#kalhu
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theancientwayoflife · 2 years ago
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~ Furniture plaque carved in relief with lion-headed figure.
Period: Neo-Assyrian
Date: ca. 8th–7th century BC.
Place of origin: Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Culture: Assyrian
Medium: Ivory
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whencyclopedfr · 10 months ago
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Assurnasirpal II
Assurnasirpal II (r. de 884 à 859 av. J.-C.) fut le troisième roi de l'Empire néo-assyrien. Son père était Tukulti-Ninurta II (r. de 891 à 884 av. J.-C.), dont les campagnes militaires dans toute la région permirent à son fils de se doter d'un empire important et des ressources nécessaires pour équiper une armée redoutable. Assurnasirpal II est connu pour ses impitoyables conquêtes militaires et la consolidation de l'empire assyrien, mais il est probablement plus célèbre pour son grand palais de Kalhu (également connu sous le nom de Caleh et Nimroud dans l'Irak moderne), dont les reliefs muraux décrivant ses succès militaires (et ses nombreuses victimes) sont exposés dans les musées du monde entier à l'heure actuelle. Outre le palais lui-même, il est également connu pour avoir organisé l'une des fêtes les plus impressionnantes de l'histoire pour inaugurer sa nouvelle ville de Kalhu: il accueillit plus de 69 000 personnes au cours d'un festival de dix jours. Le menu de cette fête subsiste encore aujourd'hui. Il régna pendant 25 ans et son fils, Salmanazar III, lui succéda (r. de 859 à 824 av. J.-C.).
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bagdemagus · 1 year ago
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Details of incised designs on the garments of a Neo-Assyrian relief sculpture From Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Iraq Reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE)
Ny Carslberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
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sumerianlanguage · 9 months ago
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Wow! Because this tablet was sun-dried rather than fired, it preserved DNA from almost three millennia ago, now identified with a variety of different plant families (unfortunately the results aren't specific down to the species level). The whole paper can be read here.
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NEWS Resurrecting Ancient Flora: Unveiling Biodiversity Secrets from a 2,900-Year-Old Clay Brick
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philoursmars · 2 years ago
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Nouveau retour à mon projet de présenter la plupart de mes 55500 photos (et des brouettes).  Plus trop loin du présent….  
2016. Au Louvre-Lens, il y eut une expo : “L’Histoire commence en Mésopotamie”
- alabastre en calcite - Suse, époque Néo-Babylonienne, sous Nabuchodonosor, 580av.J-C.
- les 2 suivantes: scène de guerre en albâtre - Ninive, époque Néo-Assyrienne, sous le règne d’Assurbanipal, 650 av.J-C.
- obélisque royal - Nimrud-Kalhu, époque Néo-Assyrienne, sous le règne de  Salmanazar III, 840 av.J-C.
- autel du roi en albâtre - Assur, sous le règne de Tukulti-Ninurta I, 1220 av.J-C.
- les 2 dernières : les jardins
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Caleb Howard of @Tyndale_House edited a new book on the famous Assyrian royal palace in Kalhu. In open access. Enjoy!
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whencyclopedia · 22 days ago
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The Nimrud Ivories: Their Discovery & History
In 1845 CE, the archaeologist Austen Henry Layard began excavations at the ruins of the city of Nimrud in the region which is northern Iraq in the present day. Layard's expedition was part of a larger movement at the time to uncover ancient sites in Mesopotamia, which would corroborate stories found in the Bible, specifically in books in the Old Testament such as Genesis and Jonah. The archaeologists who excavated the sites throughout Mesopotamia in the mid-19th century CE were seeking physical evidence to support accounts of the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, and cities such as Nineveh and Calah, among other biblical references. Their work, ironically, would have the complete opposite effect of what was intended: they discovered a civilization that existed long before the first biblical books were written, one which had, in fact, produced the first stories concerning a global flood and an ark, and which was far more advanced than had previously been thought. These discoveries would revolutionize human understanding of world history which, previously, had been heavily influenced by the Bible's version of events. Prior to these expeditions, little was known about Mesopotamian history outside of the Assyrians and Babylonians because they were the people best documented by the Greek historians and mentioned in the Bible. The great Mesopotamian cities of the past lay buried under the sands after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE, and their histories lay buried with them.
History of the City and Discovery of the Ivories
When Layard began his work at Nimrud, he did not even know which city he was excavating. He believed he had discovered Nineveh and, in fact, published his best-selling book on the excavation, Nineveh and its Remains, in 1849 CE, still confident in that belief. His book was so popular, and the artifacts he uncovered so intriguing, that further expeditions to the region were quickly funded. Further work in the region established that the ruins Layard had uncovered were not those of Nineveh but of another city, which was then referred to as Nimrud. The archaeologist William K. Loftus took over from Layard in 1854 CE and excavated Nimrud further discovering, among other treasures, the magnificent works of art known today as the Nimrud Ivories (also as the Loftus Ivories). Nimrud was an important city in ancient Mesopotamia known as Kalhu (also Caleh, Calah), which became the capital of the Assyrian Empire under Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 884-859 BCE), who moved the central government there from the traditional capital of Ashur.
The city existed as an important trade center from at least the 1st millennium BCE. It was located directly on a prosperous route just north of Ashur and south of Nineveh. The Assyrian Empire was ruled from Kalhu from 879-706 BCE, when Sargon II (reigned 722-705 BCE) moved the capital to his new city of Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad). Following the death of Sargon II, his son Sennacherib (reigned 705-681 BCE) abandoned Dur-Sharrukin and moved the capital to Nineveh. Kalhu continued to be an important city to the Assyrians, however, and the palaces and residences were richly adorned and ornamented with gold, silver, precious gems, and the intricate works of art that have come to be known as the Nimrud Ivories.
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psikonauti · 9 months ago
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Unknown Assyrian
Statuette of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin, ca. 8th century B.C., Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Ivory
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desimonewayland · 7 months ago
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Brick with guilloche design
Neo-Assyrian, ca. 9th century BCE
Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Ceramic, glaze
Collection Met Museum
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thestonelady · 4 months ago
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Chapter 47 is up!
