The Mystery Of St. Christopher - Alternative View

2024 Author: Keith Bush | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 14:01

The story is not only more unusual than we imagine,

it is more unusual than we can imagine.

May 9, new (May 22, old) style is the day of St. Christopher. At one time, it was one of the most important figures in Christianity.

In the sacristy of the Intercession Cathedral of the Rogozhskaya Sloboda there is an ancient icon of the holy Martyr Christopher, traditionally depicted with the head of a dog or a horse. The image of this saint is so interesting and multifaceted that it requires a detailed study of the origin of the tradition of portraying the saint in this way, because after the Nikonian reform his image fell under an unmotivated ban. Beginning in 1722, in Russia all his images in churches were scraped off and painted over.

Here's a rare shot:

The Holy Martyr Christopher is depicted along with the rest of the martyrs.

A revised image of the holy Martyr Christopher over an ancient fresco in Yaroslavl.

Below are examples of the traditional depiction of Saint Christopher.

Promotional video:

Icon from the Cherepovets Museum, 17th century. (Christopher makes a goat with his left hand, in which there is a red Orthodox cross.)

On the left is an icon from the Chudov Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin (allegedly the 16th century) and on the right is an icon from the Byzantine Museum in Athens (allegedly the 13th century).

The life of Christopher, according to the Eastern tradition of Christianity, is a copy of the lives of the other great martyrs: he was born, lived, believed, worked miracles, was seized and tortured for his faith, executed by order of the Roman emperor or procurator. Well, what else is there to invent?

In the Western tradition, the depiction of Saint Christopher, whose name literally translates from Greek means "Christ bearer", is mainly based on the "Golden Legend" of Jacob Voraginsky, Bishop of Genoa.

Giovanni Bellini (allegedly 1468).

Hieronymus Bosch (allegedly 1505).

The giant Reprev is looking for the most powerful ruler to enter his service. He enters the service of the king, but learns that he is afraid of Satan. Then he offers his services to Satan, but realizes that he trembles at the sight of the Cross. He seeks out the holy hermit and asks him how he can serve Christ. The hermit takes him to a dangerous ford across the river and says that his great height and strength make him an excellent candidate for helping people cross this dangerous river.

He begins to carry travelers across the river on his back.

One day a little boy asked him to be carried across the river. In the middle of the river, the boy became so heavy that Christopher was afraid that they would both drown. But the boy told him that he is Christ and carries with him all the burdens of the world. Then Jesus christened Reprev in the river, and he received a new name - Christopher, "carrying Christ." After that, the Baby told Christopher that he could stick a branch into the ground, and it miraculously sprouts and turns into a fruitful tree. This miracle converted many to faith. Enraged by this, the local ruler (in the Western tradition he speaks under the name of Dagnus) imprisoned Christopher, where, after long torture, he found a martyr's death.

Bernardo Strozzi.

The paradox of the Western version of the story of St. Christopher lies in the fact that the powerful ruler whom Christopher serves turns out to be a Child, the embodiment of weakness and defenselessness. However, on the other hand, this baby is weightier and more significant than the whole world.

Very interesting!

Because there is not one paradox - there are two of them. One touches Christ and the other Christopher.

Yes, Saint Christopher is the most mysterious of all Christian saints, and icons with his image to especially zealous apologists of the Russian Orthodox Church seem to be blasphemy, although the Council of 1971 canceled all the oaths on the old rites of the Great Moscow Cathedral in 1667, on canons, icons and removed anathemas from Old Believers.

Yes, who needs them - these provisions of the Councils! Nobody is going to restore anyone in their rights. Although it was precisely such creatures that the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called described after his missionary journey to the north.

So, according to the story of Saint Christopher, he was a Roman. And we know from traditional Roman history that the Romans fattened fighting dogs - Mastin (mastiff), which participated in the battles and were so ferocious that they tore the enemy to shreds.

