The Sun — XIX

Spolia Tarot - artwork by Jen May

"Finally we have reached illumination and consciousness. What was hidden is now revealed. There are no shadows, no secrets, and some sort of understanding has been reached.

The command of Apollo's temple is "Know Thyself,"and probably you couldn't have reached that point if you Haden't been dragged through all the darkness that preceeds this card, but now here we are. Knowing ourselves. Whether that's good or ugh at least we know. 

Our little acrobat is holding laurel, sacred to Apollo." 

 -Spolia Tarot, by Jessa Crispin

One obvious difference between the moon and the sun is that the moon is visible during the daytime or the nighttime, but the sun is only directly visible during the day. In fact the presence of the sun IS daytime. The absence of the sun is night. The sun is our source of il "en"-lumen-nation and en-lighten-ment. The Sun trump XIX carries this meaning as well.

Many gods have been associated with the sun, such as Phoebus "bright, shining, radiant" Apollo (Απόλλων Apollōn).

Apollo, the radiant god of light, prophecy, and music, occupies a significant place in Greek Mythology. Son of Zeus and Leto, and twin brother to Artemis, Apollo is often depicted as youthful, handsome, and excuding an aura of divine grace. His association with the sun stems not only from his epithet "Phoebus Apollo," meaning "bright" or "shining," but also from his role as the god of enlightenment. In Greek art and literature, Apollo is frequently portrayed driving the chariot of the sun across the sky, symbolizing his mastery over light and illumination. Helios vs. Apollo/mythlok.com

The sun has surges in the form of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. We could say these fountains of plasma and light/photons resemble laurel wreaths/crowns worn by Apollo and the ancient Greco-Romans. 

Laurel Wreath

Solar Flare - NASA/SOHO

Daphne 🌿(meaning "laurel, bay tree") was a naiad reluctantly pursued by Apollo, due to a nasty trick played upon the two by the arrows of Eros. Naiads (from νάειν naiein "to flow, swim") were a variety of nymph associated with "fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of water."  Therefore, we could say that Daphne, being a naiad (flow-er), is associated with surges(n.) that is "fountains, springs of water" (a meaning now obsolete) and things that flow. The surges from the sun are certainly not made of flowing water, however Daphne, though a water nymph, was definitely fire! (at least Apollo thought so). And, plasma and gasses do flow, or swim  〜 out from this source of the sun ☀️ radiating all the light and heat that fuels or nourishes [from the same PIE root, *(s)nāu-, as 'Naiad' and 'swim']  life on Earth. This makes the corona and flares of the sun, like the laurel wreath corona on the head of the flowing haired Apollo, a fitting symbol to crown victors (from Latin vincere "to conquer, overcome, defeat"), or those who are like the invincible(in "not" + vincibilis "conquerable") sun. 

Apollo [with flowing/swimming hair] designed by GoddessKindness

At the end of Apollo's pursuit, Daphne was turned into a tree, and Apollo claimed her in this form immortalizing her presence with him, adorning himself and others with her branches 🌿, thus adoring her. 

"Since you cannot be my wife," said he, "you shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown; I will decorate with you my harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal pomp to the Capital, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you shall be always green, and your leaf know no decay." Bullfinches Mythology - III Apollo and Daphne 

Since both the Greek dendron "tree" and English tree, are said to come from PIE *deru-/dreu- "be firm, solid, steadfast," we could say that a tree symbolizes durability and strength and therefore, Daphne, or at least the memory of her and the inspiration of the fiery passion he carried for her, is a symbol of support and strength for Apollo in the form of the laurel(Daphne) wreath which resembles the flowing, flickering, life giving("green") rays of the sun.

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

The personification of victory is Nike, the goddess of νίκη níki "victory," and νικητής nikitís is "victor, winner, conqueror."

 

Nike bearing Laurel Wreath, at the ruins of Ephesus, Turkey

In ancient Egyptian nekht is "victory, might, strength."

n "water ripple" + khet "branch/stick" (+ kh "sieve/placenta" + t "bread loaf )

It is spelled with the branch / stick hieroglyph (khet/ḫt), which can be used as a determinative for "wood, tree," which ties in well with the branch(laurel) of Daphne in her tree form, being a symbol of victory. And since the n "water ripple" hieroglyph can have the meaning "belongs to" or ny "of, belonging to," perhaps we could say, victory is that which belongs to the branch (n-khet), or is belonging to the branch (ny-khet). And a branch belongs to a tree, that which is *deru- "firm, solid, steadfast," therefore symbolic of nkhet "might and strength," and ḫt / khet "stick" which is the ability to "get" or conquer 💪 . "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

The sun is the light of day and the rays of the sun give strength in the form of life and leaf 🌿.

