Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

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GakuseiDon
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Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by GakuseiDon »

Acharya S wrote "The Christ Conspiracy" in 1999. She is planning a second edition, to be released in the next year or so.

I've been fascinated by her book "The Christ Conspiracy" (hereafter called TCC) for some years. It is a wonderful introduction to the views of 19th Century eccentrics who wrote on the emerging fields of the "History of Religions", parapsychology, Atlantis, spirituality, etc. In many ways, this parallels the development of beliefs in the ancient world around the First Century BC onwards, when the expanding Roman Empire brought in new ideas and new religions, merging them together through a process of syncretism.

But what is the actual conspiracy in "The Christ Conspiracy"? Who conspired to create the Christ figure and first Christian texts, and why? My article explains Acharya S's view on the origin of Christianity and Christian texts. To do this, I will rely mainly on her "The Christ Conspiracy" book, but will also bring in details from her website as well.

Who were the Conspirators?

The answer to "who were the conspirators?" is not complex, but it does involve a lot of groups, starting from almost pre-Biblical times. Today, we would call them "Freemasons". As Acharya S explains:
  • “Although the brotherhood of Masonry appears to be relatively new, it is in reality the oldest continuous network on the planet, dating back many thousands of years, beginning when stones were first dressed. Masonry today has a generally sinister reputation, because the people suspect that this powerful brotherhood has been manipulating and exploiting them. However, the average Mason has never been ‘in the know’ and is, therefore, merely a member of a social club.

    Nevertheless, the higher-ups have indeed had their hand in creation on this planet on a large scale for a long time … The Masons are there, perpetually hidden behind the scenes, leaving clues to their existence as a brotherhood, some of which are evident yet still not seen. For example, the biblical Nimrod, the king who built the tower of Babel, is considered the first Mason.” (TCC, page 343)
Acharya S notes that "The historian Josephus certainly knew of the Masons and allegedly was one" (TCC, page 345)

Acharya S also provides a partial list of those groups involved in the formation of Christianity as the state religion:
  • The following is a partial list of the various religions, cults, sects, secret societies and mystery schools that contributed to the formation of the state religion called Christianity:
    1. Buddhist/Gymnosophic/Sufic
    2. Cabirian/Phrygian/Syrian
    3. Dionysian/Bacchanal/Orphist/Samothracian
    4. Druidic/Gallic/Teutonic
    5. Egyptian/African
    6. Essene/Nazarene/Nazarite/Ebionite/Therapeut
    7. Greek/Eleusinian
    8. Indian/Brahmanical
    9. Mandaean/Manichaean
    10. Marcionite/Valentinian
    11. Mithraic/Zoroastrian
    12. Neoplatonist/Stoic/Cynic/Eclectic/Peripatetic
    13. Phoenician/Canaanite/Israelite/Samaritan
    14. Yahwhist/Kabbalist/Pharisaic
    15. Roman/Etruscan
    16. Samanean/Magusean/Sampsaean
    17. Sethian/Ophite
    18. Zealot/Zadokite/Sadducean

    In addition to these groups, many of which obviously overlap, are not a few other branches and even more esoteric designations such as the “Followers of the Eight-Pointed Red Cross,” the “Sons of the Sun,” the “Order of the Black Hand,” the “Order of the Red Hand,” and the famed “Order of Melchizedek.”(TCC, page 342)

According to Acharya S, the "Order of Melchizedek" seems to be still operating today, but I will cover that below.

Acharya sees the Masons in the Chaldeans, the Druids, Christians, Jews and Muslims. Also Mithraites. The Templars. The Essenes. The Dead Sea Scrolls. And many more:
  • The Indian-Gnostic Nazarene-Carmelites were also Nestorians, Manichaeans, Samanaeans and Buddhists, Templars and Rosicrucians, “or followers of the eight-pointed Red Cross and Rose of Sharon, all the same under different names,” serving to illustrate the complexity and pervasiveness of the international brotherhood of Masonry. The Masons were also Essenes, Therapeuts and Gnostics, and they are now Christians, Jews and Muslims. The Mithraites were also Masons, and the Kabbalists and Chaldeans were Master Masons. In fact, the Scottish Rite Masonry can be traced to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans, then, were also the Druids, who were likewise Masons. The Knights Templar were also Chaldeans, the same as the Culdees of India and as the Gnostic Manichaeans, who were followers of Bel/Baal. The Culdees/Masons were the judicial astronomers of Rome, and, as we have seen, the followers of Baal/Molech constituted the Order of Melchizedek, whose members were also Gymnosophs, as well as Zadokites. In fact, the fortress at Qumran was a Masonic enclave, since masons built it, particularly its large tower, a strong Masonic symbol. Likewise, the Dead Sea scrolls are abundant in “architectural metaphors,” demonstrating their writers were Masons. Furthermore, the mysteries of Isis and Serapis, which were models of those of Eleusis and Samothrace, are part of Masonry (TCC, page 345)
Christian texts

