Are you prepared??? My simple, all in one guide to being ready for just about everything.

You might call me a conspiracy theorist, or a fear mongerer, but when I look around in these uncertain times, I see a need for a plan to protect my family from many potential catastrophes. Just this year I've personally seen a bad hail storm taking out a lot of free range animals and crops in the area, tornado strength winds, wrecking havoc and causing a 2 week power outage all over the south for many homes, as well as a drought, that is expected to spike the prices of grains by a projected 60% by next year. There was also a 7.7 earthquake close to my family in BC Canada this very morning, and we are expecting the tail end of a rather large hurricane in a short time now. So my concern seems well justified!

Add to that the oil prices spiking, and overall inflation of the dollar that will likely be coming as well, (no doubt because of the American government printing money out of thin air) and we have the perfect recipe for disaster- financially as well as physically!

 For many, traveling has now become too expensive. The trucking and shipping expenses have gone up because of the rise in fuel as well, which has caused all imported products and food as well as non-seasonal food to likewise go up in price.

As an eternal optimist though I must point out that the oil prices spiking is actually a blessing in disguise because we are encouraged to buy more local, and seasonal food, because it ends up being cheaper. This shift to local would then stop a lot of pollution, and put more money into our local community. These sky rocketing fuel costs also motivate us to find cleaner more efficient forms of energy. So if the government is behind these prices, that is one thing they've done right in my book!

 There is a real concern about the government doing wrong though, and not only by actually causing the economic crisis we are in with unnecessary wars and bank bailouts and the like, but many other much more potentially sinister things. . .like spying on people from satellites and cameras. Many see the governments' growing control over our health, freedom, land, children, the media and even the control in the vote, as a real cause for concern.  And of course the ever lurking possibility of them sending us into world war 3 (nuclear or otherwise) and the desperation, filth and diseases that come with them. . .

 So, first off, to plan for a power outage is just plain prudent. Something I noticed though in our last crisis was that both generators and the usual fuel source of them, (being gas) were hard to get at that time, with huge lines to get them at best.  The lines for ice, dry or otherwise, were hours long as well. . .without which some of my friends lost a whole fridge and freezer worth of stored up food. (I had that happen myself one year after picking a freezer full of berries, and I was feeling very poor for wasting that money.)

 Without power I've realized that if you are in the country on well water, like us, you will not have water either. So planning on using all sources of water in the country is also wise. If you have a creek, you could get or make a biological filter, and order some food grade hydrogen peroxide to sanitize it. Or set up a solar or windmill system to run the pump from your well. Everyone should use their run off rainwater from their roof to store in rain barrels as well. (Even if your roof material renders the water undrinkable, it can at least help you manually wash clothes, flush toilets, or water inedible plants in a pinch.) Doing that is so much better then having to stock up 1 gallon of water per person per day in my mind.

If you have a bunch of money just sitting in a bank, IMHO, you are living foolishly at best, dangerously at worst. . .for that matter, if your money is sunk into anything you cannot use or eat in a global crisis, it is a investment mistake! (Not that I know-or care- a lot about finances. . .just common sense.)

 I seriously question even owning real estate that you don't live in it or are at least in walking distance from. Because without a steady supply of gas, a working car and working roads, in numerous major natural disaster situations, (or otherwise) you would not get any money from the people renting your investment property, and it would likely just get trashed.

 Whereas, land that you personally can use to farm,  put animals on, and build up as self sustaining, is the only safe investment of your money in these crazy times, IMO. And the best investment of your time, is learning how to live closer to the earth and be more self sustaining.

Besides the one time monetary investment on land, (with a chemical free well) you should ideally get a horse, a pair of mini cows, some bees, and a few pigs and chickens. Then get some preferably mostly non-electric stuff to take care of keeping, milking, or slaughtering them. As well as storing or processing their product. When you buy quality stuff, you can use it for the rest of your life, and even pass it on to your kids. . .when you buy plastic, you add to the landfill, and deprave your children of a good inheritance:)

 You should also plant as many easy perennials as you can, like; these veggies and more, as well as nuts, berries, fruit trees, and herbs for teas and medicinal use and spices. An annual garden on the other hand may not always be easy or practical to do every year, (as opposed to the perennial garden) but you should have cleared space , know-how -or books-, and the tools and seeds for one. . . in the event that you need it. Some food storage places sell packets of garden seeds that last for 25 years and have a great variety. A good review of the best ones is: here.

 Having some survival and foraging (helping yourself to free wild food) skills and books for emergencies on hand could also save your life, in the case of a power outage and internet being down. One's like: Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills , The Survival Handbook: Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure, Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life ,Modern Survival Manual – Surviving the Economic Collapse , and Will to Live.

Also some farming and homesteading basic skills books like these are good for longer term survival and thriving : Storey's Basic country skills, The Encyclopedia of country living, and The Backyard Homestead.

Considering the guarantee of a rise in prices with inflation because of the national debt, and oil and food shortages, it is also wise to stock up on food you will use in 6 months or less, if you have the space, or anytime you see a sale, but especially stock up on food that doesn't spoil. .  but that is still healthy. In most cases, anything that "doesn't spoil" is not "healthy", including even the best foods if they are in BPA sealed aluminum cans. Of course, that is a great frustration to the health conscious who wants to be prepared . . .but there are a few exceptions. So here's my best list of healthy food to stock up on:

1. Dried milk, I do not recommend disgusting tasting and actually rather toxic, dried skim cows milk, I would buy dried coconut milk instead. Use milk kifer grains with coconut milk powder and water to make it a tasty, healthy, live probiotic dairy substitute, as well as a high quality saturated fat. . .often a scarcity in the wild.
2. Grains (Lots of them, like: oat groats, wheat, corn, barley,quinoa, rye, spelt, rice-get no American rice, as there is an Arsenic scare right now in anything but organic, which is best anyhow-) in buckets with screw on lids. (Before storing, the easiest way to kill any bugs is by adding 1 1/4 cups of diotomaceous earth to 5 gallons of grain, and roll to distribute evenly.) Also, make sure you are regularly using a sourdough starter, for yeast, to make them actually digestible, a lot more nutritious, while not spiking your blood sugar.  See more about why that is needed here.
3. White flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, and/ or coconut flour. 
4. Quinoa noodles, or if you don't care about a little unhealthy splurge here and there, regular noodles.
5.  Seeds to plant, sprout, soak or just eat plain. They all have a very long shelf life if stored well. 
6. Beans, split peas and nuts.
7. Dehydrated beef and salmon jerky (I splurge for free range organic beef jerky, because I want nutrition, not disease in an emergency, more then ever.)
8. Himalayan salt
9. Quality oils. A liquid like olive and grapeseed oil have a long shelf life. As well as a solid like coconut or palm oil are great. Which double as butter in a pinch.
10. Sweeteners like raw honey, white sugar, (good to use for Kombucha tea, or medicinally.) Succanat molasses and maple syrup. . .although Maple syrup only stores for 1 year.
11. Dehydrated veggies, individual packs and/or mixes. (and knowledge, recipes or books on how to use them.)
12. Dehydrated mushrooms- Ditto above-
13. Dehydrated fruit chunks or fruit leather. -Ditto above-
14. Glass jars of preferably organic spaghetti sauce, pickles, olives, jams, nut butters, salad dressings, sauces or anything else you have found that you like in glass jars, or that you have canned yourself. (Plastic containers are not as good health wise, or for keeping the food as fresh, or safe from mice.)
15. Baking soda and Baking powder if you use it.(unlike me since starter came into my life)
16. Cocoa powder- free trade if you can afford it and or carob powder.
17. Whole spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla beans. . . 
18. Healthy vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes like the Celifiber brand ones
19. For a little splurge, Lara bars are an easy and tasty solution for convenience and health, as they have only good stuff, and are grainfree. (So you don't have to worry about whether the grains are sprouted, soaked, or soured, and are just going to make you hungrier with their grains and sugars.)
20. Organic squeezable fruit pouches are very tasty and nice to have on hand, but don't last long at my house, nor do they store for more then a year. (I found them for around .60 cents ea. at my local big lots) 

Those whole foods, dried coconut milk, spices or anything not already sealed in a bucket or a glass jar, I would ideally vacuum seal with a foodsaver. By putting the stuff in glass jars and sealing them with the Foodsaver jar sealer attachment, or in the airtight bags the foodsaver uses -if it's a non-food item- you will ensure they are dry, bug free, and not eaten by rodents years down the road.

