Stories of Rebirth and Renewal

Many cultures have myths focusing on spiritual transitioning in life. Some religions use stories of rebirth and renewal to reinforce their beliefs. These stories affect the culture; see how they affect your life.

Stories are a great way to communicate complex information. A good story will have a memorable progression of events and often use powerful themes and archetypes, which are elements with clearly defined attributes.

Symbols of Rebirth and Transformation

The symbols of rebirth vary from culture to culture, but they all have similar meanings. A common theme in many cultures is one Joseph Campbell calls the Hero’s Journey (1). It’s the typology of the spiritual quest.

The spiritual quest contains stories of rebirth and renewal that share common elements. The story revolves around a hero and is a story of spiritual transitioning in life. It transforms the hero from the ordinary into the extraordinary.

These seekers of enlightenment encounter roadblocks and enemies on the path. There is also a central villain or adversary with supernatural powers. The adversary heads a group that opposes the hero’s quest. Our hero also has a core group of followers who are crucial to the story. In the end, the hero triumphs over the adversary and returns to help others do the same.

The quest follows a pattern of awakening. It’s the part of the story where the main character hears the call of the journey and embarks on the adventure. The seekers go through stages of transition involving a spiritual battle, death, and rebirth. Finally, they return to inspire and guide others. Awakening is one of the most significant forms of spiritual transitioning in life.

The most popular stories of our culture are found in the Abrahamic tree of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Let’s start with a look at the dying-god sects and those closely related common elements. (2)

When we talk about dying gods, we refer to those avatars who were killed but resurrected. One of the most common methods of mythology for this health is crucifixion. Not sure if it’s the sheer brutality of suffering or the spectacle of watching someone die in such a horrible manner. It was trendy in the Mediterranean region before the common era.

One of the most interesting early compilations of this phenomenon was the investigator and writer Kersey Graves. His work, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Christianity before Christ, a History of Sixteen Heathen Crucified Gods (3), is still compelling. The evidence he provides correlates over 40 similarities between earlier so-called pagan gods and Christianity, everything from betrayal by one of his twelve disciples to a virgin birth. We’ll cover a few here.

“The Christian cross comes from Egypt and India; the triple miter from the Mithraic faith; the shepherd’s crook from the Hermetic Mysteries and Greece, the immaculate conception from India; the transfiguration from Persia; and the trinity from the Brahmans. The Virgin Mary, as the mother of God, is found in a dozen different faiths. There are over twenty crucified world saviors. The church steeple is an adaptation of Egyptian obelisks and pyramids, while the Christian devil is the Egyptian Typhon with certain modifications.” ― Occult Anatomy of Man; Occult Masonry, Manly P. Hall

Jesus of Modern Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth is the most popular avatar and dying god in modern times. The story takes place in Palestine in 1 CE. During his reign, Constantine (312-337) established the new Universal Religion. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, is the first to coin the term Catholic Church, meaning universal and orthodox to all local congregations. (4)

Born of a virgin on the Winter solstice, December 25
Titles, Star in the East, King of Kings, The Alpha, and Omega
Had 12 disciples
Performed miracles, including healing, raising from the dead, and turning water into wine.
Crucified and rose from the dead three days later to ascend to heaven
Created the first mass zombie-raising event

Many scholars point out that the story of Jesus is a solar allegory. Born of a virgin mother at the winter solstice and crucified between two thieves at the vernal equinox. The crucifixion is symbolic, representing the sun’s path through the zodiac. The plane of the ecliptic crossing or passing over (Passover) is the equator at the vernal equinox. It is common to represent this path crossing as a 90 deg cross on old star charts. The star chart provides evidence of where the cross in a circle motif originates.

Christianity is the rebranding of these stories of rebirth and renewal. We will outline some of the main points of their doctrines. How did they do it? Simple. They had the world’s most powerful army, which conquered the Mediterranean region. (4) (5)

Jesus, born to a virgin on December 25, shares many similarities with the other dying gods. The Roman army transitioned these existing religions under the new universal religion based in Rome. They all focus on spiritual transitions from the ordinary to the extraordinary in life.

