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.  Here’s your host, Dr. Jack Logan.

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Welcome to the ancient tradition.  I’m your host, Jack Logan.

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Well, welcome to the Ancient Tradition podcast. It’s great to have you listening along today. I don’t know what you’re doing. Maybe you’re out tinkering in the yard or doing some laundry or taking a ride. Whatever you’re doing, we’re glad that you’re listening in. Hopefully you can learn a couple of new things that can benefit your understanding and your life. Today’s episode is titled, The Pochote Tree of the Dynasty. I’ve got a lot that I want to cover today, so I’m going to just jump right in.

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In our last episode, we started looking at the sixth category of human origin accounts, which attest that the first human beings emerged, grew out of, descended from, or were born from a sacred tree. So, if you are new to the program, this is first time you’re listening in. Yes, the ancients, many of them argued that we were born from a sacred tree. Now that probably sounds a little bit crazy or maybe even just a little bit ignorant.

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And we might be inclined to think that the ancients clearly didn’t know what they were talking about because everybody knows that human beings weren’t born from a tree. Now the problem with that interpretation is that it’s a modern one. We in the modern day tend to think that the ancients were speaking literally, that the ancients believed that we human beings were born from a literal tree, but they weren’t.

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And the more you listen to this program, the more you’re going to come to recognize that the ancients knew exactly what they were talking about and that they conveyed and concealed great cosmological and theological truths in symbolic language, which is exactly what they’re doing here when they attest that the first human beings were born from a tree. Now the tree of which they’re speaking is symbolic, which means that the ancients are using

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the characteristics of a literal tree to teach us to stress or represent something else, or as we pointed out in the last episode, someone else. And in this case, the tree of which the ancients are speaking is primarily a someone else.  Once we recognize this, so much of what the ancients are trying to teach begins to open up to us and it makes a lot more sense.

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When we study the symbolic use of the tree in the ancient world, one of the first things that we recognize is that the ancients used the tree to represent divine royal figures. God, the king of the gods, and his wife, the queen of the gods. Now they also used it to symbolize the earthly king, and the earthly king was widely believed in the ancient world to have a divine nature too.

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So, when we start with that understanding, the notion that the first human beings were born from a sacred tree in the sacred center of the world suddenly begins to make sense. Now we realize that when the ancients teach that the first human beings were born from a tree, that what they’re really saying is that the first human beings descended from or were born from the King and Queen of Heaven, which is an exceptionally profound theological

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doctrine. So today as I’m reading through some of these tree descent accounts, ask yourself questions like, why did the ancients use a tree? You know, of all of the objects they could have used to symbolize God, why a tree? And what can the characteristics or attributes of a tree, a literal tree, teach me about the characteristics or attributes of God or the Queen of Heaven?

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When we start to ask questions like that, the teachings of the ancients begin to open up to us and we start to learn some pretty profound things, some of which are really humanity’s greatest treasures. This far into the program, believe it or not, we’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to the symbolic meaning behind the tree, because like all symbols, it contains far more depth than we can imagine.

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So, there is so much more for us to plumb on the program. With that, I want to start today with the N’Gadju Dayak people of Borneo. In this account, the supreme god Mahatala joins in union with his wife Putir, who, like we see in other accounts, also represent the cosmological union of heaven and earth.  And it’s through Mahatala and Putir’s union

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that a fertile, beautiful, paradisal village in the upper world is formed. As part of the result of their union, a sacred tree, the Batongaring, begins to grow in the upper world. And it’s from this tree that the first woman emerges on earth. This account was recorded by the Swiss ethnographer Hans Schera.

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who lived among the N’Gadju Dayak people between 1929 and 1939. In his book, N’Gadju Religion, The Conception of God Among the South Borneo People, published by Brill. As you listen, note how many of the stubborn bits we’ve discussed on the program are present in this account. The account begins before the earth was created and before human beings existed on earth.

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On pages 27 and 28, it reads, quote, before the Godhead created the whole cosmos. Now, what’s interesting here is by Godhead, the Ngaadju Dayak people are referring to Mahatala and his wife, Putir. Before mankind existed and before the primeval village, Batu Nindantarang, was erected in the primeval waters.

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So, I got to stop here for a second. Just as a quick aside, note how the Ngaadju Dayak mentioned a quote primeval village that was quote erected in the primeval waters.  So, it’s talking about the first village that was created in the cosmos in the upper world. And I point this out because the name that Ngaadju Dayak people give this village, Batu Nindantarang is kind of important. In English, Batu means

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Stone. Yeah, stone.  And nindan means to stand, to set upright, to establish, or to set firmly in place. So, we get a image here of a village in the upper world where stands upright in the center of the village, a stone. And the word tarong means container, enclosure, or receptacle. Mythologically, this receptacle

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connotates a womb-like cavity. So, the meaning of the name of the village in the upper world, Batu Nindan Tarong, would be something like the stone that stands at the container or womb of emergence or the foundation stone of the place of emergence or the stone associated with the place where humans emerge. So that should probably remind you a little bit of things we talked about in our last episode.

