The Odyssey - Manual of Secret Teachings?

The Iliad and The Odyssey ARE a record of astronomical phenomenon . . . possessing accurate calculations, spherical trigonometry and a high-level knowledge of astronomy. Pls read "Homer's Secret Iliad: The Epic of the Night Skies Decoded" (Sept 1999) and "Homer's Secret Odyssey" (Sept 2011) by Florence Wood and Kenneth Wood . . . It is an amazing piece of deductive reasoning . . .


Thanks for the heads up Merlin, finally got my hands on a copy recently (from the U.K. of all places) and despite being only a hundred pages in, it’s EXACTLY what I was looking for 😊
Interestingly it’s also given a plausible insight to some dreams that have had me stumped for ages!

Much appreciated.

Cheers

J
 
Today, SOTT carries an article about Xenia (code of hospitality) from John Beasley (The Duran - Tue, 17 Dec 2019 20:25 UTC):

The 3,000-year-old social and moral code of The Oddessy -- Sott.net

European culture formally began with the books of Homer. These European cultural stories were popularized in Europe approximately 3,000 years ago and then written down by the poet Homer about 2,700 years ago. One of the major themes in Homer is the concept of Xenia. Xenia defines the behavior expected from local European residents toward travelers, strangers, and even immigrants. Xenia also defines the behavior that is expected in return from these guests, these strangers in a strange land. The concepts presented in the Iliad and the Odyssey are considered the foundation of the European cultural tradition termed the code of hospitality or the code of courtesy.

continued...
 
Hey all, I am glad to find this thread!

I had done my own research regarding one section of the Odyssey, which is below. This is a certain style of writing of mine which is more like 'metered verse' and less 'linear' than what many would be accustomed to. But it's how I flow.

The piece was written a year ago when I was trying to understand the substance abuse issue in this world - and also amongst my 'friends' at the time. I found that there is perhaps ancient meaning to the term 'holy moly' - with an interesting link to acetylcholine. It is a meditation on spell-casting. It also attempts to understand the sense and significance of the New Age Cointelpro as comparable to the Reformation.

I welcome any feedback - I intend to turn this into an article.

Thanks in advance.

Thinking of spelling, words as spells, spell-casting, chanting, enchantments, sorcery. Christianity, drugs, and the New Age. Where did the word Church come from? Why is it called the Mother Church?

In Scotland it was Kirk, in Germany Kirche. In Greek it was Circe, a goddess who lived on the Isle of Aiaia. She was skilled in illusion, transmutation, necromancy. She often turned people into swine to eat them. Now think of the Mother Church, turning people into domesticated livestock.

This is almost what happened to the crew of Odysseus, and Odysseus himself, if Hermes hadn't warned him. His crew was fed a meal, sweetened with honey, and laced with a potion, and she turned them into pigs after they'd gorged. Hermes told him that there was an herb he could use, Moly, that could help protect him against her wiles.

"The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, Dangerous for a mortal man to pluck from the soil, but not for the deathless gods. All lies within their power".

Obviously some sort of powerful plant. From what I've read, there has been a lot of debate about who Moly is. Is it a plant still with us? Some say it is snowdrop. The flower in the region contains galantamine, which has a substance in it that help with amnesia, hallucinations, and delusions. These occur when a certain substance blocks acetylcholine, whichI can't pretend to know everything about. But it seems that its related to clarity of sight and thought.

Tobacco is a plant that boosts clarity of thought. Ive read that nicotine mimics acetylcholine, or fits into the receptor, something of this nature. Perhaps part of its sacred status amongst intact cultures is the knowledge that it helps prevent you from being enchanted, turned into pigs, and being eaten by the Church.

Anti-smoking is everywhere.

But we live in a time where the Church is losing steam. She over-ate, and some of the herd animals have jumped the fence. Some heroes and heroines found their version of Moly.

Religion is a word that is loaded. But one etymology is re-ligare, to bind, or reconnect. Circe's name is derived from the Greek kirkoô, meaning to secure with rings or to enclose in a hoop, a circle. Its a reference to the binding power of magic. Religions around the world could be seen as this binding, a fencing in, or an enclosure, where you keep your livestock. Your flock of sheep.

