A response to Dr. Michael Sugrue’s YouTube Lecture
Gilgamesh & Enkidu Battle Humbaba – The Psychological Work of Annihilation of the Ego
Dear Dr. Sugrue,
Allow us to preface our comments here by mentioning how we enjoy your lectures immensely. They are succinct and illuminating in many ways. However, (you knew this was coming), when it comes to The Gilgamesh Epic, particularly in the context of Biblical scripture/tradition, it seems you have fallen prey to several common misconceptions about the nature of ancient stories. It falls to us to offer you insight into an objective reading of The Epic of Gilgamesh, with the hope that by planting this seed, the whole of your knowledge of philosophy will sprout anew as the Tree of Life (the plant which gives eternal life), and in the synthesis of seemingly disparate readings of the dialectic in your psyche will bear a whole new kind of fruit on the Tree of Knowledge (Self-Evident Experiential Knowledge…that which we SEEK on our own Heroic Epic).
For those who may not be familiar with the Epic of Gilgamesh, or Dr. Sugrue’s lecture on the subject, here it is for your consideration…
Just as we know that dramatized stories like Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator,” Peter Schaffer’s “Amadeus,” or even Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” may be “based on real events,” we would be foolish to treat them as valid historical texts. In fact, in the case of Gladiator and Amadeus, their historical context is simply a backdrop for what are deeply symbolic esoteric allegories. They are vehicles/vessels for timeless, objective, universal Truths which apply to the whole of humanity. The fact that very precious few possess “the eyes to see and the ears to hear” the Truth embedded in such works is a commentary on the state of this FALLEN humanity (fallen ASLEEP, psychologically: sleeping consciousness).
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, for Gilgamesh to attain the power of immortality, he is given a test by Utnapishtim, in which he must stay awake for seven days. Utnapishtim is Noah, of course, but what you may not realize is that his name in Hungarian (which is a truly ancient language and wholly phonetic i.e. mantric) suggests “road day/sun God” and/or “new day/sun of God” (“nap” means both “day” and “sun”). The reason we suggest new here (uj) and not road (ut) is the fact that in the ancient Hungarian runic alphabet both “i” and “j,” having practically the same phonetic sound (like a “y”) all look like “t/T,” where “t” is a short “i” and “T” is a long “i” as in the mantra “eeee” of the crown chakra, which is the chakra of the cross and the Christ (who is not a man but a Force in the universe which men can embody…men like Utnapishtim, The “New Day/Sun of God” (symbolically: the Newborn Son of God…a Christified God-Man…Immortal). And, let us not forget that the other name for Shamash is Utu, “The Sun God”…And, since the Hungarian “Ishten” (and Pishti, spelled phonetically here) derives from Ishtar and Pistis (as in the Pistis Sophia), respectively, the connections between this Immortal Man Utnapishtim and The Christic Sun/Son of God/Goddess are striking. And remember, Ishtar is a highly sexualized goddess who KILLS heroes, according to Gilgamesh, suggesting that Immortality is acquired only after death by the hand of our Divine Mother (Durgha, Kali, Destroyer of Worlds) and resurrection. But we need a vessel to cross the waters (i.e. river Styx) to attain immortality, as Utnapishtim did. By the way, the m at the end of Utnapishtim, connotes mem, in Hebrew (another ancient and phonetic language), which represents the waters. It is an inverted shin, the fire, Neptune’s Trident (which is a 3 on its side and 1/2 of an 8, which is infinity…immortality). Suggesting the Trinity of the Logos, the Christ, is hidden within and related to the waters, which is why surviving “the Great Flood” grants immortality, IF, that is, one had created the appropriate VESSEL.
