FISH TOWER
In The Magdalene Legacy Laurence Gardner observes that biblical locations are often cited with different names. In Matthew, Mark and John, for instance, the Crucifixion site, located near the Temple of Solomon, is named as Golgotha, while in Luke it is given as Calvary. Both names (Hebrew, Gulgoleth: Aramaic, Gulgota; Latin, Calvaria) derive from words that mean ‘skull’, and the meaning of the place name, as given in all the four Gospels is the same, ‘the place of the skull’. The place name comes from Gilgal, the biblical location where Elijah ascended into a whirlwind or Merkaba.
Magdala, notes Gardner, was a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. The Jewish Talmud (or Dala-mud, when the ‘t’ is exchanged for the ‘d’ as is allowed) identifies it as Magdal Nunaiya, meaning ‘Fish Tower’ in Aramaic. “Tower of the Fisherman” is another suggested meaning.
Other times Magdala’s full name is cited as Magdala Tarichaea. It is likely this is the name by which this town was known in Mary Magdalene’s time. Tarichaea means salted fish, so Magdala’s full name might be ‘the tower of salted fish’. If the name of the town was ‘Tower of Salted Fish’, it’s no surprise that its main business was fishing.
It would be most interesting if Fish Tower, or especially, Tower of the Fisherman, were the intended meaning and acceptable alternative name of Mag Dalen in the Gospels. The fish is one of the primary symbols of the Christian movement. It is usually thought to derive from the Greek for fish (ichtys), an acrostic of ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior’. Shown here are examples of fish glyphs, dolphins actually, from the Good people of France. Among the Greeks, Bayley notes in The Lost Language, the Dolphin was venerated as the Savior. Here, the dolphin and the fleur de lis, the ‘flower of light’, are combined.
The dolphin and the flower of light are combined in this symbol of the Good people.
The three-rayed or three-petaled fleur-de-lis is a deeply mystical symbol. Its origins with French monarchs stems from the baptismal lily used in the crowning of King Clovis I, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. According to Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, the authors of The Templar Revelation, “ ...the Merovingian kings, from their founder Merovee to Clovis (who converted to Christianity in 496) were ‘pagan kings of the cult of Diana”. The Bear was an animal of the Goddess Diana.
To further enhance its mystique, a legend eventually sprang up that a vial of OIL descended from HEAVEN to anoint and sanctify Clovis as King. The thus “anointed” Kings of France later maintained that their authority was directly from God (via an oil) ... without the mediation of either the Emperor or the Pope.
The fleur-de-lis symbolizes the sacred (heavenly) origin of the Merovingian dynasty and then became a symbol of the entire Christian French Kingdom. Modern, controversial, theories about the Holy Grail see in the fleur-de-lis a symbol of the mythical holy origin of the French nation in the union of legendary King Merovee with Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s descendants (more momentarily).
Fish formed like a column or tower or Fish tower.
Shown here is a fish glyph of the Good People Bayley describes as a “nondescript kind of fish formed like a column or tower, passing, Maypole-like, through the ring or O of I O.” That’s a fish, a tower, and a ring.
This fish glyph and Bayley’s intriguing description ring of the meaning of Magdala, the Fish Tower. It symbolizes the unity of male (I) and female (O). Hence, it is symbolically linked to the May or Mag Pole.
The emphasis on the fish passing through the ring in the fish tower provides another fascinating link to Magdala. As noted, Terichea is another name for Magdala. This place name, Terichea, rings of trachea, the tube that carries air from the mouth to the lungs also called a windpipe. Trachea is always associated with a tube. A tube is a canal. A canal usually contains water or fluid. This word and symbol poetry of the fish and the ring suggests a connection between Tarichea (Magdala) and a tube through which ‘fish’ run in water.
Christian paintings in the catacombs often testify to the connection of fish with baptismal or living water. In its mystical Jewish derivation the living water is the cosmic waters coming directly from the heavens (especially the seven stars of the Dove) which was thought to contain living creatures, or fish. Here, the pun involving the ring is illuminated. A ‘ring’ is a circular object, but it is also a sound created by a bell, a vibration.
The heavenly fish who lived in the living waters were called ‘mer man’.
