#pythagoras spiritual

[cosmicportal]

“There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres”

-Pythagoras

[13thpythagoras]

Pythagoras, me, I'm basically what happens when you inject the joker from Batman, with eons of past life wisdom, and psychedelic awareness

[minotaurmerkaba]

[13thpythagoras]

Dirac is espousing his own religious conviction here

it's fine by me but it's every bit as religious to say God is a product of human imagination as it is to say, God is a product of ET civilizations that live nearby and guided evolution intelligently on this planet, ie anthropological/religious stories handed down of first interactions with those ETs being usually referred to as Gods.

Saying "God does not at all exist in any form" is a negative religious statement, and like a negative number still being a number it's still entering the religious equation with mass and weight, of the negative variety.

Honestly the "God doesn't exist" belief is the same to me as "aliens don't exist" or "fairies don't exist," nah I'm aware all those things exist copiously; giant sea turtles exist too and sorry if you haven't seen one but they do exist. Just play nice with them if you encounter one of the above, don't accept gifts or make eye contact. That's all I can say, or if you're a huge jerk and you wanna lose your soul then take their gifts and do make eye contact with an ET / djinn... i mean reiki? hello? these guys can do insane stuff with reiki...watch a reiki master work, a true old school one. They can start flames lol I can only put flames out via airbending but a true reiki master can start a flame with airbending, dass some next level ish...it's on video, the 'scientist' must explain it! or we can sit back and enjoy the psychedelic background radiation of the universe slowly come into greater clarity...

[iridescentalchemyst]

Introduction to Sacred Geometry

I have been working on this post and the graphics for over a week now and I am happy to finally hit the publish button! Hope you like it! Let me know what you think in the comments!

“Greek mythology holds that our human capacity for geometric vision is a gift of the divine feminine—energetic sources of wisdom conceptualized as a lineage of goddesses. Born from primal Chaos is Gaia… She gives birth to Mnemosyne, goddess of Memory, from whose name comes “mnemonic.” The daughters of Mnemosyne are the Muses—the arts and sciences. Memory is the legacy of the sacred Earth, and the…

[nusaeatsurkidney]

A charm for health and warding of evil 😇

[cryptotheism]

hey ct :) the other day i posted some medieval music theory diagrams and i was really struck by how similar some of them look to kabbalistic diagrams, which made me wonder about the intersection of musicology and cosmology/philosophy/occultism (?) in general, particularly in the middle ages. obviously this is an extremely broad topic, sorry. i just feel like from a modern standpoint it's easy to forget how essential the study of music theory was to the medieval education system and how intertwined it was with arithemtic and geometry. so i'm just curious, are there any medieval thinkers/traditions that come to your mind that took abstract structures proposed by music theory and sort of went ontologically wild with them, i.e. mapped them onto the structure of reality/the universe itself?

Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, 1617 (Robert Fludd)

Practica musice, 1496 (showing Apollo, the Muses, the planetary spheres and musical modes)

Phonurgia Nova (New Science of Sound Production), 1673 (This text itself isn't occult, but Kircher himself fits the bill) (Athanasius Kircher)

Kinda! Allusions to the universe as fundamentally musical in nature go back to Pythagoras. It meshes well for antique and medieval doctrines of amity and antipathy, which transposes neatly onto harmony and disharmony. It was often compared to the orbits of the planets, each orbiting at a set distance from the earth in accordance with some greater universal harmony. As far as I'm aware, that wasn't an uncommon way to think of the world.

Music theory is one of those things that gets transposed onto basically everything. If a religion goes on for long enough, you can basically assume that someone will develop some interesting spiritualized music theory. Its not something I've ever delved into personally, largely because I find music theory confusing.

As for Kabbalistic literature specifically, the story goes that Issac Luria was inspired by watching the sun filter through a complex fountain in Safed. I've always associated post-lurianic diagrams with flowing water. But if I recall correctly, Hebrew letters were also regularly used for musical notation, so music-as-mysticism is only a stones throw away. I would be shocked if writing on the subject doesn't exist.

Personally, music-as-mysticism is something I generally associate with Sufism. I know Inayat Khan was popular in part because of both his musical talents, and his doctrine that incorporated musical concepts. But he was pretty modern!

[astra-ravana]

The Platonic Solids

Tetrahedron, hexahedron (cube), octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron-are central to sacred geometry and spiritually embody balance and symmetry. Each solid is linked to the classical elements- Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether- highlighting the interconnectedness of the Universe. These shapes represent more than mere mathematical interest; they symbolize the fundamental principals that orchestrate the Universe. There are profound meanings attributed to the Platonic solids within sacred geometry and spirituality.

History And Origins

• Ancient Greece-The birthplace of the Platonic solids: The exploration of sacred geometry can be traced back to the influential mathematician Pythagoras (570-495BC). His school of thought laid the foundations for later philosophers to build upon. However, it was the renowned Greek philosopher Plato (427-347BC) who popularized the term "Platonic solids". Although he was not the first to study these shapes, his work was pivotal in their widespread recognition. In his masterpiece 'Timaeus', Plato assigned each soldid to one of the four classical elements, Fire (tetrahedron), Earth (hexahedron), Air (Octahedron), and Water (icosahedron). In later interpretations and writings the fifth Platonic solid, the dodecahedron, was associated with the element of Ether (also called Quintessence or Spirit).

• Euclid's Elements: One cannot discuss the history of Platonic solids without mentioning Euclid (~300BC), known as the Father of Geometry. His groundbreaking work 'Elements' outlined rigorous proofs for each solid shape's properties, forever cementing their place in mathematics. These expanded our knowledge of Platonic solids and helped establish a solid foundation in mathematics for future generations.

• Archimedes' Influence: Although not directly related to Platonic solids, Archimedes (~287-212BC) expanded upon their concepts by discovering thirteen semi-regular shapes known as the Archimedean solids. These are a collection of thirteen shapes which share certain characteristics with the Platonic solids. This work demonstrated that geometric principles extended beyond the five Platonic solids, further enriching our understanding of sacred geometry.

Unique Characteristics

The five Platonic solids have distinct characteristics that define them, making them the cornerstone of sacred geometry. The key defining features are:

• All faces are congruent regular polygons (equalateral triangles, squares, or pentagons).

• Each vertex (corner) connects and equal number of edges.

• They are symmetrical structures- rotation of reflection can interchange any two vertices.

These attributes result in only five possible shapes that meet these criteria: tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. Each solid has its unique symbolism and spiritual significance that has been recognized across various cultures and ancient traditions.

The Tetrahedron

The tetrahedron, also known as a triangular pyramid, is the simplest of the Platonic solids. It represents embodying the principles of energy, passion, and transformation and the chaos of Fire.

• Geometric properties: The tetrahedron has four vertices, six edges, and four faces, all of which are equalateral triangles. It's the only Platonic solid that does not have parallel faces, giving it a sense of directionality and movement.

• Associated element: Fire

• Associated chakra: Solar Plexus

• Spiritual meaning: The tetrahedron is associated with personal power, creativity, and the drive for change. It symbolizes the dynamic and transformative nature of fire, representing the ability to purify, illuminate and transmute.

• Uses: The tetrahedron is used for focusing intentions, manifesting desires, facilitating personal transformation. It is also employed in meditation and energy work to enhance one's inner fire and to promote balance and harmony within the self.

The Hexahedron

The hexahedron, commonly known as a cube, represents the element of Earth in the Platonic solids. It symbolizes stability, solidity, and groundedness.

• Geometric properties: The hexahedron has eight vertices, twelve edges, and six faces, all of which are squares. Its equal sides and angles provide a sense of balance and symmetry.

• Associated element: Earth

• Associated chakra: Root

• Spiritual meaning: The hexahedron symbolizes stability, reliability, and the functional aspects of life. It is associated with the material world and a strong connection to to the earth.

• Uses: The hexahedron can be used for grounding, centering, and connecting to the physical realm. It is often employed in meditation to foster a sense of security and stability.

The Octahedron

The octahedron represents the element of air. It is associated with balance, communication, and intellectual pursuits.

• Geometric properties: The octahedron has six vertices, twelve edges, and eight faces, all of which are equalateral triangles. Its a dual polyhedron to the hexahedron, reflecting a balance between the physical and the mental.

• Associated element: Air

• Associated chakra: Heart, Throat

• Spiritual meaning: The octahedron symbolizes harmony, balance, and integration. It's associated with the breath of life and the floe of energy, representing mental clarity and intellectual growth.

• Uses: The octahedron is used to enhance communication, foster understanding, and promote a sense of harmony it is used in meditation to balance emotions and thoughts.

The Icosahedron

The icosahedron represents the element of Water. It symbolizes adaptability, flow, and emotional intelligence.

• Geometric properties: The icosahedron has twelve vertices, thirty edges, and twenty faces, all of which are equalateral triangles. Its many faces and edges give it a spherical appearance, suggesting fluidity and movement.

• Associated element: Water

• Associated chakra: Sacral

• Spiritual meaning: The icosahedron is associated with the flow of emotions, adaptability, and creativity. It symbolizes thr ever-changing nature of water and the ability to navigate through life's challenges with grace.

• Uses: The icosahedron is used to enhance emotional expression, activate sexuality, facilitate change, and promote connections. It's employed in meditation to connect with the fluid aspects of the self.

The Dodecahedron

The dodecahedron represents Ether, Spirit, or the Universe. It symbolizes the interconnectedness of all things and the mystery of the cosmos.

• Geometric properties: The dodecahedron has twenty vertices, thirty edges, and twelve faces, all of which are pentagons. Its complex shape suggests a connection to the divine and the unknown.

• Associated element: Ether(Spirit)

• Associated chakra: Third Eye, Crown

• Spiritual meaning: The dodecahedron is associated with the Universe, divine creation, and the interconnectedness of all beings. It symbolizes the mystery of existence and the exploring deeper levels of consciousness.

• Uses: The dodecahedron can be used to connect with the higher realms, enhance spiritual awareness, and promote a sense of unity. It is used in meditation to explore tge mysteries of the universe and the self.

[talonabraxas]

THE TETRAKTYS

Pythagoras establishes Unity as the principle of all things and said that from this Unity sprang an indefinite Duality. The essence of this Unity, and the manner in which the Duality that emanated from it was finally brought back again, were the most profound mysteries of his doctrine; the subject was sacred to the faith of his disciples and the fundamental points were forbidden them to reveal.

Fabre d'Olivet

The golden light of the candles blurred into incense-laden shadows which thickened in the corners of the small village church. The walls displayed the flickering images of saints whose bodies oozed dampness from the sodden earth outside. Their sad eyes gazed from the gloom, their faces boldly Hellenic with narrowed noses and arching brows. Only their pose lacked the distinctive fluidity of pagan heroes and sages. Muted thus, and obscured by the shadows and soot, they witnessed the re-enactment of an ancient ritual laden with arcane symbolism and mystery. An old priest with tangled grey hair knotted behind his decorated crown stood before a low square altar hewn from the native rock and bedecked with hierophanies displayed for the occasion. To his left and his right in front of him stood a bride and a groom, their bowed heads crowned with wreaths of white satin ribbon and flowers. The mended and altered gown of the young bride was darkened at the seams with the yellowing of a previous generation, but the fresh flowers of her crown reflected the soft glow of the candle. It shone in response to its companion which encircled the buoyant locks of the groom's unruly hair. Behind them stood a row of witnesses in a horizontal line of maids and men. They created a threshold separating the actors of the ritual mystery and the gathered crowd, which stood in dusky silence, transfixed by the illuminated scene.

In a small darkened dome of the church, the Angel Gabriel looked down upon them. His practised eyes, gazing from the orbs of a peeling fresco, traced the lines of the pattern below him. The old priest was the apex of a triangle that stood before the square. The hierophanies, arranged in a mystic triad upon the altar, marked its prototype and the line of witnesses formed its base. The bride and groom stood at the left and right angles of the triangle, and a radiant satin ribbon connecting their crowns strengthened the suggestion of their union. As the apex of the triad, the old priest acted as a solitary liaison between the altar and the couple. Only he understood the use of the sacred objects and the names that would enliven their power. Only he could make the gestures that would transmit their spiritually unified essence in the unification of the man and woman before him. Old and grizzled as he was, his heart was filled with the sanctity of this responsibility, and his gnarled hands imparted faithfully the blessing from on high. Smiling, Angel Gabriel saw the hidden current of light flow through the humble priest and unite the simple pair. He knew that from their merger another triad would be born, another division and union in an endless chain of such, and he laughed as he withdrew. The crowds below sighed and, at the completion of the ritual, mingled and mused upon former weddings and those yet to come. They wept in recalling and comparing notes on dowries and bride-wealth. They gossiped and speculated upon the prospects of the newly-weds and basked unconsciously in the luminousness of the magic that had just taken place.

Simple villagers that they were, how could they know that millennia before their time the ancients, perhaps even some of their own Greek ancestors, had openly recognized this magic in an oath taken by disciples of Pythagoras. Being unfamiliar with such mysteries and sensing their presence only through an intuitive understanding of recurring patterns in nature, they did not realize the significance of the triad and the square. They glimpsed the beauty of spiritual transmission through union but could not grasp the immensity of the pattern nor its noumenal source. If in a dream an ancient ancestor came to them and spoke that sacred oath, their soul's memory might be aroused, but would they recognize the symbol of the Tetraktys? Would they know that it had been represented in their humble village church?

By Him who gave to our Soul the Tetraktys Which hath the fountain and root Of ever-springing Nature.