Ancient Hungarian Runic Alphabet
And Utnapishtim has indeed attained immortality, to which he tells Gilgamesh the secret is to be able to stay awake for 7 days and 7 nights. Now, this has a clever exoteric as well as esoteric significance: to be awake 7 days and 7 nights is the same as saying “to stay awake 24/7.” That means to AWAKEN the consciousness and remain awake; not “TO FALL” (asleep) as all the tragic heroes (and/or “the fair maidens” they are out to rescue, which are all analogs of Psyche, daughter of Eros–the psyche is feminine), from antiquity, myth, scripture, literature, opera, Shakespeare, et al. But 7 is also the number which refers to the 7 octaves, the 7 heavens (that is, the 7 dimensions), and the 7 bodies of our being: the physical body, vital body, astral body, mental body, causal body, Buddhic body, and Atmic body. But to stay awake in each of the 7 bodies means they must be, like Utnapishtim, “new day’s suns of God”…SOLAR BODIES; living embodiments of the Christic Light of The Logos. This humanity is LUNAR, mechanical, ruled by the primal instincts and reactions of mechanical ego-mind, ego-emotion, and ego sensation. Gilgamesh, as King and hero of the story is more than an intellectual animal falsely believing himself to be a true human being, however. At this point Enkidu has “died,” cursed by Humbaba, and is no longer by his side, but we will address his death and how that means Gilgamesh is awake, and a True Human Being, in a moment. (As an aside: hume=earth, in microcosm; man=manas, Divine Mind…a True human being is “the Microcosmic Embodiment of the Divine Mind of Being.” Or, in a more simplistic interpretation: hu=God; Man=man…”God in Man is Being” (a little Yoda-like grammar there, but it is what it is). “Hu” is the primordial sound of creation, and is why Hungarians take their name from Attila the Hun. Baba in Hungarian means doll or baby, in other languages it is father; but we will get to Humbaba shortly). The process of transforming the lead of ego (our mechanical lunar bodies) into the gold of the human soul (our solar bodies) requires the mystical metaphysical science of Alchemy as taught by Hermes Trismagistus, and every mystery school from Egypt to the Essenes, to Greece and Rome, to Northern Europe, to Central America. And how does EVERY epic hero in the history of storytelling go about achieving this alchemy? Why of course, by embarking on the epic hero’s journey into the wild (subconscious mind: darkness, dungeon, underworld, labyrinth, et al) to recover the gold and/or free the maiden (awaken consciousness: recover treasure/awaken the maiden–Psyche) from the clutches of some sinister adversary (egos/sins/nafs/psychological aggregates: monsters, dragons, demons, devils, furies, witches, et al).
Gilgamesh, of course, embarks on just such a journey earlier in the tale to recover the precious CEDARS from the demon Humbaba together with Enkidu (note: Enki is one of the three most powerful gods in the Sumerian pantheon; Enkidu is Gilgamesh’s Monad (his Innermost Atman, consciousness, and human soul, in other words, his Being) which “falls” when Enkidu is seduced by the priestess and joins Gilgamesh in the city and on his journey). They are ordered to enter the forest by Shamash (another mantric name and a palindrome–a solar deity which, according to legend, gave the Babylonian king Hammurabi his code of laws). Shamash is the unrealized Innermost Intimate Christ: Krishna in the Ramayama who motivates Rama (Innermost Being; Enkidu) to embark on his quest along with Hanuman (the monkey-god-man; Gilgamesh). Humbaba, a demon (who normally wears SEVEN coats of armor but today is wearing only one, suggesting Gilgamesh is very near attaining all his solar bodies if he but defeats this one last coat of armor–lunar body–of Humbaba’s), changes his face to frighten Gilgamesh. This is possible because our egos alter their form to hypnotize and terrorize us (the ego of fear is the most adept at this; fear is the great con artist and chameleon of the psyche, as we describe in our own semi-biographical epic non-fiction testimony, Face your Fear’s many Faces – ATTLAS IN FORMATION). It is only with the assistance of Shamash that Enkidu and Gilgamesh triumph, but not before Humbaba “curses” Enkidu who later appears to “die.” It is with the cedars that he and Enkidu will build a raft to travel the river back to the kingdom, and it is with the cedar wood that they plan to build a tremendous gate, presumably to keep demons such as Humbaba out…this is a reference to creating a “Hermetic seal,” which is an essential aspect of alchemy. Understanding that death and resurrection are necessary for the process of Christification (as evidenced in the tales of Mithras, Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis and Attis, Dionysus and Jesus to name only a few), Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh is now a “Buddha,” his city hermetically sealed–awake, but not yet immortal.
