*The Problem With Language

    Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing  [Hieroglyphs could be written to be read in columns vertically, or horizontally(mainly read right to left, but sometimes left to right)].

Written language was much more fluid and expansive in form and interpretation before modern alphabets were fully developed, such as with hieroglyphic writing. The representational pictures and symbols used early on began as pictures with inherent meaning and then evolved into the letters of the writing systems we have today. The symbols of writing systems evolve from pictograms / pictographs, i.e., pictures that resemble what they signify.

Pictograms of Fruit: watermelon = watermelon, lemon = lemon, etc. 

Simple pictograms may evolve into more complex ideograms, i.e., a symbol that is meant to stand for an idea of a thing, or a for things (but does not necessarily indicate how it is spoken). Pictograms or ideograms can be used to convey intentional meaning between people who speak different languages.

 

Ideogram [it is not a word]

Pictograms and ideograms can be used as logograms, i.e., (specifically a logogram is) a symbol that is meant to represent a word. Numerals are logograms, for example, when 1 is read as "one," or when the dollar sign  is read as "dollar(s)" it is a logogram. So $1 is read as "one dollar." However, if dollar signs are covering a page ($ $ $) we know that we are not meant to literally read it as, "dollars, dollars, dollars . . .," rather we are just supposed to get the idea of "a lot of money," so in that case the symbol is a different type of usage of an ideogram and not meant to be spoken 🤑. Therefore, sometimes the same symbols can be used in various ways, and we determine their intended meaning and value by context.

Hieroglyphs use ideograms(pictures/symbols) as logograms(words) and determinatives(not spoken but indicate context, clarify or emphasize adjacent words or phrases), as well as using ideograms which compose phonetic elements. Some symbols/glyphs are used to represent either a singular(unilateral), two letter(bilateral) or three letter(trilateral) combination of sounds, or word forming elements that are used to spell words. The same glyphs used phonetically are also often used at other times, to represent ideas or whole words.

Hieroglyphic Phonetic Glyphs

Written languages were originally much more complex in available meaning, or you might say, right brained, or yin, than they are now. Written language has evolved to accomplish quick precise communication, and ease of production in separate languages and different systems. This allows for a certain kind of efficient clarity in the passing of knowledge. However, at the same time, it confuses, and can even undermine a different kind of transference of knowledge having to do with origins, connectivity, and expansive themes.

Furthermore, there is the problem of transliteration and translation between languages. When  words are converted from a text from one alphabet or writing system to another in a different language, the words need to be transliterated, such as the names of a places like ׳רושלם "Jerusalem." The spelling of the word is attempted to be converted to a different alphabet or writing system(but the meaning of the word is not necessarily retained). And sometimes words are translated to a word with the same or similar meaning in the new language(the original meaning is attempted to be kept, but not the sound of the word in the original language). Two people who speak the same language may not even transliterate words into their own language the same way, especially if there is a type of sound spoken in the first language without an exact equivalent in the other. So one word can have several different spellings when transliterated into the new language, and then as a consequence varied pronunciations. Words are not always translated to the same exact word in a different language by two different translators either. 

For example in English we sometimes write either 'h' or 'ch' for the palital sound found in other languages, as in, the word Hanukka/Hanukkah/Chanukah/Chanukkah. There is not only one correct or agreed upon spelling in English, and proper pronunciation is often lost on English speakers who are not familiar with the origin of the word. Then what happens when a word gets transliterated or translated into yet another language, and become part of the vocabulary of a new language? And then maybe this process occurs yet again over long periods of time? We move from Hawwah/Chawwah/Havah/Havvah/Chavvah, meaning "life, life-giver," to the ancient Greek Εύα / Εύα (Epsilon, Upsilon, Alpha), transliterated to English Heua/Eua, but it looks more like "Eva" in appearance(especially with certain fonts, in the Greek script), simply meaning "the wife of Adam," [The Greek language also uses a different alphabet. It is similar enough to the Roman alphabet to cause abundant confusion to readers of English, see below]

Greek and English Alphabets(omega - small 'o' looks like a 'w', mi - small 'm' looks like a 'u', ni - the small 'n' looks like a 'v', gamma - the small 'g' looks like a 'y', ro - the 'r' looks like a 'p', etc.)

In English we get Eve from the Latin Eva, also taken from the Hebrew.  So we say Eve means "life," but it doesn't look or really even sound anything like the word Havvah/ Chawwah. 