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Again, note how we see in this account already a connection between the emergence of human beings and the Sacred Center, both of which in this account are directly connected to the stone, the foundation stone, which like we saw in episode number 34, the Ebenezer designated the location of the Sacred Center. And the stone, which you’re gonna see down the line, not only marked the true location of the altar,

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but constituted the sacrificial altar itself. All right, let’s keep reading. Quote, before the God had created the whole cosmos, before mankind existed, and before the primeval village Batu Nindan Torong was erected in the primeval waters. So, it starts there, but then it goes on and gives an account of the creation of the heavens. And then the account reads, quote,

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The first period of the creation is now closed and Mahatala himself appears. He stands beside his sister, his wife, Putir Silang Laenget. The name of God’s wife here is quite pretty. Laenget means something along the lines of sky or heaven and Putir means white, bright, having a radiant or shining quality.

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Interestingly, there’s also a Mele Indonesian lexical similarity between the Engaju word putir and the word putari, which means daughter or princess. So, it’s likely considering the context that both meanings are implied here. And finally, the word salong has a very, very interesting meaning. It means opening, passage, or space between.

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In English then, the name or epitaph the N’gadju, Dyak people give God’s wife is something along the lines of radiant lady or princess of the heavenly opening. Here she’s clearly described as a glorious being of radiant light, the radiant or shining lady. But I want to point your attention to the second half of her epitaph, the princess of the heavenly opening. Well, what heavenly opening? Well,

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This is talking about the same opening we’ve been talking about for the past couple of episodes. The opening between worlds. The opening between the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. The passage by which the first human beings came into this world. So, note here among the Ngaju Dayak people that it’s God’s wife who is directly associated with the opening or passage between worlds.

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The same passage that the Hopi symbolized by a tree, the bamboo tree. If you recall, the Hopi people began in the pre-earth world, which was described as a womb and entered a hole or opening in the base of a large bamboo tree and climbed the interior of the bamboo trunk until they reached an opening at the top where they exited and appeared on earth. Now again, this is a great place to remember that the tree is a who.

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Yeah, pretty interesting. You should start to see here one of the reasons why the ancients used a tree to symbolize the king and her queen of heaven. It’s in part for the symbolism of the trunk, the trunk that represents passage between worlds, the passage by which one descends to earth and the passage by which one ascends to heaven. So, give that some thought because the symbolism here is both cosmological

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representing how the cosmos are structured and theological, representing some pretty important theological tenants about how God and God’s wife are central to human beings descent to earth and the subsequent ascent back to heaven. The account continues, quote, the first period of the creation is now closed. And this refers to the creation of heaven and Mahatala

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himself appears.  stands beside his sister, his wife, Putir Silang La’enget. He stretches out his hand. Drops of water fall from his fingers into the primeval waters.  Jada, the divine maiden, emerges. Now, we need to take a second talk about Jada here. Some scholars believe that Jada is a goddess that’s different from Putir. In this account,

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they’re described as sisters where both are depicted as consorts to Mahatala. But some scholars actually argue that Jada is just another name or aspect of Putir. Jada is now going to help Mahatala create the earth. Quote, she casts on high a jeweling agate, which is a gemstone, which she removes from her earring. From this earth,

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comes into existence and hills come into being. Together with Mahatala, she also creates the rivers. The most important of these rivers is the river Manoa, where the deity keeps and distributes the total gifts of happiness. With this, the second period of creation comes to a close. The upper world and the underworld, now the underworld here refers to the earth, have been created

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as a totality. So here we see that they’re speaking of the time in the beginning when heaven and earth were close together before the cosmic split. Their lack now only mankind and the earth inhabited by them. Mahatala initiates the third period. He calls Jhata. Now listen to this. She strides over the jeweled bridge

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to the upper world and joins Mahatala. Here we learn that in the beginning, when heaven and earth were very close together, there was a bridge called here a jeweled bridge that connected the two worlds. Mahatala apparently went back to heaven. So, Jada after the earth has been created goes and joins Mahatala there. So, both of them are back in heaven now.

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Keep the heavenly location in mind as I continue reading. Quote, together they now create the first human beings and the Sanginong families. So, here is another attestation of a pre-earth existence. Here the Ngaju Dayak people tell us that God and his wife together in the heavenly realm created the first human beings. The first human beings whom they call the

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Sanginong families. The reference to pre-earth human beings as Sanginong families is important because the Engaju word Sanginong means something like sacred being or numinous heavenly being. It generally means sacred people and it’s used to specifically connotate these sacred people who Mahatala and Jatah created

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in the divine realm. The Ngaadji Dayak people tell us that there in the divine realm, the sacred people were organized into families or kin groups. I continue. Together they now create the first human beings and the Sanginong families. They first confer with each other. Then Mahatala raises the headdress on high and from it comes into being

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the tree of life from which sprout golden leaves and ivory fruit. Now the sister of Mahatala, Putir Salang Laenggit, reappears. She gathers the fruit and tender buds and sprinkles them with the water of life. All right, let’s stop here for a second and talk about what Mahatala is doing here. So Mahatala lifts his headdress, which is a crown-like object,

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and it expressly represents his divine authority, and it’s directly from this crown that the tree of life grows. The account says, quote, then Mahatala raises the headdress on high and from it comes into being the tree of life from which sprouted golden leaves and ivory fruit. So don’t miss the

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unambiguous connection in this account between the sacred tree and kingship. It came from his crown. Now, after this, note how Putir, Mahatala’s wife, sprinkles the water of life on the fruit and tender buds of the sacred tree. The passage reads, Now the sister, the wife of Mahatala, Putir Salang La’ingit, reappears.

