The offical random thoughts about Spirituality and Religion thread

[KingsOfKings]

 

[MMS]

Hence, the words "wisdom" and "philosophy", although applicable in the general sense as a conceptualized, practical investigation of the being of creation and man, do not have dialogal & polemic associations. And of course, pre-Greek philosophies never worked with the "tabula rasa" principle, neither with the Razor of Ockham, but rather with a multiplicity (complementarity) of approaches (as evidenced by the different cosmogonies). Different answers were as it were put on top of each other. Wisdom was tradition embedded in context. This absence of debate and lively discussions does not imply the absence of philosophy, i.e. the quest for a comprehensive understanding (within the limitations of the given modes of cognition) of the universe and the situation of humanity, as shown by the Maxims of Good Discourse. That proto-rational thought is not a priori devoid of philosophical inclinations, may well a discovery which balances the Hellenocentric approach of wisdom, so fashionable in the West since the Renaissance.

ANCIENT EGYPT : The Wisdom of Ptahhotep

 

[KingsOfKings]

smh

 

[KingsOfKings]

 

[KingsOfKings]

 

[H@LLOW]

Besides all this, yall gonna die.

 

[MMS]

Besides all this, yall gonna die.

Bible Gateway passage: Ecclesiastes 3 - King James Version

 

[KingsOfKings]

 

[MMS]

Sed festival - Wikipedia


Moses in Islam - Wikipedia

When Musa and Harun arrived in the court of Pharaoh and proclaimed their prophethood to the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh began questioning Musa about the God he followed. The Quran narrates that Musa answered the Pharaoh by stating that he followed the God who gave everything its form and guided them.[35] The Pharaoh then inquires about the generations who passed before them and Musa answers that knowledge of the previous generations was with God.[36] The Quran also mentions the Pharaoh questioning Musa: “And what is the Lord of the worlds?”[37] Musa replies that God is the lord of the heavens, the earth and what is between them. The Pharaoh then reminds Musa of his childhood with them and the killing of the man he had done.[38] Musa admitted that he had committed the deed in ignorance, but insisted that he was now forgiven and guided by God. Pharaoh accused him of being mad and threatened to imprison him if he continued to proclaim that the Pharaoh was not the true god. Musa informed him that he had come with manifest signs from God.[39] In response, the Pharaoh demanded to see the signs. Musa threw his staff to the floor and it turned into a serpent.[40] He then drew out his hand and it shined a bright white light. The Pharaoh's counselors advised him that this was sorcery and on their advice he summoned the best sorcerers in the kingdom. Pharaoh challenged him to a battle between him and the Pharaoh's magicians, asking him to choose the day. Musa chose the day of a festival.

Apep - Wikipedia
Leviathan - Wikipedia

 

[MMS]

Behemoth - Wikipedia

Mnevis - Wikipedia
Apis (deity) - Wikipedia

15 Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.
19 He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare? (Job 40:15-24, ESV)

same thing being described

the personification of egypts belief in Job (with respect to the borders of Judah/Jordan)

Ziz - Wikipedia

There is only passing mention of the Ziz in the Bible, found in Psalms 50:11 "I know all the birds of the mountains and Zīz śāday is mine" and Psalms 80:13–14 "The boar from the forest ravages it, and Zīz śāday וְזִיז שָׂדַי‎ feeds on it", and these are often lost in translation from the Hebrew,[1] being referred to in most English translations as ambiguous "beasts" and referred to as neither singular nor avian. The Jewish aggadot say of the Ziz:

As Leviathan is the king of fishes, so the Ziz is appointed to rule over the birds. His name comes from the variety of tastes his flesh has; it tastes like this, zeh, and like that, zeh. The Ziz is as monstrous of size as Leviathan himself. His ankles rest on the earth, and his head reaches to the very sky.

It once happened that travelers on a vessel noticed a bird. As he stood in the water, it merely covered his feet, and his head knocked against the sky. The onlookers thought the water could not have any depth at that point, and they prepared to take a bath there. A heavenly voice warned them: "Alight not here! Once a carpenter's axe slipped from his hand at this spot, and it took it seven years to touch bottom." The bird the travelers saw was none other than the Ziz. His wings are so huge that unfurled they darken the sun. They protect the earth against the storms of the south; without their aid the earth would not be able to resist the winds blowing thence. Once an egg of the Ziz fell to the ground and broke. The fluid from it flooded sixty cities, and the shock crushed three hundred cedars. Fortunately such accidents do not occur frequently. As a rule the bird lets her eggs slide gently into her nest. This one mishap was because the egg was rotten, and the bird cast it away carelessly.

