I need to sort out my routine better

In life I need to get my routine sorted out better.  I want to regulate my life better this shanatu qadishti.  I'm going to get into a routine of getting up earlier on the morning and regulating my sleep better, as well as practicing better exercises.  This is physical health, but the body is linked both to the mind and to the spirit.

I also want to begin working harder on my writing and really putting my mind to it, to get it all finished.

Finally, I want to start practicing some meditation or a daily ritual each day for spiritual growth.  As a Neoplatonist, it's important for me because of the idea of theurgy to bring about the ecstatic union with the Deity.  Only with regular rituals can I do this.

Some words about my blog and pages

It's very sad that I feel this has to be said, but I think I've been more than reasonable and patient at this point.  So, without further ado:

- This blog and my pages focus on ethnic Canaanite religion, culture, and history.  I feel that we are a people like any other, be they Egyptians, Hellenes, Romans, Celts, Persians, Hindus, Chinese etc.

- I am NOT interested in discussing anti-semitic conspiracy theories,

- I am NOT interested in racism or hate speech, of any kind,

- I am NOT interested in preaching.  I do not want to be told that I'm evil, my gods are demons, and that God will punish everyone for my sins.  Please respect my religion like you would any other religion,

- I am NOT interested in discussing 'race', or whether Jews or Palestinians are 'closer' to being 'pure' Canaanites,

- I am NOT interested in discussing nationalistic politics in the Middle East.  As a rule, we traditional Canaanites, like the ethnic Hellenes such as YSEE, do not attach ourselves to modern fringe political groups or ultra-nationalistic political movements- as we feel very strongly that these run contrary to traditional Canaanite ethics and culture.  Many such movements also tend to associated themselves with either Judaism, Christianity, or Islam anyway, and so are not in our interests,

- I am NOT interested in discussing 'alternative history' theories such as human civilizations being created by aliens.  Our gods are not aliens/reptilians,

-  I am NOT interested in discussing biblical literalism either.  Some of the material that I post may run contrary to a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible,

- I intend for my blogs, pages, and groups to be peaceful and spiritual places to come and learn and experience.  Please, respect my wishes and keep them that way.

The path that I follow

Today I want to take the opportunity to talk about the religion that I follow.  I realize that not all Canaanites are going to agree with me, but I would ask people to be respectful of the path I follow.  I realize that it is not the same as the path that other Canaanites may follow, but I believe that mine is just as valid and that it's wrong to outright dismiss another person's religion as merely being a false religion or a 'made-up religion' (at least without thinking on it first).

- My path does not consider one era or type of Canaanism as the 'true' form.  What I mean by this, is that I believe that labels like 'Late Bronze Age Canaanite religion', 'Israelite religion', 'Phoenician religion', 'Punic religion' etc. are merely human constructs.  I don't believe that they are different religions or that they are not compatible.  I believe Canaanite religion is eternal and divine; human-constructed limits do not matter.  I certainly don't think that the religions from those categories are completely unlike one another.  While Canaanite religion does change, I don't view (for example) Middle Bronze Age Canaanite religion as being somehow more pure or more true than religion in Late Antiquity in- for example- Tyre.  I don't think that any deviation from one city-state's system automatically disqualifies them from following the same religion as another.  A good comparison would be the various city-states in Greece (Sparta, Athens etc.) at different time periods.  Another comparison is India with the various philosophical schools of thought and religious sects which exist within Hinduism.  In Egypt there is a change from Middle Kingdom, to New Kingdom, to Hellenistic Egypt.  I just don't see Canaan as any different.  Furthermore, the ancients themselves, even right until St. Augustine's time, saw themselves as following the same religion as their ancestors going back until the beginning of time, and always understood it to be this way.  Otherwise just seems- to me at least- to be imposing human constraints on something as divine as pure religion.  (Getting onto the theory of time as proposed by Ya-milku of Qinnashrin talks of Shapash as changing yet remaining eternal, signifying two types of time: one which changes (cyclical), and one which always stays the same (linear), and that these do not contradict one another.  I think this aptly describes my view of religion).

