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. What we have a lot to cover today, so I’m going to jump right in. For the past three episodes, we’ve been examining the textual and mythological evidence found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and among the ancient Canaanites and Hebrews that answer the question, who is God? We found in these episodes and in previous episodes.

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that in each of these ancient civilizations, God is universally described as a corporeal being who sits on a throne in the very center, the sacred center of a celestial kingdom, right where the four quarters of the cosmos meet, where he reigns as a celestial monarch, a celestial king over his cosmic kingdom, which is why some kings in ancient Mesopotamia like Naram-sim, who reigned from

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2245 to 2218 BC was given the prestigious title, King of the Four Quarters or King of the Four Corners of the Universe. See, in the ancient world, one very, very important guiding principle governed everything that the ancients did. And what was this guiding principle? Well, it’s summed up in the Hermetic Addage, as above, so below. All right, so what does that mean?

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Well, the ancients tell us that the order that governed the heavens, like the political order of kingship or the religious order of priesthood, was revealed to them and that they were then charged to replicate that heavenly order on earth. It’s incredibly important that we wrap our brains around this guiding principle. It’s going to illuminate everything else we talk about on the podcast from here on out. See,

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Pretty much everything the ancients did was an attempt to replicate right here on Earth the social, political, and religious order that exists in heaven. The ancients, by establishing earthly kings and by building earthly palace temples, were trying to create a mirror image, a carbon copy, or an exact replica of what they saw in heaven.

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And what did they see in heaven? Well, the ancients, like we’ve seen in the ancient Egyptian pyramid texts and the ancient Mesopotamian enuma alish and the ancient Canaanite Ugaritic texts. And like we saw in our last episode in the biblical canon in Isaiah chapter six, tell us that they saw God seated on a throne in a celestial palace temple, reigning as a celestial king.

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And we see the same thing in the book of the Holy Secrets of Enoch. In that text, Enoch, who’s a human being, is escorted into heaven by two angelic beings. And what does he see? What does he see? In chapter 20, Enoch says, quote, those men, and he’s talking about these angelic beings. And notice how he refers to these angelic beings as men. Took me and led me with them.

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and showed me the Lord sitting far away on his highest throne.

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In chapter 21, Enoch describes what else he sees and what does he see? Well, he sees angels circling God’s throne, like a circum-punked. This is what he says, quote, the cherubs and seraphs, which are ranks of angels, surrounding about the throne, the seraphs do not leave. The seraphs do not leave.

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but remain before the Lord’s face, doing his will and obscure his throne, humming with gentle voices before the Lord’s face, Holy, Holy, Holy. This is what the ancient texts are telling us, that God literally reigns in the heavens as a celestial monarch. And like we’ve discussed on the podcast, we read in the ancient Sumerian king

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dated to at least as early as 2112 BC, that quote, kingship descended from heaven, where it was then established in Eridu. In this text, the ancient Sumerians are telling us that the entire notion of kingship as a form of political government came directly from heaven, where it was then established as a form of government on earth. As above,

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so below. And when we understand this, it makes perfect sense that the ancient Sumerian kings like Naram Sim are given titles like king of the four quarters or king of the four corners of the universe because they were meant in fact to reign as earthly kings who mirrored the reign of God in heaven.

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The earthly king was meant in every way to be a reflection of the high god who reigned as a celestial monarch in heaven. If you’re new to the program and you don’t know why kings are given the title King of the Four Quarters, then check out episode number seven, The King of the Four Corners. And also check out episode number 39, Symbols of the Sacred Center, The Circumpunked and the Bindu. All right.

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With that background, we’re gonna take a look at how God is described among the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Hindu, the Norse, the Celts, the Aztecs, the Maya, the Japanese, the Vietnamese, and the Chinese. The question we’re gonna ask is, did these peoples describe or depict God as a king too? And if they did, did what they teach also correspond with the overarching theology of celestial kingship, the stubborn bits that we’ve been.

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talking about so far in the program. If so, how so? And if not, how did they describe God then? I wanna start today with the Persians, the religion of Zoroastrianism. To this point in the podcast, we haven’t really talked that much about Zoroastrianism, but we should, because as you’re gonna see in just a second, so much of Zoroastrianism corresponds with the theology taught.

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within the ancient tradition. If you aren’t familiar with Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism was the ancient pre-Islamic religion of Persia, which is known today as Iran. The origin of Zoroastrianism is actually pretty interesting. It all started around the 6th century BC when a 30-year-old religious sage by the name of

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fetching water for a sacred ritual. Some actually say he was out taking a ritual bath. And in the middle of doing this, a glorious shining being whom we might refer to today as an angel by the name of Vohumana, which means something along the lines of one of good mind, appeared before him. Just like we saw with Enoch when the two angels came and escorted Enoch to

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Vohumana, an angelic-like figure appearing to Zoroaster. And what did this angelic being do? He escorted him into the heavens, into the presence of God, the creator, the supreme being of the universe, known in Zoroastrianism by the name of Ahura Mazda. And what happened while Zoroaster was in the presence of God? We’re told that God

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taught him. We’re told that God revealed to Zoroaster the quote, good religion, which would later be known as Zoroastrianism. And this is important because like most of the ancients, Zoroaster claims that it was God who revealed the religious tradition to him. This is similar to what we learned in episode number one, when the Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales, Australia taught that God, Bayami, taught them.

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in the very beginning, in the dream time, the religious doctrines and initiation rights and dances. If what Zoroaster is telling us is true, then this means that God revealed a religious tradition, which we refer to on this program as the ancient tradition, to human beings not only in the very beginning, but also later. In this case around 600 BC.

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And the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, who lived a thousand years after Zoroaster, tells us the same thing, that an angel, the angel Gabriel, appeared to him and revealed to him the words of God. Those of you familiar with Islam know that Muhammad also ascended to heaven, known as the Mirage, the night journey, where he spoke with God.

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The notion that God revealed the ancient tradition anew, perhaps several times over the millennia, is actually a really important one, and we’re definitely gonna revisit it down the line. One of the things that’s interesting about Zoroaster’s account, written in Zoroastrian scripture, is that God taught Zoroaster in a question and answer format, where Zoroaster asks God a question, and then God gives him the answer.

