 Moreover, as we just saw, the myth and
ritual was present in extremely distant ancient nations of the most diverse
peoples: the Hittites, the Irish, the Sumero-Babylonians, the Vedic Aryans,
the ancient Greeks, etc.. Its equivalence to the Soma Sacrifice also affords
a link with the Eucharist of Judeo-Christianism and with the Persian
haoma ritual, to mention just two of an unending series.
Most certainly, the Egyptian myths of the
castration and deposing of Osiris by Seth and of Seth by Horus, the son
of Osiris, who this avenges his father, belong to the same mythical motif.
As we saw above, in a footnote, Osiris, after his castration, was buried
inside the Holy Mountain. There, he unendingly celebrates his phallus-less,
ritual mating with his consort, Isis, the Great Mother of both gods and
men.
This ritual mating of the god and the goddess
is known in Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism as the
Yabh-Yum, the mystic
union of the Father and the Mother in the innermost room of the Celestial
Palace, the one inside the Holy Mountain of Paradise. This motif is endlessly
reproduced in their mandalas, particularly in those of the Tibetan Buddhists.
The
Ashvamedha of King Yudishthira
The Horse Sacrifice was the privilege of
great monarchs, as it was fabulously expensive and demanding. Its importance
can be gauged from the fact that a full chapter (the 14th) of the
Mahabharata
is dedicated to the ceremony, of which it bears the name. This sacrifice
was performed in order to commemorate the victory of Yudishthira and the
Pandus in the great war of the
Mahabharata.
The reason why the ritual was so expensive
is that, through it, the King claimed universal kingship, and thereby declared
that he would wage war on all possible opponents. The sacrificial horse
was released, and roamed freely through all lands, followed by the royal
army. It was an act of open provocation.
Any king who resisted and refused to comply,
was forced to fight with the invading army. If he lost or complied, he
was invited to the sacrifice, and attended in full pomp and with his full
court, at the host s expensive. The whole ritual lasted a full year, and
many thousands of persons attended it. Yudishthira s sacrifice was so expensive
that he had to send Arjuna to fetch the enormous treasures of Kubera in
the Himalayas, in order to finance the expenses.
As we said, the sacrificial
horse represented the entire Cosmos. The monarch that ordered the sacrifice
was the Universal Monarch (Chakravartin), the ruler of the whole
Cosmos.
In other words, he was bringing about the
Millennium and the Universal Conquest just as does the White Knight of the
Book
of Revelation. This epoch-making conquest would only end with the death
of the old Cosmos represented by that of the sacrificed horse and of its
often neglected dual, the goat, its humble dual.
The Goat Sacrifice
As we said above, in the
ashvamedha
a goat was also sacrificed, together with the horse. The two animals probably
correspond to the two castrated gods of the above discussed myths. Farther
below, we shall see their exact meaning and their connection with Atlantis
and the bull sacrifice that was celebrated there, according to Plato.
As the supreme symbol of the victorious
Aryans, the horse looms large in the
Rig Veda. Celestial gods are
often compared to horses there: Indra, Surya, Agni, Soma, etc.. The horse
often a flying-horse like Pegasus was also equated to the Sun and to
Fire. The humble goat was, instead, the symbol of the defeated Dravidas,
who were thereby likened to the infernal
asuras.
Indeed, the goat was deemed the sacrificial
victim of excellence. It was considered the scapegoat for the dead (RV
10:16) and for the horse of the
ashvamedha (RV 1:162). This
hymn describes the horse-sacrifice in detail and tells how the horse and
his scapegoat are processioned in pomp to the sacrificial spot. The goat
is the share of
Pushan, an early sun-god who fell into disgrace,
whereas the horse is the share of the Celestial gods.
The Symbolism of the Goat and the
Horse
The Goat and the Horse represent the dual
aspects of Creation. They represent, as we already said, the Universe.
But, more exactly, they represent the twin Atlantises, as will become clear
in what follow below. The Horse is Celestial and supreme, whereas the Goat
is Infernal and humble.
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