Anton's Stories

As a typical American elementary and secondary education student, I learned mythology, only Greek, in junior high. In high school, I learned that the Greeks were not the only people with myths. I learned that the Romans and Native Americans had myths as well. During my freshman English class – A Survey of Literature – I read a Native American myth called The World on A Turtle’s Back and a Roman myth that had something to do with Minerva.  I learned then that Minerva was the Roman equivalent to Athena, and then my teacher assigned the class to read The Odyssey – not excerpts from the story, but the entire story. During my sophomore year, I remember reading a one-page story about Native American Myths in my American Literature class. I was given a world literature class in my junior year, and we read the Iliad. I did not understand why the high school curriculum gave us these stories out of sequence, as The Iliad comes before The Odyssey. I suppose it was about reading The Aeneid, which came afterward. My teacher stretched out those two stories to cover over a quarter of the school year. In other words, Roman and Greek mythology covered over 25% of my World Literature class, and Hamlet covered another 25%. I did not read an Egyptian myth until two years into college.

I later developed a theory that is the underlying message of my Men, Djinn, and Angels series.  First, most of the Roman, Egyptian, Greek, and Sumerian myths tell a story about the same people. These people existed during ancient times, perhaps before written records were made. These people were admired, and that admiration became legends, and those legends became myths. As the stories were retold multiple times by people who added and changed various details, different characters emerged, and various traits from the original person were split and shared among new characters. Creativity was involved in the retelling, and in some cases, the original characters were turned into symbols. As we tell stories and read them, we pass down various codes that have some critical significance, although we may not consciously know what they are (more of that later).

Let us take, for example, the story of the Watchers from The Book of Enoc. More likely, they were powerful djinn who worked side by side with angels. MDAT asserts the Watchers kept an eye on weaker races of djinn who inhabited the earth and adjacent realms. Their jobs were to ensure the earth-bound djinn did not violate divine mandates or destroy the universe. But the Watchers, perhaps believing they were without accountability for their actions, began to lust after humans. Biblical text reads

That the sons of G-d saw the daughters of mankind were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose

As a result, cross-species procreation produced Nephilim. The Nephilim were giants and men of renown. They had incredible strength and abilities. When they procreated with humans, they introduced genetic codes that essentially disqualified the offspring from being entirely human. This sounds a lot like European myths. The gods in Olympus, Midgar, or some heavenly places have their pick at the beautiful women of Earth. Ironically, when Zeus sends Hermes to Calypso, asking her to release Odysseus from her island, she points out an interesting fact. She claims the gods become jealous when goddesses sleep with mortals, but they do not consider the feelings of men or mortals when they take mortal women for their own. She refuses to release Odysseus, stating she loves him as a husband and has offered to make him immortal.

Indeed, the similarities are apparent, but there are more. The Nephilim are monstrous, they procreate with humans and animals alike. They fathered and mothered strange creatures, possibly centaurs and winged horses. Nephilim jeopardized the genetic code of all original forms of life. They had to be destroyed. So here comes the flood and Noah’s story. The flood was supposed to destroy all the genetically impure creatures and reset the world. But the Watchers, seeing their offspring drown in the flood, went at it again, creating more Nephalim. The second generation of Nephalim was more cruel and salacious than their predecessors. The angels were sent to destroy them and make war against the Watchers. 200 Watchers fought bravely but were finally overpowered, bound, and thrown into a pit where they would remain for at least seventy generations.

Similarly, the Titans were as mighty as the Watchers. They were uncontested immortals. Cronus went so far as to eat his children. If not for Rhea’s cleverness, Zeus would have been eaten as well. Instead, she lied to Cronus, telling him the rock in her hand was what she gave birth to. Cronus ate the rock. Then Rhea hides her infant, Zeus, in a cave. Later, Zeus leads the rebellion against the Titans. They fight a massive global war and solicit help from Cyclops and the hundred-handed giants. When they defeat the Titans, they bind them and lock them away deep within the earth – Tartarus.

Similarities continue with Osirus, the Egyptian god tricked into laying inside a box and nailed shut inside it. Later, Set, his brother, rips Osirus’ body and scatters the parts over the earth. It took Isis many years to find the pieces of her husband’s body. She had to use magic to reunite the parts. How similar is Osirus’ fate to Uranus, who was cut into pieces by his son Cronus? Both of these stories echo the biblical Nimrod’s story. He, too, is cut into pieces by his enemy, and the parts scattered as to prevent the father of civilization from becoming a martyr. There are also the stories of Gilgamesh and Noah’s ark, almost identical as Gilgamesh represents a good-natured but arrogant Nephilim.

So why the similarities? What does it all mean? Maybe nothing at all. Perhaps these tales are exaggerated stories of people who accomplished great deeds. Perhaps they are stories of powerful djinn who interacted with people in such a way that they were worshiped as deities. We often place athletes on pedestals and, in some aspects, worship them, maybe not as gods but as legends. Perhaps the tales are entertaining ways to explain to children how things became as they are. Maybe they are codes to secrets waiting to be unraveled. For instance, Bible codes – encrypted in the Hebrew Old Testament. These codes, if understood, may open doors and gateways connecting our reality to others. The best example of this is the Shem HaMephorash. This has been an object of esoteric practices for more than a thousand years. Where it was once used commonly and taught by the sages, it became less used and part of the Jewish esoteric secrets. However, in the book of Exodus, the code appears as a simple verse – the meaning is encrypted. Only those taught in the secrets of the esoteric ways will know how to use the codes.

Amatrix Angels