The Tower — XVI

Winter Wonderland Tarot - by Joshua Franklin and Aaron Franklin

The Tower represents a force of nature. The heavier the building material used to build a tower and the higher it is built, the more potential energy is stored. The kinetic energy of the decent, avalantze "descent" in Romansch(Swiss) [from which we get the word avalanche by way of French], will be greater the more grave the material involved and its gravity. Towers are justifiably built for protection. They are focal points of walls or castles, towering over the other structures. They can provide defense against invasion and offer a long view of possible encroaching threats. However, they can only be built so high and so strong. Towers themselves are not immune to destruction. Towers are always at risk of being struck down or toppling over. When this occurs, that which was intended for protection, itself becomes its own very instrument of calamity. 

When a tower collapses, anything on or in the tower must also come down. There is no escape from the falling (hence being "towed" to the earth from the sky by the force of gravity). The tower is a force of nature like the water that flows is said to tow a thing by its flowing, 

Cochem, Germany, Dec. 7, 2022, photo by Julie O.

like an undertow forces objects out to sea, or the drag of a waterfall can lead a person over its edge. Tow is said to be from PIE *deuk- "to lead".  In this way a tower is a tow-er. Or it is a lead-er, often with a ladder, or stairs, or elevator. You can be lead or driven all the way up or all the way down.

Whether it is bringing you up or down the tower is making a difference because of its relationship to the earth. The Tower is impactful. When you are up in a tower you are elevated. You may be up very high, even in the clouds like Jack in the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk; up with the mighty ones, the giants, perhaps even the Elohim/El (God).

In Hebrew migdal or migdalah is "tower," from gadal "grow up, become great, increase"

The Hebrew verb "gadal" primarily conveys the idea of growth or increase in size, importance or significance. It is used in various contexts to describe physical growth, such as a child growing up, as well as metaphorical growth, such as the increase in power or influence of a person or nation. It can also mean to magnify or glorify, often in the context of exalting God or His works. Strongs Lexicon, Bible Hub

For this reason the tower can represent what happens when we attempt to grow up(ward) ⬆️, to rise above ourselves. Like the construction of the infamous Tower of Babel, which tower, we could say, was attempting to be a tow-er from earth to the heavens/sky/god, 

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth." Genesis 11:14, ESV

in the city of Babel[which name became a shem "name" of shame], called Βαβυλών by the Ancient Greeks (from Akkadian Bab-ilani/Bab-ilim "gate of the gods/god") 

𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠

[babilim- Babylon]

and Latinized as Babylōn. But its all very confusing and confused due to the different transliterations and translations. There, in this city, the language of one people is said to have become "confused" (balal /בלל) deliberately by YHWH in order to frustrate their plans. However, this sort of thing naturally happens due to the interactions of different people with diverse languages and writing systems as in this great metropolis of its time, Babylon.

During the 3rd millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis occurred between Sumerian and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian and vice versa is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to static, morphological, and phonological convergence. wikipedia/Baylonia

City of Babylon 

In the Hebrew Book of Genesis the city is called בבל/Babel and is said to be named from the the word בלל/balal "confusion." However, the Biblical Hebrew, Babel, is similar to the Akkadian name Bab-ilim, which is said to mean "gate of god," and the meaning in the Sumerian rendering is also literally "gate of god," Kadingir, from ka "gate/door" digir.ra "of god". The same sort of connection can even be made in Hebrew with the words בבה babah  and אל el.  El is a word used to refer to God in the Book of Genesis and babah according to Strong's Hebrew Lexicon is:

feminine active participle of an unused root meaning to hollow out; something hollowed (as a gate), i.e. pupil of the eye:—apple [of the eye] -Strong's

A Babah/Apple of the Eye/Window to the Soul

So, for example, a place "hollowed out" in a wall surrounding a city is a "gate," it is an opening, and the hollowed out place in the eye, then, would be, the "gate" in the eye, therefore the "gate" is the pupil. . . sometimes called the "apple of the eye," the history of which idiom itself is ripe with babel. But if eyes are the "windows to the soul"(and windows['wind eyes"] are themselves places "hollowed out"), then indeed this "gate/window" is very special. Apart from this, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs this word, babah, relates to the Aramaic בבא "gate". So that would be Baba-el "gate of god," therefore even in Hebrew, the meaning of "gate of god" is not totally lost. In some sense this city, Babel, was a place to meet or encounter God, i.e. El "the mighty one, the Almighty".

