The Spirit Speaks
This is the spirit of sentient man talking: You thought I was dead, but such will never be the case. How well I recall the fateful day when Norway was darkened, now a thousand years hence. "Now I am again in Norway, and this time with the grandest of quests; I shall save the entire population and remove the beliefs of the heathens", Olav says as he steps down onto the wharf and trips over a stumbling block. "Damned heathens!" Can barely be heard from his grimacing lips while he again attempts to get his feet back under himself.

"Hi Olav"! Hollers' Halvdan when he can see who it is: "Do you have any liquor or slaves which should be declared for custom duty?"
"Shut up, the only thing I have brought to Norway is the correct religious belief".
"All right, but if you have come here with a new religion you should have a chat with Eirik Stonehammer. He has been around the whole world and gathered knowledge from wide and far. We would not be interested in a religion he could not approve of."

"There is only one correct religious teaching and that is the one I have brought. I would however like to talk to the council in order that they might see the light."
"Did I hear something about a teaching?" A voice from one of the people working on a fishing net interrupts the two men. "I have been on the lookout for the correct teaching for years. I am Eirik, and a teaching which satisfactorily answers all questions has been my goal for years. It has not been easy, I would really like to discuss the philosophical ramifications of the teaching you are professing".

"All right, I have come to bring Christianity to the country. The heathen religion which is prevalent has to go. The sins of the Norwegians must be forgiven so Jesus can be known".
"But Christianity is that belief which has existed in England and France as well as many other places for generations. I can not see much of anything in it when it comes to truths. Have you discovered something new?"
"Norway is the sinners country! Through Jesus will we now remove these sins from all Norwegians."
"Oh yes, I know all about your "sin", in the Bible the word is "Hamartia" and it means one misses the entire target when practicing with bow and arrow. Are you telling me that this Christianity is better than practicing when it comes to hit what one aims at in archery? The Gods must know we all miss far too often."

"Listen here you stupid heathen, I am talking about the eternal sin which was our inheritance from the time Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit on the apple tree in Paradise, and not some stupid target practice."

"All right then, why don't you show up at the public gathering place for a meeting tonight. We have intended to get together for quite some time to discuss the moral and ethical foundations in society, now would be as good a time as ever to get this over with." Eirik who has heard of Olav earlier, does not like the idea of a new heretical religion coming to the country. The Christian doctrine is one he has studied in detail and he sees it as the teaching for the less enlightened personality.

While Eirik is working with his chores, more ships are starting to arrive at the harbor. These are all ships belonging to Olav and are a part of the army he brought with him. He brought along other people which are referred to as priests, and one called a bishop which seemed even less intelligent than Olav. The people arriving are all heavily armed men and Eirik can not help it, but shivers travel up and down his spine. Sure, Olav is a Norwegian, but what in the world is he doing back here in Norway with an enormous army whose sole purpose it is to eradicate sin? He quits his work early to have enough time to gather all of the community's elders. It seems the only thing to do will be to confront Olav along with the rest of society to get this straightened out once and for all.

While stopping to call the town elders to a meeting, Eirik, who himself is considered one of the elders in spite of his 42 years is reflecting on his own philosophies. He remembers so well how his curiosity had been aroused by the stories his grandfather had told him while he was yet a child. One of the more interesting things had been in regards to an old slave he had owned. Simian had been his name Simian had learned a lot from his ancestors who had been priests in a church in far away Egypt. The church of Simians ancestors had not been totally unlike the beliefs Olav was attempting to bring to Norway now called Christianity. Gnostic Christians they had called themselves, and while they were Christians, their views had been totally different regarding their views on the Israelite God than the view held by the Christians who had conquered so much of Europe in the last few generations.

The Gnostic Christians held that the Israelite God was an evil God. They held that people were spiritual entities who belonged in a dimension which was entirely different from the physical universe.

Simian had explained to him how the thinking ability had come into being outside the world where time existed. How, apart from time a source had existed which desired something come about. He recalled that something then had come about and this had been an error which became discarded. Simian had told his grandfather how subsequently the human characteristics had come into being in order to enable the spiritual force which had been discarded with the failed creation to be saved. How this discarded entity had become the time dimension which eventually evolved into what is the physical universe where it desired to rule.
Eirik was attempting to picture how it was that spiritual entities had to become trapped within the physical universe in order for the physical universe to survive. How so the physical bodies had been created for these poor spirits as jails where they would be looking and looking without perceiving because they had organs of the physical universe which were incapable of perceiving anything but the physical.
Simian had also explained how the Christian church had succeeded in closing all of the schools of knowledge (543 ad), and he had stated this was to come about according to ancient prophesies. ("The Concept of Our Great Power"). He had explained how the evil church who did this was then said to have a reign of 1460 years where their evil teaching would rule. After 1460 years the church would die out on its own because the philosophy was based on excuses and justifications. The church would then cease to be a guiding force because no truths existed within its teachings and an age of enlightenment would again be predominant on earth. This would be an enlightenment which had never been seen since before the legendary flood and confusion of concepts which the Babylonians talked about. Rumor had it that these Babylonian legends were from a different society which had existed long before them in the country of the Arabs. Eirik remembered perhaps best of all how the ideas of Gnosis had been expressed by the ancient Greek philosopher known as Socrates.