The real significance of the Tetraktys is suggested in the portion of the Pythagorean Oath which describes it as containing "the fountain and root of ever-springing Nature", It is not merely symbolic of static relations, such as might be imagined to exist between priest and bride and groom, but enshrines the cosmogonical movement of life "evolving out of primal unity, the harmonized structure of the whole". In this way it is a fountain of ever-flowing life. It is also the measure of all things. The One becomes the many without losing its essential Unity, expressed in a bond of proportion running through manifestation. Porphyry tells us how followers of Pythagoras swore by the Tetraktys given by their Teacher as a symbol applicable to the solution of problems in nature. They believed that the nature of all things could be grasped through the decad as expressed in the symbol of the Tetraktys. They asserted that it would be impossible for the orderly and universal distribution of things to subsist without it. Resulting from an infinite series of quaternaries was a world geometrically, harmonically and arithmetically arranged, containing the entire range of number, magnitude and form. The Pythagoreans thus used an Oath with a key which applied to the assimilation of all things into number.

One of the epithets used to describe the Tetraktys was 'key-bearer of Nature'. As the wise Platonist Thomas Taylor observed: "It is a God after another manner than the Triad, because in the triad the first perfect is beheld, but in the tetrad all mundane natures are comprehended according to the causality principle. From its all-comprehending nature likewise, it is a manifold, or rather, every divinity. As, too, it causally contains all mundane natures, it may very properly be called the fountain of natural effects. Because likewise it opens and shuts the recesses of generation, it is denominated, as the anonymous author observes, the key-bearer of Nature, as is also the mother of the Gods, who is represented with a key." Opening and shutting the recesses of generation, the Tetraktys stands like the altar before the bridal couple, containing all the potential effects which will manifest partially and idiosyncratically in the microcosmic process of meiosis resulting from their union.

It is said that the One, by Itself, does not 'exist'. Only when It is united with the Monad and duad is Being produced. The One is No-number. It is the primary, undifferentiated soul of the universe, and numbers arise from it by a process of 'separating out', not as a collection of units built up by addition, but as minor souls, each possessing a distinct nature with certain mystical properties. The interblending of these distinct natures produces infinitely complex harmonies distinguished by the Greeks as replicating tetrachords consisting of three intervals and four sounds. They believed that the multiplex expression of these conveyed the music of stars and planets, and ultimately every expression of the replicating duad. The Pythagorean School, pursuing lines of thought akin to the teachings of Orpheus, considered the problem of the One and the many in terms of 'the Fall' of the human soul from the One. In myth it was said that the reign of Aphrodite, the Age of Love, was a state of bliss whose end was heralded by the Great Oath of the gods (the Tetraktys). Putting "trust in strife", certain daemons were then banished by the gods and caused to mix, as a cross within a circle, the two streams of love and strife.

Love and strife – the Higher in the lower. Surely this is what awaits the rustic bride and groom. They bask for a moment beneath the reign of Aphrodite, whilst the greater part of their life involves the struggle to keep body and soul together and in harmony. But in the sacred moment of their union, the united ray of their Higher Self illuminates their vestures and empowers them with the ultimate creativity of their inner nature. The primary maxim of the Delphic Oracle was "Know Thyself", and Iamblichus tells us that the most difficult question posed by Pythagoras to his pupils required them to understand the Delphic Oracle as the Tetraktys. In terms of 'the Fall', one can grasp the idea of the Self enveloped in the strife of the lower vestures, but the Self that is to be 'known' is the Oath or Word itself, which initiates the strife inherent in the duad and its endless progeny. The duad doubled is four, or the tetrad, which when doubled or unfolded, is the hebdomad. Thus four retorted into itself results in the first cube, which is a fertile number. Philo Judaeus pointed out that four is the virgin number related to the sacred Tetraktys, whereas the seventh power of any number is a square and a cube. This potential fertility is expressed again in terms of 'the Son' of the immaculate Celestial Virgin, who, born on earth, becomes humanity. The triad becomes the Tetraktys, the Perfect Square and six (seven)-faced cube on earth. Though tracing this unfoldment from the plane of the abstract to the particular is difficult, students of Pythagoras began by identifying two basic quaternaries: one through addition (of the first four numbers) and a second through multiplication (of even and odd numbers starting from Unity). Odd numbers, symbolizing the limit and formal principle of universe, were set along one side of a triangle (3 – 9 – 27), whilst even numbers, or those which represented the tendency to divide according to their own nature, were arranged along the other side (2 – 4 – 8 ). In this way, by virtue of the numbers from this Tetraktys, growth proceeds from the point to the line, to the surface and the solid cube. It is these numbers which, in the Timaeus, Plato identifies with the human soul.

There is a third Tetraktys which takes its point from the second and has the property of constituting any curved or plane magnitude through point, line, surface and solid. The fourth Tetraktys is comprised of the elements – fire, air, water and earth; the fifth is the pyramid, octahedron, icosahedron and cube; whilst the sixth involves the seed (point), growth (line), the quality of width (surface) and that of thickness (solid). According to Theon of Smyrna, the seventh Tetraktys is composed of man, family, village and city; the eighth of thought, science, opinion and feeling (parallel to Plato's Divided Line); the ninth of the four faculties of judgement; the tenth of the four seasons; and the eleventh of the four ages of man. From above below, each of these descending levels of the Tetraktys unfolds through odd and even (male and female) pairs in a process of multiplication that is ever true to the principles laid down by the first Tetraktys.

As Creator, the Tetraktys is the divine numerical series of one to four. In this sense numbers are gods. "But", asked Hierocles, "how does 'God' come to be four?" We are told that Unity, the Absolute One, possesses within it the potential aspect of Absolute Motion which, radiating as the Great Breath, manifests the duad, the doubling of Unity. This, accompanied by Infinite Space-Matter, comprises three, which is the first number having a beginning, middle and end, thus expressing multitude. From this springs Fohat, the number four which is sacred to Hermes and to the Oath of the gods. This four is expressed in the four syllables (one hidden) of the AUM. It is said that when the Ain-Soph manifested Itself in the First Logos, the latter uttered the first word of his name, a syllable of four letters. This was followed by second, third and fourth syllables which intoned the number of Deity manifested. One added to two, added to three, added to four, equals ten or the figured representation of ten as a triangular number. Four and ten were the numbers of divinities to the Pythagoreans. In The Sale of Philosophers Lucian represents Pythagoras as asking a prospective buyer to count. When he had counted to four, the philosopher interrupted, "Lo! what thou thinkest four is ten, and a perfect triangle, and our Oath." Perhaps it is for this reason that the triangular-shaped δέλτα. Δ is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, for the delta represents the issuing forth of the river of life which proceeds from the Monad till it arrives at the divine Tetrad, the mother of all things; the boundary is the sacred Decad.

In Plato's dialogue of his name, Timaeus, a Pythagorean from the Italian city of Locri, speaks of the Tetraktys as a double four (an odd and even series of numbers) forming the cosmic psyche. These were produced by the Dyad (identified with Rhea or Isis) or the flow of the universe involving matter in a constant state of flux. It was held that the Tetraktys "completed the process of fluxion whereby physical objects are produced from points, lines, surfaces and solids". In this process the Dyad produces even numbers by multiplication and odd numbers by functions of limit, which acts to stop, equalize and stabilize the propensity of the Dyad to multiply. Pythagoras, in placing even and odd sequences on either side of the Tetraktys, revealed his awareness of this necessary interaction even in the construction of the World Soul.

Between two square numbers there is one mean proportional number. This odd third number acts as the 'lock' or binder between what may be called the building blocks of the universe. This role cannot be played by even numbers which, when they are divided, are empty in the centre and therefore weak. Thus, in the building of the square, the odd number is always master. It moves beyond the Dyad to the three and the four and, eventually, the cube. The Dyad contains the One from which issues the Three (the Three-in-One). Put in a slightly different way, "Matter is the vehicle for the manifestation of soul on this plane of existence, and soul is the vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of spirit, and these three are a trinity synthesized by Life which pervades them all," From Parabrahm the Three-in-One issues forth. It is the Tetraktys (the Three and One) from which radiates the One in many – the Dhyani Buddhas. It is the Four-Faced Brahma, the Chaturmukha (the perfect cube) "forming itself within and from the infinite circle". Brahma is thus Hiranyagarbha, Hari and Shankara, or the Three Hypostases of the manifesting Spirit of the Supreme Spirit – the one plus three which equals four. The Greeks identified this Tetrad as the first manifest deity, and Orpheus said that all of the intellectual orders of gods were "astonished on surveying this deity unfold himself into light from mystic and ineffable silence".

The one macrocosm is eternally hidden in the Absolute. The entire universe is a "microcosmic projection of that one and only macrocosmos". Every microcosmic reflection follows its parent – projecting itself and becoming the macrocosmos to its offspring. The Ray from the Concealed Deity falls into primordial cosmic matter, resulting in the Divine Androgyne or First Logos, which, projecting further, becomes the Second Logos or Tetraktys. From Parabrahm, Mulaprakriti emerges as the basis of objective evolution and cosmogenesis. Projecting forth, the First Spiritual Logos provides the basis of the subjective side of manifest being and the source of all individual consciousness. This highest Logos is expressed through Force, which is transformed into the energy of the supra-conscious Logoic thought, which is infused into objectivization. This Primal Impress defines the laws of matter, which are synthesized in the Second Logos or Tetraktys. In its universal form and idea the three become four, but still the Tetraktys is the formless square giving forth only the idea of universal order.

In this one can see the results of the first creation depicted in the Linga Purana as Mahat-Tattwa, in that it is primordial self-evolution of that which had to become (Divine Mind – the Spirit of the Universal Soul or Maha Buddhi). The intelligible world proceeds out of the Divine Mind as the Tetraktys reflects upon its own essence and on its beginning. Once one, twice two, and a tetrad arises. At its top is the essence of Light which illuminates the world of Deity without burning. Its base becomes the square platform of a pyramid, rooted in the world. Looked at once again, this mystery is that of the double Tetraktys: the Higher and the lower. The Higher or Macroprosopus is the Absolute Perfect Square within the circle 'Pass-Not'. The lower Microprosopus is the manifest Logos who passes through the circle and becomes the triangle in the square which is sevenfold – the square which is a cube, which unfolds and becomes the cross of flesh.

The Higher Tetraktys, whilst containing the noumenon of the potential square, is yet in essence the Triad out of which the Tetrad emerges. The Secret Doctrine describes how the point that appears in the circle emanates the first three points, connects them with lines and thus forms the noumenal basis of the second Triad of the manifest world before retiring into the silent depths of the circle. Thus the one contains three which, together, possess the potential quaternary. The emanation from the three points is the Monadic reflection in the phenomenal world of its invisible Logoic parent. It is this Monad which then becomes the 'parent' apex of the lower triad, the mother and son composing its lower angles. At the baseline they are unified on the universal plane of phenomenal, productive nature, just as they were unified in essence at the apex in the causal realm. By the same mystic transmutation which is mirrored in the marriage of the bride and groom, they – triune – become the Tetraktys.

Plato called the Higher Triad 'Intellectual' and compared it to its lower intelligible counterpart. The Tetraktys, it is said "subsists at the extremity of the intelligible triad. . . . And between these two triads (the double triangle) . . . another order of gods exists which partakes of both extremes". The key idea here is that the Tetraktys 'subsists', which is to say, 'is kept in life', at the apex of the lower triad as the Monadic soul of mankind expressed as the One in the many. In its synthesis it bears the potential qualities of the Dhyani Buddhas or gods of "another order" and is the Higher Tetraktys. Expressed in the phenomenal world, it becomes the Seven Dhyanis out of whom issue the scintillas or souls in the form of Monads, atoms and gods.

The Ray of the Higher Triad falls, and from its point a lower triad emanates. But even as this is resulting in phenomenal expressions, the lower triad has become inverted, pointing away from the triangle above. This is the downward-pointing triad of Vishnu, who is called Bhutesa, 'Lord of the Elements and All Things', and Viswarupa, 'Universal Substance or Soul'. This second creation proceeds along the triple aspect of ahankara, 'I-am-ness', which first issues from Mahat. This ahankara is first pure, then passionate and finally rudimental. When this last occurs, the second hierarchy of Dhyan Chohans appears – the Seven Rishis who are the origin of form. The down ward-pointing triad thus contains the reflected point of the Logoic Ray and so it is shown as overlapping and being overlapped by the upward-pointing triangle which contains the essence of the same Logoic point. This is the symbol of the interlaced triangles called the six-pointed star, which powerfully illustrates the dynamic relationship between Vishnu and Shiva, or Hari and Shankara, within the golden circle of Hiranyagarbha. In the centre of the upward- and downward-pointing triads is the six (hexagon) and one (point) or seven, which is man. One of the Masters of Wisdom has said that "The two interlacing triangles are the Buddhangams of creation. They contain the 'squaring of the circle', the 'philosophical stone', the great problems of Life and Death, and the mystery of evil."

The Tetraktys is thus the three made four and the four made three. Put very simply, the upper Triad emanates the Quaternary (symbolizing by itself the sexless 'Heavenly Man') which becomes a septenary by emanating from itself the three principles of the lower nature, thus forming the Decad or total Unity of the universe. One can see this as separate units of 3, 4 and 3, but in trying to understand the Tetraktys, it is important to remember that the Triad of the Inner Man is the Three Hypostases of Atman, and Its contact with Nature and man is the Fourth, which makes it a Tetraktys or the Highest Self. The upper and lower triads are not separate, but their very existence on the heavenly and terrestrial planes is made possible by the connecting Monadic 'link', which makes in turn a quaternary out of either and carries forth the principle of Unity into generation. This is connected with the squaring of the circle, for this greatest of all mysteries takes place at the edge of the 'Ring Pass-Not' as it does within the Golden Egg of Brahma and within every egg made fertile on the worldly plane. The key to understanding the squaring of the circle is concealed in the androgynous nature of the Logos, whose Ray becomes the Tetraktys in man. He who is fully informed by this is an Adept, a Master-magician incarnate.