But word has got out amongst the human animals. The Inquisition, the witch trials, the missionaries, and the culture of rape. Somehow, the Moly effect has taken hold, and there's a rejection of the old feedlot.

But plants play various roles in the story of Circe. Moly can free us. But she also makes use of plants to enchant, drug, and domesticate her victims.

Christianity still has an effect. But for all those animals who jumped the fence, there's a new mode of social control. Religion is re-binding. A new spell. Some have escaped. How to bring them back in? If Christianity has broken down, what has replaced it? Well, in the 60s, the anti-war movement became a serious threat to the would-be Masters of Mankind.

How to enchant, drug, and domesticate an unruly populace? What would the tranquilizer be? Huxley wrote about it in his power manual, Brave New World. He called it Soma. Whereas Orwell wrote about the fear-based mode of control, Huxley wrote about the desire-based mode.

You can control a beast by dangling a carrot in front of its nose, or hit it with a stick.
The tranquilizer was drugs. Well - it was a trifecta. The Law of Three. Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll. Turn thinking humans into domesticated beasts that can be devoured. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

There a legend I'd like to share.

God said to the Andean people:

“Guard the leaves with much love and when
you feel the sting of pain in your heart,
hunger in your body
and darkness in your mind…
take them to your mouth and softly, draw up
its spirit which is part of mine…..”
You will find love for your pain
food for your body and light for your mind
Further more, watch the leaves dance with the wind
and you will find answers to your queries.

But if your torturer, who come from the North
the white conqueror, the gold seeker, should touch it
he will find in it only…
poison for his body
and madness for his mind
for his heart is so callous as his steel and iron garment
And when the COCA, which is how you will call it,
attempts to soften his feelings
it will only shatter him
as the icy crystals born in the clouds
crack the rocks, demolish mountains. …"

Plants can protect. Plants can harm. They can bind us into domestication, or free us. Peoples of intact cultures knew this. Some still know this. The old cultures who know are being intentionally wiped out.

I've begun to look very carefully at my life, and ask myself serious questions about the so-called freedoms that civilization has on offer. I've begun to read back into the myths, looking for answers.
I've become increasingly convinced that the culture of drugs is part of the formation of the new Church. Some call it the New Age religion. It will be very different than Christianity. It will also be very similar.

This event is perhaps as historically significant as the Protestant Reformation, or Constantine adopting Christianity. Sometimes its hard to see it when you're in it.
The words being used are clues.
They are spells.
Spelling.
Enchantments.
Songs.
Time to wake up.

Holy Moly.
 
It is one of my "Bibles", because it is a splendid work and of reflection for the man who wants to find his original "home"
 
For those who do not know Homer, the Illiade is independent of the Odyssey, what connects it is after the Trojan War, some of whom think that it was the war against the Atland, even if in the Illiade the very human aspect of the Trojans is not overlooked, in particular the human character of Hector which is great
 
Haven't seen this short YT video posted on the Forum yet, and as it referenced this thread, here it is.


The lessons of The Odyssey can be applied to modern spiritual practice, offering guidance on navigating life's challenges, developing self-awareness, and achieving inner harmony.


Homer's The Odyssey is a profound allegory for the soul's journey, filled with symbolic archetypes, initiatory lessons, and esoteric wisdom.


For a more detailed discussion, see The Odyssey - Manual of Secret Teachings?

By the way, very nice short video with a very to-the-point message conveyed.
Thank you to all the team involved in the production. :flowers:
Looking forward to next installments of the Knowledge protects series.
 
Galaxy AI gives good summaries of longer videos, for those who do not have the time or only wish to get an overview of the main ideas of a video.

Here is the summary of the above video.
I find more detailed summaries can be generated by putting full transcript into ChatGPT. If the full transcript is not available, most videos can be converted to an audiofile, then uploaded to TurboScribe, which will generate an accurate written transcript to then be fed into ChatGPT.
 