Socrates had compared the existence of the human spirit in the physical universe with people all sitting together in a cave. These people were tied in a fashion where they could not move their heads. In fact these people could not stand up or move at all, and they had been tied in this fashion since birth. On a level above them would people walk across the cave carrying statues of all sorts. The people could not be seen because a parapet wall hid them, but because of a fire which continuously burned behind the path where they walked, the shadows of the statues were seen. When the people carrying the statues talked together would the fettered prisoners get the impression it was the shadows of these statues which talked together. These people would devise their view of reality in a fashion where it would align with the reality they saw in these moving shadows. That is how accurate reality still is to people according to Simian, the physical universe is like a shadow in comparison to the real living, and no belief was a better illustration of this than the Christian religion.

If a person attempts to explain this to these unfortunate cave dwellers would he but meet with enormous resistance. Not because the Christians are less intelligent than others, it is just because they have to align all data with the shadows on the wall. All spirits who are trapped in the physical and views the physical as important sees reality in this fashion. They live in a glum world surrounded with significance.
Jesus had been one of the great prophets of these Gnostic Christians. The things he spoke while in a body had been of little or no significance to them. After his body died had he come back as a spiritual entity to show them that life did not end at the time the body ceased to function. The reason he came back was to warn them about following the usual path after the demise of the body so they could free themselves from the cycle of life after life in physical bodies and the trap of the physical universe. The Christians who evolved a few centuries later altered these teachings to show that Jesus instead of admonishing people about the evil Israelite Deity had been worshipping him.
They stated Jesus would come back still another time, so they still sitting around waiting. The most difficult part to understand for Eirik was how people could still be sitting around waiting after a thousand years, refusing to question the validity of the teaching.

One other Gnostic prophet the Christians employed to teach their views was John: They had altered his teachings to fit in with their own beliefs with no respect to the original thoughts. Places where it stated that those who believed in the spirit should not perish, but have eternal life, this was changed. They made it say that the God sacrificed his son in order that those who believed would have eternal life.

Spiritual entities multiplied in much the same fashion as the flame in a torch according to the Gnostic's. A flame less the torch, since a spirit does not employ fuel to live. When one flame became two, they both had the same abilities. Both flames would have been the original. After they were jailed in physical bodies would their experiences be different, but they would still be the same. All spirits in the same fashion go back to the one original spiritual manifestation.

Chapter two

A few hours later all the heads of society on the small island have gathered. Along with them are Olav and someone referred to as a Bishop and two others which are priests. They have just finished their evening meal, but the food had sort of a bitter taste today, perhaps to go with the bitter atmosphere brought by Olav and his entourage. All the leaders of society feel threatened. Not because this "new" old teaching is a threat, it is because Olav has come back to Norway with a formidable army. His mission is to change the philosophical attitude of the people, and he is already recruiting more soldiers among the young people of the island. "This must really be some religion", Eirik thinks as he swallows his last bite.

"Why would a superior philosophy have to be based upon a superior army?"

"Well, lets get started", says Olav. "I have an awfully lot to do and time is being wasted".
"You can tell us what it is you have on your mind then", says Asgair, who is the town leader at the time. "We are aware of most suspicions and spiritual beliefs which exist. Eirik here is but one of those who has studied the various teachings arduously, and we feel he can fill us in on the information as required. This christian religion you are attempting to bring to the country, is not that the one where you worship this God who has not one single decent action to his name, isn't this correct?"
"No Halvdan, this is not correct. First of all, God made our bodies, and if this is not a good deed I don't know what you would call a decent action."
"Then you don't know very much", states Bjornung, the old philosopher. "The Greek thinkers such as Socrates had a far more developed philosophy. They stated the soul which we are, went to the house of Hades after the death of the body. It looks very much like this follows our old view of Valhalla. We could have been mistaken rightly enough, but there is more to these thoughts than at first can be seen by most. The Greek philosophers stated that Hades was where the Soul was rejuvenated before it again was shipped into another humanoid body which was to be it's jail. Hades is quite possibly the same place as Valhalla.

For me it seems like after the death of the body we, along with this soul, go to this place called Valhalla, Hades, Heaven or whatever you desire to call it. Quite possibly we are there implanted with false ideas and philosophies to again be shipped back to the earth into a newly born humanoid body."
It is like a shiver which passes through the gathering. Everyone is aware of the fact Bjornung also has studied a lot, but this is a new thought to most of them. "That is nothing but fantasy and garbage", says Olav. "These old Greek philosophers had absolutely no knowledge whatever. I can very easily demonstrate for you how utterly ridiculous their ideas were.

Irenaeus was the name of one of the most important characters which refuted their ideas. As a matter of fact, Saint Irenaeus refuted all the heathens which existed after the birth of Christ."
"You are right in your statement. Irenaeus refuted a lot of beliefs. He refuted the philosophies of those who came a hundred years and more after Irenaeus. But more important than that, Irenaeus soundly refuted the Christian dogma you are peddling today. Among other idiotic statements by Irenaeus was the one where he stated that this savior figure which you call Jesus lived until the emperor Trajan ruled in Rome, and everyone who disputed this idea was a heathen. This means this Jesus figure of yours must have been more than a hundred years old before he died", says Eirik.