There is a difference between 1.) hearing something in a strange language, knowing its a language that you don't comprehend, yet having the understanding that the speaker is making proper sense, not just "babbling",  . . .  and 2.) hearing something and thinking that you understand it because you are "apparently" both speaking the same language, yet the meaning of the words, that is, the image[eidōlon] you form, from said words, is off or in vain[idle] from what the speaker intended, . . . however neither are necessarily aware of this. . . The second case is where the real confusion(balal) lies. Is babble incomprehensible meaningless speech like gobbledygook? Or is babel speech that somehow becomes confused due to wrong understanding and differing assumptions? Things can get lost in translation, or misunderstood, or misheard like in a game of "Telephone"? Who's on first? Who is on first. That's what I said. . . 

THE TOWER [OR: WAR]

Thoth Tarot Deck, Aleister Crowley, 

"The dominating feature of this card is the Eye of Horus. This is also the Eye of Shiva, on the opening of which, according to the legend of this cult, the Universe is destroyed" -The Book of Thoth, pg. 108

And if misunderstanding causes division, and division causes war, then this kind of confusion is a big problem. It's actually the root of all evil. War is: 

said in Watkins to be from PIE *wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up," suggesting the original sense was "bring into confusion." -EO

Well, isn't that interesting? Crowley thought the name "War" suited this Atu(Trump) XVI. And the Eye is prominent in the artwork. And we could say the eye, given that it is the Eye of Horus or the Eye of Shiva is a Baba-El, or Gate(pupil of the eye) of God, or Babel/Babylon, the place where God "confused[balal] the language of all the earth." Gen. 11:9  So to balal "confuse" a people can be the cause of bella "wars"/bellum "war" in Latin. And when you mix up people's language you also mix up their worship and this can be a cause of idolatry.

For the worshiping of idols not to be named[άνωνύμων "unnamed" anonymon]  is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil. Wisdom 14:27 KJV

Is idolatry the worship of a false God/gods or is idolatry the worship of "God", but falsely? Isn't this a great Confusion/Babel? No one says they are worshipping a god who is an idol. People say they are worshiping the true God/gods, so if they are in fact idolaters, their idol is not named as such, or is an unnamed idol. So how can anyone know if their God is truly God and not an unnamed idol? A true God should be known by Their works, and not only by Their works, but also by Their effect on Their worshipers. If the "God" is idle("vain, worthless, useless"), then it is an idol. Are the worshipers acting in evil ways? Then they are in effect idolators regardless of whom they call "LORD, LORD." For, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit."Mt 7:18 DRB The form[eidos] they(evil persons) are portraying of God(all persons being an image of God) is a false "incorrect, mistaken" image; an idol. It is abominable, it is worthless. 

For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles["nations"] because of you. Romans 2:24

Whoever is not careful in their worship, that is, where they place their worth(worth-ship), is building upon unstable ground and cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:47-49

And isn't it in fact a good thing for a house to be destroyed if it needs to be destroyed in order to allow for a better, more stable house to be built in its place? God is not shy about knocking his houses down. 

In the Tarot de Marseilles, The Tower is, La Maison Dieu, "The House of God." It is a lofty place. Not to be trifled with.

Tarot de Marsailles

Change in a complete and sudden manner, abandonment of past relationships, unexpected events, termination, adversity, downfall, disruption, loss of stability, loss of money, loss of love and affection, terrible change, annoyance.

