EASTER: A Smokescreen

Dr. Ruth Wilkerson
[April 1973]

"Take courage, O mystics, the God
is saved; and for you also will
come salvation."1

"The Lord is Risen."2

The first quotation comes from lines uttered by the priests of Cybele in Lydia,
Phrygia, Italy and Africa as they sang of her son's resurrection during the
Spring rites. The "Lord", in the second quotation, referred to the God Tammuz
as his resurrection was hailed in Syria several hundred years before the man
Jesus walked the hills of Judea. "Christ the Lord is risen today" chant today's
choirs in thousands of churches throughout the world in the Christian's annual
Spring homage to the resurrected Son of God who was so recently slain as
atonement for the Adamic sin (according to Paul's created theology), which
pollutes man, separates him from God, and condemns him to eternal punishment.

An amazing similarity exists between the Christian-Easter traditions and so-
called pagan practices and beliefs which have roots going far back into man's
history. For example, the Mithraic cult has sources back to the Vedas, Avesta
and Pahlevi writings of ancient India.3

To take events as traditionally transpired in the story of the death and
resurrection of one named Jesus, the first outstanding feature is the "Last
Supper" which took place in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem. Since this
event is familiar, it will not be recounted in detail; merely the fact
mentioned that the passover meal was eaten by Jesus and his followers (Matt.
26:26-29). Tradition, that great elaborator of Fact, expanded it into a
sacrificial meal, culminating in the celebration of the Mass, or, more simply,
into the Protestant communion service. Communal partaking of sacred food or
drink was a frequent feature of many Mediterranean and near-Eastern faiths.
Members of the Orphic Brotherhood drank the blood of a sacrificial bull;
followers of sis ate consecrated cakes; the worshippers of Dionysus, Attis, and
Mithras ate consecrated bread and wine which they believed ere, or represented,
the body and blood of their God. In fact,the Mithraic ritual "so closely
resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass that Christian Fathers charged
the Devil with inventing these similarities to mislead frail minds."4 The
conquistadors were shocked to find similar rites among the Indians of Mexico
and Peru.

The sacrificial shedding of blood can be traced back to the dim beginnings of
man's recorded history. Much has been said by the present-day orthodox Bible
students comparing the shedding of Jesus' blood with that of the propitiatory
Jewish sacrifices. How they could selectively ignore other Eastern traditions
is disappointing but not surprising as these similarities tend to weaken the
impact of their conclusions that this was THE ONLY WAY God had chosen for man's
sins to be erased. In the worship of Cybele, new members were admitted by being
placed naked in a pit over which a bull was slain. The blood of the sacrificial
animal fell on the candidate, purified him of his sin, and gave him a new
spiritual and eternal life.5 The Mithraic cult had a similar rite. In most
early rites of atonement, blood, human or animal, was shed. With shedding of
blood, death followed and, since man had never been able to universally believe
that life ended in the grave, resurrection was inevitable. These celebrations,
quite naturally, coincided with the arrival of Spring as the Earth arose from
her tomb of Winter into new life. The followers of Attis, son of Cybele,
exulted in his triumph over death. Osiris, "being the first man who overcame
death" made death a doorway into everlasting life.6 Tammuz and Dionysus also
eluded the grip of death by returning to life, thus making it possible for man
to be eternal.

The fact that Jesus appeared after his death experience could seem not so
unusual, since there were traditions established in many Eastern and
Mediterranean religions of post-death appearances. In the third century B.C.,
Appolonius, a follower of the Pythagorean brotherhood, who cast out demons and
raise the dead, was claimed to have appeared to his followers after his death
and prior to his bodily ascension into heaven.7 Some Yogis, as late as the 19th
century A.D., have verified appearances, where conversation ensued and meals
were eaten. After-death appearances, while not an everyday occurrence, might be
considered sufficiently common so as not to arouse undue religious fervor.

