Moses & the Fiery God Plant - by Clark Heinrich
(Excerpted from "Magic Mushrooms in Religion & Alchemy) - AVAILABLE
HERE
Part I | Part IIIn the colorful and often bloody history of the Jews prior to the
birth of Jesus no one commands more awe and reverence than Moses does.
To have frequent conversation with God and receive God's personal,
finger-written correspondence are the marks of a demi-god, not a
human, to those outside the faith things may look a little different.
The circumstances of Moses' birth and ancestry are debated even today,
but it is generally agreed that he was raised by the Egyptians and may
have been groomed to become a high official, if not Pharaoh. He was
steeped in the philosophy and religion of Egypt and seems to have been
familiar with the solar monotheism of Akhenaton as well as the various
magical practices and rites for which the Egyptians were famous. We
will take up the story of Moses just after he was seen killing an
Egyptian who had mistreated a Hebrew laborer. Fleeing to an area south of the Red Sea, Moses joined a group of Midianite sheep herders. Their leader, a priest named Jethro, liked
the intelligent newcomer and gave him his daughter Zipporah in
marriage, and for some time Moses lived the life of a simple shepherd.
One day, when pasturing Jethro's sheep on Horeb, the Mountain of God,
he saw a strange sight: a plant that glowed like fire, yet gave off no
smoke and was not consumed. The story says that this plant was another
angel of Yahweh. Moses moved closer so he could see why the plant was
not burned. He heard a voice from the midst of the fiery plant call
his name. "I am here," Moses replied. The plant said, "Stay where you
are and take the shoes off your feet, for the ground upon which you
stand is holy. I am the God of your fathers."
The god-plant went on to say that it had a plan: Moses was to lead the
Hebrews out of Egypt and into a land overflowing with milk and honey.
The land was already occupied by the Canaanites and others, of course,
but that didn't matter since God had already given it to Abraham.
Several times. "After you lead the people out of Egypt, come back to
this mountain and offer worship to God," said the plant.
Moses was a little unsure of himself. He said, "You, a plant, want me
to go to the Hebrews and tell them that I have been sent by the God of
their fathers. Great. And what if they ask me what your name is?" The
plant answered, "I am who I am [Yahweh]. Tell the sons of Israel, 'I
Am has sent me.' Then go with the tribal elders to visit Pharaoh and
tell him to let all the Hebrews go into the wilderness for three days
to offer sacrifice." Moses was worried. He wondered what would happen
if the Egyptians didn't believe that Yahweh had appeared to him, so
the plant gave him a few tricks to convince them.
First it had Moses throw his staff on the ground, where it turned into
a serpent. When he picked it up by the tail it turned back into a
staff As a result of this Moses was sometimes called "the staff of
God." Then Moses was told to put his hand into his bosom and draw it
back out. When he did so the hand was covered with white leprous
patches. When he put it back into his bosom and drew it out again the
hand was free of the white patches. Next the plant instructed Moses in
the subtle art of equivocation: "If the first trick doesn't convince
them, the second surely will. But if neither one works, take some
water from the river and pour it on the ground in front of them, and
the water will have turned bloody. Now go."
Moses was still worried. He said, "I have uncircumcised lips. Why
should Pharaoh listen to me?" The plant said, "Look, I am making you
into a god before Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron can speak for you as
your prophet. Besides, it really doesn't matter, because I will make
Pharaoh say 'no' every time you ask him to release the Hebrews,
regardless of what sorts of magic you show him. I do this so that I
can visit many plagues upon Egypt to prove to them that I am God. I
will allow Pharaoh to say 'yes' after I have killed his first born
child, his son, and the first born of every creature in Egypt,
including the cattle."
After saying goodbye to Jethro Moses took his wife and son and began
his journey, but then the strangest thing happened: when they stopped
for the night Yahweh came to meet Moses and tried to kill him. The
same Yahweh who had just finished telling Moses to go on this journey
was now killing him on the first night of the trip! This is one of
those incidents that theologians tend to skirt, and for good reason.
How the almighty God could have failed in the attempt to kill Moses is
not told, but in a fit of inspiration Zipporah grabbed a flint and cut
off the foreskin of their son; she then touched the bloody prepuce to
Moses' penis, saying, "Truly you are a bloody husband to me!" Because
of Zipporah's bizarre actions Yah-weh spared Moses.
