#post132

The Canaanite mythologies came to influence the later Hebrews and as such much of the old Testament gives good insights into the Canaanite mythology. Some notable instances of plants and foods in Semitic mythology are as follows:

Gold Powder: When Moses sees the Israelites worshiping the golden calf he has the idol crushed down into powder and forces them to drink it. The golden calf here likely reprsents the Canaanite sacrifice God Moloch if not the star sign of Taurus.

Manna: Manna was a white resin type substance that tasted of bread and honey due to this parallels between the Alchemical meaning of honey/sacred wine can be drawn. Manna is also believed to be honey dew left by certain insects. In Exodus, Moses leads the Israelites across the desert where they survive on eating Manna which fell from heaven. Manna is described as being like dew and had to be gathered before it evaporated in the morning sun this may reference alchemical mysteries connected to “heavenly dew” or could also refer to mushrooms coming up in the cool moist nights and retreating back into the ground to avoid the desert heat.

Milk and Honey: The God Yahweh promised Abraham (founder of the Jewish faith) that if he followed the laws Yahweh gave him he would found a great nation that would live in a land of milk and honey which may reference alchemical mysteries relating to the milk of the Goddess and honey/sacred wine. The land that Abraham founded was Canaan though it is believed by the Jewish peoples that the great nation is a reference to Israel.

Pomegranates: In early Kabbalistic mysteries the fruit of knowledge eaten by Eve was a pomegranate this may relate to the ancient Greek stories of Persephone and came to spawn a number of Kabbalistic texts.

Scroll of Lamentations: God gives Ezekiel a two-sided scroll of Lamentations to eat which tastes as “sweet as honey” possibly relating to alchemical mysteries.

Tree of Knowledge/Death: The tree in the centre of the garden of Eden often believed to represent the Qliphoth and non-sefira of Da’at which is an inversion of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, to utilise the Qliphoth with or without an understanding of its workings could therefore be said to “eat of the fruit of knowledge/death”. A serpent/magician/fallen angel convinces Eve to eat the fruit and to share some with Adam who gets a piece lodged in his throat suggesting a physical fruit was eaten. Since God had commanded Adam and Eve not to do this and they had therefore worshipped the serpent above God they were said to have commited sin resulting in their expulsion from Eden to work the land, bare children and die, as consequence for eating the fruit they gained mortality and knowledge from Da’at being added to their spiritual makeup and knowledge of good and evil which came with the lifting of a veil of ignorance allowing them to choose between good and evil themselves and thus granting them free will.