The Gnostic/Therapeutans were the groups that were involved in the creation of the original Christian texts. As Acharya S explains:
  • In their creation of Christianity, the Therapeuts had at their disposal the university and library at Alexandria, which had been established by Alexander the Great as an international center of learning. (TCC, page 330)
The Library aided them in bringing together the ideas of many religions, into their formation of the original "Christian" texts. However, the destruction of Jerusalem is the impetus to "Judaize" those texts. This "judaizing" was done by Hellenizing Israelites:
  • It is clear that the individuals who Judaized the Gnostic/Therapeutan efforts were in the main not Pharisaic but Hellenizing “Jews” or Israelites, i.e., Samaritan Zadokites/ Sadducees. Thus, the gospel story serves to elevate not only “the Jews” as God’s chosen but also the northern kingdom over the southern kingdom, with the southern actually being castigated for its interpretation of the law. In this regard, the Samaritan Jesus’s character is patterned after a Pharisee so that he can debate “the Jews” and usurp their power. (TCC, page 332)
While the Gnostics were non-historicizers and non-Judaizers, it was not until the texts reached Rome that they were "locked into history" by liars and psychotics whose brains were apparently afflicated by the lead in Roman pipes:
  • Christianity’s earliest proponents, the Gnostics, were non-historicizers and non-Judaizers who were attempting to amalgamate the many religions of the Roman Empire and beyond. When the might of Rome crushed Palestine, into this Gnostic-Therapeut soup fell a multitude of Jews and Samaritans, including the Zadokites, who insisted upon supremacy and dominance, such that the allegorical and astrotheological Jesus became “Jewish.” It was not until the Antiochan-Alexandrian efforts hit Rome, however, that they became locked into history, the result of the labors of the infamous church fathers, who were known liars, forgers and general psychotics whose brains were apparently afflicted by the lead in Roman pipes. (TCC, page 335)
Modern times

The Masons still have influence today, through the Grand Master-Mason, the Pope:
  • Unbeknownst to the masses, the pope is the Grand Master-Mason of the Masonic branches of the world... Masonry originally held, and still does at the higher levels, the knowledge that the Christ character was the sun. This knowledge has obviously been hidden from all but the few. (TCC, page 348)
High ranking Masons and priests are informed about the real origins of Christianity, but are sworn by a blood oath not to reveal the truth:
  • It is reported that priests, high-ranking Masons and members of other such brotherhoods are informed about the real origins of Christianity but are sworn to a blood oath against revealing the truth. Perhaps some of these individuals will be encouraged that others not thus bound are exposing this all-important information. (TCC, page 374)
Some scholars today may be aware of the truth also, but they have gone to immense lengths to hide it:
  • After becoming aware of such “mysteries” revealed herein concerning Christianity and its alleged founder, many people may find the scholarship on this subject to appear less than satisfactory, to say the least, as it becomes clear that this information is known by the scholastic elite.
    ...
    It is clear that scholars have known about the mythological nature of the Bible, yet they have gone to immense lengths to hide it, including using sophisticated language, like the priestly counterparts who have utilized the dead language Latin to go over the heads of the uneducated masses. It is possible that any number of these scholars are also Masons or members of some such secret brotherhood who are under the blood oath. Or they may merely be products of their occupation, in that many universities and colleges are under the dominion of the fraternities and the grand master, the Pope, i.e., the Catholic Church. In any case, they have been pawns, unwitting or otherwise, in the Christ conspiracy, which has obscured ancient knowledge and wisdom under a false front of historicity, by the most thorough of methods, including secrecy, forgery, force and destruction. (TCC, page 376)
Order of Melchidek today

