#also i interpreted the antichrist as being Italian

[musicalyeetreblr]

[youryurigoddess]

The biggest Easter egg yet

I’ve been meaning to address this for a while now, but @camdenleisurepirates gave me the final push after reading my piece on Gabriel’s cross. Huge thanks for that morsel of motivation, my ADHD brain loves you.

This is going to be yet another long read, although not as extensive as my bookshop statues meta. Still, better get yourself some hot chocolate or another drink of your choice and make sure you’re comfortable!

Now, remember the X-Ray interview with Peter Anderson on Easter Eggs in the opening animation he created for the second season? Forget red herrings, apparently our fandom has a literal red phone box! I’m convinced that this whole scene is a one big — the biggest, actually — Easter Egg, and I’ll explain why step-by-step.

The red phone box Crowley used to warn Aziraphale about the Antichrist and the following Armageddon in S1, the exact one where he left change for an emergency call, seems important enough in terms of the future S3 plot, but there’s so much more going on in this frame. Not only the lift.

The angels

At the very start of this sequence we can see a fragment of an elaborate bridge guarded by cherubs sitting on two columns, maybe globes, leading to a distant structure built over a literal mountain of trash — all elements of the S1 and S2 openings which were consciously picked out by the animators and put together in a very ominous pile.

Ready for some scavenging?

In the Gabriel’s cross meta, I already mentioned the importance of Ponte Sant’Angelo in relation to the ex-Archangel’s statue. Now it’s time to widen our perspective and focus on the full picture — quite literally. Apparently the bridge from the opening sequence has ten statues of angels, exactly as the Italian historical monument.

First things first though: the two big cherubs guarding the entry to the bridge might seem familiar to some of you. While they’re obviously not copies of the same statue, a very similar pair of brass cherubs is placed in Aziraphale’s bookshop to symbolize Aziraphale and Crowley. And looking at the screenshot above and the way they sleep or sulk with their backs turned on each other, they are most certainly not talking. The addition of more than one set of eyes is a lovely reference to biblically accurate angel memes though.

If we assume the traditional left-right positioning of the characters, Aziraphale is on the left and Crowley is on the right. Directly behind Aziraphale we can see a ship named “Good Traits”, but in reverse — kinda sorta confirmed by the animator Peter Anderson to be connected to the concept of the seven deadly sins on Twitter. Same that was mentioned recently by Neil in one of his asks.

The presence of Gabriel — a renegade Archangel wielding a broken cross — on the right, Crowley’s side, seems to match this theory. It could also support one of the possible interpretations of the very last bookshop shot in the S2 finale.

Out of all ten statues, Angel Carrying the Cross by Ercole Ferrata is considered inferior to the others on the bridge in that it appears to be a two-dimensional relief sculpture rather than an unbounded three-dimensional artwork, which seems to match Gabriel’s first impression as a character.

The inscription on the statue reads, “Dominion rests on his shoulders" — that is the weight of the cross that Christ was forced to carry through Jerusalem before being crucified. Even though Gabriel’s burden partially disappeared, the whole bridge and its environment is covered with crosses. It’s clear that we’re looking at a direct parallel of Via Crucis, the Way of Sorrows.

Towering over the Italian bridge, at the very top of Castel Sant’Angelo, is a statue of Archangel Michael, seen as the golden angel on the top left part of the trash pile. Aziraphale’s side, perhaps as his assistant, perhaps a rival? Legends of the Jews mention Michael as the chief of a band of angels who questioned God's decision to create man on Earth. The entire band of angels, except for Michael, was condemned to Fall — which could explain why they have such a good access to the Grapevine That Obviously Doesn’t Exist. And whatever’s going on between Michael and Dagon, perhaps.

In Roman Catholic teachings, Michael has four main roles or offices. Their first role is the leader of the Army of God and the leader of Heaven's forces in the final triumph over the powers of Hell. Viewed as the angelic model for the virtues of the spiritual warrior, their conflict with evil taken as the battle within. The second and third roles of Michael deal with death. Their second role is that of an angel of death, carrying the souls of Christians to Heaven. Michael descends at the hour of death and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself before passing; thus throwing the devil and his minions into consternation. In their third role, Michael weights souls on perfectly balanced scales they are often depicted with as their attribute. In their fourth role, Michael appears as the guardian of the Church. Might be the reason why they’re the closest to the building on top of the mountain.

It looks like Michael lost their sword though, just like Gabriel lost a part of the cross he was supposed to carry. The sword in question was supposed to be used to slay the dragon — Satan, the Adversary — according to John of Patmos and his Book of Revelations.

Speak of the devil: interestingly, there are two copies of an anonymous variation of the Angel of Light statue appearing twice on both sides of the bridge. Both the title as well as the statue itself seem like obvious references to one (former) angel literally called the Lightbringer, Lucifer. Perhaps one of them is representing his son, the Antichrist, instead, with the both of them helping out the Ineffables on two opposing — or perhaps only parallel — sides of the bridge?

The light carried by Lucifer appears to be green, a color used in the series as a visual representation of Hell, but on the intertextual level might also serve as a reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby and the green light at the end of the Daisy’s dock symbolizing the undying love, desperation, and longing for an unattainable dream. In the story, the color represents the limitations of power and money. Not surprisingly, the novel appears on Jim’s bookshelf and is part of the Good Omens book club — a list of personal recommendations from Neil Gaiman and Douglas Mackinnon for the fans to catch up on before the next series.

