The Ancient Tradition

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Music

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You’re listening to the Ancient Tradition. A Wonk Media Production. Music provided by Joseph McDade. He is your host, Dr. Jack Logan.

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Welcome to The Ancient Tradition. I’m your host, Jack Logan. Today we’re going to take another remarkable dive into the ancient record. Before I do that though, I want to make you aware of our companion website, thea It’s the hub for the show. There you’ll find links to not only this show, but also links to our sister podcast, The Ancient Tradition Audio Rit. And that’s where we place

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full audio recordings of some of the ancient writings we refer to on the program. You’ll also find links to our YouTube channel there. As time permits, we’re working on producing some visual renditions of these episodes. And you’ll also find a link to Noteworthy Scholars, which will give you kind of a brief bio and a couple of book or article recommendations for those of you who are interested in reading more, some great resources there. We make everything that we produce on the ancient tradition.

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absolutely free to anybody who wants to listen. We do this because we truly believe, just like William Shakespeare says, that knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. And if you’ve found value in the things that you’ve learned on this program, we encourage you today to share a link to the program on your favorite social media account, like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, so that the other people out there who are searching for the original religious doctrines can more easily find our program.

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If you share, comment and rate this podcast, that’ll make it a lot easier for them to find it. With that, let’s jump into today’s program. We’re going to jump in right where we left off from our last episode, the primordial Theomache. In last week’s episode, we started going through the ancient record to see what the ancients taught about this great battle that took place amongst the gods before the earth was formed. It’s really important to understand what took place in this battle.

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for a lot of reasons. But in particular, we’re learning about it because of the role that it played as a precursor to the creation of the earth. So in that context of the creation account, we’re still working on that. So let’s start where we left off in our last episode. We ended that episode looking at the fifth thing that we can learn from the ancient record about the primordial Theomache. And the ancients tell us that the battle between gods was caused by rebellion.

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They tell us that one of the sons of the high council of gods rebelled against the established order in the heavens. The ancient records tell us that this son wanted power and dominion that was not his, and he plotted a way to usurp greater power. In the Ansu bird account, the rebel son says things like, I will rule, I will be master.

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In the biblical account, the rebel son says, I will exalt my throne. I will be like the most high. This exalted son from these ancient texts tells us that he openly rebelled against God’s power and authority. And I want to continue for just a bit longer on this point about rebellion because in the ancient texts, the son of the high God who rebels is initially described as one of the high God’s choices to sons.

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yet he allows arrogance and pride and envy and ambition enter into his heart and mind and it’s those emotions that drive his rebellion. A rebellious spirit is one who likes to challenge God’s authority who likes to challenge the established order in the heavens. As we noted in a previous episode in the biblical account the rebellious son is actually even given the name Rahab which literally means pride or arrogance. I want to

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pause here for just a moment to talk about this in terms of our own personal relationship with God because that’s what these accounts are for. They’re instructive to us. From these accounts it’s pretty clear that pride or arrogance is one of the most catastrophic characteristics that human beings can harbor. And the reason why is because deep down those with pride think that there can be no one greater than themselves. They think they know more than God. They think they’re smarter. They think they could do it better.

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and they think that they deserve greater status. Those are the things they think deep down. All pride is fundamentally like the rebel son, a direct challenge to God’s ultimate supreme authority as governor of the universe. Pride is rebellion. In the biblical canon, this is often referred to as a hard heart. And as we’ll learn from the ancients, all such rebellion against God is doomed.

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to failure. In fact, C.S. Lewis wrote it like this and he says it really well. He says, quote, a creature revolting against a creator is revolting against the source of his own powers, including even his power to revolt. It’s like the scent of a flower trying to destroy the flower. Definitely something to think about there. In the past episode, we covered several examples of the rebel sun in the ancient record.

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but I wanna share one more. And this one comes from the Popol Vuh. And I’ve mentioned it before, but just as a quick reminder, the Popol Vuh is an 18th century text which preserves the ancient oral traditions of the K’iche Maya in Mesoamerica. In this text, we find an account of the demon bird, Seven Makkah. As I read a summary of the account, see if you can’t identify the same themes we’ve seen in the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Ugaritic and Hebrew accounts. In particular,

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Note how the account takes place before human beings have been created, how Seven Macaw, the rebel son, was originally an exalted radiant being, how pride took over, how he rebelled and tried to usurp kingship over the earth, and then how this rebellion led to a battle between the gods. And this account comes from the book mythology. Quote, prior to the dawning of the present era,

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a monstrous bird. Okay, stop there for a second. It’s a bird again. We’re talking about just like with the Anzu bird that we read in the last episode. A bird is usually a description for an exalted divine being, someone who can ascend. A monstrous bird known as Seven Makkah presumed to set himself up as the principal deity over the gloomy twilight world. This earthly pretender to power and his vain offspring had to be destroyed.

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before the human race could be created. Seven Maca was characterized above all by his boastfulness and arrogance and the way he basked in his own delusions of grandeur. Chief among these was his claim to be both the sun and the moon, which is interesting because that really means he’s trying to claim to be the light of the world, the chief god. In these twilight conditions, Seven Maca was far and away the brightest

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being. My light is great, he crowed. I glow, I glitter, I shine. Note how it says here that Makkah was far and away the brightest being in this twilight primordial time. And indeed, his physical appearance was nothing short of spectacular. His splendid plumage was made of precious metals and gemstones. His face was framed by jewel-encrusted burnished metal plates.