"Irenaeus was not the only one", states Olav. "Saint Hippolytus was even better than him. He really showed us how stupid the old Greek philosophers were."
"I disagree strongly with this", says Eirik and Bjornung as if in one voice. Here are some of those people Hippolytus refuted as well as those theories he called stupid", says Bjornung. "We have for example Thales. This person stated that water (hydrogen) is the generative principle of the universe, and its end; - for that out of this, solidified and again dissolved, all things consist, and all things are supported on it,....
"Then there is Pythagoras;" says Eirik. "This philosopher likewise said that the Soul is immortal, and subsists in successive bodies long before Jesus. He was one of those ridiculed along with Empedocles who maintained that all Souls would transmute into successive bodies either human or animal".
Don't forget Anaximander;" says Bjornung. "This man said that the originating principle of existing things is a certain constitution of the infinite, out of which the heavens are generated, and the worlds therein; and that this principle is eternal and undecaying, and comprising all the worlds. And he speaks of time as something of limited generation, and subsistence, and destruction. ... But moreover, he asserted that there is an eternal motion, by the agency of which it happens that the heavens are generated; but that the earth is poised aloft, upheld by nothing, continuing on account of its equal distance from all (heavenly bodies);.. (Gravity)...And that man was, originally, similar to a different animal, that is, a fish. ..... This person was born in the third year of the XLII. Olympiad. (610 BCE)
The above was the epitome of stupidity to Hippolytus, and this was the excuse employed by the christians to destroy all his philosophies.

"What about Anaximenes?" Says Eirik. "He affirmed that the originating principle is infinite air, out of which are generated all things existing, those which have existed, and those that will be, as well as Gods and divinities, and that the rest arise from the offspring of this. But that there is such a species of air, when it is most even, which is imperceptible to vision, but capable of being manifested by cold and heat, and moisture and motion, and that it is continually in motion; (Expanding) for that whatsoever things undergo alteration, do not change if there is no motion. ...that the stars do not emit heat on account of the length of distance from earth; and the winds are produced when the condensed air, becoming rarified, is borne on; and that when collected and thickened still further, clouds are generated, and thus a change made into water....And that a rainbow is produced by reason of the rays of the sun falling on the collected air. And that an earthquake takes place when the earth is altered into a larger mass by heat or cold."

"Or what about Anaxagoras?" says Bjornung. "Hippolytus questions the validity of calling him a thinker because he stated things like the originating principle of the universe to be mind and matter; mind being the efficient cause, whereas matter that which was being formed. For all things coming into existence simultaneously, mind supervening introduced order. .... And that the Nile is inundated in summer, by reason of the waters carried down into it from the snows in Ethiopia. .... And that beneath the stars are sun and moon, and certain invisible bodies that are carried along with us; and that we have no perception of the heat of the stars, both on account of their being so far away, and on account of their distance from the earth; ....
And that the moon, being lower than the sun, is nearer us. ... And that the moon has no light of its own, but from the sun. .... And that the moon is eclipsed when the earth is interposed, .... And that the sun is eclipsed when at the beginning of the month, the moon is interposed. This philosopher lived in the first year of the LXXXVIII. Olympiad. (428)
"We could also mention Democritus (361 BCE) says Eirik. "He was conversant with many gymnosophists among the Indians, and priests in Egypt, and with astrologers and magi in Babylon. Now he makes statements similar with Leucippus concerning elements, viz., plenitude and vacuum, denominating plenitude entity, and vacuum nonentity; and this he asserted, since existing things are continually moved in a vacuum. And he maintained worlds to be infinite, and varying in bulk; and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, while in others that they are larger than with us, and with others more numerous. And that intervals between worlds are unequal; and that in one quarter of space (worlds) are more numerous, and in another less so; and that some of them increase in bulk, but that others attain their full size, while others dwindle away; and in one quarter they are coming into existence, whilst in another they are failing; and that they are destroyed by clashing one with another. And that some worlds are destitute of animals and plants, and every species of moisture. ... And that neither the planets nor these fixed stars possess an equal elevation. And that the world flourishes, until no longer it can receive anything from without. This philosopher is one which Hippolytus states "turned all things into ridicule, as if all the concerns of humanity were deserving of laughter."

"We could also mention Ecphantus", says Bjornung. He was supposedly the originator of the theory that the earth in the middle of the cosmical system is moved round its own center (axis) towards the east. These thoughts seem to me to be more reasonable than the thoughts of the Christians."
"These thoughts are deep", says Eirik. "The idea you have that only your God can know the mysteries of the universe seems fallible. Your bible which you state disproves these ideas, and which you employed as the excuse to burn all the Greek material you could get your hands on states the rainbow does not exist because of the light shining through raindrops, but exists only as a reminder of the contract between your God and mankind. You employed what your bible states where it says rain along with snow comes from the great containers your God has in heaven and not from condensation as the Greek philosophers stated. 2 It does not make sense for me to think only your God can know why we have low and high tide. The philosophies you Christians teach about the earth being held up by the great supports God made for it seems like just so much fantasy to me and not knowledge.
That the earth exists in a vacuum turning around itself seems a lot more sensible to me and also we should..."