Last but not least, the possible connection to Libertas as the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty, shown multiple times in S2 as a foreshadowing of our character’s trip to America in S3. The related quote of Patrick Henry “Give me liberty or give me death” becomes even more relevant if we consider how the motto of the French Revolution was sometimes written as Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort (“Liberty, equality, fraternity or death”). A lesson surely learnt by a certain angel back in 1793, when he was held prisoner for the last time before being forcefully taken Upstairs in the Final Fifteen.

The bridge and the castle

Okay, these are the basic observations. Now a brief historical overview and we will reach the fun bit in a jiffy.

Have you ever wondered about the meaning of this whole complex? It wasn’t always angelic, but named after a Roman noble dynasty. The Aelian bridge was built by the Emperor Hadrian in 134 AD to span River Tiber from the city center to his mausoleum. With time, the remains of more emperors were put to rest in there, until it was plundered and destroyed in a war. Then the remaining structure was transformed into a military fortress and a castle serving as the papal residence in times of war.

The Papal State also used Sant'Angelo as a prison; the Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno was imprisoned there for six years. Executions of the inmates were performed in the small inner courtyard, but they weren’t the only deaths in the area. On the other side of the bridge, in the adjoining Piazza del Ponte, under the watchful eyes of the stone likenesses of two saints, the public executions were held, and the heads of the criminals were brought onto the bridge and exposed to public view there.

As a prison, the former mausoleum is also the setting for the third act of Giacomo Puccini's 1900 opera Tosca. Long story short, the eponymous heroine convinces her lover to feign death so that they can flee together. Unfortunately, they are betrayed and the firing squad shoots at him with real bullets instead of blanks. Tosca believes in the quality of his acting performance rather than the truth, and when the realization hits her, she leaps to her death from the Castel’s ramparts.

After Nero’s bridge was destroyed, the travelers were forced to cross this bridge as the only direct route to the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica, earning it the nickname “the bridge of Saint Peter”. That’s why in the 16th century Pope Clement VII erected statues of Saints Peter and Paul at the ends of the bridge, guarding it as they are supposed to protect the entry to Heaven.

In 1688 the bridge was embellished with ten angel statues, five on each side of the bridge, carrying Arma Christi, the Instruments of the Passion. The Good Omens characters represented by those statues in the opening sequence might be other instruments of Christ’s suffering as parts of the system that needs to be overthrown or replaced.

One angel appears particularly important in the context of both the bridge and the Second Coming — Saint Michael the Archangel.

Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop Hadrian’s mausoleum, sheathing their sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name. A less charitable yet more apt elaboration of the legend, given the militant disposition of this particular Archangel, was heard by the 15th-century traveler who saw an angel statue on the castle roof. He recounts that during a prolonged season of the plague, Pope Gregory I heard that the populace, even Christians, had begun revering a pagan idol at the church of Santa Agata in Suburra. A vision urged the Pope to lead a procession to the church. Upon arriving, the idol miraculously fell apart with a clap of thunder. Returning to St Peter's by the Aelian Bridge, the Pope had another vision of an angel atop the castle, wiping the blood from his sword on his mantle, and then sheathing it. While the Pope interpreted this as a sign that God was appeased, this did not prevent Gregory from destroying more sites of pagan worship in Rome. In honor of the vision and Michael, the bridge was renamed in their name.

What if the procession from the opening sequence was meant to imitate the procession led by the Pope from the legend? What if Aziraphale, now officially a Supreme Archangel, Commander of the Heavenly Host, is the one actually leading it, with Crowley finally at his side as his partner and second in command, just like it was proposed by him in the Final Fifteen?*

What if by some reason, maybe personal ambition, maybe just a tragic coincidence or situational necessity, there really was an impostor in Heaven, and Metatron — the so called Voice of God who seemingly doesn’t speak up for Herself since Job’s test — has been playing a winged version of the Wizard of Oz all along?

It would make just the perfect sense if not for one tiny detail. The procession we see on the bridge is actually led by Crowley, which doesn’t fit the parallel at all — unless it’s actually a proof of an ongoing body swap, as the mismatched names of the actors could also suggest?

The mountain of trash and the bookshop

The symbolic mountain of trash we can see Aziraphale and Crowley climb is a reference in itself. To an actual mount called Zion, believed to be the place where Yahweh, the God of Israel, dwells (Isaiah 8:18; Psalm 74:2), the place where God is king (Isaiah 24:23) and where God has installed king David on his throne (Psalm 2:6).

In a literal sense, it’s a hill in Jerusalem, although the sources refer to three different locations in different contexts — although for the purpose of this meta the Upper Eastern Hill (Temple Mount) makes the most sense. Its highest part became the site of Solomon's Temple. The same King Solomon the rituals in Freemasonry refer to. Masonic buildings, where lodges and their members meet, are sometimes called "temples" specifically as an allegoric reference to King Solomon's Temple, not actual places of worship. And Aziraphale’s bookshop is built around Solomon’s Magic Circle.