The Ziz has another name, Renanin, because he is the celestial singer. On account of his relation to the heavenly regions he is also called Sekwi, the seer, and, besides, he is called "son of the nest," because his fledgling birds break away from the shell without being hatched by the mother bird; they spring directly from the nest, as it were. Like Leviathan, so Ziz is a delicacy to be served to the pious at the end of time, to compensate them for the privations which abstaining from the unclean fowls imposed upon them. [...] The creation of the fifth day, the animal world, rules over the celestial spheres. Witness the Ziz, which can darken the sun with its pinions.

Nekhbet - Wikipedia

 

[MMS]

Golem - Wikipedia

The oldest stories of golems date to early Judaism. In the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 38b), Adam was initially created as a golem (גולם) when his dust was "kneaded into a shapeless husk." Like Adam, all golems are created from mud by those close to divinity, but no anthropogenic golem is fully human. Early on, the main disability of the golem was its inability to speak. Sanhedrin 65b describes Rava creating a man (gavra). He sent the man to Rav Zeira. Rav Zeira spoke to him, but he did not answer. Rav Zeira said, "You were created by the sages; return to your dust".

During the Middle Ages, passages from the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) were studied as a means to create and animate a golem, although there is little in the writings of Jewish mysticism that supports this belief. It was believed that golems could be activated by an ecstatic experience induced by the ritualistic use of various letters of the Hebrew Alphabet[1] forming a "shem" (any one of the Names of God), wherein the shem was written on a piece of paper and inserted in the mouth or in the forehead of the golem.[7]

A golem is inscribed with Hebrew words in some tales (for example, some versions of Chełm and Prague, as well as in Polish tales and versions of Brothers Grimm), such as the word emet (אמת, "truth" in Hebrew) written on its forehead. The golem could then be deactivated by removing the aleph (א) in emet,[8] thus changing the inscription from "truth" to "death" (met מת, meaning "dead").

Samuel of Speyer (12th century) was said to have created a golem.

Rabbi Jacob Ben Shalom arrived at Barcelona from Germany in 1325 and remarked that the law of destruction is the reversal of the law of creation.[9]

One source credits 11th century Solomon ibn Gabirol with creating a golem,[10] possibly female, for household chores.[11]

Joseph Delmedigo informs us in 1625 that "many legends of this sort are current, particularly in Germany."[12]

The earliest known written account of how to create a golem can be found in Sodei Razayya by Eleazar ben Judah of Worms of the late 12th and early 13th century.[13]

@Koichos by this understanding...what isnt a Golem?

 

[MMS]

Golem - Wikipedia

A Yiddish and Slavic folktale is the Clay Boy, which combines elements of the Golem and The Gingerbread Man, in which a lonely couple makes a child out of clay, with disastrous or comical consequences.[41] In one common Russian version, an older couple, whose children have left home, make a boy out of clay and dry him by their hearth. The Clay Boy comes to life; at first the couple is delighted and treats him like a real child, but the Clay Boy does not stop growing and eats all their food, then all their livestock, and then the Clay Boy eats his parents. The Clay Boy rampages through the village until he is smashed by a quick-thinking goat.[42]

Binding of Isaac - Wikipedia

Abraham's faith in God is such that he felt God would be able to resurrect the slain Isaac, in order that his prophecy (Genesis 21:12) might be fulfilled. Early Christian preaching sometimes accepted Jewish interpretations of the binding of Isaac without elaborating. For example, Hippolytus of Rome says in his Commentary on the Song of Songs, "The blessed Isaac became desirous of the anointing and he wished to sacrifice himself for the sake of the world" (On the Song 2:15).[12]

