Nexus - 0904 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

EMISSARY OF LOVE by James Twyman Hampton Roads, USA, 2002 ISBN 1-57174-323-5 (145pp tpb) Price: A$41.95; NZ$53.95; Euro 20.90; US$15.95 Availability: Aust—Gemcraft, tel (03) 9761 5535; NZ—Peaceful Living, tel (07) 571 8105; Europe—NEXUS Office; USA— Hampton Roads, http://www.hrpub.com Nits Donald Walsch (Conversations with God), in the introduction to this book, questions whether author James Twyman has made it all up, whether it is just a figment of the imagination of a "master storyteller". And I, too, have to wonder, but ask if this really matters when the message serves as a powerful reminder for us to return to the core of ourselves. Twyman is a New Age "peace troubador" of sorts, who in the last eight years has "ministered" and performed in many trou- bled places of the world. He's the author of Emissary of Light, about his travels through the Bosnian mountains where he claims he learned the secrets of an ancient society of spiritual masters. The event that sparked him on this pilgrimage came in late January 2001 when he was contacted psychically by a 10-year-old Bulgarian boy who transmit- ted "the Gift" to him and compelled Twyman to travel to Bulgaria in search of a group of psychically talented children, "the Children of Oz". He found them in an iso- lated monastery, or so he writes. (If he'd used "the Gift", he'd have avoided the atten- tions of Bulgarian government agents along the way—but much intrigue as well!) The question in common that these chil- dren all ask us is: what if you acted as if you were an Emissary of Love? Well, it 72 * NEXUS @ REVIEWS means asking whether we're ready to act as if we're loved by God, and what would hap- pen if we really did believe this to be true. These are simple but profound insights, and they also show how love and imagination can change the world. Twyman's is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of ego and pride, but it also speaks truth through all the dichotomies presented, such as the case of the mysterious young Tibetan Tulku. emerged around 600 BC; indeed, he was born into it as a native of Tarsus—the home of Mithra worship in Asia Minor. St Paul was an exponent of dualism—an idea Pinkham says was borrowed from the Persian religion—and may have been at least an honorary Magi priest. The Mithras idea, says Pinkham, was an evolution of the Murrugan concept of Indian tradition. But not only that, certain Mithraic ideas were taken up by the Jews during the their exile in Babylonia, thus Judaism became a relative of Mithraism. Even the Essenes were influenced by this philosophy: while they were awaiting the anticipated incarnation of the Archangel Michael, so the saviour of Mithraism, Ahura Mazda, was expected to incarnate physically as Mithras. The legendary Magi who searched for the newborn Christ apparently believed that Jesus was a reincarnation of Mithras. All this and more is covered in this surpris- ing alternative view of ancient religions. THE TRUTH BEHIND THE CHRIST MYTH by Mark Amaru Pinkham Adventures Unlimited Press, USA, 2002 ISBN 0-931882-02-9 (157pp tpb) Price: A$33.00; NZ$45.00; £14.00; Euro 18.90; US$14.95 + s&h Availability: Aust/NZ/UK/Europe— NEXUS offices; USA—Adventure Unlimited, tel (815) 253 6390, website http://www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com he peacock is not only a spectacularly beautiful bird; it also has ancient sym- bolic connotations. According to Mark Amaru Pinkham (author of The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom; see 4/05), the Jesus Christ story has all the elements of a much earlier Son of God myth from India: the legend of Murrugan, the Peacock Angel, who was worshipped in many faiths in Asia and Asia Minor as "the King of the World". The ancient British goddess Murraga is believed to be a female counterpart. Interestingly, the Catholic Church includes the peacock among its official symbols, and Pinkham contends that St Paul's influence was responsible for this. Before his famous vision and "conversion", St Paul was a fol- lower of the Persian Mithras tradition which Ph Ghinde, AIvth . JUNE — JULY 2002 www. nexusmagazine.com