"Your own inabilities for logical thinking is all you have demonstrated to this point", interrupts Olav, not letting the two finish their competition of outdoing each other regarding the wisdom of the ancients. "How can you possibly state it was otherwise when God himself stated this was the way it was? And furthermore, you mentioned earlier God has not done a single decent action. How can you make such a statement when he offered up his one and only son on account of the sins of man?"

" All right Olav! Where was Jesus before he came to earth?"
"He was with God".
"Where is Jesus now?"
"He is with God".
"What was the sacrifice God made?" To sacrifice something means one is experiencing a loss, God has not lost anything. If the sacrifice was the humiliation and degradation Jesus suffered by coming to earth, this would have been a puny sacrifice and especially since it was one made by Jesus. Was not the sacrifice like the Gnostic's stated that Jesus came to earth and after he died he showed man he was more than a body by again communicating with his disciples.
According to your beliefs the sacrifice of dying and then going to heaven would mean it was so much better to live on earth than in heaven. How can what man is looking forward to as a reward have been a sacrifice by your God?
I see no sacrifice whatever: Man is who has to sacrifice according to the tenets you preach. And how can you state he sacrificed his only son? Your material states God had a multitude of sons. 3 It looks to me as if what you are teaching as fact is treason toward all of mankind embellished with authority."

"And what simple sacrifice it was", adds Asgair. "Odin himself hung on a tree for nine days and nine nights, rent through with a spear as a sacrifice to bring up the runes which brought wisdom and knowledge to mankind. He did not have to create some poor son to do the suffering for him like your God did."

Olav stands up: "I will have to leave off at this. I desired you should be able to see the light. Does anyone here have a desire to be christened so you can go to heaven?"
The people can not believe their own ears; after the philosophy Olav is peddling has been so resoundingly denounced, none can see how he can even ask if they have any desire to follow his teaching. Derogatory comments regarding Olav's intelligence and laughter is the only result. How could it be that Olav himself cannot see the light?"

Olav now waves to his army which comes out of the woods, and he hollers:

"Don't let any of these heathens escape, we must kill them all and purge Norway."

The army comes out of the woods, and the small local army attempts to stop them which of course is to no avail as they are sadly outnumbered. Thus started the murdering of our ancestors which in other circles is talked about as the Christening of Norway.

After the local fighting force is destroyed the survivors are given the opportunity to be christened. Those who go along with this are permitted to live while those who refuse are decapitated. Cases such as Eirik's eldest son, when it becomes his turn to decide if he wants to be christened or not, he desired to know the answer to a question which was important to him.
"You state that an all knowing God created a man who was like an animal. To not see the difference between right and wrong was the Egyptian terminology which defined the difference between humans and animals. I would like to know how it is that this God of yours can have punished mankind for eating this apple when he could not know the difference between right and wrong until after he ate it?"

"That is easy to explain," states the priest who was in charge of the Christening procedure. "Man was also in possession of freedom of choice, so this was something which was up to him."
"How on earth can you possibly state something like this when it would have been impossible for someone to have freedom of choice if they did not have the ability to think.

And when in your own scriptures it states: " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite hearth, O God, thou wilt not despise."

This part of the bible states without a doubt that freedom of choice and freedom of feeling is what the God desires to destroy in mankind and this is what the proper sacrifice is to be for your Go..."

That is as far as he gets in his questioning. It is very difficult to complete a sentence while your head is rolling down the hill without its body.

Eirik is not aware of what is happening at this stage. As soon as Olav had stood up Eirik had been ready to run. He was aware that this was dangerous, and not being a fighter at all he managed to get away before the skirmish started. He was headed inland to a hiding place he had known as a child. With his heart in his throat, and soaking wet from the heavy rain paltering down, he ran for all he was worth.
He knew he had to get off the island, but he had no boat outside the harbor, swimming to the mainland was out of the question. As he went his heart felt heavy in his chest.

Why was it some power hungry maniac had got the notion some religion was the springboard by which he could cease power in a country?

After Eirik gets to his hiding place where it is at least dry, he starts to wonder again how he can get away. He knows Olav's men will soon be looking for him. He thinks of his wife at home, and his grown children. Will he ever see them again?
He must have dozed off, he does not know for how long. He awakens startled to the sound of someone moving near by. He has nothing to defend himself with, and it would be useless anyway. He looks out of the opening between the rocks and he can soon see the silhouette of a person. It seems that it is only one man and Eirik feels a little relieved. The person gets a bit closer and he sees it is Bjornung.
"Welcome friend", says Eirik.

Bjornung is totally worn out and Eirik has to help him into the cave. He thinks of gathering some wood and starting a fire to help warm the wet old man, but knows it would be tantamount to suicide. Bjornung falls into a state between sleep and unconsciousness where he mutters on about his children having been murdered.
After a few hours, while the rain is still paltering outside is Bjornung awakened by the cold. Shivering he gets up, and starts jumping up and down and throwing his arms around to try and get warm. This wakes Eirik up again, and he is also cold and he joins Bjornung in his exercises.