In ancient Egypt the disk of the the sun (rˁ/ra/re) was equated with the god Ra/Re.

Ra is the Egyptian word for 'sun'. As a solar deity, Ra embodied the power of the sun but was also thought to be the sun itself, envisioned as the great god riding in his solar barge across the heavens throughout the day and descending into the underworld at sunset. World History Encyclopedia 

Ra-Harahkty wearing the Disk of the Sun with Uraeus, 1298-1235 BC, Tomb of Nefertari

Here Ra/Re is wearing the disk of the sun /☉ "rˁ ", called the Eye of Ra / irt ra, encircled (wreath-ed) by the Uraeus/Iaret "rearing one" / "raised one," the cobra often found on the crowns of gods and pharaohs at the place of the inner  ir "eye", like an alert(rearing) or open(raised) eye. 

Both cobras and eyes are hooded (phanin). When a cobra is raised its hood is open (and has markings that look like eyes) and it becomes visible (phaneros); it comes to light, and when the eyes of a person are open, the hoods(lids) are raised and the eyes are revealed (phaneroó); the lights are on! Bright eyed and bushy tailed! Rise and shine! 👀

Uraeus/Iraret with Solar Disk 305-30 BC, Brooklin Museum

The goddess Wadjet

This cobra, the Uraeus/Iaret, was a symbol used for the goddess Wadjet "the green(papyrus/wadj) one." So perhaps we could call her Verdant.

Wadj "papyrus,green"

Wadjet was a protective deity also associated with the symbol known as the Eye of Ra, aka, the right wadjet eye [below].

Eye of Ra - Wadjet - represents protection, royal power, good health ("greenness")

So even though the ancient Egyptian sun god is masculine, he like Apollo, is adorned by the feminine goddess; the "eye" of the sol "sun." Which we could say is the ayin "eye, sight; spring, fountain [Hebrew]" of the sun. We experience the sun by this green (generative, life-giving🌱) energy that flows(naiein〜) from it. The life-giving energy naiein from the ayin. It springs from the spring. In ancient Egypt this power was personified in the Wadjet eyes.

And green means go 🟢. These eyes are action, like the hieroglyph of the eye implies, which has the meaning "create, beget, make, construct, do, act." 

Eye Hieroglyph ir, iri, image by Julie O.

So we could say that the Eye of Ra is the "creative power" or "action" of Ra, the sun, and that this creative power is green, i.e., generative, causing growth (causing one to rise), like Wadjet.

Generally the sun is a highly positive symbol due to this creative, life giving nature, providing energy to the world, however, the sun can also be harsh. It is intense. It is an extreme "eye" of heat.

On the one hand, the eye of Ra was seen as an almighty force of protection that could ward off impending danger, keep people safe, bring balance and order into the universe, and offer its incredible healing powers. Yet, as a fierce protector, the Eye of Ra also had the power to instill great fear into ancient Egyptians, who believed it could bear witness to acts of depravity and issue out violent and destructive forms of punishment. This duality can be read as a comparison with the way Egyptians both revered and feared the sun, with its life-giving and devastaitingly damaging properties. What is the Eye of Ra?Egyptian Protection Symbol - thecollector.com

Compare the Hebrew word used in the Bible pertaining to the "Tree of the Knowledge of good and "evil" ra' רע, from ra'a' רעע "to be evil, to harm, to afflict, be displeasing," spelled with a resh (developed from a pictograph of a head 👤, rosh "head; chief; top; beginning; first") + ayin "eye" 👁, which has similar word elements and symbolic elements as the Eye of Ra, although with negative connotation. The ayin "eye" of  ra' "evil."

The Eye of Ra, Wadjet, had her fierce aspects as well, as nbt nsr "Lady of Flame," or we could say as a srf "inflamed, moody"(seraph) snake, she was a virulent spitter of fiery poison(virus) in her defense of Ra against his enemies.

nsr(sr) "flame, fire" (Gardiners Sign List Q7)

"Braizier"  det. fire; heat, be hot, flame, torch, illumine

srf  "warm, inflammation, fever, mood"

verb šmm "be warm, hot, fever"

Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face, with stars to fill my dream.