Pythagoras, knowing these mysteries and being such an Adept, attempted to act as a Demiurge, informing those around him who desired to open their minds and hearts to the Higher. That this is a difficult task was borne out by the hostility his efforts aroused in many. But he was wise in the ways of both worlds, and he united in a marriage which produced an offspring, who later (at the death of her father), like a ray projected from the familial triad, went out into the world safeguarding the precious truths that had been entrusted to her. Brave and true, Theona was the indispensable keeper of the flame and embodiment of the Sacred Oath. The sweet bride standing in the dimly lit church does not possess her wisdom and courage, but she is conscious of its spiritual presence hovering over her, symbolically emanating from the altar through the priest and uniting her to the rustic lad by her side. In her simple fashion, she dreams that her son will be a prince amongst men, a gifted and gentle person, and maybe one through whom the Demiurgos speaks in noble accents.

The Divine Tetraktys was esteemed By wise men who beheld in dreams Its emanation from the Three-in-One. And since the Inner Man of all Basks in Its Monadic light, Even the lesser dream bears The impress of its sacred projection.

[witchyintention]

Where It All Began: The Ancient Roots of Witchcraft

Witchcraft didn’t appear out of nowhere like a mysterious cloaked figure under a full moon. Its roots stretch deep into the soil of human history, sprouting from the primal desire to understand, interact with, and occasionally charm the forces of the natural world. In essence, witchcraft was humanity's first attempt to make sense of life’s mysteries—birth, death, illness, and those pesky harvests that sometimes failed to cooperate.

Mesopotamia: Magic at the Dawn of Civilization

In the ancient lands of Mesopotamia, magic was woven into everyday life like the intricate patterns of a Sumerian tapestry. Priests and priestesses doubled as magicians, using rituals to appease gods or ward off mischief-making demons. The Assyrians and Babylonians developed complex systems of divination, like hepatoscopy (reading the entrails of sacrificed animals) and astrology, where the movements of celestial bodies were believed to influence earthly events. Think of these practices as ancient spreadsheets for managing cosmic chaos.

One standout Mesopotamian magical figure was the āšipu, or exorcist. Armed with incantations and symbolic objects, they combatted evil spirits with the confidence of someone holding a holy water squirt gun. Their spells were recorded on clay tablets, many of which have survived, offering us a peek into their magical toolkit.

Ancient Egypt: Spells, Deities, and Afterlife Insurance

Move over Cleopatra—Egyptian magic deserves its own red-carpet moment. For the Egyptians, magic (heka) wasn’t just a tool but a divine force that existed before creation itself. Gods like Thoth and Isis were thought to wield heka with unparalleled mastery, inspiring humans to follow suit.

The Egyptians had spells for almost everything: curing snake bites, securing a prosperous journey in the afterlife, or even ensuring a good hair day (yes, beauty magic existed). Amulets were their magical multitaskers, offering protection, health, and a little pizzazz. The famous Book of the Dead was essentially a magical user manual for navigating the perils of the afterlife. If reincarnation were an obstacle course, the Egyptians were determined to ace it with cheat codes.

Greece and Rome: The Birth of Western Esotericism

The ancient Greeks and Romans didn’t just dabble in magic—they wrote dissertations on it. In Greece, philosophers like Pythagoras and Plato explored metaphysical concepts that later influenced magical thought. Pythagoras, for example, wasn’t just a math guy; he believed numbers had mystical properties. So next time you curse algebra, remember it might have been a magical tool at some point.

The Greeks also gave us some of the earliest grimoires, such as the Greek Magical Papyri. These texts were chock-full of spells, invocations, and recipes for crafting magical potions. They even included tips for summoning deities or spirits, proving that ancient people also loved a good life hack.

Meanwhile, the Romans took a more practical approach to magic, using it for love, revenge, and keeping those pesky neighbors in check. Curse tablets, thin sheets of lead inscribed with hexes, were buried at sacred sites to call upon the gods for justice. It’s basically the ancient equivalent of subtweeting someone, but with higher stakes.

The Far East: Mysticism and Balance

Across the globe, ancient Chinese and Indian traditions were also steeped in magic and mysticism. In China, Taoist practices incorporated rituals, talismans, and alchemical experiments to achieve harmony with the Tao, or the natural order of the universe. The blending of spirituality and practicality was key, with many rituals aimed at promoting health, longevity, and prosperity.

In India, the Vedic texts described rituals and hymns to invoke divine powers. These practices evolved into a blend of spirituality and mysticism that still influences Hinduism and other traditions today. The emphasis on balance and connection to universal energy feels remarkably modern, doesn’t it?

Shamanism: The Universal Foundation of Magic

Before the rise of organized religions, shamanic traditions thrived across cultures from Siberia to South America. Shamans acted as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms, often entering trances to seek guidance or heal their communities. Whether they were chanting, drumming, or consuming psychedelic plants, shamans were the original multi-class characters—part healer, part mystic, part community leader.

The tools of their trade—herbs, bones, and natural objects—laid the foundation for many magical traditions that followed. The use of sympathetic magic (the idea that like affects like, such as using a doll to represent a person) can be traced back to these early practices.

Magic Across Africa and the Americas

In Africa, magic and spirituality were deeply intertwined with everyday life. Practices like Ifa divination in Yoruba culture involved intricate systems of symbols and interpretations, revealing paths to healing, growth, and understanding. Meanwhile, in Mesoamerica, civilizations like the Maya and Aztecs used rituals and offerings to communicate with their gods, often centering around natural cycles like the harvest or the movements of the sun and stars.

The connection to nature in these practices wasn’t just poetic—it was practical. By aligning their magic with the rhythms of the earth, ancient people ensured their survival and fostered a sense of harmony with the world around them.

The Bigger Picture

From the rivers of Mesopotamia to the temples of Egypt and beyond, early witchcraft and magical practices were about survival, connection, and understanding the mysteries of existence. These ancient roots remind us that magic isn’t just about casting spells—it’s about fostering relationships with the forces that shape our world, whether they’re gods, spirits, or the natural elements.

Now, when you light a candle, hold a crystal, or write in your journal, remember: you’re participating in a tradition as old as time. How’s that for a little magic in your day?

[cosmicportal]

[blackstarlineage]

The Impact of African Heritage in European Culture: A Garveyite Perspective

The influence of African heritage on European culture is undeniable, yet often ignored, erased, or downplayed by Eurocentric narratives. From music, language, and art to philosophy, science, and architecture, Africa’s imprint on Europe runs deep. However, from a Garveyite perspective, this relationship is not a story of cultural exchange but rather one of exploitation, theft, and systemic denial of African contributions.

Marcus Garvey believed that African people must reclaim their historical and cultural legacy, rejecting the whitewashing of their achievements and resisting the continued economic and political exploitation of African identity by Europe. This analysis will explore the historical and contemporary impact of African heritage on European culture while also highlighting why Garvey’s teachings demand that Africans stop enriching Europe and instead invest in Africa’s own cultural and economic revival.

1. Ancient African Influence on European Civilization

European history often presents itself as separate from or superior to Africa, yet Europe’s very foundations were shaped by African civilizations.

A. Kemet (Ancient Egypt) and Its Influence on Greek and Roman Thought

The philosophers of ancient Greece, including Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle, studied in Kemet (Ancient Egypt), which was an African civilization.

The concept of Ma’at (balance, justice, and truth) influenced Western philosophy, but Greek and Roman scholars never credited Africa for these ideas.

Mathematics, medicine, architecture, and spiritual systems that were developed in Africa were later appropriated by European civilizations.

Example: The Great Library of Alexandria, often credited to the Greeks, was built in Kemet (Egypt) and housed African knowledge stolen by Europeans.

B. Moors and the African Golden Age in Europe (711–1492)

The Moors, who were Africans from North and West Africa, ruled Spain for over 700 years, bringing advanced knowledge in science, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and agriculture.

They introduced street lighting, running water, universities, and libraries, pulling Europe out of the Dark Ages.

European elites later erased this history, downplaying the role of Africans in shaping European progress.

Example: Alhambra Palace in Spain, built by the Moors, is one of the most advanced architectural structures in European history, yet Western narratives rarely acknowledge that it was designed by Africans.

Key Takeaway: African knowledge and innovation built the foundations of European civilization, but history books erase these contributions to maintain the illusion of European superiority.

2. The European Appropriation of African Culture

After the enslavement of African people and the colonization of the continent, Europe began to steal, commercialize, and profit from African cultural, artistic, and intellectual property.

A. The Pillaging of African Art and Artifacts

Thousands of African artifacts were stolen during colonialism and are still held in European museums, including the British Museum, the Louvre (France), and the Berlin Ethnological Museum (Germany).

African art forms, including sculpture, textiles, and architecture, inspired European Modernist movements, such as Cubism, Futurism, and Abstract Art, without credit.

Even today, African nations are demanding the return of their stolen heritage, but European governments refuse, proving their continued colonial mindset.

Example: The Benin Bronzes, some of the most sophisticated metal artworks in history, were looted by the British in 1897 and are still displayed in British and German museums.

B. African Contributions to European Music and Fashion

Jazz, Blues, Rock, and even Classical Music owe much of their foundation to African rhythms and traditions.

African fabrics like Kente, Ankara, and mud cloth have been appropriated by European designers, who profit from African culture while African nations remain economically underdeveloped.

Afrobeat and Caribbean music have shaped European pop culture, yet Black artists still face systemic racism in the European music industry.

Example: European designers use African textiles in high fashion, yet African weavers and artisans see little to no financial benefit.

Key Takeaway: Europe continues to steal from African creativity and culture while ensuring that Africans do not profit from their own heritage.

3. The Economic and Political Exploitation of African Identity

Even in modern times, Europe continues to extract wealth from Africa while pretending to “honour” African culture.

A. The “Ethnic” Market: Selling African Culture for European Profit

European corporations profit from African art, music, fashion, and even spiritual practices, turning them into commercial products.

White-owned businesses market African spirituality, African aesthetics, and “Afro-futurism”, but Black people see little economic return.

Many African artifacts in European museums generate billions in tourism revenue, while the descendants of those civilizations remain impoverished.

Example: European wellness brands profit from African herbal medicine and rituals, yet Africa’s natural resources remain controlled by European corporations.

B. African Talent Drained into Europe Instead of Africa

European nations attract African intellectuals, athletes, and artists, keeping African talent working for European economies rather than developing Africa.

Many African scientists, doctors, and engineers are recruited by European institutions, leaving Africa dependent on foreign aid.

Example: African football players generate millions for European teams, while African sports infrastructure remains underfunded.

Key Takeaway: Europe benefits from Africa’s people, resources, and culture, but Africa remains underdeveloped because European control never truly ended.

4. The Garveyite Solution: Stop Enriching Europe, Build Africa Instead

From a Garveyite perspective, African people must stop fueling European economies and culture and instead invest in Africa’s own development.

A. Reclaiming African Heritage and Economic Independence

Africans must demand reparations and the return of stolen artifacts from European nations.

Black people in Europe must redirect their wealth into Black-owned businesses, not European corporations.

African nations must control their own resources instead of letting Europe dictate trade and production.

B. Strengthening Pan-African Identity Over European Influence

Afro-Europeans must embrace African identity and reject white validation.

Black artists and intellectuals must build Black-owned platforms and stop seeking acceptance in white institutions.

Repatriation to Africa, whether physically or economically, is necessary for true liberation.

Example: Garvey’s UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) aimed to create a fully independent Black economy—Europe cannot be the Black world’s future.

Final Takeaway: African people must stop enriching Europe and start enriching Africa—economically, culturally, and intellectually.

[13thpythagoras]

I'm seeing wild attempts by capitalist literature to separate and distance Diogenes from Pythagoras due to some vague hand waving about Plato, trying to tie Plato to Pythagoras is like trying to tie John Brown to Jefferson Davis because they were contemporaries.

Pythagoras would have been a much more ferocious critic of Plato than even Diogenes, neo Pythagoreans despise Plato as a backstabbing sellout pederast, not just someone who erred a bit philosophically; Plato is Hannibal Lecter right-wing Sith vibes in the Pythagorean schools, literally our force-opposite, determinism vs free will, death vs life, Palpatine vs Luke, and noting Plato is still by far the dominant western philosopher lifted up by the likes of the Vatican 👀 it's telling that capitalist literature attempts to divide and conquer the proto-Socialist ancient Greek philosophers like Pythagoras and Diogenes while still leaving Plato (🤮) as the dominant ambassador for Greek philosophy.

[santmat]

The Veg Passages Blog: Evidence That Jesus and The Original Aramaic Christians Were Vegetarians, By James Bean (Expanded, Updated)

“As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” (Pythagoras)

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” (Albert Einstein)

“Be on guard, so that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh and with the intoxication of wine and with the anxiety of the world, and that day come upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all who dwell upon the surface of the earth.” (Jesus, Luke 21:34, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe — Old Syriac-Aramaic Manuscript of the New Testament Gospels)

“Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’” (Jesus, Gospel of Matthew 9:13, Good News translation)

The carnistic premise or bias of Western church tradition about eating meat is solely based upon European dietary customs without any awareness of the vegetarian ethics of the original Jesus movement and antecedents of the Hebrew Christians such as the Prophets, Essenes, Therapeutae, also the Nasoraean John the Baptist movement. As part of their apologetics some press into service a few often-repeated verses in order to reinforce their already established preference for eating meat.

It is said, “That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” That’s Matthew 15:11, which is often used by some as a thought-canceling verse to shut down the conversation about vegetarianism and Christianity. But if we closely examine the earliest sections of the New Testament, the honest observer will notice that for many in early Christianity vegetarian ethics did matter greatly, that the apostle Paul was having some serious disputes with others in the early church over diet, and about eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols in pagan temples.

And we will discover a Jesus movement that was not only adhering to a vegetarian diet as part of its ethical code referred to as “the Yoke of the Lord” (in the Didache, the Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations), they were also opposed to ritual animal sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem.

