Female anti-christ

[Rhonda Tharp]

While researching the shift from paganism in Rome to Christianity, I came across a book called "Woman Who Rides the Beast." The summary of the book stated that there is a mention of a female Anti-Christ in the book of Revelation. Anyone heard of this? Just curious...

 

[RLynn]

While researching the shift from paganism in Rome to Christianity, I came across a book called "Woman Who Rides the Beast." The summary of the book stated that there is a mention of a female Anti-Christ in the book of Revelation. Anyone heard of this? Just curious...

Oh, that's the thing about the Scarlet Woman in Revelation chapter 17, probably a reference to the pagan city of Rome. Nope, none of the fantastic women in Revelation is a female Anti-Christ, as far as I know, except maybe metaphorically. Of course, most of the book of Revelation refers to the current events of that time, written allegorically so as not to arouse the suspicion of the censors.
Naturally, I am speaking of the text of the Bible itself, not the end-of-the-world fantasies of Tim LaHaye and his disciples.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Exiting mythology and entering the bizzare world of the occult we find great interest in this Scarlet Lady.
A rocket scientist (yes! a rocket scientist), named Jack Parsons was a disciple of the infamous Aleister Crowley.
Using sexual magical techniques and the help of another man and a willing woman, they performed something called
a "Babalon working" (Babylon is purposely misspelled). If this working was a success then the woman would give birth
to a "moonchild", which is supposed to be the Scarlet Woman. She would usher in a new age that would end Christianity
and start a new religion with Crowley as its prophet.
Parsons said it was a success, but to this day there is no sign of a moonchild, which was supposed to
have been conceived in the early part of the 20th C.
Crowley died alone in poverty addicted to heroin, and Parsons died young in a lab explosion that to this day
is still not fully understood (he was an explosives expert.)
Oh and by the way, that other man used in the Babalon Working was L. Ron Hubbard, something
Scientologist today still deny.
This stuff can be read in two books: Strange Angel and Sex and Rockets.
Fascinating reading for anyone interested.

 

[RLynn]

Interesting thread hijack. A few additional points....

1. Crowley may indeed have been addicted to heroin, but he had a serious form of asthma and was initially prescribed heroin for that condition. Back then they didn't have less toxic anti-asthma agents such as prednisone.
2. Also, Frieda Harris stayed in close contact with Crowley all through his final illness and death. She, the artist for his Thoth Tarot, practically idolized him.
3. Crowley wrote a novel entitled Moonchild, which is actually a good read.
4. Partly as a protest to his repressive upbringing in a Plymouth Brethren household, Crowley promoted himself as the Beast 666 (another reference to Revelation) and relished his reputation of being extremely wicked. It is hard to tell how much of this bravado reflects the truth about his life.
5. There is an interesting BBC documentary, Crowley, the Other Loch Ness Monster, about one of his magical experiments.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Hi RLynn
Nice to find someone else interested in the slightly twisted!
I am familiar with the above points; with the exceptions of 2 and 5. I have to check out the BBC documentary.
Crowley did try very hard to kick the heroin addiction.
I have a copy of Moonchild, but have not read it as of late.
Several other occult fictions are on my list: La Bas by Huysman
The Monk by Lewis
Zanoni by Lytton
The Club Dumas by Perez

 

[RLynn]

I've read La Bas, The Monk, and Zanoni. I hadn't heard of The Club Dumas.

 

[LegendofJoe]

I've read La Bas, The Monk, and Zanoni. I hadn't heard of The Club Dumas.

Wow.
Did you like them???

 

[RLynn]

I read them a long time ago. I liked La Bas the best. Zanoni is typical Bulwer-Lytton, a little boring in places, but a good tale overall. The Monk was a little hard to connect with, but it was okay. They are available as free ebooks at Project Gutenberg.

 

[Caburus]

The scarlet woman of Babylon, seated on the seven headed beast, was identified in the late Middle Ages and later, as the female Pope Joan (the beast representing the seven hills of Rome [aka Babylon]). She reportedly gave birth to a child whilst pontif, who was spirited away to return one day as the Anti-Christ. She was supposed to have been Pope 855-857, and was hanged along with her lover, or died in childbirth. But there is no historical evidence, or actual chronological room, for her in the papacy.

 

[RLynn]

A female pope (La Papesse) became a permanent fixture in numerous popular playing card decks and even survives today as The High Priestess in almost all Tarot decks. Here is Paul Marteau's reconstruction of the female pope from the 1760 Conver deck:

 

[Caburus]

The Tarot High Priestess/Papess has also been identified as a real woman who was actually elected Pope by a small heretic sect called Guglielmites, who followed a female preacher (Guglielma of Bohemia, died 1281) in Milan in the late 13th Century. They believed that Guglielma was the Messiah, and would return in 1300 to install a new Age of Spirit, by dethroning the male Papacy and setting up a line of female Popes. Her followers started to prepare one of their number, Maifreda di Pirovano, as the new Pope, and she soon started saying mass for the sect. But the heresy was quashed and its adherents burned in 1300.