MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT

Throughout The Bias of Communication, Harold Innis alludes to the remarkable power of the priesthood and the efficiency of a religious cult "as a centre of control over time and in turn over space" (94). Innis also admits that "the adaptability of the priesthood to the demands of conquerors made religion malleable and laid the foundations essential to the development of an enduring empire" (100). In this article I would like to show how ancient myth as a medium is carried forth from our past and talks to us today.

Myth "compresses past, present, and future into one through the power of simultaneity . . . in the area of [the] imploded circle of rebirth and metamorphosis" (Hempel 9). The myth of the Great Church of Babylon begins in the ancient empire of Babel in the land of Shinar, commonly known today as Iraq. Let us start our journey in Genesis 10:9,10: "[Nimrod] was a mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech, and Accad, and Alneh." Erech was one of the earth's oldest cities and chief seat of Ishtar worship where prostitution was compulsory. The Jewish Encyclopedia says Nimrod was "he who made all the people rebellious against God" (Vol.9, 309). He is recognized today by some historians as a priest of devil-worship and founder of the world's pagan civilization. Nimrod's scheme was to hold the people together under his rule and build a tower so gigantic it would excite everyone's awe and wonder. Nimrod's goal was to build an empire that would stand the test of time and space. The tower was to be a monument to the sun god and was to become the centre of a world-ruling human government. However, the Bible reports that the tower of Babel was destroyed and the people scattered by God (Gen 11:1-9). Did the destruction of the tower foreshadow Nimrod's defeat?

The development of the myth goes something like this: "After Nimrod's death, his wife, Queen Semiramis, known later as Ishtar, Queen or Lady of Heaven, claims that Nimrod is now the sun-god" (Woodrow 9). Semiramis has an illegitimate son named Tammuz whom she claims is virgin-born as well as Nimrod-reborn. (Hislop) Semiramis is the force that drives the legend forward and begins the cult of 'Mother and Child' worship. She also initiates the myth that her dead husband is reborn in the form of an evergreen tree. His birthday is January 6th but it has been moved back to December 25th. The myth continues to develop so that the now-immortal Nimrod will visit the evergreen tree once a year and leave gifts. Included in this celebration is feasting, merrymaking and sexual debauchery.

Innis suggests that the "maintenance of separate languages checked the encroachment of cultures on each other" (100). However, the religious cult which can be traced back to Nimrod and Semiramis is not checked by time, space or language. When the Hebrew God confounded the language and scattered the people at Babel (Gen 11:9), the ancient Babylonian cult of 'Mother and Child' worship--which included other rites and ceremonies--spread to other parts of the world in the now-distinct languages. This cult assumed a modified or altered identity in different cultures and at different times. In 500 BC, historian and world traveler Herodotus "witnessed the Mystery religion and its rites in numerous countries and mentions how Babylon was the primeval source from which all systems of idolatry flowed" (Woodrow 10). In Ezekiel 7:18-20 we find the Israelites worshipping and practicing rites sacred to the "Queen of Heaven." Ezekiel 8:14-17 also denounces this Babylonian cult of Tammuz and its accompanying sun cult "which [had] been introduced from Mesopotamia into Jerusalem" (Saggs 173).

In this exploration, I discover that Nimrod's identity takes myriad forms, masks, and aliases. He became better known as Tammuz, Bel, Baal or Marduk who is "the most important god in Babylon" (Chiera 125). In one of his many disguises, Nimrod is represented by a male calf (Woodrow 90). Remember the story of the Israelites worshipping and kissing the idol in the form of a golden calf while Moses was up on Mount Sinai talking to God in 1400 BC (Ex:32)? There is not space to explore the corresponding myths or the various names of the dieties of ancient countries down through the ages; however, it is interesting to note the similarities of these mystery religions. For example:

Among the Chinese, the Mother Goddess was called Shingmoo or the Holy Mother. She is pictured with child in arms and rays of glory around her head. The Ancient Germans worshipped the Virgin Hertha. . .The Scandinavians called her Disa . . .the Etruscans called her Nutria and among the Druids, the Virgo-Paritura was worshipped as the Mother of God. In India, she was known as Indrani . . . The Baylonian Mother was known as Aphodite or Ceres to the Greeks; Nana, to the Sumerians; and as Venus or Fortuna to her devotees in the olden days of Rome [all with child in arms] . . .But regardless of her name or place, . . . she was the wife of Baal, the virgin queen of heaven, who bore fruit although she never conceived. (Woodrow 13-14)

Let's move on to explore the religion that was prevalent in the Roman Empire during the time of Christ. The evolution of the Mysteries of Mithras from its "origin in the ancient past to his position as bull-slayer in the Roman Empire" is a fascinating odyssey (Meyer 199). 1200 years earlier it was a golden calf and now , in Mithraism it has evolved into a bull. It is evident that all mystery cults have common bonds such as secret initiation rites, which include purification rites, baptism or washing with water, ceremonial meals, the taking of bread and wine--"symbolic of the body and blood of the bull" (Meyer 200)--as well as other elaborate celebrations. "In the mysteries of Mithras, the initiates partook of a ceremony so reminiscent of the Christian 'Lord's Supper' that it proved an embarrassment to the Christian apologist Justin Martyr" (Meyer 8). Mithra is "born from a rock (the sun is 'born' on Dec. 25th, at the time of the winter solstice); he shoots an arrow at a rock (to open a spring) and emerges from a tree (compare with the connection of Attes & Osiris to trees [Note similarity to Nimrod's tree]) "(Meyer 201). Like other myths before it, Mithraism evolved from the ancient Babylonian Mystery religion. Unrestrained, this powerful, mysterious myth had moved once again westward through Greece, Persia, and into Rome, where it merged with the Roman Saturnalia festival. Mithraism quickly gained prominence and remained the most important pagan religion in Rome until the end of the fourth century.