How can this be, if diet didn’t matter, we encounter voices even within what can be thought of as mainstream Christianity saying things like this? “The consumption of animal flesh was unknown up until the great flood. But since the great flood, we have had animal flesh stuffed into our mouths. Jesus, the Christ, who appeared when the time was fulfilled, again joined the end to the beginning, so that we are now no longer allowed to eat animal flesh.” (Saint Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate Bible)

Below you will find vegetarian sayings of Jesus from many sources — canonical and extra-canonical — along with a collection of passages revealing that the Apostles of the Jesus Movement were also vegetarians, following in the footsteps of their spiritual Master. In addition, I include examples of pro-veg passages from some early church fathers and many other writings too.

This article is intended to serve as a major resource on the web for many seeking greater access to the vegetarian passages from early Christianity and related spiritual movements of antiquity, along with references from various scholars exploring the evidence for a vegetarian Jesus at the beginning of Christianity!

For those not acquainted with Judeo-Christian history and the various collections of writings or scriptures from the early centuries A.D., at first glance, or at least on the surface, it appears that Jesus ate fish and John the Baptist dined on insects. Certainly European oriented Christianity enjoys portraying it that way. The uninformed Sunday school notion of the disciples of Jesus forever remaining fisherman lives on in the minds of many.

When it comes to vegetarianism and Christianity the first question people always ask is: “In the scriptures aren’t there passages describing Jesus as serving fish on a couple of occasions, as well as eating lamb during the Jewish holiday known as Passover?” They have inherited the belief that Jesus was a meat-eating-Messiah. Some might also cite a verse about John the Baptist eating insects (locusts).

Dueling Gospel Traditions — Pro-Meat and Pro-Veg

There are two traditions within Buddhism: pro-meat and pro-vegetarian. Each have their own sutras or scriptures serving as proof-texts.

The same is historically true with Christianity: the original Jesus Movement or Hebrew Christians (sometimes called Aramaic Christians, Ebionites or Nasoraeans) with their gospels vs. scriptures associated with Paul and what evolved into the Roman church.

The Gospels of the Hebrews and Ebionites describe a vegetarian ethos: a vegetarian Jesus and vegetarian Apostles, a John the Baptist who ate carob (locust beans) — beans not bugs! and a rejection of ritual animal sacrifice, be it in pagan temples or the Jewish temple of Jerusalem.

For the followers of Paul, dropping the vegetarian dietary requirement of the Jesus Movement was a way to make it easier to get more converts around the Roman Empire.

In Sikhism as well we see a similar kind of shift away from the earlier vegetarian ethics of the founder, Guru Nanak, towards meat-eating gradually getting adopted by orthodox Sikhism.

In each of these cases the original spiritual movements were vegetarian, but later versions of these paths eventually accommodated the diet of the larger cultures around them swelling their ranks.

For most, living their busy lives and not interested in difficult research, this is an all-too-complicated history of Passover lambs eaten or not eaten, locusts vs. locust beans, and other “fishy” choices made by certain gospel manuscript copyists adding extra servings of fish to the menu. Most stay stuck with whatever diet and beliefs they’ve grown up with. Change (metanoia) is not their way. So on the question of diet they just

see what they wish to see

and change shall never be.

Those on a spiritual quest seeking truth are sometimes more flexible and willing to change. Only a compassionate heart will figure this out.

What About Those Pesky ‘Fishes and Loaves’?

The original version of the “Feeding of the Multitude” story only refers to bread, not bread with fish. “Fish” apparently got added to some gospel verses later on. Keith Akers points out the existence of different versions of the biblical story — the Feeding of the 5,000 or the Multitude:

“If you look at other accounts of the same incident… If you look, for example, at the Early Church Fathers, who also talk about these stories, Irenaeus mentions the feeding of the 5,000. Eusebius also mentions that, and Arnobius, another early church writer also discusses Jesus’ feeding of the multitude, the miraculous feeding of the multitude.

“And in every case they discuss the bread but they don’t mention anything about fish. So I think that fish is a later addition. In fact, if you even look at the New Testament, it says, at another point, when Jesus is talking about the feeding of the five thousand, he says, ‘Don’t you remember when I fed the multitudes and all the bread that we took up?’ And he doesn’t mention the fish.” (Keith Akers, see, Fish Stories in the New Testament: https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2012/01/31/the-fish-stories-in-the-new-testament )

Also see: The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity, pages 126–129), on fish as a later addition:

And see: Keith Akers, Was Jesus a Vegetarian? https://www.compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2015/12/01/was-jesus-a-vegetarian )

Matthew 16:9’s Loaves Without Any Mention of Fish: “Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?” No fish included with the loaves there.

Mark 8:16–21 — Again… another example of bread but no fish being mentioned in connection with the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Irenaeus (125–202) lived during the Second Century and described in detail the Miracle of the Multitude being fed with bread. No mention whatsoever of fish. Eusebius and Arnobius also never mention ‘fishes with the loaves’, only the loaves. And now I’ve found two more references in early Christian apocryphal writings, again mentioning the bread but not the fish, as if in the New Testament they were reading at the time, the feeding of the five thousand story didn’t include fish… because the ‘fish’ hadn’t been inserted into Greek gospel manuscripts yet.

As it now stands, in the New Testament Gospels: “The bread is everywhere present, but the fish only sometimes. This strongly suggests that the original tradition was about distribution of bread, not bread and fish. In the case of Matthew 16:9–10, the insertion of fish becomes obvious, because the editors of Matthew changed the original story to include fish but forgot to change Jesus’ backward reference.” (Keith Akers, The Fish Stories in the New Testament: https://www.compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2012/01/31/the-fish-stories-in-the-new-testament )

There are actually many examples of “textual variations” in the diversity of New Testament manuscripts, with words or phrases either being added or omitted. In New Testament manuscripts, while there are some textual variations throughout, by far, the majority of variations occur with the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_textual_variants_in_the_New_Testament

And see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_variants_in_the_New_Testament

The most spectacular example of this is at the end of the Gospel of Mark, which has several different alternate endings depending on what manuscript one happens to be using:

“Manuscripts omitting Mark 16:9–20

Manuscripts adding a shorter ending after verse 8

Manuscripts adding a shorter ending and verses 9–20

Manuscripts adding verses 9–20

Manuscripts adding verses 9–20 with a notation

Manuscripts adding verses 9–20 without divisions”

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_16#Scholarly_conclusions

So it’s interesting to notice that fishes are not always included with the loaves in the various accounts of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” mentioned in the New Testament gospels and other sources.

And friends, far more than just this one example of fishes being added to the loaves in Second Century manuscripts, textual variants with New Testament manuscripts extend to scores and scores of passages deep into the Second Century and beyond according to honest scholarship, and I can only agree with their research.

The Gospel of John Chapter 21, Another Late Addition

“John 21 is the twenty-first and final chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains an account of a post-crucifixion appearance in Galilee, which the text describes as the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples. In the course of this chapter, there is a miraculous catch of 153 fish, the confirmation of Peter’s love for Jesus, a foretelling of Peter’s death, and a comment about the beloved disciple’s future… According to Helmut Koester (2000), similar to the Pericope Adulterae, John 21:1–25, though present in all extant manuscripts, is also widely recognized as a later addition. A redactor is thought by some to have later added some text to the original author’s work.” (Wikipedia entry for John 21: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_21 )

And see, Fish Stories About Pythagoras and Jesus, by Keith Akers, also discussing John 21: https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2022/04/04/fish-stories-about-pythagoras

An Important Observation About the Fish Symbol

“…We should maybe keep in mind that fish was a well known mystical symbol… The Greek word for fish (Ichthys) was used as an acronym whose initials in Greek stood for ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior’.” (Ted Altar, Did Christ at Least Eat Fish? https://ivu.org/history/christian/christ_veg.html )

In any case, “It’s not where you’ve been; it’s where you’re going,” as the saying goes. Many of us have changed our diets upon adopting a spiritual path or converting to a new religion. While several of the disciples are described as having once been fisherman, and there are clearly a few references to fish in the New Testament gospels composed for gentile readers, we find Jesus saying to his new friends: “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men [fishers of people, souls,].” (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17) So rather than remaining fisherman, perhaps operating some Sunday school imagined Jesus Fish Company of Galilee — some sort of lifelong career as fisherman, in other words — RATHER THAN THAT — what we do find is those individuals adopting a new spiritual path, being transformed into disciples and eventually even becoming spiritual teachers.

Scroll down to see the section below titled: The Vegetarian Apostles (Leadership of the Original Jesus Movement).

The original disciples of Jesus may have disappeared from view in the pages of the New Testament but their journeys continued and the libraries of early Christian texts offer much more information about the life and teachings of the various Apostles of Christ. Rather than fish metaphors, a variety of different sources in early Christianity described these Apostles as being vegetarians, as they got older, becoming the founders of various spiritual communities as the successors of Christ, focused on the teachings of Jesus.

“James, the brother of the Lord, lived on seeds and plants and touched neither meat nor wine.” The Apostle Thomas: “He continually fasts and prays, and abstaining from the eating of flesh…” “…The Apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, hard-shelled fruits, and vegetables, without flesh.” (these apostolic veg passages with attribution of sources is to be found further below in the section titled, The Vegetarian Apostles, Leadership of the Original Jesus Movement)

Peter: “Then Peter answered: ‘To do anything for pleasure, not for the sake of necessity, is to sin and therefore I earnestly entreat you to abstain from all animal food, in the hope that by this you may be able to retain your self-restraint, and not to be overpowered by the allurements of pleasure. For in the beginning, the eating of flesh was unknown until after the flood, when, against their will, men were compelled to use the flesh of animals, because all things that were planted had been destroyed by the waters… But let no one think that by abstinence from things offered to idols he will fulfill the law. For what commands us to keep ourselves from idolatry also teaches us that we should eat only of the fruits of trees and seeds and plants, and abstain from all animal food, and from all injury of animals; and with regard to our food, that it should be purely vegetable.’” (Why God Has Forbidden Certain Foods, Book of the Clementine Homilies)

Peter said, “I live on olives and bread, to which I rarely only add vegetables…” “The unnatural eating of flesh meats is as polluting as the heathen worship of devils…” (Peter, Clementine Homilies)

We even get to directly hear from several of those Apostles in various early Christian writings: gospels, acts, revelations, spiritual discourses, homilies, and letters of Peter, James, John, Thomas, Bartholomew, Barnabas, The Teaching of the Twelve, etc… See the online e-library, Early Christian Writings: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com

In the Ebionite scriptures of the early church, the followers of Jesus, “the faith once delivered to the saints”, as it is said in the Book of Jude, there are no fish stories of young disciples of Jesus being involved in eating fish. In the Ebionite scriptures of the Jesus movement there are no accounts of Jesus eating fish or miracles of multitudes being fed fish. There are no descriptions of Jesus consuming the flesh of any animal. Rather, those contain sayings of Jesus condemning the eating of meat. (See: The Ebionites: https://www.compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/category/religion/ebionites )

According to the Gospel of the Ebionites, Jesus rejected the Passover meal: “I have no desire to eat the flesh of this Paschal Lamb with you.”

Furthermore, in the Ebionite scriptures Jesus condemned animal sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem and sought to forever bring that practice to an end. The Ebionite or Hebrew Gospel quotes Jesus as saying, “I have come to abolish the sacrifices, and if you cease not from sacrificing, my wrath will not cease from you.” (Panarion 30.16.5)

Below see the sections titled, Jesus Stopping Animal Sacrifice in the Temple, The Biblical Basis For Vegetarianism, and, Uncovering a Vegetarian Jesus (Yeshua) at the Beginning of Christianity.

See, The Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Recognitions of Clement: https://compassionatespirit.com/Books/Recognitions/Recognitions-TOC.htm

See, The Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Clementine Homilies:

Followers of John the Baptist: The Mandaean Gnostic Tradition

The Mandaeans are a living religion with ancient gnostic roots. They are a surviving branch of the old Nasoraean movement once existing in the Trans-Jordan region associated with John the Baptist and closely related to the early days of the Jesus movement. John the Baptist is considered by the Mandaeans to be their great prophet. In the Mandaean scriptures are preserved accounts of the life and teachings of John the Baptist including a book of the Sayings of Yuhana (John).

“Within Mandaeism, John is venerated as the greatest prophet and is regarded as a renewer and reformer of the ancient Mandaean faith… John is mentioned by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus and some scholars have proposed that he may have been associated with the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect known for practicing ritual baptism. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, and several New Testament accounts indicate that some of Jesus’ earliest followers had previously been disciples of John. Many historians also suggest that Jesus himself may have been a disciple of John.” (Mandaepedia entry for John the Baptizer)

John the Baptist was a prophet with large number of followers in Israel and Transjordan regions. After his passing, several of his successors headed what became various rival Nasoraean (Nazorean) sects, one of those being Jesus and the Jesus movement. “Again Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you, among all those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptizer.” (Matthew 11:11, George Howard’s translation of Shem-Tov’s Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, a version of canonical Matthew described as “the oldest extant Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew”)

“Do not eat animals. Don’t eat a dead one, not a standing one, not a falling one, not a pregnant one, not one that has ambushed a wild animal.” (Ginza Rabba — The Great Treasure — Mandaean Scriptures, Mark Lidzbarski and Ram Al Sabiry)

“Before Him [the King of Light, Supreme Being] they do not offer a sacrifice, do not eat meat, do not drink wine of pleasure and do not sing before him a song of Sacrilege.” (Ginza Rabba — The Great Treasure, Mark Lidzbarski and Ram Al Sabiry)

“And they do not slaughter (sacrifice) before Him, nor do they eat any flesh-meat.” (same passage from another translation of the Ginza Rabba)

Ethel Stefana Drower, the great Mandaean scholar of the 20th Century noticed vegetarian passages like the ones above in the Mandaean scriptures she was translating and asked some Mandaean priests about them.