Rating: Mature Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Category: F/M Fandoms: The Flower from Tiamat's Fire (Visual Novel), Romance club - Fandom Relationships: Niall/Nikkal, Niall (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire)/Nikkal (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire) Characters: Nikkal (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Niall (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Su, Shimun, Ethan (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Varassa (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Iyar (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Agga, Unzi, Kingu (The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire), Enki, Shamash, Enlil, Ishtar, Ninhursag, Other(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, War, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Lagash’s A+ Parenting, Enki’s A+ Parenting, Shamash Is His Own Warning, Enlil Is His Own Warning, Enki Is His Own Warning, Ishtar Is Her Own Warning, Dragons, Additional world building, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Intrigue, Tags May Change, Hurt/Comfort, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Battle Couple, slowburn ended in ch28, Not Beta Read  from ch33 onward Language: English Words: 289,527
Hello everybody! I am so sorry about the very late update 😅 The good news is that I successfully finished my thesis and officially got the title of bachelor! :D I will be honest, it did tire me out so I needed an additional month of rest, but hopefully the next chapter will be out soon enough!
The other good news is that I have commissioned another piece of fanart, which turned out beautifully! Again shoutout to the fantastic @missn11! Pleaee consider showing her support on her art blog @artthemasquerade, artisttree or deviantart!
Hope you all enjoy it! ❤
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akkar2 · 9 months ago
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Cropped image of a monumental stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu dating to circa 883-859 BC, showing the god Ninurta, or possibly Adad, pursuing a leonine monster.
Source: Wikipedia
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guiltywisdom · 1 year ago
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Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions which comes from Nimrud, or ancient Kalhu in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III who reigned from 858 to 824 BCE.
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The obelisk is historically significant because it is thought to display the earliest ancient depiction of the biblical figure Jehu, King of Israel who appears in the Book of Kings. Some scholars have questioned the traditional identification of "Yaw" as Jehu and instead identify the ruler as another king, Jehoram of Israel. It is also significant for having the first known reference to the Persians.
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In the carvings, tribute offerings are shown being brought from identifiable regions and peoples. It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war, in the central square of Nimrud.
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whencyclopedfr · 1 month ago
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Reliefs Muraux: Scènes des Guerres d'Assurnasirpal II au British Museum
Le puissant roi
J'ai passé au fil de l'épée 600 de leurs guerriers et je les ai décapités; j'en ai pris 400 vivants; j'ai emmené 3 000 captifs; j'ai pris possession de la ville pour moi; j'ai envoyé les soldats vivants et les têtes à la ville d'Amidi, la ville royale.
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detournementsmineurs · 2 years ago
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Copie en aluminium faite par Agatha Christie car plus légère à porter dans son sac à main de la "Clé de sa Maison à Bagdad" et "Appareil Photo Leica DRP III et Objectifs" utilisés par Agatha Chritie en Syrie et en Irak (avant et après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale) devant une "Tête de Dignitaire" dit "Prêtre Assyrien" (détail) en albâtre gypseux de Kalhu en Irak (934-610 avant J.-C.) à l'exposition "Agatha Christie en Quête d'Archéologie" au Musée “Vesunna” de Périgueux, Dordogne, avril 2023.
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shamsaddinmegalommatis · 2 months ago
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Spiritual Potency, the Loss & the Recovery thereof: from Adapa (Adam) to Gilgamesh to the End Times
How God created Man and men in Sumer, Akkad and Egypt fashioned the mankind by creating gods
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Emperor Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE) appears twice, dressed in ritual robes and holding the mace symbolizing authority; he makes a gesture of worship to Ashur depicted in a winged disc. In front of him there is the Sacred Tree of Life. Excavated by: Sir Austen Henry Layard (May 1846) in the North West Palace of Kalhu (today's Nimrud), North Iraq (then Ottoman Empire)
The present text is not a concise essay; it does not therefore cover all the topics related to the series of historical developments herein mentioned. Being part of a long exchange of emails with a friend, it merely offers readers the chance to become better acquainted with historic events that are mentioned in almost all sacred texts but comprehended poorly and confusingly. A constant but truly disastrous human mistake is the projection of assumptions, conventional thoughts, and situations from our environment onto past circumstances that were however very different. In this regard, the present text will be very helpful as it will instigate the conscious reader into active reconsidering and systematic reassessing several hitherto unquestioned conclusions that are certainly wrong.
Contents
Introduction
I. Ra, Isis and Kabbalah
II. Messiah-Christ-Mahdi: a pre-Biblical, eschatological concept
III. The Tree of Life, its loss, and its eschatological recovery
IV. Two kinds of priesthood for the descendants of Noah and a separate, third, priesthood for the incestuous remnants of sinful descendants of Adam
V. Creation, spirituality, the loss thereof (as consequence of successive falls), and its eschatological recovery
VI. Spirituality from the Flood to the Late Antiquity
VII. Spirituality, the five elements, and the wrong sources of modern Western mystics
Introduction
Many people today confuse the human soul with the mind, the heart, and the solar plexus that are the pillars on which the human character is founded, built, gradually developed and ultimately formed; that is wrong. The human character is definitely not the human soul. Only few days after the death, the body and the character start getting disintegrated, whereas the soul is immortal. As part of the spiritual universe, the human soul is a particular spiritual entity, which is ascribed to a nascent body (embryo) at the very moment of its birth.
Due to conscious (and at times unconscious) synergy between the soul and the body, a human can perform 'miracles'. All those 'miracles', like every similar act that was performed by Jesus and described in Gospels, were not truly speaking miracles but the result of spiritual potency, i.e. spiritual-material (bodily) synergy. 
In fact, the narratives are true, but miracles do not exist. Simply, humans have been first fooled about the spiritual universe, which is also inside each being, because we all have souls and everything created within the material universe corresponds to its spiritual hypostasis (or soul); and at a second (and worst) level, humans have been deceived and dissociated from their souls, which in turn results in lack of spiritual potency and in the subsequent formation of the belief in 'miracles'. I will now offer few practical examples of spiritual potency, so that no one has any doubt about my approach to the topic:
A man with spiritual potency is able not to allow a bullet shot at him to penetrate his body and kill him. Back in the 1930s, it was reported that the great Hindu sage and mystic Mahatma Gandhi used to just watch English military airplanes (targeting the people of a city that had revolted against the English rule) and make it sure that the bombs dropped fell elsewhere without killing anyone.