 Hebrew to English(Notice Hebrew is read right to left, not left to right)

Notice further that Havah written in Hebrew looks(as shown above, חןה) nothing like its transliteration into English. It is different system altogether from English and the Latin alphabet. 

So in Greek and Latin(and therefore English) the name was transliterated, but not translated. If it had been translated to retain its meaning, we would be calling the woman in the garden of Eden Life or Lifegiver and the man would be called Man or Human(the humus-man "soil/earth"-man, or the man made out of the adamah "earth/ground").

And it can go on and on, "Eve/Havvah" can be put into another writing system like Chinese, and the writing system is entirely different again. The characters which form the name "Eve"[below] are pronounced as "Shya-wa" Xiàwá in Chinese and Adam is "Ya-dang" Yàdāng.

    Eve Written in Chinese

This is not to say that the left brained, yang, understanding of language is bad and we need to go back to symbolic language systems. But, rather both should be honored, and both utilized to gain complete knowledge. A marriage of the yin and yang(remember it is the union of the polarities, masculine/feminine, that creates "babies," that would be "new knowledge" in this case, and life is born through the yin/feminine). Language is not absolutely sterile or simple, black and white, even though it can be used in that manner(think, a mother, language, gives birth to both male/yang and female/yin children). In reality how language has developed and evolved over thousands of years of time is VERY complex.  It is like a game of telephone played on a COSMIC scale! What this points to is that any information you can get out of language is valid as information. If something looks, sounds, or reminds you of another thing in any way, there is a reason for that similarity, it is a type of information that you have gathered. What is the reason? What is the connection? That is the question. Investigation is necessary. Not all connections are of equal weight, and not all connections bring about greater understanding, necessarily. Language can have meaning on multiple levels. So much of the story is blurred, buried and convoluted over thousands of years of time. It is a vast undulating sea, and it can be uncomfortable and disconcerting. We want to have solid ground below our feet. However, if people only did that we would have never made it to the "New World." What we really need is balance, and proper respect for what both the land, and the sea have to offer. It's safest to try and channel, or embrace your inner mermaid. Boats can sink . . .

     The Mermaid (detail), Howard Pyle (1853-1911) - photo of postcard 

King of the Jungle

   

Jungle Oasis

The word jungle comes from Sanskrit  jangala "arid, sparsely grown with trees", and Hindi jangal "desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated land." So the meaning of the word jungle was originally not just the lush tropical, almost mythical, place we think of now. It had the meaning of any uncultivated place, even a desert, a wilderness, as in the place of testing from the bible, or the deshret, the "red (deshr) land," of the ancient Egyptians, ruled by the god of chaos, Set, the place of burial.  It seems that jungle as we use the word today has a more limited meaning; a tropical overgrown, tangled forest with vines. Like the place where we imagine Tarzan would be found.

    Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, by Edgar Rice Burrows 1928

But maybe a lot of this perception comes from movies. We see Tarzan encountering all kinds of creatures in the jungle, when actually not all of them may be found there. The lion is called "King of the Jungle," however because lions don't actually live in the jungle, it must mean "jungle" in the sense of "uncultivated land." The usual natural habitat of lions is prairies, semi-arid planes and Savannah grasslands on the continent of Africa. There are regions of tropical and sub-tropical rainforest in Africa, but lions aren't usually found there. Other members of the genus Pathera are found in jungle regions, such as tigers, leopards, and jaguars.

In the Gnostic tradition, the solar god is Yaldabaoth, the offspring of Sophia (Greek "Wisdom"). He is also called the lion-faced, Ariel "Ari (lion) +  El (God)." He is thought of as the demiurgic "creator", God, as opposed to the unknowable God. He is sometimes equated with YHWH.

    Yaldabaoth - the Lionfaced

Lion in Greek is leon λέον. If we put this word with  bab, a word meaning "gate" we get  Bab + leon, which sounds a lot like how we say Babylon. So, by this sound association the word Babylon might call to mind the lion. However, Babylon Βαβυλών, comes from the Greek rendition of the Akkadian Bab-ilani, meaning "gate of the god(s)," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary,

the Greek rendition of Akkadian Bab-ilani 'the gate of the gods,' from bab 'gate' + ilani, plural of ilu 'god'."[OE]

This name and its rendering has always been ripe with confusion. 