In her book, The Secret Adam, E.S. Drower writes:

“Amongst Mandaeans there is an oral tradition that some of them were once vegetarians.”

“…Several pious Mandaeans have told me that a deeply religious man forswears meat and fish. It will be seen in the legends that the Nasorai are represented as vegetarians…”

“The Essenes, together with other Jewish sects, seem … to have imbibed, possibly from Iranian-Indian sources, the idea that slaughter was a crime, and that sacrifice of animals was unpleasing to the powers of light and life. The Essenes were vegetarians. It is possible that early Christianity derived its symbolism of a substituted victim, and the symbolism of bread for the flesh of the victim and wine for its blood, from this school of Jewish-Iranian thought.”

“Josephus mentions that the Essenes were vegetarians, and Porphyry, quoting Eusebius, says that the Magians were divided into three classes, those who abstained from eating any living creature, those who abstained from domestic animals, and those who would not touch any and every animal.”

Was John the Baptist Really A Bug-Eater?

Another example of translators deliberately trying to add meat to the menu (the canon of scripture) is the strange case of John the Baptist and his alleged diet of locusts. From wiki answers:

“There has been a long-standing confusion in the etymological origin of the word locust. Locust is both a bean from the carob plant and an insect. The Greek word for cakes or bread made from the flour of the carob bean is ‘egkrides’ and the Greek word for locust the insect is ‘akrides’.

There’s a very old Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the Four Gospels that even predates the Syriac Peshitta called Evangelion da-Mepharreshe. It contains some “textual variants”, differs from the Greek gospel manuscripts, and the now standardized, conformist approach used by most New Testament translators often copying from each other. There are two surviving editions of Evangelion da-Mepharreshe, the Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels as well as the Sinai Palimpsest, also known as The Old Syriac Gospels. Evangelion da-Mepharreshe represents a translation and “one of the earliest witnesses” of an even older collection of gospel manuscripts that no longer exist but once were “in circulation between the second and the fifth centuries”, according to page xviii of the, “Peshitta New Testament, The Antioch Bible English Translation”, Gorgias Press, discussion from the Preface about the history of the early Syriac-Aramaic manuscripts of the gospels.

In the Old Syriac-Aramaic Gospel of Matthew 3:4 John the Baptist’s food is described as being “locusts and wild honey of the waste”, as in honey of the wasteland or wilderness. https://archive.org/details/cu31924092359680/page/10/mode/2up?view=theater

There are two Greek words with almost identical spelling: ‘e-g-k-r-i-d-e-s’ [“egg-kre-days”] referring to carob pods, also called locust beans and Saint John’s bread, as they can be ground up into flour and used to make a kind of middle eastern flat bread or pancake. And, we also have the Greek word for locust, the insect, spelled ‘a-k-r-i-d-e-s’ [“ak-re-days”].

John’s food, however you may define the meaning of the word ‘locusts’ and the meaning of ‘wild honey’, occurs naturally in the wild according to all the references we have, be they canonical or non-canonical, New Testament Gospels or the other gospels and writings of early Christianity.

“In ancient texts the references to “honey” in antiquity “can refer equally to honey produced by bees, or to any number of other sweet substances, including dates, figs, pods, or sap/gum from carob or other trees.” (John the Baptist’s Wild Honey and Honey in Antiquity, by James A. Kelhoffer)

“For this reason, [the historian] Eva Crane warns concerning possible references to bee honey in ancient civilizations: “‘Unless the context makes clear a connection with hives, bees, or honeycomb, caution is warranted’” (“History” 453). It is therefore difficult to ascertain which sweet substance is designated as “honey” in certain ancient writings. Yet most scholars do not even consider which type of honey the Baptist ate. Many others simply assume that he ate bee honey or sweet tree sap (sometimes referred to as honey-water), apparently unaware of the inherent ambiguity in almost any occurrence of [wild honey] without an accompanying reference to either bees or vegetation (trees). (John the Baptist’s Wild Honey and Honey in Antiquity, by James A. Kelhoffer)

“John the Baptist belonged to a group of ascetics who believed in repentance and in leading an austere lifestyle. The carob bean was seen as the diet of the lower class who normally endured hardship and exploitation from the priestly class. So we can conclude that JTB [John the Baptist] ate (locust plant) seed from the carob tree.”

Due to a mistranslation of a particular Greek word in certain gospel manuscripts John the Baptist has gained the most unfortunate caveman reputation of being a bug eater, an eater of locusts. It’s supposed to be locust beans (“egkrides”), used to make a kind of Middle Eastern flat bread or cake from carob flour, not bugs (“akrides”)! If we examine early Christian writings and learn of the Nasoraean movement the Prophet John was associated with, a wilderness sect operating near the Jordan River maybe somewhat related to the Essene branch of Judaism, we will discover references to the vegetarianism of John the Baptist and his disciples (Sabians, a “People of the Book”). Contemporary scholars have also recognized this and written about it.

Robert Eisenman in, James the Brother of Jesus writes:

“It has been suggested that the word ‘locusts’ [in the New Testament gospels] is based on a garbling from either the Hebrew or Aramaic into the Greek. A similar problem is encountered in the Book of Acts’ picture of another of James’ directives to overseas communities, ‘to abstain from strangled things’, also seemingly a garbled translation of some kind. One suggestion is that John ate ‘carobs’; there have been others. Epiphanius, in preserving what he calls ‘the Ebionite Gospel’, rails against the passage there claiming John ate ‘wild honey’ and ‘manna-like vegetarian cakes dipped in oil’.

“He [the church father Epiphanius complains that they substitute ‘honey cakes’, which had ‘the taste of manna’, for ‘locusts’…. The ‘honey’ of Israel seems to have been a syrup made from either dates, carobs, or grapes, and, according to Exodus 16:31, ‘manna’ had the taste of ‘cakes made with honey’.

“Regardless of translation problems and mis-transliteration from one language to another, it is pretty sure that John would have been one of these wilderness-dwelling, vegetable-eating persons.” (Robert Eisenman)

According to the Hebrew-Ebionite Gospels, John the Baptist really ate locust (carob) beans and carob bean flour:

“Probably the most interesting of the changes from the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus comes in the Gospel of the Ebionites description of John the Baptist, who, evidently, like his successor Jesus, maintained a strictly vegetarian cuisine.” (Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew, pp. 102, 103)

Says Robert Eisenman in, James the Brother of Jesus, p. 240 — “John… was both a ‘Rechabite’ or ‘Nazarite’ and vegetarian”, p. 264 — “One suggestion is that John ate ‘carobs’; there have been others. Epiphanius, in preserving what he calls ‘the Ebionite Gospel’, rails against the passage there claiming that John ate ‘wild honey’ and ‘manna-like vegetarian cakes dipped in oil. … John would have been one of those wilderness-dwelling, vegetable-eating persons”, p. 326 — “They [the Nazerini] ate nothing but wild fruit milk and honey — probably the same food that John the Baptist also ate.”, p. 367 — “We have already seen how in some traditions ‘carobs’ were said to have been the true composition of John’s food.”, p. 403 — “his [John’s] diet was stems, roots and fruits. Like James and the other Nazirites/Rechabites, he is presented as a vegetarian …”.

There is a ‘vegetarian’ depiction of John the Baptist’s diet in the old Russian-Slavonic edition of the Book of Josephus. Josephus actually quotes John the Baptist as saying: “I am pure; [for] the Spirit of God has led me on, and [I live on] cane and roots and tree-food.” Josephus says of John: “And every animal he abhorred [as food], and every wrong he rebuked, and tree-produce served him for use.”

While it’s likely to be true that some Christian redactors added interpolations to Savlonic Josephus, they don’t seem to be very “orthodox” redactors, but added material reflecting views about John the Baptist in circulation during the early centuries. In this case this makes their interpolations a valuable contribution as they provide us with another rare glimpse into early Christian views about John the Baptist having a diet of plants, not insects. And we do find confirmation of this in other writings of the period.

Tony Burke’s New Testament Apocrypha volumes have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of early Christian beliefs and history. I highly recommend all three volumes.

The Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist supplies us with some additional context about John’s wilderness diet of plants and a the sap in plants as being the natural sweet substance or nature’s “honey”. The Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist is attributed to Mark the Evangelist, was written in Greek, and originally studied in Syria: “So, at once he [John the Baptist] was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he traveled into the wilderness. He was brought up in the wilderness, eating tips of plants and the sap in the plants.” (New Testament Apocrypha — More Non-canonical Scriptures, Volume One, by Tony Burke)

The Life of John the Baptist by Sarapion was composed in Egypt in the Coptic language: “While holy John lived in the desert, God and his angels were with him. He led a strict ascetic life in great devoutness, did not eat anything but grass and wild honey and prayed and fasted constantly, waiting for the salvation of Israel.” (New Testament Apocrypha — More Non-canonical Scriptures, Volume One, by Tony Burke)

Don’t know what to make of the grass reference, other than to say, it’s once again a reference to plants, not bugs!

A footnote from New Testament Apocrypha, Volume I: “Since asceticism and devoutness generally required abstaining from eating meat altogether, many traditions [mention] a vegetarian [diet] of some sort [in connection with John the Baptist]. See James A. Kelhoffer’s book, The Diet of John the Baptist, for more details.”

More early Christian apocryphal writings have come to light, have been made available in English. These add to the surprisingly large collection of vegetarian references in early Christian writings regarding the diet of John the Baptist. New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. III, by Tony Burke was published and some John the Baptist books are included. In one of the earlier volumes there was a John the Baptist text made available for the first time in English that has a vegetarian passage regarding John’s diet in the wilderness. Included in the third volume are, The Birth of Holy John the Forerunner, and, The Decapitation of John the Forerunner, both containing plant-based passages about John’s diet consisting of “locusts from the tree” (in the Middle east called “the Saint John’s Tree”, and “Carob Tree”) and “wild honey”, also “an abundance of bread and wild honey dripping from a rock”.

Clearly there was an understanding in early Christianity that this was referring to locust beans (carob pods), not insects. Carob pods do look a bit like locusts hanging from tree branches, hence the name. Locust beans can be ground up and used to make a kind of Middle eastern carob flour flat bread. There’s a “cakes dipped in honey” reference in the Gospel of the Ebionites. The wild “honey” was not from bees but sticky desert fruit of some kind.

Robert Eisenman in, James the Brother of Jesus, writes: “Both carobs and figs were considered to exude ‘honey’.” Where the confusion or overlap of either ‘fig’ or ‘carob’ trees associated with these stories is concerned, both were considered by tradition to grow apart in rocky places and produce a kind of ‘honey’ that was eaten — usually as poor man’s food. In Rabbinic sources the passages ‘honey out of a crag’ (Deut. 32:13) and ‘honey out of a rock’ (Ps. 81:16) were applied to these genera of trees. Again, we have the overlap with the food ascribed in Christian sources to John.

Dr. James D. Tabor is Professor of Christian Origins and Ancient Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He writes:

“The most commonly held view of John’s diet, based on our text in Mark, is that he ate locusts, a migratory form of the grasshopper…, still commonly consumed by desert peoples in Arabia. Others have suggested the word translated “locusts” refers to the beans of the carob tree, commonly called “St. John’s bread.” However, the Greek word translated as “locusts” in the New Testament seems to clearly refer to a species of grasshopper. The problem is such eating of “flesh,” even if that of an insect, seems to contradict the sources that emphasize John the Baptist’s ascetic vegetarian ideal. Paul, for example, refers to members of the Jesus movement who abstain from eating meat and drinking wine (Romans 14:1–4). We also have traditions that James, the brother of Jesus, practiced a strictly vegetarian lifestyle, which was also common among the Jewish Christian community that became known as the “Ebionites”. Somehow “locusts” seem out of place.

“A possible solution to this confusion about John’s desert-diet is found in the fragments we have of the lost “Gospel of the Ebionites,” as quoted by the 4th-­century Christian writer Epiphanius (Panarion 30.13.4–5), who hated the group but fortunately, nonetheless, can’t resist quoting them, thus preserving some precious material. The Greek word for locusts is very similar to the Greek word for “honey cake” that is used for the “manna” that the Israelites ate in the desert in the days of Moses. According to this ancient text, it was not locusts but these cakes cooked in olive oil. If this is the case then John would have eaten a cake of some type, made from a desert plant, similar to the “manna” that the ancient Israelites ate in the desert in the days of Moses. This “bread from heaven” and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:8). This kind of “pancake” baked in oil, and sweetened with honey, would then reflect and emulate the ideal holiness of the desert wanderings of Israel when the people had to look to God alone for “daily bread.”” — Dr. James D. Tabor: Did John the Baptist Eat Bugs, Beans, or Pancakes? https://jamestabor.com/did-john-the-baptist-eat-bugs-beans-or-pancakes

Some In the Middle East Long Ago Knew About Saint John’s Bread and Carob: “Saint John’s Tree”

Some describe this Saint John’s bread or manna bread as being made of locust bean flour, also known as carob flour turned into a kind of Middle-eastern flat bread or pancake dipped in honey. In fact, there is some common knowledge out there by some, who know about John the Baptist eating bread made of locust bean flour, carob bean flour. Some in the Greek Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and other forms of Christianity are already aware of this understanding about the vegetarian diet of John the Baptist, that it was locust bean flour, not locusts, as in insects. If you google “Saint John’s Bread”, you’ll find quite a few references to this on the web. For instance, this article: ‘St. John’s bread’ comes from carob pods of the carob tree: https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2009/10/28/st-johns-bread-grows-on-carob-tree

“The Carob tree, also known as St. John’s bread, is a native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Israel where it grows naturally as a hedge. The term “St. John’s bread” is because the seeds and sweet pulp of this tree were supposedly the “locust and wild honey” St. John ate the wilderness.”

