Akhnaton - the first monotheist

There are two main forms of religion, monotheism and polytheism. Paganism, or heathenism as we in the North prefer to call it, is polytheistic. Out of the Middle East, three major religions have developed. All are monotheistic and two of the three are positively aggressive in their attitudes towards each other as well as towards the rest of the world, which chooses to think differently.

Why ?

We shall see.

Suppose that at a certain point in the evolution of consciousness, two opposing currents evolved, one directed towards differentiation and the other opposing differentiation. The latter current, working towards homogenization and the dissolution of differences in both gods and humans, has been very strong over the last two thousand years - until now that is - when we are experiencing a renaissance in a variety of heathen traditions. It seems that the end result of the concept of 'One god for all' is the limiting of the creative faculties of the human mind.

Why, in any case, is there a need for gods ?

The human mind is not capable of relating to the cosmic intelligence directly. It therefore invents mediating images. Our observation of the human race and of the differences between individuals as well as between groups, leads us logically to conclude that each person finds a god or goddess with whom he or she can identify, a deity who acts as a model on which the individual's aspiration and higher self can be projected.

In a monotheistic religion, however, there is no variety. There is only one possible choice; a male authoritarian figure who imposes upon his followers a list of dos and don'ts, keeping them in submission by threats and promises based on such philosophically unrealistic ideas as absolute good and absolute evil.

There is an occult axiom which says 'All gods are one god, all goddesses are one goddess and there is but one initiatrix/tor'. Monotheism went wrong not so much as tracing the gods back to their origin, more or less abstract principles, but doing so in an unbalanced manner.

The historical figure who started monotheism was an Egyptian pharoah from the eighteenth dynasty named Akhnaton or Amenhotep IV, who in his time was confronted with a corrupt hierarchy of greedy priests. Reacting against this hierarchy he instituted, in a more or less violent revolutionary manner, a religion with only one god, Aton. By this act, the original mistake of monotheism was made. No acknowlegement was made of the feminine part of divinity. This new monotheism was totally male dominated. If Akhnaton had gone one step further and recognised that what he envisaged as being a single deity was of equally balanced polarity, or else something of a completely neutral nature with no concept of gender at all, then a great deal of suffering would have been avoided.

From this concept of monotheism were created Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the latter two devoloping as heresies from the Judaic tradition which was originally a develoment, via Moses, of the Aton cult.

Thus it can be seen that Achnaton started monotheism and in the process made possibly the most disastrous error in the history of human thought - the ousting of the feminine principle from nature.

From Northern Mysteries & Magick (aka Leaves of Yggdrasil) by Freya Aswynn.
Typed by The Pook, hence no link.