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And in these sessions, God speaks to Zoroaster like a man, speaks to another man. For example, Zoroaster asks Ahura Mazda, quote, how is it possible to seek maintenance and prosperity of the body without injury to the soul? To which God, Ahura Mazda, answers, quote, commit no slander, form no covetous desire, indulge in no wrathfulness.

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suffer no anxiety, commit no lustfulness, and practice no sloth. Now before I tell you more about a Hura Mazda, I need to tell you a little bit more about this glorious being who appeared to Zoroaster. See the angelic being who appeared to him, Vohomana, was one of what Zoroastrians refer to as the Amishaspenta, which literally means an immortal who is holy.

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The Amishas Spenta are a group of seven divine beings or holy immortals who are believed to emanate from God. These beings are believed to help God govern the world. They represent the highest spiritual beings in Zoroastrian theology. According to Zoroastrian scripture, these seven beings are associated with divine characteristics and they’re each associated with a dimension of the physical creation.

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in 45.1 of the Yasna of the Gathas and these are the Zoroastrian scriptures. Uhura Mazda or God is described as the father of the seven Amishas Penta. I bring this up here to draw your attention to the number seven and seven holy beings who are associated with God in Zoroastrianism. The Yamiyad Yashdha, Yashdha 19, a hymn

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says the following about these seven celestial beings. Section three reads, and this is the James Darmistetter translation, quote, “‘The Amishas spentas, the bright ones, whose looks perform their wish, tall, quickly coming to do, strong, lordly, who are undecaying and holy, who are all seven of one thought, who are all seven of one speech, who are all seven of one deed, whose father and commander is the same,

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namely the maker Ahura Mazda, whose ways are shining, who are the makers and governors and shapers and overseers, the keepers and preservers of these creations of Ahura Mazda. The last line there about these seven is pretty intriguing because it tells us that these seven holy immortals are the ones who keep and preserve Ahura Mazda’s creations.

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We’ll see this aspect of the seven come up again and again. So keep all of this in your back pocket because you’ll see down the line that these seven angelic beings are very important and they show up all over in the ancient world, which means that they represent yet another key stubborn bit. And I wanted to flag them for you here while we’re talking about it so you can kind of keep it on your radar. The focus in this episode is on Uhura Mazda God.

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the Zoroastrian supreme being. Our question is whether or not Zoroastrians also believe Ahura Mazda, God, reigns as a celestial king. And yes, they do. In the Avista, which is considered the central religious scripture in Zoroastrianism and which contains the teachings of Zoroaster himself.

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we find a description of Ahura Mazda in a section of the Avista called the Cajor de Avista which is a collection of short prayers. While I’m reading take note in this prayer how God is described not only as a king but also as a glorious radiant being. This is the Kenga translation and this is Zoroaster speaking. Quote, in the name of God

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I praise and invoke the creator Ahura Mazda, the radiant, glorious, omniscient, maker, Lord of lords, King over all kings. Watchful, creator of the universe, giver of daily bread, powerful, strong, eternal, forgiver, merciful, loving, mighty, wise, holy, and nourisher.

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who is the Lord and the producer, the creator of the whole world, be on the increase. In this prayer, Ohura Mazda is clearly described as a king. There are actually many, many verses in Zoroastrian scripture that attest to Ohura Mazda’s kingly glory, kingly majesty, and his kingdom. The text here calls him the, quote, king over all kings.

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And of course, the text also refers to his majesty, which is a royal, kingly description. Also in the Avista, in the section known as the Yasna, which contains hymns and rituals, the Yasna is actually considered the oldest and most sacred part of the Avista. We read the following in 51.1. Listen to how it speaks of a government in heaven. And also listen to what that government is established on.

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The scripture reads, and this is the DJIrani translation, quote, a righteous government is of all the most to be wished for, bearing of blessing and good fortune in the highest. Guided by the law of truth, supported by dedication and zeal, it blossoms into the best of order, a kingdom of heaven. I actually really love this Zoroastrian scripture.

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because it speaks to so many of the stubborn bits we’ve seen on the program. Here, Zoroaster tells us that a government exists in the heavens, but that it isn’t any old government. No, it’s a quote, righteous government, which is guided by a law. And what is this law? The text tells us that the government in heaven is guided by quote, the law.

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truth. I love that the law of truth. Remember that the ancient Egyptian word for the cosmic law ma’at means righteousness, justice, and truth. And the ancient Hebrew cosmic law tzedek also means righteousness, justice, and truth. And the ancient Vedic cosmic law arita means order, rule, and truth. So

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Here when Zoroaster tells us that God’s government is a righteous government guided by the law of truth, we’re being taught the same thing yet again. That God reigns as a king and his reign is established on a law. In Zoroastrianism, the cosmic law is called the Asha. A-S-H-A.

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Listen to how Wikipedia describes this law. Quote, Asia is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. Now listen to this. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of truth, right, and then Wikipedia actually has written here, or righteousness, order and right working. It.

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meaning Asha, is of cardinal importance in Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. So just like we see with Maat, Tzedek, Rita, and the Tao, here we see that Zoroastrians are teaching the same thing. They tell us a law, a law that conceptually embodies justice, truth, and righteousness is the foundation upon which Ahura Mazda’s, quote, righteous government is built.

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Mary Boyce, who’s a scholar who’s written on Zoroaster and the history of Zoroastrianism, actually refers to Aisha as a quote, cosmic force, which is what we’ve learned from the other ancient civilizations, a cosmic force imbued with truth and righteousness. And what’s even more interesting is that Zoroaster tells us, like the rest of the ancients tell us,

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that it’s by abiding by this law that order is established in the heavens. The text tells us that when one commits to the law of truth with quote, zeal, then order blossoms. The text states, quote, a righteous government is all of the most to be wished for, guided by the law of truth.

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which is Asha, supported by dedication and zeal. Dedication and zeal to the law is the same as upholding the law or upholding Ma’at. Among Zoroastrians, this would be upholding Asha. It, referring to the law, blossoms into the best of order.

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This is remarkable. Right here, Zoroaster is telling us, just like we see across the ancient world, that it’s only by abiding by Asha, the cosmic law, that order, any kind of order, can be established in the cosmos or on Earth. Order only, quote, blossoms when the law has been upheld. And when order blossoms, what is produced?