Some Thoughts About This Cautionary Tale of Venerating Mistaken Translations as Divinely Inspired, and Being Forever Trapped by the Traditions of Men Unable to Learn New Things, or in This Case, Very Old Views About the Diet of John the Baptist

In other words, the manuscript copyists of the New Testament made a mistake, choosing a different Greek word: meaning locust the insect, instead of locust beans. When presented with the locust flour cake or bread reference found in another gospel text… the Gospel of the Ebionites… Epiphanius, who was from Cyprus and lived during the 4th century, wrongly assumed the mistaken version he was familiar with in the gospels to be correct, and the correct version preserved in the Gospel of the Ebionites to be in error. A mistaken translation in some Greek manuscripts of the New Testament gospels is made into something holy, inspired, sacrosanct, and divine, and he dismisses the evidence from the oldest version of Christianity in antiquity, that of the Jesus Movement, the early church, preserved in one of the gospels of the Hebrew Christians… the Gospel of the Ebionites.

Christianity Before Paul (The Original Hebrew Christians or Ebionites) and the Essene Connection

The editing out of vegetarian sayings, (scroll down and see below the reference to the Aramaic-Syriac translation of Luke 21:34, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe), adding fish to the Feeding of the Five Thousand in second century Greek manuscripts, and translators choosing the word “locust” instead of carob, giving John the Baptist an unusual diet of bugs, are all troubling examples of slanting the translations or tampering with texts — adding meat to the menu. We know that Roman culture and later European church traditions were OK with eating meat. What interests me however is the diet of Jesus and the first Christians, not the dietary preferences of Roman translators of manuscripts centuries later.

It needs to be said that the familiar Western or European canon of scripture seemingly allied with Saint Paul, does not even claim to be representing the teachings of the Apostles, the original inner circle of Jesus’s disciples, the first Christians.

Paul did advocate that it was OK for new converts to eat meat, but he himself supplies us with evidence in his own letters (‘epistles’) dating back to the early decades of the First Century AD (around 50 AD) that others in early Christianity disagreed with him about diet and many other issues. It turns out that Paul dropped the vegetarian requirement for his new gentile converts. If you read his New Testament Epistle to the Galatians closely, you can notice there was quite a bit of tension between Paul and the original Jesus Movement based in Jerusalem (‘the others’). In his writings Paul gives them ‘left-handed compliments,’ calls them “weak,” “of the circumcision,” and even “Judaizers.” Clearly, he was not close to them but had a strained, frosty, distant, awkward relationship with the original disciples of Jesus. Given their solid credibility and affiliation with Jesus however, Paul couldn’t completely come out and denounce them, but he does greatly marginalize them. They are barely mentioned at all. There’s a few short writings not authored by Paul near the end — at the back of the book — not many of their scriptures got included in the New Testament.

Those in the Jerusalem part of the Jesus movement, Jesus’ own family and spiritual successors headed by the Apostle James the Just, the brother of Jesus and next leader of the Aramaic-speaking Jerusalem community, were all vegetarians. They disagreed with Paul’s sect about diet, believing that Jewish and gentile followers of Jesus, including new converts, should all be vegetarians, and have nothing whatsoever to do with religious rituals pertaining to animal sacrifice (“eating meat that has been sacrificed to pagan idols”).

How could it be that Jesus’ own family, the actual group of direct, spiritual successors and first disciples, would have it all wrong about diet, and forms of Christianity that were founded decades and centuries later, got it right? The truth of the matter is that the Hebrew gospels did not portray Jesus as eating fish or Passover lamb, and in those gospels, John the Baptist did not eat any insects. Paul’s group, and those sects that emerged later on in Europe claiming succession from Paul, had their literature, but so did the Ebionites, the Hebrew Christians. There were pro-meat gospels intended for gentile readers in the Roman world as we all know, but there were also vegetarian gospels directly associated with the Christ followers (Hebrew Christians): the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, Hebrew Logia of Matthew, the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Gospel of the Ebionites, and other Ebionite and pro-Nasoraean literature including the Clementine Homilies and the Recognitions of Clement, a kind of Ebionite Book of Acts. These are not ‘channeled’ or recently composed writings, but scriptures that have long been known to scholars and were used by other branches of Christianity from the Middle East in antiquity. What survives of these scriptures can be found on the shelves of most seminary libraries. Sometimes these books are called “extra-canonical writings”, “apocrypha”, or “lost books of the Bible.” These are books of someone else’s Bible or collection of scriptures — in other words, sacred texts once used by other forms of Apostolic or indigenous Christianity long ago in Israel, Syria (Mesopotamia), Turkey (Asia Minor), Egypt, Ethiopia, the Mediterranean region, etc…

The Jewish Christians called themselves “The Ebionites.” “Ebionite” is a word derived from Hebrew meaning: “The Poor,”, and were the first Christian community described in the New Testament Acts of the Apostles (4:32–35), a spiritual or intentional community that shared all of their possessions in common.

The Biblical Basis For Vegetarianism

The Genesis ideal presented in the early chapters of the Hebrew Bible is vegetarian. The Plant-Based-Diet of Eden:

“Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; it will be yours for food.”(Hebrew Book of Genesis 1:29, a translation quoted at a vegan Kabbalah website)

Only after the ‘Fall of Man’ and post ‘Flood’ phases is there meat-eating according to Genesis, and ritual animal sacrifice.

Quite often, spiritual movements advocating going back to Eden, re-entering a heavenly paradise, entering into a golden age, millennium, kingdom of God, or mystical reunion with God include vegetarianism as part of their spiritual path. From the beginning and across the many centuries there have always been vegetarian Jewish movements, the Nazarites, Essenes, Sethians, Therapeutae and many others.

The Essenes were one of the three major branches of Judaism, and predates Jesus and Christianity at least by a couple of centuries. During the First Century AD, the Essenes were opposed to animal sacrifices being made in the Jewish temple and they were also known to be vegetarians. The Essenes were the group that Jesus and the first Christians, the Ebionites, were closest to, sharing with them many of the same values and sacred texts. Unlike the Sadducees and Pharisees, the Essenes are never criticized in the New Testament. The Hebrew church was largely populated by messianic Essenes.

This earlier Essene movement within Judaism adhered to a vegetarian diet, and had also been opposed to animal sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem. That is the context within Judaism. The Essenes (of Dead Sea Scrolls fame), the John the Baptist group, the Mandaean Gnostics (also known as Nazarenes, Nasuraiia or Nasoraeans) and the Jesus movement had much in common and are related to each other. For instance, followers of the original Jesus movement are sometime called Ebionites, and that term Ebionite also appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Scholars continue to debate the exact nature of their relationship. In any case, these groups shared many of the same values, scriptures, and spiritual beliefs.

The Essene-like Community of the Therapeutae, The Children of the Dawn

With the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes, we mainly have their writings with few descriptions of the sect. With the Therapeutae we don’t have their scriptures but there are detailed accounts of daily life in their community.

Like the Essene community at Qumran near the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the Therapeutae community was also located near a large body of water: Lake Mariout, just outside the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

Like the Essenes, the Therapeutae were vegetarians: “…And the table, too, is kept clear of animal flesh, nothing which has blood, but there is placed upon it bread for food and salt for seasoning, to which also hyssop is sometimes added…” (Philo of Alexandria, On The Contemplative Life, where you can learn more about the Therapeutae community)

A Vegetarian Ideal Described by Isaiah in the Book of Isaiah 11:6–9:

The prophecy described in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Isaiah 11:6–9 foresees a return to a vegetarian world like that described in the earliest chapters of the Book of Genesis — back to Eden, where the cow, bear, snake, and the children of humanity coexist in peace. Lambs and wolves will feed together and lions will be vegetarians again:

“The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.”

The New Testament Book of Revelation 21:4 adds: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

For the Essene branch of Judaism (of Dead Sea Scrolls fame) the Book of Isaiah was a very central text. Many copies of it were discovered at the Essene library of Qumran. Isaiah was a favorite text of the Hebrew Christians as well, along with another book known as the Ascension of Isaiah.

Dr. Will Tuttle, author of, The World Peace Diet, once told me that for most of the last two thousand years those who have been either vegans or vegetarians have been called “Pythagoreans”, till relatively recently in history when terms like “vegan” and “vegetarian” got coined. Such has been the lasting legacy of Pythagoras upon the West. Though in the Greek world of antiquity, the Pythagoreans were a significant influence on many — were major advocates of vegetarianism and discontinuing religious ritual animal sacrifices in various temples — from passages such as Genesis 1:29, Isaiah 11:6–9, Hosea 6:6 and others, one can understand why Jews and Christians during the late B.C. and early A.D. period could easily see a Biblical basis for their vegetarianism.

If the way of peaceful vegetarianism is the Divine ideal — “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done” — why postpone it for millennia, relegating it to some far away time in the deep distant future? Why not follow the examples of the Essenes and Ebionite Christians and step into this vegetarian ideal today, catching a glimpse of the golden age or paradise right now in the living present? #AssistingIsaiah #BackToEden

A Reflection About Saint Paul’s Leniency For New Converts

“So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live — for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.” (Paul, 1 Corinthians 8:13)

As we see below, the Gnostics were vegetarians, as were some of those early Catholic/Orthodox church fathers as well as the followers of Marcion of Sinope. These held Paul in extremely high regard, so how could Paul really have been the enemy, the opponent of vegetarianism? Maybe he wasn’t! Perhaps at the heart of his dispute with the original disciples of Jesus and Jerusalem Apostles was how he wished to structure his new community of gentile believers. Some in early Christianity developed a two-fold or two-level organisational approach of:

1) “Hearers of the Word”, new converts to the faith, and

2): “the Elect”, those initiates of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven more mature who were “being perfected in love and knowledge” adhering to a stricter discipline that included vegetarianism.

Some successors of Paul certainly did follow this twofold or two-tiered approach in their communities, including the part about the Elect initiates adhering to a vegetarian diet. I suspect Paul did too.

The Hebrew Christians however did not have a two-tiered format: one for new converts or gentile believers, and another for Jews more established in wisdom and knowledge. They only had the one level and ethical standard for all.

Uncovering a Vegetarian Jesus (Yeshua) at the Beginning of Christianity

Epiphanius quotes their gospel, the Ebionite or Hebrew Gospel, as ascribing these words to Jesus: ‘I have come to destroy the sacrifices’ (Panarion 30.16.5), and as ascribing to Jesus’ rejection of the Passover meat (Panarion 30.22.4), and these are analogous to numerous passages found in the Recognitions and Homilies (e.g., Recognitions 1.36, 1.54 and Homilies 3.45, 7.4, 7.8).

“Baptism Instituted in Place of Sacrifices: But when the time began to draw near that what was wanting in the Mosaic institutions should be supplied, as we have said, and that the Prophet should appear, of whom he had foretold that He should warn them by the mercy of God to cease from sacrificing; lest haply they might suppose that on the cessation of sacrifice there was no remission of sins for them, He instituted baptism by water amongst them, in which they might be absolved from all their sins on the invocation of His name, and for the future, following a perfect life, might abide in immortality, being purified not by the blood of beasts, but by the purification of the Wisdom of God.” (Recognitions 1.39)

“… offerings of first-fruits …, because the priest of the Exalted One accepts first-fruits, and these he brings as burnt offerings and sacrificial offerings. I, however, am not of this kind, but offerings of first-fruits from the Indestructible One I bear up to Heaven and outspread them, so that the power of the Truth can appear, because what is destructible has ascended to what is Indestructible…” (from a saying attributed to Jesus excerpted from, The First Apocalypse of James)

From the footnotes on the above passage: “The first-fruits were offered during the Feast of Shavuot. This seems to be an Ebionite-like polemic against sacrifices. Exactly what kind of symbolic sacrifice Jesus alludes to here becomes clear from NH page 42’s ‘the first-fruits of knowledge’”. “‘What is destructible,’ i.e., physical sacrifices.” (Samuel Zinner, edited by Mark Mattison and Rachel Bousfield: https://othergospels.com/1james)

“Professor Bart Ehrman writes in, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew: “It appears that Ebionite Christians also believed that since Jesus was the perfect, ultimate, final sacrifice for sins, there was no longer any need for the ritual sacrifice of animals. Jewish sacrifices, therefore, were understood to be a temporary and imperfect measure provided by God to atone for sins until the perfect atoning sacrifice should be made. As a result, if these (Christian) Jews were in existence before the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE, they would not have participated in its cultic practices; later they, or at least some of them, evidently remained vegetarian, since in the ancient world the slaughter of animals for meat was almost always done in the context of a cultic act of worship. (meat sacrificed to idols.)

“If the Ebionites had established themselves as dominant, then things would be radically different for Christians today. Christianity would be not a religion that was separate from Judaism but a sect of Judaism, a sect that accepted Jewish laws, customs, and ways, a sect that observed Jewish holy days such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana and other festivals, a sect that kept kosher food laws and … maintained a vegetarian diet.”

The Ebionite or Hebrew Gospel quotes Jesus as saying, “I have come to abolish the sacrifices, and if you cease not from sacrificing, my wrath will not cease from you.” (Panarion 30.16.5)

A Sethian passage from the Gospel of Judas: “And Jesus said to them: ‘Stop the animal sacrifices which you offered up on the altar.’” In a footnote at the bottom of the Gospel of Judas page at OtherGospels.com, the translator, Samuel Zinner, also provides another translation of the saying quoted in the Panarion from the Gospel of the Ebionites attributed to Jesus: “I have come to abolish sacrifices; and if you do not stop sacrificing, the anger of God will fall on you.”

According to the Gospel of the Ebionites, Jesus also rejected the Passover meal:

“Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover?”

To which he replied:

“I have no desire to eat the flesh of this Paschal Lamb with you.”