Like Phaeton, the higher you dare to fly the further you have to fall, but then again, only those who dare mightily can ever succeed mightily. Phaeton himself was remembered for just that reason;

Here Phaeton lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though he greatly failed, more greatly he dared.

The preceding card to The Tower was The Devil XV, representing the "barely anything" bond/chain that binds us when we strive after the good/beautiful/pleasurable, but stray too far from the middle, from our firm foundation, i.e. Temperance. It is a terrible trap to always want more and more, to seek higher and higher towards the unfathomable infinite goal which is equality with God or perfection. It is not that the goal is so wrong. We are in fact gods. Like Phaeton, we are children of God, made "in [His/Their] image according to [His/Their] likeness"[Let *Us*] The problem is that a creature[any created being(who is inherently laking or imperfect due to this very fact, i.e. they are created [they move/change/grow]) who is striving to become God by ever expanding higher is engaging in a loosing battle, because God has no beginning nor ending, so it is not possible to expand sufficiently to encompass the unfathomable. A person would forever be seeking, yet always lacking. In reality, our perfection, our heaven, i.e. ouranos ούρανός is not "out there," rather it is within. The house/dwelling/temple of God is within. God is in [έν /en] us. To realize the futility of striving to become God by expansion; being the top, the best, the brightest is the true beginning of wisdom. 

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Mt. 4:8-11, ESV

However this truth doesn't always naturally dawn on us until we reach the point of futility and collapse.  

And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them. Genesis 11:6 ESV

In other words, the citizens of Babel would have kept endlessly striving outward and upward, straying from wisdom in their attempt to be great. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a person is to have someone knock them off their block. If going up is leading you down, what is there left to do? The only way to move forward from this trap of the devil is a fall from grace, a reversal, something gone topsy-turvy, a shake down, a break down; which is a disruption of the mighty structure, the tower, or temple(dwelling place/house of God).

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. John 2:19-21 NRSV

 and declared, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple[naos "dwelling"] of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Matthew 26:61 BSB

Reliquary Monstrance with a Tooth of St. John the Baptist, metalwork German 1433 CE, on display at The Getty Museum, December 2024, photo by Julie O.

Jesus hanging on a stauros on top of a tower.

In this way the Tower can manifest as a point of futility, distraction or stagnation like Rapunzel stuck in the tower. She was kept "safe" from the world below. She was up high, close to heaven, but was not allowed to grow up on her own. Growing up can be harsh, but we all need these experiences in order to mature into [true]adulthood. And, in any case, being locked away, did not ultimately save Rupunzel from being discovered by a man, the prince, and getting herself "into trouble." Nature always finds a way.

The story begins with Rapunzel's expectant mother wanting to rapere "to seize" the "rapunzel"(a type of herb) in her neighbor, the sorcerer's garden. The woman(out of her zeal[zel] for the rapa) has her husband rape the rapunculus(rapunzel) from the garden of the witch, and the witch in turn seizes their daughter(Rapunzel) from them after her birth and locks her in the tower at the age of puberty(her time to grow up)."

The sorcerer/adoptive mother who keeps Rapunzel in the tower is named Gothel, which is similar sounding to gadal. Gothel did not want Rapunzel to gadal "grow up"  or "become great" in this way. Instead she attempts to keep Rapanzel separate and "safe" from the world. Perhaps we could say not "mixed" with or "confused" by the world. However, because Rapunzel is imprisoned in the tower she is not grown up on her own, and is left in a vulnerable state. As it turns out Rapunzel's downfall, not unlike the innocent Eve in the Garden of Eden(who also was not "being allowed" to grow up), comes from a "snake" of sorts. In this story it is Rapunzel's long hair that is snakelike and allows for the witch, and ultimately the prince, to have access to her reality. The prince sneakily(snakily) climbs up her hair and brings her knowledge of the world. The two "know" each other and Rapunzel becomes pregnant. When the witch discovers this, Rapunzel is banished to the woods, and the prince ends up falling from the tower, and being blinded by thorns, after he is deceived(snakily) by Rapunzel's long hair which the witch had cut from Rapunzel's head in order to trick him. They both are forced, by this calamity, to grow up (gadal) in a way that wasn't possible when Rapunzel was safely hidden away in the tower in the garden. And ironically Gothel is the cause of this by placing Rapunzel in the tower to begin with, even though she never meant for Rapunzel to gadal "grow up" in this way.