Non-food items I would have handy in many different emergencies are:

1. Cast iron cooking pots and skillets to use on a wood stove , grill or open fire. (Cooking utensils of choice to go with.)
2. An outdoor grill, oven and/or smoker. (Like this one.) 
3. Rain barrels and bottled water, and/or solar run well pump and well or creek for emergency water. (If you are on a well, and if you aren't hopefully you have a good filter to take out the junk in the city water.)
4. first aid kit:

• bandages,
• blood clotting agent:witch hazel, cayenne powder.
• natural pain relief: clove oil (for teeth) velarian root powder to make the nerves relax and make you sleepy. . .there isn't a good way to numb pain well in nature, because it is always for a purpose that we need to heed. For an injury, you may need to pack some over the counter medication, just in case the ends justify the means.
• Rescue remedy, for traumas.
• An antiseptic. . .some to keep well stocked, because they have a million other uses are:  hydrogen peroxide,vinegar. . .
• An anti venom, anti poison, anti-inflammatory remedy: charcoal 
• Tea tree oil for numerous skin issues.
• CPR mask
• first aid book
• gloves
• tweezers

5. Warm clothing for every family member.
6. Sleeping bags, or warm blankets in garbage bags and sucked out with a vacuum and then knotted.
7. Personal hygiene items: toothbrush, brush, razors, clippers, nail file (real emergencies don't require make-up or any products in my book.)
8.Wallet, medical files and important documents, or copies of them if they are in a safe.
9. Green reusable personal products, cloth diapers, mama pads, family cloth. or packages of paper products, and diapers or pads. . .not very long lasting or sustainable in any major emergency.
10. Unbreakable, reusable, place settings for each person.
11. A good long rope.
12. A tarp.
13. A hatchet
14. A good manual grain grinder and flaker attachment too, like: Family Grain Mill
15. A waterproof, permanent lighter like this one and extra refill fluid.
16. A few night light emergency plug in LED flashlights.
17. An umbrella or so.
Optional high tech things that would help in major, large scale disasters (or just for camping):

1.  An Emergency light/radio/cell phone charger that is solar and crank powered.
2.  A Biolite campstove, a small woodburning stove and power-generating device to charge your electrical devices.
3. And /or an all-in-one solar generator like this one, to power the necessities in your house.
4. A solar shower for in a pinch. I've had icy showers before and for the few dollars these are, believe me, they would be well worth it.
5. And of course everyone needs a good all purpose swiss army knife, for whittling or something. . .

Now if you're like me, you might be thinking, "Where can I put all that food and stuff?" That has been my number one issue too, so humor me while I share my dream. . .

I'd build an underground root cellar/storm shelter to put it in. I would put a small camping toilet in it, like this one, and I'd build a wood oven < like that one,( in or near it) that cooks and bakes, and smokes. If put inside, the stovepipe would be coming out on the side that shows a door at least. If it was outside, which I would lean towards, it should be under a simple roof, and screened in structure, to make it comfortable to cook on and to keep it protected, and more practical to use year round.

 Back to my store house/ shelter though, I'd dig it into the side of a hill as deep as I can with my slope (so the temperature doesn't fluctuate as much,) like this "umbrella house" below.

I think I would put cement blocks for the outside  of the inside walls, and
I'd insulate the inside walls with either a waterproof barrier of plastic, then straw bales covered with breathable lime stucco, Peeled logs, or a simple and unattractive Styrofoam barrier.

 It would also have passive annual heat storage, (PAHS) and cooling as well as good ventilation with two simple pipes well placed as shown up above, and here as well.

I would ideally put in LED grow lights and have a  hydrophonics garden in there year round, as well as shelving for jars or buckets.. Connecting the system with a large in wall aquarium to grow edible fish that in turn fertilize the plants. (It's together called aquaponics,)

Yeah, that is pretty much my dream of the perfectly simple, productive, food shelter. . .but as long as I can, (preferably soon) get some solar to power my stove, washing machine, fridge and lights, while giving me heat, all in the comfort of my own well insulated home, I think I'll rarely find a need to go running there for most emergencies. . .but the peace of mind after having it done would be well worth it, knowing I have somewhere to take my family the next time a tornado comes along.

Last but not least, a wise man once said that: "Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein) That's why I will continue to challenge prejudices and religion in future posts, with the goal of helping this species thrive and survive.

"Holy indignation"

I've noticed a feeling rising up in myself the longer I am an Agnostic Atheist: that feeling is what I use to call "holy indignation", or some might judge it as "anger". It is often negatively commented on about Atheists, and even I haven't always welcomed it,  that's for sure. I knew how as a Christian just getting out of a cult called the Church of God in Christ Mennonite in the past, I would not even consider reading anything written by an angry or bitter sounding person. I believed that anger was a sign that the person was being controlled by Satan or at least their "old man" or "flesh"and not "the Spirit" which leads you into all truth. So for a long time I repressed my anger and passion.

The more I repressed those feelings though, the more I felt that it was an injustice to not stand for right and share why I was upset. Anger has it's purpose, as does passion. Every global change for good has come about because of anger, whether or not history depicts it's activist heroes as angry or not now. I was surprised to hear that even the most peaceful leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther king Jr. confessed to be motivated by anger.

Seriously, if you are a good person, and compassionate to the plight of others, is it not inevitable that you will be angry when you see injustice and inequality in the world? For that reason, and more, "I would purpose that Atheists aren't angry because there is something wrong with us, but because there is something right with us."

When I think about it, unlike some of the people in many movements for change, from the past until now, (like woman's suffrage, fighting communism or the labor laws, fighting for black rights, gay rights. . .etc) atheists aren't even angry because of how they are being treated. . .at least for the most part. Sure, it's a fact that Atheists are the most discriminated group in the world, and it will inevitably effect them somewhat, depending on how outspoken they are about it. . .but the main reason Atheists are angry is often about just plain old injustice.

One could ask why don't you commonly see swearing, name calling, (besides maybe at worst the inevitable "ignorant", "stupid", or "naive") threatening, rioting, looting and shootings when an Atheist don't get their way or convince their opponent? That kind of thing has often come with such strong, passionate people in the past. . . Well, I believe, it's because that would be below the dignity, ethics, general character and education of the Atheist. These non religious people are as a general rule, highly educated, obviously moral people, as seen by the stats of education levels, IQ, scores on religious knowledge tests, rates of Atheists incarcerated. . .
The truth is, many of the Atheists of the world were in the past very sincere religious people. Their character and strength often led them to be leaders and well respected for their spiritual and family life. In their constant search for truth, and teachability they may have appeared to flounder in their beliefs, but likely they were always doing the best they knew to do, with all the sincerity they had in them. . .that character and passion doesn't then simply vanish because they realize that they have lived a delusion and been told a huge lie their whole life. It does usually motivate them to action (to right some wrongs) though.

What do you find Atheists doing then? They are activists for freedom of thought and the equal rights of any group that isn't getting it. . . from freedom of free speech, like the occupy movement, to the ability to chose your healthcare and food. They also seek freedom for woman to control their own bodies, (in numerous ways!) equality for the gays, the children, the  animals or the planet. An atheist does not need to be a woman who has had an abortion taught to submit, been abused, told they are inferior, etc. . .she does not need to be gay, an abused child, animal or tree to feel empathetic, and see their interdependence with them. This is group of people who are compassionate and empathetic to the bone, and make very good allies to humanity.

So why in the world are they hated so much?! Well let's see, maybe because they expose wrong, and in the process they make a lot of people defensive, angry and guilty. If you are a religious person for instance, perpetrating these injustices, out of a sincere duty to your God, you are likely subconsciously feeling trapped, between your conscience, and your God.