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If you’re a long time listener to the program, you should know the answer to this. You should know what order produces. But in case you can’t remember, Zoroaster tells us in the remainder of this passage, it says, quote, it blossoms into the best of order, a kingdom of heaven. That’s right. When one abides by Asia, the cosmic law, one is given the power to produce order.

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right down to the ordering of the natural elements. He’s given the power to create. And what does this passage tell us Ahura Mazda creates? The passage tell us Ahura Mazda creates a kingdom, a kingdom of heaven. The Avista 45.1 tells us Ahura Mazda is a creator. He’s the great producer, the creator of the world. He creates a kingdom.

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a kingdom over which he has the right to reign as a king. It’s the same stuff. Now, what’s more, Zoroaster teaches that this cosmic law, Asha, affects the motion of the planets and the cycle of the seasons. In the Yasna 48.6, Zoroaster tells us that it’s only by upholding Asha that plants can grow.

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And in the Yasna 44.3, Zoroaster tells us that it’s only by upholding Asia that the sun, the moon, and the stars are fixed in their orbits. That’s astounding. If you’re truly listening to the theology that’s being taught here, it’s absolutely incredible. Here, Zoroaster is teaching, like we discussed in episode number 28, that a single grand unifying law governs

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every single thing in the cosmos. Asia is the cosmic law of everything. Not a single blade of grass can grow without it. That’s what the ancients are teaching us. Here Zoroaster is teaching the same theology that the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Hindu, and Chinese Taoists taught. That there is only one way.

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produce life, order, and creation. And what is that? It’s only by abiding by Asha, the cosmic law of justice, truth, and righteousness. When we stick to the stubborn bits, we see that Zoroaster is teaching the same theology we see taught across the ancient world. In the rest of the Yasna, in

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everything that he can for the rest of his life to help order blossom. He says quote it he’s referring to the cosmic law blossoms into the best of order a kingdom of heaven to affect this I and again this is Zoroaster speaking shall work now and ever more

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As Ahura Mazda’s servant, Zoroaster plans to spend the rest of his life working alongside God to establish order. In this text, right after this, Zoroaster does something really interesting. He asks God that he too be granted quote, thy rule of righteousness. Listen to Zoroaster’s petition.

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Grant thou to me, O Mazda, thy rule of righteousness, which from the beginning has been thine.

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What Zoroaster asks here is incredibly interesting. The context of the passage is the order established in Uhura Mazda’s heavenly kingdom. And Zoroaster says, “‘Grant thou me, O Mazda, thy rule of righteousness.’ To rule is to govern, to govern others. We’ve established this on the program. So here Zoroaster is petitioning God that he too be granted the power to quote rule.

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And Zoroaster also seems to understand the theology that this right to rule is directly linked to righteousness. In fact, he calls it the rule of righteousness. In Zoroastrianism, Asha is sometimes referred to as the inexorable law of righteousness. But what’s even more interesting to me is that Zoroaster states, quote,

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Grant thou to me, O Mazda, thy rule of righteousness, which from the beginning has been thine.” Zoroaster’s statement, which from the beginning has been thine, is so intriguing because this is what the ancient Egyptians and ancient Sumerians taught. Remember the Sumerian King list that we just talked about? Well, in there, the Sumerians tell us that kingship came down from heaven.

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that God gave certain men the right to rule as kings. They tell us that from the very beginning, God established kingship in Eridu. So here when Zoroaster petitions God for the right to rule, and he asks for this within the context of God establishing a heavenly kingdom, it sounds very much like Zoroaster understood heavenly and earthly kingship theology.

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He definitely understood that God had the power to grant rulership, to grant the rule of righteousness to others. There’s an inscription on a cliff near Persepolis, which is located today in southern Iran. It’s near the summer palace of the fourth Persian king of the Achaemenid Empire, Darius I, also known as Darius the Great, who reigned from 522 to 486 BC. And it states that it was a Hura Mazda

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who made Darius a king. The inscription reads, quote, a great God is a Huramazda who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king. Interestingly, Achaemenid kings actually used the title king of kings.

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which we learned earlier in the Avista was a title given to Ahura Mazda. In that text, Ahura Mazda was given the title King over all kings. When the earthly king, like we see here, takes on the same title as the heavenly king, then we have a clear case of as above, so below. Every single one of the 14 kings of the Achaemenid dynasty, which

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spanned from 559 BC to 327 BC used the epitaph, King of Kings. And the very first king of the Achaemenid dynasty, Cyrus the Great, not only used the epitaph, King of Kings, he also used the epitaph, King of the Four Corners of the World. In Persian, the word for King of Kings is Shah and Shah.

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In Persian, the word for king is Shah, the Shah. So Shah and Shah means king of kings. This title was used by the emperor of Iran right up to Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, who reigned as the last Shah and Shah of Iran between 1941 and 1979 AD, when the Iranian monarchy was abolished after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

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For our purposes, this royal inscription to Darius the Great, which asserts that Hora Mazda appointed him king, is important because it emphasizes Hora Mazda as the source of kingship on earth and the source of cosmic order in the universe, just as we’ve seen across the ancient world. I should stop here and take a second and talk about the history of the Persian Empire.

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and this amazing ancient city of Persepolis. The Persians, or more accurately called Indo-Iranians, are part of a larger group of peoples known as Indo-Europeans. This group stretches all the way back to the early beginnings of human history. In fact, archeologists have found evidence of Indo-European peoples, whom they call Proto-Iranians, on the Iranian plateau,

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that date as far back as 4000 BC. The migration of Proto-Iranian peoples into the Iranian plateau laid the groundwork for the development of the Persian civilization, which would go on to shape much of the ancient world. And over time, these early Proto-Iranian peoples evolved culturally and linguistically, eventually giving rise to the distinctive Persian culture and language that we recognize today.

