Genesis 28:12
He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and messengers of God (Elohim) were going up and down on it. (JPS)
The messengers, who were allowed to climb the ladder, were gods. Hermes, of the Greek pantheon, is well-known as the messenger of the gods.
Most of the messengers of the Mesopotamian pantheon of gods were known by their names. Inanna’s messenger, for example, was called Ninshubur.
In Norse mythology, the messenger of the gods is Hermod, one of the sons of Odin. Gna is the messenger of the goddess Frigga, the wife of Odin.
For the natives of the Caroline Islands, the god of fire, singing, and dancing, Olofad is the messenger of Lugeilan, the god of knowledge.
The god Tiki, from the Marquesas and Society Islands, is the god of virility and the messenger of the gods.
The natives of the Samoa Islands say that the creator Tangaroa created several Tangaroas; among them was Tangaroa the messenger. This messenger Tangaroa created many islands in behalf of Tangaroa the creator. In this case, we have a messenger-creator, or rather an angel-creator.
Messengers occur also in the Japanese legends, where giants, gods and men are all called “Kami”: wild kami the giants, heavenly kami the gods and just kami the men. From the Kojiki:
My elder brother, Ukasi, ran after the messenger of the son of the Celestial kami.
The great Mexican god Quetzalcoatl besides his other many titles was also called messenger of the gods.
In the Persian tradition, Sraosh was the divine messenger and mediator between gods and humans.
According to Chinese mythology:
Chuan Hsu observed all that was happening, the distress, the violence and the confusion caused by the two worlds being too close. He thought and he discussed with the wise ones. He saw that easy access between the gods and the humans was not good for either.
Chuan Hsu resolved to change this and to break the physical links between Heaven and Earth. He ordered the two gods Chung and Li to cut down the ladder.
For the Australian aborigines the ladder was a tree reaching to the sky, which was also cut down. In Norse mythology, it is a bridge that connects the earth and sky. The god in charge of the bridge was Heimdal.
The legend of the World Parents (Earth-Sky) and their separation is known from the cultures of:
The Sumerians.
The Egyptians.
The Pelasgians, the inhabitants of Greek peninsula before the advent of the Greek tribes.
The Greeks.
The Romans.
The Celts.
The people of India.
The Chinese.
The Japanese.
The African tribes.
The natives of New Zealand and Polynesia.
The natives of Micronesia.
The Indians of North America.
The Moseten Indians of Bolivia.
The Mayas.
The oldest religious texts, the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BCE) provide the solution to this mysterious sky ladder:
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 478 §974, Pyramid of Pepi I
You (god Geb) have given this king Pepi birth like you have given birth to the god who owns the ladder.
You gave him the ladder of the god, you gave him the ladder of Seth, that he may go up on it to the sky.
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 539 §1322-3, Pyramid of Pepi I
Any god who will not offer stairway to king Pepi-Meryre to proceed and ascend to the sky, he will have no biscuit and no fan; he will not wash himself in a washbowl, he will smell no roasted foreleg, he will devour no haunch.
Obviously, the ‘earthly gods’ (kings and noblemen) climbed those ladders, went to live up in the sky and became the heavenly gods (one of whom created the universe).
As you may have noticed, at that time the heavenly gods liked to smell roasted foreleg, and to devour the haunch.
Genesis 8:20-21
Then Noah built an altar to יהוה (Yahweh) and, taking of every pure animal and of every pure bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
יהוה (Yahweh) smelled the pleasing odor, and יהוה (Yahweh) resolved: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of the human mind are evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done. JPS
The very first time it was told that kings and noblemen climbed ladders to the sky, it was, certainly, told as a joke!
He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and messengers of God (Elohim) were going up and down on it. (JPS)
The messengers, who were allowed to climb the ladder, were gods. Hermes, of the Greek pantheon, is well-known as the messenger of the gods.
Most of the messengers of the Mesopotamian pantheon of gods were known by their names. Inanna’s messenger, for example, was called Ninshubur.
In Norse mythology, the messenger of the gods is Hermod, one of the sons of Odin. Gna is the messenger of the goddess Frigga, the wife of Odin.
For the natives of the Caroline Islands, the god of fire, singing, and dancing, Olofad is the messenger of Lugeilan, the god of knowledge.
The god Tiki, from the Marquesas and Society Islands, is the god of virility and the messenger of the gods.
The natives of the Samoa Islands say that the creator Tangaroa created several Tangaroas; among them was Tangaroa the messenger. This messenger Tangaroa created many islands in behalf of Tangaroa the creator. In this case, we have a messenger-creator, or rather an angel-creator.
Messengers occur also in the Japanese legends, where giants, gods and men are all called “Kami”: wild kami the giants, heavenly kami the gods and just kami the men. From the Kojiki:
My elder brother, Ukasi, ran after the messenger of the son of the Celestial kami.
The great Mexican god Quetzalcoatl besides his other many titles was also called messenger of the gods.
In the Persian tradition, Sraosh was the divine messenger and mediator between gods and humans.
According to Chinese mythology:
Chuan Hsu observed all that was happening, the distress, the violence and the confusion caused by the two worlds being too close. He thought and he discussed with the wise ones. He saw that easy access between the gods and the humans was not good for either.
Chuan Hsu resolved to change this and to break the physical links between Heaven and Earth. He ordered the two gods Chung and Li to cut down the ladder.
For the Australian aborigines the ladder was a tree reaching to the sky, which was also cut down. In Norse mythology, it is a bridge that connects the earth and sky. The god in charge of the bridge was Heimdal.
The legend of the World Parents (Earth-Sky) and their separation is known from the cultures of:
The Sumerians.
The Egyptians.
The Pelasgians, the inhabitants of Greek peninsula before the advent of the Greek tribes.
The Greeks.
The Romans.
The Celts.
The people of India.
The Chinese.
The Japanese.
The African tribes.
The natives of New Zealand and Polynesia.
The natives of Micronesia.
The Indians of North America.
The Moseten Indians of Bolivia.
The Mayas.
The oldest religious texts, the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BCE) provide the solution to this mysterious sky ladder:
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 478 §974, Pyramid of Pepi I
You (god Geb) have given this king Pepi birth like you have given birth to the god who owns the ladder.
You gave him the ladder of the god, you gave him the ladder of Seth, that he may go up on it to the sky.
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 539 §1322-3, Pyramid of Pepi I
Any god who will not offer stairway to king Pepi-Meryre to proceed and ascend to the sky, he will have no biscuit and no fan; he will not wash himself in a washbowl, he will smell no roasted foreleg, he will devour no haunch.
Obviously, the ‘earthly gods’ (kings and noblemen) climbed those ladders, went to live up in the sky and became the heavenly gods (one of whom created the universe).
As you may have noticed, at that time the heavenly gods liked to smell roasted foreleg, and to devour the haunch.
Genesis 8:20-21
Then Noah built an altar to יהוה (Yahweh) and, taking of every pure animal and of every pure bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
יהוה (Yahweh) smelled the pleasing odor, and יהוה (Yahweh) resolved: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of the human mind are evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done. JPS
The very first time it was told that kings and noblemen climbed ladders to the sky, it was, certainly, told as a joke!