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She gathers the fruit and tender buds and sprinkles them with the water of life. So, what happens when Putir, the radiant lady or princess of the heavenly opening, sprinkles the quote water of life on the fruit and tender buds of the sacred tree that grew from Mahatala’s crown? Well, let’s read. The account continues, quote.

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She gathers the fruit and tender buds and sprinkles them with the water of life. And from them, there comes into being the tree, Irong Tiangong. So, what happens when Putir sprinkles the water of life on the fruit or tender buds growing on Mahatala’s tree? Well, the account tells us that a new tree takes sprout and begins to grow. Now don’t forget again,

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that the sacred tree in heaven is symbolic. It’s not talking about an actual literal tree in heaven, but the symbolism serves us well because in the natural world, this is exactly what trees do. The fruit and tender bud of the tree is what produces a new tree. So let me give you an example. When an apple blossom grows on an apple tree, that blossom has to be fertilized or pollinated

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in order for it to grow into an apple. So, each apple blossom has both a stamen, which is the male part which produces pollen, and a pistol, the female part which receives the pollen. In order for the apple to grow, most apple blossoms have to be pollinated by a different kind of tree, one that’s compatible, but it’s usually a different apple variety.  And the cross-pollination is usually accomplished by bees.

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They’re attracted to the blossom’s nectar and they flit from tree to tree and blossom to blossom and that spreads the pollen. So, if the blossom is not pollinated, the blossom withers away and dies. But when the blossom is pollinated, it produces an apple.  And what’s inside the apple? The fruit of the tree? Seeds, we all know this, apple seeds, which if we properly nourish them will produce a new tree.

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You should easily see here how one of the symbolic meanings of the fruit and tender blossoms of the tree symbolize the capacity of the tree to reproduce children or offspring. So, one of the reasons why the ancients chose a tree to symbolize God and God’s wife is because of a tree’s reproductive capacity. In the Ngaadji Dayak account that we just read, Putir,

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Mahatala’s wife is the bee. She’s fertilizing the tender buds with the water of life.  And we know her work is successful because the Ngaadju Dayak tell us that as a result of her efforts, a brand-new tree is born. A tree, the Ngaadju Dayak people call Erong Ti Ngong. In English, Erong means feathers.

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and Tiangong is the name the Ngaju Dayak give the large bird we know as the hornbill. Okay, so this seems a little bit odd. Why would the Ngaju Dayak people call the tree hornbill feathers? Well, there’s clearly some avian symbolism going on here. What’s super interesting about this?

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is that the symbol the Nga’ji Udayak people use to represent the supreme god, Mahatala,  is precisely this bird, the hornbill. Do you remember the headdress we talked about a couple of minutes ago? The crown-like headdress that’s worn by Mahatala? The headdress out of which grew the sacred tree? Well, guess who wore a headdress made out of hornbill feathers on earth?

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Yeah, you already know. The village chief. By wearing this headdress, the village chief communicated to the village people that he operated under Mahatala’s divine authority. So, to give the new tree that grew out of Mahatala’s and Putir’s union the name Erong Tiangong, hornbill feathers, is essentially the same as saying that this tree

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was the heir apparent, the child to whom the crown would be transferred, the prince. Again, don’t miss the clear association between the tree and kingship here. It’s all right there among the Ngaadju Dayak people. It’s just expressed in cultural terms. So, after Puthir successfully fertilizes the tender buds in the new tree, Eringong Tiangong, Hornbill Feathers is born.

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Something quite interesting happens. Poutier is given a new name. We’ve talked a little bit about new names on the program and we’re gonna talk about them a lot more down the line, but it’s fascinating to me that this same stubborn bit shows up here in Southeast Asia, thousands and thousands of miles from the ancient Near East. The account reads, quote, after this act of creation, and the act of creation that they’re talking about here is the birth of this tree.