In a metaphysical sense, and especially in the context of the Christian New Testament, it is also believed to be a part of Heaven — the heavenly Jerusalem, God's Holy, eternal city. Christians are said to have “(…) come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (Hebrews 12:22-23 cf. Revelation 14:1). Just like the procession were following in the opening sequence.

There’s been some speculation whether the lift on top of the mountain could symbolize Aziraphale’s bookshop, or, more specifically, the oculus in its centre. If you look closely at the enhanced screenshot, you can see that the dome isn’t made of glass and that it looks like a tower (a church’s bell tower, perhaps) more than a whole building.

And there is an actual doorway in there — not like the modern lift doors — opening up towards the source of that white, heavenly light. And what kind of enlightenment can you usually find up in the skies or heavens?

We’re welcomed to crack open the doors to the Heavenly Sanctuary — the Most Holy place, Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holy of Holies — to undraw the final curtain and finally stand eye to eye with God. Who knows, maybe even ask some questions or listen to some answers.

Or, at the very least, to meet one of Her forms known as Jesus Christ. Because that’s precisely where he serves as our (humanity’s) Mediator and the Holy Priest after his Ascension to Heaven. The structure at the top reminds of some temple architecture seen in Antiquity and Christianity.

The Catholic Church considers the Church tabernacle or its location (traditionally at the rear of the sanctuary) as the symbolic equivalent of the Holy of Holies, due to the storage of consecrated hosts in that vessel and their meaning as the Body of Christ. Tabernacle is commonly marked with a red light turned on and off depending on His presence or lack if it.

Looks like He’s already in the area, one way or another, keeping eye on some things.

Are we following a procession of believers happy to embrace their one and true Savior? Or are they actually protesters on their way to dethrone the authority and the system?

Guess we will have to wait and see.

[katie-the-bug]

Take a wild guess what I'm still reading.

For those just tuning in to my running commentary on Left Behind, we're following: Rayford Steele, a True Christian (TM) who's trying to convert his daughter and not-girlfriend; Chloe Steele, who exists just so Rayford has someone to worry about; Hattie Durham, Rayford's not-girlfriend and a newly-minted Antichrist fangirl; Bruce Barnes, failed pastor and expositor extraordinaire; Buck Williams, a reporter who's done a really bad job hiding from a global conspiracy; Nicolae Carpathia, the ridiculously charming barely-disguised Antichrist.

"As long as you don't expect me to cook or something sexist and domestic like that." Chapter 14 is off to a great start everybody.

We finally get Nicolae's take on every child in the world dying instantly, and his response has to do with quantum fields, lightning, and nuclear weapons. I understand he's supposed to be obviously lying here, but really, there's about as much proof for his theory as there is for the Rapture - which is to say, none.

Nicole also refers to the disappearance of children and "fetal material." I simply adore that a) LaHaye and Jenkins just had to make their villain pro-choice and b) this is how they think pro-choice people talk. Regardless, I'm rooting for Nicolae effective immediately.

The Steele's home gets broken into offpage, which I suppose is meant to show how lawless and cruel the world has become, but it falls flat. All the characters are back to work and traveling with only minor hitches from piled-up cars, governments are proceeding as though nothing has happened, and the characters can go shopping without incident. If the authors were trying to get across an image of societal collapse, they're failing miserably.

On call with Rayford in Chapter 15, Hattie mentions that her sister works in an abortion clinic and is getting no business because nobody is pregnant anymore, and Rayford (whose viewpoint is considered "correct" now that he's a True Christian) concludes that said sister is hoping for people to need abortions again so she can keep getting paid. Just in case you thought that the authors viewed abortion providers as anything other than baby-killing mercenaries.

The rest of the conversation has Rayford thinking Hattie is stupid for hoping her sister won't be out of business for too long. Actually, he's had a similar attitude throughout the whole story - part of the reason he beats himself up for wanting to have an affair with her is because she's young and vapid. Was I supposed to like this man? Because I don't like him at all.

M*A*S*H is still on at its usual time. But sure, the world is in chaos.

Nicolae has been declared "Sexiest Man Alive." Out of all the ways the authors are trying to show that everybody loves Nicolae, this is the funniest.

It has been mentioned several times that the Romanian Nicolae is of Italian descent. I would like to know how this matters at all. Is the Antichrist supposed to be Roman? Then why not make him Italian? And if he has to have some other nationality, why Romanian of all things? Why not American, which is what he acts like most of the time? I'm just going to assume there's some obscure interpretation of Revelation that indicates a Romanian Antichrist and leave it at that.

So, just to give you an idea of what's going on in Buck's plotline: his friend in London was on the trail of a global conspiracy. He died in a very suspicious "suicide." His other friend came to warn him that this conspiracy was coming for him before dying gruesomely in a car bombing, which Buck used to fake his own death. Buck returned to America, met with people who knew he was Buck, and went right back to reporting despite being worried that the conspiracy will arrest him for his friend's murders. He meets with Nicolae, who he knows is probably part of the conspiracy and more importantly knows exactly who he is and what he did. Nicolae is now explaining his entire evil scheme after no prompting. I think Buck is stupid, but fortunately for him, so is this conspiracy.

This whole plotline, incidentally, ends with Nicolae persuading Buck not to reveal the global conspiracy and, in exchange, phoning his fellow conspirators to get Buck off the hook. So our story about our intrepid journalist on the run from a global conspiracy ends in him not exposing a damn thing. Anticlimactic.