Acharya S notes that the Order of Melchizedek still appears to operate today, calling them "the same old terrestrial powerbrokers"
  • Keith recounts Vallee's work:
    • [Keith writes in his book:] "A remarkable UFO group was contacted by Jacques Vallee in Paris, France. The group is called the Order of Melchizedek, and it uses the Star of David for its emblem, and for its program espouses a one world government and the doing away with money and religion - except for the UFO-oriented sort of religion, I would imagine... Vallee notes the curious number of organizations that the head of the French Order of Melchizedek fronts, including the Front for Christian Liberation, Jesus People Europe, Jesus Revolution, the Charismatic Christian, the Christian Socialist Party, and Jew and Arab movements. Here revelant cross-currents include cabalism, the Order of Melchizedek, and the Star of David."
    In this case, it is obvious that the same old terrestrial powerbrokers are up to their old tricks. The Order of Melchizedek, in fact, is named in the Bible as the highest priesthood, of which Abraham and Jesus are made priests under Melchizedek.http://www.truthbeknown.com/aliens.htm
There's lots more I could add, like the true story of WWII according to Acharya S, but I'll leave it at the above. In summary, a group or groups stretching back several thousands years, have been involved in building and promoting the Christ Myth, as a way of controlling humanity. They "humanized" stories of the sun into a "Jesus" figure, using religious and philosophical concepts of religions around the known world. But this was taken over by Hellenized Jews and others and made to be about a Jewish figure. This story was then made into a state religion, and the groups using that story still exist today, behind the scenes. It's a fascinating story.
It is really important, in life, to concentrate our minds on our enthusiasms, not on our dislikes. -- Roger Pearse
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hjalti
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by hjalti »

How do pygmies fit into all of this?
outhouse
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by outhouse »

Why waist time on someone else imagination?


Taking on unicorns next ?
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GakuseiDon
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by GakuseiDon »

hjalti wrote:How do pygmies fit into all of this?
As far as I can tell: they don't. While Acharya S speculates that there may have been a "Pygmy Christ" who "was born of a virgin, died for the salvation of his people, arose from the dead, and finally ascended to heaven", there don't appear to have been any Pygmy Masons.
It is really important, in life, to concentrate our minds on our enthusiasms, not on our dislikes. -- Roger Pearse
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GakuseiDon
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by GakuseiDon »

outhouse wrote:Why waist time on someone else imagination?
Acharya S's works are taken seriously and even praised by many. For example, Earl Doherty gives her "The Christ Conspiracy" 5 stars out of 5 on Amazon, writing:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Christ-Conspi ... 0932813747
  • "Acharya S has done a superb job in bringing together this rich panoply of ancient world mythology and culture, and presenting it in a comprehensive and compelling fashion. She grabs the reader from the first page and doesn't let go"
So I thought it worth spelling out the "Conspiracy" part of "The Christ Conspiracy" book, which tends to get lost when her books get discussed. There is more to the Conspiracy (according to Acharya S, at least) that I could have written about, but I wanted to focus on Christianity and the texts, to keep it relevant to this board.
Last edited by GakuseiDon on Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It is really important, in life, to concentrate our minds on our enthusiasms, not on our dislikes. -- Roger Pearse
Robert Tulip
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by Robert Tulip »

Thank you Gakusei Don, your comment here is far more balanced and informative than some of your previous statements about this material. I have quoted your comment in full at Acharya's Discussion Board Free Thought Nation, as it certainly deserves discussion and response in an environment where fundamentalist delusion is excluded.

I disagree with your conclusion about the Christ conspiracy as an assertion by Acharya that “groups stretching back several thousands years have been involved in building and promoting the Christ Myth, as a way of controlling humanity.”

To my reading your statement wrongly conflates two quite different areas of historical conspiracy.

The first is the ancient mystery religions, whereby secret societies conveyed oral teachings. While there has always been an element of social control in priestcraft, the pre-Christian approach was bound up much more with a scientific sense of awe and reverence for the natural universe, and a sense that the mass of illiterate people could not comprehend these mysteries so they were best kept hidden. This mystery tradition included a sense of divine kingship, anointed salvation, which evolved into the myth of Christ Jesus. It was a conspiracy in the sense of being a secret tradition, but not necessarily a means to obtain political control of the state.