When they arrived in Egypt it was as the god-plant had said. Moses and
Aaron showed all the tricks of their god but the court magicians
duplicated most of them, even, stupidly, the plagues on their own
people. It didn't matter, of course, because Pharaoh found himself
unable to say anything but "no" to Moses' request. After a series of
terrible plagues Moses finally got to play his trump card. He warned
Pharaoh that Pharaoh's son and all the first born of Egypt would be
dead in the morning unless Pharaoh let the Israelites go. Pharaoh
couldn't help himself: "No," he said.
Some days earlier Yahweh had said to Moses, "Tell all the Israelites
that they should paint the lintels and posts of their doorways with
blood on the night before I kill the firstborn of Egypt, so that I
will know to pass over their houses," and this is what the Israelites
did. Also, on that day they were to eat only unleavened bread; no
leaven should even be in their houses. Later, after the killing was
accomplished, Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to leave, and take
all the Israelites with him. That very day Moses and over 600,000
Hebrews left Egypt, loaded down with jewelery, gold, and vast herds of
animals, amazing booty for slaves to come away with.
Moses hadn't told anyone exactly where it was they were going, but he
knew their first destination was Horeb, the Mountain of God. After
wandering for some time with little food the people began to complain.
Yahweh assured Moses that he would supply the people with food. At
night Yahweh sent flocks of quails flying into the camp, and the
people ate them. It must have been a vast covey to feed so many
people. In the morning there were little white balls the size of
coriander seeds covering the ground, but it was not from the birds.
When the people saw it they said, "Manna?" which means "What is it?"
For some reason manna became the name of the substance. The people
were instructed to gather what they needed for the day and eat it, but
not to save any for the next day. Those who disobeyed found that in
the morning the saved manna had bred maggots and smelled foul.
When the horde was nearing the Mountain of God they camped at a place
that had no water, and the people complained to Moses. Yahweh
instructed Moses to take his staff, gather the elders of Israel, and
go to a certain rock at Horeb; once there he should strike the rock
with his staff and water would flow out. This is what he did, and the
water flowed.
Finally the sojourners reached the Mountain of God. Now Moses was a
clever man, and the first thing he did was mark out boundaries around
the base of the mountain. He told the people that Yahweh had told him
no one was to cross the boundary and go up the mountain, or even touch
the foot of the mountain, or that person would be put to death. No one
would even be allowed to touch the condemned person: the execution had
to be by arrows or stones. Even animals that touched the mountain
would be killed. Then Moses told the people that he would be speaking
directly with Yahweh, who would appear in the form of a dense cloud.
"What sounds like thunder is actually God's voice," Moses said, "but
only I will be able to understand what is being spoken. I will tell
all of you what it is that Yahweh has said." With this Moses led the
people to the foot of the mountain. Clouds covered the mountain top
and violent thunderstorms rent the air. Fires and smoke could be seen
on the mountain's summit.
Moses' first translation of the thunder took the form of what has come
to be called the Ten Commandments. The people said, "Fine, whatever
God says, just don't make us talk with him." The people kept their
distance as Moses approached the mountain and faced the raging storm.
Yahweh took this opportunity to present, through the mouth of Moses, a
long and specific list of laws, ending with the admonition not to boil
a young goat in its mother's milk, a despicable Canaanite practice of
which God didn't want any part. Then he promised that if the people
kept all the laws he gave them he would send his angel before them to
destroy utterly the multitudes living on the lands the Israelites were
about to ransack. "Exterminate" is the word he used, and although he
didn't do what he promised, this is exactly what the Israelites
themselves did when they met in battle the Canaanites, the Amor-ites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, and all the other peoples they
ruthlessly slaughtered on their way to establishing Yahweh's righteous
kingdom on earth; in many instances they killed every man, woman,
child, and animal.
Moses built a stone altar at the foot of the mountain and instructed
some young men to begin slaughtering bulls to burn on the altar; half
the blood Moses put in basins and half he threw on the altar. Then
Moses turned around and threw blood on the people, telling them that
it was the blood of the covenant that God had made with them. Thick
clouds covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day Moses
went up into the cloud. He stayed on the mountain for forty days,
during which he must have been taking dictation much of the time, so
long was the list of God's orders Moses carried with him when he
finally returned to camp.
The first thing Yahweh told Moses on the mountain was that he, Yaweh,
was now accepting costly donations from the people, which Moses should
collect and use to build a sanctuary in which Yahweh could "dwell with
the people." The second command was to construct a wooden box, an ark,
plated with pure gold inside and out, and with moldings of pure gold.