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while his teeth were gleaming blue sapphires. In the ancient world, precious stones and metals were used to connotate this idea of majesty and glory. Even the nest he lived in was built of dazzling metal. The nest here is obviously referring to the home, the celestial abode of this bird, a spectacular home. His proud boast was that his great white beak shone into the distance like the moon.

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Seven Macaws’ vain glory even extended to claiming that he had dominion over time. In the very arrogance of him lay the seeds of his own destruction, for such exorbitant claims constituted a direct challenge to the authority of the founder gods. Clearly this monster would have to be done away with.” All right, so you should have been able to see in that account all of the same themes that we’ve seen.

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previously. It’s pretty remarkable. From here, Seven Makah and his demon offspring battle the Mayan twins, Hanpu and Shibulenke, who are the hero offspring of the god Han Hanpu and his wife Esquai. From here, this is what we read. Quote, the first confrontation between Seven Makah and the hero twins is described in terms of a hunting expedition.

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First the hero twins lay in wait beneath the fruit tree where seven Macaw habitually appeared to feed. Did you catch that? Did you notice where seven Macaw hung out? I’ll read it again. First the hero twins lay in wait beneath the fruit tree where seven Macaw habitually appeared to feed. Seven Macaw hung out at the base of a fruit tree.

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a very special tree, which we’ve pointed out in previous episodes is a representation of the tree of life. It was symbolic of God seated on his throne. If you haven’t given a listen to episode number six, the King and the Tree of Life, give it a listen. It’s worth a listen. You’ll learn all about this association between the Tree of Life and the God’s throne there. Note too how this is very similar to the account in Jason and the Argonauts, where Jason must battle the serpent dragon who lives below.

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the tree, the tree of life, on which is nailed the golden fleece. And it’s also similar to the account in the Epic of Gilgamesh where the awful beast Humbaba camps, Humbaba camps just outside the cedar forest, which is obviously comprised of spectacular cedar trees, which represented the glorious realm where the gods resided. So the hero twins camp out near the fruit tree and they wait for seven Makkah to appear.

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Note in this section what the hero twins use to fight seven Makkah it reads At length when he came they opened fire with their blow guns Hanpu scored a direct hit and dislocated the bird’s jaw Okay, so what did they use to wound seven Makkah? Blow darts and remember this because it’s important

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and we’ll come back to it in a minute. But note also where, this is interesting, this is so interesting to me, where they hit seven Makkah, they hit him in the jaw. Now, if you’re a regular listener, you might have to dig deep into the recesses of your mind here, but if you think back, this is very interesting because we noted in previous episodes that when the rebel God fell, one of the things he lost was his ability to divinely utter, to command.

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to create. His divine speech no longer had efficacy. And here we see the hero twins shoot a dart that hit seven Macaw right in the jaw or mouth. You know, it’s similarities in the accounts like this that truly blow my mind. The Popal Vuh was written thousands of years after and thousands of miles away from the first accounts that we find of this in the ancient Near East. It’s just incredible.

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Now listen to what happens when Seven Macaw is hit by the hero twins darts. It reads quote, stunned by the surprise attack, Seven Macaw plummeted to earth behind the tree. Okay. So what happens to Seven Macaw? He plummets to the earth. He falls. He is the fallen God and note to where he falls. He falls from behind the tree.

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And this is super relevant too, but I can’t go into it in this episode. Just add that to your list of tidbits to remember. Before he falls, note what else happens. It reads, quote, “‘But as Hanpu rushed up to finish off his quarry, “‘the bird seized his arm in its powerful beak “‘and wrenched it from his shoulder. “‘Hanpu was left with a bleeding wound.’ “‘Seven Makkah severely wounds Hanpu. “‘He rips off his arm.’

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and he leaves him bleeding. The wounding of the hero god in the battle against the rebel god is an incredibly important aspect of the battle, which will develop more as we go along. If I don’t get to it in this episode, we will get to it in much greater detail pretty soon. But if you can’t wait, be sure to check out episode number nine, the green eye of Horus, because in that episode, we discuss a lot of different important aspects of the wounded god. In particular,

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We look at the ancient Egyptian account during the battle between the god Horus and the rebel god Set. Because in that account Set rips out Horus’s eye and he leaves Horus severely wounded. In that episode you’ll learn how the hero god or the king or the everyday man is healed from the wounds that they receive in the battle against the rebel god or the great dragon. In this Mesoamerican account, it’s clear.

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that Seven Macaw and his followers are attempting a mutiny. Seven Macaw desires to dethrone God and set himself up as the high God. His goal is rebellion and revolt. Okay, so it’s at this point in the ancient text, the sixth thing that we learn about the primordial Theomache is that the high God either seeks a volunteer to battle the rebel God or he appoints one to do so.

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And we see this very explicitly in the Enuma Elish where Marduk volunteers to battle Tiamat. At this point in the text, we’re in tablet two, the king of the gods calls the council of the gods together and he looks for one of the gods on the council to come forward and volunteer to battle the dragon Tiamat. The Stephanie Dally Oxford translation reads, quote, now the Igigi assembled all the Anuki.

