ZARATHUSTRA, the Prince of Princes, stood upon the flat temple terrace of the great ziggurat and raised his arms in supplication.
It was the midnight hour near the spring equinox and above, the vaults of heaven were unroofed and spread open to the eyes was a sea of star-fire. The prince of princes looked to the horizon where lightning struck a thought into the mind of God. This was a signal for him to begin the hymn to the super-sensible sun that even now passed unseen through the region of the goat on the other side of the world.
The four shivering acolytes heard the sound of his voice ring out to the spirits of the planets and the sprits of the stars, to the lords of the world in the east and west and north and south, beckoning all creation to listen:
Praise to the immortal, radiant, swift-footed horse, the sun!
We pay homage unto thee! Nemase-te Ahuramazda!
May the lord of wide pastures,
Mighty, triumphant, worthy of worship and adoration,
Forgiver of sins and dispenser of justice,
Listen to our prayers!
When he was finished he beckoned his chosen ones to come to the stone that marked the southern corner of the terrace and bade them to stand in the semi-circle, which in the day formed the great cosmic clock. At their feet were marked the hours, at the centre stood the great shadow-thrower. Here it was that the priests of the Sun observed the solar rising points for the seasons and calculated the four cardinal points of the earth.
The Prince of Princes, said to them, ‘Look up! See the Twins, the constellation of our age! Before that were ages lost in mists known only to the guardians of beginnings and endings,’ he told them. ‘There!’ He pointed. ‘Beyond the stars live the possessors of the eternal knowledges and intelligences, the keepers of hidden things who inscribe upon the airs of their heavens the past, the present and future of man. Feel the power of their speech! Do their words not shine into your heads? Do you not sense it also in your hearts and in the strength of your limbs? This night what they shall tell will quicken your souls to your tasks...so listen, sons of fire, hear now of the lament of the gods!
‘When man fell into the shadows of Tiamat the light of the spirit began to darken in their souls. After that the ages increased and both sun souls and moon souls; souls of fire and water; kings and priests, began to forget the fathers in heaven. In the future the sanctuaries of the mysteries shall lie deserted, their altars broken and forsaken. A time is near when kings shall no longer look to the heavens to hear the language of the stars and when priests shall not know how to evoke the forms of the gods in their rituals. In those days darkness of night shall hold sway and selfishness shall run free!’
He spread his arms to encompass the visible and invisible heavens and his pupils, following his movements looked, and they felt it in the rhythm of their blood how these words lived in the forms of the stars. They saw the desecration of the sacred places and the evil of man, and they trembled with anguish.
‘But the gods are wise! They have sent the spirit light of heaven down to the womb of darkness! The radiant and glorious, the greatest and the best, the most beautiful, the most firm, the wisest, whose body was the most perfect, who attained his ends the most infallibly, who disposed of the minds of men aright, who sent his joy-creating grace afar, who made man, and fashioned him, and nourished and protected him; the most bounteous Spirit of the sun. He will come into the body of a man to kindle in men a memory of the gods! A new people will build a temple body for the Sun God Ahuramazda! Their exalted leader shall have two sons: to his sun-born he will give the Kingdom and to his moon-born he will give the Priesthood. From the line of kings will come the first child, a wise old sun-soul. From the line of priests will come a young moon-soul unspoilt by sin. Two children destined to become one for the salvation of the world!
‘Feel the interval from Twins to Ram! Inscribe it in your hearts! See how this night two stars collide: Wisdom-radiating Jupiter and spirit-recollecting Saturn!’
They looked and they did see.
‘See the pattern of the stars! Remember it! In a far off age of the Fish, when the sun rises in the constellation of the Virgin, these stars shall shine like one again. When you see this pattern you must start your journey to the centre of the world to find a child, your re-born master! For I will be that first child, born from the line of kings and you will come to awaken me from my sleep!’
From the night there came a wind no w, sweeping over the plains and rushing over the land of the Twin Rivers Euphrates and Tigris. It awakened the wheat in the fields and disturbed the animals in their beds; it curved its back over the houses of the sleeping populace and snaked over the polished stones of the temple ziggurat. Strengthened, it made dust rise to sting the eyes of the acolytes and gathered up the yellow silk robe studded with gold and silver stars worn by their prince. Rapid came their breath and hard did pound their hearts and struck with terror and panic and awe their souls were loosened and whisked up into the heavens.
Amid this terrible splendour they saw a child crowned with stars, whose eyes were like suns. A pulsing stream of light moved from those eyes into their hearts and the stars on his head began to form and melt into a script, which they could read. It described a name, and they knew it meant ‘salvation’. A name that would become forever branded onto the mettle of their souls:
YESHUA
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