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. Genesis 11:9

In the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) the name of the city in Genesis 11:9 [Babel], is translated as Synchysi Σύγχυσις "Confusion," from syncheo συγχέω

meaning "confuse, confound" in Greek, rather than Babel or Babylon (which is the Greek rendering used in the Book of Revelation). However in Hebrew the word used in the passage said to mean "confuse," balal "mingle, mix, confuse, confound," is only similar to the name given to the city, i.e., Babel, and not itself the same word, regardless of what the passage seems to imply.

Bet, Bet, Lamed  //  Bet, Lamed, Lamed Genesis 11:9

In the Vulgate (the Bible translated into Latin) the name of the city is transliterated as Babel, however, balal, is translated as confusum "confounded, confused," so the similarity is lost. 

Et idcirco vocatum est nomen ejus Babel, quia ibi confusum est labium . . . Genesis 11:9

This is the same thing we get from the English translations, which gives rise to the impression that the name Babel means confusion.

It is confusing. 

And who knows? Perhaps the Hebrew passage even means that the city was called Babel, due to the confusion, or rather mixing (balal) between the words used for "God" in the name of the city, rather than because of any similarity with the Hebrew word for confusion and the name Babel. The Latin word confusum also has this meaning of "mixed, mingled" as well. What if the passage, instead, read like this?

There the LORD mixed the language of all the earth, therefore its name was called Babel . . . And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth.

In Hebrew the word for God is El and Elohim (the plural is used also for the singular "God"). So instead of the city being called Bab "Gate" +  ilani "God(s)," as in Akkadian, it was called Bab + el "God."  But then that causes balal (confusion) with a Hebrew speaker, because in Hebrew the word for "gate" is shaar, which would make Babilani into Shaarel   translated rather than Babel. Perhaps we might say that it is even particularly in naming and borrowing names (rather than translating meaning), that things get most confused and confounded. What a shame! And in Hebrew the word for "name" is shem (shame). This same thing is illustrated, for example, with the name of many gods, such as Uranus, in English. Uranus is just a name without its original meaning of "sky." And unfortunately, Uranus too has become a name of shame due to the fact that is sounds like Ur (your) + anus. So too, Babel, is just a name in English without its original meaning of "Gate of God," and instead is given the name of shame, i.e., confusion.

And it is sometimes true, that in mixing languages and borrowing / sharing names, ironically, division is created because people forget that they are talking about the same things. They can be communicating and understanding each other but a lot is lost in translation. It's the confusion that isn't seen or noticed that can create division.  

Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/W.W. Keck Observatory/NASA

We might also compare Babilani or Babylon with  Bab + Elyon. Ilani "God(s)" is similar sounding to Elyon a title given to God many times throughout the Old Testament. In Hebrew Elyon has the meaning "The Most High."

The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 2 Samuel 22:14

And El Elyon is "God Most High,"

Then Melchizedek king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, since he was the priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18

God (El) is the one up there, yon-der, you might even say, alien (from Latin alius, an"other"). And really what is higher than the heavens? The gods are the ELevated and ILUmined ones.

In Latin elegantem (nominative elegans) has the meaning "choice, fine, tasteful", but originally a term of reproach, elegans meaning "dainty, fastidious". Maybe it is elegans (pronounced not so much differently from elyon, especially in French), like being of the highest quality, or like the dress of the most high (elyon), a king. This is a good example of how words can be given either positive or negative connotation. For example the dress of a pope could be said to be elegans. Is the manner of dress either good or a bad thing, elegant or over the top? It is a matter of opinion.

    Pope Pius XII, reign 1939-1958 in his dress "Most High" or elegans

How did this word leon, then, which is like elyon, come to be the name of the animal? Lion comes by way of Latin and French, from the Greek leon, which is said to come from "a non-Indo-European language, perhaps Semitic." Lion has the connotation in biblical Greek of being dignified or of high quality, as in Revelation 5:5 when it speaks of "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed . . . " And in Greek the prefix ari- means "very" and is in words like aristos "best, brave one," so ari means "muchiness." However, in Hebrew ari אר׳ means "lion." So, perhaps the Greeks took the word meaning "most high," in Hebrew, i.e., elyon and made it the word to describe the ari (best) or most high (elyon) animal, the lion (ari). In Greek the leon is aristos (the lion is the best), and in Hebrew the ari is elyon (the lion is the most high) . . . And in Spanish El león is "The lion".