"How can we get away from here?" utters Eirik.
"I don't know" says Bjornung. "There used to be an old boat in a bay not too far from here. I don't know if it is seaworthy, but it is the only possibility I can see."
"If we are going we had better get started", says Eirik. "We can not hold out here for very long."
"But this cave should be safe, when we were kids I used to always hide here while playing with other kids". As he speaks Bjornung realizes what Eirik means. If the two of them, who were of different age groups knew where the cave was; surely other children had found it too. Some of those may now be christened and when the search started in earnest come morning, they would be sure to be found. "All right, lets get out of here!"

They find the boat a few hours before dawn, and set out to sea. The boat luckily has oars, but is in a decrepid condition. As they shove off from the shore they hear people talking. Sure enough, soon after they can see them come over the hillside against the horizon. Luckily the rain is here thinks Bjornung as he shivers in the cold. Maybe they will be able to get away without being seen. They dared not use the oars because the noise would be sure to be heard.

The boat following the current has a mind of its own. Instead of drifting out to sea it seems it wants to go back to the main settlement. While they can hear people all along the shore Eirik tries using one of the oars as a rudder. This helps a little and they get a little further out to sea. But soon the light would come.
They could not be this close to the island when the light of dawn arrived because they would be seen.

"Let's go", says Eirik. They sit beside each other and row with the most powerful silent oar takes they are capable of. Soon they no longer see the island, so they know the people on the island will not be able to see them. Eirik, being the youngest and healthiest takes both oars while Bjornung takes off his soaked coat and employs it to try and get some of the water out of the boat which leaks badly.

Having been in the sun too long, and not maintained they are happy the boat is staying afloat as well as it is. But they know they can not leave their faith to providence. They have to row for the mainland.

"What was it you were talking about regarding your children last night in your sleep?" asks Eirik.
"Well, when the fighting broke out I headed straight for home. I wanted to try and get word to Svainung and Raidun, my children, so they would know what was coming. I went around in the forest to prevent being discovered, and when I got there I saw Olav with some of his men enter the door. It seemed an eternity later, but could not have been more than a half an hour or more. Some idiots threw Svainungs head out the door, and Raidun, naked and screaming was pulled out the door by her hair."

Olav sees the tears in Bjornungs eyes, he wants to say something to comfort him, but doesn't know what it could be. Silence looms in the boat. The sound of Bjornung bailing water with his jacket and the steady beat of Olavs rowing becomes a rhythm. Luckily the sea is quiet, and the silence of the minds of the men working can almost be felt.

What Bjornung does not know is that Olav wanted to get the two that are in the boat in the worst way. Not long after the fighting broke out he had taken a few selected men along with him to locate their homes. One of the locals who had joined his army earlier had led them to Bjornung's cabin first where they barged inn without as much as knocking on the door.

Svainung, who had never properly developed his legs and with the utmost difficulty, was just able to move around, had been sitting at a table discussing the Gnostic beliefs with his sister. They had talked about how it could be that people had not understood it was the three dimensional world Jesus came to save mankind from. They debated how the Gods made the physical bodies which have the sensing organs of only the physical universe. They had decided that this was so the spiritual man would exist through the physical and ensure the survival of the physical through the spiritual man.

They also discussed how the spiritual man had come about, as well as how the physical universe came into existence through the descriptions made in the Gnostic manuscripts known as "The Apochryphon of John", and "The Paraphrase of Shem".

"The Apochryphon of John" was the description of the creation or coming into being of spiritual man according to the Gnostic Christians. The manuscript was a revelation given to John just after Jesus went back to heaven. The fact of the matter is that the original manuscript may have had an entirely different title, and the name John may have been added to an earlier Gnostic document which preceded Jesus by many years to validate Jesus as the savior according to their beliefs.
The manuscript ties together the teachings of the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Canaanites and Greeks with that of the Gnostic's in a fashion which hardly can be refuted by anyone.

"Are you ready to be Christened?" hollers Olav as he barges in through the door.
"First of all, I would like to know how you Christians can state that it was Moses who gave us mankind's history? It is obvious to me that the whole thing about Moses is but a poor rewrite of the ancient scriptures from the near eastern area. Moses was obviously an Egyptian pharaoh originally.
Your own Bible states his God is Identified with I AM THAT I AM; which was the Egyptian epithet for the pharaohs God Amon-Re. And the eternally burning bush was the Egyptian symbol for the sun.
Your own saints who lived shortly after the birth of Jesus even identified Moses with the Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmoses. Clement of Alexandria who is one of your foremost figureheads stated that when Moses told King Chenophren that He was to leave Egypt, and which God had sent him, King Chenophren fell out of his bed. Had it been Moses he should have told this to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmoses, and not to the Hyksos king who was the ruler of a part of Egypt and whom the Pharaoh Ahmoses fought and drove out of Egypt to reunite the country. This is also verified accordi..."

This is as far as he gets. The blood squirts out of the neck as the head rolls on the floor.

"What about you?" says Olav to Reidun after he has so mercilessly murdered her brother. "Are you ready to revert to the correct teaching and be saved? In heaven, the lamb can sleep peacefully in the mane of the lion."