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which is the council of gods, they assemble together. They sat silently for a while, tight lipped. Finally they spoke. Will no other god come forward? Is fate fixed? They’re concerned there’s nobody standing up to take battle to Tiamat. The god Marduk then steps forward and the text reads, father, don’t stay so silent. Open your lips. Let me go.

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and let me fulfill your heart’s desire. So this is interesting. He wants to go, but the reason he wants to go is to help his father. That’s very important. The king of the gods, Anshar, seems to be a bit concerned that Marduk doesn’t know what he’s getting into. He seems concerned that Marduk doesn’t know, doesn’t truly know what it means to go up against the terrible monster Tiamat. The divine king Anshar says to Marduk, quote,

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that it is Tiamat who will advance against you with arms. So you can tell that the king of the gods fears for the terrible battle that will take place between the god Marduk and the usurper god Tiamat. This account does an excellent job of stressing the point that in the primordial realm, one of the gods on the council of the gods rebelled against the high god, and that another member of the council of the gods stood and volunteered to defend the high god

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the established order in the heavens, he volunteered to battle the rebel god who the ancients after his rebellion characterized as a dragon. So Marduk stands and volunteers regardless of the costs that it might incur to him personally to wage war against the rebel son, a truly selfless deed. And as we pointed out in the previous episode,

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In ancient writings, the original battle takes place in the primordial world. And then later in the writings, we see the battle move to a terrestrial battle between the Royal heir of the gods, the earthly king and the rebel God. This is often referred to as Satan, the great enemy or the double. Ultimately, the battle moves to a battle between an everyday unremarkable human being and the awful dragon, the great enemy. And it’s a battle that all of us must fight.

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in the epic Beowulf dated to sometime between 700 and 1000 AD. We see Beowulf who’s a warrior whose uncle is the king of Gitlent, a volunteer to leave the safety of his homeland sail to Denmark and assist the king of the Danes, Rathgar battle the awful monster Grendel who was terrorizing his kingdom. This comes from the Francis B. Gummery translation. It reads,

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How ceaselessly Grendel harassed Hrothgar. What hate he bore him. What murder and massacre, many a year. The evil one ambushed old and young. Death shadow dark and dogged them still. Lured or lurked in the live long night. Such heaping of horrors, the hater of men, lonely roamer, wrought unceasing harassings heavy.

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So there’s our description of the awful monster. Note in this next passage how the monster Grendel threatens the throne, the kingship. Quote, or Heorot he lorded, gold bright hall in gloomy nights, and ne’er could the prince approach his throne. Note how the monster Grendel is depicted here as lording over King Rathgar’s palace.

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So much so that the rightful king can’t even approach his throne. And this is an important theme. Beowulf gets wind of the awful Grendel’s threat to the throne and the text says, quote, This heard in his home, Hale-Lock’s Thane, Great among geats of Grendel’s doings, He was the mightiest man of valor. In that same day of this our life, stalwart and stately, A stout wave-walker,

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he bade made ready. Yon battle king said he, far over the swan road he feign would see, the noble monarch who needed men. The text here says that Beowulf in the very same day that he got wind of Grendel’s murder and massacre among King Rothgar’s people, he voluntarily readies his ship with 14 of the finest warriors he can find and he sets sail for Denmark to help the king.

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battle Grendel. So like Marduk, Beowulf isn’t forced to battle the monster. He voluntarily takes arms against the monster to save the kingdom. And we find a similar theme in the legend of Saint George. The most well-known version of this story comes from a text known as the Golden Legend, kind of a fun name, dated to 1260 AD. Scholars argue that there are several elements in this

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pre-Christian origin. So listen to this. In this legend, people in Libya in a place called Selene are terrorized by an awful venom spewing dragon. And to appease the dragon, the people offer children and youth who are chosen by lottery as tribute. And on this fateful day, the lot falls to the king’s daughter, the princess of Selene. She’s the next maiden to be offered to the vile dragon.

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And in a desperate attempt to save his daughter’s life, the king offers to shower his people with gold and silver if they will spare his daughter. But the people refuse. His daughter’s sent to be fed to the hideous dragon. And it’s at this point in the story that St. George happens along and he sees the faded princess. What will he do? Keep walking or voluntarily battle the dragon? It’s a choice that is completely his.

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And the text reads, quote, when she was there, St. George passed by. And when he saw the lady, he demanded of the lady what she did there. And she said, go ye your way fair young man, that ye perish not also. Then said he, tell to me what have ye and why ye weep and doubt ye of nothing? When she saw that he would know, she said to him,

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how she was delivered to the dragon. Then said St. George, “‘Fair daughter, doubt ye no thing, “‘Kira, for I shall help thee in the name of Jesus Christ.’ “‘She said, for God’s sake, good night, “‘go your way and abide not with me, “‘for ye may not deliver me.’ “‘Thus as they spoke together, “‘the dragon appeared and came running to them.

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St. George was upon his horse and drew out his sword and garnished him with the sign of the cross and rode Hardily against the dragon which came towards him and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore and threw him to the ground At this point st. George binds the dragon with the princess’s girdle and note how st. George even against the pleas of the princess For st. George not to fight the dragon how’d st. George?