We do say that the lion is king, i.e., the most high, elyon, of the animal kingdom. Furthermore, the Ishtar gate of Babylon, which was initially known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was the main entrance to the city of Babylon. If you were walking into the city by this gate you would proceed down the Processional Way which was over a half mile long, and was adorned with flowers and 120 images of lions. The walls stood fifty feet tall on each side, rather impressive! It led to the temple of Marduk (Hebrew Merodach), Ba'al, "the Lord"(East Semetic Bel, Greek Belos, Latin Belus), the chief god of Babylon. [And it should be noted that "bel" is a word with etymological connections to "bright, light, shining one," as in Beltaine / Beltain / Beltine / Bealtaine / Bealltainn / Boaldyn, the Gaelic May Day fire festival that marks the beginning of summer to honor the god Belenus (Gaulish) / Bel / Bile (Irish) / Beli (Welsh),  the god of "light and healing."]

    Leones on the Processional Way of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon

So, imagine a person entering the city of Babylon by the main (or lion mane) gate. It is a gate with lions,  bab + leon. We might think that Babylon means "Lion Gate." And perhaps there is even a certain kind of truth in that incorrect interpretation. * The Problem With Language

Certain gods such as Ba'al "The Lord" and Moloch / Molech /  Molek, etc., from the Hebrew m-l-k root meaning "king" were given sacrifices in the burning furnace. In biblical Hebrew "hearth, altar-hearth" is ariel, so that would be, "lion of God". The opening to the fire might be thought of as representing the face of their god who was also represented at times by the bright fiery disk of the sun, whose face is like a lion with his mane; powerful and fearful. The lion is often used in connection with sun symbolism and sun gods. 


    A Lion. In Hebrew there are a few words for lion, Ari (from arah "to gather, gathered, pick, pluck"), also Arieh/Aryeh [Aramaic],  Layish (from "crusher" luwsh "kneed"), Shachal ("fierce lion" from the roar) and Kephir ("young lion")

Adonay / Adonai a name for God used in the Hebrew bible is translated as "The LORD." Adonay in Hebrew is from adon "lord, master, owner." Sometimes the Tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God, transliterated as YHWH / YHVH, is translated as "The LORD" as well, such as when the text says YHWH Elohim, it is translated as "The LORD God." Other times YHWH is translated as "God," when it is used with Adonay; Adonay YHWH "The LORD  God." 

However, YHWH is called not just, "The LORD," but he is qualified as "The LORD, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac and the God Jacob"(Ex 3:15). And we would say, also, this Lord is the God of Elijah, whose name means "Yah is my El" or "The LORD is my God." As opposed to - their - "Lord", i.e., Ba'al. (1 Kings18:20-40) [so they made a test to determine who's God was idle (didn't preform) and therefore the idol.]

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD [YHWH] is God [Elohim], follow him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people remained silent. 1 Kings 18:21

Moloch / Molek ("king") is the god infamously known for requiring child sacrifice. If it was ever practiced as literal "passing through fire," or putting the child as a burnt offering into the fiery furnace, it is not so much different than what YHWH asked of Abraham to do to his "only begotten son," Issac on Mt. Moriah. (Genesis 22)

   Abraham prepares to Sacrifice Issac, Children's Illustrated Bible, 1994

The Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac on an altar as a burnt offering. So, this is maybe what people were doing, what they thought their God wanted, the ultimate most precious sacrifice to prove their love and loyalty to him. Abraham thought his God wanted him to do this, so he was going to do it as a true sacrifice. It was very hard for him, but his LORD had asked him. What was he to do? Who can question God?

Woe to him who strives with his Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say to him who fashions it, "What are you making?" or "Your work has no handles"? 

Woe to him who says to a father, "What are you begetting?" or to a woman, "With what are you suffering labor pains?"

Thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? 

I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that streached out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:9-12

However, we see that after God (elohim) sees the faithfulness of Abraham that the "angel of the LORD" malak YHWH, tells him to not kill his son and provides a ram stuck in a thicket in place of Isaac.

There seems to be a lot of overlapping and possible confusion with words having do with gods and their etymological connections with words for "light, bright, shining", "lion, most high", and even the words for "word" (words being the illuminators, bringers of knowledge and light). The words may not seem connected on the surface, however, we can see how this could happen by association between cultures and languages. 