I am a traveler of both time and space to be where I have been.

To sit with elders of a gentle race this world has seldom seen.

Who talk of days for which they sit and wait

When all will be revealed.  . . .

Oh, all I see turns to brown

As the sun burns the ground.

And my eyes fill with sand.

As I scan this wasted land.

Tryin' to find, tryin' to find where I've been . . .

Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace

like thoughts inside a dream.

Heed the path that led me to that place, with yellow dessert stream.

My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again.

Sure as the dust that blows high in June, when moving' through Kashmir [Sanskrit ka "water" shimīra "desiccate" (compare above shmm/šmm "hot, fever" + ra "sun"] . . .  -Kashmir, Led Zeppelin, 1975

. . .

This duality of the Eye of Ra could be likened to the duality of the human ego which is a necessary sense of self for the human experience, but can also be a destructive force. What wells up from within radiates or shines out of a person,

"sunshine; to shine; rise (wbn), shine (psd), glitter, appear, overflow, be excessive"

 like the rays of the sun for good or ill.

Tarot de Marsailles

Satisfaction, accomplishment, contentment, success, favorable relationships, love, joy, devotion, unselfish sentiment, engagement, favorable omen, a good friend, high spirit, warmth, sincerity, achievement in the arts

Ra is the solar eye that emerged from the cosmic egg. The I am (ego sum), number one (I), the Ich "I" from the Ei "egg". Or the eye from the egg. 

O Ra in his egg[swHt], shining[psd] in his disk[itn/Aten], rising[wbn] from his horizon,

floating on his sky, whose abomination is evil [isfet "injustice, chaos, violence, disorder," opposite of ma'at], 

raised on the supports of Shu, without equal among the gods,

who gives breath of flame of his mouth,

who illuminates the two lands with his power of light, . . .

Book of the Dead  17, Allen part b, Section 1

The ego, from Latin ego "I", same as Greek έγώ, is not the eye, but rather the "I" (a shortening from Old English ic said to be from PIE *eg). The ic "I", or, in ancient Egyptian ink "I" is the egg or source of our practical, rational, decision making personality.

The sol "sun" is the core, the heart (cor in Latin) and soul (animus) of the engine which is our sole source of solar energy, our solus sol, only sun, rising anew each day at the crack of dawn. Wakey, Wakey, eggs and bakey!

In Hebrew labab has the meaning "inner man," the "heart." 

The term denotes the inner core of a person—the seat of thought, will, conscience, and emotion. Unlike modern Western usage that restricts "heart" largely to feelings, the Old Testament use  לבב to describe the totality of inner life. Scripture consistently treats the heart as the decisive arena where covenant faithfulness or rebellion is settled. Lebab, Topical Lexicon: Central Role in Hebrew Thought

And the labab or leb "heart" 💟 is an organ associated with love 💗[from PIE root *leubh- "to care, desire, love"] which has lopsided(asymmetrical) lobes or swellings. The heart, like the sun (from PIE *sawel-🌞), is central to our entire existence. Swell!

Halloween Tarot, artwork Kipling West

"Exuberance, happiness, success.Simple pleasures. A purity of spirit and mind. A good partnership or marriage."

Things that are solaris "of the sun," are "sunny," and tend to give solace or solari "to console, soothe, lighten," like a full belly and good company. But just as the sun can not give life if there is nothing to shine upon, the heart can not love if there is not someone or something to love. It is in relationship/partnership that the sun truly shines! The heart of the sun is fulfilled in serving life. 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life [ψυχή psuché "soul, life self, inner being, heart"] for one's friends. Jn.15:13 NIV

The sun gives/causes (dw) or "dews" 

 

"ankh = life" upon the world.

Aten "disk"- Ra "sun" with radiating hands holding ankhs

If not for radiating or "flowing out" its life giving rays upon the Earth, the sun is just a unrelenting ball of flame (full of hot air), and apart from the story that the sun plays in the Earth's drama, as the Light of the World, and giver of days and seasons, the sun is just a roiling hellish furnace hurtling through space. 

