Religion: The Misinterpretation of Ancient Mythology?
"Religion: the Misinterpretation of Ancient Mythology
All of the major religions are based on an ancient astrotheology that employed metaphors and mythology to descibe the cosmos and various astronomical phenomena. The ancient astrotheology began in the Upper Paleolithic and it spread with the migrations of humankind throughout the world. The beliefs of the ancient astrotheology were originally relatively consistent throughout the various human cultures of the world, but regional variations developed that became the major religions.
Gradually, people everywhere forgot the original meaning of the metaphors and mythologies of the ancient astrotheology, and they now interpret those metaphors and mythologies in ways that show no comprehension of the original meaning. Jesus Christ/Yeshe Krishna is obviously the sun god, but many modern Christians and Hindus believe that Christ/Krishna was once a real person who walked the earth.
Not realizing that their interpretation of their own religion’s mythology is a false interpretation, people hold superstitions, prejudices, and erroneous world-views based on their misinterpretations of their own religion’s mythology. For example, many Christians believe that no one can attain ‘Salvation’ without accepting Jesus Christ (the mythological sun god) as their ‘Personal Savior’.
In the cycle of the Precession of the Equinoxes, it takes seventy-two years for the Equinoxes to precess backward one degree of the three hundred and sixty degrees of the ecliptic, the path of the sun. That is the astrotheological meaning of the ‘seventy-two virgins’ that the Islamic hero recieves in Paradise.
The sun god Jesus Christ ‘walked on water’ because the people of the ancient world saw the ecliptic, the path of the sun, as an interface between the cosmic sky and the cosmic sea. Greek mythology described the personified constellation of Orion, which is bisected at the waist by the ecliptic, as walking in the ocean up to his waist, with his upper body in the sky.
Throughout history wars, persecutions, and oppression have been perpetrated as a result of the misinterpretation of mythology. All of the recieved literatures of the major religions contain some philosophical content that provides ethical advice for human affairs. The philosophical traditions of the major religions may be appreciated without accepting the mythological traditions. One can appreciate the philosophies of the "Sermon on the Mount" or of the Bhagavad Gita without believing that Jesus Christ or Yeshe Krishna ever lived on earth or anywhere else.
Religious believers who interpret mythology as the literal truth have failed to understand the metaphors of the original astrotheology that composed the myths. As a result, the believers of misconstrued mythologies maintain a world-view that perpetuates fantasies, superstitions, and prejudices based on a misinterpretation of the ancient mythologies.
The mythological content of the traditional religions should correctly be interpreted as ancient astrotheology — not as the literal truth of gods, supermen, and theriomorphs. Nor are the mythologies an embellished history of real people and their exploits. The records and artworks of the ancient mythologies can provide scholars with insights into the ancient astrotheology, but the literal interpretation of mythology is irrational and dangerous."
by Gregory Fegel
http://gregoryfegel.sulekha.com/blog/post/2010/04/religion-the-misinterpretation-of-ancient-mythology.htm
Glad I’m not the only one who has heard of astrotheology.