A man with spiritual potency is able to physically walk on the sea or lake water or in the air, to be corporeally present somewhere without being seen by those who are present there, to instantly transfer himself bodily to a remote location, to literarily walk nearby wild beasts without being attacked or threatened by them, as well as to naturally stay in the depths of the oceans and deep inside the Earth without any difficulty, consequence or side-effect.
Furthermore, a man with spiritual potency is able to hide objects or physically transfer them to remote locations, make them speak, and instantly change their shape, to interact (or 'speak') with many spiritual beings, souls, spirits, intelligences and hierarchies, to bodily move back in time and invisibly attend a well-known or an unknown historical scene (meeting, conference, battle, liturgy or other event); and so on.   
--------------------- Response to a friend -------------------------
My dear friend,
Thank you for the attachments, your continuous interest, your comprehensive response, and the critical points of discussion that you raise!   
Recently, I wrote extensive letters to you because I wanted you to have an accurate understanding of my encounter with the spiritual universe, and of my explorations, ruminations and polarizations in view of a methodically ameliorated comprehension of the interaction between the spiritual and the material halves of all humans. For me, it is this interaction that generated History. That's why I don't believe that what people call "History" has been only the outcome of material components and constituents. I therefore try to always highlight the spiritual dimensions of the developments that took place on Earth. Consequently, it is only normal that with great joy I read your sentence "As I see you have already the basis for spiritual science, it would be a pleasure for me to give you a few hints".  
I. Ra, Isis and Kabbalah
Speaking about Kabbalah, you refer to the "the magic of the word"; to me, this fact became first understood through Ancient Egyptian sacred texts as per which Isis is the only to know the true name of Ra. I interpret this narrative as revelatory that only the spiritual ancestors of the Ancient Freemasons and Rosicrucians (i.e. Isis) had this knowledge, whereas the spiritual ancestors of the Jesuits (Nephthys) did not. I understand the beginning of the Gospel by John; in fact, it is a Gnostic text. From this point to the Jesuit-promoted concept, heretic Russian Orthodox dogma, and Catholic infiltration attempt of Imiaslavie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imiaslavie) the distance is small.
All the same, it is my conviction that, by using the term 'word" for the description of Kabbalah-related exercises and endeavors, people only get confused. I believe that the truly correct term should be "sound"; this is the correct meaning of all formulas collected and analyzed by Franz Bardon. Their spiritual value is effective when they are uttered / pronounced; not when they are merely evoked in the mind of a person!
And yes! I fully agree with what you say "The book by Franz Bardon about the Kabbalah is the only one on our globe teaching the spiritual practice of this science.".
II. Messiah-Christ-Mahdi: a pre-Biblical, eschatological concept
Following my historical researches on Jesus, which were spearheaded by my studies of Robert Ambelain's books, I realized that Jesus was not the Messiah or Christ whom the Ancient Hebrews were said to expect to come at the End of Time. But when I studied Assyriology and Egyptology, I realized (as early as 1980) that the Biblical and later the Christian and then Islamic concepts of Messiah-Christ-Mahdi are nothing more than adaptations and localizations of the Ancient Assyrian-Babylonian monotheistic concepts of Ninurta and Etana (two parallel perceptions of the concept of a Savior coming at the end of Times), and of the (equally monotheistic) Ancient Egyptian concept of Horus. Furthermore, several episodes of the Anatolian Hittite eschatological myth and sacred text 'Ullikummi' have been passed onto the Christian Book of the Revelation, whereas the Hittite Messiah Tasmisu managed to save the central city of the End Time days at the last moment, finally vanquishing Ullikummi, the monster that came out of the Sea (: the Antichrist).
That this approach to the Ancient Oriental civilizations is embarrassing to all, namely the Zionists, the Freemasons and the Jesuits, I can understand easily. The traditional method of academic interpretation renders all these eschatological texts mere myths that no specialist truly attempts to systematically interpret and analyze.
This situation was a constant parameter and a question that I repeatedly made to myself during my postgraduate and doctoral studies:
- Why do Biblical theologians, who study a Biblical text during the seminar (first discussing issues pertaining to the script, the language-lexicography, the grammar and the syntax), offer also a historico-religious interpretation of the text under study (of let's say Isaiah 53), whereas Orientalists teaching the Descent of Ishtar to the Nether world limit their courses only to the first section of analysis? 
In any case, the fact that Jesus was not the Messiah-Christ is also confirmed by a simple fact: there cannot be a Messiah (or Savior) without the End of Time; and apparently, the time of the Roman Emperor Tiberius was not the End of Time – which means that no Messiah appeared then.
III. The Tree of Life, its loss, and its eschatological recovery
I can perhaps accept your statement ("In Kabbalah the hierarchy is called 'Tree of Life'.") but only as a metaphor. It is my absolute conviction that the Tree of Life is a real, material and spiritual, Tree, which was at the epicenter of the original Paradise. By preferring the Tree of Knowledge to the Tree of Life, Adapa (Adam in Hebrew) only condemned his posterity to 'fall'. By so doing, he provoked a series of other falls, which will be outmaneuvered and canceled only at the End of Time, following many unprecedented destructions and ruinations. Actually, this is the nucleus of every known eschatological concept and soteriological dogma from the times of the Sumerians, the Akkadians-Assyrians-Babylonians, the Egyptians and the Hittites down to our days. Further 'falls' occurred to Mankind, more paragraphs were added to the apocalyptic myths and the soteriological texts.
Many people understand that "as above so below", but few people realize that "as before so after". There is no such thing as "doomsday"; it is not an independent event or a terminal development; those who believe such nonsense are either fools or liars. A rather early phase of the End Times may eventually be described as "doomsday", but this is only the gate to the original Paradise re-established. That is why Fathers of the Christian Church and Christian theologians (thinking that he was the Messiah) named Jesus "New (or Last) Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45-58). The final Savior will be as spiritually powerful as Adam before the original sin (which caused the fall).
Every well-founded spiritual quest is therefore the search for the Tree of Life; I surely understand very well why so many mystics in so many, different, socio-cultural environments were so obstinately determined not to allow thoughts in their minds. This is a paramount effort of self-purification. Thoughts are useless forms of self-destruction. Adam, before his sin, did not 'think'; he did not need to. Angels do not think; souls, spirits, spiritual intelligences, and other hierarchies of the non-material universe do not think. Will (voluntas) is unrelated to thinking.
