Mythological/Religious Curiosities

[Jiva]

I discovered some more interesting burial traditions, this time from the Toraja people in Indonesia. Apparently, every few years, deceased relatives have their coffins and bodies cleaned and redecorated. The video in the article makes it look like an extremely public ritual, with people walking passed and others getting their photo taken with the deceased. I read in another article that sometimes the corpse will stay in the house with the living for a day or two, but I don't know how accurate this is.

[Heith]

I read in another article that sometimes the corpse will stay in the house with the living for a day or two, but I don't know how accurate this is.

Yes, I have heard of this kind of thing in Asia as well. In Japan back in the old days it was a custom to have the dead with the living for a few days before the funeral. And in another place, families would have mummified members of the family present at all times.

"The guide told me that for many years, he and his brothers slept in the same bed with the mummy of his grandfather. His family had kept the mummy of the old man, and not only had it around the house, but in the bed where they would sleep with it."

As described by Paul Koudounaris in this interview http://heathenharvest.org/2013/03/08/of ... udounaris/

[Jiva]

This was news to me, but apparently it's been known for quite a while: camels in the Bible are apparently an anachronism.

[Jiva]

I've recently discovered that one of the oldest Biblical narratives in Anglo-Saxon is a version of The Fall, written sometime in the 9th or 10th century, although there's a fragment of the same story in Old Saxon (Low German) therefore making the story itself older and quite widespread. It's interesting because the narrative is significantly different from the Vulgate. Satan first attempts to persuade Adam to eat the forbidden fruit but fails. He then uses this failure as leverage to successfully convince Eve to eat the fruit and later aid in the persuasion of Adam by stating that God would be angry at Adam's refusal. Satan also firstly appears as the traditional serpent to Adam, but later as an angel to Eve and again as an angel when Adam and Eve are together. Therefore, one of the primary allegorical readings is that Eve represents the senses while Adam represents reason, with the conclusion being that senses overwhelm or confuse reason.

For those interested in classic literature, it's also possible that this alternate narrative inspired Milton to write Paradise Lost as one of his friends owned it, although while this theory's tempting it's also tenuous.

Anyway, here's the Wiki page and an article/translation by Susan Oldrieve which explains the allegories and possible Milton link in more detail if anyone's interested.

[Nefastos]

Therefore, one of the primary allegorical readings is that Eve represents the senses while Adam represents reason, with the conclusion being that senses overwhelm or confuse reason.

In this reading, it is interesting to note that reason exists before the senses, which is in concordance with the occult doctrine of emanation. (Higher principles slowly emanate out of themselves the lower, more instrumental ones, before the reversal process which follows only after the turn in matter has been reached.)

[Heith]

https://roadtrippers.com/blog/first-ima ... re-amazing


Here's first images of the ongoing project for the satanic monument. It actually can be quite beautiful, even if the reason behind erecting such a monument isn't a very spiritual one.

[Insanus]

This was news to me, but apparently it's been known for quite a while: camels in the Bible are apparently an anachronism.

Hm. Hebrew letter gimel means a camel & is the path in the tree of life that connects Kether with Tiphareth through the Abyss. It's been a while since I last opened a bible, but I'll keep it in mind the next time.

[Jiva]

https://roadtrippers.com/blog/first-ima ... re-amazing


Here's first images of the ongoing project for the satanic monument. It actually can be quite beautiful, even if the reason behind erecting such a monument isn't a very spiritual one.

I was thinking about this some more and it's a shame that they altered Levi's drawing so much, especially in making the figure fully masculine. But I suppose on a practical level that any nudity could be used as an easy excuse to prevent the project happening.

[Jiva]

Here's an article from the blog of the British Museum called Decoding Anglo-Saxon Art that might be of interest to some people here. It examines some pagan and Christian examples of how they used abstract qualities in their art to cover any messages designs may have had with a riddle of sorts.

[Heith]

Thank you, most interesting.