The most well known ruler of the waters is Neptune, the “the artful creator” who carried the three-pronged trident . In Atlantis he was Poseidon. In Sumeria he was the mer-man, Enki, the Lord of Wisdom and Lord of the Waters. In Babylon he was Oannes. The Dogon tribe of Mali called him Nommo and said he came from Sirius.
A mer-man.
This scene portrays as fish-garbed apkullu priest sprinkling a holy liquid from a bucket in front of a deity. The meaning of the cross symbol is uncertain. It is likely that the god the liquid is offered to is Enki, the Lord of Wisdom and Waters.
This cylinder seal portrays a sacred tree or tower operated by two winged genii holding buckets of holy liquid. To the right a fish-man also holds a bucket and a cone. Mesopotamia. 800-600 B.C.
Priests in fish suits tend a radiant pillar (I) surmounted by a winged ring ridden by Enki or E.A., the god of wisdom. Is this the Fish Tower ?
We find the identical theme, two fish grasping a line of hope or salvation, in the Early Christian symbol of the anchor and axis or pillar from the catacomb of Domitilla, Rome’s oldest and largest Christian cemetery. The anchor transforms into a ‘cross’ with a female circle or disk.
Christian graffiti from the catacomb at Domitilla, Rome. Mythologist Barbara Walker notes that the anchor cross was a variant of the Egyptian ahkh or key of life that represented the union of Isis and Osiris. Egyptian deities carried it as a symbol of the water and the gift of eternal life.
The match between these two emblems – both portray two fish beside a pillar (or tower?) topped by a ring or a disk – is obvious and leads to powerful and interesting questions. Is this pillar or tower the so-called Fish Tower of Magdala AND the ‘tree’ or ‘cross’ MM stood beside? What is the connection between the ring on the Christian symbol and the ring, winged disk or wheel of Enki? Finally, what is the holy liquid the buckets contain? Is it the cosmic living waters?
Importantly, the book of Zecharia (14:8-9) prophesied that the Messiah (the source of the living waters) would cause the cosmic or living waters to flow from Jerusalem. John was shown “a pure river of water of life, clear as a crystal,” proceeding out from the throne of God in the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1.This association will prove immensely useful momentarily when we discuss Mary Magdalene’s French nome de plume, “Lady of the Waters”.
THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS
A beautiful allusion to the living waters and a tower is found in the Shepherd of Hermas, a first or second century AD work revered as a companion text to the Scriptures, but later abruptly excluded. Composed in Rome c. AD 139–155 it is a three-part collection of revelations given to Hermas, a devout Christian, by an angel (Shepherd). It made a highly significant impact on Early Christians who sandwiched it between the Acts of the Apostles and the Acts of Paul in the New Testament. In the book the Holy Spirit shows Hermas a great tower with bright square stones that was built by six angels upon the water. The angel explains to Hermas that the tower built on water of glistening stones is the Church.
To fully comprehend the mystical knowledge presented in this ‘forgotten’ gospel, it is key to note that the name ‘Hermas’ alludes to Hermes Trismegistos, the ‘thrice great’ philosopher, priest and king most famous for his law: As above. So below. The Greek god of alchemy, Hermes (the Enlightened One) was the son of the virgin mother, Maya (just like Buddha), another form of Mary. One of the most important Hermetic scriptures is called ‘Poimandres’ (Shepherd of Men). Like Jesus, Hermes (called Thoth in Egypt) was also known as the ‘Logos’, the Word, which is the
Nous or Divine Mind. In Rome, this god was called Mercury, from the Latin word merx, meaning goods or merchandise. I’ll take the pun and suggest he was the god of the mer(x)=Goods people = god’s people. These are the mer men and mer maids.
Hermes-Thoth’s “magic wand,” the caduceus with two serpents that wind around the rods, is the symbol for alchemy. Also called the Staff of Hermes, today it is the logo for the American and British medical associations. Z. Sitchin has traced it as far back as 2300 B.C. to the Sumerian “Lord of the Water,” Enki. Indeed, water is the staff of life’s hidden power.