 So what happens every time the Atheist gets in the middle of this conflict by exposing the real issues? It's so predictable it's talked of all over the internet! First the cornered Christian gets angry, (but of course to admit to that would make them look bad, so they rarely do) and to pacify her conscience, she has to take it out on someone. . . So they say you are the one being mean, (though you have likely stayed calm and never made any personal attacks). This usually comes as a ploy to get out of answering a question they know that they can't answer, and so they hope to distract you from it. Then when they get called on it, and you demand an answer, out of desperation, they next try to discredit you by making personal attacks on your character or person. . .as if that nullifies the points we had made or our questions. (What gets me, is that they can't seem to see that their hurtful or judgmental claim started the discussion in the first place, making the compassionate Atheist feel the need to stand up for justice and equality.)

 After this has happened enough times, atheists get pretty good at pegging these Christians from the start. They are the older generation, of mostly conservative fundamentalists, who believe that they can't be wrong in their interpretation of the Bible. When you try to show them that they are though, they can't believe you, because their religion has built in defenses for having actual humility and teachability. . .even though the Bible would seem to teach it.

They see every injustice and horror in the Bible, or allowed by God as justifiable, because "God's ways are not our ways", and we would be arrogant to question Him, when we are so inferior to him. Also, even if every other person on earth went away from God, the Bible supposedly predicts a "falling away" that would leave only a few faithful. So the more people go away, the more they feel justified in their self righteousness.

 When their conscience finally wins out though, and they actually do admit to being wrong about a doctrine, they can always say that:

1. They were just not understanding that the Bible actually said that all along. (You can find justification for just about anything in The Bible if you look hard enough.)
2. Those verses were only applicable to the people in the time of the Bible.
3. They should just listen to their holy spirit, instead of what they were taught the Bible said, as "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life". After all, "The Spirit will  lead you into all truth", and "You have no need of a teacher."

Of course when other more progressive "Christians" or the non religious, (but still Bible- believing) people are making those same excuses for their changes in religious thoughts, the self righteous conservatives accuse them of being "back-slidden", not being "Spirit led", being "arrogant", or "proud". In my experience, it is the epitome of arrogance on the part of the conservative to claim this, as the one they are accusing is, (or was) often a person who was more educated or highly respected  for their life and sincerity as a Christian. I have seen this unfair judgment so often it's disgusting!  It almost makes me more sad for the progressive Christian then the Atheist!

If I were to make a list of why I am angry about religion, a large chunk of the list would be for what it does to it's adherents. It's actually because of my experience with the brainwashing I went through that allows me to be empathetic,calm, patient, and overall loving to the Christians I know. . .and how does that come out? The same way it did as a loving, concerned religious person; I seek to enlighten them.

Think about it, as a Christian, I believed I would have blood on my hands for every friend I didn't try to convert, so I was not only living in fear for them, but for me if I didn't push my beliefs on them in any way I could. . .it was my life's goal to thwart Satan, and snatch souls out of his grasp.

 Now, I have no fear for myself, and I could just keep my thoughts to myself and make my life a lot easier. . .but I care too much! Every time I see the attack dogs of Christian fundamentalism, it's a reminder of how I added to the bigotry, racism, sexism, ageism and all the other harms of religion, by standing with them in the past. Now as a sort of penance I oppose religion, with a vengeance, and I do it, not to be right, (though it's easy to feel that I will be proven so in the near future) or just because I love to fight; I do it for the same reason I have always fought injustice and inequality in this world; because I care! I kind of wish I could be passive and not care what happens to humanity around me, like some people I know.

It may be because I had a very sheltered and secure, upbringing, where I was mostly accepted (even honored) and loved by nearly all those around me, (even though I don't feel that way now). I think everyone should know what that feels like, sometime in their life. So when I see the underdog picked on, and when I see abuse, I get angry. . .and it just so happens that it's usually directed at religion, as nearly all the injustices of the past were connected with religion too. In the future though, if it weren't for the lack of religious terminology, I'm sure looking back on atheists anger it would not be looked at as anger, so much as righteous or holy indignation.

For more about why Atheist come across as angry, (even though they are generally very happy people), check out this article: http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismmyths/a/AtheistsAngry.htm

Or this excellent book:
http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Angry-Things-Godless-ebook/dp/B007MCMKV6

Or better yet, just watch the author as she highlights the main points in this excellent speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GUI_ML1qkQE

Good vibrations.

 

Apparently science now tells us that every emotion can be traced back to either love or fear.

Each of these two root emotions are the starting point for all experience and feeling.

What are some of the feelings that fall into the domain of love?

Compassion, forgiveness, joy, bliss, generosity, patience, tolerance, understanding, gentleness, respect, honor and the like all have their source in the emotion of love.

What are those that can be linked to fear?

 Hatred, greed, violence, jealousy, selfishness, anger, bitterness and deception are just a few.

DNA is actually changed or more specifically "unlocked" when you live a life of love without fear. Our DNA seems to be in a disabled mode when the body lives in fear. We create what we perceive to be reality with our emotions and our intent. We literally have a distorted reality when we live in fear, as we cannot respond to the stimuli in our environment. This is something that was apparently known by the ancients, and is one
reason why those in power still seek to control the common people through fear.

These people are combating  the awakening of a deeper human awareness with a virtual sensory onslaught, TV, sex, utterly meaningless celebrity gossip, more and more baubles and beads and more and more by promoting an atmosphere of fear."

Wars, terrorism, crime coverage, food shortages, gas shortages, exaggerated epidemics, anything they can think of to produce negative energy and a climate of fear, stress, hatred and intolerance and to a certain degree, they have succeeded.

Science has now shown that while we have the ability to be a much higher and advanced creature, (through the power of love and with other good habits of healthy living), we are not utilizing that power.

This potential enlightened state of being is theorized to come from using what some call "Junk DNA", which is amazingly 98% of out DNA! Some others call this "Divine DNA" because of it's amazing ability to develop, organize and change, all by itself! Some scientists believe the DNA's evolution is only possible by the "enlightenment" that comes from a "wireless connection" with the pineal gland, and the emotion of love.

Why the Pineal gland you ask? I had hardly even heard of it before looking into this myself. "This tiny gland is located at the center of our brain and is involved in the production of a variety of important neurotransmitters, and facilitates altered states of awareness." It is thought to open the doors to spiritual perception." It was known as the "dream center", both physically and spiritually by the people in the past.

The Physiological Importance of the Pineal Gland

"During the late 1990's in England, a scientist by the name of Jennifer Luke undertook the first study the effects of sodium fluoride on the pineal gland. She determined that the pineal gland. . . was a target for fluoride. The pineal gland simply absorbed more fluoride than any other physical matter in the body, even bones.

Because of the pineal gland's importance to the endocrine system, her conclusions were a breakthrough. Her study provided the missing link to a lot of physiological damage from sodium fluoride that had been hypothesized but not positively connected. . .

Good news though. Frequent exposure to outdoor sunshine, 20 minutes or so at a time, will help stimulate a fluoride calcified pineal gland." 
(source: here)  A good diet and regular exercise will also detox the body helping to facilitate the removal of the fluoride as well.

There is a fascinating connection with the Pineal gland, emotions (good or bad) and our DNA.  It is speculated that the ancients knew not only about the power of the emotions of fear and love, but of the Pineal gland as well, and it's transforming abilities to the DNA.

It's ancient symbols were a pine cone, sometimes a pomegranate or a pineapple."Pine cones have always been associated with spiritual enlightenment. Whether we look at ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks or Christians, the pine cone has represented the mysterious link between the physical and the spiritual."

 
The Egyptian Staff of Osiris, dating back to approximately 1224 BC, depicts two intertwining serpents rising up to meet at a pine cone. It could be this very staff that inspired the myth of Moses holding up the bronze snake on a pole to spiritually "save" people from dying. No doubt it symbolized a spiritual awakening (or the opposite of) to the Jews of that time. Likely though, the meaning and history of the pine cone has been lost to the Jews?