- Similarly, I hold that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam derive ultimately from the same source, but that they are not as 'complete' as our own.  I don't consider them outright false, merely misled.  I'm open to mystical Christian and Jewish practices, though I'm not a Christian or Jew.

- I am not a reconstructionist.  In all honesty, this goes with what I've outlined above.  I think it's healthy for religion to experience changes.  It's not just going to stay the same as it was in the Bronze Age for ever.  I think it's stifling and backward to a living religion to try and relegate it to something which 'belongs in the past' and shouldn't change from that point.  However:

- I don't just believe in changing the religion to whatever it is that you want it to be.  Religion does change, but at it's core it should remain the same.  What I mean by this is that religion itself is an eternal way.  I don't believe in simply changing Canaanite religion to whatever you want it to be.  It is tradition- a living tradition, yes- but still a tradition.

- I hold that there is a One, a Monad, as I belong to the Neoplatonist school of thought.  I don't see a contradiction between religion and philosophy (and historically this wasn't the case either).  I believe that there is an ultimate reality, and that this does not contradict the gods.

- I believe that people should be allowed to come up with new ideas provided they can rationally propose philosophical arguments to justify them.  I don't just want somebody telling me what I am and am not allowed to believe in.

- While I'm not a 'soft polytheist', I'm not a strict 'hard polytheist' either.  For example, I don't believe that the god Resheph worshiped in Canaan is a different god from the one worshiped in Egypt.  The ancients clearly understood them to be the same god, just slightly different due to being worshiped in different contexts.  I also don't go as far as to claim, as some hard polytheists do, that a god worshiped in later times whose role may have changed slightly to be a different one from earlier times.  For example, though Ashtart by late antiquity has acquired different characteristics from in the late Bronze Age, I don't view her as being a different goddess than the earlier one who just happens to share the same name.


Overall, this just strikes me as being the way (at least for me personally) that religion should be.  There are differences between different city-states and different time periods, but I don't believe that this constitutes different religions.  Differences in religion, yes.  Canaanite religion is tradition, and does have a traditional 'way'.  There is a point when something ceases to become Canaanite religion.  Egyptian and Greek religions, despite many similarities, are not Canaanite religion.  But at the same time, I view Canaanite religion as a flexible and living tradition.  Things may have changed from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age to the Post-Alexander world.  But change is healthy.  You may age and grow, but you are still in essence the same person now as you were when you were 7 years old.  I view religion the same way.  That doesn't mean that I think that everyone should share my opinions though.  I also think it's personally fine for people's religion to be city-state specific or era specific.  But I view all of them as being part of the same religion rather than different religions. 

In closing, I'm going to point out that I accept differences.  This is after all my path and not anybody else's, even though I may happen to share the same religion as them.

A brief history of philosophy and theology in the Levantine world

The schools of thought within Western philosophy which appear in the land of the Canaan are mostly Atomism, Neoplatonism, Neopythagoreanism, Stoicism, and Epicureanism. 

Atomism is interesting because it actually predates the Hellenistic period.  As early as the time of Moses, a prophet called Mosheh the Sidonian was writing a creation myth which gives an early Atomist cosmology, contrasting matter with void.  He also starts the introduce the theory of time as found in Canaanite theology for the first time in recorded history.  This all was later picked up from the Greeks, and philosophers like Democritus and Pythagoras are said to have learned from either his own writings or from those of his descendents.  Still, his 'philosophy' is in a way mixed in with mythology, as philosophy as a specific intellectual discipline has not yet really emerged properly in the Bronze Age.

Philosophy proper in itself develops among the Greeks.  They were the first to come up with the ideas, though the first philosopher Thales based many of his ideas on Canaanite, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian ideas.  This happens in the Iron Age, during the Persian period.  At this time, the great Persian Empire rules over most of the known world.  Within this empire, ideas begin to develop and spread among the people.