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for thousands of years. The people who lived on the Iranian Plateau lived in these kin-based groups. And then around 1000 BC, there were a lot of environmental and social and political factors that pushed these groups to form tribal alliances. During the seventh century BC, the King, King Syaxares of the Medes, a tribe of Indo-Iranian descent,

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who inhabited the northwestern part of the Iranian plateau consolidated a number of Indo-Iranian tribes into a formidable alliance. The alliance was so formidable in fact that they eventually allied themselves with the Babylonians and other regional powers to challenge the domination of the Assyrian empire, which they successfully did. Around this time, another group of Indo-Iranian peoples

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were living in the southern part of the Iranian plateau, known as the Persians, and they started to form their own alliances. There was a man there by the name of Cyrus, who we know today as Cyrus the Great, who was exceptionally skilled at uniting people, and he united a number of the scattered Persian tribes into a single powerful alliance. His alliance was so powerful that under his direction, the Persians conquered Babylon.

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which ended the Babylonian captivity of the Jews and also under his direction, the Persians defeated the Medes, the proto-Iranian alliance that was to the north. And after they conquered the Medes in 550 BC, Cyrus established the Persian Empire and he founded the Persian dynasty, which is known today as the Achaemenid dynasty, which was named after one of Cyrus’s ancestors.

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In terms of size, Cyrus’s empire was the largest empire in the world. It was the largest empire that had been created up to that point in history. Today, we call what Cyrus created an empire, but the Persian people themselves didn’t, didn’t call it that. They actually referred to this intercontinental empire as Kshasa, which literally means in Persian, the kingdom.

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So why did Cyrus establish kingship among the Persians? And why did the Persians refer to their state as a kingdom? Well, scholars don’t know the exact answer to this, but they offer up a couple of convincing arguments. The first is that Persia or modern-day Iran, because it was located geographically just east of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, was highly influenced.

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by way of cultural and political ties by its near Eastern neighbors, where kingship and kingship theology was well established, which we’ve discussed heavily on this program. Margaret Kuhl-Root, Professor Emerita of Near Eastern Art and Archaeology at the University of Michigan, and an expert on the Achaemenid Empire, wrote this transformative book in the field titled, The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art.

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On page 40 and 41 of this book, she writes, quote, the first kings of the Achaemenid empire fell heir to a world which was very conscious of its past. And she’s speaking of Egypt and Mesopotamia and civilizations in the ancient Near East. To the vestiges of glorious empires and powerful state religions, in many ways the Persian empire represents a culmination of all that had gone before.

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a final packaging for posterity of the pre-Hellenistic near Eastern historical and cultural experience. The Persians were themselves a product of the East. What Ruth is basically arguing here, and she provides lots and lots of evidence in her book to back this up, is that the Persian Empire was in many ways a conglomeration of ideas cold.

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from across the ancient Near East, from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians and from the Indo-Europeans who established Hinduism. In the book, she shows how so much of the iconography, like bas-reliefs and sculptures and architectural details that are found in the ancient cities, like the royal city of Persepolis, were derivative of iconography that was found in Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia.

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And she convincingly shows that the ancient Near East served up the prototypes, the iconographic prototypes, which the Persians then modified. And then sometimes they even added their own inventions to it. All right, so why am I pointing this out? Well, because this helps explain why we find kingship and kingship theology showing up in Persia. Yet find that the Persians expression of that theology is not always an exact replica of one of its neighbors.

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like say Egypt, but yet it’s still very similar. And I’ll give you an example of this in just a minute. Other times we find that the Persians do exactly replicate their neighbors. Like when Achaemenid kings use the epitaph, King of Kings or King of the Four Corners of the World, which were exact epitaphs that were used by ancient Mesopotamian kings, like we mentioned, Naram-Sin.

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So whether or not the Persians use an exact ancient Near Eastern prototype or some variation of it, what we see is that like their ancient Near Eastern neighbors, Persians too stressed the importance of kingship, kingship rights, and the relationship between the king, those rights, and God, in this case, Uhura Mazda. And there’s a second important reason why we see kingship in Persia.

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which is also intimately tied to the presence of kingship in the ancient Near East, is because Cyrus the Great was actually born into a royal family in Persia. Cyrus was the son of Cambyses I, who reigned as the king of Anshan, an Elamite city located in southwestern Iran between 580 and 559 BC. In other words, Cyrus was the son of a king.

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The Greek historian Herodotus tells us that the king of Anshan, Cyrus’s father, King Cambyses, reigned under King Estyagis, who ruled as the king of Medea, the Medes. Anshan wasn’t a large or significant city, so this meant that Cyrus’s father didn’t reign over an empire. He was really more of a vassal king. In 559 BC.

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Cyrus the Great succeeded his father as the king of Anshan when it was still under the control of the Medes. All of this means that Cyrus was intimately familiar with the institution of kingship. So it’s no surprise that he instituted kingship as the form of government in the kingdom of Persia. In 559 BC, so this is nine years after Cyrus succeeded his father as the king of Anshan,

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Cyrus consolidated the Southern Persian tribes into a powerful alliance, like I mentioned. And he overthrew the Medes and he established the Persian Empire, over which he reigned as the first Shah on Shaw, or King of Kings. And I mention the dates here because if the ancient record’s correct, Zoroaster was born in 624 BC.

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And King Cyrus was believed to have been born sometime between 590 and 580 BC, which would make Zoroaster around 35 or 45 years older than Cyrus. Zoroaster’s ascent into the presence of Ahura Mazda would have happened right around the time of Cyrus’s birth. This means that Zoroastrianism had around 45 years to take root before the rise of the Persian Empire.

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The two essentially rose together. Now, some scholars don’t think 45 years was enough time for Zoroastrianism to take root to the level that it did before the rise of the Persian Empire. So they proposed that Zoroaster lived much earlier, like sometime between 1500 and 1000 BC. Either way, the ancient record confirms that Zoroastrianism was the religion of the Persian Empire. We know, for example,

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As I mentioned earlier that there are royal inscriptions of Darius the first in Persepolis that attest that it was Ahura Mazda who made him king. This is kingship theology. In Persepolis, we also find several iconographic representations of Darius alongside Ahura Mazda, which I’m gonna talk about in just a second. It’s inscriptions and descriptions like this that affirm.