Shaddowscapes Tarot - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Catastrophe, sudden change, crisis, releasing all emotion, suffering a blow to the ego, revelation, and seeing through illusions. A necessary disruption to the status quo— violent and explosive upheavals the only way to break through the long-established patterns. Fantasies shattered by the harsh and brutal hand of reality. Making a clean and utter severing from the past. It is time to re-examine belief structures and opinions. 

The leaving/falling from the purgos  πύργος "tower, fortified structure" in Greek (from a root meaning "to tower, to rise"), ended up being a purge by means of the purgatory the two experienced before they were once again reunited. Purgatory is from Medieval Latin purgatorium "means of cleansing," from Latin purgare "clense, purify," from (purus "clean, clear, unmixed" + agere "to set in motion, drive"). So a tower could be said to be, metaphorically, a structure which drives(tows) purification or pyr/pur(πύρ/πύρός "fire") -ification through its destruction.  

We're building it up

To break it back down

We're building it up

To burn it down

We can't wait to burn it to the ground - BURN IT DOWN, Linkin Park

A tower is a building which is drawn out(upward) and which drives (agere from PIE *ag- "to drive, draw out to forth, move"), or moves people up(i.e., it raises), or down(i.e., it razes), but  figuratively it is a force of nature that has the ability to make people to be "moved" inwardly. 

The Halloween Tarot - by Karin Lee, Art by Kipling West 

The Tower (Haunted House): Disaster or catastrophe that ends in enlightenment and liberation. A dramatic overthrow of some major aspect of your life. A shattering of false premises.

However, regardless of any unintended folly, the person who is building or utilizing a tower is aiming for what is perceived to be a good. People in a tower, i.e. those who are towered, might be those who are seeking, inclining, i.e. toward "aiming, intending to reach" upward, those who are to-ward "turned toward" the sky/heaven. Whereas someone who is NOT in the tower, who is un-towered, does not see the enemy approaching because they are not elevated or seeking in this way. The effect of which may be untoward "adverse, unpropitious."

So, which is worse? To never be elevated and so never risk a fall, and in fact never to fall (because it is not possible without first being elevated), or to just do it, go for it, shoot for the moon, fall and then see what is redeemed in the process?

O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! -Exultet—Easter Proclomation

We are mortal! If we fall we die! We crash! We burn! . . . yet we are sons of God! We are "built" in God's image and after his likeness, . . . therefore after the fall. . . God really had to. . . was required to, even, pull some magic out of his hat and make something extraordinary occur that wouldn't have occurred unless it needed to[some divine alchemy]. . . How is a CREATURE who is so daringly made to be in GOD'S image(made an idol / pesel / eidolon) redeemed? He must first be brought low, humbled, and proven in purity and obedience to the one true God, so as to not forever traverse a path of futility(like the Devil). This is a kind of tempering "mix or work up into proper condition[*i.e. mixing for the good, not simply to confuse or destroy], adjust or restore to proper proportions." Only then can he be properly exalted "raised up" by the Creator.

In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing[empty, void]

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father. 

 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but 

now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky . . . Philippians 2:6-15

Perhaps this is the point, we were never meant to reach equality with God by being entowered. Towers have limits. Striving is vanity. We must allow ourselves to be limitless through the indwelling presence of God. We were made to reach for the stars. . . However, the destruction of the tower raised up by human hands and not by God is an important step along this path.

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!