In Greek leukos is "bright, shining, white," in Latin lucere "to shine," and Welsh llug "gleam glimmer" and llygedyn "glimmer, ray, gleam" (pron. as a palital hlah-ge-den). The Welsh god Lleu (pron. hlah/hlai), is also sometimes called Llew which is Welsh for "lion." He is thought to be the counterpart of the Irish Lugh/Lug (which sounds similar to "Luke" in pron.),  Gaulish Lugus, the god "skilled in many arts," who is sometimes, either correctly or incorrectly called a sun god. Lugh was identified with Mercury / Hermes by the Romans, the god of communication. The etymology of the name is not clear, many have thought that the name was connected to words having to do with light, and therefore sun symbolism, but others say Lugh is not a sun god and therefore that etymlogy is incorrect. In that respect, Lugh would have more in common with the Greek logos "word, speech, discourse", or "reason", and legein "to say, speak " lego "I say", than leukos "bright, shining, white".  

    Apollo and the Satyrs, by Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

Apollo (Greek Apollon) was known as Phoebus (Gk. Phoibos "bright, radiant"), Helios "sun", Phanaios "giving or bringing light," Lukeios Proto-Greek "light", and by the Romans, Sol Latin "sun". However many of the gods are described as being "shinning" even when they are not a sun god. In fact the word deity comes from the proposed PIE root *dyue- "to gleam, shine" which is also the root of words for "sky" and "day."  So the English word deity comes from the idea of the gods being gleaming or shining ones.

The word for "light" in Latin is lux, and lucere means "to shine." In Greek logos is "word, reason, thought, speech." There seems to be certain connection between the two concepts that isn't at first obvious. Jesus is said to be both the "Light of the World," and the "Word of God." 

In Genesis it states that "in the beginning" God made light (Latin lux, Greek phos).

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 

Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Genesis 1:3

At the start of the gospel of John,  Jesus is equated with the "Word," translated from the Greek logos (it is Verbum in the Vulgate), also said of "in the beginning,"

In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the begining with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5

And Jesus says of himself in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world . . ."

Church of St. Brendan the Navigator, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, [detail of third window of north wall]

It is also interesting that the English word "lung"comes from the word "light", but it is light as in, "light in weight." Lung is from Old English lungen, with the meaning of the "light in weight organ" from PIE root *legwh - "not heavy, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" In Latin this became levis but in Old English it is leoht, however, leoht ALSO had the meaning of light, as in "light, daylight; luminous, beautiful".

We might wonder what the connection is between "little in weight" and "bright." In the underworld of the Ancient Egyptians, called the Duat / Tuat, there was a judgment ceremony after death called the "Weighing of the Heart." If the heart was found to balance with  the feather of Ma'at "truth, order, justice," the individual was able to pass on to the Afterlife, but the one who had a "heavy" heart was devoured by Ammit ("devourer, soul-eater"), who was a female demon, part lion, hippopotamus and crocodile, known as "Devourer of the Dead", "Eater of Hearts, and "The Great Death."

    Anubis and Ammit at the Weighing of a Heart against the Feather of Maat, Papyrus of Hunefer, c. 1375 BC

We see Jesus, "the Light of the world", as making burdens light. "Light" in Greek is phos and elephros "light, easy to bear, not burdensome".

The Greek word elephas / (genitive) elephantos has the meaning of both "elephant" and "ivory." It was used by ancient Greeks, such as Homer, to refer primarily to ivory (being the part go the animal they would most usually be dealing with),

The Greek word elephas, to which certain Western languages (English, French, German) owe the etymology of their word for elephant, when first used by the Greeks themselves primarily referred to ivory, not the animal. This is Homer's use of it (also Hesiod's and Pindar's); and for a considerable time thereafter, tangible experience of the Greeks of the elephant appears to have been restricted to tusks, an item of trade long before the Greek travelers had encountered the animal who carried them.  A Note on the Etymology of "Elephant", by Merlin Peris, JSTOR

Elephas is said to "probably come from a non-Indo-European, likely via Phoenician (compare Hamitic elu 'elephant' . . . or possibly from Sanskrit ibhah 'elephant' [OE]." So the name of the animal seems to have the connotation of (ele )"ivory; elphant" +  words having to do with "light"(phaino, phos, or phantos "visible"). 