Cogito ergo non sum: this truth demonstrates the rotten foundations of the Western world. And you, my dear friend, as a consistent and experienced mystic, certainly know very well that Siegfried's death in Götterdämmerung is only the result of 'thinking' (and betrayal). But this was  already very well known to the Ancient Mesopotamians, who used to identify 'thinking' as a parameter of the perilous domain of Enlil (: Air) and, to avert all troubles, recognized 'wisdom' as possible without thinking and as a dimension of the realm of Ea (: Soft Waters).
And by eliminating all thoughts and evacuating their subconscious, the Assyrian emperors and high priests were able to bring the Tree of Life back to Nineveh. They even were spiritually conscious and empowered to stipulate that the Tree of Life was one and three at the same time, as it was reflected at the center of the City of the Nether World and at the Gates of the Firmament.
I believe that real spiritual potency combined with transcendental moral (which is inherent to all created beings) enables humans to rise to the level of sanctity; then, the materialization (: the material appearance) of the 'Sole Tree' (: Tree of Life) in a spot, which is part of the -secret and unknown to most- holy land, can take place. But this is not up to anyone. When it happens, it will have worldwide impact and it will bring forth incalculable changes, totally changing everything in the everyday life of all the people. This is what happened in Nineveh in the 9th-8th c. BCE and for this development to be completed Prophet Jonah was dispatched there, having the absolute success that he had and contributing to the subsequent events, which irrevocably linked Assyria to the End Times. For this reason Jesus and the Quran referred to the Men of Nineveh as returning at the End Times, and to the conclusive role that they will play in rejecting and terminating "this generation" (: the prevailing system before the eschatological termin).
IV. Two kinds of priesthood for the descendants of Noah and a separate, third, priesthood for the incestuous remnants of sinful descendants of Adam
I am glad to know that you agree with the concept of the "two kinds of priesthood" which is a constituent element of my approach to World History and a constant point of reference in many of my articles. Identifying the "good ones" with Isis (namely the spiritual ancestors of pre-modern Freemasonry) and the "evil ones" with Nephthys (i.e. the predecessors of the modern Jesuits), I exclude Zionism from both.
Actually, I don’t believe that Zionism has anything to do with historical Judaism and the descendants of the Hasmonean Jews. In fact, Zionists hijacked Judaism, stripping (Sephardic, Romaniote, Mizrahi and Yemenite) Jews of all of their Biblical and eschatological visions and expectations, and making them theirs. Actually, Zionism is the filthy product of a bastard population which does not originate from Noah but from Adam, but has been contaminated with the seed of one generation of Giants.
Early known as the (antediluvian) Guti, they infiltrated among the early Turanian Kassites whom they helped (after the Hittite sack of Babylon - 1596 BCE) by means of treachery and black magic to invade Babylon and establish a counterfeit and devilish dynasty in Mesopotamia. After Elam overthrew the Kassites and the Assyrians invaded and annexed Babylon, the Kassites formed a powerful polytheistic and idolatrous clique of priests who fueled anti-Assyrian paroxysm and survived all Assyrian invasions.
They induced Nebuchadnezzar to invade the tiny, marginal and unimportant Judah enclave in order to deliberately transport the totality of the Jewish population to Babylonia and thus expose them to efficient Kassite Zionist infiltration. By nominally accepting 7th c. BCE Judaism as religion and by arranging intermarriages, the Kassite Zionists (later known as Gog and Magog and more recently identified as Khazars) intended to substitute themselves to the Jews, rewrite and readjust the Bible at will, thus removing and adding paragraphs and sentences; they were the moving force behind the composition of Talmud to which not one pre-Exilic layman, priest, king or prophet would have ever ascribed himself.
V. Creation, spirituality, the loss thereof (as consequence of successive falls), and its eschatological recovery
Yes, I accept everything that you say in your paragraph about Christian Rosenkreuz and the earlier stages of spiritual initiation, but I find it very brief as diagram and very modest as description particularly if we take it into account, when exploring the spiritual potency which existed as inherent to all humans but later vanished from among the average people. That is why I intend now to present to you for the first time my complete perception and interpretation of the topic, namely the presence or absence of spiritual potency among humans and the true destination of Life and Creation. This is going to be the main part of my present response.    
The present average human was not created by God; his condition is the result of many, successive falls, which correspond to different sins (in terms of thoughts, sentiments, desires, words and deeds) that contravened the Divine Order of Creation which is inherent to any being and which is called 'Moral' within religious context. So, to be accurate, today's man is the product of the consequences of earlier generations that go back to Adapa (Adam), the early Man whom God created.
And while all parts of the Creation have their spiritual counterparts (and this renders the division of the modern discipline of Chemistry into Organic and Inorganic a vicious and deliberate trickery), Adam was an outstanding marvel as he was able to perform hitherto unfathomable 'miracles', which are not at all extraordinary or unbelievable (as today's fallen, trivial, miserable, idiotic and pathetic humans think), but simply ordinary, regular deeds that may be absolutely necessary for the purpose of the Creation.
Naming animals, reptiles and birds (but not the fish) is an activity reported as part of the Creation, because by designating the name of these creatures, in fact Adam attributed to them their functions and traits as if he had been in a way their creator.
However, a considerable part of this spiritual potency was lost due to the early sin, which clearly involved thought, calculation, interest, and exposure to desire and lust. This is not only a simple matter of narrative, but also a clear indication of how the inherent (to all beings) code of the Creation functions. It is not God who punishes, but man who, by indulging himself into what he was not created for, gets exposed to the consequences of his 'impermissible' thoughts, sentiments, desires, words and deeds.
In fact, there is nothing 'impermissible' to humans, because Man was created free, but for everything there is an inevitable consequence. What the story of Adam and Eve reveals is that sex is evil, and therefore human reproduction as per the Order of the Creation was absolutely unrelated to the sexual intercourse, as this act has been viewed in the Late Antiquity and during the Christian, Islamic and Modern times.
All the same, the pictorial representation of the Ancient Egyptian concepts of fertility and reproduction lets us understand that the body members, which are used for reproduction, are the same, but their original functionality differed greatly from the paradisiac times to the post-paradisiac epochs. In this regard, it is essential to state that the act of reproduction was void of lust, because it was performed in total synergy between soul and body.