Jesus Stopping Animal Sacrifice in the Temple

“The dispute over vegetarianism in the early church shows that the leadership of the Jerusalem church was vegetarian. The later history of Jewish Christianity indicates that Jewish Christianity was vegetarian and preserved this tradition of defending animals. Jesus’ attack on the animal sacrifice business demonstrates that Jesus himself shared these views.” (Was Jesus a vegetarian? https://www.compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2015/12/01/was-jesus-a-vegetarian/#more-2512 )

“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the Temple, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said: ‘Get out of here.’ (John 2:13–16)

Most remember the part about Jesus overturning the tables of the money-changers in the temple, but the pro-meat bias most have inherited makes it more difficult to get the significance of the anti-animal sacrifice, freeing the animals aspect of the story.

“Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’” (Jesus, Gospel of Matthew 9:13, Good News translation) Here Jesus was referring to a passage in the Hebrew Bible that was very popular with the Essenes, the vegetarian branch of Judaism that rejected sacrifices in the temple of Jerusalem. Hosea 6:6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Gospel of Matthew, a saying attributed to Jesus from a Syriac-Aramaic manuscript)

This same old Syriac-Aramaic manuscript also preserves a vegetarian saying attributed to Jesus. I find it fascinating that both the saying above and this one appear to be slightly longer in this manuscript than their counterparts in the Greek New Testament, and the Greek manuscripts of Luke have the vegetarian part of Luke 21:34 edited out.

A Vegetarian Saying of Jesus in the Old Syriac-Aramaic Manuscript of the Gospel of Luke: “Be on guard, so that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh and with the intoxication of wine and with the anxiety of the world, and that day come upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all who dwell upon the surface of the earth.” (Jesus, Luke 21:34, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe — Old Syriac-Aramaic Manuscript of the New Testament Gospels)

Vegetarianism and the Yoke of the Lord in the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)

In an early Christian text called the Didache is a statement to new gentile converts to do the best they can, giving them time to adjust or transition to the ethical ideals of the Jesus Movement: “If thou art able to bear the whole yoke of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect. But if thou art not able, what thou art able, that do. But concerning meat, bear that which thou art able to do. But keep with care from things sacrificed to idols, for it is the worship of the infernal deities.”

“The Yoke of the Lord” was a term for the ethical code of the Jesus movement according to the Didache, an early witness to vegetarianism at a time when some of the first gentiles became interested in following Christ. Vegetarianism was part of the Yoke of the Lord and here very opposed to even new converts from day one eating meat sacrificed to idols (“the worship of dead gods” as it’s rendered in another translation). Whoever composed that section of the Didache was part of a sect closer to the James the Just branch than Paul’s version of Christianity. See Didache, chapter 6: https://othergospels.com/didache

One of the earliest pro-Ebionite Christian documents is the Clementine Homilies, a work based on the teachings of Saint Peter. Homily XII states:

“The unnatural eating of flesh meats is as polluting as the heathen worship of devils, with its sacrifices and its impure feasts, through participation in it a man becomes a fellow eater with devils.” (Saint Peter, Clementine Homilies)

Paul however was OK with the practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols that came from various pagan temples. But, like their Essene ancestors, the original Jesus Movement categorically rejected this. The author of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament also denounced this practice. See Book of Revelation 2:12–17: “There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate meat sacrificed to idols…”. This passage from Revelation actually contradicts other verses in the New Testament authored by Paul. But… as I mentioned earlier, Paul might have had a different approach where it was OK for new converts (“Hearers of the Word”) to continue eating meat, for awhile at least, but perhaps he had in mind a stricter moral code and spiritual discipline for those growing more mature who eventually would be perfected in love and knowledge (gnosis as part of the inner circle of initiates known as “The Elect”).

The Vegetarian Apostles (Leadership of the Original Jesus Movement)

The first followers of Jesus, also known as Ebionites or Nazoreans, were not only kosher, but strictly adhered to a totally vegetarian diet.

The largest surviving collection of Ebionite scriptures is the Clementine Homilies and the Recognitions of Clement, which are vegetarian gospels that condemn animal sacrifice in any form. For example, the Book of Homilies states that God does not want animals killed at all (3.45), and condemns those who eat meat (7.4, 7.8).

And the passages below also show that the Ebionites’ diet was vegan — plant-based (no eggs, no dairy, no animal products mentioned).

“And the things which are well-pleasing to God are these: to pray to Him, to ask from Him, recognising that He is the giver of all things, and gives with discriminating law; to abstain from the table of devils, not to taste dead flesh, not to touch blood; to be washed from all pollution; and the rest in one word, — as the God-fearing Jews have heard, do you also hear, and be of one mind in many bodies; let each man be minded to do to his neighbour those good things he wishes for himself.” (Clementine Homilies 7.4)

“They [the Apostles] embraced and persevered in a strenuous and a laborious life, with fasting and abstinence from wine and meat.” (Eusebius, church father, Demonstratio Evangelica or “Proof of the Gospels”)

Peter: “Then Peter answered: ‘To do anything for pleasure, not for the sake of necessity, is to sin and therefore I earnestly entreat you to abstain from all animal food, in the hope that by this you may be able to retain your self-restraint, and not to be overpowered by the allurements of pleasure. For in the beginning, the eating of flesh was unknown until after the flood, when, against their will, men were compelled to use the flesh of animals, because all things that were planted had been destroyed by the waters… But let no one think that by abstinence from things offered to idols he will fulfill the law. For what commands us to keep ourselves from idolatry also teaches us that we should eat only of the fruits of trees and seeds and plants, and abstain from all animal food, and from all injury of animals; and with regard to our food, that it should be purely vegetable.’” (Why God Has Forbidden Certain Foods, Book of the Clementine Homilies)

Peter said, “I live on olives and bread, to which I rarely only add vegetables.” (Clementine Homilies 12,6; also see, Recognitions 7,6) And the earlier quoted vegetarian verse attributed to Peter is worth repeating again here: “The unnatural eating of flesh meats is as polluting as the heathen worship of devils, with its sacrifices and its impure feasts, through participation in it a man becomes a fellow eater with devils.” (Saint Peter, Clementine Homilies)

Matthew: “And happiness is found in the practice of virtue. Accordingly, the Apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, hard-shelled fruits, and vegetables, without flesh.” (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 2, Chapter 1)

The Apostle Thomas: “He continually fasts and prays, and abstaining from the eating of flesh and the drinking wine, he eats only bread with salt, drinks only water, and wears the same garment in fine weather and winter, accepting nothing from anyone, and gives whatever he has to others.” (Acts of Thomas, chapter 20)

The Gospel of Philip: “The Gospel of Philip is a Jewish-Christian treatise traditionally attributed to Philip, one of the twelve apostles. Unlike most gospels, Philip presents a systematic theology that explains Christian tradition in the context of the Jewish Law.” (from the Introduction to the text)

This World is an Eater of Corpses

Gospel of Philip 10:10: “This world is a corpse-eater.” The footnote about this passage from the translator at the bottom of the page comments: “This refers to the state of the world-system, in which people live by killing and eating dead animals.The contrast is with the Truth-system, in which people eat what is alive, namely, (Eucharistic) bread. The contrast echoes Thomas 11, which may refer to meat-eaters as opposed to vegetarians.” (Samuel Zinner, edited by Mark Mattison and Rachel Bousfield: https://othergospels.com/philip )

There is also a recent translation of an early Christian scripture called the Acts of Philip, a fuller more complete edition discovered at a monastery library in Greece. It contains some very charming animal stories: The Acts of Philip: A New Translation, by François Bovon and Christopher R. Matthews, ISBN-10: 1602586551, and, ISBN-13: 978–1602586550.

James the Just, Brother of Jesus, Head Apostle and the Next Leader of the Church, was a Vegetarian

Jesus had a brother. He’s referred to by scholars and historians as “James the Just”. According to a wide variety of sources, James became Jesus’s spiritual successor, the next leader of this group, referred to as the “Hebrew Christians” or “Ebionites”.

James became the successor of Christ and next leader of the Jesus Movement! The Gospel of Thomas, Saying 12: “The disciples said to Jesus; ‘We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?’ Jesus said to him, ‘No matter where you come, it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist.’” (Bentley Layton’s translation)

Though never seeing eye-to-eye with the original Jerusalem community on many things including the issue of meat eating, in his epistles even Paul the rogue Apostle, confirms this leadership role of James the Just, “the Lord’s brother” in Jerusalem, and he himself went to visit him to seek his blessings on a couple of occasions.

“James was a vegetarian.” (Prof. Robert Eisenman in, James the Just, The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls)

“James, the brother of the Lord, lived on seeds and plants and touched neither meat nor wine.” (Epistulae ad Faustum XXII, 3)

“James, the brother of the Lord was holy from his mothers womb; and he drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh.” (Hegesippus, quoted in The Church History of Eusebius, book 2, chapter 23)

And furthermore, wouldn’t everyone in Jesus’s family — brothers and sisters — be following the same diet and ethical code? On what planet would parents raise one child vegetarian from birth but another gets raised as a meat-eater?

Keith Akers makes some great observations in his article, Was Jesus A Vegetarian? “Eusebius says that James the brother of Jesus was a vegetarian, and in fact was evidently raised as a vegetarian (Ecclesiastical History 2.23). Why would Jesus’ parents have raised James as a vegetarian, unless they were vegetarian themselves and raised Jesus as a vegetarian as well? Eusebius also states (Proof of the Gospel 3.5) that all the Apostles abstained from meat and wine.”

Church Fathers And Other Later Voices Affirming the Existence of the Earlier Veg Tradition

“Jacobus [James], the brother of Jesus, lived of seeds and vegetables and did not accept meat or wine.” (Saint Augustine)

“The consumption of animal flesh was unknown up until the great flood. But since the great flood, we have had animal flesh stuffed into our mouths. Jesus, the Christ, who appeared when the time was fulfilled, again joined the end to the beginning, so that we are now no longer allowed to eat animal flesh.” (pro-vegetarian early church father Hieronymus [St. Jerome] who apparently read the Gospel of the Hebrews and was influenced by Ebionite views)

“The eating of meat was unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have the strings and stinking juices of animal meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling sensual people in the desert. Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer allowed for us to eat animal meat.” (another version of the same passage attributed to Saint Jerome/Hieronymus)

“Sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh.” (Clement of Alexandria)

Origen of Alexandria “…was a teetotaler and a vegetarian and he often fasted for long periods of time.” (Wikipedia, citing Greggs 2009, p. 102., and McGuckin 2004, p. 6.)

“The steam of meat meals darkens the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts. In the earthly paradise [Eden], no one sacrificed animals, and no one ate meat.” (Saint Basil the Great)

The Gnostics Were Vegetarians

Gnostic groups are described as being vegetarian. The Prayer of Thanksgiving, one of the Nag Hammadi books, mentions a vegetarian meal taking place at one of their meetings (a Hermetic or Gnostic sect). The Manichaean Gnostics were known for their vegetarianism. The Prophet Mani’s parents were followers of the Elkasites, which was a slightly later Jewish-Christian sect related to the Ebionites. They were vegetarians. Mani was veg, and his inner circle of followers or initiates also were veg.

Elaine Pagels briefly discusses the connection between a veg Gnostic passage and Indian philosophy in her book, The Gnostic Gospels, quoting the early church father Hippolytus:

“There is…among the Indians a heresy of those who philosophize among the Brahmins, who live a self sufficient life, abstaining from eating living creatures and all cooked food… They say that God is Light, not like the Light one sees, nor like the sun nor fire, but to them God is Discourse, not that which finds expression in articulate sounds, but that of knowledge, or gnosis, through which the secret mysteries of nature are perceived by the wise.” (Hippolytus, Refutation Omnium Haeresium)

Vegetarian Prayer of Thanksgiving in the Nag Hammadi Library (Gnostic Gospels) and Corpus Hermeticum

This the prayer that they spoke:

“We give thanks to You!

Every soul and heart is lifted up to You,

undisturbed name, honored with the name ‘God’

and praised with the name ‘Father’,

for to everyone and everything (comes) the fatherly kindness

and affection and love,

and any teaching there may be that is sweet and plain,

giving us mind, speech, (and) knowledge:

mind, so that we may understand You,

speech, so that we may expound You,

knowledge, so that we may know You.

We rejoice, having been illuminated by Your knowledge.

We rejoice because You have shown us Yourself.

We rejoice because while we are in (the) body,

You have made us divine through Your knowledge.

“The thanksgiving of the one who attains to You is one thing:

that we know You.

We have known You, Light of mind.

Life of life, we have known You.

Womb of every creature, we have known You.

Womb pregnant with the nature of the Father,

we have known You.

Eternal permanence of the begetting Father,

thus have we worshipped Your goodness.

“There is one petition that we ask:

we would be preserved in knowledge.

And there is one protection that we desire:

that we not stumble in this kind of life.”

“When they had said these things in the prayer, they embraced each

other and they went to eat their holy food, which has no blood in it.” *

— The Prayer of Thanksgiving @ Gnosis.org:

“Vegetarian food” — footnote from the Marvin Meyer translation of this in, The Gnostic Scriptures.

This passage is also found in the Epilogue of Asclepius, in “HERMETICA,” translated by Sir Walter Scott: “Having prayed thus, let us betake ourselves to a meal unpolluted by flesh [animalia] of living things.”

The G.R.S. Mead translation of the same verse: “With this desire we now betake us to our pure and fleshless meal.”

“With such hopes we turn to a pure meal that includes no living thing.” (Asclepius, translated in “Hermetica”, Brian Copenhaver, Cambridge University Press)

Also see, The Prayer of Thanksgiving @ OtherGospels.com:

Some Early Church orthodox “Heresy Hunters” used to require meat-eating on Sundays as a way to discover who the vegetarian Gnostics were in their midst! Since Gnostics were generally vegetarians, anyone refusing to partake of fleshly meals would be suspected of heresy:

“While the initial cause for Gnostic vegetarianism has been unknown in the past, many classical Christian authors have documented the Gnostic’s widespread practice of vegetarianism. In a 4th Century Christian document it attests that ‘Heretical Gnostic Christians were still so common, and there were so many Gnostic Heretics among the clergy and monks in Egypt that in the region of Theodosius Egypt, the Patriarch Timothy made eating meat compulsory on Sundays, as a way to flush out the vegetarian Gnostics.’” (Luke Meyers, “Gnostic Visions”)

Inter-Faith Love!