The second area of historical conspiracy is much more directly about the political control of the Roman Empire. The widespread secret mystery tradition of Christ Jesus had come to anthropomorphise Sol Invictus as an esoteric myth within the various Gnostic Nazarene Therapeut traditions. What happened then was a real political conspiracy, akin to how the Bolsheviks conquered Russia, with an orthodox cabal falsely insisting that the esoteric allegory within the Gospels was literal history, and organising to suppress, deny, obliterate and forget the real secret message. This actual conspiracy of the Christian church was so successful that it constructed the dominant paradigm of western civilization for two thousand years, with the false meme of Jesus Christ as historical man continuing to drive culture in ways that are only partially understood.

So I don’t think your analysis is correct that the original mystery groups who later became the Masons were aimed at social control, although that is the case for the actual conspiracy which became the Roman Church.

Further, readers of The Christ Conspiracy should recognise that Acharya caveats a number of her speculative comments, presenting them as possible themes for discussion rather than as solid conclusions. I would put the hypothesis of a relation between the Pope and Freemasonry in this category.
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MrMacSon
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by MrMacSon »

Excellent opening post, and excellent subsequent posts, especially Roberts.

To elaborate on GakuseiDon's assertion that "a group or groups stretching back several thousands years, have been involved in building and promoting the Christ Myth, as a way of controlling humanity", and Robert's comments on that, I'd say the Christ Myth was built over a several centuries, & its ultimate promotion was by Constantine, though of course it has been promoted since.

I wonder about Robert's proposition about "a sense that the mass of illiterate people could not comprehend these mysteries so they were best kept hidden". It may not have been that overt, and the fostering & development of theological 'worldviews' would likely have taken place in the absence of previous scientific views such as those of the Greeks over preceding centuries
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GakuseiDon
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by GakuseiDon »

Robert Tulip wrote:So I don’t think your analysis is correct that the original mystery groups who later became the Masons were aimed at social control, although that is the case for the actual conspiracy which became the Roman Church.
Thanks Robert. Yes, I agree that my statement "groups stretching back several thousands years have been involved in building and promoting the Christ Myth, as a way of controlling humanity" doesn't accurately reflect Acharya S's view. What you wrote above is much more accurate. Thanks for the correction. I'll reword this when I put it in my Reviews section on my website.
Robert Tulip wrote:Further, readers of The Christ Conspiracy should recognise that Acharya caveats a number of her speculative comments, presenting them as possible themes for discussion rather than as solid conclusions. I would put the hypothesis of a relation between the Pope and Freemasonry in this category.
Can you get Acharya S's latest view on this? She is quite clear in TCC, where she writes:
  • Unbeknownst to the masses, the pope is the Grand Master-Mason of the Masonic branches of the world... Masonry originally held, and still does at the higher levels, the knowledge that the Christ character was the sun. This knowledge has obviously been hidden from all but the few. (TCC, page 348)
She confirms that at least past Popes were "in the know" when she writes in TCC, page 58:
  • For example, Pope Leo X, privy to the truth because of his high rank, made this curious declaration, “What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!”
However, that was in 1999. If she doesn't believe that the Pope is the Grand Master-Mason (or used to be but is no longer), or if it is speculation without real evidence, I'd be happy to update any future versions of my article with her latest views on this.
It is really important, in life, to concentrate our minds on our enthusiasms, not on our dislikes. -- Roger Pearse
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Peter Kirby
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by Peter Kirby »

outhouse wrote:Why waist time on someone else imagination?

Taking on unicorns next ?
People with imaginations tend to bump into other people whose imaginations are different. Hilarity ensues. Some people like to document it, sometimes with the titillating idea that they can show that someone's way of imagining reality (someone otherwise apparently sane) has no connection to reality. Both the bumper and the bumped often like to read (or even write) such expositions, especially the titillating kind that they can then wrangle over.
"... almost every critical biblical position was earlier advanced by skeptics." - Raymond Brown
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Blood
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Re: Acharya S and the real Christ Conspiracy

Post by Blood »

I heard her interviewed by Miguel Connor on Aeon Byte. She sounded a lot better informed and accurate on the show than she does in these quotes.
“The only sensible response to fragmented, slowly but randomly accruing evidence is radical open-mindedness. A single, simple explanation for a historical event is generally a failure of imagination, not a triumph of induction.” William H.C. Propp
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