A PREVIEW |
Copyright © 1991 by K.L.M. Kathel |
This book is called the Song of Mark. It appeared to me, not in a dream, but in a series of dreams and represents the culmination of my inner search to unravel the mysteries of God and the visions swelling inside my head. 'For God has given to me to write as I would, and to conceive these thoughts which are worthy enough to be whispered aloud because Wisdom is my guide and the director of my heart.' (paraphrased from Wis 7:15). The Song of Mark is a restoration of Mark's Gospel; and although this reconstruction borders on the metaphysical, the conclusions presented here were arrived at through intensive study and bible comparison. What strikes us most about Mark's Gospel is his simplicity and his flare for realism. None is so bold as an ending that declared: He is alive! Our king is alive! It is a motif that draws us endlessly back to his beginning and to the Baptista'; for Mark's matrix is neither drawn to the right, nor crossed to the left but is circular like a womb. As stated earlier, in the traditional text there are no miracle birth scenarios in Mark's Gospel; no babes leaping for joy, no divine genealogies, and no supernatural endings; unless we of the twentieth century can come to accept as a valid truth that what Mark was attempting to convey to his readership was what we now-a-days might call, a Near Death Experience. That is to say, were we to acknowledge that the characterization of our Jesus is nearer to the historical truth. In other words, Jesus survived the crucifixion a evidenced by the traditional words, words that we have so very often overlooked. He has arisen! Clear, precise, authentic. The fact that we were never informed about historical Jesus' place of birth is also clear, precise and factual because his earlier childhood had nothing to do with Mark's narrative. Neither was the identity of Jesus' father ; yet we are told in the traditional text that Jesus himself was a carpenter by trade. Yet what carpenter leaves home and family and tools to travel the countryside? And so, we are left with a widowed mother and one mentioned in a scandalizing episode, for mother and son have apparently had a disagreement. What better way to display such human qualities as love, empathy, compassion, rebellion, anger, fear and doubt than to have a man pitted against his mother for what mother has not dealt with a rebellious son and what son has not had a face to face confrontation with his mother. So too, in our restoration for we have based our characterization on the manhood of Jesus and not upon idealized version of him. The Song of Mark is not a strict Marcan transliteration but a NewAge commentary and presented to the reader as a book of testimonials. Two are primary to this work; the testimony of historical Jesus and the testimony of Mark. For this reason I have chosen to separate Mark's Gospel into two major divisions or books when in reality they are one continuous narrative. Two methods have been utilized throughout; rearrangement, and paraphrase. This restoration is based upon the premise that John the Baptist died during the last day of the forty- day, forty-night time lapse; and that his funeral was attended by historical Jesus and an entourage of five thousand patrons. Because of this major change it was necessary to rearrange Mark's entire Gospel, focusing our attention on the centralized figure of John the Baptist. For it appeared to this NewAge writer that the correct order of events was somehow connected to the synchronicity of Marcan logic. So intertwined are the karmic destinies of these two leaders of men that very often we cannot tell them apart. Yet when we separate The Baptist from he who was baptized, a clear picture begins to form around a man who took away the sins of the world and the man who had a dove resting on his shoulders. What emerges from this angelic vision is a most revealing psychological profile of an apostle who walked in John's footsteps, performed many miraculous healings, was hailed the 'son of David' and was admired for his love of Wisdom. This same man was despised by men, dishonored in his own country, rejected by family and called mad by his friend. Names have been changed; words redefined; places relocated; and dialogue inserted. 'For Wisdomhas given me knowledge of the things that were: to know the disposition of historical Jesus, and the virtues of Mark, his beginning and his ending, the chronology of times, and the alterations needed to produce this new testament.' (paraphrased from Wis 7:7-18). Names have been changed not so much to condemn those who betrayed historical Jesus but to vindicate the innocents and to reveal the nature of the Good News. For example; Mark is Jacob ben Josi, Jesus is David ben Adam, Mary is Tearful Ruth, Judas is called divine; Pilate is called the Christ; for Christ is the Perfect One, for he was a kind and gracious governor, wrote Mark (Mk 15:6). And although we have identified John as Immanuel Ben-Jonah, we have honored the Greco-Roman world by keeping the name John the Baptist, for in it lies the secret to Marcan philosophy, and what we shall have termed the Doctrine of the Dove. Words have been redefined, not in the traditional Christian sense but in a Marcan sense. By that I do mean; in Mark's intended Jewish sense. Mark's Gospel is a classic example of the newest and latest of Jewish books belonging to the Palestinian era, (i.e., a pre-Christian era). Briefly then; a Gospel is a testimony, testimonial, testament, word, book or teaching; and an individual who gives testimony, especially to a mystical or any divinely inspired experience thereof, is in our estimation, a witness before God. One such witness was a man Christians call John the Baptist. John was not only a prophet among Prophets; he