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that kingship theology was alive and well in Persia. When we consider all three of these factors, ancient Near Eastern influence, Cyrus’s royal lineage, and the tenets of Zoroastrianism, it’s easy to see why kingship took hold in Persia. For the purposes of this podcast, it’s also really important to note that

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each one of these factors is tied to or rooted in the kingship theology that was taught by the ancients in the ancient tradition. One of the things that’s remarkable about Cyrus’s reign is that Cyrus wasn’t interested in ruling a single territory. He wanted to establish a kingdom. He sought to integrate conquered peoples into a system of governance that actually legitimized

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of kings. If Cyrus truly understood kingship theology, which I argue that he did, given his royal heritage and the prevalence of kingship theology in the ancient Near East and in Zoroastrianism, then it’s conceivable that this very theology motivated him to establish an earthly kingdom. In fact, I think that

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so, so much more about kingship theology than any scholar or theologian has ever thought. And why do I think this? Well, I think this because I came across a couple of absolutely jaw-dropping scriptures found in of all places, the Hebrew Bible in the book of Isaiah, verses that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around.

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in terms of kingship theology, these verses are astounding. Now, before I read these verses, I wanna point out that Christ loved the Book of Isaiah. He frequently alluded to or even directly quoted from it, making it, right alongside with the Psalms, one of the Old Testament books that he cited the most. So from this, it’s evident that Christ regarded Isaiah’s writings as both authoritative and true.

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With that, let’s take a look at the astounding things Isaiah wrote about Cyrus the Great in Isaiah chapters 44 and 45. In chapter 44, verse 28, the Lord, and the Lord hears Jehovah, is speaking. He says the following of the Persian King Cyrus, and this is the King James Version. Quote, that saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,

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and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid.” This is remarkable. Here, Jehovah tells us that the Persian King Cyrus is his, quote, shepherd. A shepherd who, quote, shall perform all my pleasure.

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What Jehovah’s is telling us here is pretty astounding because he’s telling us that the Persian king, the Persian King Cyrus was acting under his Jehovah’s direction when he conquered Babylon in 539 BC. And what did King Cyrus do after Babylon fell? Well, he issued an edict that permitted the Jews to return to their homeland. And what’s more,

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Cyrus provided financial and material support so that the temple in Jerusalem, which the Babylonians destroyed in 586 BC, could be rebuilt. In fact, in Ezra chapter 1 verse 2, Cyrus tells us that Jehovah actually charged him to rebuild the temple. Verse 2 reads, quote, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven,

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hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house out Jerusalem.” That’s a remarkable statement. But what’s even more remarkable is what it says in Isaiah chapter 45. Listen very closely to what the Lord Jehovah says in verse one. It’s amazing. Verse one reads,

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quote, thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden. Whoa! What? What did the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah, just say? Did he just say that Cyrus, the king of Persia, was one of his anointed? Let’s read that again. Verse 1 says, quote,

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Thus saith the LORD to his anointed to Cyrus. Yes, that is exactly what Jehovah just said. He just said that Cyrus, the king of Persia, was one of his quote, anointed. Wow, a foreigner. The king of Persia was anointed by Jehovah?

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The idea of this is so out there that of course there are a number of biblical commentators who try and walk back what Jehovah himself actually says here, arguing that Jehovah didn’t really mean what he said, that Jehovah didn’t actually anoint Cyrus. That anoint is just used here to express that Cyrus was working at Jehovah’s behest to bring about the restoration of the Jews.

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I strongly disagree with these commentators’ assertions. I think these Bible commentators just don’t understand kingship theology well enough to really see what’s going on here. Because when we examine the verse closely, we clearly see that Jehovah is talking about the performance of an actual ritual here. Listen to the verse again.

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Isaiah chapter 45 verse 1 reads, quote, Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden. What Jehovah says here is absolutely breathtaking. He tells us that Cyrus is his anointed, which we’ve clearly established on this program

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was a literal kingship ritual that was performed on human beings. The likes of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, the likes of Emma Duranki in ancient Mesopotamia, the likes of Enoch among the Hebrews and Azaneth an Egyptian who converted to Jehovah. And let’s not forget that in Christianity,

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Christ with the quote, oil of gladness as above so below. What really seals the deal that we’re talking about an actual ritual in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 1 is Jehovah’s astounding statement that he has held Cyrus’s right hand. I actually double-checked the Hebrew to make sure that that’s what the Hebrew actually said and yes.

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That is what the Hebrew actually says. The literal translation given on Bible Hub is, quote, thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, who I have held right hand. In English, we would say, whose right hand I have held. This is astonishing. Number one, because for this to have taken place,

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Jehovah had to have appeared to Cyrus, much like he did to Moses. That’s an amazing thought. And number two, it’s astonishing because Jehovah is telling us that when he appeared to Cyrus, he actually shook or held Cyrus’ right hand. If we were talking about the corporeal nature of God here, I’d definitely point out that this verse indicates, once again, that God has an arm and a hand with which to shake.

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But what I want to emphasize here is that what’s taking place when Jehovah tells us that he held Cyrus’s right hand is a religious ritual. We haven’t talked about this on the podcast yet. We’re going to in much greater detail when we get into ritual. But what’s important for you to know is that in the ancient world the right hand was the hand that was used when one made an oath.

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We actually see this still practiced today. When the president of the United States on inauguration day is asked to raise his right hand and swear an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States, that has a long ancient origin. So when Jehovah tells us that he has held Cyrus’s right hand, this is a clear reference to a ritual gesture where

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as astonishing as it may sound to our ears, the King of Persia, the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, made an oath with Jehovah. All right, but what kind of oath? Well, based off of what we’ve discovered to this point on the program, we’d have to guess that it was an oath to uphold Asha, the cosmic law. Because remember,

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one absolutely cannot rule as a heavenly king or an earthly king, which is patterned after the heavenly king, unless one perfectly upholds the cosmic law. It all goes together.

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Again, from what we’ve seen in the ancient world, it’s pretty darn clear that what’s taking place in this verse is a ritual, a kingship ritual. Jehovah knows Cyrus by name. Jehovah anoints Cyrus, a king, one of his vassal kings, and Jehovah establishes an oath with him. These verses attest that the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah,

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had a strong personal relationship with the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, a relationship that was consummated by a kingship ritual.

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astonishing. So what are we to do with this information? Either what the Bible says here is true or it’s not. If it’s not true then there’s a problem with the veracity or at least the veracity of some parts of the Bible. If it is true then this indicates that Cyrus the Great knew a whole heck of a lot more.