In case of this video, which is only 2:24 long, that is very short, it would take much longer to ask AI for a summary, get it and read it, than it would take to watch the video itself and listen to what it has to say. It took me longer to write this reply post than to watch the video in question.
FWIW.
 
Did the events on the island of Thrinacia partly inspire the Golden Calf story in the bible?

The Golden Calf story appear in the book of Exodus in the Bible. Moses and the Israelites have left Egypt and are journeying home to the promised land of Canaan. On the way, Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the ten commandments from God and while he is away the Israelites become impatient and decide that since they don't know what has happened to him, they will create an idol to worship as their God: a Golden Calf. This violates the first two of the ten commandments: 1) the Israelites will have no other God than Yahweh, and 2) they shall make no idols. As a result, 3000 of them are executed.

While Odysseus is trying to get home with his men, they visit the island of Aeaea where the goddess Circe, daughter of Helios (the Sun) lives. Circe tricks a group of Odysseus' men and turns them into pigs to keep in her pig styes. Hermes/Mercury goes to Odysseus and tells him how to rescue his men. He gives him a special drug which will prevent him from being transformed and tells him that when she attempts to cast her spell on him, he should draw his sword and threaten to kill her. When he does this, she will cower and ask him to sleep with her and he should do so on two conditions: 1) that she will free his men and remove the spell from them, allowing them to become men again, and 2) that she will swear not to attempt any more evil tricks towards them and Odysseus.

After carrying out the rescue and sleeping with Circe, the result is that she gives Odysseus advice on how to get home, which involves him and the crew sailing to Hades to find and speak with Teiresias the Prophet who even after death has retained his abilities as an oracle. Teiresias will give further instructions on the next stage of the journey home.

Teiresias tells Odysseus that after their encounter with the Whirlpool of Charybdis, they will come across the island of Thrinacia, where they will find "the oxen and wonderful sheep of Helios our Sun, who oversees and overhears all things. If you are so preoccupied about returning as to leave these beasts unhurt, then you may get back to Ithaca, very toil-worn, after all: but if you meddle with them, then I certify the doom of your men and your ship; and though yourself may escape alive, it will not be till after many days, in a ship of strangers, alone and in sorry plight, that you win back, having suffered the loss of all your company".

The crew then head from Hades back to Circe's island, who after giving other warnings, reminds Odysseus of what Teiresias said:

“Afterwards you will make the island of Thrinacia, a grazing ground of the many cattle of the Sun and of his noble sheep. The cattle are seven herds and there are as many flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each. Upon these neither birth nor death can pass. Two divine creatures tend them, Phaethusa and Lampetie, fair-tressed nymph-daughters of Neaera and exalted Helios. Their mother, the Goddess, after they had been weaned, sent them to live apart in this Thrinacian island, where they keep their father’s flocks and his rolling-gaited kine. Should you be so bound up in the thought of returning home that you leave these beasts unharmed, then through much tribulation you may indeed attain Ithaca at the end of all: but if you hurt them I solemnly predict the certain doom of your ship and men. You may yourself escape, but your return will be at the least tardy and miserable, effected only with the loss of your whole company.”

When Odysseus and the crew reach the island after their terrible and exhausting encounter with the Whirlpool, Odysseus tell the men they shouldn't step onto the island at all after the warnings he has received about the place, but Eurylochus stirs up dissent in the rest of the crew and says:

“You are enduring, Odysseus, and uncommonly strong, nor do your joints grow tired: but if you can prevent us your crew from setting foot on this shore in whose sea-bound security we might sup at ease and heal our weariness in sleep – why then must you indeed be wholly a man of iron. Would you have us plunge into the oncoming night and abandon this island, to wander, all broken as we are, through the dark misty deep? Of Night are born the fierce ship-wrecking winds. How shall any of us be saved from utter destruction, if some sharp gust unlicensed by the Gods our masters come suddenly out of the South or from the windy West, those two quarters most rife in fatal gales? Wherefore let us bow before the power of darkness, sup well, and rest peacefully near the ship till daylight lets us sail across a clear sea.”

