gogmagog goddog, gnostics

  

"The Gog prophecy is meant to be fulfilled at the approach of what is called the "end of days", but not necessarily the end of the world. 

 Jewish eschatology viewed Gog and Magog as enemies to be defeated by the Messiah, which would usher in the age of the Messiah.  

One view within Christianity is more starkly apocalyptic, making Gog and Magog allies of Satan against God at the end of the millennium, as described in the Book of Revelation. 

legend was attached to Gog and Magog by the time of the Roman period, that the Gates of Alexander were erected by Alexander the Great to repel the tribe. 

 Romanized Jewish historian Josephus knew them as the nation descended from Magog the Japhetite, as in Genesis, and explained them to be the Scythians. 

 In the hands of Early Christian writers they became apocalyptic hordes. 

 Throughout the Middle Ages, they were variously identified as the 

 Vikings, Huns, Khazars, Mongols or other nomads, or even the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel."  

"They appear in the Quran in chapter Al-Kahf as Yajuj and Majuj, primitive and immoral tribes that were separated and barriered off by  

Dhu al-Qarnayn ("He of the Two Horns") 

 who is mentioned in the Quran as a great righteous ruler and conqueror. 

 Some contemporary Muslim historians and geographers regarded 

 the Vikings as the emergence of Gog and Magog"  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gog_and_Magog 

historical person.[1]

"In Genesis 10 Magog is described as a son of Japheth, grandson of Noah, although there is no mention there of a person named Gog.  

The name Magog itself is of obscure origin. It is often associated with Assyrian mat-Gugu, "Land of Gyges", i.e., Lydia. 

Alternatively, Gog may be derived from Magog rather than the other way around," 

The form "Gog and Magog" may have emerged as shorthand for "Gog and/of the land of Magog", based on their usage in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. 

 An example of this combined form in Hebrew (Gog u-Magog) has been found, but its context is unclear, being 

 preserved only in a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

 In Revelation, Gog and Magog together are the hostile nations of the world."

 

"Chapters 19:11–21:8 of the Book of Revelation, dating from the end of the 1st century AD, tells how Satan is to be imprisoned for a thousand years, and how, on his release, he will rally "the nations in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog", to a final battle with Christ and his saints: " 

"Various nations and peoples in history were identified as Ya'juj and Ma'juj. At one point, it was the Turks, who threatened Baghdad and northern Iran; 

later, when the Mongols destroyed Baghdad in 1258, it was they who were Gog and Magog. 

Others regarded the Vikings and their descendants as Gog and Magog, since the unknown group from Scandinavia had made their sudden and considerable entry into the history of Europe. 

Viking travelers and colonists were seen at many points in history as violent raiders.

 * 

"Gog and Magog appear in somewhat later Old French versions of the romance. In the verse Roman d'Alexandre, Branch III, of Lambert le Tort (c. 1170), Gog and Magog ("Gos et Margos", "Got et Margot") were vassals to Porus, king of India, providing an auxiliary force of 400,000 men. 

 Routed by Alexander, they escaped through a defile in the mountains of Tus (or Turs), and were sealed by the wall erected there, to last until the advent of the Antichrist. 

the prose Alexander's source, the Latin work by Archpriest Leo of Naples known as Historia de Preliis, does mention "Gogh et Macgogh", at least in some manuscripts. 

Some of the present day Muslim scholars have termed Gog and Magog as alien species " 

___ 

"Goths. Gog and Magog were connected to the Goths by Ambrose (d. 397) and Jordanes (d. 555). The latter believed that the Goths, Scythians, and Amazons were all the same. 

The Goths also represent Gog and Magog in the ε and γ recensions of the Alexander Romance, where the term "Gog and Magog" forms a portmanteau with "Goth" to form "Goth and Magoth" 

*

"Mandaeans may well be the only sect surviving from late antiquity to identify themselves explicitly as Gnostics.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeism

"In Mandaeism, Hag (Classical Mandaic: ࡄࡀࡂ) and Mag (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡂ) are a pair of demons that are usually mentioned together. Hag is a male demon, while Mag is a female demon.  

Hibil Ziwa encounters Hag and Mag during his descent to the World of Darkness in Chapter 1 of Book 5 in the Right Ginza, where they are described as "the two manas of darkness." Hag is represented by the image of a scorpion on the skandola talisman." 