Our “Pine”al Gland is shaped like (and named after) the Pine cone and is intimately linked to our body's perception of light. Which may be why the Pineal gland was also considered by many to be our biological "Third Eye", the “Epicenter of Enlightenment” or the "dream center".

 The third eye has been used as an ancient religious symbol for many groups. The Freemasons believe your connection to God is through opening your "third eye" and letting the light of God in you. The 33rd degree Freemason, and 31st president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had this symbol printed on the dollar bill in 1933 and to this day that symbol is still seen on the dollar bill.

Pine cones also regularly appear framed in Freemason Octagons on the ceilings of Masonic Lodges, and Large Freemason sculptures.  On the side of the Whitehall Building in the New York they depict two enormous intertwining snakes spiraling up to a pine cone. (which is striking similarity to the Staff of Osiris).

                    The pine cone and third eye were symbols of secret societies in Europe long before anyone heard of the United States. Freemasonic and secret society symbolism actually goes back to the ancient world.


 Modern scholars and philosophers have noted the symbolic parallels of the "third eye" to the Indian “Kundalini,” a spiritual energy in the body depicted as coiled serpents rising up from the base of the spine to the Third Eye (Pineal Gland) in the moment of enlightenment. Awakened Indian Kundalini energy represents the merging and alignment of the Chakras, and is said to be the one and only way to attain the “Divine Wisdom”, bringing pure joy, pure knowledge and pure love. (Could this be the beginning of the concept of God being love. . .or rather, love being god?)

Depictions of Hindu deities are also interwoven with symbolic representations of serpents and pine cones. In some cases, Hindu gods are carved, sculpted or drawn holding a pine cone.

There is also an ancient carving depicting Ahura Mazda as holding a pine cone. (Ahura Mazda is the highest deity of worship in Zoroastrianism. The word Ahura means light and Mazda means wisdom. Thus Ahura Mazda is the lord of light and wisdom. )  In Babylon the pine cone was connected with the god Tammuz.





 " Ancient Assyrian palace carvings, dating back to 713-716 BC depict four-winged God-like figures purposefully holding aloft pine cones, or in some cases, using a pine cone to pollinate their depiction of the Tree of Life -- a tribute to the Pine cone’s symbolism as an icon of enlightenment."


In yet another culture’s tribute to the Pine cone, a statue of the Mexican god “Chicomecoatl” (“Seven Snakes”) again depicts the deity offering forth pine cones in one hand, and an evergreen tree in the other.

The Greeks and Romans also incorporated the Pine cone into their elaborate systems of religious belief and mythology. Dionysus, later known as Bacchus to the Romans, was continually depicted carrying a “Thyrsus,” a fennel staff woven with ivy and leaves and topped with a pine cone.


Romans later built an enormous bronze sculpture, the “Pigna,” in the shape of a huge pine cone three stories tall! The Pigna is confirmed to have served as a large fountain overflowing with water next to the Temple of Isis in Ancient Rome, however, the gigantic statue now sits directly in front of the Catholic Vatican in the “Court of the Pine cone.”


Catholic religious tradition is intricately interwoven with pine cones, perhaps most prominently atop the sacred staff carried by the Pope himself. The Coat of Arms of the Holy See, found on the Vatican flag among other places, features a stacking of three crowns suspiciously similar in shape to a pine cone. The very name, “Holy See,” appears to many to be a direct reference to the Third Eye…


Pine cones also turn up as sources of “illumination” in the church, such as candle holders and lamps, seemingly symbolic of the spiritual illumination the "Third Eye" represents.


All of these factors lead philosophers and sceptics to accuse the Catholics of using their religion to veil the blind public to true spiritual enlightenment: The awakening of our Pineal Gland. Some people also believe the Freemasons even today understand the spiritual significance of the Third/single/middle Eye, and regularly pay iconic tribute to it, while continuing to placate the masses with a doctrine of religious and cultural dogma that will leave them in fear.

Of course the Bible believing Christian always knew that those other religions were of Satan, and so it should be no shock to see such "pagan" symbols, representing repression and "spiritual" blindness in those religions or "cults". . .but a Bible verse seems to come to my mind on the subject: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light."-Matthew 6:22 That verse would make no sense if it weren't for the understanding about the middle or "single" eye being the pineal gland, by the writers of the Bible. . .(unless of course Bible-excuseres, that is, Bible scholars have come up with some new complicated meaning for it that renders it excusable for past interpretations.)
Source: here.

Surly that is all i the Bible still, and it is not a great case for Pagan symbolism to be in the Bible. . .Well, some say that the Pine cone was originally the "fruit" from the biblical Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden.  Was it really meant then to be a literal story with Eve gnawing on this pine cone, or as those other leaders holding the pine cone, was it suppose to just symbolize something?

This creation myth I believe, as all the rest in the world, shows a beginning. This seems to be the birth of distinguishing or perceiving something as good and another as evil; one thing as pleasant and another as unpleasant; right and wrong. To cut-it-short: this was the beginning of objectification — this was the birth of self-awareness.

If you take most cultures “Beginning” stories back far enough they have some kind of a similar account or notion to them. I know that in Taoism they paint the picture of a time where mankind lived in a peaceful “Eden-like” state with all of creation, and that they fell from this when they started to distinguish themselves as other-than and greater-than the rest of the animals and nature. . .a mistake leading to many others.

In Kabbalah it describes more of a vast organism of Spirits in which some of them became self-aware — thus creating a vacuum. Once we set one thing apart as good, we create evil. Once we set one thing apart as beautiful, we create the ugly.

If you believe in the message of the Bible, then I would hope that you can at least agree to the goal of "peace that passeth all understanding". . .but the Bible says that comes from a dying to “self” or better put: dying to self-awareness. So then is it bad to be self-aware according to the Bible, and yet the pineal gland represents becoming enlightened with it's use. . .

Or maybe Christians have missed the whole point of the story of Jesus; maybe the “kingdom of God” is actually here now (as Jesus said quite blankly) and it is just up to us to become aware of it's mental connotations, as well as spiritual. . .but not literal.

We certainly need to be aware of our inner self to be a part in this kingdom that is "not of this world". But how do we accomplish this self-awareness? Well, some pray for something or someone else to give it to them, believing that inner self to be God's voice or will. Others fast, some punish their bodies or go through extreme acts of asceticism, some even try drugs or other intoxicants to get " out of this world"! In Zen it is all about stopping and listening. In Christianity,"The Spirit giveth life" we are told. The Bible also says, that this same Spirit "will lead you into all truth". Could this "Holy Spirit" they believe is "God", (although historically it wasn't believed to be a part of the "Godhead" at all) actually just be another manifestation of the way the meditations of Zen open themselves up to a greater self awareness by listening to their own conscious? Or are all types of religious meditation a way to disengage the frontal and temporal lobe circuits, the very thing which tracks time and creates self-awareness? Studies of the brain now confirm that in fact, even though the relaxation in religious meditation is beneficial in some ways, it dissolves the mind-body connection responsible for self awareness. . .So while you are technically becoming more self aware through meditation, some people would instead call it "God aware" because of that mental disconnect.

So, to sum it all up, if you want to be like "God" as Eve in the Garden of Eden did. . .

1. Live a life of love, (practicing the many positive emotions associated with it,) for your own good, not because you are told to.
2. Support the pineal gland with a good diet, 20 minutes of sun a day or more, and exercise.
3. Avoid pineal suppressing fear based emotions, fluoride, drugs and religions, that are pretty much all based on fear and the suppression of enlightenment and self-awareness.
4. Instead, exercise your mind in self-awareness techniques like meditation, Yoga, walks in the woods alone. . .

And you will be enlightened, thinking person, like the Ancient "Gods".

A generation and mentality of a slave.