At the beginning of Chapter 17, Rayford watches the news. Once again, the sudden and mysterious death of every child in the world is a secondary concern to Nicolae Carpathia and *checks notes* two religious fanatics in Jerusalem yelling about Jesus Christ.

The book takes a few pages to let Bruce explain everything that's going to happen in the next seven years - and by extension, exactly how the authors think the end of the world will go down. This isn't even foreshadowing, this is straight-up spoiling the rest of the book series.

In Chapter 18, the aforementioned religious fanatics are attacked, and for some reason THIS is "turn on the TV right now" level news.

Okay so it's been shown and explicitly mentioned at least once that Nicolae doesn't use contractions in his speech. This means that, when he's pretending to act surprised about the suspicious death of one of Buck's competitors, he exclaims "You do not say!" like he's a posh French lady in a cartoon. I really want to know why the authors thought it made him sound sophisticated.

Nicolae meets Hattie and immediately gives her his personal number. We get no details, but I feel like there's a much more interesting story to be told here about the most charming man in the world being himself charmed in an instant. I know their relationship won't work out because Nicolae's gonna start acting cartoonishly evil in a little bit, but I'm gonna ship it while I can.

That concludes my thoughts on Chapters 14-19. I think I'm gonna have to start doing this in a more organized manner, maybe one post every five chapters or so just so they don't get too long and I don't have to think up silly titles for every single post. We'll see.

[agape-philo-sophia]

➝ The term Hollywood derives from the holly tree.

The holly tree was used by Druids who were known for being priests and also wizards. The character of Merlin in the legend of King Arthur was a Druid wizard and he used a wand made of holly wood. Hollywood movies are forms of sorcery using psychology, subliminal messages, and manifestation through what is called "lesser magic" and bewitchment. Today many actors in Hollywood practice witchcraft and kabbalah. The Kabbalah Centre International is located in Los Angeles California and many actors and entertainers are members including Madonna, Demi Moore, Brittany Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Rosie O'Donnell, and Mick Jagger. Most of them can be seen in photographs wearing the "red string" bracelet which represents the red Gevurah sephirot of the Kabbalah Tree which symbolizes fire, wrath, and judgement and this is all related to Mars despite the cover up. Mars is known as the "god of war" in Roman Mythology and the red string Kabbalah cult is covertly promoting a war and holocaust. Mark Breakspear is a Hollywood special effects designer and he comes from the English Breakspear family which produced the only English Pope in history Pope Adrian IV of Nicholas Breakspear who also conquered Ireland for Rome. The name Break-spear translates to Rotti-Lance in Italian for the Lancellotti family. Lancellotti or Breakspear is where Lancelot comes from in the King Arthur legend. The Lancellotti family own a palace in Italy with a hedge maze and clock tower. These symbols are used in the Hollywood movie "Alice in Wonderland" and mazes or labrynths are meant to confuse or bewitch the mind. Movies pushed what was acceptable with each passing year and immorality was blatantly promoted in many films. Today, it has only gotten worse. Movies have depicted every sin imaginable. Beside the blatant perversion displayed in many films, all Hollywood films have the same source: they come from a movie system called Hollywood. Holly wood is a substance used by the Druids of ancient England. Ancient druids cut branches from holly trees which they fashioned into magic wands used for casting spells (Onstott). This spell-casting with magic wands continues to this day in the form of Hollywood movies (as well as in its original form as a wand). It can be proven that nearly all Hollywood movies have subliminal messages, occultic references, and hidden Masonic / Illuminati symbolism throughout. Square and compass symbols, all-seeing-eye symbols, the number 33, the number 666, pentagrams (upside-down, five-pointed stars), satanic symbols, satanic “as-above-so-below” symbols, and other symbols occur in numerous scenes throughout most Hollywood movies and TV shows. Some are more blatant, while others are more subtle. One occultic reference is found in the Star Wars movies: “May the Force be with you.” This phrase is what witches use to greet each other. The late David J. Meyer, who was a former witch who became a Christian, wrote: 'This is the oldest con game ever hatched out of hell. As a real witch, I learned about the two sides of "the force." Apparently, so do many "Christian" leaders. When real witches have sabats and esbats and meet as a coven, they greet each other by saying "Blessed be", and when they part, they say "The Force be with you." Both sides of this "Force" are Satan. It is not a good side of the force that overcomes the bad side of the force, but rather it’s the blood of Jesus Christ that destroys both supposed sides of the satanic "Force."’ ("Harry Potter?...”). The Lord of the Rings movies are filled with witchcraft. David J. Meyer wrote an article titled “A Former Witch Looks At The Lord Of The Rings [sic].” Meyer said that as a former witch, he “can spot witchcraft in a moment, and I recognize it well” ("A Former Witch…”). He had “practiced astrology, palmistry, and numerology among other devices of the craft” ("A Former Witch…”). ‘The first thing a neophyte or beginner witch is taught is that there is a “force.” The “force” has two sides and can be controlled by magic spells, words, potions, incantations, rope magic, rings, amulets, and so on[.…] Witches also teach that battles are fought in the Middle Earth and in the astral plane causing upheavals both above and below. […] witches emphasize that good must triumph over evil, but it is all witchcraft.’ ‘[…] The ring [of Frodo] has an inscription on which is written a message in the witchcraft language of runes. We must remember that these runes are real and are used in the occult. […] The runes on the ring are interpreted as follows: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”’ ("A Former Witch…”). Deuteronomy 18:9-12: 9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Revelation 13:16-18: 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Why are these symbols and Antichrist themes so prevalent in movies? They are designed for casting spells, just as magic wands were (and are) used for casting spells. A spell causes a person to be more open to deception or misdirection. Do spells work? Ask a witch. They most certainly do if you give place to them! Giving place to spells can be as easy as watching a movie. Witches call up demons by means of demonic symbols and rituals. These evil beings are servants of Satan, the angel who rebelled against God. Their goals are to deceive and to lead people away from the truth and into rebellion against God. Movies, TV shows, Rock Music (that is another topic), video games, false doctrines, false religions, etc. are for the purpose of leading people away from the true God and away from eternal salvation. ➝ Cabala Cult of Leon: https://www.minds.com/blog/view/902958822861545472?referrer=MindCom ➝ The Pedophile Agenda: https://www.minds.com/media/1017873232308129792?referrer=MindCom https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1083769775022829568?referrer=MindCom -------------------------------------------------- #Truth #HollyWood #Satanic #Manipulation #Sorcery