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Erang Tiangong. She receives the new name of Putir Salong Ta Menang. We already have an idea of what Putir Salong means, but what does Ta Menang mean? Well, on page 28 of Engadju Religion, Hanj tells us Ta Menang means the bringer forth or the life producer. It is Putir, Mahatala’s wife,

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who has the divine power to birth life.  And after she does this, after she brings forth a child, an heir, she’s given a new name that reflects that divine power, Putir Solong Tamanong, which means something along the lines of the shining or radiant lady, the life producer. As we noted in our last episode,

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Kingship is never a solitary reality. It’s dynastic at its core and it requires the union of the King and Queen of Heaven and it relies upon the generative life producing power of the Queen of Heaven to bring forth life. All right, we’ve got to keep reading. We haven’t even gotten to the birth of human beings on earth yet. From here, the N’Gadji D’yak people

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tell us that a terrible fight erupts in the heavenly realm between two great hornbills. Now remember the hornbill is the symbol that the Ngaju-Diak people used to symbolize the king of the gods, Mahatala. So, when we learn that the fight that occurred in the heavenly realm was between two hornbills, we know that this was a fight between two very powerful divine-like figures or gods.

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which is exactly what the rest of the ancient world has been telling us to. The fight between these two hornbills is the Ngaju-Diak cultural expression of the great primordial Theomachy that we talked about in episode number 19. If you recall, Theo means God and Machy means battle or fight or combat. So Theomachy means battle between gods.

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If this is the first time that you’ve ever heard about a battle in heaven before the creation of the earth, or you just want to learn more about what the ancients had to say about this battle, be sure and check out episode number 19. In this Ngaju Dayak account, it says that one of the two birds is quote, seized with envy and a quote, extraordinary fight breaks out between the two birds.

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As a result of this extraordinary fight, the bird filled with great envy strikes and damages the sacred tree in heaven. The good bird cuts off pieces of the sacred tree and it’s from those pieces that the first human being is born. The account reads, quote, from naughty excrescence of the tree. Those are the knots on a tree cut.

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down by the female hornbill. She’s the good bird. Comes the maiden, Putir Kahukup Bunkingaring, which means fallen ivory tree nuts. It’s interesting that the tree nuts are called ivory tree nuts, because earlier in this account, we’re told that the tree had quote, golden leaves and ivory fruit. Ivory, of course, is white. So

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This is a golden tree with a white trunk and white fruit. And a bit farther down in the account, we’re told that Mahatala sits on a quote, ivory throne. So here we see a clear connection between ivory, the sacred tree and royalty or kingship. So, when the Nga’ju Dayak people tell us that the first human being to appear on earth, the Nga’ju Dayak Eve,

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given what appears to be a rather inelegant name, Fallen Ivory Tree Knot, we come to understand that symbolically her name identifies her as the royal offspring of the sacred tree. That’s powerful theology in terms of Eve. After this, the Engadj-udayak Eve goes on to find the Engadj-udayak Adam.

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And the account tells us, and this is found on page 29, quote, the first humans marry, establish themselves in their house, and we are told they beget children. We see here that Putir, the Nga’ji Dayak Eve, as an ivory tree knot, the royal daughter of the sacred tree, goes on to give birth to children, the rest of the human race.

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And this of course means that we as her descendants are the royal descendants of the sacred tree too. Okay, now let’s turn to Persia. This account is found in a Middle Persian text called the Bundahishen, which is a compilation of Zoroastrian beliefs dated to sometime between the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Though scholars believe that the material that’s contained in it is much, much older.

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In this account, in the beginning, the stock of a plant emerges from the ground and slowly transforms into a man and a woman called Masha and Mashaana, the Zoroastrian, Adam and Eve, the ancestors of all humanity. In the account that I’m going to read, which starts in chapter 15, Ahura Mazda, the creator, has completed the creation of the world and all of the animals.

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The account reads, and this is the E.W. West translation, quote, on the nature of men, it says in Revelation, the Gaia Mard in passing away gave forth seed. That seed was thoroughly purified by the motion of the light of the sun. And in 40 years with the shape of a one stemmed Rivas plant. All right, so let’s stop here for just a second.

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First of all, don’t worry too much about who Gaia Mard is. We’re going to talk about him in a future episode. In this account, we see that after the creation, a quote, one stemmed Rivas plant begins to grow on the earth. Now scholars have looked around and they don’t know of any plant species that go by this name. So, this seems to reinforce the tree or the plants mythic or symbolic significance. Now, did you happen to catch how long

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it took for the seed Guiamard sent forth to grow into a Rivas plant. Before I tell you, let me remind you that it’s this plant that’s gonna transform into the Zoroastrian Adam and Eve. Let’s go back to the account and read how long it took for the seed to grow into a plant. The account reads, quote, and in 40 years, wow.

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It took the 40 years to grow into the first human beings. So, let’s stop here for a second, because this statement about the length of time it took the plant to grow is a great example of symbolic language. Can you think of any reason why the Zoroastrians would claim that it took 40 years, not 20 or 25 or 30 or even 35 years, for this seed to grow into a plant?

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Think about the possible significance of that number for a couple of minutes. See if you can figure it out. Work on honing your symbolic literacy. We’ll come back to it in just a second. Let’s keep reading. Quote, and in 40 years with the shape of a one-stemmed reavus plant and the 15 years of the 15 leaves, the 15 years of the 15 leaves here is also significant and symbolic. And I’ll come back to that in a minute too. Quote.