It’s very interesting, didn’t they serve in the Roman army?

And here is a fresco from the Tomar Monastery, the Templar citadel in Portugal.

Annunciation to the Virgin Mary!

True, an angel has no wings, and if you look closely, instead of an angel, Christopher the dog-headed dog is smeared … even the dots where the dogs have antennae are not completely covered up.

Christopher?

With the finger of his right hand he points to Mary, there are seven white lilies in the pot - the seven joys of Mary.

Hans Memling "The Seven Joys of Mary". 1480

Christopher's staff is interesting! Sprouted, bearing fruit and with the banner "Ave Maria".

Staff.

A very remarkable staff and even somewhat familiar!

Egyptian Museum, Turin.

The famous bump? Apple and snakes! Caduceus!

"Madonna of the Pomegranate" by Leonardo da Vinci.

"Madonna of the Pomegranate" by Botticelli!

However, we return to the dogs.

The medieval chronicler Paul the Deacon wrote that the Germanic tribe of the Lombards (famous for the first crusades) had friendly relations with the cinocephals. There are also many legends about them in the east, some of which Nizami recounted in the poem "Iskander-Nam".

Adam Bremensky expounded the legend that cinocephalics are the children of the Amazons, whose fathers were some unknown monsters that lived in the North.

The country of the Amazons was then located between the Volga and the Don, in the region of the Sea of Azov (near the Volga-Don railroad), and this is how the “Amazon” is directly named on the map of Charles V and Ferdinand (16th century). Bulgaria is located under the Amazon.

Charles V.

Fragment of the map of Charles V.

Here is Fra Mauro's map. Amazonia is listed above. Downstream of the Volga - Edil, above - Vedasuar (Veda - prohibition, Suar or Sur - South)

Fra Mauro map.

In the poem "Iskander-Nam" by Nizami it is said that the tribes of the Rus, who fought with the army of Alexander the Great, released a monster into battle, which tore off the arms and heads of the enemy soldiers, and even the trunk of a fighting elephant. The monster, according to Nizami, was no different from an ordinary tall person. From the total mass it was distinguished only by the horn on the forehead and enormous strength. Nizami calls the birthplace of monsters the mountains on the way to eternal darkness - the polar night. It is possible that these are Putoran mountains.

Putoran mountains.

The southern coast of the Arctic Ocean until the 19th century was a reserve for creatures known to the rest of the world only from legends and myths. Muscovites, in particular, among the inhabitants of the Polar North mentioned people with dog heads. Yes, and the traveler Herberstein in the 17th century. wrote that people with dog heads lived in the upper reaches of the Ob River.

Fra Mauro's map shows the Cathay Empire!

A fragment of the Fra Mauro map.

Yes! Impressive!

In the 20th century, witnesses who saw the pesiglavts called them the inhabitants of the highlands, but these regions are also considered the habitat of the Bigfoot. True, describing him, they say that he is more like a monkey and, in particular, a baboon. Meanwhile, baboons in Egypt were called cinocephalic, that is, dog heads, because of the similarity of their heads to those of large dogs. It turns out that the tribe from which Saint Christopher came out could have been a tribe of some snowmen, as we now call them.

Baboon.

So who is the holy dog Christopher?

According to its main function, it is a ferryman, a carrier across the river and, in combination, a miracle worker. However, there is an opinion that this is the very same Cristobal Colon - Christopher Krlumb, abbreviated Charon, standing at the crossing to the lower world, near the river of oblivion - Styx.

Ancient fresco.

Christopher.

Very interesting!

After all, Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon), distinguished himself at one time by the fact that at the turn of the 15-16 centuries he transported Jews who fled from the consequences of the catastrophe to the New World. It is no secret that the trip was one way. Farewell to relatives and friends was forever. It turns out that the Atlantic Ocean is the river Styx, the river of oblivion, because there was no way back - this is a one-way ticket. By the way, white people in Iberia had to buy a ticket, and black people from Nigeria were transported for free.