His argument is too strong and Odysseus accedes, but has the men swear an oath not to touch the sheep and cattle of the island. Then they pull the boat ashore and camp down for the night. Zeus - the thunder God, i.e. Yahweh - changes the weather so that they don't have the wind to sail away from the island. For a month they're stranded until their food supplies run out. We read:

"So long as the corn held out and the red wine, so long my crew, in the wish to survive, kept their hands from the cattle: but there dawned the day when the ship’s supplies all failed. Hunger came to rack their bellies. Under the spur of necessity they scattered abroad in search of provender, to try for fish with barbed hooks, or for birds – avid of anything that might fall within their dear hands. As for me, I went up into the island to pray to the Gods on the chance that one of them might disclose a way out. After going far enough to throw off the rest I washed my hands in a calm spot and supplicated the chapter of the Olympian Gods: who sent down a sweet sleep upon my eyelids.

At this point, while Odysseus has gone up into the island and fallen asleep, leaving the men alone, Eurylochus rallies them into committing the sin, violating the commandments Odysseus had received and sealing their fate:

"Hear me, afflicted and unfortunate ship-mates. No variety of death is pleasing to us poor mortals: but commend me to hunger and its slow perishing as the meanest fate of all. Up therefore; let us take our pick of the Sun’s cattle and dedicate them in death to all the Gods of heaven."

Sun's cattle/Golden Calf?

"The cattle of the Sun were there to hand, gorgeous lurching-gaited broad-horned beasts, browsing quite near the ship. Forthwith the fellows drove aside the choicest and stood round them in a ring praying to the Gods. For heave-offering they plucked and strewed fresh leaves from a branching oak, in place of the white barley no more to be found in the ship. They prayed and cut the beasts’ throats: then flayed them, jointed the legs, wrapped the thigh-bones above and below with fat and set bars of flesh on them to grill."

Then Odysseus:

"It was then that the burden of sleep was lifted from my eyelids and I rose to regain the ship and the beach. While I went, when I was near the curved ship, there came all about me the savoury smell of roasted fat. Wherefore I groaned and protested to the deathless Gods: “Father Zeus and all Blessed Ones that are from everlasting to everlasting! By this cruel sleep you have cozened me to doom. My crew, left to themselves, have imagined and done the awful thing.”

"When I reached the ship in its bay, I upbraided each man for the guilty deed, but there was no amending it. The cattle were dead, and for another six days my comrades fed off the finest of these beasts of Helios which they had driven off. Yet the Gods were not slow to manifest portents. The hides of the slain beasts crawled slowly along, and the meat (alike the raw and the cooking) bellowed with a lowing like the lowing of a herd. When Zeus had brought the seventh day, then the wind ceased its unreasonable blowing. We leaped aboard and made for the open sea, stepping our mast and hoisting sail. We lost the isle and after it saw no more land, only sky and seas: but then the son of Cronos caused a lowering cloud to gather and stand over our hollow ship. Beneath it the deep turned thunder-dark. Nor did we scud much longer on our course: for suddenly a hurricane shrieked upon us from the West, ravening with mad gusts of wind, whose tearing violence carried away both our forestays. The mast toppled aft and all its gear ruined down into the waist; while the mast itself stretched backward across the poop and struck the helmsman over the head, smashing his skull to pulp. He dropped from his high platform in one headlong dive, and the brave spirit left his bones. Then Zeus thundered and at the same moment hurled a bolt of lightning upon the ship. Her timbers all shivered at the shock of the levin of Zeus. She filled with choking sulphur and brimstone smoke: her crew pitched out of her. For one instant they rode black upon the water, upborne like seafowl on the heaving waves past the black ship. Then the God ended their journey home."

To me, the events and consequences of what happened at Thrinacia sound a lot like the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus.
 
Fascinating!

Here is more from Exodus 32, New King James Version:

2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

There is definitely present the theme of eating and drinking in both accounts, too. Also, the one in the role of Eurylochus is Aaron, Moses brother. Eurylochus is second-in-command to Odysseus.
 
Back
Top Bottom