By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 27, 2020) **** Interpreting thousands-year-old symbolic scenes contained in ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals is a real challenge for the mind. Not only are the meaning of the depicted individual figures and deities deep, one also has to find the hidden relationship among the different elements in the depicted scene. Therefore,Continue reading “Ancient Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals: Bite-size Slices of the Hidden Knowledge”
Tag Archives: mind
Gems in the Epic of Gilgamesh: The Afterlife Journey of the Human Spirit
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 21, 2020) **** The thousands-year-old Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia contains precious hidden knowledge that can be decoded in order to shed more light on the mystery of human nature, origin and destiny. This monumental literary work also has the potential to enlighten us on the long journey ofContinue reading “Gems in the Epic of Gilgamesh: The Afterlife Journey of the Human Spirit”
The Beasts of the Apocalypse and Their Generic Meaning
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 17, 2020) **** The surreal Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation has attracted many interpretations, mostly in the perspective of people with particular religious sectarian beliefs, which likely tainted their interpretations with personal or sectarian pre-conceptions. Many of their interpretations relate to a future end of days scenario forContinue reading “The Beasts of the Apocalypse and Their Generic Meaning”
Gobekli Tepe: The Rise of Humans
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 12, 2020) **** We expect this to happen only in the movies. But truth could be stranger than fiction. Imagine a group of human hunter-gatherers (a euphemism for savages) around 12,000 years ago in the southern part of modern-day Turkey. They noticed that some very smart and assertive children wereContinue reading “Gobekli Tepe: The Rise of Humans”
Epic of Gilgamesh: The Awakening and Debasement of the Human Mind
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 7, 2020) **** One blog post got one Like from me after more than 4,000 years. The monumental epic poem was posted not in a tablet computer, but in clay tablets. Encoded in the post are wide-ranging information about the nature of a human being, his origin and destiny. ItContinue reading “Epic of Gilgamesh: The Awakening and Debasement of the Human Mind”
Decoding the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, December 3, 2020) **** The Book of Revelation is a treasure trove of the hidden knowledge that we can mine productively if we have the proper mental training to decode them. I can only analyse some of the verses so that I can show the way of doing it, but itContinue reading “Decoding the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”
The Deep Roots of the Lion’s Gate
By.: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 28, 2020) **** You may have wondered why many gates or entrances of large buildings and other structures around the world are decorated with statues of lions. The practice of putting lion statues at gates and entrances has deep roots in ancient human history and is ultimately based on importantContinue reading “The Deep Roots of the Lion’s Gate”
Shedding Some Light on the Legend of Fallen Angels
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 25, 2020) **** Adam, Eve, and the Serpent in the Garden of Eden Genesis 2:16-17: The fruit of any of the trees in the garden was “good for food” and Adam was told that he could “freely eat” of it. However, there was one restriction — that is, he was not toContinue reading “Shedding Some Light on the Legend of Fallen Angels”
The Holy Grail: Legends of the Search
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 22, 2020) **** You may have watched the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The movie is about finding the Holy Grail, the cup that was used by Jesus at the Last Supper and was used to catch the blood of Jesus during his crucifixion – well, at leastContinue reading “The Holy Grail: Legends of the Search”
Beauty and the Beast: Tale as Old as Time
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 19, 2020) **** Tale as old as time Song as old as rhyme Beauty and the beast You had watched the 1991 animated movie. You may even had watched the musical stage play live. The story of Beauty and the Beast is estimated by researchers to have originated 4,000 yearsContinue reading “Beauty and the Beast: Tale as Old as Time”
Secrets of the Exodus: From Parting of Red Sea to Manna from Sky
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 8, 2020) *** In an article written on March 26, 2012, entitled “Were Jews ever really Slaves in Egypt, or is Passover a Myth?” author Josh Mintz decried the common negative Jewish depiction of their neighboring Egyptians as their former cruel slave-masters. The following is an extract from that article:Continue reading “Secrets of the Exodus: From Parting of Red Sea to Manna from Sky”
The Message Behind the World’s Greatest Ancient Mysteries
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 6, 2020) **** One would not be able to solve the world’s greatest ancient mysteries by treating them as separate cases. We would have to interconnect them — find their relation to each other and abstract the purpose behind those mysterious ancient works if we want to derive the completeContinue reading “The Message Behind the World’s Greatest Ancient Mysteries”
Resolving the Mystery of the Lost World Atlantis
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 3, 2020) *** When I was in college, I was fascinated with the legend of Atlantis. I remember buying some paperbacks dealing with the issue after my classes in the 80’s. It was one of the “in” topics at that time, the others being the so-called ancient astronauts theories andContinue reading “Resolving the Mystery of the Lost World Atlantis”
Depictions of Gods or Humans Killing Reptiles Explained
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, November 1, 2020) *** Today I will discuss the puzzle that has been bugging many minds for ages. Why have there been so many depictions of gods (or men) killing dragons (or serpents)? We can mention a few: The sun god Ra battling the world serpent Apep in ancient Egyptian texts,Continue reading “Depictions of Gods or Humans Killing Reptiles Explained”