Among the Babylonians, astronomy begins to develop.  The Babylonians by the Persian period have mapped the constellations of the heaven and can accurately predict eclipses and weather phenomenon.  This knowledge spreads throughout the empire.

Babylonian astrologers mapped the heavens, stars and planets

Among the Egyptians, medicine begins to develop.  The Egyptians perfect medical science and use it to treat their patients.  Hospitals are set up.  Again, this knowledge is very valuable and so spreads throughout the entire Persian Empire, of which Egypt is a part.

Egyptian doctors use their healing methods in medicine

The Canaanites meanwhile develop the alphabet and perfect mathematics for use in trade and commerce.  Canaanite scribes pass knowledge of the alphabet throughout the empire, and this knowledge is quickly picked up by others.

Canaanite scribes and traders use the alphabet and mathematics

It's at this time- while the Babylonians develop astronomy, the Egyptians medicine, and the Canaanites letters and numbers- that the Greeks first develop philosophy.  This begins with Thales and with the pre-Socratics, and then passes down through to the famous Socrates, Platon, and Aristotles.

Greek philosophers set up academies to teach their students

This is mostly happening among the intellectuals in Athens, though it also occurs in the colony of Ionia as well. 

So what brings philosophy from the Greeks to the rest of the world?

Firstly, Pythagoras went abroad to study the mysteries from other people.  He studied among Mosheh's descendents in Sidon, and in the mystery schools of the Canaanites in Tyre.  He ascended the holy mountain, Mount Carmel, and spent much time there.  He also went to Egypt and to Babylon where he encountered the Babylonians and the Zoroastrian priests called the Magi. 

Then Alexander's conquests happen.  Alexander, himself a student of the philosopher Aristotles, travels east and conquers the old Persian Empire.  When this happens, the Hellenistic period begins, and the whole world changes.  Koine Greek becomes the main language of all people.  Philosophical academies are set up in major cities such as the cities of Sidon and Tyre, the Decapolis cities like Rabbath-Ammon, and in Babylon and Egyptian Alexandria. 

The founder of the Stoic school, Zenon, was not a Greek but a Canaanite from Tyre who lived during the time of Alexander's invasion.  He left his mother city and his family moved to the city of Kittim on Cyprus, which was also a Canaanite city.  His family are merchants, and his travels take him to Athens in Greece, where he learns the teachings of Socrates from a book and begins to study philosophy.  He then goes on and founds the Stoic school of thought.

Zenon of Kittim

Stoicism spreads to Mesopotamia, where it becomes very popular.  Meanwhile, Epicureanism is flourishing under the Hellenistic empires which succeed Alexander in the Near East.  Several kings adhere to this school of thought, and so it finds a lot of supporters and a strong intellectual tradition among the Canaanite elite.

By the late Hellenistic period, Platonism and Aristotleanism are largely harmonized together and taught in schools throughout Canaan and in colonies such as Qart-Hadasht in the west.  Philosophers like Hasdrubaal emerge.  Other Platonic philosophers develop among the Jews, who develop their own ideas and traditions.  Platonism and Pythagoreanism are largely harmonized together, and by Roman times have become extremely popular.  Neopythagoreanism finds support in the east and in the western states like Maktar.  Neoplatonism develops in Egypt in this time, and it spreads to Canaan.  Th most famous philosophers of this tradition who are Canaanites are Melek of Tyre and his student Ya-milku of Qinnashrin.  They become famous throughout the Mediterranean world in late antiquity.  Their teachings are a blend of Neoplatonism with Neopythagoreanism.

In late antiquity, Neoplatonism becomes very popular among the Christians, and spreads throughout Canaan with them.  Later the Muslims would also adopt it to a large extent.


This concludes a very brief history of philosophy and theology and their role in the Levantine world.