For this reason, according to the Ancient Egyptian Iwnw Heliopolitan dogma, when after the dismemberment of Osiris by Seth, Isis recollected the parts of the Human Well Being (: this is the real meaning of the Ancient Egypt name 'Wser', which was later distorted to 'Osiris' in Ancient Greek and Latin), she made a replica for the lost male part, which was "tossed into the river, and the lepidotus, the sea-bream, and the pike had fed upon it" (Plutarch's Moralia, De Iside et Osiride 18). Isis consecrated the phallus, but it is explicitly said that the phallus is only a simulacrum of the original male member.
The first fall must have had an enormous impact notably on the fauna; it would be absurd to think that God created wild animals. Simply, the successive falls of the Man affected them greatly; there are plenty of Biblical passages and eschatological literature as per which the original condition will be reestablished after the End Times (example: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them"; Isaiah 11, 6).
In spite of the loss of spiritual potency, the original humans were still extraordinarily formidable and dreadful to all animals; the evolutionist scheme as per which the early humanoids had to permanently fight hard for their survival is sheer nonsense and utter aberration. In fact, various absurd theories, inconsistent assumptions, and scientific frauds, such as Darwinism, Marxism-Leninism (historical materialism), evolutionism and several other absolutely preposterous philosophical systems were treacherously adopted by academic circles thus conditioning the direct and pertinent understanding of ancient sacred texts, other historical sources, and the archaeological record.
Despite the loss of spiritual potency, the early humans were still omnipotent beings that could carry out prodigious exploits and magnificent works; this was due to the fact that they were still able to master their own electromagnetic fluids far better than the Latvian-American mystic and scientist Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951), who first quarried and sculpted, and then transported to another location (Homestead, Florida) more than 1100 short tons of limestone (1 short ton is 907 kg) completely alone with the use of modest tools and the help of a truck driver. Explaining how he was doing the monumental structure, he called upon the skills and the capacities of the early pyramid architects and builders.
Many people admire Leedskalnin's exploits, but unfortunately, few people manage to notice (let alone assess and evaluate) key points of his life example; even fewer are capable of making the equation. Abstinence and celibacy (or chastity), rigorousness and austerity were evident to all who met him. But this means exactly what I already stated for the original Man; he was apparently created to steer clear of thought, calculation, interest, desire and lust. And this is exactly what the life examples of the prophets, as well as the behavioral standards left by selected emperors, high priests, and mystics, demonstrate. 
Consequently, it is safe to claim the following:
1- Lust triggered the fall, which brought about a significant loss of spiritual potency;
2- Loss of spiritual potency caused further lust and other sins (thus starting a vicious circle); and
3- Spiritual potency recovery is impossible without elimination of lust and other sins.
As a matter of fact, numerous conspiracy theories, earlier unheard fallacies, such as the assumption about the existence of the so-called 'Extraterrestrials', and many other fraudulent postulations started being propagated in the late 19th c.: this was due to the fact that people have been gradually approaching to the End Times, when the most complicated lies and the most absurd delusions will be propagated. These monstrously devilish attempts occurred because of the determination of the evil priesthoods, which rule today's world, to permanently keep all the humans captive of deceptions, which prevent them from liberating themselves from the compact falsehood in which they have been living.
For these counterfeit and blasphemous religious leaders, it is definitely essential to prevent humans from attempting to reestablish synergy of the body and the soul in themselves. So, you understand that almost all those, who speak today against the so-called New World Order and the established academic disciplines, are integral parts of the evil system, as long as they do not admonish all the humans to focus on abstinence, celibacy, and departure (lit. exodus) from today's Western societies, as well as to deploy an overwhelming effort in order to achieve spiritual consciousness. Deception, delusion and lie were the first acts of this demoniacal priesthood, and the same nature will characterize their last acts, when they will perish in the years of upheaval during the End Times.
All the same, in spite of the existence of masterful paragons of faith like Enoch (Idris), the original fall generated conditions of life in which humans started being prone to further sins. The quintessence of those transgressions were due to the slow formation of what people now call "ego", which grows fed on thoughts, calculations, interests, sentiments, and desires, thus dragging the spiritual-material individual far from the purpose of the Creation and the inherent code of the Creation. This nefarious situation proved to be extremely useful to some evil people.
It is in Mesopotamia around the middle of the 4th millennium BCE, when we first notice that within the same early urban center some edifices start becoming larger than the rest. There are only two per agglomeration: the palace and the temple. This rivalry, as it is documented first due to archaeological data and second thanks to the early historical sources (3250-2750 BCE), bears witness to the first tensions within the then united priesthood, enabling us to correctly interpret the rise of the polytheism as an heresy and an effort to personalize, depict and humanize the Divine.
In striking opposition to the early kings and the monotheistic priesthoods that were associated to them, the devious clergy, which supported the primary sacerdotal forerunners, intended to enslave the local population and by means of falsehood to render them dependent on intermediaries between the so-called 'gods' and the humans. This was the foremost postulation of the wicked priesthood: the humans alone cannot contact God. It goes without saying that this aberration is direct rejection of the Creation.  
The malicious attempt of subordination and enslavement of the early humans to some supposedly necessary 'priests' is called 'religion'; it killed spirituality, limiting the humans to merely material functions and therefore bestializing them. The evil, absurd, and inhuman claim that Man necessitates an intermediary between him and God is the epitome of Satanism. From the deeds of those days to the final split of the early sacerdotal college in Sumer, several hundreds of years passed. Insane attempts and numerous trials of promiscuous intermarriages took place back at those days, and they left an impact on the local societies, as they were repeatedly mentioned in posterior historical sources; for example, the Assyrians, considering themselves as the only true humans (in Mesopotamia), namely the descendants of the Sumerians and the Akkadians, irrevocably denounced several unclean races, notably the Guti, the Elamites, and the Kassites, as abnormal and inhuman.