"You know what I think Olav?" says Raidun. "The lion was the Epithet the ancients employed to designate the mercenary soldiers while the lamb was the designation of the family members which were left at home. I am not ready to snuggle up to the beard of your mercenary soldiers if that is what you mean.
The ancient Greek philosophers did state that the one who kills the body of the enlightened soul does the soul a favor. I would rather go enlightened than brainwashed by your primitive beliefs."

Raidun thus becomes the offer on a pyre, but not before many unspeakable atrocities are performed against her body.

Lucky for Bjornung he was not aware of these things as they were rowing toward the mainland. He had enough difficulties adjusting to the fact he was all alone in the world without any family. It was not easy for Eirik either. His attitude was at bottom, yet his curiosity was ever present.

"Tell me more about your philosophy", says Eirik. "I have also read about this Plato you mentioned at the meeting and am curious to know more about your views."

Chapter Three "The only fault with Plato's philosophy I see is that he had no excuses for peoples failures", says Bjornung. The ordinary person seeks a leader who can carve out excuses for his shortcomings or he will not be followed."
"In other words, a great philosopher is one who comes up with excuses which explain away people's shortcomings?" says Eirik.
"To some people this is true. Such a philosopher is however no true philosopher. This is what is the cause of all crime and every failure of society. If it was not for the excuse, no failures would be possible. We all have to subscribe to philosophies of one type or another; this is what separates us from animals. The differences between people are the philosophical notions they employ to govern life rather than innate abilities. Who do you think would have evolved a philosophy which stated we were all sinners?" as an example".

"It must have been a society where crime was a part of the philosophy". replies Eirik. "By your own words then, if we need to employ any excuses regarding our philosophies, or explain anything at all away, they could not be correct, is this right?"

"Yes I believe so. I read a lot of the material from the Gnostic's and the Greeks. Even the Bible reflects many of the ancient truths. -And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.- for example. While this logic is a reflection of earlier Greek philosophies, the truth will set you free to an extent most people never regarded as possible.

"One of the things I noticed was where Socrates stated that in a past life he often had a dream where he was told to compose music", says Eirik. "Since music to the Greeks included poetry, one can say he accomplished it in the life spoken about in Phaedo. I noticed it because it was interesting to me that he stated it was a dream from a previous life.
I realize older societies had very different views on past lives, and while this is now coming into vogue again, like you stated, it seems things were known in days gone by which now is forgotten. I would like to study more about past bodies we may have cared for, and I would like to better understand what really is going on," says Eirik.
He has now totally forgotten about the rain falling over them as he automatically rows the boat and Bjornung automatically bails water. They have now entered the mental world where knowledge is analyzed and compared, the physical has become secondary.

"Yes I have also speculated along those lines", says Bjornung. "I should perhaps mention I feel there are no past lives, only past bodies. We keep on living regardless of whether we have a body or not."

"I also noticed where Socrates stated man is a possession of the Gods. It seems to me as if he states we are the possession of the Gods, and yet we are imprisoned in bodies where the Gods take care of us, yet for mysterious reasons we are not allowed to terminate our existence within these bodies. In other words we are not allowed to commit suicide. To me, this would mean that I as a man I am not linked to the body. I am in custody.

Would you agree that the interpretation that we are servants of the Gods trapped in mortal bodies could be correct?"
"This is what is stated the way I see it too. Yet if we are the possession of the Gods, what do they possess? Is it our mortal bodies or the immortal minds. We are not allowed to kill these bodies, so it would seem it is the bodies which they created for us and which we are supposed to adore and take care of."
"Does this not also follow the God depicted in the Old testament? It seems to me as if he possibly desired man to be a slave to the body as well?"
"Yes it does", says Bjornung. "And there is a lot more than this which ties it all together. It seems to me as if all societies have had a piece of the truth."
"I found everything in Phaedo fascinating. I have noticed where Socrates states we will pass over to the Gods after our lives are over in these bodies, where good Gods and better men than exist on this earth shall be his companions. Then he also states that from time immemorial the ancients have known that good men will have greater rewards than he can fathom in the afterlife. I can not help but wonder how many of their ideas of the afterlife and God such religious societies as the Christian church received from the Greek philosophers", says Eirik.

I also heard the Christians destroyed all the Greek as well as Egyptian and other material which they could get their hands on to protect their teachings and enable them to make people think these were Christian ideas. I heard the material from Plato was written four hundred years before their Jesus was born. And then the material of the Greeks was not related to that of either the Israelites or the Christians".

"I was amazed at a lot of the material", says Bjornung. The other part where death is discussed as merely the separation of the Soul from the body is interesting. Where it is stated that the true philosopher is one who practices death, and is able to separate the Soul from the body more than other men while the body still lives is extremely interesting.
While it is here stated there is a communion of body and Soul, the philosopher is concerned with the spiritual and the Soul, the material man is simply concerned with the material body. This information is not totally different from our own, yet this Christian Church is mainly concerned with the resurrection of the physical body. How could they possibly hold the body in such awe? I can not see how anyone could disagree with the observation that there is a separation of physical and spiritual at the time of death.
Why would anyone in their wildest fantasies desire to reunite the two again?"