The Ashtart Pericope

The Ashtart Pericope is something found within Neoplatonic philosophy from across the land of Canaan in late antiquity.  It was detailed by the philosopher Hakham Ya-milku of Qinnashrin, and mentioned by Emperor Julian in his Hymn to King Helios.  It's origins though are very old, perhaps going back to early Canaan in Sumerian times. 

This system goes something like this: above us we see the light from the sun, the Torch of the Gods, Shapash.  It is a perfect white light which when fractured creates a rainbow spectrum.  This light is so perfect that it brings to perfection both the forms and the being of all created things.  And as we have seen from popular proverbs and sayings, all created things on earth exist 'under the sun', the all-seeing sun.  We are below the sun.  But Shapash herself does not cause this perfection to exist by herself, rather she uses the noetic or intelligible gods to do so.  It is Shapash who grants these gods their goodworking and perfect nature, and it is she who allows them both the think and be thought of.  This makes sense because we know that Shapash is the Source of All Intelligence.

The winged sun disc, symbolizing the light of Shapash and her eternal rays

For years, the priest-kings of the city of Homs (two of whom were named Ya-milku) kept a kind of solar theology on their tablets for the worship of the goddess Shapash.  These were an elite group.  Ya-milku of Qinnashrin was himself descended from this royal line, hence his name.  When he went to study Neoplatonism, he mostly had the solar theology in mind. 

Now, Shapash has placed the army of the heavens under the goddess of Forethought, who fills the heavenly spheres with purpose and bestows upon humanity wisdom, thought, and the arts.  This is interesting, because it is Shapash's own Forethought which allows her to bring perfection to the forms and beings of all things through the workings of the intelligible gods.  Shapash emanates the pure light, being given the central role in all creation.  Her rays of light come from heaven and emanate pure mind from the divine to all of the created things on earth under the sun.  That is how their souls are enlightened, receiving an emanation of thought from heavenly mind.  But how do her perfect rays reach the earth from heaven in an uncorrupted state without first becoming corrupted as they travel on their descent?  The answer is through the intercession of the goddess Ashtart.  Ashtart is close to Shapash, because she is the Morning and Evening Star, in other words the planet Venus.

The symbol for the Star of Venus in Babylonian astrology.  It is the symbol for the goddess Ishtar, who is in many ways the equivalent of the Canaanite goddess Ashtart

This planet is close in heaven to the sun, and so it is through her intercession that the heavenly light from Shapash descends to the earth in a completely pure and uncorrupted state.  Ashtart is said to be 'always charming', because she is a mediator who brings forth the divine wisdom from God to the creation, from heaven to earth.  When we receive the divine rays of the sun, which awaken our souls and allow us to connect with divinity and to 'realize' divinity (gnosis) we are receiving it by the grace of the holy Star of Venus, the Morning and the Evening Star, the goddess Ashtart, who carries the rays through heaven and ensures that they reach earth in a pure and uncorrupted state straight from divinity itself.

The Second Roman War- Part 3

For many years the traders of the east had sailed to the far west searching for tin, silver, amber and other resources.  It was the Canaanites who had done it first.  Trade was established long ago between the merchants of the city of Mari and the kings of Tarshish in the far west.  King Hiram I of Tyre sent out ships from his port city to far off Tarshish in the west of the Mediterranean and Ophir in the east, beyond the Red Sea.  The Canaanites had ruled the seas for many years, traveling west to the great columned halls of the kings of Tarshish and the other tribes of Ishaphan, sitting on their golden thrones and flanked by images of lions and sphinxes.  Many tribes of the west, the Sea People, had long ago harassed Egypt, including the Shekelesh, Shardana, and Ekwesh.  In fact some of them had even fought in Pharaoh's armies as mercenaries against the Hittites and their Canaanite vassals at the city of Kadesh.  Other tribes were far less hostile, including the Tarshishites and Turdetani, who were friendly not only to Canaanites but to Greeks as well.  The most famous of their kings was King Argantoni of Tarshish.  A rich and hospitable king, he had welcomed the Greeks who were fleeing the Medes and the Persians when they conquered the east. 