[thetldrplace]

My Favorite book of the Hebrew Bible

I just finished reading through the book of Daniel and I was reminded that it may be, at least in my opinion, one of the most interesting books in the Bible. It has several of the most memorable stories in all the bible, and is one of the richest prophetic books of all the Hebrew scriptures.

Chapter 1 is the story of how Daniel and his friends were taken back to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem. 

Chapter 2 is the incredible story of how Nebuchadnezzar has a prophetic dream and insists his diviners not only tell him the interpretation, but the dream too. He wouldn't give them what the dream was about. But the Lord reveals both to Daniel and his prophetic interpretation of the 4 earthly kingdoms being replaced by the kingdom of heaven is outlined.

Chapter 3 is the story of Nebuchadnezzar's image and how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn't bow to it, and were thrown into the fiery furnace.  

Chapter 4 is the story of Nebuchadnezzar's pride leading to him being stripped of his mind for 7 years until he repented.

Chapter 5 is the story of Nebuchadnezzar's son, Belshazzar and the writing on the wall.

Chapter 6 is the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den

The rest of the book is prophecy.

Chapter 7 is Daniel's dream of the four beasts, again the four kingdoms, being supplanted by the kingdom of heaven.

Chapter 8 is the vision of the Ram and the Goat where the Medo-Persian empire is overrun by Alexander the Great

Chapter 9 chronicles Daniel's recognition that the 70 years exile was about to end and his prayer for Israel. Then he is given the prophecy of the 70 sevens.

Chapter 10 tells us about Daniel's vision of a man, and chapter 11 is an elaborately detailed prophecy of politics in the region for the next 400 years.  

I remember studying the prophecies of Daniel in Bible School, and was able to track what is recorded regarding the 'kings of the south and the north' in Daniel in Wikipedia. The kings of the south and north are essentially the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Turkey. Then in chapter 11 , verse 36, a king is defined that we can't track. For this reason it's assumed that it will be the antichrist in the future.

Chapter 12 contains one of the few verses in Hebrew scriptures that speak directly of an afterlife. Through most of the Hebrew scriptures, the dead go down to the grave and that's all that's known of them. This is the reason why there was a rift between the Pharisees- who accepted life after death, and the Sadducees- who didn't.

Chapter 12 also gives a further confirmation of the timing of the 'seven' mentioned in chapter 9, which, when corroborated with the book of Revelation, gives us a fuller picture of the final seven years.

Anyway, it's a really fascinating book. As an aside, since I studied Hebrew and can at least read it a little, I decided when I was taking the class (which only covered the prophetic chapters: 2, 7-12), I'd go ahead and translate the Hebrew for myself. Well, most of the book is written in Aramaic, which uses the same letters, so I foolishly assumed would be 'basically the same thing'. Then I got in to start translating it and realized right off that while some of the words were similar, there was a whole different syntax and vocab going on. (much like similarities between Italian and Spanish, but they're still different languages)

I toughed it out though and got through it, which was fairly rewarding for me.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Catholic Prophecy - Part 17

54 Catholic Prophecy

|f 52.4 "I saw a great power rise up against the Church. It plundered, devastated, and threw into confusion and disorder the vine of the Lord, having it trampled underfoot by the people and holding it up to ridicule by all nations. Having vilified celibacy and oppressed the priesthood, it had the effrontery to confiscate the Church's property and to arrogate to itself the powers of the Holy Father, whose person and whose laws it held in contempt.

|f 52.5 "I had a vision: Before the Father and the Son — both seated — a virgin of incomparable beauty, representing the Church, was kneeling. The Holy Ghost spread His shining wings over the virgin and the two other persons. The wounds of Our Lord seemed alive. Leaning on the Cross with one hand, He offered to His Father with the other hand the chalice which the virgin had given to Him. She supported the chalice which the Master held in the middle. The Father placed one hand on the cup and raised the other to bless the virgin.