I use to wonder, "what's up with the old generation's worship of authority?" It didn't seem to matter if the authority was lording over their health, money, freedom, children, religion. . .etc. they have this subconscious belief that they are inept and not able to get second opinions, question or choose their own destiny. (Not that they were likely to be consistent with following it, but they thought that they should nonetheless. ) 
It amazes me time and time again, not only how this older generation often has no apparent ability to trust themselves to be able to think independently of authority, but how they belittle those who would think for themselves, and call them "proud" or "arrogant" for it! 

To me, questioning authority was always about clarifying, or making sure I wasn't doing wrong, or believing wrong, and as it takes confidence and conviction to do that, at first I naively thought everyone was (or should be) doing it. Sadly It was rare even in my crowd, but it's spread like wildfire with the internet and information now.

As for these older people who didn't grow up with it though, I think I know the root of their problem; they have been told their whole life that they have no education, no control, and thus no responsibility to change anything; they are consequently equal to slaves, because of their limiting beliefs about themselves!

"As long as one chooses to assign responsibility for creation, existence and personal accountability for one’s own thoughts and actions to others, one is a slave."

All religions proudly claim how humble it is to believe God created the world, and that they need to be forever indebted to him for that, and/or some form of salvation from a mythical curse or the like.  Some even admit to being a "bond servant of Jesus Christ". 

I can see a parallel here to the descendants of the slaves here in the south. (Sorry if this comes across racist  as I'm just stating the facts here, I don't feel it is.)The blacks in general seem to show signs of low self esteem and consequently are unmotivated to want a higher education. Furthermore, they seem not to question or think for themselves as much. (Which is evident to me by the very low rate of blacks opting for natural or home births in the area, even though they would be completely covered by the State.)

Their families consist of mostly single Moms, who are miserable being so, consequently often abusing their kids because of it. . . commonly losing them to child protective services. 

 Most of the descendants of the demeaned slave men had poor depressed examples to follow, and still act like slaves. . .taking no responsibility for themselves in general. Often taking out their frustrations in aggression towards the more resilient and strong willed woman folk. This irresponsibility and consequent even lower self esteem seems to be seen in the southern black obesity rates, abortion rates, poverty rates, divorce rates, and numbers of them incarcerated. Just as in Africa, the rate of blacks who are religious in America is high as well.  

Is there a connection, with this slave mentality leading to another slave mentality? A black drunk I talked to admitted a belief in God, and said that he stays drunk on purpose, not to drown out his problems, (as we presumed) but because he was afraid to see what God will do to him next! In other words, he wouldn't be a drunk if he didn't believe in God cursing his life. 

Of course this only becomes a problem for the poor, as the rich are more likely to brag how much they are blessed of God, and make the poor even more depressed, believing that God must hate them.

So, black people aside, how is it that the slaves of religion are affected by that mentality you ask? The way I see it from my Fundamental background, those slaves are much less motivated to be eco friendly, as the world will only be burned anyhow. They are waiting for a new Heaven and a new Earth to come with the return of their Savior. They also often have many more children then the rest of us,  purely because of their beliefs. . . whether or not they can afford it, or handle it.

 Add to the large families, being taught to give 10% or more of their income to the church, and often being pressured to make the man be the sole provider. . . they are often poorer then the average non- believer. 

Also, because many religious people are taught that you cannot truly help anyone, unless you rescue their soul from Hell first, they are less motivated to do much that is purely humanitarian, and doesn't mainly focus on pushing their religion's agenda.

 In other words, a belief in any higher power = no motivation for anything worthwhile in life, minus putting on an act of perfection, so others will see your testimony and want to have what you have! 

 Religious people are in a holding pattern, and simply need to get past this life looking good, so that they will get to live happily in the next. So to waste away their life in servitude or misery is fine, because they have a hope for eternal bliss. . .!

When people don't treat them well in this life, or they are bombarded by the inevitable, occasional natural catastrophe or self induced trouble, it's always excused away as "Satan and his demons", even though God is suppose to be taking care of his children and in control of everything. (If it's happening to someone else mind you, they will claim it's God's judgment on them for some unknown and unconfessed sin, like Job had right. . .? )

 If God is in control of everything, like religious people claim, we need not get involved in politics or trying to actively help to change our world. . .because "All things work together for good. . ." right? And whether or not it makes sense to our fallible minds, that should be expected, because "God's ways are higher then our ways."  (Or so they claim.)

 The belief that creation is "cursed" could get you out of taking responsibility for your health, or looking good, as our genes and everything is getting worse anyways, according to the Bible, so to try to hide that is almost dishonest or proud. (Of course, "good Christians" can turn it around and say that if you don't take pride in your appearance and heath, you aren't taking care of your "Temple", or being a good testimony. . .)

 If you are a religious parent who has angry, bitter or rebellious children and/or teens, it is because of their sinful nature and rebellion from God, and not because of  controlling or abusive parenting on your part, as psychology would lead us to believe. 

And if your child is "unruly" and rebellious, (or doesn't stay in the faith) you don't have to leave the ministry as the Bible teaches in 1 Tim. 3, (and as you may have even taught before you had kids) because they are of the age of accountability and also have free choice. . .so that rule only apparently applies to little kids in the mind of the irresponsible religious person? (Or as "God" promises, they will come back soon because they believe they trained them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord", so it's just a matter of time anyways.)

 Oh, and you are honored if you are suffering "persecution" for your "faith", as that apparently means that you are living "godly in Christ Jesus". So you are suddenly not accountable if your actions render you unaccepted by society. Who cares then if you are a pushy, preachy, judgmental or even aggressive jerk. . .as the Bible predicted how unpopular those beliefs would make you!

All these things and more show how religion creates a helpless slave mentality, that causes a lack of responsibility for ones own actions. Sadly, religion grows kids into big kids, dependent on their "Heavenly Father", not responsible adults. (A big kid mentality comes because of a big kid's version of an invisible friend, God.)  

Another tell-tale sign that others see in this generation, (obvious to my generation and younger) is an insecurity and a lack of self esteem with the inability to be wrong. Or at least for them to admit it, to their  "underlings". This very thought was brought up very well in a song I just watched from the play, "The King and I" from over 50 years ago! (Quite progressive thinking for it's time!) 
It went like this:

"When my father was a king

He was a king who knew exactly what he knew,
And his brain was not a thing
Forever swinging to and fro and fro and to.
Shall I, then be like my father
And be willfully unmovable and strong?
Or is it better to be right?...
Or am I right when I believe I may be wrong?"

Then later it went on to say:

"And it puzzled me to learn

That tho' a man may be in doubt of what he know,
Very quickly he will fight...
He'll fight to prove that what he does not know is so!"

Again that brought me back to many experiences with pastors, professors, doctors, dentists, government workers. . .pretty much anyone who was an authority in my life. It's not that we shouldn't submit to them, if it's right or a logical cause. . .(I'm actually a stickler for rules in many ways, you can just ask my family!) But, when the rules seem to be wrong, are unbendable and the authority will not even listen to respectful questions to clarify, (without getting defensive) . . .then there's a problem! 


When the authority's best defense is, "because I said so", and the treatment of their underlings is demeaning, well then, you can guess that the authority is acting "under the influence". . .of religion.

The true history and "credibility" of the Bible.

Christians like to point to the fact that the Bible has stood the test of time as proof for it being inspired by God. As well, it is commonly brought up how well the 66 books agree with each other, though written hundreds of years apart. I was brainwashed into believing that every shred of real history, or any practical advice or wise saying in the Bible also proved it was "inspired" and "God breathed". . . Add to that the circumstantial and "amazing" life changing experiences when people get to reading it, (or more likely that they just feel loved for the first time in their life and feel a pressure or accountability from a new motivated to be good, peer group.) on top of anything paranormal being God, and the evil in the world as all Satan and his demon's fault . . . the whole God package seems justified!

 The crazy, and scientifically explained, hallucinations of  near death experiences, and all "miraculous" stories we tell and retell, of course bolstered that belief in God as well..

From childhood we are taught of "the miracles of God", ones like from the book series of  "Uncle Arthur". I remember one story amazing me in particular; it was about the Bible's ability to withstand a house burning down around it, while leaving it unscathed. . .I was taught to have a "holy fear" of the Bible! (I was even taught the right way to hold it respectfully. . .and NEVER put it on the floor!)