King Argantoni of Tarshish

A very benevolent people, now turned largely hostile.  It was due to the heroic efforts of Abd-Melqart and Hasdrubaal that the local tribes had submitted as vassals to the Baraqim and to Qart-Hadasht.  Hannobaal's ship sailed into port again near the Ishaphani Qart-Hadasht founded by his sister's husband and former general, Hasdrubaal.  Up above the port loomed the great hill which contained the palace and the temple of Baal Hammon.  Taking command again over his troops, he spent two years leading wars against several other tribes south of the River Iberos.  His first campaign was against the Olcades, a native clan which had a lot of interaction with the Canaanites, the Greeks, and the Etruscans.  After this, he turned his attention beyond the mountains to the ferocious Celtiberian tribes.  They lived far away, and Hannobaal would need all of his skills to fight against them.  He defeated one of these tribes, called the Vaccaei, and stormed their strongholds.  Bringing with him the plunder and spoils of war, he was attacked by another Celtiberian tribe called the Carpetani.  With his superior tactics, Hannobaal won another swift victory before returning to Qart-Hadasht. 

But these recent victories did not go unheard of elsewhere.  They soon reached the ears of the Romans in Italy, who began to fear another attack by this new general.  They turned their attention to a city-state in Ishaphan to the south of the River Iberos called Saguntus, founded by Greeks from Zakunthos (hence the name).  It was considered to be a city under the protection of Herakles himself.  This was a direct breach of the treaty formed with Hasdrubaal promising not to have any dealings south of the Iberos River.  The city then began to attack the allies of Qart-Hadasht, including the tribes of Tarshish.  Hannobaal sought to punish the city for attacking his allies, and so moved his army to the city and laid siege to it.

The city of Saguntus

Hannobaal's siege of the city was difficult due to its heavy defenses, and he sustained several losses, but slowly began to gain the momentum.  The Saguntines turned to Rome for aid, but none came.  The Romans were busy putting down a revolt by the Illyrians.  Besides, the young Canaanite general was no real threat to them anyway.  After eight months of siege, the city was broken into.  Hannobaal offered to spare the inhabitants of the city if they all departed, unarmed, with two garments each.  When they declined the offer and began to sabotage the town's wealth and possessions, Hannobaal ordered that every adult in the city was to be put to the sword.  He took the city and supplied his troops with food and supplies.

Rome was furious.  They sent messengers to Qart-Hadasht at once.  Fabius, a Roman diplomat, entered the governors' palace and stood before the Adirim.  Before the assembly of the 70 elders, he denounced the general who had destroyed Saguntus.  Among the Adirim there were some who wanted to hand Hannobaal over to the Romans.  Chief among these was the nobleman Hanno, who was an old rival to Hannobaal's father Abd-Melqart, and had fought alongside him in two previous wars. 

Hanno

Despite the opposition, most of the Adirim were firmly on Hannobaal's side.  They argued that Saguntus was rightly punished for attacking their allies.  Fabius held his toga in two hands, and told the Qart-Hadashtim that within the folds of his toga hung peace and war, and they would have to choose between them.  The Adirim retorted that Rome should decide.  Fabius allowed one of the folds to fall free, declaring war on Qart-Hadasht.

Hannobaal himself had returned to Qart-Hadasht and was waiting within his house when he was called to deal with a Roman diplomat in the Merkaz.  The Romans threatened him again, but he responded with a well-known proverb found among the proverbs and wisdom literature of the Canaanites: that it was their duty in Qart-Hadasht to come to the aid of an oppressed and needy people.  In this case, Hannobaal argued, he had simply defended the Tarshish people, who had been close friends of the Canaanite people for many generations. 