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readily volunteers telling her quote I shall help thee. This echoes King Anshar in the Enuma Leash when the king of the gods asks Marduk if he realizes what he’s going up against this terrible Tiamat when he said my son don’t you realize that this is Tiamat who will advance against you. In both cases they’re trying to help the one who volunteers to battle the awful monster to realize what they are truly up against. In all cases

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The God, the King, the warrior, the everyday man valiantly and courageously takes on the dragon. And note here too how St. George uses a spear to wound the dragon. According to ancient legend, this lance, it’s known as Ascalon, is a legendary holy spear that was believed to have been forged by God to combat darkness.

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like the blow darts that we just saw used by Seven Macaw. This is a supernatural weapon and it’s a really, really important aspect of the legend. The last legend that I wanna mention illustrates the point that the god who battled the rebel god did so voluntarily, comes from Nordic and Germanic folklore known as the Saga of the Vulsungs or the Legend of the Dragon Fafnir. And as quick aside for all of you Lord of the Rings fans out there,

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It’s widely known that J.R.R. Tolkien drew heavily on this legend when he wrote the Lord of the Rings. In this legend, a dwarven king’s son, Fafnir, a dwarven prince, is bewitched with greed for his father’s vast treasure of gold. He wants the entire treasure for himself, so he kills his father, the Dwarven King.

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He’s driven mad by his greed and he goes into the wild and he returns a colossal serpent dragon. But for this legend, let’s listen to Lawrence Simpson of Myth Stories, recount the legend. It’s a little more fun than me. And while you give ear, listen for echoes of the themes that we’ve been discussing.

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Fafnir.

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Odin, the all-father of Norse myth, had compensated the dwarf king with treasure for the loss of a son.

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But Spectator’s Myth, it came with a price.

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You see, Odin was accompanied by Loki, the trickster god, and one should always think twice when accepting gifts with Loki present. Will you see? Loki had vexed the treasure with the most horrible curse, and soon it took hold. But not on the dwarf king. The spell had bewitched his son, the dwarven prince Fafnir. The treasure was vast, spectators of myth.

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There was more than enough to go around for all. But despite that, Loki’s magic had all but doomed these dwarfs. Prince Fafnir soon became filled with greed and wanted the treasure for himself. And so, he took his father’s life. The dwarf king was dead, and Fafnir had the loot all to himself. But as you’d expect, expect me to submit.

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This tale of patricide is not without its consequences, as the treasure’s curse persisted. Fafnir became obsessed with guarding his hoard of treasure. He spurned those closest to him, including his brother, the dwarven prince and blacksmith Regan. Fafnir was driven mad with paranoia.

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The prince truly believed that his treasure could vanish at any moment. So one day, consumed by the curse, he traveled into the wild and returned not as a dwarven prince, but as a massive, snaking dragon. Vafnir was determined to rid the land of all of its inhabitants, and that’s exactly what he did. He breathed his madness upon the land in a frenzy of dragon rage.

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The fire of Fafnir’s lethal toxic breath contaminated all it touched. And so the land was empty and his people gone. Fafnir and his treasure were all alone.

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Note here again how we’re dealing with royalty, the king and his princely son. It’s the dwarven king’s son who rebels against his father, the king. The gold treasure here is symbolic of his father’s entire kingdom, which Fafnir wants for himself. Fafnir’s main ambition is to usurp his father’s entire kingdom, which he does by killing his father, the king. And note that although he starts out as a royal prince, Fafnir

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consumed by greed turns into an awful monster. The same themes we’ve seen time and time again. And note too how the dragon is now guarding a treasure, much like the dragon guarding the golden fleece and the monster Hubaba guarding the cedar forest in the realm of the gods. The actual text says, quote, “‘Later on, Fafnir killed his father. “‘He grew so malevolent that he went off “‘to live in the wilds.’

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He turned into a terrible dragon and now he lies on the treasure. Okay. That’s very interesting. At this point in the legend, we’re introduced to the champion Sigurd. He’s going to ultimately battle the dragon and we’ll return to the rest of the legend in a minute. But I want to stress here that Sigurd is a royal prince too. He’s the son of the great King Sigmund, who is a descendant of the high god Odin.

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which makes Sigurd the great, great, great grandson of the high god Odin the all father. Like we’ve seen in the other legends, we have a royal prince, a descendant of the high god who volunteers to take on the dragon. In this case, the dragon Fafnir. The legend tells us how the dwarf Regan, who’s Sigurd’s kind of foster father recounts to Sigurd the story of how Fafnir stole the throne.

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And after Sigurd hears the story, he volunteers to take on the dragon. The text reads, and this is Sigurd speaking to Regan the metalsmith, quote, Now use your skill to make such a fine sword that no other sword can be made to equal it. And so that I shall be able to perform great deeds if my courage serves. Should you want me to kill?

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this great dragon. So here Sigurd is clearly asking Regan to make him a weapon so that he can do battle with the dragon. But note that nobody’s forcing Sigurd to battle Fafnir. He’s volunteering. This is a very important characteristic of all dragon slayers. Marduk, Beowulf, St. George and Sigurd. They all do it voluntarily. They do it of their own free will and in so doing.