According to Woodrow's research:

After Rome conquered the world, the paganism that had spread from Babylon and developed into various forms, was merged into the religious system of Rome, including the idea of a Supreme Pontiff or Pontifix Maximus. Thus, Babylonian paganism which had originally been carried out under the rulership of Nimrod, was united under the rulership of one man at Rome: Julius Caesar. It was the year 63 BC. that Julius Caesar was officially recognized as the 'Pontifix Maximus' of the Mystery Religion--now re-established at Rome.(81)

The name Pontifix Maximus or Supreme Pontiff is the title of the high priest in pagan worship and this title is now given to the man who rules Rome, the Emperor Julius Caesar. However, it is not until centuries later that this title is given to a bishop of Rome, who gradually gains prominence and political power. By the fourth century AD, "so much paganism had been mixed into the Romish church, [that the bishop] was also a man of acclaim to the pagans! Thus in 378, Demasus, Bishop of Rome, was elected the 'Pontifix Maximus' - the official High Priest of the Mysteries" (81). So ingenious was this merger of paganism and Christianity "that ONE man was now looked to by BOTH pagans and professing Christians as HEAD! He was looked to by the 'Church' as bishop of bishops, while the pagans regarded him as their Pontifix Maximus . . . producing what is known as the Roman Catholic church, under the headship of the Supreme Pontiff or Pontifix Maximus--the Pope!" (81)

In his book Smokescreens, Jack Chick states that the "Babylonian mysteries can be traced right back to Nimrod and Semiramis. Only the names were changed to make it look like a Christian organization" (Chapter 4). Distanced by nearly 2,000 years, we look through a glass darkly on the merger of paganism and Christianity.

It is also during this period of struggle between the pagan and Christian traditions that we find " through the elevation of Mary, mother of Jesus, to 'Queen of Heaven' and 'Mother and Child' status that finally the pagans accept the new religion." This pagan goddess named "Mary is the final extension of Ninlil, wife of Enlil in ancient Sumer. Time evolved her into Ishtar of Babylon, Dushara of Phoenicia, and Allat and Lato of Greece and Rome. She bears no similarity to the Mary of the Bible."

Under Constantine, who united church and state, the Roman Catholic Church became firmly established. Thus, the festivals celebrating the birth of the sun god became the celebration of the birth of the Son of God. It is interesting to note that it was not until "the Fifth Century that the Roman Catholic Church commanded that the birth of Christ be observed forever on December 25th"— . . .the same day that the sun-god of Mithraism . . Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis Jupiter, [and] Tammuz" was born (Woodrow 163). Today, most people of the Western World celebrating their festivities would not be aware that modern day customs and traditions of Christmas, Easter, Valentine's, or Halloween have their origins in the ancient Babylonian Mystery Religion.

The power of this mystery-cult confirms Innis' central theme because, while he admits the "limitations of an hereditary family [or an Empire]as a basis of continuity in spite of reliance on such devices as the pyramids," he points "to the efficiency of a religious cult as a centre of control over time and in turn over space" (100). It seems that religious myth is inextricably interwoven within traditions and customs, which in turn, make up the fabric of culture.

Myth as medium is able to defy empire, and linguistic and cultural boundaries. It is apparent that the Babylonian Mystery religion has dynamically influenced the world's civilizations until the present day. Today, it influences the education of our children, controls how we worship, dictates which festive days we observe, structures our economy, and determines our warfare.

Up to this point, I have only discussed the first half of the quote found in Revelation 17 as a discussion of the rest is not necessary to my argument.. But for those who are just dying to know the rest of the story: We now know that "Mystery Babylon The Great" is the great Mother Church or "whore" according to Revelation 17. A whore is symbolic of a "fallen woman" or, in this instance, a church. This "whore" is the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth. The children or "harlots" are those churches who were conceived in or born of the mother. They are the churches who protested and came out of the Roman Catholic Church but are still, in fact, related to her. Thus, we can understand that when the apostle John wrote the Book Of Revelation he was deeply aware of the significance of this great and powerful Church named MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT.

Chiera, Edward. They Wrote on Clay: The Babylonian Tablets Speak Today. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969.

Hempel, Anthony. The Resonating Interval http://edie.cprost.sfu.ca/~hempell/tetrad/internet.html

Hislop, Alexander. The Two Babylons. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1983.

Holy Bible. King James Version. New York: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1972.

Innis, Harold A. The Bias of Communication. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995.

Meyer, Marvin W. ed. The Ancient Mysteries: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World. New York: Harper, 1987.

Oppenheim, Leo A. Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Saggs, H.W.F. Babylonians: Peoples of the Past. Bath/Avon: The Bath Press, Avon. 1995.

Woodrow, Ralph. Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern. California: Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association, 1975.

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