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about kingship theology and its deeply religious underpinnings than any of us ever knew. And why? Because he’d experienced the realization of that theology himself. You know, my question is, okay, so how did this inform Cyrus’s reign and the establishment of the Persian Empire?

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all of the theology that we have found in Zoroastrianism? Well, we’ll probably never know, but we find quite a bit of archaeological evidence in Iran that indicates that kingship theology was alive and well in Zoroastrian thought. So let’s take a look at some of that archaeological evidence. For that, we need to turn to the ancient Persian city of Persepolis.

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which is located today in southern Iran. Back in the sixth century BC, Persepolis was founded by Darius the Great. He was the fourth king of the Achaemenid dynasty, who we talked about earlier. And it served as the ceremonial center of the Achaemenid Empire. It’s actually a UNESCO site. UNESCO calls Persepolis, quote,

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standing universal value. Among the world’s greatest archaeological sites renowned as the gem of Persian ensembles in the fields of architecture, urban planning, and art, the royal city of Persepolis ranks among the archaeological sites which have no equivalent. That description right there just makes me wish I could travel to Iran and check it out in person. Maybe one day.

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There is so, so much in this ancient city that’s worth talking about. But for today’s program, we’re going to talk about it because it’s a royal city. It’s a city that’s all about kingship. The name itself, Persepolis is a composite of the Greek word, persis, which refers to Persians and polis, which means city. So together Persepolis is the Greek word for the city of the Persians. King Darius.

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built Persepolis in a really remote mountainous region of Persia so that it was inaccessible and it was also defensible. And because of that, that’s probably why the site is so well preserved today. To give you kind of an idea of the size, the site covers roughly 125 acres, but only about 30 to 35 of those acres make up a platform or this platform terrace, which all of the royal buildings were built on.

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It’s not a very big city. In fact, Persepolis didn’t really even operate like a traditional city at all. It was really just a grand ceremonial complex. It was just used to showcase the royal grandeur of the Persian Empire. On top of that platform terrace, there were a number of royal buildings. You had the Apadana, which was a grand audience hall that had 72 columns. And this was used for royal receptions and ceremonies.

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And then you have the Palace of Darius, which served as the king’s residence. Then you have the Hall of 100 Columns, also known as the Throne Hall, which was used for royal ceremonies. You have the Gate of All Nations, and it had these really high walls and four tall pillars. Now remember that, I’m gonna talk about four pillars in a couple of episodes, which served as this kind of impressive entrance for anybody who was visiting.

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And you have, among other buildings, the council hall and the royal treasury that housed all the tributes and the valuables from across the empire. It’s on these structures that we’re gonna find a couple of really important iconographic images. The first image is found in the triplon, which means triple gate, and it’s sometimes referred to as the council hall. It’s this massive, magnificent bas-relief of the king.

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and he’s trailed by two attendants who are protecting him from the sun with an umbrella. And directly above the king is the umbrella and directly above the umbrella is a depiction of Ahura Mazda. Persian scholars tell us that this image of Ahura Mazda above the king is really important because it emphasizes that the king’s power is derived from Ahura Mazda himself.

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It’s an image of divine sanction. On page 170 of the King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art, Root writes, quote, by the favor of Ahura Mazda, Darius became king. Ahura Mazda is the spirit whose very existence is the seal of approval on all of the king’s sanctions.

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In a similar image, this one’s located in the Hall of 100 Columns. It’s a bas-relief of the Persian king seated beneath this really ornate canopy. And he’s seated on a royal throne. He’s got a scepter in his hand. Above him, above the beautifully ornate canopy, is a depiction of Ehudah Mazda. And it sends the same message that the Persian king’s reign is sanctioned by God.

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It symbolizes a profound relationship between the earthly and the divine realms, between the celestial king and his earthly emissary. It’s a representation of royal theology. I could give you a lot more examples. There are actually several reliefs at Persepolis, where Ahura Mazda appears to be granting kingship, giving divine favor to the king.

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At this point, we need to talk about how Uhura Mazda himself is depicted. In Persepolis, Uhura Mazda is universally depicted in human form as a bearded man emerging from the center of a winged solar disk. Atop his head rests a cylindrical headdress, a crown.

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which symbolizes his royal status as a celestial king, the king of all kings. In his left hand, he holds a circle. If you look at it, you’ll see it looks like a circle or a ring. And his right hand is extended as if to shake someone’s hand. Persian scholars believe that this standard image of Ahura Mazda was actually adopted from the Egyptian prototype of Ray.

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were rays depicted as a winged solar disc, which was then adopted by Neo-Assyrians to depict Asura or Anshar, who’s modeled after the Sumerian high god Anu. You know, this is a really good example of how Root argues that Persians used iconographic prototypes from their neighbors. After the Christmas break, you’ll be able to find pictures of each of these images on the webpage for this episode. So,

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Why does Ahura Mazda hold a ring in his left hand? That’s a really interesting question. On page 173, Root explains the ancient meaning behind the ring. And this is what she writes, quote, “‘The ring is an ancient Mesopotamian symbol, “‘which until the Neo-Assyrian period “‘is always held by deities in conjunction with the rod. “‘These two emblems together,

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perhaps originally having been derived from the ideas of a measuring rod and line, the latter coiled into a ring, which the god would have to pass on to the king before the king could build a temple.

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Did you catch that? The ring that Ahura Mazda holds in his left hand represents a loop of rope that he planned to give to the earthly king so that he could measure out a foundation for Ahura Mazda’s earthly temple. If you’ll recall, as we’ve discussed in past episodes, the first thing a heavenly king does after he’s coronated a king is build a palace temple.

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where he can rest. So here Ahura Mazda is holding in his hand the rope the earthly king will need to build Ahura Mazda a place to rest on earth.

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Over time, Root tells us that the circle of rope came to stand for the idea of kingship itself. On page 173, she writes, quote, In the Neo-Assyrian period, on seals and reliefs, Ossur holds only the ring. It appears likely that the significance of the ring alone has been further generalized to stand for the idea of power and kingship.