However, the Phoenician word for "god / deity," El / Il or Ilu, is itself similar to the word for ivory / elephant, so perhaps the name of the ivory is connected to the idea of deity the "shining"  one(s). The elevated ones. The leukos "bright, shining, white," like ivory.

In ancient Egyptian ab was "elephant," and in Coptic ebu "ivory", which is similar to "ivory" (ab / ebu-ory [maybe like ab + hr.w (Horus) "the distant one"]. Ab in Latin has the meaning "off, away from." Ab is also related to a name for God (El) as well, as in Ab / Abba "Father (God)" the head, and the power, Allah (from al "the" - Ilah "God", cognate with Aramaic elah). Elephant is an animal that is a beast that carries heavy burdens easily, and is a bearer of the white, bright ivory. Like the symbolism of the lion the elephant and its ivory seem to have been connected to the imagery of the shining god / divinity, the most high god.

In Hebrew "to be or become light" is or / ore meaning "shine." To become like that first light, by the Word of God. In Latin Oremus is "Let us pray." So "Be the light" with the notion of  "Be like the light of God, or "Raise yourselves to the Light" ele-phros, the Word of God, and your burdens become light (light as a feather [ma'at]?). Learn from Me!

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (zugos, "yoke; balance, measuring scales," in Hebrew mot) upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy (chrestos) and the burden light (elephros)." Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus the Christ is the "light of God", like the Hindu, Jains, Buddhist god, Ganesha / Ganapti. Some have translated this name as "Lord of Hosts"(that would be YHWH Sabaoth in Hebrew). From Gane ("group, multitude, categorical system") + isha "lord or master" in Sanskrit, or Gana ("group") + pati ("lord, master"). He is also called the "Lord of letters and of learning," so we could connect him to Logos, and he is also said to personify the primordial sound OM or AUM, which is the Word of God.

As Vinayaka "Lord of Obstacles," Ganesha is called the remover of obstacles, or, we might say, the one who makes burdens light (elephros).

  Ganesha, Lord of the Ganas, Lord of Hosts

And in that day, says YHWH, you will call me, "My husband" (Ishi 'my man' [as in a male, not female], thus 'husband'), and no longer will you call me, "My Baal"(Baali 'my Baal', meaning 'Lord, Master')"Hosea 2:16

So it is saying they will call the Lord, their Is / Ish "man", as Eve (isa / isha "wife, woman") called Adam, her husband (man), rather than calling him "Lord, Master" specifically Baal, however Adonay and Yah both have the meaning of "Lord" as well . . .  

Well, I hope this has served to shed some light on a few things. 
Did I tell you? We are all connected.

Namaste!

How the Mighty are Fallen

Fall of Icarus, Blondel decoration 1819, Louvre

Icarus (Latin), from Ιkaros (Ικαρος, Greek), Vicare (Etruscan) was the man who flew too close to the sun and fell from heaven (from Old English hoefan "sky, firmament," came to mean "home of God"). In Greek "sky, heaven" is ouranus ούρανός , personified as Father Sky, Ouranus or Uranus in English. Falling from the heavens is more than a fall from the sky, it is a fall from grace.

Daedalus (meaning, "cleaver worker"), made wings out of feathers and wax (keros κηρός Greek) for him and his son, Icarus, to escape from the imprisonment imposed by King Minos.

    A "Wing" or Flight Feather

In modern Greek ftero φτερό (s.) is "feather, wing," and ftera φτερά (pl.) "feathers, wings," pteryx πτέρυξ "wing." From ancient Greek pteron /pterux [pteryx] "feather, wing," this seems to be in the sense of a feather or wing being a "flyer." Pteron is from the verb petomai πέτομαι "to fly" and the root *pet- "to rush, fly." So we might say, the wings Daedalus made were themselves made out of "wings", or feathers, as are the wings of birds. An airplane wing is just a single "wing" in the shape of a bird's flight feather(pinion). Or, we could say that an airplane has a right and left "feather" or flyers, or a pair of wings.

Feather in English comes from Old English feðer [fether] "a feather; a pen" in plural  feðra "wings," from the same root as the Greek, i.e., *pet- "to fly, rush." The English word wing is from, 

late 12c., wenge, "forelimb fitted for flight of a bird or bat," also the part of some insects resembling a wing in form or function, from Old Norse vængr "wing of a bird, aisle, etc[OE].

and this [wenge] replaced the Old English feðra [fethra] "wings (feathers)." 

