Trade Secrets

[Boreades]

We're told that Mithras is a form of Mithra, apparently an “Old Persian” God. Mitra is also a god in the Indian Rig Veda, and In Sanskrit, "mitra" means "friend" or "friendship".

But here's the immediate problem: Freemasonry legends are almost entirely based around events in Israel, not Persia. Where does that leave us or take us?

[hvered]

Go for the Parsis. Zoroastrianism is the way to go. Also the relationship between Paris and Troy looks promising.

[Boreades]

Yes indeed. The Roman Mithras, with bulls having their throats cut seem just too typically bloody Roman. Plus it seems to follow the Roman pattern of grabbing someone else's religion/mythology by the wrong end of the stick and make a pig's ear of it (is that a suitably mangled-enough metaphor?).

Going back a bit, Magog is said in some accounts to be the grandson of Noah. Magogians are called Scythians by the Greeks, but also descended from Scythes, the youngest of the three sons of Hercules. In the Ancient Paths by Graham Robb, he described the Scythians as descendants of one of the lost mass migrations of Celts eastward and down the Danube, going so far geographically as to sack the Oracle at Delphi in Greece.

Other reports say the Scythians established and controlled a vast trade network (Silk Road) connecting Ancient Greece, Persia, India and China. Around 650-630 BC, the Scythians even briefly dominated the Medes of the Iranian Plateau, stretching their power all the away to the borders Egypt.

Or the Saka as they were known north of Persia. Nice outfits by the way.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saka

The same area became the Achaemenid Empire and the Parthian Empire and the Sasanian Empire. Confusing ain't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire

Zoroastrianism was the state religion of these empires. The Zoroastrian Mithra is an angelic Divinity (yazata) of Covenant and Oath. Mithra is apparently an “Old Persian” God. But Mitra is also a god in the Indian Rig Veda, and In Sanskrit, "mitra" means "friend" or "friendship". Which might equate to the masonic peaceful ideals of brothers or brethren.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra

Zoroastrianism revolves around three basic tenets - Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds. These bear comparison to the "Three Great Principles" on which Freemasonry is founded: Brotherly Love (showing tolerance and respect for the opinions of others), Relief (to help those in distress) and Truth.

Ahura Mazda (the god of Light and Wisdom) seems like a more fitting comparison to the masonic Great Architect of the Universe (from whom all goodness emanates) than a blood-soaked Roman god.

[Boreades]

As an aside, just to put the Roman Mithras connection to bed, tidy like:

From the Boun-dehesh (a Zoroastrian text) (translated by Anquetil Du Perron?)- The Caucasus means the Bull Mountain, and Herodotus gave them the name Taurus.

Which might explain the Roman triumphalistic adoption of Mithras, to add one more realm to those dominated by Rome, symbolically cutting the Bull’s throat to show Roman dominance over the Caucasus. Or it might “represent the sun, passing to the upper hemisphere, through the sign of Taurus, which in that remote period (four thousand six hundred years before our era) was the equinoxal sign.” – either way, the Roman version looks like a mangled version.

Also in the Boun-dehesh we find that "the longest day of the summer is equal to the two shortest of the winter; and that the longest night in the winter is equal to the two shortest nights in summer". Which must be a latitude of around 50 degrees, much like Avebury and Stonehenge. This is far north of Persia, in Scythian territory. Another megalithic connection?

[Boreades]

Aha, it seems the Saka/Sythians had their own calendar, which is now the calendar of India as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saka_calendar

Just to add confusion, there's the "Saka Era" calendar as well
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalivahana_era

[TisILeclerc]

Speaking about the Romans as you were, have you mentioned the Roman calendars yet. I could look back but my mouse is tired.

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html

It seems that they were moonies as well, at least at the beginning.

But they don't seem to have been able to get their calendar right, forever changing it.

Surely they could have got a clever Greek or someone from the middle east to work it out for them?