It was only normal that these calamitous developments totally dissociated humans from their souls and caused further detrimental loss of spiritual potency. The evil priesthood -of which the terminal continuity is represented today by Vatican and the Jesuits- wanted to also destroy the link between men and animals, which goes back to Adam. That is why they forced the fallen humans of the antediluvian world to kill animals in order to hypothetically obtain spiritual power by taking possession of their souls. This was a lie; it could never happen and it never happened. But due to this delusion, an unnecessary, yet enormous, bloodshed took place, plunging the disoriented and victimized human into grave immorality, polytheistic superstitions, exorbitant delusions, abject materialism, black magic (representation of animals that had to be sacrificed), and utter misery.
VI. Spirituality from the Flood to the Late Antiquity
The divine punishment and the dissolution of the early society were narrated in several sacred texts as the Flood; erroneous readings, naïve considerations, and superficial approaches to Assyrian-Babylonian and other, posterior, historical sources and divine literature led to tremendous misjudgment and protracted confusion as regards this disproportionate event and phenomenal circumstance, which left an irrevocable stamp on the History of Mankind. Actually, it is not for nothing that Jesus established a parallel between the days of Ut Napishtim (Noah / Nuh) and those of the End Times.
Gullible researchers and foolish scholars, who still accept the narrative, think that the Flood was due to intense and overwhelming rain; that's hilarious! Even if all the lands and seas, continents and oceans are covered by clouds and if it rains all over the surface of the Earth, it will be practically impossible for the level of water to rise by 200 or 300 m, let alone thousands of meters as various sacred texts stipulate.
The deliberate disregard for, if not concealment of, the Biblical text (Genesis 7, 11) only contributes to the cosmological and geological bewilderment of mankind; but the text is very accurate: "on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened" (Septuagint: τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐῤῥάγησαν πᾶσαι αἱ πηγαὶ τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ οἱ καταῤῥάκται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠνεῴχθησαν; Vulgata: rupti sunt omnes fontes abyssi magnae et cataractae caeli apertae sunt; Masoretic text: בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה נִבְקְעוּ֙ כׇּֽל־מַעְיְנֹת֙ תְּה֣וֹם רַבָּ֔ה וַאֲרֻבֹּ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם נִפְתָּֽחוּ׃). In fact, it was a stern and formidable development, which involved unprecedented fractures of the Earth's crust and the break (: opening) of the Firmament.
Many people fail to notice that the descriptions attested in sacred texts about the antediluvian world present a natural environment totally different from the one that we see today; even worse, they fail to understand that this contrast is actually true and that the Earth that God created was also very distinct in shape and contents from what surrounds us now. In other words, it is completely wrong to imagine or believe that God created deserts, steppes, savannahs, and swamps, and that the seas (salt waters) occupied a so vast surface as in the postdiluvian world. There too, the perfect world after the End Times, a topic that is the object of several soteriological narratives, presents considerable analogies with the original antediluvian environment, which is what God created.
In Ancient Mesopotamia, which is the cradle of World History, we find
a- 'prophetic' or 'apocalyptic' texts about the Flood (which were written before the event),
b- historical texts about the Flood (which were written after the event but detailed the downward spiral of circumstances that had occurred in the antediluvian society of Akkad, leading it to ultimate collapse and decomposition), and
c- mythological texts about the Flood (which were written later for spiritual, religious and educational purposes, therefore involving symbols, analogies, specific terms, and codified descriptions that became the foundations of the transcendental comprehension of the facts by later generations).
Although the cosmological-geological changes were unprecedented, the spiritual, socio-cultural, religious, and imperial transformations were apparently even more overwhelming. The polytheistic priesthood prevailed almost worldwide, forcing therefore the true believers (: the monotheistic sacerdotal colleges) to be organized in defensive mode in order to avoid infiltration. This is how what we call now 'societies of initiation' or 'spiritual orders' came to existence. It was apparently detrimental for the entire mankind, because due to this situation, spirituality depended almost exclusively on participation in some priesthood.
Societies, nations or countries with hierarchical priesthoods and spiritual orders are abnormal, inhuman, and impossible to maintain; that is why the present world order is inevitably perishable. There cannot be any hierarchy among humans, involving the absurd withholding of information, knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual potency. This is so, because if this condition had been tolerable, God would have not created one but many Adams – one per hierarchy level.
There cannot be secrecy among humans and there cannot be secluded groups with interests common only to them within a society; this is so because such conditions of life breach the divine commandment of fraternity. The structure of the postdiluvian world is therefore unsustainable, because it is morally indefensible. The only means that prevented its total collapse was the war; the conditions of sin, injustice and inequality -in and by themselves- bring forth the end. This is so because dissociation from one person's soul and formation of egoistic, egocentric and egotistic characters cause confusion, misjudgment, failure and putrefaction.
In the postdiluvian world, people could not reestablish spiritual-material synergy except by becoming members of a priestly college. Within such an environment, the incessant clash between the polytheistic and the monotheistic priesthoods took the form of invariably composing and decomposing myths, epics, and transcendental narratives, attributing different traits to the same god (thus disfiguring God), and elaborating dissimilar variants and opposite versions of sacred texts. There has never been a religion with an unaltered holy book.
Physically strong and spiritually dwarf, Gilgamesh was an anti-Akkadian king or, if you prefer, a counterfeit Sargon whom the polytheistic and idolatrous priesthood of the Neo-Sumerian times fashioned in order to divulge, and ensure the prevalence of, the concept of Papo-Caesarism. Projecting his past at will, they made of their creature a foremost king, a legendary hero, and a divine human with a material perspective and an anti-universal worldview.
Justifying the increasing urbanism of late 3rd millennium BCE Mesopotamia and the subsequent disconnection from nature, Gilgamesh became the object of many sacred texts and narratives which promoted the counterfeit and idolatrous notion of a city being the microcosm of the universe. Consequently, the original literature about Gilgamesh facilitated evil spiritual policies of the type 'urbi et orbi'. That is why in striking contrast to the genuine Akkadian imperial universalism (or ecumenism) of Sargon of Akkad, the religious-educational cycle of Gilgamesh attempted to foster an 'internationalism' based on the interconnection of urban centers, solid disrespect for the nature, deliberate promotion of ethnic amalgamation and acculturation, and lack of any temporal dimension.  