The skandola is an iron ring with a chain attached to an iron knife. It is used as a sacred talismanic seal.  

It is used to seal graves and also newborn babies on their navels. During wedding ceremonies, a priest gives the skandola to the bridegroom. 

 There are incised depictions of the following animals:

Lion, representing Krun

Scorpion, representing Hag

Black snake or serpent, representing Ur

Wasp or hornet 

 

Mandaeism  

(Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ‎ mandaiia; Arabic: المندائيّة, romanized: al-Mandāʾiyya), sometimes also known as  

"Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, 

is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion with Greek, Iranian, and Jewish influences. 

Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist. 

 Mandaeans consider Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem and John the Baptist prophets, with Adam being the founder of the religion and John being the greatest and final prophet." 

 

* 

"According to E. S. Drower, the Mandaean Gnosis is characterized by nine features, which appear in various forms in other gnostic sects:[20]

A supreme formless Entity, the expression of which in time and space is a creation of spiritual, etheric, and material worlds and beings. Production of these is delegated by It to a creator or creators who originated It. The cosmos is created by Archetypal Man, who produces it in similitude to his own shape.

Dualism: a cosmic Mother and Father, Light and Darkness, Left and Right, syzygy in cosmic and microcosmic form.

As a feature of this dualism, counter-types (dmuta) that exist in a world of ideas (Mshunia Kushta).

The soul is portrayed as an exile, a captive; his home and origin being the supreme Entity to which he eventually returns.

Planets and stars influence fate and human beings, and are also the places of detention after death.

A savior spirit or savior spirits which assist the soul on his journey through life and after it to 'worlds of light'.

A cult-language of symbol and metaphor. Ideas and qualities are personified.

'Mysteries', i.e. sacraments to aid and purify the soul, to ensure its rebirth into a spiritual body, and its ascent from the world of matter. These are often adaptations of existing seasonal and traditional rites to which an esoteric interpretation is attached. In the case of the Naṣoraeans, this interpretation is based on the Creation story (see 1 and 2), especially on the Divine Man, Adam, as crowned and anointed King-priest.

Great secrecy is enjoined upon initiates; full explanation of 1, 2, and 8 being reserved for those considered able to understand and preserve the gnosis." 

*

"If you see anyone hungry, feed him; if you see anyone thirsty, give him a drink.

— Right Ginza I.105 

Give alms to the poor. When you give do not attest it. If you give with your right hand do not tell your left hand. If you give with your left hand do not tell your right hand.

Ye the chosen ones ... Do not wear iron and weapons; let your weapons be knowledge and faith in the God of the World of Light. Do not commit the crime of killing any human being.

Ye the chosen ones ... Do not rely on kings and rulers of this world, do not use soldiers and weapons or wars; do not rely on gold or silver, for they all will forsake your soul.  

Your souls will be nurtured by patience, love, goodness and love for Life.

— Right Ginza II.i.34" 

___ 

"They are pacifist and egalitarian, with the earliest attested Mandaean scribe being a woman, Shlama Beth Qidra, who copied the Left Ginza sometime in the second century CE. 

There is evidence for women priests, especially in the pre-Islamic era. God created the human body complete, so no part of it should be removed or cut off, hence circumcision is considered bodily mutilation for Mandaeans and therefore forbidden. 

 Mandaeans abstain from strong drink and most red meat, however meat consumed by Mandaeans must be slaughtered according to the proper rituals. The approach to the slaughter of animals for consumption is always apologetic. 

On some days, they refrain from eating meat. 

 Fasting in Mandaeism is called sauma. Mandaeans have an oral tradition that some were originally vegetarian"

____ 

"The Maghāriya believed that God is too sublime to mingle with matter,.

 thus they did not believe that God directly created the world,  

but that an angel, which represents God created the earth which is similar to the Mandaean demiurgic Ptahil. 

 Some scholars have identified the Maghāriya with the Essenes or the Therapeutae' 

___ 

 

Found a family, build a state,

The pledged event is still the same:

Matter in end will never abate

His ancient brutal claim. …

Indolence is heaven’s ally here,

And energy the child of hell:

The Good Man pouring from his pitcher clear

But brims the poisoned well. 

-----herman melville