The rebranding of the dying god temples gave the Roman Empire the momentum needed to build the Vatican city-state. It continued to expand around the world, becoming the wealthiest single entity.

“Symbolism in a greater or lesser degree is essential to every kind of external worship, and we need not shrink from the conclusion that in the matter of baptisms and washings, of genuflection’s and other acts of reverence, of lights and sweet-smelling incense, of flowers and white vestitures, of spiritual unction’s and the imposing of hands, of sacrifice and the rite of the Communion banquet, the Church has borrowed without hesitation from the common stock of significant actions known to all periods and all nations. In such matters as these, Christianity claims no monopoly or originality.” ― The Catholic Encyclopedia and International Work, Vol. 13 (1907)

The story is of the hero, Jesus, who is the spawn of God, not man. He is raised in Jewish culture and becomes an educated scholar of the tradition, which he rejects. As a rebel, he undergoes a spiritual awakening in the wilderness and then embarks on his quest to confront the religious leaders. He is the victim of betrayal by one of his followers and subsequently tortured to death, but then resurrects and ascends to heaven. Because he was not a man but an avatar. So, his life was a showcase for the symbols of rebirth and transformation.

The authority of Christianity comes from texts voted into the canon of divinely inspired writings of those who knew Jesus. These writings are often contradictory and stretch the bounds of logic. Our favorite parts of the New Testament are the places where Jesus talks to himself inside his head, and no one around could have possibly recorded these conversations.

Before we look at the other stories, it’s worth noting that many of the sources of information that existed in the 17th century, particularly those temples and statues that were not protected, have been defaced and destroyed.

Horus

Egypt, approximately 3000 to 4000 BCE. In Egyptian mythology, known as the sun god. He is the Son of Isis and Osiris. Adopted by the Greeks as the God of silence and was also called Harpocrates. (bullfinch). Notable characteristics of his legend:

Born on December 25 or Winter Solstice
Born of a virgin mother
Symbol a Start in the East
Adorned
Adorned by 3 Kings
At the age of 12 he became a religious scholar and spiritual teacher
Baptized into ministry at 30 years old
Had 12 disciples

But there are more similarities in the texts between the Horus and the composite known today as Jesus. (6)

Jesus says, I and the Father are one. Horus says, is the father seen in the Son? And Jesus claims to be the Son in whom the Father is revealed.
Horus is the light of the world; he is the light of the all-seeing eye, the revealing light of divinity. Peacock feathers were his symbol, which you see today in Christianity as a symbol of resurrection. Of course, Jesus declared he was the light of the world.
Horus was baptized in a stream by Anup at 30. Jesus was baptized with water by John the Baptist when he was 30 years old. Anup is the name of the divine scribe; the name John means scribe.
Horus was born in Annu, the place of bread. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means the house of bread.
We see Horus with a shepherd’s crook on his shoulder, known as the good shepherd. Sound familiar? Jesus is also called the good shepherd, often shown carrying a lamb.
Horus has seven onboard the boat, and Jesus’ story also has seven who board a vessel. Later in the story, they both had twelve trusted disciples.
Horus is known as the Lamb and Lion, as is Jesus.
Horus uses the symbol of a Tat or Cross. Jesus’s followers used the same logo to identify with his crucifixion.

Could these similarities be just a coincidence?

The defacing of statues in India and Egypt is the basis for denying the connection. Indeed, the story of Jesus was not original. Some Christian authorities claim all the pagan stories are true. However, they are the preconceived forgeries of the devil, who foresaw the birth of Christ and duplicated the events ahead of time. But the problem with preconceived fakes is that they ascribe omniscience to the devil, a trait supposedly reserved for the one true God.

Some anthropologists, like Godfrey Higgins, traveled to India in the early 1800s. He describes temples where Horus had his arms outstretched on a cross. Some statues even have holes in their wrists and feet. However, the only connection here is Celtic relics, which depict their God, Heus or Esus, as crucified. Christian apologists show no connection to Horus. So what about Hesus?