Four rings of cast gold would be mounted (two to a side), through
which two gold-plated poles would be inserted for transporting the
ark. A seat of gold would then be made for the top, a "seat of mercy,"
with two cherubim of gold mounted at either end, their golden wings
forming an arch over the seat. Inside this ornate box would be kept
the tablets of the Testimony. Henceforth it would be here, on the
mercy seat, that God would appear to give his many commands to the
children of Israel.
The third item of note that came out of these discussions was God's
directive to construct a large tent called a tabernacle. The walls of
the tabernacle were to be made of red, crimson, and violet linen
embroidered with golden cherubim. Covering the tabernacle would be
large sheets of wool sewn together. Over this would be placed a
covering made of ram skins dyed red and over this a covering of fine
leather. The framework of the tent was to be made of acacia wood
plated with gold, and all the clasps and fittings would also be gold.
Within the tent would be a square partition made again of hanging
fabric of red, crimson, and violet wherein the ark and mercy seat
would rest. Only the high priest could enter this Holy of Holies. The
rest of the list contained the many minute details regarding the
accoutrements of the tabernacle, the clothing and investiture of the
priests, and other details. When God had finished telling Moses what
to do he gave Moses two tablets of stone on which were written the Ten
Words of the Testimony.
Moses didn't return for a long time. The people began to fear that he
wasn't coming back, so they went to Aaron and asked him to supply a
god to go before them as Moses had done. Aaron didn't hesitate. He had
the men collect all the gold earrings in the camp and bring them to
him. These Aaron melted down and cast into the likeness of a bull. The
men cried out, "Israel! Here is the god who led you out of Egypt!" The
next day a sacrifice was offered.
About this time Moses was making his way down the mountain, and he
heard the sounds of music and chanting. When he saw the golden bull
and the people dancing and fornicating before it he broke the tablets
on the ground and went berserk. Running up to the altar in a rage he
grabbed the bull by the horns; first he burned it, then he ground it
into powder, mixed it with water, and made all the people drink it.
Calling out to the crowd he said, "Whoever is for Yahweh, come and
stand with me!" All the Levites rallied around him, and he ordered
them to draw their swords and slay every man, woman, and child who had
not come to his side. The number of people said to have been murdered
that day ranges from 3,000 to 23,000.
After the butchery Moses praised the men who had so mercilessly slain
their kinsmen, and in some cases their parents, brothers, sisters,
wives, sons, and daughters: "Today you have won investiture as priests
of Yahweh, and today he grants you a blessing." Maybe there is good
reason to demand that freedom of religion become part of the
constitution of every nation.
After his little fit of pique Moses returned to the mountain, wrote
the ten words once again on two tablets of stone and, after forty
days, returned to camp. He was troubled when Aaron and the others
backed away from him, until they told him that his face was so radiant
it frightened them. Moses called them to him and told them what Yahweh
had said; then Moses put a veil over his face so he wouldn't continue
to scare them. After this he always kept the veil over his face,
except when he spoke with God in the tabernacle tent. Once inside the
tent Moses would remove his veil and leave his face uncovered until he
came out to tell the people what Yahweh had said; then he would put it
back on until the next time. Each time Moses returned from talking
with God his face was radiant.
Moses spent the rest of his life writing laws and the punishments for
violating those laws, many of which were draconian. Any men or women
who are magicians? Stone them to death. The daughter of a priest who
prostitutes herself? Burn her to death. A man who wants to marry? Only
a virgin from his own family. Curse Yahweh (a fickle and arbitrary god
if there ever was one) and what happens? Death by stoning, of course.
Shortly before the Israelites finally attacked the land of Canaan,
after they had left Mount Hor and were near Edom, they ran short of
food, and the people again complained that Moses had brought them out
of Egypt only to die in the wilderness. God heard their complaint, the
story says, and as an answer sent fiery, winged serpents to attack
them. Many people died from the poison of the serpents and in their
fear the survivors repented and apologized to Moses for all their
complaining. They asked him to fix things with Yahweh and protect them
from the serpents. Yahweh told Moses to make a fiery serpent out of
metal and put it on top of a pole, which he did, probably using copper
and perhaps some gold to get the fiery effect he wanted. After this,
those who had been bitten by the fiery serpents had only to look upon
the metallic serpent and they would not die.49.
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