Fragment: 4

As tempting as it is to continue to explore the mythology of Aten, if we are to understand how the mythology was created, and how to bind Aten and end his reign, we must examine the nature of Aten. To do this we must go back to Classical Greece in around 500 B.C., the time of the PreSocratics. The first thinker that I shall examine is Xenophanes of Colophon, who is said to be the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy. Xenophanes is credited with being a great traveler. It is said he travel traveled the Greek world for 67 years. He knows the Ethiopians, he mentions them in his writings. Although there is no direct evidence that he ever came into contact with any Cult of Aten. I do not believe the Cult of Aten died with Akhenaten. Xenophanes teachings bear a striking resemblance to Akhenaten. So let us turn to the teachings of Xenophanes. Xenophanes ridiculed the idea of anthropomorphic gods, and the idea that there are many gods. Here we find the reference to the Ethiopians, that their gods have snub noses like the Ethiopians, while the gods of Thrace look like the Greeks. Xenophanes rejects polytheism in favor of one god. A god that is eternal, is not subject to birth, death, or change. That dwells outside of time. A god that comprehends all the things and moves all things, yet remains unchanged. A god that has no human passions, and is represented as spherical. There should be no problem seeing the resemblances to Akhenaten's teachings. No matter what name, or disguise the god of monotheism adopts, it is always Aten. The secret name of Yahweh, Allah, or the One is Aten. If we are to bind Aten and break his control this is an important first step. Xenophanes also has a dualism in the world of change, that of wet and dry. I must now move on to the central and most important figure of the Eleatic school, and one of the most important thinkers in the whole history of philosophy: Parmenides. It is in the philosophy of Parmenides that we shall begin to understand the nature or the essence of Aten, or as Parmenides calls him "the One".Parmenides most important contribution to world thought is the law of non-contradiction. When I say contribution I mean Parmenides was the first person to make the doctrine explicit. People use ideas long before they can explain or or express them in an abstract formula. So Parmenides is the first person to articulate the law of non-contradiction, and make explicit some of the laws implications. It is easy to observe how the law of non-contradiction is already implicit in both the teachings of Akhenaten, and Xenophanes. The articulation Parmenides comes up with is important and instructive to understanding the nature or essence of Aten. Parmenides uses a disjunctive syllogism to articulate the law of non-contradiction. That there is either something or nothing. There is not nothing, thus there is something. This something is the One (Aten). The One has a spherical shape, is eternal, and unchangeable. It is the ultimate reality behind appearances, and is identified with pure thought. It is time to introduce the Wheeler Principle. It was first formulated by Professor Mark Wheeler of S.D.SU. I was fortunate to be in his philosophy class when he first formulated it. the Wheeler principle states: that if you make the law of non-contradiction the centerpiece of your epistemology, you shall end with a One in your metaphysics. In simpler terms the law of non-contradiction always ends with a One if followed out to its logical conclusion. Admittedly there are different incarnations of the One, but the are all Aten. Before returning to Parmenides it is instructive to take a diversion to examine the different Ones that can be reached through the use of the law. There is what I call the Parmenidian One, which is a passive One. This is reached by continually eliminating things as illusion. The particulars of everyday life illusions that once we are freed from by the law of non-contradiction reveal the One, which is the bases and only reality. The next One I call the Empedoclean One for its inventor Empedocles. The Empedoclean One gets rid of the problem of the many (everyday particulars) by That the One is a process. The One has a cyclic historyof going from a solid fused sphere to and articulated sphere where the four classical elements of Western philosophy: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth; are separated into levels existing in the sphere. The Holy Mind (objective view) is only present when the One is solid. The third incarnation of the One is the active One. This is the most common incarnation of the One in history. I call this the Plotinian One after Plotinus. This is the One that emanates both the mental and material cosmos. This is also the One of most monotheistic religions. In this incarnation particulars are not illusions, but only partial manifestations of the One. Back to Parmenides. The One (Aten) is eternal, unchangeable, the ultimate reality behind appearances. The illusion of the many is dispelled, the One is the metaphysical substratum of everything. It is identified with pure abstract thought. Again like Akhenaten, Parmenides divides appearances into light and night. As we have observed and shall observe Aten always creates a dualism, this is a necessary part of his nature, that cannot not be done away with; dualism is an intrinsic part of Aten's nature in how he functions. That is enough for this Fragment. a Necromancer