Above in the text, we looked at the map of Charles the fifth (emperor of the Holy Roman Empire), which does not yet have the Americas. But his descendants on the throne: Isabella - Queen of Castile and Ferdinand the King of Aragon financed the crossing of Christopher Columbus. There, apparently, the whole fleet was sailing, and not a fragile little boat. After all, the Asian refugees who had accumulated on the peninsula had to somehow get rid of. And now - what to do with the Syrian refugees? Until they pack it to Europe, and then?

From the general Catholic calendar, the day of commemoration of St. Christopher on July 25 was removed by the Vatican in 1969, but the holiday remained in the local calendars of Catholic countries. In the Catholic Church, Christopher is the holy patron of travelers, is extraordinarily loved by sailors, ferrymen and carriers, especially revered in Spain.

The relics and the head of the saint, once stored in Constantinople, were then transported to the island of Rab in Croatia.

But what does Charon have to do with it?

And the thing is that in the late version of the myth about Charon, he already owns his own boat, but this does not change the essence. After all, this is exactly the same Charon-Reprev who carried the baby Jesus across a certain river. It is in this context that one should recall the history of Christ's descent into Hell, i.e. to the Lower World, and in Hellenic legends, Hell is located just beyond the river Styx.

Just want to clarify the following! In those days, when people considered the earth to be flat, it seemed to them that the New World was on the other side of the earth, that, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, ships arrived on the other side of the Earth, i.e. on its lower side, which they called Hell or the Lower World (not to be confused with the other world or the afterlife, where the souls of the dead were sent).

Christian theosophists not without reason insist that after the crucifixion Christ descended into hell and, having smashed its gates, brought the gospel message to the underworld that he freed the souls imprisoned there and brought out of hell all the Old Testament righteous, as well as Adam and Eve.

According to the legends about Christopher, Jesus was heavy - even in the form of a baby - he was barely carried by the Chief Carrier of the Holy Roman Empire Christopher Charon (Colon) and recognized Him as Lord, and knelt before him.

It is clear that the admiration of such a significant creature as Charon is worth a lot; this is the act of Death's surrender to Christ. After all, the teaching of Christ is not about some kind of otherworldly bliss, the high of nirvana, but about eternal life.

Depicting on the icons the process of Jesus' return on the shoulders of Christopher across the river of oblivion, the clergy, in fact, wanted to show by this that the act of peace and cooperation between the cannibals Repreva and Christ was indeed signed.

Conquistadors.

Here they are the conquistadors - caballeros, hence the cavaliers - the cavalry, and the chevalier - this is also a cavalier, only the wretched pronunciation of the French Gundos, they write one thing and say another. All these are "knight dogs". The guardsmen, apparently, did not tie the severed heads of dogs to horses, they were dog-heads!

Christopher has another twin brother - the Egyptian god Anubis, the god of death and rebirth of all living things. Anubis is also Pesiglavets, and most importantly, in his hands, like Christopher, he also has a staff. With the idea of the Resurrection of Jesus, these allegories with a blooming staff and a journey through the river of oblivion back and forth are extremely closely connected.

Anubis.

Christopher.

Anubis in the Old Kingdom was the patron saint of necropolises and cemeteries, one of the judges of the kingdom of the dead, and also the keeper of poisons and medicines. In ancient Egyptian mythology, Anubis is the son of Osiris and helps Isis in her search for his parts.

Staff of Anubis - Reaper of Souls.

Osiris Judgment - Anubis weighs souls.

It remains to be seen what the dogs have to do with it? After all, the dog is tabooed by the largest religions, as one of the guises of the Unclean?

The answer was preserved by the Aztecs. From their point of view, a dog is an excellent guide to the next world. While the soul that has flown out of the body trembles, not understanding what to do, the dog leads it exactly to the cave of its ancestors. Therefore, the Indians, allegedly, killed and buried the dog.