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They save kingdoms and peoples and treasures and themselves. Dragon slayers are courageous and selfless to their core. It’s at this point that I wanna stop and take a look at the theological implications of what we’ve learned from the ancient records so far about the primordial Theomache. Because the theological implications are considerable. Okay, for starters, these legends and myths, as we’ve mentioned several times, have elements in them.

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that strongly indicate that they come from one original source, which should kind of be obvious by now by how many of them I’ve shared. A source that we can trace all the way back to deep antiquity. And it’s this original source that we refer to on this program as the ancient tradition. The original religious tradition that ancients tell us was given to them by God in the very beginning. And if what the ancients are telling us is true, and I’ve mentioned this before on this program, we take their claims seriously.

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then we now know some of what was taught in the world’s first religious tradition. And if as the ancients claim, these theological doctrines were revealed to them by God, then what we have in our hands is some of the most unadulterated, uncorrupted teachings about God and the reality of the spiritual realm. All right, so what can we learn theologically from the ancient writings that describe the primordial Theomache? What do they either imply?

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or directly say theologically. To start, these texts, among others, tell us that life didn’t begin with the formation of the earth, right? We’ve mentioned this a million times, but these texts tell us that an entire realm of life existed before and continues to exist outside of the physical earthly realm, an eternal realm, if you will. And they describe this eternal realm as occupied by divine beings who are governed.

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and they’re governed according to a strict hierarchy. You know, most religious traditions today don’t believe in a primordial realm or a pre-existence, but in the ancient writings, the ancients teach this theology time and time again. In addition, these texts tell us that the eternal realm before the earth was formed, that one of the high gods exalted sons rebelled. Theologically, this is very intriguing because to rebel means that this divine son had a choice.

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He could either choose to rebel against God or choose not to. The theological implications here are vast. Perhaps I’ll dedicate a full episode of this somewhere down the line, but I wanna point this out here because it implies that we, which you’ll see as the podcast progresses, and intriguingly, the gods are forever moral agents. They attest that human beings and the gods have the ability to act.

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and they attest that we have the capacity to act morally or to not act morally. It’s our choice. Philosophers love to muddy these waters and claim that our moral choices are the product of antecedent causes that were determined by outside forces that we have no real ability to choose morally. They love to shift the burden of responsibility. But the ancients did not teach this. As we see in the accounts of the primordial Theomache,

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the execution of moral agency, even if it’s executed contrary to the will of God, appears to be both a fundamental and an essential characteristic of being human or divine. Moral agency appears to be something that God never takes away. In fact, from all accounts, it appears as though God honors moral agency. He appears to honor each individual’s right to

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choose. Now theologically this makes complete sense because if we didn’t have the ability to make moral choices then we couldn’t be held responsible for the choices we made. Now on the flip side of this is both terrifying and grand because it implies that we’re the ones who get to decide what we become. With every moral choice we can choose to become more and more like God or less and less like God. Our choice. We can’t shift that choice to anybody else.

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in the end, will become exactly who we choose to become. It’s for this reason that I don’t really think that God will judge us in the end. We’ll already know where we stand because we’ll know that we were the ones who made the choices. He’ll probably just love us, even though he can’t alter the consequences of our decisions. From all accounts, moral agency appears to be a bedrock.

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theological tenant of the ancient tradition. And along these same lines, the accounts we have of the primordial Theomache attest that how we use our moral agency has consequences. Kind of like the old mother’s adage goes, we’re free to choose our actions, but we’re not free to choose the consequences. Agency and consequences imply an even greater theological doctrine. They imply that the heavens are governed by some type of universal law.

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A law that even the gods seem to be bound by. A law that not even the gods can change. Now this gets into some really interesting territory. And I’ll delve into this much more when we discuss the ancient Egyptian concept of Ma’at. But suffice it to say here that this universal or eternal law that exists is the standard by which one becomes like the gods or doesn’t.

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There’s no circumventing the law or the consequences that come from violating the law. This brings me back to the accounts of the primordial Theomache. In these accounts, one of the exalted sons of the high god uses his moral agency to choose greed, power, theft, pride, and selfishness over generosity, selflessness, and humility. What were the consequences of those moral choices? Well, he became less and less

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like the exalted son he once was and now he had become a profane creature. As a consequence, the high god exiled him from his presence. He was no longer allowed to dwell with god like he once had. The accounts tell us he was cast down or cast out. In chapter 29 of the book of the holy secrets of Enoch it says this of the rebel’s son and this is the lord speaking here.

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one from out of the order of archangels deviated along with the division that was under his authority. He conceived an impossible thought to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth that he might become equal in rank to my power. I threw him out from the height with his angels.” And like I mentioned in the previous episode, to ascend to the height is to become

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or more and more like God. So to be cast down is another way of saying that he had become less and less holy or more profane. As a profane creature, he was no longer worthy to reside among the holy. The ancient accounts tell us that this exalted son was absolutely furious over his exile. The ancients tell us that he raged. We talked about this in episode number 15, sea monsters, sea serpents, and leviathans, where the root for tannin

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The sea monster means lament or howl. And in ancient Egypt, in the book of the gates, we read that he quote, lives on in his own shouting. He’s a creature of anger and fury and indignation, all from his own moral choices. This fallen son was not content on leaving the presence of God himself. The ancient texts tell us he convinced a cadre of followers.