"It would be silly to reunite one with the same old body", says Eirik. "And as you state, todays church is concerned with the physical body, but you see the Christian God never claimed to have created the Soul, and if the church was not concerned with the physical the God would not have any jurisdiction over man. The God never claimed to create the spiritual, yet he claimed the Souls all belonged to him.That he should claim the Souls of Man as reward because he had created these miserable bodies is absurd."

"I do not hold my understanding above that of others", says Bjornung. "Since Socrates here states the Soul exists separate from the body, it would seem that the Soul is what we should be concerned about and not the body. The body seems to be what we require to experience the physical universe. If we become bodies we will die; if we become spiritual we are immortal."

"Then there is the part which states that poets are forever dinning into their ears that people see nothing and hear nothing because they are employing their physical parts. This seems to be the same attitude which the Israelites borrowed for their Bible? This Bible like the Greek poets are incessantly dinning into the ears of the followers how they are the stupid followers without understanding, who have eyes but see not, and ears, who hear not.
Then Plato continues on with a description of the body and its desires. It talks of how these are the stumbling blocks to spiritual perception. It also talks of how all crime and all wars

And unhappiness is caused by the physical. Could the Gods have had any reasons to trap man in degrading physical bodies which corrupted perception and made us slaves to the physical?" asks Bjornung.

"There are definite writings several places in the Bible which would indicate God does not desire for man to truly see, and there is one definite reason why a God would desire that this is so. This is also the reason why it would be beneficial for the Gods to trap man into the physical bodies and making him believe he is a body", says Eirik. "The Gnostic's which I studied stated that since the physical universe is nothing on its own without spiritual man it was necessary to trap man in the physical to make it exist".

"So, the body is defined as that which keeps us from getting wisdom because of physical desires, says Bjornung. "Hades, which of course is the same as our own Hel, is where the Souls go after death. If they get rejuvenated there as it is stated, before they again are sent into new bodies. This could be implanting?

This could be how we are trapped in bodies. But if this all is to the benefit of the God or Gods, why should we be paying homage to the Gods? The Physical is all that gains from this, we only loose. Would it not be proper for us to receive homage from the gods for making the physical universe into something which is more than a mere pail of rocks?"

"Interesting observations", says Eirik: "You are of course right, you may have the answer, which is that the physical universe would be nothing without the Souls. If Souls could be made to worship the physical the physical will acquire the spiritual qualities of the Soul and turn nothing into something."

"What follows here", continues Bjornung; " is the part about learning being recollection. In this case I believe it is stated knowledge is of a spiritual nature. It also seems that such knowledge was in our possession in a spiritual state, therefore we will regain our spiritual knowledge when we return to a spiritual state . Yet I feel that the mere killing of our bodies will not bring forth any wisdom, but more stupidity. Why is this so?"

"We then get a little bit away from what I know of in the Socrates literature", states Eirik. "If bodies are here to imprison us, and we are implanted between lives so we may be content with this state of affairs, the killing of our physical manifestations or bodies would be a crime against the physical which would enable the minions of the physical universe to further punish us, and we would be implanted again. Every time we would be implanted we would get more stupid. The implanting between lives is also indicated by children who have horrible nightmares.
These may be stated to be subconscious recollections of newly performed implants".

"The other thing which now is really starting to make sense after these disclosures is where Socrates likened all pleasures and all pains to individual nails which traps the Soul in the physical universe," says Bjornung. "I feel it is correct, we could not possibly be only physical bodies, for if we were, we could never have the perception of a spiritual aspect of man. I have never seen anything physical which can perceive and analyze what it is perceiving".

"That is a very good point" says Eirik. How about the part where Socrates proves the Soul is immortal? Where he states it is the mortal body which dies, leaving the immortal Soul. The physical is thus the corruption of the spiritual, yet removing the spiritual from the physical would not achieve the true luster we spoke of which we decided we had to regain. Does this mean we must regain the luster while we inhabit mortal bodies? And does this also mean that we, as spiritual beings carry around with us something physical which we must rid ourselves of before leaving the body?

Could it be that we carry around with us a mental image picture which we hold in awe which traps us? We see that the God of these Christians states that we have a Soul. What is this Soul which we have? The Bible never in any place states we are a Soul which will be saved. It states that we have a Soul which will be saved. What we have is not us. If I have a boat, the boat is not mine. If I have a castle the castle is not mine. What is this Soul which I need to take care of? It is not I, that is for sure. Could it not be that the Soul itself is a picture, and if it is a picture, could this not be the trap which keeps us from the spiritual universe?"

"Those are questions I feel all must be answered in the affirmative", says Bjornung. "Pictures are the only things I feel we can carry from the physical to the spiritual realm. There would not be anything wrong with carrying pictures with us, it is only that pictures of compulsions repressions or fears prevent us from truly reaching our ultimate domain. We may thus come to the conclusion we are dealing with pictures. The luster of man is removed by the corrupt pictures, truth restores the luster. All excuses are lies, they must be the corrupt pictures. All dishonest actions and all actions we have done are clouding the radiance of our luster. What we have to do is remove false concepts.
Truths which are embellished are still true. We just remove the wrappings. It may at times be discomforting because we hold excuses in such awe.
We are what we are. As yet we may not be fully aware of our potential. When this becomes realized we will know what to do and we will no longer have any requirements for excuses."