As an adult though, I started to learn that there was often a perfectly logical and natural explanation for the supposed "miracles" of the Bible, (The one's that were actually history that is. . .) being instead natural phenomenons.

Not surprisingly, all of those previous things I use to think so incredible about God and the Bible he supposedly wrote also had very natural and logical explanations. (Like the Bible not burning because of it -as usual- being hid away in a solid metal desk, likely with a protective Bible cover too, as most ministers would have used.)

The Bible's "amazing" ability to have stood the test of time, for instance, as well as how many copies it has always had is really not surprising; the two are actually closely related. The real question is why so many copies existed down through the ages (even while numerous rulers tried to have them all burnt)?

While there are other ancient texts still around, like: Julius Caesar's The Gallic Wars, Pliny the Younger's Natural History, Thucydides' History, Herodotus' History, Plato, Tacitus' Annals, Homer's Iliad and William Shakespeare's 37 plays,( that people have attempted to preserve mainly for their historical value,) these are not the kind of books that we commonly have any use for today. . . .anymore then we get much out of really old films or medical books. They were appreciated in, and were common of their time, but since then we have seen their worldview to be racist, ageist, sexist and prejudiced.

The Bible is also full of allegories, myths, inconsistencies, and just plain ignorance! (Check out those links for some classic examples). We know through science and archaeology that there is very little information in the Bible that is completely historically accurate. . ..though I'm sure no one was writing the books of the Bible, just to deceive people.) We have realized by looking at other cultures and their moral codes, as well as understanding ourselves through psychology, that the Bible has little practical knowledge that is still, or ever was, good and/or applicable to our culture today.

 So theoretically, the interest in making many copies of the Bible, after it had gone out of vogue, would likely have been low, as it is now with other books from it's time. . . because of growing enlightenment or disinterest in a culture that is extinct or not your own.

As that didn't happen, and interest grew instead of died, there must be a good reason! Well one thing was an obvious difference in my mind: none of those other books were claimed to be "authoritative", or an "inspired revelation from God" by the religious leaders of the time. . . necessitating the most careful and literal preservation of it by anyone who bought that.

 Furthermore it was claimed to be from the "one true God" of the Jews. Until the Nationalistic Jewish writers of the Old testament came along, I don't believe there was ever a thought in the ancient world that there could be just one god, (much less that one person or nation would have had the audacity to believe they knew who it was!) and so the religions of the world were ever evolving in their inclusive beliefs of many gods and who they were, or what they did. Often even plagiarizing each others gods, by just changing up the names and modernizing the stories a little, to fit their culture. (Check out an earlier taste of that in my post: crossovers in myths and religions.)

There are symbolic allegories told in the Old Testament, as well as the New, that are predated to other cultures myths. From the story of Adam and Eve, to Abraham,  Moses, Joseph, Jonah and Jesus, they are all almost identical plagiarisms from before they were written.

 Joseph Campbell the famous Mythologist, spent his life traveling and studying to understand and compare the terminology of myths. He found the Bible to come alive to the enlightened reader. His video series the power of myth, or his book by the same title were a great help to me.


Wikipedia has a section on Mythology and religion in which it states:
In the Classical era, Sallustius (4th century CE) categorized mythology into five types:

1. Theological 
2. Physical 
3. Psychological 
4. Material 
5. Mixed 

• The theological myths are those which use no bodily form but contemplate the very essence of the gods: e.g., Cronus swallowing his children. Since divinity is intellectual, and all intellect returns into itself, this myth expresses in allegory the essence of divinity.
• The physical myths express the activities of gods in the world.

• The psychological way is to regard  the myths as allegories of the activities of the soul itself and or the soul's acts of thought.

• The material is to regard material objects to actually be gods, for example: to call the earth Gaia, ocean Okeanos, or heat Typhon.

• The mixed kind of myth may be seen in many instances: for example they say that in a banquet of the gods, Eris threw down a golden apple; the goddesses contended for it, and were sent by Zeus to Paris to be judged. Paris saw Aphrodite to be beautiful and gave her the apple. Here the banquet signifies the hypercosmic powers of the gods; that is why they are all together. The golden apple is the world, which being formed out of opposites, is naturally said to be 'thrown by Eris ' (or Discord). The different gods bestow different gifts upon the world, and are thus said to 'contend for the apple'. And the soul which lives according to sense - for that is what Paris is - not seeing the other powers in the world but only beauty, declares that the apple belongs to Aphrodite.

The basic understanding of myths follows these patterns, but the tricky part of the Bible is, while it has some books of pure myth, it has others of ignorant Bronze age history and poetry. You cannot use the same rules to read them all. . .except one: they had the culture of the time, and the knowledge of the time. So you must read the Bible as any ancient text, through the eyes of the people of the time, or you read into it pure made up superstition.

Getting back to the presumed "uniqueness" of the Bible though, to fairly compare and judge that uniqueness  we need to have an ancient text that a religion was solely based off of and that taught monotheism. Since there wasn't such a text in the days of the Old Testament or before, it has easily stood uncontested as "unique", in numerous ways. . . one being what a uniquely hot topic it's been since it's origin.

Luckily though, when a "new revelation from God", in the form of Jesus came on the scene, we could have many comparable texts. Enter: all the early Christian writers and their books. Some 156 books were written between as early as 30 A.D, to as late as 250 A.D. These are still around in part or whole. . .though some of which were even claimed to be heresy!

 To the stanch, Torah-believing Jews of the time, this  new covenant or testament was not welcome, as it was seen to negate the old ways. . .as we can see by the many stories of Jesus, even if the claim was made by his followers that he didn't come to destroy the law but fulfill it. (Everything in the Bible was simply a follower's claims mind you, as we know that Jesus never wrote a word himself.)

In the same way as the Christians, another faction of Torah -believers decided that the Old testament needed  a makeover, and a progressive thinking man named Muhammad felt inspired (some would say he hallucinated from exhaustion and dehydration to get this "inspiration" though. . .which actually fits with having an out of body experience and him later thinking he had gone crazy) to write of his new revelations to add to the Bible, called The Koran.


The same process happened to the Bible in even more recent " revelations" like were preached by Joseph Smith, bringing in Mormonism. Also "new revelations" from a man called Sun Myung Moon who brought in the "Moonies" . ("He promoted a mixture of Christianity and his own conservative, family-oriented teachings. He preached new interpretations of lessons from the Bible, and fused elements of Christianity and Confucianism"). Others like Charles Taze Russell, (who started the Jehovah's witnesses) John Holdemen, (who started the Church of God in Christ Mennonite) and many other powerful groups did this too, with the common belief that you couldn't understand the Bible for yourself, or be led in any way contrary to the rest of the "flock". . .most of the leaders writing books to be a supplement to the Bible, or at least the Torah, depending on how much time had passed.

All of these controlling cults, as well as many others, brought a certain unity to the people because of their written, revelations of clarification. Plus, with standards came dogma and control, which, so long as you toed the line, you would be happy and unified with your brothers and sisters in Christ in their very divided belief system. All of the Disciples of the original law, claimed to be following the God who supposedly wrote it. . .while agreeing on no two points of doctrine.

 Just as a free reading of the Old Testament led to many differing beliefs and new religions, before people put a cap on who can understand the Bible, by creating cults, there was no unity in even one faction of the Old testament believers, the Christian's.

Much like today, there was much name calling and fighting among even the early Christians!
 (As will always be the case when a person can justify their thoughts as being "led by God".)
 This was even seen in the Bible with Paul, twice.  Likely Paul sees John Mark as unworthy
 since he has already abandoned the ministry.

John Mark did not likely depart because he was afraid of the tough travels or potential persecution though, as is often presumed of him. Rather, Paul’s rather harsh words to the Jewish sorcerer Elymas on Cyprus was probably a bit of a shock and perhaps even the idea that the gospel should go to a Gentile like Serguis Paulus was too radical.

