PAXIMUS
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Looks like they come out with a new 40th Anniversary Edition of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.
http://www.johnallegro.org/main/
John Allegro was a scholar well versed in ancient Near Eastern languages who worked on the team that translated and analyzed the Dead Sea Scrolls. He wrote The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross about his highly controversial theory that Christianity's origin was in an ancient, Hebrew if I recall correctly, cult that used Amanita Muscaria mushrooms. He wrecked his career with that.
Allegro's theory was that the mushroom cultists were persecuted and had to hide their ritual formulas in stories that became the basis of the Christian stories regarding Jesus and his followers. It's been about 20 years since I've read it, but I'm going to have to give it a look again. Since there is a new edition that has just been released, there may be some interesting discussion around it. It's interesting that both Jesus and Santa Claus might be explained by Amanita use.
Christmas is something I could take or leave. Easter on the other hand though, I love. I lived in Turkey in the early 70's when I was about 7 and 8. We travelled a lot, and went to Ephesus for Easter. My parents were only sort of Christian, so I think it was really just because we were free on a school break. The environment there was much more heavily vegetated in ancient times, but it was really spectacular in the early spring when I was there. I can easily see why that would be cause for celebration. That trip fixed in my mind this image of the Ephesian version of Artemis as what Easter is really all about.
I've loved this sculpture of a dancer and gazelles by Paul Manship ever since I first saw it. I used to always visit the one in the National Gallery every time I went to D.C. I still visit as often as I can. I didn't make the connection for a long time, but although it's stylistically more influenced by Persian and Assyrian art it's clearly the same motif.
The gestures Manship's dancer makes are closer to this than the archaic pose of the Ephesian artemis. I often find myself doing the same thing Artemis is doing with her cat, so I like this one.
It's from a 6th century B.C. vase and is actually far more modern than the Ephesian statue which is from the 1st century A.D. That just goes to show how persistent forms can be once they are imbued with ritual significance. Something very similar to the headdress Artemis wears in the Ephesian sculptures can still be seen in women's wedding adornment in areas as far flung as Morocco and Uzbekistan, not to mention in countless images of Byzantine women. BTW, if you look closely at the image from the vase, you will find the "x" or chi with 4 dots.
This is terrific stuff thanks for sharing. I really love to study art for its more subtle hidden and esoteric meanings and I do believe most art has these meanings within and very few are aware of it because as you say they only look at it on the surface and then move on. There are some works of art that you could spend an entire lifetime trying to make sense of if you really wanted to.
A few of my favs:
Lucifer:
And this Divinci painting is one of the most controversial christian paintings ever. I wont spill the beans and ruin the fun but it is FULL of esotericism and NOT what it appears to be, MUCH like the Last Supper which itself is highly charged and controversial to those who have really studied it (and no, fvck Dan Brown).
