reply to post by windword
LOL
"Ere Babylon was dust, the Magus Zoroaster, my dear child,
met his own image walking in the garden.
That apparition, sole of men, he saw.
For know there are two worlds of life and death: One that which thou beholdest;
but the other is underneath the grave,
where do inhabit the shadows of all forms that think and live
Till death unite them and they part no more....",
that's from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound,by the way.
Did Satan really tempt Jesus in the desert?
so you've received an overabundance of "explanations" from the religious-paradigmers
[tripping over themselves,IMO]
with some sprinkling of "explanations" from the material-paradigmers
religious say yes
materialists say no
the magical paradigm says What if?/maybe
one of the most interesting things about studying mythologies and not generally known,
is that every story, has at least 2 versions.
all of the Great Magicians, Mystics, Religious Founders had what is known as an
Adversary, which by the way, is one of the meanings of Satan,
Shelley's lines above allude to Zoroaster's [Zarathustra] 1st encounter with his own adversary. [funnily enough, according to one legend, when
Zarathustra became king of Bactria his consorts name was exactly the same as his adversary's.]
basically those who strive towards the Good and the Pure as they gain in spiritual.... whatever
are ridding themselves of their negativism,their flaws, their dislikes, the Bad things in them.
where does this stuff go when the masters of virtue ascend into the realm of the Cleansed?
what if it "refuses to die" and develops a life of its own, like becoming to great degree a real walking talking person?
the most recent mythological level retelling of this story is Stephen Kings The Dark Half
it could be said it forms a backdrop theme in Fight Club as well.