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There’s a rock relief, it’s magnificent, in southwestern Iran. And on this rock, it depicts God, Uhura Mazda, the king of all kings, decked out in royal regalia. He’s actually holding a bundle of sacred sticks, twigs of a tree called a barsam in his hand. If I had more time, I’d talk about this. And he’s handing the Persian king, Ardashir I,

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who reigned from 224 to 241 AD, the circle of rope, the ring of kingly power with his other hand, making Ardashir the earthly king of kings. If you’ve ever wondered where Tolkien got the idea of the rings of power, well, he got it from others who got it from others and it’s traced all the way back to ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians, and it represents the rope.

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used to lay out the foundation for the king’s temple palace. I mean the king, the high god, is giving the ring to build a temple, sanctioning his temple building, sanctioning his kingship to another. And so no wonder in the Lord of the Rings people want that ring. All of the things we’ve discussed in this episode, from the seven holy immortals to how

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cosmic order is established to Asia, the cosmic law, to God’s reign as a righteous celestial monarch, to the establishing of a heavenly kingdom, to the granting of righteous rulers, to others, is in complete conformity with the theology taught within the ancient tradition. And there’s even more, which I’ll talk about as the podcast progresses, but for this episode we’re talking about God as a heavenly king. If you’re a longtime listener to the

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By now, you are very, very familiar with what the ancient myths, legends, epic poems, and the world’s greatest literature teach that one must do before they can be made a celestial king. And what is that? Well, they must first slay the terrible dragon. And no surprise, we find this same stubborn bit in Zoroastrianism.

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In Zoroastrian tradition in the Yasna 30.3 of the Avista, we read of the cosmic event known as the birth of the twin spirits. In this account, in the heavens, the god Zervon conceived a pair of twin boys, the pious Ahura Mazda, along with his wicked brother, Ariman. The Yasna 30.3 reads, quote, in the beginning, there were two

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primal spirits, twins, spontaneously active. These are the good and the evil in thought and in word and indeed. Between these two, let the wise choose a right. Be good, not base. And in 30.5, of these twin spirits, the evil one chooses doing the worst, while the most bountiful Holy Spirit of goodness

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itself in the imperishable heavens chooses truth and righteousness. In this account we learned that God in the heavens conceived two sons, one who upheld the cosmic law, Asha, truth and righteousness, and one who chose not to who chose evil. Then in 30.6 it states that in the heavens, similar to what we saw in Mesopotamia in the Numa Elish with Tiamat,

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the awful monsters that align themselves with her. Here we see that in heaven a group of spirits were deceived by the evil Ariman and they chose to align themselves with him. The text reads, quote, between these two spirits the demon worshippers could not discern a right. To them deception came at the time of decision and they chose the worst mind.

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And then the text tells us that like a terrible malicious demon army, these spirits combined, they combined forces and they sought to destroy the world. The text reads, quote, with violence then they rushed together life in the world to destroy. In Zoroastrian hymn, Yashdhah 14, we read of a key figure named Vera Thragna.

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who’s appointed to lead the forces of Ahura Mazda in battle against the demonic forces of Ariman. In this hymn, Zoroaster asks Ahura Mazda who the best armed God is in the heavens. And of course, we’re talking about a spiritual battle here. Zoroaster is asking him who is best spiritually armed to take on Ariman. The text reads, and this is the James Darmistetter translation, quote.

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Zoroaster asked Ahura Mazda, Ahura Mazda most beneficent spirit, maker of the material world, thou holy one, who is the best armed of the heavenly gods? Ahura Mazda answered, it is Varathragna. Varathragna made by Ahura came to him, Zoroaster first, running in the shape of a

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made by Mazda, the glory quote, I am the strongest in strength and I shall destroy the malice of all the malicious, the malice of Devas. Devas are the evil spirits that aligned themselves with Arihman and men. Verathragna leads an army of the righteous and you can imagine a cosmic battle ensues.

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Zoroaster is concerned about the outcome of this battle and he asks Ahura Mazda the following. Quote, when armies meet together in full array, which of the two is the party that conquers and is not crushed, that smites and is not smitten? Zoroaster wants to know which side is going to win the battle. Ahura Mazda assures Zoroaster that those who side with the divine warrior

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victorious. He tells them quote, on his side, speaking of verathragna, victory will stand. Although originally a battle between Ahura Mazda, the one who upheld Asha, truth and righteousness, and Adi-mun, the one who rebelled against it, these Persian texts attest that this battle quickly developed into a full scale spiritual war between those who aligned

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with Ahura Mazda and those who were deceived by Ariman. Interestingly, in a late Armenian polemic text titled Against the Sex by Esnik of Kolb, written sometime during the fifth century AD, which was about a thousand years after Zoroaster, we’re told that this battle, like we see elsewhere in the ancient world, was initially a battle over kingship. Yep, kingship.

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just like we see all over in the ancient world. I’m gonna read this account directly from the text. This comes from book two, chapter one of Esnick’s quote, “‘Against the Sexed Book’.” And this is the Thomas Samyellian translation. In this account, the god Zervin and his wife conceive twin boys. The text reads, quote,

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were conceived in their mother’s womb. When Zerubin found out, he said, “‘There are two sons in the womb. “‘Whichever comes to me first, I shall make him king.’ And Ahura Mazda, having learned of his father’s intention, told Ariman that their father Zerubin would make king whichever of them reached him first. When Ariman heard this, he pierced the womb and went…

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before his father. This is interesting. Zerven’s wife, whom I’ll call goddess Zerven, has two sons in her womb and the god Zerven declares that the firstborn son will be king. Uhura Mazda shares this information with Adi-Man and what does Adi-Man do? The text says he pierces the womb. Adi-Man wants to be king so badly that he cuts himself out of his mother’s womb.

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so that he can beat Ahura Mazda to the punch. I hope you can see here that this is just another version of one of God’s sons trying to usurp the throne. So what happens? Well, let’s keep reading. The text reads, when Zerven saw Ariman, he didn’t know who he was. So he asked him, who are you? And Ariman replied, I am your son. Then…

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Zerven said to him, my son is supposed to be sweet smelling and radiant. There’s sweet smelling is interesting and when you think about that in terms of the anointing oil. But you are dark and foul. So see already Ariman’s choice to usurp the throne has sullied his nature. He’s already morphing into the awful sea serpent. The text continues. And while they were speaking,

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Uhura Mazda was born in his hour radiant and sweet smelling. And he came before Zerven. When Zerven saw him, he knew that this was his son, Uhura Mazda, for whom he had made sacrifices for so long. He took the bundle of ritual sticks, that was the sticks I was talking about earlier that are twigs of a tree, which were in his hand and gave them to Uhura Mazda. So he’s giving the scepter. You see what’s happening here?