The Adirim gave Hannobaal some citizen soldiers from Qart-Hadasht, along with some Sacred Band of Baal Hammon infantry, and Sacred Band of Ashtart cavalry.  The Sacred Band were a quasi-religious order of warriors who drank little wine and served in the temples where they trained in martial arts as elite warriors for the armies.  Their duty was also to the gods, and various Canaanite city-states had Sacred Bands dedicated to Ashtart, Melqart, Tanit, Baal Hadad, or Baal Hammon.  Qart-Hadasht had two: an infantry Sacred Band for Baal Hammon, and a cavalry Sacred Band for the goddess Ashtart.

Sacred Band of Ashtart cavalry

Sacred Band of Baal Hammon infantry

None of the other Canaanite city-states in Phut stood with Qart-Hadasht like they had during the First Roman War.  Atiqa, Ippone, Adrumeto, and the rest sent no aid.  The Phutite vassals did though, with their kings sending along many soldiers.  The Numidians came under their own chieftains and swore loyalty to Hannobaal and his officers.  Boarding the ships, they departed for Ishaphan, where they gathered at the barracks of the Ishaphani Qart-Hadasht.  Hannobaal made offerings in the temples of the gods in that city, and then went on a religious pilgrimage to the city of Gadir.  Gadir was ancient, and its temple of Melqart was like the old one which was built by Hiram and stood in Tyre. 

The great temple

The temple was surrounded by a great courtyard and gardens, and great stelae of bronze set up in this area showed the mighty god in his full glory. The walls of the temple themselves reached down into the sea. Many bronze altars stood with burning incense for the deity in the courtyard, and this area was viewed as so sacred that people were even forbidden from spending the night within. Flanking the doorway stood two great pillars- one of them sheathed in gold, and the other in silver- and an inscription described their construction and the money spent on creating them. The doors themselves were decorated with images showing Melqart on his wanderings and travels- slaying dragons, killing Geriyon, fighting a lion and wearing its skin, preventing subterranean floods of gushing water, meeting the tribes of the world and establishing friendly relations with them, battling against the forces of evil which attacked the constellations of stars in the heavens.

Within the temple there were two freshwater springs which rose and fell with the tide of the sea, around them were built wells. An olive tree (said to have been planted by King Pumayyaton) grew inside the temple, and the girdle of Teukros (the cousin of Alaksandush and Ekoto) was a relic stored there. Inside the Holy of Holies stood three altars, two of bronze and one of stone, and before them burned an eternal flame. There were no images or cult statues of the god inside, and no animals or women were permitted to enter the Holy of Holies. The priests who attended the flame wore linen robes and flax headbands, and went barefoot. They shaved their heads and abstained from sex, being celibate. People seeking prophecies would look no further than to the temple's prophet, who spoke oracles said to rival those of Delphi. The people of Qart-Hadasht (which possessed no Melqart temple) would send offerings to the Melqart temples of Tyre and Gadir.

Hannobaal arrived in Gadir and made his way to the temple.  As a Melqart devotee, he was permitted access to the outer sanctuary by the priests.  There was a room where pilgrims would sleep in hope of receiving prophetic dreams from the god.  

Votive statues of Melqart given at his sanctuary

 That night, Hannobaal had a strange dream.  A ghostly youth appeared to him, and told Hannobaal to follow him and not look behind him.  He followed, but the urge became too great, and he turned around.  He saw a huge red dragon ravaging the countryside and causing great destruction.  When he asked the youth what it meant, he responded that he had been sent by Melqart to show Hannobaal the future.  What he had seen was the destruction he would wage upon his enemies.  The youth then told him that heaven had plans for him.

Hannobaal's dream

When Hannobaal awoke, he felt confident.  The gods had spoken to him, and he would gain great victories.  He returned to his soldiers in Qart-Hadasht with fierce determination, and with plans for the future.

Swami Vivekananda on 'Idol Worshiping'

This is from a Hindu TV series with an actor playing Swami Vivekananda explaining why people worship 'idols'.