|f 52.6 'i noticed that the chalice was only half-filled with blood, and I heard these words spoken by the Saviour at the moment of presentation: i shall not be fully satisfied until I am able to fill it right up to the brim/ I understood then that the contents of the chalice represented the blood of the early martyrs, and that this vision had reference to the last persecutions of the Christians, whose blood would fill the chalice, thereby completing the number of martyrs and predestined. For at the end of time, there will be as many martyrs as in the early Church, and even more, for the persecutions will be far more violent. Then the Last Judgment will no longer be delayed.

|f 52.7 i see in God that a long time before the rise of Antichrist the world will be afflicted with many bloody wars. Peoples will rise against peoples, and nations will rise against  nations, sometimes allied, sometimes enemies, in their fight against the same party. Armies will come into frightful collisions and will fill the earth with murder and carnage.

|f 52.8 "These internal and foreign wars will cause enormous sacrifices, profanations, scandals, and infinite evils, because of the incursions that will be made into the Church.

|f 52.9 "As well as that, I see that the earth will be shaken in different places by frightful earthquakes. I see whole mountains cracking and splitting with a terrible din. Only too happy will one be if one can escape with no more than a fright: but no, I see come out of these gaping mountains

Paragraph 52 55

whirlwinds of smoke, fire, sulphur, and tar, which reduce to cinders entire towns. All this and a thousand other disasters must come before the rise of the Man of Sin (Antichrist)."

Comment: This is what I have called elsewhere the "Great Storm," a period of civil and foreign wars, anarchy and chaos all over the world, and enslavement under Communism, from which God alone can save us. This liberation will come through natural disasters and is to be followed by a period of complete peace and harmony between people and nations  under the reign of the Great Monarch and the Holy Pope. At the end of this glorious reign, Antichrist will come. He will be accepted by the Jewish nation as their messiah and king and will control the whole earth.

The above sequence of events is obvious in such a large number of private prophecies, coming from every nation and every past century, that it is impossible for any serious student of private prophecies to have any reasonable doubts that these events will come to pass as revealed. It should be borne in mind in regard to these prophecies, that communications as we know them today were not in existence even fifty years ago. What then of the preceding centuries? Medieval archives unearthed in a small German village in, say, the 16th century could have no relation to records coming from a French or Italian hamlet in a former or later century. But all these prophecies say the same thing. And there are hundreds of them!

For my part, I have studied no less than 300 different prophecies. Moreover, the more ancient of these prophecies describe accurately subsequent events such as the Reformation, the French Revolution, the rise of Capitalism and Democracy, and even Communism. The sceptic may say that these prophecies are nonsense, but the nonsense is in his own mind. Or again, he may say that they are only "private", but so are Lourdes and Fatima; so are the Scapular and the Rosary. It matters little, really, whether a revelation is private or public, so long as it has given reasonable evidence of being true. Let us return again to Sr. Jeanne.

]\ 52.10 "I saw in the light of the Lord that the faith and our holy Religion would become weaker in almost every Christian kingdom. God has permitted that they should be

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chastised by the wicked in order to awaken them from their apathy. And after the justice of God has been satisfied, He will pour out an abundance of graces on His Church, and He will spread the Faith and restore the discipline of the Church in those countries where it had become tepid and lax.

|f 52.1 1 'i saw in God that our Mother, Holy Church, will spread in many countries and will produce her fruits in abundance to compensate for the outrages she will have suffered from the impiety and the persecutions of her enemies.

1[ 52.12 "I saw that the poor people, weary of the arduous labours and trials that God sent to them, shall then be thrilled with a joy that God will infuse in their good hearts. The Church will become by her faith and by her love, more fervent and more flourishing than ever. Our good Mother the Church will witness many amazing things, even on the part of her former persecutors, for they will come forward and throw themselves at her feet, acknowledge her, and implore pardon from God and from her for all the crimes and outrages that they had perpetrated against her. She will no longer regard them as her enemies, but she will instead welcome them as her own children.

|| 52. 13 "Now all the true penitents will flow from all sides to the Church, which will receive them into her bosom. The entire community of the faithful will pour out their hearts in hymns of penance and thanksgiving to the glory of the Lord.

H 52.14 "I see in God a great power, led by the Holy Ghost, which will restore order through a second upheaval. I see in God a large assembly of pastors who will uphold the rights of the Church and of her Head. They will restore the former disciplines. I see, in particular, two servants of the Lord who will distinguish themselves in this glorious struggle and who, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, will fill with ardent zeal the hearts of this illustrious assembly.

|| 52.15 "All the false cults will be abolished; all the abuses of the Revolution will be destroyed and the altars of the true God restored. The former practices will be put into force again, and our religion — at least in some respects — will flourish more than ever."

Comment: This "large assembly of pastors'' who will restore the former disciplines and the former practices, is undoubtedly the Ecumenic Council to which many other prophecies refer:

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This Ecumenic Council will also "destroy the abuses of the Revolution, " which have been set loose by Vatican II. These abuses cannot be of a political nature, for it is not the function of an ecumenic council to make political decisions. These abuses, therefore, are liturgical. They are the abuses which we are supposed to accept and hail as a ''renewal." And they are indeed "of the Revolution," because it is undeniable that the spirit of the Revolution has entered the Church. (In fact the word was recently used by the Holy Father himself.)