The Story of Sumerian Goddess Inanna and the Beginning of Civilization
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 29, 2020) *** Around 10,000 B.C., wheat was first domesticated in what is today southeastern Turkey according to modern genetics and archaeological studies. Incidentally, that is the region near the archaeological site of Gobekli Tepe, where ancient sophisticated megalithic monuments with sculptures (dated around 10,000 B.C.) were first built in a communityContinue reading “The Story of Sumerian Goddess Inanna and the Beginning of Civilization”
Hidden Meaning of the Epic of Ramayana
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 28, 2020) *** The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic of India that follows the story of Prince Rama’s quest to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the custody of Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, with the help of an army of monkeys. The epic is considered to have been written byContinue reading “Hidden Meaning of the Epic of Ramayana”
The Labyrinth and Ariadne’s Thread
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 26, 2020) *** The story of Ariadne and the Labyrinth was compiled from very old oral traditions of Greek-speaking people. Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. According to the story, Minos’ son was killed in Athens. To avenge the killing, King Minos attacked Athens and was victorious. He then imposed an obligation on the city. HeContinue reading “The Labyrinth and Ariadne’s Thread”
Borobudur: The Long Path Towards Enlightenment
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 25, 2020) *** The Borobudur monument in Java, Indonesia is a ninth century shrine to the Lord Buddha and a destination for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for Buddhist believers begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circum-ambulating the structure as they ascend to the top throughContinue reading “Borobudur: The Long Path Towards Enlightenment”
Churning the Ocean of Milk for the Nectar of Immortality
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 22, 2020) *** When we visited the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia, I was able to see and touch some bas-reliefs of major stories from the Hindu scriptures. One of them is the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. The story goes like this. The devas (gods) invited the asurasContinue reading “Churning the Ocean of Milk for the Nectar of Immortality”
Nourishing Celestial Fruit of the Tree of Life
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 20, 2020) *** The ancient Mesopotamian clay tablet above depicts an enigmatic metaphorical scene. At the middle of the scene is the Tree of Life. Some imaginative writers think that it represents human DNA genetic material being modified by alien gods they call Anunnaki. Personally, I do not subscribe toContinue reading “Nourishing Celestial Fruit of the Tree of Life”
The Story of Sophia from the Gnostic Texts
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 16, 2020) *** There is a story about an enigmatic woman named Sophia in The Apocryphon of John, which is one of the Second Century Christian gnostic manuscripts found in the Nag Hammadi Library that was discovered in in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. The manuscripts areContinue reading “The Story of Sophia from the Gnostic Texts”
The Beast Inside the Hallways of the Lower Mind
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 13, 2020) *** For today, I will discuss a topic that has preoccupied the ancients probably more than any other subject. Their use of the serpent symbolism to represent the message is widespread. You can find it in the great ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, India, Greece, Pre-Columbian CentralContinue reading “The Beast Inside the Hallways of the Lower Mind”
The Tree of Life: What the Symbolism Is All About
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 10, 2020) *** The symbolism of the Tree of Life is ubiquitous in ancient literature, cylinder seals, clay tablets, sacred books, and cultures, yet it seems that nobody is telling us about what it really means. It has been mentioned in the Bible’s Genesis as the tree in the middleContinue reading “The Tree of Life: What the Symbolism Is All About”
What the Ancients Are Telling Us About Celestial Reality
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 9, 2020) *** The findings of quantum physics, especially the results of the double-slit and quantum entanglement experiments, have wide-ranging ramifications that go even beyond our physical universe. There are probable hints on the nature of the virtual realities being displayed by the upper mind in ancient texts. The followingContinue reading “What the Ancients Are Telling Us About Celestial Reality”
The Origin of the Two Sections of the Mind
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 8, 2020) *** Folks, in my last blog post I have mentioned in my interpretation of the holy mountain allegory that the human mind column appears to have two sections: the lower and the upper. I have tried looking for ancient sources that are relevant to that discussion. I haveContinue reading “The Origin of the Two Sections of the Mind”
Those Holy Mountains: What They Really Represent
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 7, 2020) *** Mount Kailash and Mount Meru are two of the most sacred mountains in the very old belief system in the Indian subcontinent. In Buddhist texts, Mount Kailash is also Mount Meru. The Hindus believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the god Shiva and Buddhists believeContinue reading “Those Holy Mountains: What They Really Represent”
A Brief Philosophical Dissection of Reality
By: Ranilo Abando (Manila, October 6, 2020) *** Folks, today I will introduce you to the tricky concept of reality. It may take time for some to digest it, but it’s okay because there is no need to rush. Reality is a matter of perspective. One reality may be real for an observer inside it,Continue reading “A Brief Philosophical Dissection of Reality”