Wenge is said to be of unknown origin, "perhaps from Proto-Germanic *we-ingjaz, suffixed form of PIE root *we- 'blow' [OE]." In that case a wing would be a thing blowing(we-ing), rather than a feðer a "flyer." The word feather, seems to come from the sense of something either shaped for flying, and/or a component, like what bird wings are made out of, whereas wing isn't from the sense of individual feathers, but rather the sense of some sort of appendage that is used for flight. It's a little confusing in English that the singular "wing" replaced the plural feðra "feathers." We don't normally describe a bird as flying with its feathers, we say it flies with its wings; wings which just happen to be made out of feathers. Whereas in certain other languages, like Greek, the connection between feathers and wings is retained. The English feðer "feather" / wenge "wing" combination seems to mirror the Old Norse(from whence we get the word "wing").  In Old Norse fjoðr is "feather," fiðri "feathers," and vængr "wing."

The connection between wings, feathers and flying is actually visually implicit in ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing and iconography. The hieroglyph of a feathered bird wing could be used to represent both djnach "wing," and pA "fly." 

It is also interesting to note that pet, pt [pe Coptic] in ancient Egyptian had the meaning "sky, heaven." And the self created Father god who was the personified primordial mound and was named Ptah. His symbolism had to do with both things in the pet "sky," such as the things used for flying (*pet-), such as feathers and wings, as well as the primordial mound / first land, or we could say rock, petra  πέτρα "stone, rock" in Greek. Ptah was at certain time depicted wearing either a feathered or winged tunic. He was a feathered Father or Pater [Latin]. Therefore, in Ptah we retain a connection for both the word elements in English, which are taken from Greek,  ptero-, as in pteranadon, and the petri- in petrous and petrify.

    Ptah Shown with Rocklike  Head and Feathered(Wing) Tunic, Tomb of Tutankamun, Guilded wood, faience and glass., 1321-1343 BC, 18th Dynasty, Valley of the Kings

The etymology of the name Icarus is unknown. Some sources say that the name Ikaros might come from the Greek word meaning "follower".  This doesn't make a lot of sense if you consider how he did NOT follow his father or his father's instructions. However, it might make sense if you think about sunflowers,  Helianthus annus. They are followers of the sun. There is, in fact, a yellow variety of sunflower named 'Icarus'.

    Yellow Sunflower - a Vicar of the Sun

So, maybe Icarus was a follower like a flower and not a follower, as in, someone who does what he is told. The sunflower (sunfollower) seems to follow the sun out of a love for the warmth and sunlight that the sun radiates. Followers can be thought of as subservient and subordinate, or imitators without their own ideas. Or, a follower may be an adherent to certain teachings, or a way of being, and may be, even, a free spirit, like you might expect a follower of the Sun to be; someone who desires to be powerful and free, like the Sun.

We can say Ikaros fell from heaven when he followed the sun too closely and the keros (wax) melted from his wings. He fell into the sea and there he sleeps with the ikthys (ιχθύς "fish").

    Flight of Icarus, Gabriel Picart, Barcelona, Spain, Modern (2004)

Icarus got carried away by the thrill and freedom he experienced when he was able to fly with wings for the first time. He must have felt powerful and invincible, like a god . . . or a son of a god.

Phaeton actually was a son of a god. He was the son of Helios.

    Phaeton or Helios/Sol/Sun driving the chariot of the Sun, c. 435 B.C.

In this passage from Isaiah we see the fallen shining one, like Phaeton.

How you are fallen (nephal Hebrew) from heaven, O Day Star (Lucifer in Vulgate "light bringer," helel in Hebrew "shining one"), son of Dawn! How you are cut to the ground, you who laid the nations low! Isaiah 14:12

Phaeton  Φαέθων means "shining" from Ancient Greek phainó φαίνω "shine, shed light, appear." He fell from the sky when he daringly attempt to fly his father's (the Sun, Helios Ηλιος) chariot, across the sky and Zeus struck him down because he was scorching the earth.

    Dominique Lefevre 1698-1711, The Fall of Phaeton[The Fall of "Shinning One"], Victoria  and Albert Museum, London

Here Phaeton lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though he greatly failed, more greatly he dared. epitaph on Phaeton's tomb, Ovid, (Metamorphoses 2.325)

Phaeton is also the name given to a son of Dawn, the goddess Eos in Greek, Aurora Latin.