In his painting by Giovanni Bellini (1460-65) on the next page Jesus stands in front of a relief of two standing figures in front of a candelabrum, or perhaps an incense burner, before which is a seated figure holding a caduceus, who may be Hermes or Thoth. On one level of interpretation the juxtaposition of Jesus with Thoth/Hermes is intended to convey the meaning that he had eclipsed the pagan cults of antiquity and instituted a new order. On another level, it suggests that Jesus was a master of alchemy and embodied its teachings.
As I ponder Bellini’s painting I wonder if it is possible that the two figures who are receiving the caduceus wand (and likely its secrets) could be John the Baptist and Jesus.
Following the Bellini painting is a relief from the Temple of Abydos portraying Thoth raising Seti dressed as Osiris from the dead with the key of life. The identical scene can be seen in the 4th century image of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
The Blood of the Redeemer, Giovanni Bellini. London, National Gallery.
Detail of The Blood of the Redeemer showing a figure with a caduceus. Is this figure passing or transmitting the secrets of this wand to Jesus?
Top. Thoth raises Seti as Osiris with the key of life.
Jesus raises Lazarus with a wand or (b)aton while MM anoints his feet. Is his wand or rod actually a ray of Aton? Vatican Museum.
Hermes also had a stone or pillar (tower), called the pillar of Hermes known as “The Emerald Tablet.” A legend about this tablet says that Alexander the Great discovered it in the tomb of Hermes, which had been hidden by the priests in the deepest depths of the Great Pyramid. Hermes did the writing himself on a large plate of emerald, by means of a pointed diamond. Nothing surpassed the alchemical wisdom engraved on this Stone or Tower of Hermes. It contains the key that unlocks the mysteries of ‘Egypt’ (= the heavenly realms) or the secret wisdom of the ages = the means by which light the candle atop our inner Tower and to Cross the Waters of Life. The alchemical teaching of the Emerald Tablet explains why Wolfram pictured the Holy Grail as an engraved emerald tablet.
THE EGYPTIAN MEANING OF TOWER
In Egyptian literature and symbolism the tower delivers a specific message that must be tabulated in any search for the meaning of Magdala. In Egyptian hieroglyphic symbolism the tower is a determinative sign denoting height or the act of rising above the common level in life or society. A tower is featured in the hieroglyph for Heliopolis, , the great light or wisdom center of ancient Egypt, which some believe is the location of the pillar of Hermes. The obelisk or pillar at Heliopolis marked the return of the Sun or Son of God.
The pharaoh Thutmosis III originally erected the obelisks of Heliopolis around 1490-1436 BC. His ruler ship would witness the founding one of the most mysterious dynasties in all Egyptian history, a dynasty that included such illustrious names as Akhenaton and Tutankhamun. According to Gardner and others, it was also Tuthmosis III who established a mystery school of the original Rosicrucians, the Therapeutate – meaning ‘physicians of the soul’. The Essenes later adopted this name.
Heliopolis was originally named An or Annu. This may also have been the word for the pillar or tower. It is revealing that in Aramaic nun means fish. Jesus is a generic from of Joshua, the name of the son of Nun who spied upon the sons of the Giants in Numbers 13. A nun is a female servant of Christ who has taken the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Nun comes from the Old French nonne, which is traced to Oannes, the Babylonian name for Enki, the Lord of Waters, shown a moment ago as a Merman, half man and half fish. Mer is an Egyptian term for both “waters” and “mother love.” One of Egypt’s oldest names was Ta Mera, ‘land of waters’ or ‘land of love’.
It is fascinating enough that the seed sound nu has for so long been associated with the concepts of the water, tower and the fish and that these concepts merge in the word Magdala, meaning the Fish Tower, and in the name Mary Magdalene. However, these connections are made even more intriguing by the fact that nun, when spelled ‘none’, is a quantity, zero, O. None comes from non or n’an, ne, not, and an, one, and means not any. To have none is to have zero, a quantity represented by the symbol O, which is a ring.
