I just solved the mystery of hellsing that plauged me

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 4:03 am

wait my bad 21 are known to exist, have any anime's other than eva and hellsing made refrences to ancient religious texts like this?

UncleMilo · Post by **UncleMilo** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 5:44 am

I agree with what was said about Lovecraft... that while there can be some interesting refs to Lovecraft, the story is not Lovecraftian... I am a big fan of Lovecraft (being from New England and all

)

I have to ask... does Armitage get her name from Lovecraft? I only ask because the name Armitage has been around for many years before Lovecraft was doing his writing.

Anyway... I thought I would mention that Thoth is the Egyptian God of knowledge... and I don't see why you are comparing Thoth with Hermes. I haven't gone to those linkes yet... and I will... but to my knowledge, Hermes was simply the messenger of the Gods... swift... and yes... he is depicted with wings on his feet.

However... Thoth is a Bird-Headed god who represented Wisdom and Learning and Knowledge.

Thoth also was the judge of your soul when you died. In Egyptian mythology, your soul was weighed against a single feather from Thoth... if your soul was lighter than the feather, you went on to the afterlife (and oddly enough, no matter what age you died at, you spent eternity at the age of 33)... if your soul was heavier than the feather (heavy with guilt and sin) you were consumed by the devouring beast.

Greece had many different Gods of knowledge and wisdom.

Take Aries and Athena... both are Gods of War,
but Aries was more a God of the Battle itself while Athena was a Goddess of Wisdom and War... which sounds a bit more like tactics and strategy.

As for refs to ancient texts...

BIG O has many references in it.
BIG O is called a Mega-Deus...
The passing phrase "Cast in the name of God, ye not Guilty" is a mis-translation from the German... it is actually a phrase that was inscribed on the swords of the executioners... the premise was that because they were killing people in the name of the church, they were excused of the sin of murder.

-Uncle Milo

MCWagner · Post by **MCWagner** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 6:42 am

Milo: I'm almost certain on the Armitage thing for a couple of reasons. The series is chock full of fairly random references throughout, visually referencing both Tron and Blade Runner among others, and the reference to a final battle at Dunwitch would require the presence of an "Armitage" (I seem to recall a few more HPL references...but can't for the life of me remember them. Been quite a while since I saw the series.) They're nothing more than references, though.

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 12:26 pm

Thoth is often mentioned, associated or referred to as the Hermes of Egypt. The main cult of Thoth itself was at Hermoupolis Magna-the name of the site itself was derived from the name 'Hermes'. Was Hermes and Thoth the one and the same deity?
The answer is no. Thoth and Hermes were often linked together because of their similar roles. Like Thoth, Hermes was the winged messenger of the gods. The classical Hermes was associated with medicine, the moon and the realm of the dead. (Genest) The celebration of the Hermae also coincided with one major festivals of Thoth.
As Thoth commanded a strong following of cults during the Ptolematic and Roman periods, his presence was an unavoidable one. Foreign settlers in Egypt were keen to accept and assimilate him into their own religions. For example, Greek settlers identified Thoth with Hermes. The Hellenistic Hermes was thus egyptianized through his association with Thoth. Hermes was first Egyptianized by reflecting the similar characteristics of Thoth. Soon however, the popularity of Thoth's cult in Hermoupolis led to the disintegration of cultural barriers and the subsequent evolution of the Thoth-Hermes figure. The result of such was the creation of a new syncretistic Hermes known as Hermes Trismegistus.
It is only in the Greek magical Papyri, rather than the Hermetic texts that we see the Hermes Egyptian aspects of the god displayed more clearly. The papyri assimilate the two gods, and presents Hermes as the cosmic power that is also the lord of the night due to his association with the moon (Selene) and Hecate. At some point however, the Hermetists soon began to claim that there had been two separate Egyptian Hermes: a grandfather and grandson. (Genest) In the perfect Discourse (Asclepius), Hermes Trismegistus refers to the tomb of his grandfather and namesake Hermes in Hermoupolis.
Thus, Hermes and Thoth are revealed to be two separate gods from the composite god Hermes Trismegistus
this is soem from the last link and it show how thoth was identified by greeks as hermes.

Alucard_FoN · Post by **Alucard_FoN** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 1:11 pm

UncleMilo wrote:Thoth also was the judge of your soul when you died. In Egyptian mythology, your soul was weighed against a single feather from Thoth... if your soul was lighter than the feather, you went on to the afterlife (and oddly enough, no matter what age you died at, you spent eternity at the age of 33)... if your soul was heavier than the feather (heavy with guilt and sin) you were consumed by the devouring beast.

I could have sworn that was Anubis.

UncleMilo · Post by **UncleMilo** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 1:59 pm

Alucard_FoN wrote:I could have sworn that was Anubis.

Anubis is the God of Mumification (and technically death)... but Thoth is the one that judges your soul. Anubis simply is the caretaker of the dead.

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 7:00 pm

but anyway...

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Wed Nov 13, 2002 9:53 pm

I would like to state that I have doubts about the freak chips being refrences to the philosopher stone.

See, the section of the ripley scroll (at least that I read.) Did not say whether or not hermes made the philosopher stone, but it is mentioned. However, in the pages I read, thoth made the philosopher stone.

But, since he was most definetly based off of the hermes described in the ripley scroll, there was no mention of him making the philosopher stone (again, from the part that I read, I havent read it all.) and that beign the case, the freak chips that give people the vampiric powers MAY still be refrences to the philosopher stone. But since it has been made clear that THOTH made the philosopher stone, I wont place any bets on it.

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Wed Nov 13, 2002 9:55 pm

P.S. I made a typo, when I said 'pages I read' I meant other web pages, not parts of the ripley scroll

Alfirin Sereg Anuir · Post by **Alfirin Sereg Anuir** » Thu Nov 14, 2002 12:31 am

CoolThis has been the most intresting thing I have read at this site so far counting that I haven't been hear that long yet. Any ways I thought the show was confusing and all that helps a lot. It dosn't help that I had to read crapy subs. And on a small t.v. I think I might buy the show now, and now I can under stand it better so it is a big pluss. I also love Vamp. stuf so maby soon I will have it. Thanks for the nifty info.