was a Levitical High Priest and a prominent member of a select group of Jews known throughout the Palestinian era as the Essenes. In the Song of Mark, however, Christians are called Baptists---(a Grecian term probably coined by Christ himself or by Joseph the interpreter, for example). Conversion over to this new Jewish sect was made possible through the spoken word of its founder John the Baptist and by a religious ritual know as baptism. A baptism is an anointing, and an anointing is a baptism. They are two synonymous terms and are used interchangeably. Hence, a baptism is an anointing, not by water only, but by Water and by Spirit and must be performed by the Lord's Anointed, i.e., by The Baptist. An anointing is also defined as a descent of Spirit and is described as a visitation or a coming. There are two visitations; the baptism and the transformation. During the first visitation, Spirit is described as a All-Forgiving Voice and appeared in the form of a Great White Dove. During the second visitation, Spirit is described as a Voice of Prophesy and appeared in the form of a vaporous cloud and an all engulfing white light. By definition then, the transfiguration is a baptism or a second coming. Yet I have chosen to distinguish it from the first by utilizing the term transformation. For it is here that our David is transformed into the Messiah. A Messiah is a 'righteous king' and one who is baptized (anointed) by God; but the Lord's anointed a priest like Aaron and a prophet like unto Moses. Under Mosaic law, Levitical priests like Aaron were anointed (blessed) with oil (Ex 29:6); prophets were to emulate the High Priesthood of Moses (Du 18:15,18); but kings were chosen (anointed) by God and elected (chosen) by the people (Du 17:14-15). Hence, the phrase the Lord's anointed refers to a Levitical priest; but the dubious expression the 'chosen one' denotes kingship. Moses was never anointed with oil; yet the titles the Messiah and the Anointed One are assigned to him and to 'priestly-prophet-kings' like him. Both John and David fit that Messianic description. To help distinguish the two, the author has identified John as the 'righteous king' and shown that David was the 'chosen king'. By late Samualite tradition, for example, rulers like prince Saul and king David were even anointed with oil but this was never the criteria for Mosaic kingship. Under Davidic rule, the building of Solomon's Temple reaffirmed Mosaic law concerning Messiah-ship; for unlike Saul and David, Solomon is credited with being the first Jewish monarch who was also a priestly-king. Thus, the phrase the Lord's Anointedalso refers to king Solomon and to priestly-kings like him. Incorporated in this masculine prototype was the idea of a special benediction usually performed by a holy person or a representative of God's will; i.e., a Levitical priest or a prophet and in the case before us, a prophetess. A resurrection is a spiritual release from bodily death. Since John's deliverance is the only death fully described in Mark's Gospel, as such it is automatically defined as an ascension into heaven. Heaven is defined as the kingdom of God; it has been compared to a mustard seed andshaped like a uterus. But the 'Kingdom of Heaven' is a place on earth known in the Hebrew-Chaldean as Beth`an (the house of the heaven God). In the Song of Mark, the heaven God is portrayed as the Great White Dove; Beth`an is a house of peace, the house of John the Baptist and the spiritual haven for historical Jesus. It is now called the monastery of Qumram but saint Jerome called it Bethania. Many Christian terms have been reassigned to John. For example, in the Song of Mark, John is not only the Messiah, he is Yasha the Savior, the Lamb of God, and the Only Begotten Son of God. And although we have honored the Son-ship of historical Jesus by identifying him as the Son of Wisdom, that Son-ship is dependent upon the Baptism and resurrection of John. Taking our lead from Mk 6:30 of the traditional text, the one and only Marcan passage to use the Grecian implant, the reader will also notice that the term "apostle" is used specifically for those directly connected to the ministry of John the Baptist. Many are claimed but only four need be revealed here; Mark, David, John's father Simon the serene, and last but not least, John's mother Anna the Prophetess. Those directly connected to David's ministry are called disciples. Twelve are given but only three witnessed the second baptism; Simon, and the twins called James and John. Andrew is not listed. One man revealed him; one man betrays him and all eleven forsake him. Yet the man who is last shall be first, for he is truly the Lord's Messenger. His Grecian name was James; John ordained him Asher; David knew him as John's Beloved, called him James the Just; but we know him as Mark. He also had several secret disciples but they need not be mentioned in this introduction. Some places have been relocated because it also appeared to this NewAge writer that the geographical location of certain key cities were connected not only to the proper sequence of events but to Marcan realism. For even though I am a metaphysician at heart and could easily comprehend many of the healing stories in terms of mysterious events, my mind could not accept the miracle of walking on water to explain how historical Jesus got from point *A* to point *B*. Nor will miracle explain how he passed by the Sea of Galilee, called to four fishermen (Mk 1:16-18) and ended up in the northeastern city of Capharnaum (Mk 1:21) . Furthermore, miracle does not explain how historical Jesus knew the location of a colt (Mk 11:2). Logic dictates; remove the supernaturalism from a Christianize version of Mark's Gospel and replace it with Hebrew or Chaldean (Aramaic) terms more befitting