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In the 15 years of the 15 leaves, Masya and Masyana grew up from the earth in such a manner that their arms rested behind their shoulders. And one joined to the other, they were connected together and both alike. And the waists of both of them were brought close and so connected together that it was not clear which is the male and which the female and which is the one whose living soul of Ahura Mazda is not away.

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as it is said thus, which is created before, the soul or the body? And Ahura Mazda said that the soul is created before and the body after. For him who was created, it is given unto the body that it may produce activity and the body is created only for activity. Hence the conclusion is this, that the soul is created before and the body after. And both of them changed from the shape of a plant

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into the shape of man, and the breath went spiritually into them, which is the soul.” So here we see that Masha and Masha’na, the Zoroastrian Adam and Eve, change from the shape of this plant, which we’re gonna see in just a second is actually referred to as a tree, into the shape of man. All right, so let’s go back to the significance of the number 40. Were you able to figure it out?

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If you weren’t, I’ll give you one major clue.  In this world, on earth, the number 40 is directly connected to the birth of human beings. Hopefully that helps a little bit. Hopefully a few of you just had an aha experience. When the ancients used symbolic language, they’re not trying to trick us. They’re actually trying to convey some very important spiritual truths with objects and experiences that we can relate to.

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And in this case, the number 40 is a number that every single woman who has ever given birth to a child is intimately familiar with. And in the modern age, this number is monitored with great diligence. And why is that? Well, because the number 40 is the approximate number of weeks it takes for a baby to grow from conception to full term.

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If you’re pregnant right now, think how many times people have asked you, so how far along are you? And how many times have you replied in weeks? I’m 12 weeks, or I’m 22 weeks along, or I’m in my third trimester, which means that you’re at least 26 or 27 weeks along. In the ancient world, the number 40 symbolized gestation, but not just physical gestation.

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It came to symbolize the period required for spiritual preparation, development, maturation, and gestation. So, in this account, the way the number 40 is being used, it could include all of these meanings. Since we’re talking about the first appearance of human beings on earth, the number 40 is clearly being used to emphasize the link between the tree, understood as the source of human gestation,

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and the physical birth of the first human beings on Earth. It could also be used in this account to indicate that the first man and woman needed time to spiritually prepare and develop and mature before they came to Earth. Only once that process had been completed could they enter this world.  Since this is how symbols work, the ancients likely wanted us to see multiple meanings here when they used the number 40.

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When we get into ritual, one of the major points I’m going to make is that the ancients explicitly patterned the process and rituals of spiritual rebirth after the process of physical birth. I’ll have a lot more that I’m going to say about that down the line, but to give you just a taste of what I mean, if we turn to the Judeo-Christian tradition, to the Bible, to the book of Exodus chapter 24,

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We read how Moses ascended Mount Sinai. He saw the quote, devouring fire of the glory of the Lord. And then Moses goes into the cloud where the Lord teaches him for 40 days. Verses 16 to 18 read, and this is the King James Version, quote, and the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai.

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and the cloud covered it six days. And the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got up into the mount. And Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights.

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Of I have no idea if Moses literally spent 40 days and 40 nights on the top of Mount Sinai being tutored by the Lord. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Maybe it was really just six hours or 18 days. The literal length of Moses’ meeting with the Lord isn’t really the point the ancients are trying to make here. By telling us that Moses spent 40 days,

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which could have just as easily been 40 weeks on the top of Mount Sinai being tutored by the Lord. The ancients are trying to emphasize that for Moses, this was a time of exceptional spiritual transformation. They’re trying to help us understand that the time Moses spent with the Lord was a time that functioned as a period of great spiritual gestation, a season of spiritual

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preparation, development, and maturation that culminated in Moses’s complete spiritual rebirth. That’s symbolic language. The ancients are using the number 40 here to capture the notion of a period of gestation or development that is needed before birth, be that physical or spiritual. And we can see a similar thing to this in the New Testament.

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in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter one. After Christ is crucified and resurrected, the resurrected Christ appears to his apostles and teaches them for precisely 40 days. Quote, things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Verses two and three read, and again, this is the King James Version, quote, until the day in which he,

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and he here is Christ, was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments under the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he shewed, now shewed here is showed, himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

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Don’t miss the mention of the kingdom here. That’s a kingship reference.  Okay, 40, as we just mentioned, is the number of weeks necessary for the full gestation of a baby before its physical birth. So, by symbolically referring to the time Christ spent with his apostles as 40 days, we are likewise to understand that the time Christ tutored his apostles

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in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God was a time akin to full spiritual gestation that culminated in the apostles’ complete spiritual rebirth. The physical birth slash spiritual rebirth parallel inferred in this passage is intentional. So whatever Christ taught the apostles during this time

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led to their full spiritual rebirth. That’s the symbolic meaning that’s implied here. At some point, we’re going to talk in much greater detail about what the ancient texts have to say, about what Christ taught the apostles during this time that led to their spiritual rebirth. But that’s probably a ways away though. Okay, that was a little bit off topic, but it serves to illustrate the 40-day, 40 week or 40-year connection to birth.

