Monday, December 23, 2013

Another Christ

Click here to read about Christs who predate Jesus.

Attis: Born of a Virgin on December 25th, Crucified and Resurrected after Three Days

by D.M. Murdock/Acharya S

'A Roman wood and ivory throne found in the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, showing Attis next to a sacred pine tree collecting a pine cone.' (Photo: Reuters/Archaeology Superintendent of Pompeii)
In many mythicist writings, the ancient Phrygo-Roman god Attis is depicted as having been born of a virgin mother on December 25th, being killed and resurrecting afterwards. Here we shall examine the evidence for these contentions, which parallel the gospel story and Christian tradition concerning Jesus Christ.

Providing a summary of the mythos and ritual of Attis, along with comparisons to Christian tradition, professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester Dr. Andrew T. Fear states:
The youthful Attis after his murder was miraculously brought to life again three days after his demise. The celebration of this cycle of death and renewal was one of the major festivals of the metroac cult. Attis therefore represented a promise of reborn life and as such it is not surprising that we find representations of the so-called mourning Attis as a common tomb motif in the ancient world.
The parallel, albeit at a superficial level, between this myth and the account of the resurrection of Christ is clear. Moreover Attis as a shepherd occupies a favourite Christian image of Christ as the good shepherd. Further parallels also seem to have existed: the pine tree of Attis, for example, was seen as a parallel to the cross of Christ.
Beyond Attis himself, Cybele too offered a challenge to Christian divine nomenclature. Cybele was regarded as a virgin goddess and as such could be seen as a rival to the Virgin Mary... Cybele as the mother of the Gods, mater Deum, here again presented a starkly pagan parallel to the Christian Mother of God.
There was rivalry too in ritual. The climax of the celebration of Attis' resurrection, the Hilaria, fell on the 25th of March, the date that the early church had settled on as the day of Christ's death.... (Lane, 39-40)
As we can see, according to this scholar, Attis is killed, fixed to a tree, and resurrects after three days, while his mother is "regarded as a virgin goddess" comparable to the Virgin Mary.
These conclusions come from the writings of ancient Pagans, as well as the early Church fathers, including Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Tatian, Tertullian, Augustine, Arnobius and Firmicus Maternus.

Born of the Virgin Nana

The Phrygian god Attis's mother was variously called Cybele and Nana. Like the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Christian figure Mary, Nana/Cybele is a perpetual virgin, despite her status as a mother. The scholarly term used to describe virgin birth is "parthenogenesis," while many goddesses are referred to as "Parthenos," the Greek word meaning "virgin." This term is applicable to the Phrygian goddess Cybele/Nana as well.
"Attis is the son of Cybele in her form as the virgin, Nana."
Medallion of Cybele in chariot, under the sun, moon and star; 2nd cent. BCE, Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan (Singh, 94)
The diverse names of Attis's mother and her manner of impregnation are explained by Dr. David Adams Leeming (25), professor emeritus of English and comparative literature at the University of Connecticut:
Attis is the son of Cybele in her form as the virgin, Nana, who is impregnated by the divine force in the form of a pomegranate.
Regarding Nana, in Virgin Mother Goddesses of Antiquity (111), Dr. Marguerite Rigoglioso states:
...Another instance of spontaneous conception occurred when Nana, whose very name was one by which the Great Goddess was known, became pregnant simply by eating the tree's fruit...

December 25th

The "December 25th" or winter-solstice birth of the sun god is a common theme in several cultures around the world over the past millennia, including the Egyptian, among others. As it is for the Perso-Roman god Mithra, the Egyptian god Horus and the Christian godman Jesus, this date has likewise been claimed for Attis's nativity as well. For example, Barbara G. Walker (77) writes:
Attis's passion was celebrated on the 25th of March, exactly nine months before the solstitial festival of his birth, the 25th of December. The time of his death was also the time of his conception, or re-conception.
"Each year, Attis was born at the winter solstice."
In this same regard, Shirley Toulson (34) remarks:
In the secret rites of this Great Mother the young god Attis figured as her acolyte and consort.... Each year he was born at the winter solstice, and each year as the days shortened, he died.
The reasoning behind this contention of the vegetative and solar god Attis's birth at the winter solstice is sound enough, in that it echoes natural cycles, with the god's death at the vernal equinox also representing the time when he is conceived again, to be born nine months later.
Moreover, at times the young Attis was merged with Mithra, whose birthday was traditionally held on December 25th and with whom he shared the same Phrygian capped attire.
Attis wearing a Phrygian cap
Marble bust of Attis wearing Phrygian cap
2nd cent.  ad/ce
(Paris)
Mithra wearing a Phrygian cap
Mithra in a Phrygian cap
2nd cent.  ad/ceRome, Italy
(British Museum, London)

Crucified

The myths of Attis's death include him being killed by a boar or by castrating himself under a tree, as well as being hung on a tree or "crucified." Indeed, he has been called the "castrated and crucified Attis." (Harari, 31) It should be noted that the use of the term "crucified" as concerns gods like Horus and Attis does not connote that he or they were thrown to the ground and nailed to a cross, as we commonly think of crucifixion, based on the Christian tale. In reality, there have been plenty of ancient figures who appeared in cruciform, some of whose myths specifically have them punished or killed through crucifixion, such as Prometheus.

12 comments:

  1. Christmas sucks and Jesus was a fraud.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you want more reading on the pagan-Christian views, Pagan Christianity has more points. I have a honest question--not attacking your view points. I take it your not just an atheist, but an antitheist. I have read C. Hitchens and a few others in the same bent. I would de-convert if you could answer my question: did the world self-create out of nothing or is matter eternal? Hitchens dismisses the question saying it is our nature to look for causes. If you dismiss the validity of looking for causes this undermines the entire scientific process. As an anti-theist he is asking us to take a "leap of faith" and just accept the world is--don't question its origins, it just is. If evolution is the answer--how did the world self create out of nothing? If you say there was something--like the infinity of numbers or the inability to qualify zero--what is the difference between saying an impersonal force like energy was always there to saying a personal force was always there. In my view the only road human logic leads to agnosticism.

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  3. What created God?

    I don't know what caused existence but I do know that it sucks for most people and other living things.

    I don't have the burden of proof. The theists have the burden of proof.

    If God does exists and he is responsible for life, at least life on earth then he is a truly malevolent being. If we were to believe the Bible or the Koran either figuratively or literally then God must certainly is a piece of shit. Any adherence, adoration or respect shown to the God of the Bible or any force responsible for this existence is like a Jew sucking Hitler's dick only worse.

    I oppose the very concept of a benign or loving God. The evidence supports and cruel, vengeful and jealous god who needs to be hated out of existence. If what we read in holy book and what we experience on this planet is true then God who claims to be all knowing, omnipotent and omnipresent is without a doubt pure evil and needs to be destroyed.

    Now do you get it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. God is a filthy cock sucking faggot bitch. And Jesus too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Burn in hell God you ass eating faggot bitch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You know I once had a store and God took that from me!!! GOD DAMNED HOLY SPIRIT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. God will sucking many more cocks on Christmas day than any other day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. God is a filthy cocksucker that swallows hot cum after all the cocks that filthy faggot bitch is sucking on. God really needs to have his head chopped off since he really is working with these low life loser liberals to destroy our America. Burn in hell God you filthy diseased infested cocksucker.

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  9. God would not suck a cock but he does bugger boy babies 👶

    ReplyDelete
  10. God is a filthy cum eating faggot.

    ReplyDelete

Unlike Christian and Muslims I don't censor so say whatever you want. Please include your thoughts on ways to destroy God and religion.