 Luke uses the Greek word ἀφίστημι (afistemi, aorist participle) to describe what John Mark did. This word can mean more than simply “depart,” it can have the sense of  to “fall away” or “become a backslider.” The word appears in Daniel’s prayer of confession (Dan 9:9) and  Jer 3:14 to describe “faithless Israel.”

More significantly, Luke used the word in the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:13 to describe the seed which does not take root and “falls away” when persecution comes. Perhaps there is a hint here that John Mark was not quite “rooted” in Paul mission and when he experienced the theologically disturbing idea that Paul was going to turn to the Gentiles, he fell away.

The way Luke describes this disagreement is significant – Paul and Barnabas had a “sharp disagreement,” a word used for provoking one to anger and exasperation in Heb 10:24. The word appears elsewhere as “furious anger of the Lord” in Deut 29:27 and Jer 32:37. Paul and Barnabas are in such a heated disagreement over John Mark that there is no solution other than to separate, just like John Mark did.

The secular leaders down through history have found it necessary to either segregate, annihilate or bring Christians and their religion under the sanction of the State, so they could control and unify the many differing beliefs. At which time many books were burned and/or called "unfit", for no better reason then that they didn't have enough in common with any of the other texts under consideration.

 In the end, out of the 156 or so books, only 27 were chosen as the New Testament canon, because they, at least mostly, agreed with eachother. (Who cares if they were accurate or understood, the big wigs likely figured that "as long as we preserved these books word for word, we would not be accountable to this Christian's God".) Thus unifying and setting in stone what "God" really meant. . .in the same way the cult leaders clarified and set in stone their beliefs about the Bible.

Not only have powerful leaders like Augustine and King James shaped the formation of a religion, but Cults who put a cap on "new revelations" surly played their part as well, from the time of the Catholics to now. Which has no doubt greatly helped the Christian faith survive the test of time they are so proud about.

Some of these revolutionary cult leaders have some credibility though, (in a sense) because not only were they just attempting to make the Old testament more applicable and relevant to their time, just like Jesus was said to have done, they were proven to be real historical characters! (The evidence of which Christians have yet to find for Christ. . .strangely enough, the supposedly empty tomb does nothing to help the Christian's case. . .)

" Had Jesus been a real person, secular sources would have written about him during his life, if he did in fact do even a small percentage of what is claimed of him. The only source we have, even in the first century, is a text written in 94 AD by Flavius Josephus, a Jew, with a couple of obviously forged passages (even the Catholic Church has fessed up to this)."

The stories of Jesus were obviously based on:

•  the classic worldview of superstitious, exaggerating Jews, a cultural tenancy we still see today. (Think Fiddler on the roof.) 
• a pre-existing mythological belief in the Sun god as seen in the signs in the heavens. Check out the youtube video called real proof that Jesus was not real.    
• The way that culture had of telling meaningful stories in allegories and myths that were understood to be such at the time. 

These stories of Jesus started circulating 60 or so years after Jesus's supposed death, and after appearing to over 500 people, yet not one secular eyewitness claimed any of his life, miracles, or death and Resurrection to be real. (Although many mockers did recount the beliefs of the Christians.)

 In the Far East Jesus is considered to be just another character in Western religious mythology, on par with Thor, Zeus and Osiris. Most Hindus do not believe in a real Jesus, but those who do, consider him to be one of the many avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu.

 Muslims certainly believe in Jesus, but they reject the New Testament story and consider him to be a prophet who announced the coming of Muhammad  . .so we can take that with a grain of salt. It's ironic that the furthest removed countries, and the further we get from the time of Jesus, the more real and amazing he seems to be. . .





And Jews know Jesus to be based partially the stories of Yeishu.

 The Hebrew name for Christians has always been _Notzrim_ There were already people called Notzrim at the time of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachyah (c. 100 B.C.E.). Although modern Christians claim that Christianity only started in the first century C.E., it is clear that the first century Christians in Israel considered themselves to be a continuation of the Notzri movement which had been in existence for about 150 years. One of the the most notorious Notzrim was Yeishu ben Pandeira, also known as Yeishu ha-Notzri. Talmudic 

scholars have always maintained that the story of Jesus began
with this Yeishu (for short). The Hebrew name for Jesus has always been Yeishu
and the Hebrew for "Jesus the Nazarene" has always been "Yeishu
ha-Notzri." It is important to note that Yeishu ha-Notzri is not an historical Jesus since modern Christianity
denies any connection between Jesus and Yeishu and moreover, parts of the Jesus myth are based on other historical people besides Yeishu. 

The Jesus myth was a slow evolutionary process . . .similar to the old game of "telephone", changing as it went. First the many different cultural myths about Jesus were weeded through for consistency with eachother. It was a diplomatic solution of powerful leaders to make councils of supposedly "Spirit led" men to chose the right books and "airbrush" the divisive texts. The common man believed that God was leading them to tell these men what texts were inspired of God, and which ones were fakes.

 Think about it though. . . what powerful leaders today would you trust to weed through and tell you what is from God and what isn't today?! Do you think any religious authority, much less king, has the power or right to tell you what is from God and what isn't? Why would it have been better for these men in these councils to tell you God's will at that time, then a professing "Christian" like say, President Bush to tell you that God will was for you to support him going to war and wiping out innocent men, woman and children?

 Or what difference would that be from Moses or Aaron claiming that their unseen God has conveniently told them that your nation should commit genocide to whole cities and take their land, because their invisible friend had given the land to you instead? It wouldn't be different, but as the ignorant mindset back then thought it was normal to be sheep, and follow the "educated" religious leaders, we still see the books of Moses and the different selected writings put together by these educated men as  "authoritative". Maybe we should question that mentality now though. . .just a thought.

Isn't at least the Old Testament at least unchanged by powerful and manipulative leaders. . . that we know of? Well, you could say that, but it would be barking up the wrong tree. No one was likely intentionally changing it, and it was as good as any ancient text. . .

From the start though "The Serpent" and "The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil" are replicated symbols in myths of numerous earlier cultures. These different myths would have been known to the Hebrews, probably forming a link between the worship of the symbol of human generative power and that of the heavenly bodies. Just as the worship of the bull connected the respect for the human generator with that for the universal father.

" In ancient Egyptian mythology the world was created by four powers, one of which was the sun god Amun-Rawho who took the form of a snake and emerged from the water to inseminated the cosmic egg, the kneph, which was created by the other gods. In another story, a god named Hathor transformed himself into a poisonous snake called Agep and killed Seth. He also guarded the wheat fields where the spirit of Horus was said to live, bringing the sheaf of wheat to be regarded as the symbol of rebirth.

In Greek mythology Zeus freed two eagles which met at the centre of the world, sometimes called the navel of the earth, which is guarded by a snake called Pytho. The symbol Serpens Candivorens, a snake biting its tail, represents the unending cycle of nature between destruction, and new creation, life and death. The Greeks called this figure Ouroboros. Chinese mythology maintained that the world was surrounded by two entwined snakes, which symbolized the power and wisdom of the creator. In another legend the Buddha was attacked by a snake which bound itself seven times around his waist. Due to the inner strength of the Buddha, the snake could not kill him but instead became his follower."

"Serpents depicted symbolically on a vertical axis nearly always represent sexual energy- the twin serpents of the cadeceus, the kundalini serpents, the alchemical crucified serpent, and the serpent of Genesis are all symbols of the sexual nature of man. In the Judeo-Christian allegorical story of Adam and Eve, the serpent represents the dual nature of sexual energy, which can either entrap or release the spirit. It is this serpent who guards the mythical tree of life and immortality featured in mythology the world over, where it serves as both a protector of the aspirant and an obstacle to the uninitiated".. . .but sadly, it's meaning was lost in time or translation, and people started to take the story of creation as literal. . .the same mistake people make today in reading any of the Bible.

"The serpent plays an important role in every culture. . .As a sexual symbol, the snake can represent the energies of the universe, or base human desires and lust" source: here. An understanding of the meaning of snakes helps us understand other myth stories in the Bible as well.