Other Christians from the period saw Isaac as a type of the "Word of God" who prefigured Christ.[13] This interpretation can be supported by symbolism and context such as Abraham sacrificing his son on the third day of the journey (Genesis 22:4), or Abraham taking the wood and putting it on his son Isaac's shoulder (Genesis 22:6). Another thing to note is how God reemphasizes Isaac being Abraham's one and only son whom he loves (Genesis 22:2,12,16). As further support that the binding of Isaac foretells the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when the two went up there, Isaac asked Abraham "where is the lamb for the burnt offering" to which Abraham responded "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." (Genesis 22:7-8). However, it was a Ram (not a Lamb) that was ultimately sacrificed in Isaac's place, and the Ram was caught in a thicket (i.e. thornbush). (Genesis 22:13). In the New Testament, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29). Thus, the binding is compared to the Crucifixion and the last-minute stay of sacrifice is a type of the Resurrection.

all the same allegory

Genesis 3:20-24

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

[MMS]

Urim and Thummim - Wikipedia

In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim and the Thummim (Hebrew: הָאוּרִים וְהַתֻּמִּים‎, Modern: ha-Urim veha-Tummim Tiberian: hāʾÛrîm wəhatTummîm; meaning uncertain, possibly "Lights and Perfections") are elements of the hoshen, the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod. They are connected with divination in general, and cleromancy in particular. Most scholars suspect that the phrase refers to a set of two objects used by the high priest to answer a question or reveal the will of God.[1][2]

The Urim and the Thummim first appear in Exodus 28:30, where they are named for inclusion on the breastplate to be worn by Aaron in the holy place. Other books, especially 1 Samuel, describe their use in divination.

"Cleromancy"
Cleromancy - Wikipedia

• In the Book of Jonah 1:7, the desperate sailors cast lots to see whose god was responsible for creating the storm: "Then the sailors said to each other, 'Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.' They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah."

 

[Koichos]

Golem - Wikipedia



@Koichos by this understanding...what isnt a Golem?

I am not comfortable discussing this topic because it touches on matters dealt with in the סֵפֶר הַזּוֹהַר, the סֵפֶר דִּי רָזִיאֵל הַמַּלְאָךְ and the סֵפֶר יְצִירָה and these are not suitable topics for general public discussion.

Golem - Wikipedia

Binding of Isaac - Wikipedia

all the same allegory

Genesis 3:20-24

The Torah's words are:

:וַיַּעַשׂ יְיָ אֱלֹקִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִשְׁתּוֹ כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם
​

Hashem G-d made skin-covers for ʾAdam and his wife and He dressed them.

The phrase כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר koth'noth ʿor in B'reshıth 3:21 does not mean 'coats [made] of skin', but 'coverings for the [i.e., their] skin'. The only other place in the Tanach apart from B'reshıth 3:21 where the word כָּתְנוֹת־ koth'noth- ('clothes of...') is found is in N'hamyoh 7:69 where, instead of עוֹר ʿor ('skin'), it is followed by כֹּהֲנִים kohanim. But does anyone understand the phrase כׇּתְנוֹת כֹּהֲנִים koth'noth kohanim ('clothes of kohanim') in N'hamyoh 7:69 as meaning 'clothes made of kohanim'? No, the phrase is translated 'kohanim's garments', 'robes for the kohanim' or something similar; likewise, in B'reshıth 3:21, כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר kothnoth ʿor means 'coverings for the skin', not 'coverings made of skin'. In fact, there is a relevant disagreement in the Oral Sources between Rav and Sh'muʾel Yarhinoʾoh regarding B'reshıth 3:21.

The following passage (recorded at daf yod-dalat, ʿammud ʾalaf of b. Soṭoh) is a disagreement between Rav (a moniker, affectionately referred to simply as 'Rav', an Aramaic title meaning 'great [one]') and Sh'muʾel Yarhinoʾoh ('Sh'muʾel the Lunar Expert'), who presided over the great rival academies located at N'hardʿo and Suroʾ respectively in the third century CE:

כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר: רַב וּשְׁמוּאֵל—חַד אֲמַר: "דָּבָר הַבָּא מִן הָעוֹר", וְחַד אֲמַר: "דָּבָר שֶׁהָעוֹר נֶהֱנֶה מִמֶּנּוּ"׃​

koth'noth ʿor: Rav and Sh'muʾel [disagreed about the meaning of this term]—one said "something that is derived from skin" [like wool—Rash"i], and the other said "something that the skin derives pleasure [or 'benefit'] from [such as linen, which a person wears close to his skin—Rash"i]".

Note that neither explanation would have required any animal to have died in order to provide material for the 'koth'noth' made by Hashem for the primordial man and his wife.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Reading the tao te ching helps bring serenity. Highly recommnded