Moreover, the mention that "former practices will be put into force again" and "false cults abolished" seems to confirm that view. At the same time, it affords hope for the future: the beautiful Latin liturgy, after all, is not so dead as the revolutionaries would like it to be.

j[ 52.16 "I see in God that the Church will enjoy a profound peace over a period which seems to me to be of a fairly long | duration. This respite will be the longest of all that will occur between the revolutions from now till the General Judgment. The closer we draw to the Genera] Judgment, the shorter will be the revolutions against the Church. The kind of peace that will follow each revolution will be shorter also. This is so because we are approaching the End of Time, and little time will be left for either the elect to do good or for the wicked to do evil.

|| 52.17 "One day the Lord said to me: 'A few years before the coming of my enemy, Satan will raise up false prophets who will announce Antichrist as the true Messiah, and they will try to destroy all our Christian beliefs. And I shall make the children and the old people prophesy. The closer we get to the reign of Antichrist, the more will the darkness of Satan spread over the earth, and the more will his satellites increase their efforts to trap the faithful in their nets."

Comment: As I said previously, the evidence drawn from so many prophecies is such that it is truly impossible to deny in good faith — unless through ignorance of these prophecies — that we have now entered the apocalyptic period. The general picture is quite clear — so plain that it requires no interpretation. Some details, however, call for an interpretation; and, in this case, all I can do is offer my personal opinion with no

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claim to infallibility. Concerning the above passage, it seems to me that false prophets are already with us. They are not announcing Antichrist yet, but they are surely heralding him because many of the new ideas they push forward are quite in keeping with the descriptions of the reign of Antichrist as found in some early Fathers and Doctors. These false prophets will infiltrate the Church more and more, so that the faithful will be hard put to know which of the new trends to reject and which to accept. It is a time of confusion, of sorrow, and of anguish for many. At the same time, however, the Lord will make little children and old people prophesy.

Indeed, there have been many reports recently of children and old people prophesying, both in Europe and America. But, here again, we are none the wiser because, short of an authoritative decision from Rome, we have no means of knowing which of these prophecies are genuine and which are not. Indirectly, however, one can still benefit from them because they all re-affirm the forgotten traditional truths.

Some prophecies have it to be understood that Antichrist was to be born circa 1962. This, admittedly, is highly speculative. Others seem to indicate that the "Great Storm" might take place circa 1974 (do not take this as a certainty!). But it is interesting to note that, up to the Ecumenic Council (Vatican II), the Catholic Church was the only human organization in which nothing but the truth was still taught (the world at large was already wallowing in a quagmire of errors). But, with the supposed birth of Antichrist in 1962, error has now  entered even the Church. Likewise, the possible events of 1974 would correspond with Antichrist's puberty — and first public appearance.

I have said that all this is highly speculative, and I would not repeat it but that I am aware that there is an inveterate tendency in all of us to seek knowledge of the future, which leads us to hold as a certainty what is only a possibility. For this reason I feel that another word of caution is not out of place.

j| 52.18 "When the reign of Antichrist draws near, a false religion will appear which will deny the unity of God and will oppose the Church. Errors will cause ravages as never before.

|f 52.19 "One day I found myself in a vast plain alone with God. Jesus appeared to me, and from the top of a small hill,

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showing to me a beautiful sun on the horizon, He said dolefully: The world is passing away and the time of My second coming draws near. When the sun is about to set, one knows that the day is nearly over and that the night will soon fall. Centuries are like days for me. Look at this sun, see how much it still has to travel, and estimate the time that is left to the world.'

]} 52.20 T looked intently and it seemed to me that the sun would set in two hours. Jesus said: 'Do not forget that these are not millenaries, but only centuries, and they are few in  number.'

]] 52.21 ' k But I understood that Jesus reserved to Himself the knowledge of the exact number, and I did not wish to ask Him more. It sufficed me to know that the peace of the Church and the restoration of discipline were to last a reasonably long time.

j| 52.22 "God has manifested to me the malice of Lucifer and the perverse and diabolical intentions of his henchmen against the Holy Church of Jesus Christ. At the command of their master these wicked men have crossed the world like furies to prepare the way and the place for Antichrist, whose reign is approaching. Through the corrupted breath of their proud spirit they have poisoned the minds of men. Like persons infected with pestilence, they have communicated the evil to each other, and the contagion has become general. The storm began in France, and France shall be the first theater of its ravages after having been its cradle. The Church in Council shall one day strike with anathemas, pull down and destroy the evil principles of that criminal constitution. What a consolation! What a joy for the truly faithful! 1 '

Comment: The proud spirit which has poisoned the minds of men is undoubtedly Rationalism in its original sense. Indeed, all the other modern errors derive from it. The development of modern errors is in itself a subject matter that calls for not less than a book. It is impossible to show in a few pages how Rationalism developed into Liberalism and finally led to Marxism. There are natural and supernatural reasons for this. Perhaps, I shall explain all this in another book. When people understand why the world is sick, then they may also discover how it can be cured. Admittedly, irreligion is the primary cause, but the problem is not so simple as that

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because many religious people have now accepted the errors of the agnostics even though they may not be agnostics themselves. Never before have men boasted so much of their "maturity" and of their "reasonableness, " yet never before have they been so confused and distracted as today.