The following passage is from the Recognitions of Clement. This Ebionite Christian author has very nice things to say about those in India who worship One God, follow peaceful customs and laws, and are vegetarian or vegan. Imagine! Clearly he sees parallels between his own religion and that of his brothers and sisters “in the Indian countries.” (Two thousand years ago India was divided up into many kingdoms.) This is one of the most amazing passages I know of in the extra-canonical scriptures, as it is a rare example of one religion (Ebionite, Hebrew Christianity) recognizing “Truth” in another religion (Hinduism), a rare inter-faith moment in human history. The Recognitions of Clement, and The Clementine Homilies are surviving Jewish-Christian texts representing an Ebionite vegetarian point of view:

“There are likewise amongst the Bactrians,

in the Indian countries,

immense multitudes of Brahmans,

who also themselves,

from the tradition of their ancestors,

and peaceful customs and laws,

neither commit murder nor adultery,

nor worship idols,

nor have the practice of eating animal food,

are never drunk,

never do anything maliciously,

but always revere God.”

— Recognitions of Clement, Book 9, Chapter 22, Brahmans, Volume Eight, of the, Ante-Nicene Fathers, page 187, T & T Clark Eerdmans edition.

“Countless there are that remember Thee, and countless those that love Thee;

Countless there are that recite from sacred books Thy praises;

Countless those Thy devotees who contemplate Thy attributes and wisdom; and

Countless those that practice truth and charity;

Countless those who have vowed silence, and meditate on Thee with unceasing love.”

— excerpted from the Morning Prayer of Guru Nanak

Wisdom from the East, The Saints of India

That passage above from Saint Basil the Great mentioning that meals of meat darkens the spirit reminds me of a saying of the Buddha: “The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.”

Our Ebionite friends would really love Kabir and the Sants of India, finding them to be kindred spirits and friends of God!

The harshest words that Kabir, a great spiritual Master and poet-mystic from Northern India (loved by Sufis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Sants and Hindus alike) ever spoke were directed against the slaughter or consumption of innocent animals. Kabir says, “Keep away from the man who eats meat — his company will ruin your meditation.”

It’s hard to reach more subtle states of tranquility in meditation on an animal flesh diet based on the suffering of other beings.

“I must point out that animal food, even if a single particle is eaten, is detrimental to spiritual progress.” (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

The following, on the reason why disciples of Santmat advocate following the vegetarian diet, is by Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj from the book, The Harmony of All Religions (Sarvadharma Samanvy), published by Maharshi Mehi Ashram:

“The saints have addressed the sin of violence with particular attention to the foods which are eaten. Foods which are produced by killing living beings, as well as foods which are not pure and fresh, are considered tamasic. Consumption of these is prohibited by the teachings of the saints. This includes animal products such as meat, fish, and eggs. These foods inhibit the clarity of the mind and the health of the body. There is an old saying: ‘Whatever kind of food we take in, its properties will also fill our mind.’ A parallel saying is, ‘Whatever we eat, just so will our breath smell [indicates the visible effect of food].’

Further, Kabir Sahab says: ‘The kind of food and drink which we consume directly influences how our mind will become. Even the quality of water which we drink will influence our speech.’ These words of Kabir Sahib are not merely rhetorical conjecture, but represent direct experience…

“A great yogi named Bhupendranath Ji Sanyal has said: ‘It is preferable to always avoid the consumption of flesh and fish. This is because in the very cells of these animals there might be bad diseases. But even more significantly, the natural vibration of these creatures is absorbed into the blood. This can create agitation and even sickness, and will destroy the natural calmness of the mind. Also, one must not take intoxicants, as this is a great breach of the spiritual path and natural duty (dharma). [Under the influence of intoxicants people are unable to discern the right path of action].’

“Therefore, we must be disciplined in what we eat and drink, and by being disciplined, our wealth and spiritual path are protected. This world becomes agreeable, and so does the next world, since we won’t be incurring the karmas from killing other living beings.” (Beloved Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj, Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters)

All past and present Masters of Sant Mat, the most advanced Saints of Inner Light and Sound, advocate following the vegetarian diet. In fact, being vegetarian is a requirement in order to be initiated into the meditation practice of Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga, Meditation upon the inner Light and Sound of God.

Sant Mat is a vegetarian Path for mystical, spiritual, ethical and theological reasons. The Masters teach that foods are of three kinds: Satvik, Rajsik, and Tamsik. This last category of foods, which includes all flesh foods, is to be completely avoided. Satvik (pure foods), the first category, includes: grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, seeds, and nuts. Satvik foods are considered by Mystics to promote relaxation, meditation, and spiritual experience.

The bad karma and other negative effects of flesh-eating darkens one’s vision of inner Light, weighs the soul down, interfering with concentration and meditation. It’s interesting to notice that the Satvik diet of Sant Mat, of Hinduism and the Yoga Philosophy of India is also: the life-extension diet, the anti-cancer diet, the eco-friendly diet, the diet for antioxidants and the other plant-based nutrients, AND the diet of the Light & Sound mystics, East and West, ancient and contemporary.

“I fully endorse veganism as the most humane and compassionate diet that enhances our spiritual life. It is also the best diet for caring for the environment.” (Dr. Jagessar Das, President of the Kabir Association)

“All living creatures seek a life of peace,

So pass your days on this Earth humanely.

Even the heart that beats in an animal’s breast

Knows sympathy, brims with love.

So look on all living creatures with loving compassion — bring to humanity’s night the light of dawn.” (Sant Darshan Singh)

For More on the Veganism of the Jesus Movement and Related Sects of Antiquity, See the Very Fine Research of Keith Akers — Website:

[theshiftingwitch]

https://www.tumblr.com/theshiftingwitch/784167083388846080/neville-goddard-never-mentioned-shifting-because?source=share hi! This ask and your blog got recommended to me on my timeline and first of all i loved how fiercely you responded and shut them up lol and second of all. I only practice loa manifestation so far, i'm new to shifting. And this is the first time i see shifting referred to as a spiritual practice that has been practiced by communities centuries ago, do you know where i can read more about it? Or how can i look it up? I'm really really interested in practicing shifting more as a spiritual practice than just for fun. Is it something related to non-dualism? Because i once saw some posts about that

Before it became known as reality shifting, shamans called it journeying, a practice that allowed them to enter other planes of existence, or in other words, shift to different parallel realities. They used breath work, trance (meditation, anyone?), plants, and even drumming.

The ancient egyptians believed the soul (the Ka) could travel during sleep, dreams, or rituals. The "dream space" was sacred as it was where they attained "otherworldly knowledge" and "divine insight".

The Greeks called it metempsychosis: the soul's ability to move across lifetimes and realities. One soul, multiple bodies until the end of time.(See Plato and Pythagoras and their views on exploring other planes.)

Tibetan monks trained in Dream Yoga for centuries, learning to wake up inside dreams and use them to transcend reality. They believed it prepared the soul for death and enlightenment.

Gnostics and Hermeticists believed that this reality is just one veil among many. They believed the soul can "awaken from this reality and rise through realms of consciousness." "Reality is mindmade. And the awakened mind can shift it."

Even Neville Goddard’s "Living in the End" technique to manifest your desires suggests that you have to assume the frequency of your desired life and reality will follow (which is why I always say that manifesting and shifting are one and the same, just different jargon and different techniques. I posted about this a couple of times if you want to have a scroll through my blog)

If you want to know more and explore it for yourself (which I always encourage because you never stop learning) check out these creators on TikTok:

Robert Bosnak (the old shifter)

The quantum lounge

And if you like reading, check out these :

The Kybalion by Three Initiates ( Hermetic principles and reality as mind)

Dream Yoga by Andrew Holecek (Tibetan dream practices for shifting)

The Power of Awareness by Neville Goddard (practical manifestation as identity)

The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda (shamanic dreaming and alternate worlds)

Initiation by Elisabeth Haich ( a mystical autobiography about reincarnation and ancient knowledge)

I hope this is helpful and a good start on your shifting journey, and thank you for reading!

Happy Shifting ❤️

[neptuneblueprint]

Sigil Making Using Pythagorean Numerology

The Pythagorean method was developed by Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician and metaphysician who lived during the 6th century.

The numbers is based from 1 through 9.

Pythagorean numerology is the easiest, the best known, and the most widely used by modern numerologists.

Pythagorean system simply assigns the numbers in sequence so A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on.

Pythagorean numerology is often referred to as Western numerology as well as Modern numerology.

Pythagorean system uses only single digit numbers.

Numerology is also an excellent way to gain insight into other people. Pythagorean numerology can help you achieve these goals in addition to helping you understand what types of people are most compatible with you and why.

Sigil Making

Sigils are symbolic representations of intention of spiritual logos encoded with energy. When infused with meaning and created with focused intent, a sigil becomes a psychic shortcut that communicates directly with your subconscious and the universe.

While traditional chaos magick uses abstract symbols, you can also use numerology, specifically the Pythagorean system, to create sigils that are mathematically aligned with your intention. This method transforms words into numbers, then into symbols.

Steps:

1. Choose a Clear Intention, Affirmation, Phrase

Pick a single word or phrase that reflects your desire. For example: → "Peace and tranquility"

2. Remove Vowels and Repeated Letters

This condenses the energy and creates a cleaner sigil form. → "Peace and tranquility" becomes P C D T R N Q LY

Convert Letters to Numbers ( Use the Pythagorean Chart) → 5 2 3 9 7 6 1 4

4. Plot the Numbers on a 3x3 Magic Square Grid

Use the numerology magic square (like a tic-tac-toe board) with numbers 1–9:

Now draw lines connecting your number path (5 → 2→ 3→ 9→ 7→ 6 → 1→ 4), either on paper or digitally. This becomes the core shape of your sigil.

5. Stylize Your Sigil

Smooth the lines, round corners, or abstract parts of it

Add personal symbols, a circle, or decorative elements

You can redraw it on a new piece of paper focusing on your intention.

You can also use a Witch's Wheel instead.

This method uses a circle divided into nine segments, each representing a number from 1 to 9 (based on the Pythagorean system). You map the numbers of your word or intention onto the circle and then draw connecting lines between them to form a sigil.

7. Charge Your Sigil

Charging is the process of imbuing your sigil with energy and intention. This can be as mystical or as practical as you like. What matters is that you feel the energy shift—a moment where the sigil becomes more than just ink on paper.

Common Methods:

1. Elemental Charging (Air, Fire, Water, Earth)

Choose an element based on your intention: Fire – Burn the sigil to release it into the universe (great for fast manifestation or transformation). Water – Submerge it in water, then pour it down the drain or into a river (used for emotional healing, cleansing). Air – Let the wind carry it (release from a high place or tear and toss). Earth – Bury it (for grounding, protection, long-term goals).

2. Meditation / Visualization

Sit quietly with your sigil. Focus on your intention as you stare at it. Imagine light or energy flowing into the symbol. Visualize your goal already achieved

3. Candle Charging

Place your sigil under a candle that corresponds with your intention (e.g., green for money, red for love, black for protection). Light the candle and focus on the flame while meditating on your goal. Let the candle burn completely or snuff it to reuse later.

4. Ecstatic or Emotional Release This is from traditional chaos magick:

Build intense emotional energy (joy, laughter, tears, or even sexual energy). At the peak of your emotion or altered state, focus all attention on the sigil. Immediately let go of the desire—don’t obsess over it. This plants the seed in your subconscious.

5. Mantra or Chant

Create a short phrase or sound inspired by your sigil (or the intention behind it). Repeat it while looking at the sigil or tracing it with your finger. Chant until your energy peaks, then stop and release.

After charging, you can:

Hide or burn the sigil (if releasing the intention). Keep it visible (if you want continuous focus). Fold and carry it with you (like a spiritual battery). Redraw it in your space (like a power sigil for ongoing effects)

Tip: The most important part of charging is belief + energy + release. It’s not about “how fancy” your ritual is, it’s about how intentional and emotionally charged the moment feels to you.

Where You Can Use Your Sigil

🕯️ Spiritual & Magical Practice

On your altar: Place the sigil to charge it with spiritual energy.

During meditation: Gaze at it to align your mind with your intention.

In spellwork or rituals: Carve it into candles, draw it in incense smoke, or include it in a ritual circle.

On a talisman or amulet: Draw it on wood, clay, stone, or jewelry to carry it as a physical charm.

📝 Personal Empowerment

In a journal or grimoire: As a private symbol of your goals or spiritual identity.

Vision board: Incorporate it into your manifestation collage.

Wallpaper (phone or desktop): As a passive daily reminder of your intention.

Tattoo: A permanent, sacred symbol of personal power or transformation (use with deep care and clarity of intent).

🏠 Home & Space Clearing

Under your pillow: For dreamwork, protection, or subconscious reprogramming.

Above doorways or mirrors: For protection and energetic boundaries.

In a room corner: To subtly influence the energy of a space (especially in feng shui-friendly zones).

In a sigil jar or spell bottle: Combined with herbs, crystals, and other correspondences.

💼 Career & Productivity

On your notebook or planner: To boost focus, motivation, or success.

Inside your wallet or purse: For abundance and financial flow.

On business materials: Embedded subtly in logos, packaging, or branding (especially if the sigil relates to your purpose or values).

💌 Creative & Subtle Uses

In artwork or writing: Hidden in a painting, illustration, poem, or design.

As a digital watermark: Disguised in social media content or website branding.

In a love letter or message: A symbolic seal carrying emotional intention.