The Sun trump XXI represents joy and happiness, but the joy and happiness of the sun does not lie in simply BEGING sunny(hot🥵). In order to truly shine, it must be sunny in service 🌞. Our happiness too, lies in service. Service, from Latin servus "slave," may be a kind of slavery or bondage, but we are always in bondage to something by our very nature. To be created as a human is to be in a condition where we are bound that is we bua "dwell"[from PIE *bheue- "to be, exist, grow"] in change and growth, which is a product of our physicality [also from *bheue-], that is, our bau "building, construction, structure, i.e., architecture," or beingness. 

Our being(esse), essence, sum "I am" as a created being separate from God(who is uncreated and unmoved) means we are less than God who is Being itself, I Am Who Am, which seems to imply that we are less than perfect. Our beingness is the cause of what is, i.e., what be, i.e., the truth, veritas, alétheia, our reality. Awareness or knowledge of this "reality" of our separation from God is the very(true) cause of sin ("sin" which is said to be from a form of *es- "to be") which is fault "deficiency" or fallen nature. In this way, original sin (the "state" of being we find ourselves in CCC 404) is a product of the original "ill" lumination" which we are all born into. Our enlightenment 🐍, the eating of the ets "tree" of the daath "knowledge" of towb "good" and  ra' "evil",  "opened our eyes" 👀💡 and made us TO BE "like" God [Gen.3:5], but also seemingly less than God (only similar to or a simulation of), and thus, is the source of the "reality" of our present servitude to sin (our 'sin'ular situation, the 'sin'ulation), but also, finally, the reason why we will attain to something greater; namely Christhood.

artwork by Julie O./chthonickore

"O happy fault'

O necessary sin of Adam

which gained for us

so great a Redeemer!" 

Thus what was "belonging to the tree", was a sneaky or snakey nike "victory," a sníki snike! 

For we, in communion with Christ, are made to be, fully human and fully one with God just as Christ is fully human and fully one with God. Therefore we are made to be perfect (teleios "perfect, mature, complete), or are completed as a mature creation in Christ 🐣 (and therefore experience a new reality 🐛🦋/a new sum [sharing in the divine nature]) as Christ is perfect and the heavenly father is perfect. Victory! 

Just as the sun (in relationship to the earth) goes to darkness and is reborn in the morning yet is not deficient. Similarly, we, made in the image of God, suffer darkness, and hope to rise at the dawn of the new day as the remedy to our sin-suation which is really just a simulation "a false show." When we are a completed (new)creation, the context for the darkness shifts. It was only nighttime, not evil. However, it is a process; 🌞🌚🌞 = 1 Day.  The son of God is our example in this and thus our savior. "He made him to be sin who knew no sin." 2Cor.5:21

And no servant is greater than his master. If the creator shines upon us as our sun giving us life, we too must shine upon others to be "like" God. Otherwise we are not like God, but like something else. 👿

 . . . whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life [psuché] as a ransom for many. Mt. 20:26-28 NSV

We must bud 🌱🌱🌱 if we want to be Buddha "awakened, enlightened" to higher consciousness. If you are not a servant to others, you are still a servant, but to yourself (the end of which is death). True enlightenment is this knowledge, "It is in giving that we receive." Giving is the Wenceslas *vetye-*slavu- "greater glory," or the better slavery.

1 Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen,

When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.

Brightly shown the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,

When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel.

2 "Hither, page, and stand by me, if you know it, telling,

Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"

"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,

Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

3 "Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,

You and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither."

Page and monarch, both they went, forth they went together,

Through the cold wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

4 "Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,

Fails my heart, I know not how; I can not go longer."

"Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in them boldly,

You shall find the winter's rage freeze your blood less coldly."

5 In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;

Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.

Therefore, Christian men, be sure, while God's gifts possessing,

You who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.

Solstice IXX - Winter Wonderland Tarot, by Joshua Franklin and Aaron Franklin 2022

Acting as "slave" to others is a salve, both to the other and to the self. 

A slave or a servant can be help(n.), as in the sense of a server (from French servir "to help, stead, avail"). It is in this way that Daphne was of service, or help to Apollo. As a tree (*deru- "firm, solid, steadfast") the memory of her put Apollo in good stead (from *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm") or steadied him with the kind of courage or heart that drives one to victory. As the remembrance of Christs' coming (Christmas), death and resurrection, which is mirrored in the story of the death and rebirth of the sun at winter solstice (*sawel- 🌞+ *sta-), is our Yeshuah/Jesus, that is, "salvation, help, saving; aid, victory." 