Heus

The Celts didn’t keep written records. The oral tradition was still transmitting information from generation to generation. So, the artifacts of their lineage, including the cross of Hesus, date to before 50 BCE. Heus or Esus of Lactantius and Lucan describe him as the God of the Gauls. Canon McCulloch is regarded as an old-culture God. He is depicted as a woodsman but also as an Ox or Bull.

Heus is a name from an older language than the Gaelic of the Celts. The name comes from Hu. Hu or Huwa (Arabic: هُوَ meaning He) is a name for God in Sufism, and it is a Hebrew and Arabic term for the English third person. Sufism uses this term to avoid attributing a grammatical gender to Allah. In Sufism, Hu, or Huwa, is the pronoun for Allah or God. It is also the way one refers to the generic term of God. The meaning of Hu is simply deity, a word you can use for any God. Husus or Hesus is a God adopted by the culture, as was Osiris, with the Egyptians. (5)

Legend has Hesus was sacrificed like a bull or ox, but rose again three days later.
He is pictured crucified on a cross, his hands and feet pierced by the nails.

Mithra

Persia and Rome approximately 1200 to 1 BCE. The Roman army assimilated the blood-letting ceremonies of Mithraism as a form of initiation, a doorway to spiritual transitioning in life to an invincible male warrior. (7) He is linked to the Vedic God Mitra and is part of the trinity of the Persian mystery religion with Ahura Mazda and Ahura Berezaiti. These traditions go back further than 5000 years.

Mithraism is often associated with the Roman Mystery Cult of “The God Mithras,” which flourished from 100 to 400 CE when Constantine created Christianity (280 to 337 CE). Mithraism was part of the rebranding of the mystery religions. The bloodletting of animals became symbolic in Catholicism’s Communion Ceremony.

We know there were seven levels of initiation, but we do not precisely know what each contained. The Church should have this information in its archives, but it is silent on the matter. The culminating ritual used the blood of bulls.

We know Mithriams were built underground with a two-tiered platform. They slit the throat of an animal on the top so the warriors could walk below through the blood. Some say they drank the blood and ate the animal’s body, preferably a bull. Partaking would absolve them from the acts they would perpetrate as Roman soldiers. Hence, the reference later to Christ offering his blood and body as a sacrifice. (3) (4)

The Roman Empire built many Churches over the sites where Mithriams once existed. And this is where the tradition of catacombs began. There is speculation that the secret rites, the original symbols of rebirth and transformation, are still used by the Church elite.

Mithra’s name is on inscriptions dating to the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), during the reign of Artaxerxes II (404-358 BCE). This God is prominent during the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE). After the Sassanian fell to the invading Muslim Arabs in 651 CE. (5) (8)

The main characteristics of the life of Mithra are:

Born on December 25 or Winter Solstice
Born of a virgin mother
Had 12 disciples
Performed miracles, healing, turning water to wine, raising the dead
Resurrected and Rose from the dead after three days

Dionysus

Greek Avatar approximately 500 to 1 BCE. In Roman mythology, Bacchus god of wine, the Son of Jupiter, and Semele for the Greeks. (2) Bacchus entered Thebes in a chariot drawn by elephants and married Ariadne after Theseus deserted her. (9) The legend of Dionysus is older than that of Apollo. (2) (6)

Born of a virgin on the Winter Solstice
Turned water into wine
Performed miracles of healing and prosperity
Known by Titles, King of Kings, The Alpha, and Omega
Resurrected and ascended to heaven

Attis

Greece from 1500 to about 50 BCE. The direct forerunner of Dionysus, from Adonis, Smyrna, the myth related to Tammuz. Tammuz is one of high antiquity, dating from 4000 BCE or possibly earlier. (10) Both Tammuz and Ishtar were non-Semitic, the name derived from Akkadian Dumuzi, meaning the Son of light, the only Son, the bright and morning star. (2)

Yes, also born of a virgin on December 25, the Winter solstice
Crucified on a cross but resurrected from the grave after three days

Krishna

He lived in India around 1200 BCE. Unlike the other dying gods, Krishna met his demise in a hunting accident. Some traditions say he was mistaken for a deer and shot with an arrow. Some versions of the story say the arrow nailed him to a tree, but this is not common.