The revolution which Sister Jeanne is referring to is the French Revolution of 1789, but more generally, it may be regarded as the universal revolution of ideas called "Enlightenment" which is still continuing in our own times. Indeed, the 1789 revolution was nothing but the palpable result of the Enlightenment, but it did help in spreading its errors all over the world. The American revolution, admittedly, was of a different kind, but the foundations of that new-born republic were laid on the principles of the Enlightenment — of Masonic incubation, mingled with a Protestant brand of Christianity which has always been remarkably accommodating with lower denominators. George Washington himself once expressed the fear that the Republic might deteriorate.

jl 53. Amui-Katarina Emmerich ( Blessed Sister Emmerick was an Augustinian nun. She was born in Germany in 1774, spent a life of sufferings, and died in 1824 in her native country. She bore the stigmata of Our Lord.

|f 53.1 May 13, 1820. i saw also the relationship between the two popes. . . I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city (of Rome). The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness. . . Then, the vision seemed to extend on every side. Whole Catholic communities were being oppressed, harassed, confined, and deprived of their freedom. I saw many churches close down, great miseries everywhere, wars and bloodshed. A wild and ignorant mob took to violent action. But it did not last long.

j[ 53.2 w 'Once more I saw that the Church of Peter was undermined by a plan evolved by the secret sect, while storms were damaging it. But I saw also that help was coming when distress had reached its peak. I saw again the Blessed Virgin ascend on the Church and spread her mantle [over it]. I saw a Pope who was at once gentle, and very firm. . . I saw a  great renewal, and the Church rose high in the sky."

Comment: Many prophecies predict an anti-pope and a

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schism. Many predict war, bloodshed, and persecutions right in the Vatican. But also many say that "it will not last long" and that "help will come when everything seems hopeless.''

1j 53.3 Sept. 12, 1820. "I saw a strange church being built against every rule. . . No angels were supervising the building operations. In that church, nothing came from high above. . .  There was only division and chaos. It is probably a church of human creation, following the latest fashion, as well as the new heterodox church of Rome, which seems of the same  kind...

|f 53.4 i saw again the strange big church that was being built there (in Rome). There was nothing holy in it. I saw this just as I saw a movement led by Ecclesiastics to which contributed angels, saints and other Christians. But there (in the strange big church) all the work was being done mechanically (i.e. according to set rules and formulae). Everything was being done according to human reason. . .

^ 53.5 "I saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed to be very successful. I did not see a single Angel nor a single saint helping in the work. But far away in the background, I saw the seat of a cruel people armed with spears, and I saw a laughing figure which said: 'Do build it as solid as you can; we will pull it to the ground.' "

Comment: Two different churches seem to be indicated in this passage. First, a puppet church set up by the Communists, and a ''strange church" comprising "all sorts of people and doctrines" (perhaps in the name of Ecumenism), which will follow modern trends. This church is "unholy and humanistic," but it is not Communist inspired, otherwise the  Communists would not want to pull it to the ground. This church is either the true Catholic Church after it has been completely subverted from within, or it is a new church claiming to be the true Catholic Church, if two popes are elected at the same time. Some prophecies seem to warrant the inference that the true Catholic Church will disappear completely for a while as an organization, but, although disorganized, it will survive in the persons of the faithful members of the clergy and laity who will go underground.

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j| 53.6 July 12, 1820. "I had a vision of the holy Emperor Henry. I saw him at night kneeling alone at the foot of the main altar in a great and beautiful church . . . and I saw the Blessed Virgin coming down all alone. She laid on the Altar a red cloth covered with white linen. She placed a book inlaid with precious stones. She lit the candles and the perpetual lamp. . . Then came the Saviour Himself clad in priestly vestments. He was carrying the chalice and the veil. Two Angels were serving Him and two more were following. . . His chasuble was a full and heavy mantle in which red and white could be seen in transparency, and gleaming with jewels. . .

Although there was no altar bell, the cruets were there. The wine was as red as blood, and there was also some water. The Mass was short. The Gospel of St. John was not read at the end. When the Mass had ended, Mary came up to Henry (the Emperor), and she extended her right hand towards him, saying that it was in recognition of his purity. Then, she urged him not to falter. Thereupon I saw an angel, and he touched the sinew of his hip, like Jacob. He (Henry) was in great pain; and from that day on he walked with a limp. . ."

Comment: Henry is the Great Monarch, chosen by God to restore all things in Christ. Other prophecies, too, mention that he will be limping. The Blessed Virgin urges him not to falter because the enemies of the Church are still to be defeated, and his mission is strewn with difficulties. The white and red of the cloths and vestments symbolize the purity of Christ the Priest, and the fire and blood of those times. The red color also symbolizes the age of the Holy Ghost, which is to come after our age of darkness. It is interesting to note, too, that St. John's Gospel "was not read at the end." This new development was foreseen 140 years ago by Sr. Emmerick.

|| 53.7 August to October 1820. "I see more martyrs, not now but in the future. . . I saw the secret sect relentlessly undermining the great Church. Near them I saw a horrible beast coming up from the sea. All over the world, good and devout people, especially the clergy, were harassed, oppressed, and put into prison. I had the feeling that they would become martyrs one day.