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to use their moral agency to go with him, which implies that he had a great deal of influence in the eternal realm. In the biblical canon, he’s known as the devil, Satan, Belial, or Beelzebub. He’s known as the enemy. He’s the evil one, the old snake, the tempter, the one who constantly tempts mankind to make bad moral choices, just like he did, which will lead one farther and farther away from God. He tempts them to worship him as their God rather than the high God.

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man of holiness. Theologically this is powerful stuff because here the ancients are teaching us that this fallen son along with his legions is the origin of evil on earth. This fallen son and his army of followers are constantly exerting their negative influence upon us. When one does evil abounds. As that other old adage goes, misery loves company and

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appears to be what the fallen son and his followers want, some company to join them in their misery. As you can see there’s a lot going on theologically in the accounts of the Primordial Theomache which I hope you’ll give some thought to because if the ancients are teaching us truths about the eternal realm, which I maintain they are, then our moral choices are of considerable importance. So let’s return to the accounts of the Primordial Theomache and see what else we can learn.

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We mentioned that the sixth thing that we learn is that one of the high gods exalted sons volunteered to battle the rebel son. The seventh thing we learned from these accounts is that the exalted son did not have to battle the rebel son by himself. The gods give the exalted son special weapons to help him win the battle. In every case, they are supernatural weapons that he needs to triumph over the dragon.

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Without them, he’s doomed to failure. And to see this, let’s return to the legend of the dragon Fafnir. Listen closely to see if you can identify the special weapon that Sigurd uses to slay Fafnir.

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Barthene’s greed and paranoia had consumed him. Eventually, the curse had robbed him of all of his faculties and had left him with nothing but a dragon’s rage. Barthene’s brother, the blacksmith Ragen, still yearned after the treasure. His mad dragon sibling was a beast his smith could not best.

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However, Reagant Student, the Warrior Sigurd, probably could…

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Regan coaxed Sigurd into this task, but the warrior asked for only one thing. An epic sword. Yet that, the dwarf could not fashion. Seeing this, Sigurd retrieved the broken pieces of his father Sigmund’s sword. Regan repaired it, and Sigurd got to work.

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That blade was Gram. The legend of Fafnir is perhaps its most famous appearance. But this sword, spectators admit, has a history. In fact, the blade was broken by Odin himself. But that is another tale. But for now, it is Fafnir’s turn. The warrior dug himself into a pit and waited for Fafnir to pass over.

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And when the dragon did come walking, Sigurd pierced his heart. Flavnir was slain, and Sigurd was victorious.

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Did you catch the special weapon? It’s pretty obvious. Yes, an epic sword. But did you catch the special details about that sword? They’re pretty easy to miss, but they’re critical to the story. See, the hero Sigurd needs help fighting the dragon. So he asks Regan, the dwarf smith, to make him an epic sword. But Regan, as a mortal, doesn’t have the ability to make an epic sword.

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So Sigurd takes the broken pieces of his father’s Sigmund’s sword and asks Regen to repair it, which Regen does, and produces an epic sword. Okay, so why was Regen unable to forge an epic sword, yet Sigurd’s father, Sigmund’s sword, did work? Well, for that, we need to know more about Sigmund’s sword before it was broken in half. See, in the Norse legends, they tell us that when Sigmund was younger,

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He was seated at a wedding feast for his sister, Cygni, when a strange man appeared holding a sword. The strange man thrust the sword into the barn stoker tree that grew. Can you guess where this tree grew? That’s right, it grew right in the center of the room where the wedding feast was being held in King Valsing’s hall.

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Now this is crazy. Where have we seen this before? A tree growing in the middle of the King’s Hall or Palace or Temple or Garden? If you thought of the Garden of Eden, then you’re correct. If you’re a new listener or you haven’t had a chance to listen to episode number six, the King and the Tree of Life, be sure to give it a listen. It’s super important to what we see going on here. After the strange man thrusts the sword into the tree, he tells the wedding guests the following quote,

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pull out this sword from the trunk, shall receive it from me as a gift. And he will find out for himself that he never bore in hand a better sword than this. The cover art for today’s episode is a depiction of this, of this strange man thrusting the sword into the tree. So what’s going on here? If you’re a regular listener, you know that the tree growing in the center of the Garden of Eden,

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And in this legend, the tree growing in the center of King Volsons hall represents the tree of life. And you also know that the tree of life is a powerful symbol that the ancients used to symbolize God. In particular, his ability to produce life in the seat of his throne in the center of all things. There’s a lot of other things too, but we’ll discuss those in future episodes. So in the legend of Fafnir, what is meant by this strange man thrusting his sword into the barn stoker tree?

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Well, if you remember in episode number six, the earthly Mesopotamian King Amiduranki is summoned by the council of the gods into the temple Ibarra, where they give him a branch of the cedar-kiskanu tree, the Mesopotamian tree of life. And Dr. Windegren, who studied this, said, quote, “‘The legendary King Amiduranki in a scene of enthronement “‘was given a scepter of cedar wood.’