Far from being “poorly redacted,” the last part of Gilgamesh deals with Christification, attaining the level of Bodhisattva, or Resurrected Master. The plant which grants immortality does indeed relate to The Tree of Life and The Tree of Knowledge (the Two Trees in the Garden of Eden), and the serpent is absolutely significant as the universal symbol of the sexual force: prana, chi, electricity, Divine Mother Devi Kundalini Shakti, the foundational force of the universe which can create or destroy…uplift or tempt (as the various serpents in Exodus which serve Moses vs. those which torment his adversaries and/or the Israelites who lose faith in God). But we feel at this point we have said enough and do not wish to overwhelm anyone. That said, there is a video on our YouTube channel which will go into the nature of these esoteric symbols in much more detail, and in the process reveal the True nature of “The Great Arkanum” and “the Covenant” between God and man…
Our goal here was simply to offer you insights into the objective esoteric Truths embedded in the epic of Gilgamesh, as they are in all scripture, myth, stories, high art, architecture, opera, Shakespeare, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, comic books, even many contemporary fantasy and sci-fi properties and even a handful of video games. If Art Mirrors Life, what do Video Games, Sci-Fi & Fantasy show us About Ourselves? | The Attlas Project
The Living Breathing Word of God is not bound to any book, school, or religion. It is writ large and small in the book of life, all around us and within us, if we but develop “the eyes to see and the ears to hear” it. The Divine Potter works with the clay that is on the wheel. It is up to us to experience the Truth of The Logos in our lives, as served to us by our own Innermost Individual Divine Mother, who delivers all we need on our epic journey to awaken the consciousness and Self-Realize our Innermost Being; yes, even all our tests, trials, TEMPTATIONS, and ordeals. Yes, EVERY LIFE has the potential to be its own epic. And there is no shortage of the kind of serendipities and synchronicities of symbolism, mantra, and meaning we find in the names of characters in the epic of Gilgamesh. Just consider for a moment the real-life drama of the mutiny on The Bounty.
Let us mention, only briefly, that in the previously mentioned Mutiny on the Bounty, the leader of the mutiny is named Fletcher Christian, and the Ship’s Captain, the subject of the mutineers’ grievances, William Bligh. A fletcher is one who attaches the fins, flights or feathers to the shaft of arrows enabling them to fly. A Christian is, by all accounts, one who lives by the teachings of the Christ (The Logos; The Word…The Divine Law). The short form of William is Bill, and a bill sets out the law of the land. Bligh can be pronounced B-ligh (belie), which means to give a false impression of something; to disguise or contradict; and/or, to fail to fulfill or justify (a claim); betray (Source: Lexico powered by Oxford > belie). (As an aside, belie is the esoteric root word of belief, not to be confused with the exoteric root word of belief found in modern etymological dictionaries, which is explored in-depth on our YouTube video on The Hard Truth of Belief.)
So in this scenario from history, we have a fletcher who gives flight to Divine Law leading a mutiny against the false laws of men which betray It, upon a vessel whose name, Bounty, is not only directly related to the sea and Mother Nature, but which carries Christian and his fellow mutineers to truly resplendent islands in the South Pacific where they are greeted by boundless affection, female companionship and all the boundless gifts of said resplendent islands.
Remember, dear reader: Mutiny on the Bounty is not just a novel which has been adapted into films in 1935, starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton; 1962, starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard; and 1984, starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. It is a story based on actual events: meaning the names of Fletcher Christian and William Bligh were not dramatized by some novelist. Who then, orchestrated those names? Find out here: O Divine Mother, Here Art Thou – ATTLAS IN FORMATION
We are nothing: just a spark, an Essence, a seed (our Being, Attlas) of said Logos (Allux: All Light; God Light), and physical body and personality as vessel and messenger (the corporeal person/persona typing these words). And as messenger, there is really only one thing we can do for you, or anyone, and we are doing it here and now… Ratatoskr and the Seed – ATTLAS IN FORMATION and on our YouTube channel, Attlas in Formation – YouTube
Yours most humbly and Truly in service of the Cosmic Christ for the sake of the end of suffering and ignorance,
Attlas Allux
P.S. We would gladly welcome hearing from you, Dr. Sugrue. You can reach us via the website of our Life’s Work, The Attlas Project
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