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be it physical or spiritual. But what does the part about the 15 years mean? The account reads, quote, and in 40 years with the shape of a one-stemmed Rivas plant and the 15 years of the 15 leaves, Masha and Mashiana grew up. This part of the account is kind of interesting because it mentions that after the 40 years, then another 15 years passed.

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15 years that are called the 15 years of the 15 leaves. So, note that the leaves of the tree are associated with these 15 years. So, what does this mean? Well, most scholars argue that the 15 years of the 15 leaves represent stages of growth, individual years of development, which are still needed after a baby is born.

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years that are needed for full physical maturation. Among human beings, physical development which culminates in full reproductive maturation, the ability to produce other human beings, generally occurs between 12 and 15 years of age. So, for this passage to state that after these additional 15 years, Masha and Mashaana changed from the shape of a plant into a man.

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We get the picture of a man and a woman with fully developed reproductive organs capable of producing offspring. The pairing of the 15 years of reproductive maturation with the leaves of the tree is almost certainly intentional symbolism.  In the arboreal world, leaves are visible markers of growth.  In plant biology,

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leaves precede flowering and fruiting. So, by associating the leaves with maturation, this would just be another way of saying that Masha and Mashana were now ready to reproduce. This interpretation seems pretty sound because after the 15 years of the 15 leaves, in the very next line, after we’re told Masha and Mashana changed from the shape of a plant into the shape of man, we’re told this.

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quote, and both of them changed from the shape of a plant into the shape of man. And the breath went spiritually into them, which is the soul. And now moreover, in that similitude, a tree had grown up whose fruit was the 10 varieties of man. So here we immediately see that fruit grows on a tree.

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that is in the similitude of the tree Masha and Mashaana just came from. Quote, in that similitude. This is the same as saying in the same manner or according to the same model. A tree grew with fruit. And what was the fruit of this tree? It was the quote, 10 varieties of man. The text here is not describing a new tree. The tree is symbolic of Masha and Mashaana themselves.

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They begin life by growing from a plant or tree, but once they become human, they take on the same role as the tree, producing the children of the world, all the varieties of man, just as the tree produces fruit. So, take note of a couple of things here. First, note how the fruit of the tree appears on the tree right after the 15 years of the 15 leaves of maturation are finished.

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Second, note the clear symbolic link in this text between the fruit of the tree and offspring. The text clearly states, quote, a tree had grown up whose fruit was the 10 varieties of man. You can’t get much clearer than that. That’s about as straightforward as saying, hey, the fruit of the tree symbolizes offspring or children.  Keep this in your back pocket because we’re going to come back to that in our next episode.

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Third, note that the use of in that similitude here. This is basically just another way of saying as above, so below. This is like saying just as the king and queen of heaven, the sacred tree gave birth to Masha and Mashiana, so too Masha and Mashiana like the sacred tree gave birth on earth to the entire human race. As above, so below.

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Now I should probably leave this account here, but I can’t because of what it says happens next. In fact, the entire premise of this podcast rests on what happens next. Let’s read and find out. The account continues, quote, Ahura Mazda spoke to Masya and Masyana thus. So, what’s happening here? Well, here we see that in the very beginning,

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Right after Masya and Masyana are born of the tree, Ahura Mazda, God, speaks to them. And what does he tell them? Well, he teaches them. Let’s read. Quote, Ahura Mazda spoke to Masya and Masyana thus, you are man, you are the ancestry of the world, and you are created perfect in devotion by me. Perform devoutly the duty

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of the law.  Right here we see that Ahura Mazda, God, starts to teach Masha and Masha’na. The very first thing that he teaches them is who they are. He tells them that he is the one who created them. He says, quote, you are created perfect in devotion by me. After that, he teaches them that they need to keep a particular law. He says,

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quote, perform devoutly the duty of the law. Now we have to ask, to what law is he referring? Well, in Zoroastrianism, this law is very, very well known. It’s known as Asha, A-S-H-A. In the next month or two, we’re going to talk more about this law and what Ahura Mazda taught the Zoroastrian Adam and Eve in the very beginning. I just wanted to point it out while we’re here because

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like we see among so many other peoples around the world, the Zoroastrians attest that in the very beginning, God spoke with the first human beings and taught them very important religious doctrines.  If you want to learn more about Asha and you don’t want to wait, give episode number 28, Who is God? Lord of Maat, King of Zedek, Elissin. That episode covers the ins and outs of this law.

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But more importantly, it introduces you to the utterly astonishing cosmic reach of this law and the central role that it plays in all of the world’s major religions. It really is the foundation of everything. All right, now let’s turn to Scandinavia. In this account, which is found in the Prose Edda in the Gylfongening,

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which is the old Norse text which scholars believe was compiled by Snorri Sturluson in 1220 AD. It tells how the high god Odin and his brothers were walking along a seashore when they came across two trees. The gods give the two trees the gifts that make them human, breath, consciousness, movement, and speech. And then they give them names, Asker  and Embla.

