11. The View From Prindle's Head

11.  The View From Prindle’s Head

3.  Unintended Consequences

6.  The Jews (Continuation)

by

R.E. Prindle

 

We might take a moment here to remember that out point of view is from psychology.  One aspect of psychology is consciousness or self-awareness and environmental awareness.  Consciousness was a long time developing and is certainly not universal today.  Mankind was aware of consciousness.  Ancient mythology described its realization in the pretty myth in which consciousness was one undifferentiated unit of the sky, space and earth.  And then a breeze came along and separated earth from sky leaving space between the two.  The sky above, atmosphere in the middle and earth and the waters below.  Eh voila- consciousness in the first state of awareness.

The Greek myth of Narcissus describes personal awareness when Narcissus recognizes himself in his reflection in a pond and falls in love with himself.  Thus, amour propre.  And so on.  A good introductory study is the The Origins and History of Consciousness by the Jung scholar, Erich Neumann.

The important thing here is to remember that the level of consciousness in Roman time was much lower than it is today.  Knowledge and self-knowledge has taken giant strides from the Ages of Aries and early Pisces.  Not as long strides as we should have, however.  But in these early days the supernatural was still a living presence.  Gods, angel and demons still inhabited the earth even though you couldn’t see them it was thought.

Jesus then, was born as the avatar of the New Age of Pisces.  In astrological mythology a new earth and a new sky was being born.  The new sky because in this case the rising sun was passing out of the Age of Aries and into the Age of Pisces.  Without a proper understanding of the Solar system and Earth’s axis the ancients had no scientific explanation of the phenomenon.  They explained it from visual realities. The Jews interpreted the new age as the time of redemption when Jewish hopes and fancies would be realized.  All of the fantasies were to become real.  This was the cause for the weird disregard of temporal realities.

The mass suicide of Masada, somewhat like Jim Jones in Guiana, was possible because the redemption was not a distant future matter but a present reality.  Jesus’ discussion of the coming of the kingdom of god was not meant for whenever but right then.  Any minute now.  When it became apparent to those on Masada that the Roman soldiers had built a road to the mountain top, fully expecting to arise hale and hearty within the week, the whole body of Jews committed suicide.  They were not conscious that for them there was no tomorrow.

So, with this zany ‘to the last man’ psychology the Jews began a terrible war for themselves in 70 AD.  The result was inevitable.  Within a short period the land was conquered with the Jews penned up within the walls of Jerusalem with the priests madly sacrificing animals hoping to persuade The Spirit In The Sky for another some such miracle as the parting of the Red Sea.

The Sicarii roamed the streets of Jerusalem murdering anyone who criticized resistance and encouraged surrender.  The Romans breached the walls and began street to street, house to house warfare.  It was total insanity on the part of the Jews or would have been if they hadn’t placed their faith in a supernatural delivery.  The remnant retreated to the mountain fastness of Masada.

That was only the first phase of the war.  The planning for phase two, the eruption of 115 AD forty-five years later.  In the interim the Jews had organized all their colonies in the various cities throughout the Roman Empire to rise on the signal, thus ensuring the extermination of millions of Roman citizens.  Unfortunately for the plan only three populations responded, Alexandria in Egypt, Jerusalem itself, and the large Jewish colony on Cyprus

Ina wild insane orgy of murder the Jews of Alexandria murdered two hundred fifty thousand men, women and children while those on Cyprus did the same.  Like crazed, wild dervishes the Jews ripped out intestines and wore them as belts, incredible atrocities were committed too cruel to even imagine.  This was barbarity nearly unequaled until the twentieth century. 

The Romans were enraged at these cold-blooded murders and they determined that the Jews in their turn should be eliminated.  (A pattern is emerging here, a psychological pattern that has never changed and never will.)

The apparent mastermind of the uprising was Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai and his associates.  Before the rising when the Jewish generals asked if the Good Gentiles should be spared, ben Yochai replied:  No, kill them all.  Genocide on a massive scale.

The Romans rushed to the scene and the man hunt was on, street to street and door to door.  Ben Yochai was hidden away in a cave while the hunt went on around him.  To historical knowledge he was never found and died a natural death.

The entire land was leveled to the ground, stone by stone while any remnants were gathered up and dispatched to Spain, poor Spain.  The land of Palestine was forbidden to the Jews.  None could legally live there.  The rather astonishing thing is that the very large population of Mesopotamia took no part in this frenzy, remaining quiet and seemingly disinterested.  The other Jewish colonies also remained quiescent, lowering their heads so as not to be seen.

The Mesopotamian Jews would finally exasperate the Gentiles of Mesopotamia by the tenth century so that that colony was smashed with the majority going to their fellows in Spain although others  went in all directions.  It was roughly at this time that the Khazars of the Kievan steppes opted to become Jews.

With this horrific episode we leave the Middle East and begin the history of the Jews in Spain and Europe.

Continued in 12.  The View From Prindle’s Head.