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell [are in bondage / exist (*bheue-)] in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined[nagah]. Is.9:2 KJV

also, 

The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen[nagah] Is.9:2 Douay-Rheims 

 

Shining has the sense with the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph "shine, glitter, rise"

"sunshine; to shine; rise (wbn), shine (pds), glitter, appear, overflow, be excessive"

"illuminate (shd) - N8 Gardiner's Sign list

of a power that is radiating out from the source of light, the sun, as it rises in the sky. "Rise and shine, and give God your glory, glory!" 

wbn "rise"- w "chick" + b "foot" + n "water ripple" + "sun w/rays" determinative

It is an illuminating and enlightening glittering glow (both from *ghel-(2) "to shine") similar in meaning to the Hebrew word nagah used in the passage above "illumine, cause to shine, glitter, enlighten." And we could say this shining energy is "green"(causing growth, either physically or spiritually), or khlorōs/chloro- "yellow-green" (also from *ghel-(2)) like young green shoots as in[Chloe/'glo-e'🌱]  [compare Latin virga "young shoot" 🌱; viridis "green"]

[chlorophyl/'gloro-phyl'] . . .

or glowing. The glow rays of the sun are a sign of glory like the shinning crown of light, or "sun crown" (ancient Egyptian, kha ra / ḫˁ rˁ  👑🌞 sounds like a very guttural 'glory' or 'crown')  

kha / ḫˁ - "hill of the sunrise; crown; appear in glory"

 on the head of Apollo or Christ, 

Apollo with Chlor-ius Daphne and Christ with Glowing Lamp both Adorned with Shining Crowns of Light 

For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and thou, Lord, wilt enlighten[nagah] my darkness. 2 Sam. 22:29 Douay-Rheims

or the khlorōs/chloros 🌿 "pale green; fresh" laurel wreath encircling the head of Apollo. Which would remind us of Wadjet the "green one," the snake goddess🐍, the Eye of Ra/Irt Ra, the Iaret "risen one (grown up ↑)," adorning the head of Ra. 

Re/Ra with Ureus/Iaret

Reminding us also of the nagah "risen, shining"sun. So we could say the Eye of Ra/Wadjet is a nagah "risen" 🌞 nachash "snake"🐍 or nāgá 🐍, Sanskrit for "snake/cobra,"and is symbolic for the action/doing (ir "eye") of God,  or God's glory.

And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a seraph ["fiery, burning"] and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees [raah] it, shall live." Num. 21:8 

So Moses made a bronze[or brazen, brass, copper] serpent[nachash, from nachash "enchantment, spell"] and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Num. 21:9

So this serpent was medicine, 

or a salve or solvent for sin and a bringer of victory(yeshua) of life over death. In other words, the bronze serpent gave(begot iri) greeness or was a green eye, Wadjet, 

And as Moses lifted[raised] up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting. Jn. 3:14-15 Douay-Rheims

who is symbolized by the Ureaus/Iaret which was a nagah[risen/shining✨] naga[serpent]; a seraph.

Human-headed Uraeus with Wings, from the neck of the mummy of Tutankhamen 

"She's got the power to heal you never fear! 

Oh, she's got the power to heal you never fear. . ." 

-Eyesight to the Blind, The Who

This shining snake shined(nagah-ed) the healing power of God. That is a serpent with sizzle ♨️! 

"Flame" (so, similar to Heb. Ur "flame," from  Or "light"), Latin Urere "to burn")

(abbreviation) srf

So we could say the doing(👁 iri) or dw-ing(🤚giving) of God snaked 〜 from this nāga 🐍 or naiein-ed "flowed 〜" from it like the shimmering rays of the sun, 

As Moses donned the serpent in the desert, so Christ dawned(owr), so that by his example; that by gazing upon him or considering him, raah, we could grow ↑ to maturity, causing victory or health, i.e., Yeshuah/Jesus. Help us! Yasha' na' / Hosanna 🌿🌿🌿!

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his footsteps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 24:21-24 NIV

Divine Mercy Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, 1934

Rays of light Shining from the Sacred Heart(cor) of Jesus

And all these things, i.e., saving, health, help, victory, enlightenment, illumination are definitely the cause of sunshine, that is, joy and happiness  . . .

. . . in the end. First you might have to sweat it out a bit 🥵. But when you finally experience who you are as Christ (beingness without sin), it's brighter than sunshine!🌞

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one, Jn. 17:21-22

This is who you are.

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," upon the scales of ma'at, that is, if it was light as the feather and light like the truth, 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!