Born of a virgin
Title: the Star in the East
Performed miracles of healing

Islam

Islam is the youngest of the major world religions. It recognizes the authority of the writings of the dying god Jesus and the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Tanak. Islam was created around the 7th century and comes from the reports of those who supposedly knew Muhammad. He was not an avatar and didn’t perform any of the miracles of the dying god predecessors. The things he said were recorded in two documents, the Quran and Hadith, around 1000 CE, about 400 years after Muhammad died.

According to tradition, Muhammad began receiving divine revelations, calling for submission to the one true God. His message gained a group of followers, and, like the previous story of Jesus, it was met with increasing opposition from religious Meccan leaders. But, unlike the other dying gods of the region, he was not tortured to death.

Judaism

Judaism is a religion based on the tribal ethnicity of the ancient Israelites. It began in Babylon approximately 4000 BCE (11). It began compiling writings that became the Torah. The core of these writings comes from earlier Babylon, Assyria, and Persia mystery religions.

The symbols of rebirth and transformation center upon daily compliance with various practices outlined in the Torah and include other works, such as the Talmud, Zohar Siddur, and Tanya.

For example, once scholars could decipher the old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, they revealed many things, including the link to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 BCE. He is famous for documenting 282 laws of the Babylonian culture, inscribed on a stela in Babylon’s temple of Marduk. Many of these statutes are in the Book of Exodus. The stele was originally at Susa in present-day Iran. The stele now resides in the Louvre Museum.

With our ability to read cucumiform, we could unveil many of the ancient Mesopotamian languages, revealing the stories of Job and many others in the writings of the Torah.

Spiritual Transitioning in Life

All the Avatars and Sages are extraordinary examples of spiritual growth. There are some common lessons we can use in our spiritual walks.

1) Create a Unique Path

Foremost, do it on your own. Do not become a follower and join a religion. All the enlightened beings’ stories tell us they did it in the wilderness, away from the doctrines and dogma of any organized faith. The Gods of old are still with us; they are nature.

2) Spiritual Trajectory — Growth or Disintegration

Spiritual transitioning in life can lead either downward or upward. The movement from one state of awareness is on a continuum. You can become more aware or more asleep.

3) Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Path

Whether you believe the New Testament story, the tale of Jesus demonstrates how someone can spend a significant amount of time studying stuff that has no spiritual content and leads nowhere. Even Jesus spent years studying only to change paths. The same with Mohammad and Buddha. These stories of rebirth and renewal take place after realizing organized religion is a dead end.

References

(1) Joseph Campbell’s book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces

(2) Bulfinch’s Mythology, Illustrated Edition Including the complete texts of the Age of Fable, 1978 by Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulfinch%27s_Mythology

(3) The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors, or Christianity before Christ, Kersey Graves 1881: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38600/38600-h/38600-h.htm

(4) Church History in Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley, 1982: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111596.Church_History_in_Plain_Language

(5) Anacalypsis, an Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Santic Isis; Or, an Inquiry Into the Origin of Languages, Nations, and Religions; Volume 1 and 2 by Godfrey Higgins published in 1836 after his death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacalypsis

(6) The book Your Church Doesn’t Want You To Read, Tim C. Leedom, 1993: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/498359.The_Book_Your_Church_Doesn_t_Want_You_to_Read

(7) Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill, 1905: https://archive.org/details/cu31924073797957/mode/2up?q=Roman+Society+from+Nero+to+Marcus+Aurelius+by+Samuel+Dill%2C+1905

(8) The Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, 1903: https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mom/index.htm

(9) Dionysus, Myth, and Cult by Otto Walter Fredrich, 1874-1958 republished 1965.: https://archive.org/details/dionysusmythcult0000otto

(10) The Mysteries of Britain or the Secret Rites and Traditions of Ancient Britain Restored by Lewis Spence, 1918 reprint 1995: https://archive.org/details/mysteriesofbrita0000spen_h9d7

(11) Myths and Legends, Babylonia, and Assyria, Lewis Spence, 1916 reprint 1995: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24528