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we see that the king holds in his hand as his scepter, the plant of life or a branch from the tree of life. So in other words, a branch from the tree of life and the king’s scepter are to be understood as one in the same thing, which is implied here in the legend of Fafnir when the strange man thrusts the sword into the barn stoker tree and it sticks out like a branch. Okay, so what does this mean?

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the branch of the tree of life and the scepter connected. And what do they symbolize? Well they symbolize power and authority. But not any old power and authority. They represent the power and authority of God. The branch is an extension of God. So the one that holds the scepter which is made from a branch of the tree of life holds the power and authority of God in his hand. He holds a power greater than any mortal or immortal enemy.

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And note in the legend of Fafnir how the strange man tells him this. And he tells the wedding guest this. He says, quote, the man to pull out this sword from the trunk shall receive it for me as a gift and he will find out for himself that he never bore in hand a better sword than this. See the sword, the power and authority of God is a gift, a gift which endows the holder.

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with the power and authority needed to conquer the terrible dragon. But there’s a catch. Not everyone can pull the sword out of the tree. Not everyone can obtain the gift. Only those who are worthy can obtain the gift. This is expressed pretty clearly in this legend and in similar legends like the legend of King Arthur and the mythical sword Excalibur by one’s ability or inability.

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to pull the sword from the tree or the stone. So these legends are clear. Unworthy persons cannot obtain the special weapons needed to slay the dragon. And all of this is made pretty clear when we learn in the legend of Fafnir that this strange man who brings the sword to Cygni’s wedding feast is actually the high god Odin himself. He was just in disguise.

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So what this means is that the epic sword Sigurd used to slay the terrible dragon was in fact a sword endowed with God’s power and authority. And as Odin tells us, right, he never bore in hand a better sword than this. We know the sword in these legends is symbolic. It represents some special weapon that God gives the worthy. But what is this weapon? Well, we’ll get to that in a minute.

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Whatever this special weapon is fashioned by God, it’s extremely important in the ancient writings. And from what I can tell, it’s an absolutely critical component or doctrine of the ancient tradition. When we examine the ancient record, we find that this special weapon shows up literally all over the place. And we see just copious examples of it all over in the modern world too, though it’s pretty much in degenerated forms.

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So let me give you some examples. In the Enuma Elish, Marduk uses the special winds of the four directions that Anu, the high god, gave him at birth and a special net, which Marduk uses to ensnare the monster Tiamat. In fact, the Enuma Elish calls this special net, quote, a gift of his father Anu. Pretty great. Among the Hindu, the god Indra uses a special thunderbolt called the Vajara.

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to battle the dragon Vritra. Indra is told by the god Shiva that no weapon made of wood or metal could harm the dragon. He would need a special weapon made of the bones of Dadhichi, the sage, to defeat Vritra. Dadhichi then sacrifices his life so that his bones can be used to forge the weapon that can kill Vritra. Now there’s a lot in there. In a Sumerian account, the god Ninurta uses Sharur.

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an enchanted talking mace to defeat the monstrous demon Asag. And among its special abilities, this weapon had the ability to relay the god Enlil’s will to Ninurta. It was considered the ultimate weapon of the Anunnaki, the council of the gods. In ancient Greece, to help Perseus decapitate Medusa, the god Hermes gives Perseus a special curved sword.

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and a pair of winged sandals. And the god Athena gives him a mirror of polished bronze and a cap from Hades that could make the one who wore it invisible. In Norse mythology, the god Loki commissions a hammer of unsurpassed quality, which never misses its mark and boomerangs back to its owner after being thrown and gifts this mighty hammer to the god Thor who uses it to battle Jormungandr, the Midgard serpent.

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In ancient Greece, the artisan god Hephaestus gifts the god Apollo a golden bow and a quiver of golden arrows which he uses to battle the fearsome serpent Python. In Japanese mythology, the god Susanu uses the great sword Morichino Aramasa to slice off the heads of the legendary eight-headed dragon serpent Orochi. And also in Japanese mythology, during the reign of the 12th Emperor Keiko,

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A great warrior named Yamato Takaru is gifted a magical sword, the Kusangi no Tursugi, by his aunt, which Yamato uses to crush a band of rebels. According to the Hindu, the supreme deity Brahma produces a razor sharp sword known as Asi, which Rudra, the god of storms, uses to rout the army of the Asuras. And in Jason and the Argonauts, the enchantress Medea?

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gives Jason a special potion, which Jason uses to put the dragon guarding the golden fleece to sleep. In Chinese mythology, Emperor Yu, the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty, under the mandate of heaven, slew the venomous nine-headed serpent with the mighty sword,

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Of course, I could go on and on and each of these accounts, the god, the king, or the warrior is gifted a special weapon, either fashioned from the high god himself or from one of his emissaries. And it’s this special weapon that ensures that the hero will come off victorious, that he will win the great battle against the dragon. And can you think of any instances in the modern era in movies or literature or fairy tales where this theme shows up?