'The Roman calendar was still flawed after adding January and February, as well as the days and months needed to keep the calendar in line with the seasons. Many attempts were made to align the calendar with the seasons but all failed. An extra month was added to the calendar in some years to make up for the lack of days in a year.'

One thing presumably they couldn't do for themselves. Although so many others could.

[Boreades]

Tisi, I've tried to avoid the Roman Calendars, on the basis you've mentioned. Which makes me feel inclined to go round them like a car crash on the historical road of calendars. Nothing to see here, move along please.

Maybe it was only a few Caesars/Emperors that had vanity projects to get their name in the calendar, but it seems they did keep tinkering with it. Is this yet another example of things they took from somewhere else and made it worse while making it their own?

Or is it me being reactive about vanity projects just because I'm deeply scared, bitter and twisted by decades of working in IT on hopeless projects that should never have been started by morons who couldn't tell their arse from their elbow?

Arrghhhhhhhhhhhhh. Aaaaaand relax. Ah, I feel better now.

[Boreades]

Who's noticed the Scythian pointy-hat context yet?

Your mission is to boldy explore the Scythian / Tocharian / Magi / Wizards / Druid / Celtic connections.

Tocharians = Tokhari (of Strabo) is allowed. "Peoples of the Sea", mercenaries and guardsmen for Sennacherib, etc (Celts in Egypt)

Bonus points for decoding any J.K.Rowling connections.

[TisILeclerc]

Explore the pointy hats, Scythians, druids etc? That's easy.

The Declaration of Arbroath says it all.

'Most Holy Father and Lord, we know and from the chronicles and books of the ancients we find that among other famous nations our own, the Scots, has been graced with widespread renown. They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today. The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since. In their kingdom there have reigned one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock, the line unbroken a single foreigner.'

taken from - http://www.giveshare.org/israel/arbroat ... ation.html

Other sites claim they are the lost tribe, but then everyone claims to be the lost tribe, even the Romans lost a legion, or so they claim, in Scotland. Must have been a bit like my home from home in 'Allo 'Allo. 'We are English officers.' 'I surrender' 'No, we surrender.' 'No, I surrendered first.'

Anyway, flicking through the Declaration it's remarkable how their statement to the godfather in Rome details for their legitimacy in the fact that they whopped the Spaniards, the Britons, the Picts and were just about whopped by Norwegians, Danes and the English. And that's our excuse m'lud. The country was there and we took it so it's ours, finders keepers like.

There are plenty of sites detail their Hebrew heritage as well. Even youtube has a man called Cohen, I believe, doing a linguistic comparison of Gaelic and Hebrew.

They could be right about the Britons though. Ancient maps of Ireland show the names of Irish tribes and the Brigantes and a few other tribes known to be British are named there. I read somewhere, once, that these names were just a coincidence and didn't really mean that they were really Brigantes and the rest.

[Boreades]

There are plenty of sites detail their Hebrew heritage as well. Even youtube has a man called Cohen, I believe, doing a linguistic comparison of Gaelic and Hebrew...

...and then there's the sites that compare Old Irish language to Phoenician e.g. http://phoenicia.org/Phoenician_Celtic_connections.html

PHOENICIAN OF PLAUTUS:
Byth lym mo thym nociothii nel ech an ti daisc machon
Ys i do iebrim thyfe lyth chy lya chon temlyph ula.

EARLY IRISH-CELTIC:
Beth liom' mo thime nociaithe, niel ach an ti dairie mae coinne
Is i de leabhraim tafach leith, chi lis con teampluibh ulla.

and then there's Fénius Farsaid - "a legendary king of Scythia who shows up in different versions of Irish folklore. He was the son of Boath, a son of Magog. According to some traditions, he invented the Ogham alphabet and the Gaelic language."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9nius_Farsaid

So we have:
Scotland = Scythian
Ireland = Phoenician
and some more Magog as well.
What's not to like?