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Asker is the Old Norse word which literally means ash tree. Now the etymology of the word embla is a bit more problematic. Some scholars have proposed it comes from the word almer, which means elm or elm tree. And others have argued that it’s linked to the Greek word for vine, but nobody quite knows for sure. Now in this account, King Gilphy, the King of Sweden,

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has heard that the Assyr, the gods, possess great wisdom and power. So, he travels to Asgard, the realm of the gods or heaven, in disguise, using the name Ganglary, which means wanderer or the one who walks far. When Ganglary arrives in Asgard, he sees a magnificent palace and inside he encounters three gods seated on high thrones.

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who invite him to ask them questions.  Using this ask and teach format, Ganglary asks the God questions and then the gods teach him. In the passage I’m going to read, found in chapter nine, Ganglary has just learned about the creation of heaven and earth. So, he proceeds to ask them about the origin of the first human beings. The passage reads, and this is the Arthur Broder

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translation. Quote, then said Ganglary, much indeed they had accomplished then, methinks, when earth and heaven were made and the sun and the constellations of heaven were fixed and division was made of days. Now whence come the men that people the world and Har, Har here is one of the three gods and his name means high.

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So Har means essentially the high god or the high one. Most scholars actually think it’s an epitaph for the high god Odin. And Har answered, when the sons of Bor, now the sons of Bor actually refer to these three gods, Odin and his two brothers. So, they’re talking about themselves. Were walking along the sea strand, which is the seashore, they found two trees and took up the trees and shaped men of them.

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The first gave them spirit and life, the second wit and feeling, the third form, speech, hearing and sight. And of them was mankind begotten, which received a dwelling place under Midgard. Midgard refers to earth, so Odin gives Asker and Emla earth as a place to live. If you’re familiar with Norse mythology, then you know that the entire Norse universe is built around the Yggdrasil, the

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Cosmic tree which of course is symbolic So when Odin tells ganglary that ask her and emblem were made from trees This is akin to Odin telling them that the birth or appearance of human beings on earth was intimately connected to this tree There are layers of meaning here. I can’t get into in this episode We’re definitely gonna get into them down the line. Just know that Odin actually sacrifices himself on this tree

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So, we’re meant to understand that there is a connection between sacrifice, this tree, and the birth or appearance of human beings on earth. This is actually not a new idea, as I mentioned in the last episode. And earlier in this episode, just briefly, the stone that marked the center of the world, the stone that served as the sacrificial altar, the foundation stone, was located in the very center of the world, the same place where the tree is located.

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So the true location of the sacrificial altar is always at the base of the sacred tree. In fact, one could say that this tree sits directly atop the sacrificial altar as both are located in the sacred center of the world. And don’t forget, when you try and decipher the symbolic meaning of the tree to ask yourself who the tree represents, not just what the tree represents.

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And this will give added weight to the imagery of the tree growing directly atop the altar. And when you’re thinking of the who, don’t forget in ancient Egypt, the king sat directly atop the foundation stone, the ben ben stone on his throne.  All Egyptian kings sat atop the stone where they symbolically took upon themselves the same role as Osiris.

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The divine king who died was resurrected and who reigns as a cosmic king in the afterlife. All in all, this Norse account is yet another good example of the tree descent category. Before I close out this episode, I wanna look at two more accounts. For the first one, let’s travel to ancient Greece. In this account Hesiod, the great Greek poet,

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tells us in his poem, Works and Days, that after Zeus and the Olympians overthrew the Titans, which is a Greek version of the primordial Theomachy, he created a race of human beings from ash trees. The passage I’m gonna read comes from Works and Days, lines 143 and 144. And this is the Evelyn White translation. Quote, Zeus, the father.

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made a third generation of mortal men, a brazen race sprung from ash trees. Here Hesiod tells us that a race of human beings sprung from ash trees. Scholars believe Hesiod is preserving a much older mythic pattern here, like we’ve been seeing where human beings originally emerged from a tree or trees. For the second account, we’re gonna travel to Southwestern Mexico.

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to the indigenous Mixtec people. In this account, in the beginning, after the ordering of the cosmos by creator beings, a sacred valley was established called Apuala, which in English means the river that divides. At this primordial location where the river divided stood two majestic trees. The Mixtec tell us that

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the earliest ancestors of the Mixtec line of kings or noble lords who were hereditary sacral kings who governed the Mixtec kingdom descended directly from these two sacred trees. This is fascinating because this theology found in Mexico is in complete alignment with ancient tradition theology.

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We haven’t gotten into this too much yet, but as you’re gonna see in a couple of weeks or so, the ancients widely taught that the first man, the first male human being, ruled as the world’s first king. Here the Mixtec, who trace their line of kings back to the first man who came out of one of the sacred trees in Apuala, is clearly teaching the same thing.

