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.
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/PlanSphere/19220424p02.html
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.
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.
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
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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
Even more popular today, is to view the universe as a simulation, reflecting the shift from analog to digital technologies
In Part 2 (coming soon) we will discuss the early history of Christianity and its relation to the ancient myths.