a Jewish writer. By so doing we place Mark and historical Jesus in their own time. Marcan realism will dictate the rest and allow us not only to identify Nazareth with a treasured place called Genez`areth but to decipher the connection between the miracles of birth and the miracle of water. Miracle is oftentimes defined as an unexplained event, yet hidden events are not always miraculous. They need not be supernatural, for example. Miracle does not explain the request for a colt, reason does. Our David knew the location of the colt because he had prior knowledge of its existence. By moving John's death scene, (hopefully in its rightful sequence), and by insertingadditional dialogue we have shown that immediately following David's baptism, he lived in Beth`an (Bethania) for forty days and forty nights. John's death determined the last night of the fortieth day; and that shortly after his death John's father placed a colt before the gate. Healing miracles are down played, not because they did not occur, but because we have found a way to explain them as earthly achievements. This does not mean that they were any less miraculous to those who experienced them. Conversely, the disposition of the man of wonder is not to be discredited for having therapeutic knowledge which was hidden from the masses. I have therefore applied a twentieth century perspective to explain these stories in order to portray David as a man ahead of his time and to recommend to the reader that Mark was a virtuous man of sound reason. The Song of Mark is more than a revision of Mark's Gospel, it is: A Feminine Approach to the Restoration of Mark. In my tearful search to unravel the mysteries of God, I have attempted to answer the age old question: Who is my Mother; and to reconcile this deeply rooted philosophical question with a rejecting son (Mk 3:33), a rejecting mother (Mk 6:3), and an absent father. In my visionary quest I have discovered a son's search for Wisdom and the creation of what Mark intended as a book of redemption. For I have rewritten Mark's Gospel not only for the honor of John, David and Mark but for the redemption of our heavenly Mother. In order to accomplish this, I have reestablished a Matriarchal Doctrine and replaced the theory of a Christian resurrection with a Doctrine of Rebirth. Book I is called the Memoirs of David and Book II is called the Recollections of Mark. Both are testimonials and together they form the foundations of a new testament. Book I is David's testimony concerning the memory of John the Baptist and Book II is Mark's testimony concerning the king of peace. Book I is arranged by location, and reads like a Galilean travel journal; while Book II is arranged by time and takes place in Jerusalem. There are seven Parts to each book. The Song of Mark or SOM for short, is a series of passages (verses) rearranged in Phases (chapters) to help describe the many appearances (earthly visitations) of our lord throughout his travels in both Galilee and in Judea. This kind of visitation has nothing to do with spirit manifestations nor with a Christianize version of a resurrection of the dead theology. Yet they have everything to do with the controversies surrounding the death and resurrection (ascension) of John the Baptist, the nature of his authority; his Messianic identity; and the comparisons made to a double-spirited replacement who refused to be called Jesus. The Song of Mark is a theosophical book of Divine Wisdom, a book of truth, and a light to the world. A book of Divine Wisdom because it portrays the primary character as the incarnation of Moses the priestly-king of righteousness; a book of truth because of the mystical manner in which it was revealed to me; and a light to the world because it portrays the main character as the incarnation of Solomon, the king who wrote the Book of Wisdom and then dedicated a Temple in Her name. The Song of Mark bespeaks not of earthly genealogies but of spiritual ones. Our David is not the Jesus of Matthew nor Luke; nor is he the divine logos of fourth gospel writer. For our David attained hisglory by proclaiming his past life as Solomon reborn. And he claimed this based upon the heavenly authority of John the Dove, the Baptist who led the way, gave him a past life reading and then prophesied about a second coming (second baptism). Having found Wisdom and after seeing his risen king, our David boldly walked into Jerusalem with the intentions of proclaiming his crown, his Temple and his queen, all on behalf of his spiritual mentor John the Baptist. He arrived in Jerusalem a determined man and after a series of events which began with a challenge and an entrance on a colt; he left the city of Jerusalem as a martyred king. For our David walked into Jerusalem teaching a Matriarchal Doctrine and proclaimed the good news with the words: "In my Father's house, my Mother comes first." He then upheld the widow's might, redeemed his mother's love; was anointed king by a woman; declared the 'chosen king' by the people; and was finally proclaimed king by the Pontiff called Christ. Here presented for the very first time, is the premise of Christianity; its true source has been revealed; and to prove it, I will quote directly from the traditional text:
(Mk 14:6) With great liberties, and in honor of a Greco-Roman world that has kept Mark's Gospel alive, though incorrectly so, I give to you the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew woman identified in the Song of Mark as Anna, the mother of John the Baptist; she is now and forevermore: Christa, or Christa-Ann, our lord's anointer; it is a Christ-I-am premise based upon the prophesies of Isa 66:18-19; and a Christian notion that a kingly Messiah must be christened with oil. |
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