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What’s really fascinating is that the Mixtec seemed to understand that the tree symbolized God, the cosmic king, from whom all legitimate kings must necessarily trace their genetic line if they’re to claim the divine right to rule. Remember, kingship is dynastic. And among the Mixtec it was too. The royal line of succession was hereditary to be the legitimate heir

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one had to be able to trace one’s genealogy back to the first king and is, we’ll see in this account, ultimately the sacred tree, the cosmic king. And what’s more, Mixtec kings didn’t just rule as kings, they ruled as sacral kings. The earliest surviving representations of this account appear in the pre-Hispanic

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pictorial manuscript the Codex Vienna, which is currently housed in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. This codex is a record of the rulers of Tlantongo, a Mixtec city-state in Oaxaca. Jacob Neely, a scholar of Hispanic studies, says the following of the codex, quote, the codex begins with the mythological origins of the ruling dynasties.

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This rhetorical strategy lends credibility to the genealogy that follows by suggesting that the ruling families have a divine right to rule. On the displayed folios one and two, you can see a list of rulers tracing the family lines back centuries. Now, if you’re not familiar with Mesoamerican codices, they’re not like traditional books, they’re pictorial.

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which means that they’re conveying information primarily through images and symbols. On one of the pages called folios, you can see an image of a large stylized sacred tree identified as a pochote tree, which is a real species of tree that flowers in Mesoamerica. It’s a type or a cousin of the sabre tree, which among the Maya was revered as the sacred world tree.

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And where does the sacred tree grow? You know, in the sacred center of the world. All right, so in this folio, a richly dressed figure stands or sits on top of the tree, suggesting a deity or an ancestor. At the base of the tree, two elaborately dressed figures are facing each other and they’re holding ritual implements and interacting with the tree. Between them, inside the trunk,

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is a vertical split or opening representing emergence or birth. And beneath them lies, interestingly, a reclining or sacrificial figure suggesting ritual sacrifice or death is directly connected to the tree. If you’d like to see this folio, I’ve posted an image of it to the webpage for this episode. Scholars argue that this page is giving an account of sacred origins. In a book titled

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Time and the Ancestors, which was written by leading international scholars of mixed tech civilization, Martin Jansen and Gabina Perez Jimenez. Compare this image to other images of sacred origin, some of which were carved on bones. And this is what they say. This is found on pages 171 and 172. Quote, bone 203i shows a thorny tree, clearly a pochote.

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This is a direct parallel with the Codex Vienna, where the founders of the new Zhaoyi dynasties, these are the Mixtec, are born from the great mother, Pochote, in Apuala. If you’re interested in seeing the image found on the bone carvings, I’ve posted them to the webpage for this episode. Referring to the bone carvings, the authors continue, quote, we recognize the trees by the shape of their trunk.

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and their spines as pochotes. The first has leaves, the second has flowers, a detail that suggests they should be read as a parallelism. What the authors say here is quite important. They say the two trees should be quote, read as a parallelism. I’ll talk about this more in the next episode. So just keep that in your back pocket. They continue quote, a naked woman and a naked man are born from the trees. They are a couple.

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The same pair of figures also appears as the first to come from the tree of origin in the Codex Vienna. Then referring to the couple who was born, they say, quote, most likely they represent a title such as primordial mother, primordial father. So, the authors are saying that the Mixtec Adam and Eve were associated with the titles primordial father and mother. They go on to suggest that the bone carving should be read as a pictorial prayer.

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They offer the following interpretive prayer, quote, may the Kate Saul, which is a gorgeous bird, continue its ancient and noble song. May the Pochote tree of the dynasty stand upright and firm. May it be well rooted in the earth. May it continue to have green leaves. She, the divine primordial mother who gave birth and protection with raised hands. To the sacred Lord seven flower, Kate Saul.

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Lord Seven Flower is her son, who in another text is called a prince. Come forward, great Lord, to give us faith, devotion, and strength. Come forward, great Lord, or prince, which refers to this son, to give us faith, devotion, and strength, the perforator of self-sacrifice, to give us your support, raised hand. May Lord Toyna

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Spirit of wealth and good fortune continue to bless us. May the Pochote tree of the dynasty stand upright and firm, well-rooted, beautiful and noble with roots characterized by jade and rich feathers, which is another reference to kingship. May it continue to blossom. He, the divine primordial father who gave life, eye and speech to the sacred lady Nine Reed, which is their daughter. Come forward, great lady.

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to give us faith, devotion, and strength, the perforator of self-sacrifice, to give us support, raised hand. The authors conclude by saying, the tree on bone 203I is clearly the mother Pochote, or Seba, the tree of origin of the Mixtec dynasties associated with the sacred valley of Apuala. On another bone carving of this same account,

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Cataloged as bone 200, the authors note the following royal connection. Quote, a thorny tree, a pochote grows from the earth and is characterized by a human face and a triangular garment as a woman, our great mother. In its trunk, the tree has a frieze with disks, the sign of the palace.

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Thereby the tree is explicitly identified as that of the royal family. This is ancient tradition theology. And I can’t really say it better than that.  Those who are born of the sacred tree are the legitimate heirs.  They are the royal family. And when we recognize who the tree represents and that we are all born of the tree,

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we catch, if just for a moment, a glimpse of our royal destiny. That’s quite a theology. 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.