As the two men thus talked, while rowing an bailing water the hours passed quickly. They were lucky to escape the island undetected, but it was not long after the dawn when the rains abated and the winds picked up. They saw an outlined against the horizon a ship they assumed was one belonging to Olav, but it disappeared, not seeing the small rowboat.
By the time evening came they were nearly out of fresh water, and the little bit of food they had was gone. Cold and miserable once again, they cept looking for land. They were tired and took turns rowing and bailing, heading south east as they figured this would be the safest route. It was not until dawn the two now exhausted men got a glimpse of land. By late morning the now exhausted men were finally on solid ground. It so happened they had landed on another island just a bit north of what is today called Stavanger.

A few children herding some sheep found them and took them to their small farm where they got some food and some much needed rest.

There were three farmers on this island who had not heard anything yet about what had happened. They had heard of Olav, and they had of course heard of Christianity and could not believe it posed a threat to their way of life.
By evening the son of the farmer returned, he had been on a trading mission with some merchants from Stavanger. They all would spend the night on the farm before heading back to town the following day. A great feast was made in the evening to welcome the son back from the successful venture.

It was not long before Eirik and Bjornung had told the whole story about what happened to their home.
The merchants and the farmers were outraged. They had never heard of anyone who would murder others because of their personal beliefs.

"I do not believe Olav can be stupid enough to go along with that teaching after listening to some of the things said", says Bjornung. "I believe he just desires to take over the kingdom, declare himself king and he is employing Christianity as the vehicle by which to achieve his goal."

"It was just a few hundred years ago when Northumbria was Christened. The person who was able to import the belief back then felt the Christian God was who helped him in war", says Harald, one of the merchants. "King Edvin was his name, and there are many other tales of how this God would help the people win at war so they later could become Kings. Perhaps Olav desires to become King so badly he has sacrificed his soul to this God, and is now back in Norway killing his kinfolk and torturing and stealing from his countrymen."

"So the two of you it seems managed to get Olav quite angry?" asks Harald. "I hear you have a miserable rowboat, not fit for the sea, if you would like can you come to the mainland in my ship in the morning since you state you desire to get away from these islands before Olav catches up with you."

The two fugitives are quick to agree to the generous offer. They are still tired so they find a place to sleep in the barn. The following morning they are awakened before sunrise by Harald who desired to get an early start. Harald has been away from his family for months and he desires to make it back before evening.

On the way they are met by a ship which turns out to belong to Olav. "Pledge allegiance to Olav, the new king of Norway", hollers the captain from the longboat.

"I will never pledge allegiance to a traitor and a murderer", comes the reply from Harald.
A shower of arrows are the answer, but they are slightly out of range so most of the arrows land in the sea. As the two boats approach each other people start falling on booth sides. The battle does not last very long however. Harald's crew are seasoned fighters who are well trained archers, and after the leader on the other boat falls because of an arrow they flee. Harald's crew attempt to follow, but the crew all have a greater desire to go home than to fight so they soon turn around and head for the Stavanger area.

It is late evening before they arrive and Harald invites Bjornung and Eirik to spend the night before they continue the journey.
The following morning they talk more about what is happening with Harald who decides to get together with some of the local leaders the same evening and discuss the turn of events. Booth Eirik and Bjornung know people in town and they go to visit friends whom they invite for the gathering in the evening.
The news of Olav has reached Stavanger and people are arming themselves, preparing for the inevitable battle to keep Norway a free and separate country from the religious dominion of the Christian empire which seems to be incessantly expanding.

When the meeting gets started the talk centers mainly of the cruelty which Olav showed when he was to Christen people. No one could believe a Norwegian could act so barbarously. Similar accounts of other Christians existed and they decided it was the new religion which he was pushing which had destroyed him as a human being.
Measures were to be taken to ward off an eventual attach by him and his mercenaries.

Perhaps because the various religious beliefs were foremost on the minds of the people the discussion eventually come around to basic truths and the various religious ideas. The spiritual ideas of their ancestors, the ideas from the east and the ideas they knew of from the south.

It was accepted by most of the people there that the Israelite religion which was the backbone of the Christian faith was to a large extent a borrowing from the great early Babylonian religion as described in material which they had got hold of in antiquity.
The story which the Christians hammered about regarding the flooding of the earth and impending doom of mankind they all knew was Babylonian since the legend of Atra-hasis had been told by the intellectuals for ages.
They could not understand how this one God had any rights outside the Near Eastern area. It was decided that the God most high of the Canaanites had given the Israelite people to the God which the Israelites worshipped. He may have had the rights to rule over the Israelites, but not the right to rule over anyone else.

The Secrets of the Universe

While the above may not have been exactly what happened when Norway was Christened, it most assuredly is a lot closer to the truth than what is being thought today.
A thousand years ago a group of people who believed they were right and everyone else was wrong came to Norway to Christen the country. Those who opposed were killed, all they owned was stolen and for a thousand years these same people have been in power in the country. What is there to celebrate? These people stayed in power by killing those with other viewpoints for most of those years. Today people are a little more civilized and they no longer get away with murder as easily.

This is a part of my as yet unpublished book; The Secrets of the Universe. Should you have any comments rgjesdal@sn.no H P 1