We see in Exodus 4 and 7 a rod turning into a snake. In Numbers 21:4-7 a bronze snake was supposed to have been crafted by Moses to heal people by just looking at it. . .As both the snake and numerous aspects of the whole Moses character was predated in other myths, while it is possible there was an original basis for the stories, it is questionable that any of the story even happened. . .although truth is sometimes stranger then fiction.
(I did hear about a bush that could have made the story of the burning bush actually a superstitious view of reality. . .it's interesting enough that I may just have to do some more research and blog on the whole myth in a future post.)

Astrologers, will point out that some systems include a thirteenth sign of the zodiac known as Ophiuchus Serpentarius, the Serpent Holder. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries this constellation was called Alpheichius. Known as the “God of Invocation” after the legendary healer, Ophiuchus (Asclepius). The two serpents in his hands were later replaced by the snake on the pole which was symbolic of the spine and/or the life of man and it became a symbol for physicians.”

The Persian writings that some of the original snake symbolism likely sprang from, were also probably influential in later attaching the virginity of Mary to the story of Jesus.  "The myth of Mithra the Persian god is full of references to "purity" of life. There is reason to believe that, in the religious secret initiations of the followers of Mithra, they were taught to regard marriage as impure."  This we also see in  1 Corinthians 7:1, "Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry." This teaching was obviously taken very seriously by the catholic churches in particular . .if the idea was to stop the procreation of the "men of God" though, sadly, history tells us it was pretty ineffective. (The church would probably be a lot smaller even today if it weren't for priests that fail in their attempt to follow that dangerous belief.)

 It's easy to see how a virgin birth myth would start, as it would be a necessary thing for a deity who is considered pure to them, to not have a natural human conception . . .(I have wondered how a woman who is under the curse was suppose to fit into this picture either mind you. . .)

 Virgin birth stories were fairly common in mythology. The following mythological characters were all believed to have been born to divinely impregnated virgins: Romulus and Remus, Perseus, Zoroaster, Mithras, Osiris-Aion, Agdistis, Attis, Tammuz, Adonis, Korybas, Dionysus. The belief in unions between so called "gods" and women, regardless of whether they were virgins or not, is even more common. Even the Bible describes the "Sons of God" coming into "the daughters of man". . . Many characters in mythology were believed to be sons of divine fathers and human females. I strongly suspect this is because the ancient people would have called anything different, smarter or more powerful, a "god".  And as there is very good evidence that there was an Ancient race of highly intelligent and different people, that kind of a myth probably had a basic truth to it in many cultures. See my post: "Was Hitler right? (I open a big can of worms in here)"

The Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God born to a virgin, is typical of Greco-Roman myths. The god Tammuz, worshiped in northern Israel, was said to have been born to the virgin Myrrha. The name "Myrrha" superficially resembles "Mary/Miriam" and it is possible that this particular virgin birth story influenced the Mary story more than the others. Like Jesus, Tammuz was always called "Lord." The Tosefta which writes of Tammuz, mentions a famous case of a woman named Miriam sleeping with a Roman soldier.

Another story that likely influenced the Jesus myth as was mentioned above that the Jews believe, was the story of a man called Yeishu. He was a sorcerer/magician around the time of Jesus. The Jews considered him to be a person who had led the Jews astray. As a result of charges brought against him (the details of which are not known, but which probably involved high treason) He was paraded around for forty days with a herald going in front of him announcing that he would be stoned and calling for people to come forward to plead for him. Nothing was brought forward in his favor however and so Yeishu was stoned and his body hung up on the eve of Passover. Yeishu had some disciples. The connection between Yeishu and Jesus is further corroborated by the the fact that two of those disciples names were Mattai and Todah. Those names are the original Hebrew forms of Matthew and Thaddaeus, the names of two of Jesus's disciples in Christian mythology. (The early Christians were also aware of the names Ben Pandera and ben Stada for Jesus.)

The story that the mother of Jesus was probably an adultress and not a virgin was connected to the idea that Yeishu/Jesus had been born to a Jewish woman who had had an affair with a Roman soldier. . .which itself probably resulted in Yeishu's mother being confused with Miriam. (The name "Miriam" is of course the original form of the name "Mary.") It is in fact known from the Gemara that some of the people believed that Yeishu's mother was "Miriam the women's hairdresser."

The story that Mary had been an adulteress never completely disappeared in Christian mythology. Instead, the character of Mary was split into two: Mary the mother of Jesus, believed to be a virgin, and Mary Magdalene, believed to be a woman of ill repute. The idea that the character of Mary Magdalene is also derived from Miriam, the mythical mother of Yeishu, is corroborated by the fact that the strange name "Magdalene" clearly resembles the Aramaic term "mgadla nshaya," meaning "womens' hairdresser."

Why do people believe that Jesus's father was named Joseph? The name Joseph for Jesus's stepfather is easy to explain. While the Pharisees were waiting for a Messiah who would be a descendant of David, the Samaritans wanted a Messiah who would restore the northern kingdom of Israel. The Samaritans emphasized their partial descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were descended from Joseph. The Samaritans considered themselves to be "Bnei Yoseph" i.e. "sons of Joseph," personalizing the story then, they would have called Jesus a "son of Joseph" as well.

 Other Christians, who followed the idea that the Messiah was to be descended from David, tried to trace Joseph back to David. They came up with two contradictory genealogies for him, one recorded in Matthew and the other in Luke. (Just one of the issues in the Bible. . .)

 When the idea that Mary was a virgin developed, the mythical Joseph was relegated to the position of simply being her husband and the stepfather of Jesus. So it didn't matter if his made up genealogy didn't fit with someone else' s made up genealogy, or with the prophesied line of the messiah through king David . . . Now only Mary's bloodline mattered. . .presuming one of the genealogies was hers, and the different one somehow Josephs. (Which is highly problematic.) Mind you, then we have the genealogy going through a woman, and that was unheard of. If you can believe that though, then there's the question of how there could be any human genes in Jesus, without the "curse" passing to him? And if Mary was simply the vessel of God, and Jesus didn't share any of Mary's genealogy, why even bring it up?!

Anyhow, the similarities in the story of Yeishu don't stop there. . . Yeishu fled to Egypt to escape being killed by a cruel king as well. Since the early Christians believed that Jesus had lived in Roman times it is natural that they would have confused the evil king who wanted to kill Jesus with Herod, since there were no other suitable evil kings during the Roman period..

 In many different culture's mythical stories the evil king receives a prophecy that a certain child will be born who will usurp the throne. In some stories the child is born to a virgin and usually he is son of a god. The mother of the child tries to hide him. The king usually orders the slaying of all babies who might be the prophesied king. Examples of myths which follow this plot are the birth stories of Romulus and Remus, Perseus, Krishna, Zeus, and Oedipus. The story of Moses's birth also resembles these myths (some of which claim that the mother put the child in a basket and placed him in a river). The Christian myth of the slaughter of the innocents by Herod is simply a Christian version of this theme. And no historian has found any evidence of this slaughter in history.

The information in the Talmud alone, concerning Yeishu, is so damaging to Christianity that Christians have always taken drastic measures against it. When the Christians first discovered the information they immediately tried to wipe it out by censoring the Talmud. The Basle edition of the Talmud (c. 1578 - 1580) had all the passages relating to Yeishu and a similar ben Stada, deleted by the Christians. Even today, editions of the Talmud used by Christian scholars lack these passages!

During the first few decades of this century, fierce academic battles raged between Atheist and Christian scholars over the true origins of Christianity. The Christians were forced to face up to the evidence. As they could no longer ignore it, so they decided to take it to the level of desperation and attack it. Humorously, they claimed that the Talmudic Yeishu was a distortion of the "historical Jesus.":) But don't take my word for any of this, check all this (and a lot more,) out for yourself below and in the rest of the links! (If you dare. . .)

Pagan origins of Jesus:

http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/j…

http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/pcc/pcc0…

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jc…

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/r…

http://www.harrington-sites.com/motif.ht…