Quite contrarily, the Akkadian (and later the Assyrian) imperial universalism was founded on the sanctity of various locations (geographical determinism), exemplary respect for the nature viewed as remnant of the original Paradise, singularity of the Chosen People, namely the Akkadians-Assyrians, uniqueness of the Emperor (King of the Universe / Caesaropapism) as the permanent embodiment of the Messiah (Ninurta or Etana: two monotheistic cycles of religious-eschatological Mesopotamian literature), adoration of God in front of the Tree of Life, and endless exaltation of the Sacred Moment (as identification element on the axis of Being and Becoming).
The interminable friendliness and rivalry between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, as an odd spiritual-literary pattern, reveals the morbidity of Gilgamesh as prototype; in fact, all the Biblical and Islamic prophets followed the example of Enkidu, the paramount non-urban human. The wretchedness of the evil model of Gilgamesh can be best understood when specifying that the Mesopotamian hero-king is none other than the Biblical-Islamic Nimrud (also spelled as Nimrod & Namrud), who forced Abram-Abraham-Ibrahim to exile.
But, when we comprehensively examine all the related literary excerpts, we are certainly able to conclude that no utterance surpasses the detrimental rejection of Gilgamesh by the real vanquisher of the Flood Atrahasis (Ut Napishtim/Noah-Nuh), who lived eternally in Dilmun, having preserved around him the likeness of the antediluvian world; the fact that Gilgamesh would never attain immortality heralded the inevitable termination of the system, which produced this monster.
The predilection for the imperial model and the rejection of the priestly model was not only a fervent choice of the Mesopotamian monotheists, but also an explicit statement made by the Biblical God: "the more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful" (Hosea 4:7).
Maintaining the material yoke over the captives was a permanent concern for the sacerdotal colleges that propagated one delusion after the other; despite the fact that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was preserved as narrative in the Torah, a) the ritualistic use of sex, b) the extraction of energy from the human lasciviousness and debauchery, and c) the utilization of the material-spiritual potency of all the initiates for purposes of social-religious prevalence and material control remained a practice for all types of priesthood. The advanced decay and the loss of the original faith were the reasons for which the ancient religions were practically dissolved or could not have a serious impact anymore.
VII. Spirituality, the five elements, and the wrong sources of modern Western mystics
During the Late Antiquity, spirituality turned out to mean desecrated spiritual potency exerted by immoral mystics, Gnostics, and high priests who had to perform always more miracles in order to attract more followers. In this regard, Christianity was only a smart project of two colleges of Iranian and Egyptian priests settled in Rome. These Mithraists and the Memphists intended to extract the energy of their believers, i.e. fanaticized people whose total dedication was offered to narratives about Jesus rather than to Jesus' preaching itself. The rise of Roman Christianity was a disaster for the Gnostics and the earlier monotheistic priesthoods, whereas the rise of Constantinopolitan and Cappadocian Christianity, as an ingenious and impetuous reaction, consisted in stark rejection of the Roman fallacy.
The arrival of Islam, which in its original form was not another religion properly speaking, but a rejection of the heretical narratives about Jesus, a strong devotion to his preaching, and an effort to ascertain his faith, consisted in an effort to offer people another chance to reestablish synergy of the body and the soul in themselves after the examples of Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Jesus, Muhammad and Ali.
From the Brethren of Purity (إخوان‌ الصفا /Ikhwan al-Ṣafa) to Muḥyiddin Ibn Arabi to Safi-ad-Din Ardabili, a great number of mystics founded tariqas (orders) that do not differ essentially from the Hesychast esotericism of St. Gregory Palamas. But their failure to oppose and eliminate a) the theological dogmatism (within both, Islamic and Christian, contexts), b) the numerous yet absurd versions of rationalism, c) the treacherous and impious notions of nominalism, and d) the persistent but calamitous impact of Greco-Roman philosophy prevented a great number of Christian and Muslim mystics from bringing spirituality back to the epicenter of human life.
It was only a matter of time for fanatics to take possession of Islam and spread darkness and ignorance from Ottoman Constantinople; when the Observatory of Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Maaruf was attacked and destroyed (1580) by a lunatic mob guided by ignorant, silly, and vicious Sunni theologians, the indivisible corpus of Islamic science and spirituality was considered as the enemy of the prevailing bogus-Islamic dogma and therefore persecuted by the Satanic sheikhulislams.
In Western Europe both, secular spiritual movements (like the Cathars, the Templars, the Rosicrucians, etc.) and Christian orders (Benedictines, Jesuits), originated from the Gnostics and several religious priesthoods of the Late Antiquity. It was inevitable for the former to lose a large part of their documentation and spiritual potency as they were clandestine organizations and for the latter -as the winners- to indulge themselves in very immoral and sinful mindset, attitude and behavior. Even worse, the persistent clash of the two spiritual nebulae brought forth disproportionate hatred, abysmal negativity, and further spiritual loss.
There is no spirituality wherever the lie exists, let alone prevails; there is only the curse of God (קִלְלַת אלוהים/kalalt Elohim) there. This concerns not only the Jesuits and the pseudo-Freemasons (launched in England in 1717; about whom we have already discussed), but also the fake Rosicrucian orders of our times, namely the so-called Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross (1750s–1790s), the bogus-Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887–1903), and the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (1865–present). They all usurped the name of Christian Rosenkreuz with whom they have nothing in common and whose spiritual heritage they viciously loath. On the contrary, the early 17th c. German Rosicrucians trustworthily reflected the spiritual inheritance left and the masterful example of life offered by Christian Rosenkreuz, although I don't accept all three manifestos as unbiased.
By having Late Antiquity Gnostics as their masters and points of reference, almost all the modern European mystics, psychics and magicians failed to perceive accurately and comprehensively the spiritual universe. Few great scholars and mystics make the exception in this regard, the likes of Herman of Karantania (Carinthia; 1105-1154) and Christian Rosenkreuz (1378-1484); this is so, because they traveled in Africa and Asia and contacted Muslim, Jewish, Oriental Christian, Parsi Zoroastrian masters and scholars there.
In terms of Spiritual Ontology, the most common mistake that deceitful mystics, occultists, and spiritual fraudsters, such as Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, George Gurdjieff, Aleister Crowley, Alice Bailey, and many others made was the absurd acceptance of the following four as the basic elements in nature: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Franz Bardon certainly broke with this erroneous and misleading tradition, by systematically stating that at the origin of all is Ether. All the same, when their sources were wrong, they were predestined to spiritual failure, moral misconduct, and final damnation.
