the Egyptian guide to the Underworld

Ancient Greece

In the first part of the Greco-Latin period c. 800 - 500 BC, man lost all power to view the Mysteries of the Sun. Greek initiates like Pythagoras and Anaxagoras could only see the effect of the Sun within the Earth's environment, the 'ether' that surrounds the space of the Earth and permeates man - what we would call the atmosphere. They called this ether Zeus. Bear in mind, it was the initiates that spoke of Zeus, not the laypeople. 

"Ether (also spelled aether, æther, aither; from Greek: Αἰθήρ Aither "the clear (blue) sky") was the original name given by the Greeks to the blue sky, illuminated by sunlight and starlight"

Today we know the Sun is the foundational energy source for Earth's weather and climate systems.

Zeus was the god of the sky and weather, particularly lightning.

Zeus and the Giant Porphyrion c. 400 BC

Roman fresco, Jupiter (Zeus) and Eros from Herculaneum c.1 AD

In summary, the three aspects of the Sun represent three stages in the cultural evolution of mankind. Steiner refers to it as "The Threefold Sun." 

The pure Spiritual Being, Ahura Mazda, taught by Zarathustra that resides in the Sun. The 'light of Heaven' that brings spiritual deeds to Earth, through whom the Egyptians called Osiris. And the ether of the sun-flooded environment of Earth, called Zeus by the Greeks.

Mythology

In the study of ancient societies, we see they had pluralistic belief-systems, often taking on gods from different cultures while re-naming them, or relating them to their own. From an esoteric perspective, this was due to the common consciousness humans had towards the natural-spiritual world.

"Interpretatio graeca refers to the tendency of the ancient Greeks to identify foreign deities with their own gods"

Roman fresco - Egyptian goddess Isis welcoming Greek heroine Io to Egypt

Tacitus, Roman historian and the author of "Germania" where he gives Roman names to the gods of Germanic tribes. Interpretatio romana was a common practice by Romans.

Many of the myths and legends written in history, like the Odyssey for example, refer to an earlier time in the Bronze Age c. 3000 - 1200 BC or beforehand, but as time moves closer to the present age, there is seemingly less presence of spiritual beings.

The Flottila fresco from Akrotiri c. 1600 BC 

The Aegean Sea, home to the Bronze age Minoan culture and the setting of many Greek myths

Because of how humanity evolved towards materialism, we now only perceive the external, mechanical, Laws of Nature. For the ancient people, mythology was how the natural world was explained - the same way we learn science in the classroom today. However, this disparity between myth and science is only an illusion. Spirit and Matter exist on one continuum, and neither exists without the other. 

The Cosmos as a machine, or clockwork mechanism

Even more popular today, is to view the universe as a simulation, reflecting the shift from analog to digital technologies