It is an interesting comparison, then, that Jesus, the Son of God, the light of the world John 8:12, who also calls himself the "bright morning star" Rev. 22:16 says, 

    Monstrance with Host and Corpus

"I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" Luke 12:49

Phaeton tried to prove that he was the son of Helios, but could not control the chariot of the sun and almost scorched the earth, and here Jesus speaks about wanting to do the very thing!  However it is a spiritual, not a literal fire. It is baptism, Greek baptizein "to immerse", immersion in the Holy Spirit. 

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I . . . he will will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11

And, Jesus, like the sun at the solstice, also suffered a fall or death, but rose again after three days, proving himself to be the Son of God. So a fall or death is not always a sign of failure. Just as the grain falls to the ground and "dies," but is reborn.

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24

There is something to be said for one who dares to do the impossible. And what is more daring and impossible than believing that you are the son of God, and that because of this you can conquer death? Absurd!

    Jesus Superhero Street Art

In Genesis we see the Nephilim are called the offspring of the "sons (bene) of God (Elohim)", they were the "mighty men of renown." Their name, Nephillim, is sometimes translated as "giants".

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God (bene Elohim) came in to the daughters of men (ha'adam), and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men (gibbor) that were of old, the men of renown. Genesis 6:4

Some people connect the name Nephillim to the verb nephal "fall," but there is not agreement upon the etymology or its possible meaning. It is true that these so called "giants" are born, and birthing is sometimes called falling or dropping (thus the term "baby catching"), so these giants did "fall" nephal into this world, even though they are offspring of the so called "sons of God," which seems to be contrasted with the daughters of "the Adam" (i.e., mankind, the people God created out of the earth). We could say they "fall," in that they are brought down to, and even made out of, the earth/ground (adamah) by way of their mothers.

Just because someone is a "giant" or "mighty" does not make him invincible, such as we see with Goliath. Nor even, if one is a king anointed by God, or a son of that king, such as Saul and Jonathan, or any of his army, are they immune to death. In this passage, they are called "the mighty fallen" gibbor nephal.

How the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places. 2 Samuel 1:25 

It takes more than the half-blood of a "son of God" (like the Nephillim) to make a man immortal. Maybe that is indeed the difference. A son of the adam is filled with adom "red" blood (dam Hebrew) and is mortal, but in the veins of the gods and immortals runs golden ichor. 

Maybe golden, like the golden color of the oil from fish, ichthys, that, in past times, was used to light lamps.

    Ichor colored Fish Oil

If Icarus had had ichor in his veins instead of blood, he would not have perished in the sea. Instead, he was mortal and was able to be wounded. 

However, we could say, even though he was not immortal and didn't have ichor for blood, he could have "bled ichor." Ichor is an antiquated term used to refer to the smelly, yellowy, watery discharge from a wound. Fish oil, which is the color of ichor, doesn't smell that great either. I don't know how the ichor of the gods was supposed to smell. I wouldn't think that it would have a bad smell, however, it was said to be deadly toxic to mortals.

Icarus, a.k.a., Vicare to the Etruscans, was no vicar, or substitute for a god, even though he had wings and could fly. We might say as much for many so called vicars of the churches as well. They have their vestments as signs of their spiritual authority, like Icarus donned his wings. However, it is what you do with your power and ability gained through your position that matters. If it is not used well the wings are bound to come off and you will come falling to earth. 

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon (Greek rendering of Babel)
the Great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird . . . Alas! alas! you great city, you mighty[ischuros  ίσχυρός] city, Babylon! In one hour your judgement has come." Revelation 18:2,10

Yes, the mighty can fall.

Icharus was not ischuros[strong, mighty] enough and he fell to his death.

However, sometimes, the fall is not the end of the story, but rather, the beginning as with Adam and Eve, or our beginning, being born into the world. To be born into the world as a mortal is a certain fall from grace. However, when we fall we have the chance to rise, with glory proportioned to the size. What happens when one finds himself/herself fallen, into a world of death? The only way out of it is to become like God. And so this is God's desire for us.

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them in your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:20-26

So, as we step into this new year, after having just made it through a fall [autumn], as we begin to rise toward the light and the heat of the summer sun. Let us remember our mortality, and how it gives us experience as we turn upon the wheel of the year, but let us also remember we are the children of God and we will always rise after the fall. And we are truly one with God and with each other!

    Wheel of Fortune X