As a matter of fact, they could not perform better, because their readings and their references were misleading. All these authors were not in a position to go through authoritative sacred texts of superior societies like those of 3rd millennium BCE Mesopotamia and Egypt and have thus access to original spirituality. The cuneiform and hieroglyphic sources, which would help them best comprehend and sense the spiritual universe, were not yet deciphered or they were deciphered but few texts were published, transliterated, and translated - let alone analyzed.
Even more importantly, Water cannot be considered as one element, but two. Late Antiquity Gnostics were totally disoriented and misled in this regard. In striking contrast, early cosmological narratives and sacred texts clearly differentiate between Soft Waters (Apsu/Ocean) and Salt Waters (Tiamat/Sea). The latter is in fact the 'survival' (or 'maintenance') of the pre-creational chaos within the Order of the Creation. Salt Waters (Sea) is what humans must most categorically abstain from; this is what Jesus named "the Father of the Devil" (John 8:44). At this point, Modern English translations are wrong, because they repeat a mistake already made in the Vulgate. And by using this phrase, Jesus takes position against the theory as per which Elohim created the Devil; by so doing, Jesus is evidently closer to Assyrian-Babylonian cosmological standards and concepts than to Old Testament notions.  
On the other hand, Fire is not an original element; it is a subordinate or derivative element that emanates from the Salt Waters. As such, Fire is a soiling substance that was duly reviled by all the early humans. Indeed, it was forcefully introduced as 'holy' element by the devilish, early Mithraic priesthood in Central Asia. Zoroaster and the Achaemenid dynasty of Iran engaged in ferocious and merciless battles against the abominable Mithraic Magi, who intended to impose their polytheistic dogma in Iran and to make the Iranians consider Fire as a 'holy' element. 
It goes without saying that the ontological differentiation is considerable and stern; it impacts Spiritual Anthropology in a most disastrous way. "Four Elements" (Earth, Water, Air and Fire) instead of "Five Elements" (Ether, Earth, Soft Waters, Air and Salt Waters): this is enough to cause detrimental changes in the spiritual exercises one may make, and this development may impact enormously the ascetic soldier.
I read with great interest your email's last paragraphs about your life; for me there are not 'better' or 'worse' persons in this life. Even if many sins are involved in the life of a person, while another person committed only few and minor transgressions, the lives of the humans are independent trajectories like comets the deeper meaning and function of which only God knows. I therefore find it very normal to always expect to learn from anyone and from anything; consequently, I never comment on others' lives and life models, merely accepting or rejecting at the very personal level and on the basis of my standards (that I have progressively established during my life). That is why I admire always the people, who can offer life examples whatever their socio-professional life or economic status may be - either they lived in Iran like me or they explored India like you!
Many thanks for your time, responses, advice and attachments!
Best regards,
Shamsaddin
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its-suanneschafer-author · 2 months ago
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The amazing Amazon has removed ALL of my book reviews for "sexual content" and "hate speech." I have been reviewing at least 8 books a month on Amazon and other sites since 2018. I have written them to protest. Will keep you posted. And my apologies to all you who are now missing a review.
Amazon started by flagging this one for "sexual content" on Babylonia by Costanza Casati: 
Babylonia is set in ancient Assyria with its brutal, warlike society. The heroine, Semiramis, is orphaned when her mother commits suicide. In the village of Mari in western Assyria, she’s adopted by the chief shepherd. He is brutal and sadistic, frequently beating her. Rather than the abuse bringing about her submission, she becomes self-righteous and angry and when given the chance to escape with Onnes, a soldier, to Kalhu, the capital city, she does so. There he marries her and introduces her to his brother and, friend, and perhaps lover, the king, Ninus.
The book revolves around the relationship between the three, an amazing love triangle. All three are complex, at least in part broken, the men (especially Onnes) possibly suffering from PTSD. From being jealous of Semiramis, Ninus moves to falling in love with her, complicating his relationship with Onnes, with Ninus’s own mother, Nisat, and other members of the court. Semiramis, a village girl, must make her way through court intrigues and politics, but her native intelligence helps her out-maneuver more-experienced courtiers as she attempts to fulfill a prophecy a diviner spoke to her in her childhood. Eventually she becomes the only female queen of Assyria.
The book is quite bloody, especially when Onnes, Ninus, and Semiramis go to Bactria to conquer the city of Balkh, but Casati doesn’t glorify the bloodshed, merely recognizes it as a fact of society at the time. 
Then Amazon removed the three reviews on the Attica Locke Highway 59 series about a Black Texas ranger for "hate speech" and from there removed ALL of my reviews.
Bluebird, Bluebird, the first in the Highway 59 trilogy, is an amazing Southern noir that it is so much more than the usual mystery. It’s also about home, whether the place of one’s birth or a found home; family; race; and justice. 
The protagonist, Darren Matthews, leaves Texas for law school in Chicago but finds himself drawn back to his East Texas home and a job as a Texas Ranger. When he’s sent to the hamlet of Lark, Texas, to unofficially investigate two murders, one of a local White woman, the other a Black man from Chicago, he must solve the crimes while being a stranger in town. Though Black, he is an outsider, thus not trusted by local Blacks. As a Black man, he is not trusted by Whites. As a ranger, he is not trusted by the local police. He must save himself, the wife of the murdered Black man, and solve two crimes. Matthews thinks the crimes are racially motivated even as the local police try to sweep the racial aspects under the rug in an attempt to maintain a semblance of goodwill between the races, a goodwill that is utterly missing. He uncovers local secrets, both old and new, as he solves the murders.
As the White mother of a child who identifies as Black, I am always interested in books that highlight racial issues and how pervasive they are in American life. The prose here is taut yet lyrical and reeking with the atmosphere of East Texas as well as a sense of malice and that nothing has changed between the races since antebellum days. This antipathy culminates in the presence of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a White supremacist group, in Lark. As he investigates, Matthews carries his own haunted past with him: his new propensity toward excessive alcohol consumption, a drunk mother, and a wife who’s unhappy with his desire to be a ranger. Matthews’s personal journey is as intriguing as it colors the rest of the book. The title, Bluebird, Bluebird, references a John Lee Hooker rich bluesy tune of the same name, and a strong thread of music runs throughout. I will certainly finish the trilogy and probably the rest of Attica Locke's backlist.
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