The common roots of European and American cultures are clearly visible here. Under the guise of civilized Christopher lies a somewhat older Charon, and under the guise of Charon even more ancient Anubis, and if you scrape even more intensively, you will start to see … a whole dog nation.

Very interesting!

Anubis, in Egyptian mythology, the god and patron of the dead, the son of the god Osiris and Nephthys, the sister of Isis. The newborn Anubis Nephthys hid from her husband Seth in the swamps of the Nile Delta. The mother goddess Isis found the young god and raised him as a family.

One to one story about baby Moses ?!

Well, well, well!

Later, when Set killed Osiris, Anubis, organizing the burial, embalmed his father's body, thus making the first mummy. Therefore, Anubis is considered the god of embalming, funeral rites and the patron saint of necropolises. Anubis also helped to judge the dead and accompanied the souls of the righteous to the throne of Osiris.

It turns out that Osiris seduced Nephthys, the sister of Isis, the wife of his brother Set, and from this connection they gave birth to a dog-headed Christopher, a pure pharaoh?

There is such a thing, Osiris and Isis, for the claims to the throne, they needed a son, and they only had daughters. Understandable now and Seth's anger at his brother, and Isis's upbringing of someone else's child.

Well, well, well! The basket is said to be tarred with a baby, launched down the river? The childhood story of King Sargon is the same!

Caravel!?

Read aloud the decree

And the queen at the same hour

They put my son in a barrel, Grinded, rolled

And they let me into Okiyan -

This is what Tsar Saltan ordered.

Here they are the echoes of that story and the beating of babies in the Gospel from here.

- behold, the Angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph and says: get up, take the Baby and His Mother and run to Egypt, and be there until I tell you, for Herod wants to look for the Baby in order to destroy Him.

Matthew 2:13.

Flight to Egypt, Titian 1508

Either he flees to Egypt, now from Egypt !? Was it not his brother Christopher who transported the baby Jesus to the New World? And then this story was recorded as the descent of Christ into Hell and the victory over Hell?

Let's see what traditional history tells us about Columbus's voyages.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set out on his maiden voyage.

- Maiden voyage (August 2, 1492 - March 15, 1493).

- Second voyage (September 25, 1493 - June 11, 1496).

- Third voyage (May 30, 1498 - November 25, 1500).

- The fourth voyage (May 9, 1502 - November 1504).

And in the essay "Debate with the Greeks on Faith" by Hieromonk Arseny Sukhanov (1600? -1668), the manager of the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, it is clearly indicated that Christ was born in 1492 according to the currently accepted chronology or in 7000 after the creation of the world in the way of that time.

It was in this year that Christopher set off on his maiden voyage with the Mother of God and the infant Christ on board his tarred barrel - Caravels (cavaliers, cavalry guards, cavalry - sounds familiar).

So this is where Christ was found until all his fierce enemies died out.

However, we are somewhat distracted from the dog-headed Christopher, because all "real" churches were well aware of the sacred meaning of the dog symbol.

Next is something about the righteous dogs.

The Dominicans are the unofficial name for the order of monastic preachers formed during the Albigensian Wars. In the era of total extermination of the perfect (Slavs) in the Balkans. It was approved by Pope Honorius III allegedly in 1216. The order became the most powerful of all the orders of the Inquisition that existed at that time. Residences Paris, Bologna.

Domini Canes - "Dogs of the Lord". The symbol of the order is a dog sitting on a book and holding a torch in its mouth. This symbol was probably associated with the Inquisition, which burned all books except the Catholic version of the Bible. The Dominicans - the dogs of the Lord - tattooed on their wrists a dog's head with a torch in its teeth.

Coat of arms of the Dominican Order. Roman Catholic Church.

Dominican Church in Lviv.