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where the heroes gifted a special weapon which ensures his victory. And there’s innumerable examples here, but I’ll just give you a few. In Sleeping Beauty, the fairies give Prince Philip a sword of truth and a shield of virtue to fight Maleficent. In the Arthurian legends, the magician Merlin gives Arthur the special knowledge he needs to recover the magical sword Excalibur. In the Wizard of Oz, Glinda

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The Good Witch of the North gives Dorothy ruby slippers, which the Good Witch tells her to never take off. And Dorothy later learns that by merely clicking the heels of her ruby slippers three times, she can quote, return home. Very interesting. In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas gifts Peter a special sword, the rindon and a shield.

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To Susan, he gives a bow and an arrow and a magical horn. To Lucy, he gifts a magical healing cordial and a small dagger, all of which play an essential role in helping the children come off victorious over the white witch. And let’s not forget that the children are also guided throughout the story by the mystical lion, Aslan. In the Harry Potter series, Harry’s gifted a number of magical objects, which he needs to claim victory over Voldemort, the Marauder’s map.

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the invisibility cloak and of course, a very, very special wand made of holly and a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. And it’s the precise constitution needed to conquer Voldemort. In the movie Aladdin, Aladdin finds a magical lamp and a magic carpet in the cave of wonders. In the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf, the Grey, gifts Frodo a special blade named Sting.

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which was found by Gandalf in a cave. Gandalf also gifts him the Mithril jacket, the Thor’s map, which displays the secret entrance to the lonely mountain, and Smog’s, who’s the dragon’s, Smog’s lair. In addition, Galadriel, the elven lady of the woods, gives Frodo a file of light, all of which are vital to Frodo’s success. And if you’re a gamer or you know a gamer, you’ll notice that this motif is central.

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a central characteristic of most video games and games like Zelda or the Elder Scrolls. The adventurer must acquire a variety of special weapons which they often happen upon by exploring the terrain or they’re gifted by special emissaries. And these special weapons are absolutely critical to the adventurer. He or she can’t win the war against the terrible monsters they face without them. Every time a gamer plays one of these games, he or she is reenacting

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the great battle against the dragon. Sadly, it’s not the real battle against the dragon. It’s an imitation or a simulation of the real thing. It’s a degeneration of the original teaching, but still the same, it’s pretty fascinating to me that thousands and thousands of young men and women spend copious hours of their day playing and replaying these games, which mirror key doctrines that appear to have been taught in the ancient tradition. Clearly something resonates within these gamers.

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that draws them back again and again to conquer the dragon. It’s almost like they know on a subconscious kind of spiritual level that this is what one of the major objectives of this life is, to conquer the dragon. Before I close out this episode, I wanna stress the incredible importance of this special weapon. By pointing out what happens to the gods, kings, and adventurers who have not acquired this special weapon, who have not pulled the sword.

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from the barn stoker tree, so to say. The ancient record is clear. They are doomed to failure. They’re doomed to be consumed by the dragon. In fact, you’ll know that this is the crux of every single horror film ever created. In fact, it is the main point in every horror film ever created. A protagonist left to his or her own devices.

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A protagonist without the necessary special weapons to successfully slay the monster are consumed by the monster. And this is horrible to watch. It’s the ultimate horror. The message is that no protagonist, no matter how able-bodied they are, has on their own what it takes to defeat the monster. They need additional help. Without it, it’s horror.

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So what is this special weapon? If we all need it to defeat the dragon, what is it? And how do we acquire it? Pull it out of the tree. All of these questions are very important and they require more time than I have in this episode. So unfortunately, we’ll have to explore the answers to these questions in our next episode. But while you wait, why don’t you ponder what we’ve learned so far from the ancient record about this weapon?

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and see if you can’t figure it out for yourself. First, from the ancient record, we learned that this special weapon is a gift from the high God. Sometimes the special weapon is found in caves or on a mountain, both of which are symbols of where the high God resides, his home or temple. It’s a special weapon that comes from or is acquired there. Second, from the ancient record, we learned that this special weapon is not given to everyone.

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And this is pretty clear from the ancient texts when we see that only the worthy one can extract Excalibur from the rock or pull the sword from the barn stoker tree. And third, we learn from the ancient record that no one will succeed against the dragon without it. It’s essential in every sense of the word. Without it, the dragon slays the god, the king, or the adventurer. I want to leave you with one last clue as to the identity of this special weapon.

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All of this, and I mean all of this, is symbolic. There is no mythical sword or silver dagger or magic potion or ruby slippers that we must acquire to defeat the dragon. And I know that might be kind of disappointing to some of you. These tangible earthly weapons are used by the ancients to teach us something about the reality of the spiritual realm. The great primordial Theomaki, the

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The battle fought in the spiritual realm before the earth was formed was not a physical battle. It was a spiritual battle, a war between those who upheld the authority of the high god and those who rebelled against the authority of the high god. The ancients used physical war with its swords and blood and death to help us capture the gravity of this spiritual war.

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This means that the special weapon that we all need is not a physical weapon, but a spiritual weapon. That’s what the theology of the ancient tradition is teaching all of us. I’m gonna have to leave it there. If you enjoyed what you learned in today’s program, take a minute right now.

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and share a link to this episode on your favorite social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat so that others who are searching for the original religious doctrines can more easily find our program. With that, I’ll leave you with the words of William Shakespeare, knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. I’m Jack Logan.

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You’ve been listening to the ancient tradition. A Wonk Media Production.