Continuing, Annu/Heliopolis was the city of the Sun and the home of the ben-nu. According to a famous legend recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus, the ancient Egyptians believed that every 500 years a wondrous bird, called the ‘bennu’ (phoenix in Greek), would travel to Egypt from Arabia carrying with it the wrapped, embalmed body of its parent. It would deliver this ‘egg’ at Heliopolis, where it would be put into a furnace and buried at the Temple of the Phoenix. Then, out of the ashes, another phoenix would be born.
The temple of Ra (Ray) at Heliopolis is said to have been a special depository for royal records, and Herodotus states that the priests of Heliopolis were the best-informed in matters of history of all the Egyptians. Plato, Solon, Pythagoras, and other Greek philosophers until the time of Strabo (1st century BC) are claimed to have frequented the schools of philosophy and astronomy. During the Amarna Period, king Akhenaton built here a temple and introduced monotheistic worship of Aton, the deified galactic disc.
A legend of antiquity says that during the Flight to Egypt, when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled from ‘Bethelehem’ (‘House of Bread’) to escape the certain death at the hands of Herod, they rested in Heliopolis where the Egyptian priest Manetho (c. 280 BC) says Moses was initiated. The royal family remained in exile in Egypt for several years. All the while the young Jesus would likely have been preparing for his later life mission.
The Hebrews called Heliopolis ‘On’, An, or Aven, or ‘House of the Sun’ or ‘House of (Sun, light, gold). There is a famous well or fountain at Heliopolis, in which, according to Egyptian tradition, the Sun God Ra bathed his face when he rose upon the Earth for the first time. This well still exists at Matariyah. It is stated in the apocryphal tradition that the Virgin Mary rested by this well, and drew from it the water with which she washed the clothes of Jesus, and that wherever the water fell basalm-bearing plants sprang up; drops of the oil made from them were always mixed with the water used in baptizing Christians.
This legend makes clear that from an early age Jesus was baptized with an oil, possibly of cosmic origins. I say this for when Hermes’ As above. So below law is invoked, this tale hints that Mary knew of a way to channel the cosmic or living waters from a heavenly well through specific plants to create an aromatic purifying balm, balsam or oil. In his adult years Jesus is, once again, anointed with oil. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in Luke 8:3 as one of the three wealthy women who “ministered to Christ of their substance”.
This ‘ministering substance’, what is it?
This holy liquid or substance is an oil or balsam, quite likely a fragrant ointment. What function did it serve? Ointments are usually used in medications or perfumes. Interestingly, it seems MM’s oil served this healing function as it made the adult Jesus holy or whole (360). It rang or vibrated in resonance with the holy waters .
In addition, I find it highly intriguing that Jesus ‘saved’ humanity soon after MM anointed him with this oil. It makes me wonder if MM’s salve had something to do with how Jesus saved. After all, his anointing ultimately brought about salvation (sal-va-shen), which I will term our release from confinement on Earth and our return to the Light. We are being led to the possibility that MM’s oil was a salve that saves. It was a salvation salve that brought freedo
m to spiritual slaves.
SPIT AND THE TOWER OF SILOAM
A salve that saves? A salvation salve? To get to the inner meaning of the Christian tradition, which describes a ‘substance’ mixed with the water (probably the holy living waters = cosmic rays , ) and used in Early Christian baptisms, we must remember how Jesus healed.
In particular, let us remember that saliva, a watery mixture of secretions that formed a frothy substance, is mentioned in the bible as one of the methods by which Jesus altered disease. Three times Jesus used spit to heal people. Did you ever wonder why?
In Mark 7:32-35, a deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to Jesus. Jesus put his finger in the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue, then looked up to Heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. In Mark 8:22-25, in Bethsaida, a blind man was brought to Jesus. Jesus took the blind man outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes, He laid hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” (Huh?) Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes a second time and the man saw clearly, his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Hmmm.
In John 9:1-7, Jesus meets up with a blind man who was blind from birth. Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on the man’s eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (in Jerusalem). So he went and washed, and came back able to see. In his book The Wars of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish priest, tells us the location of Siloam had “that fountain of sweet and abundant water”. It stands on the west slope of the Mount of Olives, the site of so many important biblical events including Jesus’ Ascension. At its foot is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus’ tomb was located and where MM discovered the risen Jesus.
Mary Magdalene The Illuminator (v5.0) Page 3