Acceptance of Jesus' bodily ascent into heaven was not difficult for the Jews.
In their writings and traditions they were familiar with the bodily
translations of Moses, Enoch, Elijah and Isaiah.8

It would be possible to add more comparisons between the "pagan" and
"Christian" traditions evolving around Easter. Other similarities as virgin
birth, miracles, sanctification of Sunday and Dec. 25th, shepherds, gifts,
doctrine of Heaven and Hell, etc. could be included. However, they would serve
no further purpose. The fact that Christianity did not destroy paganism but
merely adopted and adjusted it to serve its means is most obvious. Rituals,
traditions, terminology -- all were acclimatized to the purpose of
Christianity. Such titles as "soter" (Saviour) and "Eleutherios" (Deliverer)
were applied to Osiris, Attis, Dionysus and Jesus. "Kyrios" (Lord), used by
Paul about Jesus, was the term given in Syrian-Greek cults to the dying and
redeeming Dionysus.9 Out of the Greek mysteries comes the mystery of the Mass;
from Egypt comes the divine Trinity, the Last Judgment, Personal immortality of
reward and punishment, adoration of Mother and Child; from Phrygia comes the
worship of the Great Mother; from Thrace comes the cult of the dying and saving
God, Dionysus; from Syria comes the resurrection of Adonis; Permia contributed
the dualism of Satan and God and a final conflagration, to name just a few.
"Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world."10

The Christian-Easter story revolving around Jesus is completely out of focus to
the message he brought, assuming the Bible can be taken as an accurate
accounting. His message was how to live, how to think, how to act. He claimed
over and over that Man was not separate from God, but, rather, there was a
unity, a Oneness. He claimed this unity for himself (John 10:30 - "I and my
Father are one.") and for those who railed at him (John 10:34 - "Is it not
written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods?"). He tried to reveal to the people
that the truth, the Kingdom, was within, that God was not a being of flesh, but
was all-pervading Essence (John 4:24 - "God is a Spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth"). This message of love and oneness
was so incomprehensible to most people, including the ecclesiastics, that the
way-shower ironically became the stumbling-stone to the Truth. By leaving a God
of hands and feet, with a throne to sit on, man had to push out into a terror-
filled unknown -- or so it seemed. This is what I call the ultimate fear. No
longer was there a familiar physical-type being with strong arms to lift up in
time of need. Mankind was being asked to accept a nebulous Something, a power
residing within *everyone*, as the ever-present guide, helper, Saviour. To
release a security blanket, developed over centuries, inbred into man's
consciousness, is tantamount to amputation, a cutting off of what seems to be a
very necessary and vital part of oneself. I speak personally now. It was
frightening to reach this conclusion intellectually, but to follow through
emotionally and accept the Truth, as I saw it, was the most fear-filled,
desolate time I have ever experienced. I truly cried, "My God, why have you
forsaken me?" This was my ultimate fear, my death. But, with the death of an
old, useless idea came the resurrection of my ultimate freedom: The Father and
I are ONE! Unlimited by "hands and feet", unfettered by time and place, this
Power, commonly called God/Love/The Presence, could become a real, viable force
in my life. And, since it was true for me, it was and is true for everyone.

So, what was the purpose of the "Easter Smokescreen"? Was it done with intent
to delude, to mislead? I think not. Rather, only a few were capable of truly
understanding the scope of Jesus' message. Man needs his props and crutches
until he can stand alone in the true glory of his Godliness, and these were and
are provided by the Mass, the communion service, the altar call of the
revivalist, the "salvation of Jesus". Little by little, as he is capable, man
takes another experimental, shaky step, testing himself and his footing,
sometimes moving ahead, some times faltering, but ultimately returning "home".
And the Father awaits patiently the return of the Prodigal Son.



FOOTNOTES -

1. Durant, Vol. III, p. 523
2. ibid, p. 523
3. Britannica, Vol. 15, p. 620
4. Durant, Vol. III, p. 595
5. ibid, p. 524
6. Smith, p. 227
7. Durant, Vol. III, p. 526
8. ibid, p. 573-74
9. ibid, p. 588
10. ibid, p. 595





BIBLIOGRAPHY


Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization

Vol. I The Life of Greece

Vol. II Our Oriental Heritage

Vol. III Caesar and Christ



Frazer, Sir James George, The Golden Bough

Smith, Ruth (ed.), The Tree of Life

The Bible, King James version

Encyclopedia Britannica

[Rev. 3/25/86]