The characteristic symbol of a dog with a torch in its teeth, lying on a book. Above everything is the royal crown with the Virgin's star, in the paws of the power - the earthly sphere with a cross. There is some sort of broom in the crown, even two crossed brooms.

Emblem.

The oprichniks have the same symbolism: a dog's head and a broom - in fact, a bundle of twigs with foliage is at the same time a symbol of unity. And there is absolutely no need to be surprised that giaur and Christian are synonyms, and knight-dogs are dogs, not people. Perhaps the term "cop" did not appear out of nowhere, but the bogatyr Polkan even more so. At least the dog-headed Christopher is the patron saint of people with dangerous professions, including policemen.

Saints Akhrakas and Augani, Coptic icon.

Saint Christopher from the Church of Our Lady of Lindos in Rhodes.

And here is the most remarkable thing, two brothers together.

Saints Christopher and George. Ceramic icon.

I approached, and here is instant, Fear seized me like a beast:

I met the head of a hyena

On slender girlish shoulders.

N. Gumilev, "Horror"

Nothing horror, but a heart of gold. The fish probably has a name?

Isn't that how Nephthys of Seth's wife (Elena the Beautiful, kidnapped by Paris) looked like?

There are many tales and legends about dog-headed animals in the Carpathians. Descriptions are commonplace, as something completely clear and understandable. And in Poland, the curse word "psia krev" is still quite common.

Khust.

They say that in the summer of 1594 Khust (a city in the Ugorshchyna) was attacked by an 80,000-strong Turkish-Tatar horde, which devastated all the neighboring villages and outskirts of the city, but all attempts to capture the Khust castle were unsuccessful, and soon the Turks retreated beyond the Carpathians. An ambush was set up in one of the gorges, where many of them died. In this battle, on the side of the Ugric people, the dog-heads also took part, they were skilled spearmen. More Tatars did not dare to go to Transcarpathia.

And the spearmen are not lancers, for an hour?

It is known that in the middle of the 19th century, the Austro-Hungarian authorities allegedly sent a punitive expedition to destroy the dog-heads in the Carpathian Mountains. The results of the expedition are unknown. Maybe these were some social expectations, or maybe not ?! However, it is believed that pesigolovtsy lived in high-altitude villages until the 20th century, they lived next door to people, had houses, raised livestock, hunted and, by the way, did not shun promiscuous sex with human women as well. It is believed that when strangers came to their settlement, the dog-heads let maru (vision) a kind of suggestion and they were simply not noticed.

Studying the Old Slavic epic epic, you can find an interesting character - the hero Palkan (or Polkan).

Polkan?

Palkan is a dog, a hero, a dog-head, one of the heroes of a fairy tale and epic epic. Occurs among the "strong heroes" together with Samson Kolyvanovich and Svyatogor in the retinue of Prince Vladimir. In a dispute with Anika the hero, Mistress Death mentions Palkan among the most powerful and invincible heroes. In another epic, Palkan is the helmsman of Sokol, a ship commanded by Ilya Muromets.

The Palkans fought in large numbers, hence the regiments went as military units. Pesigolovtsy were often recruited by mercenaries in wars between people, apparently for intimidation, and in the 16-17 centuries they began to die out or degenerate.

Later, some militant tribes of the "Papuans" to intimidate the enemy stared at themselves instead of helmets wolf heads to look like real dog-heads.

However, we are talking about something else. Apparently, initially, man was not the crown of creation, and the creator was more like a dog in his heart. It's not a secret that the more you get to know people, the more you like smart, purposeful, obligatory, strong-willed, loyal and kind dogs.

In this regard, I would like to recall the Teutonic Order!

Historically, for the knights of the Teutonic order, the expression dogs-knights was firmly entrenched. Robberies, murders, violence in the lands of Russian, Lithuanian, Polish. Reitershund - dog rider. Reitar means rider, equestrian, and hund means dog, dog.

Why are they called a pack, why are dogs-reitars - dogs-knights?

Here's why!