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saying, until now I have made sacrifices for you. From now on, you will make them for me. Then Zervin gave Ahura Mazda the sticks and blessed him.

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At this point, Adiman is having none of this. So he approaches Zirvan and the text reads, quote, Adiman approached Zirvan and said, “‘Didn’t you make a vow that whichever of your two sons reached you first, you would make him king?’ Then Zirvan, so as not to break his vow, said to Adiman, “‘Why, you false evil doer, may the kingship be given to you for 9,000 years.'”

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under Ahura Mazda’s supervision. And after that, Ahura Mazda will be sole king. This account’s interesting because like most of the other accounts we’ve discussed on the program, this account attests that the battle between the beloved son and the rebel son was a battle over kingship. It was a battle over the right to rule as a heavenly king.

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by cutting himself out of his mother’s womb. Needless to say, cutting oneself out of the womb here is symbolic of Adi Man’s evil intention to usurp it. The fact that Adi Man even thinks that it’s possible to usurp the throne from Ahura Mazda indicates that Adi Man himself doesn’t really understand or grasp the power of Asha, the cosmic law, or else he would have understood that from the very start.

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that it’s impossible for one to usurp heavenly kingship. It can only be won by perfectly upholding righteousness and truth. The ancients attest again and again that this is the only way that order can be established in the cosmos, period. There’s no way to usurp or circumvent the law, which is why the awful dragon lives on.

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in his own shouting. As you can see the link between Ohura Mazda and kingship, especially in regards to the stubborn bits that we’ve covered on the program, is really strong. But what about slaying the dragon? In the ancient world we wouldn’t expect Ohura Mazda to be crowned a king until after he slays Arima. In the Zoroastrian tradition this is where things get interesting.

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In the text that I just read, we see that the god Zirvan tells Adiman that he can reign as a king, but only for a limited time. Zirvan says to Adiman, why you false evildoer, may the kingship be given to you for 9,000 years. So he gives him this finite period that he can reign. But then Zirvan tells him that he can be king only under Ahura Mazda’s supervision, which is.

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almost like saying, yes, Ahriman, you can play king. You can believe that you are king, but really your reign will be checked in every moment by Ahura Mazda. To be under Ahura Mazda’s, quote, supervision is almost like saying that both sons would sort of reign simultaneously. If Ahriman ever went too far, Ahura Mazda would be there to reign him back in. Theologically, the notion that there are two equally opposing forces

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be it a power or divine beings in the world, one that entices us to keep the cosmic law and one that entices us not to keep the cosmic law is referred to as dualism. As Ahura Mazda explained to Zoroaster earlier, the two forces are not truly inherently equal. In the end, righteousness and truth will conquer unrighteousness and deceit. In the end,

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righteousness is more powerful than unrighteousness. According to Ezenik’s account, after Arihman reigns for 9,000 years, after which, quote, Ahura Mazda will be made sole king, what this text doesn’t tell us, but several other Zoroastrian texts do, is that after 9,000 years, Arihman will be defeated. One source says that he’ll be slain on Mount

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Another source tells us that he’ll be imprisoned for eternity. And another source, my favorite, a source known as the Bundishin says he’ll be quote, led back to the hole through which he entered the world. The notion that there are holes between worlds is pretty darn intriguing. And believe it or not, it shows up so much that I’m gonna even consider it another stubborn bit.

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and we’re gonna talk about it a lot more down the line. For our discussion here though, I wanna stress the larger point that it’s only after Adi Man’s full defeat, whether that’s exile or imprisonment or full annihilation, that Ahura Mazda is crowned sole king. And that theology, my friends, is

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100% consistent with the theology taught within the ancient tradition. All in all, just as we’ve seen across the ancient world, the Zoroastrians of Persia proclaim that God is a celestial king, a king who is destined to claim his rightful crown once

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Since the Christmas season is upon us, I’d like to end by reading an interesting portion of the Apostle Matthew’s account of Christ’s birth in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2. Starting in verse 1 it reads, quote, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold there came wise men from the east of Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born

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King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.” In this account, Matthew tells us that wise men, wise men from the east, were searching for the Christ child whom they called the quote, King of the Jews. As many of you are probably familiar, the New Testament was originally written in Greek.

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And when we take a look at the Greek word, the translators translated into English as wisemen, we find that it is magi. So exactly who were the magi? Well, this is where it gets interesting because magi was the name used to refer to Zoroastrian priests. From Matthew’s account, a group of Zoroastrian priests followed a star.

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from their home in Persia, all the way to Jerusalem, where they hope to find and worship the Christ child. Herod sends the Magi to Bethlehem, and in verse nine it continues, quote, when they, speaking of the Magi, heard the king, they departed and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star,

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they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. You know, as we all know, these Magi brought the Christ child gifts. Verse 11 reads, quote, and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

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The gifts these Persian magi brought the Christ child are astonishing because they symbolized key aspects of the Jerusalem temple and kingship theology. The gold, as we’ve discussed on this program, was used to symbolize the glorious nature of God himself and the temple where he dwelt in the heavens. All of the vessels and furnishings in the Jerusalem temple were made of gold to symbolize this.

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Frankincense was the key ingredient in the special incense blend used in the Holy of Holies. And we’ve discussed many times on the program, myrrh was the primary component in the holy anointing oil used in the temple. How the Persian Magi knew of the sacred significance of myrrh? I have no idea.

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but it’s astounding that they did. Then again, Jehovah said in Isaiah chapter 45 verse one, that Cyrus was one of his, his anointed, which the sacred myrrh represented. So obviously there were truly wise men in Persia who knew a whole, whole lot more about the king.

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the beloved son and kingship theology than we ever thought.

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I wish you all the merriest of Christmases or happiest of holidays. That’s it for me. I’ll leave you with the words of the Persian Magi. Quote, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and we are come to worship him.

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I’m Jack Logan.

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You’ve been listening to the Ancient Tradition. A Wonk Media Production.