In any Religious Order there is a Founder. Usually 1 person or a group of people, or some kind of large scale change, like the Bronze Age, or the Iron Age, or the Enlightenment Period, or the Atomic Age. For example in Christianity, Judaism and Islam there is Abraham. Abraham was promised by God to be the Father of Nations, and then Jacob, Jacob's ladder which came to him in a Dream while he was sleeping on Jacob's pillow, and the British Empire still uses the Stone of Scone to Coronate their Kings and Queens and some people think that is Jacob's pillow. He may have also been the one who met someone who was God in Human form, and wrestled him until God ripped his Hip Bone out of his socket, then he named him Israel. In Bahai, this would be the Bab, in Thelma it might be Aleister Crowley, Helena Blavatsky for Theosophy, etc. It is harder to say for the Bronze Age, and Iron Age Religions, as they usually suggest the Gods founded the Religions, or are Animistic in Nature. For example, the Greek Gods Kairos and Chronos which are 2 forms of Time Passage, these are simply undeniable existing things. And Christians call Kairos Time, "Gods Time".
Chronos and Kairos
Then there are Prophets, they lay out the Future for the Religion. These in the Bible are like Ezekiel and Isiah. For Theosophy, maybe Nicolas Roerich. In Bahai, this would still be the Bab, and Bahai may be considered an Abrahamic Religion because of this. The Prophets may also predict someone who is going to come in the Future. An example of a Religion that does not really have this is Buddhism, except for a few forms like Tibetan Buddhism, which has the Dalai Lama who is reincarnated over and over, and in each Generation they seek out the child who he is reborn as, and he is basically their Pope.
Then it spreads quickly through space (and time), unless like Judaism it is an Ethno-Religious group, where more people can convert, but the Religion is based on a National Identity, or at the very least a Language and Community (but many religions can claim Community basis). Another example of this, an Ethno-Religious Group, is the Yizidis. And, eventually someone comes who fulfills the Prophecies, the Messiah. Many Jews thought that John the Baptist was going to be the Messiah, and there may also be Established things that happen previous, like for the Greeks they formed States, Commerce (Roads, Amber Routes), Temples, Armies, etc. For the Egyptians, they created Art and Science, same in the Indus Valley, all passing it to the Greeks during Hellenization, after Alexander the Great Conquered all the way to Pakistan (which is why it is so different from India Culturally). The Jewish people had King David, and King Solomon and others, then Christianity has Jesus, Islam has Muhammad, Bahai has Bahá'u'lláh, and at that point they go on to create more things, and sign Treaties and become part of everything, part of regular everday life and things people use or do everyday. In Theosophy this can be seen in US Presidents, and others who embraced Nicolas Roerich as a Prophet. In the Bronze Age Religions, these people are still happening. there are still people practicing Ancient Greek Religion and bringing it back on a larger scale, and there are Rappers and other people Practicing Egyptian Religion (all the Illuminati imagery), and Hinduism has existed for 4,500 Years.
One of the most important indicia of 'a religion' is that the particular collection of ideas and/or practices involves belief in the supernatural, that is to say, belief that reality extends beyond that which is capable of perception by the senses. If that be absent, it is unlikely that one has 'a religion'.
(1) Ultimate Ideas: Fundamental Questions about life, purpose and death
(2) Metaphysical Beliefs: Beliefs addressing a reality that transcends the physical and immediate apparent world
(3) Moral and Ethical System: Proscription of a particular manner of acting or a way of life that is moral or ethical
(4) Comprehensive Beliefs: An overarching array of beliefs that coalesce to provide the believer with answers to many of the problems and concerns that confront humans
(5) Accoutrements of Religion: The presence of various external signs of Religion
in·di·ci·a
/inˈdiSH(ē)ə/
noun
signs, indications, or distinguishing marks.
su·per·nat·u·ral
/ˌso͞opərˈnaCH(ə)rəl/
adjective
(of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
pre·ter·nat·u·ral
/ˌprēdərˈnaCH(ə)rəl/
adjective
beyond what is normal or natural.
met·a·phys·ics
/ˌmedəˈfiziks/
noun
the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
ac·cou·tre·ment
/əˈko͞odərmənt/
noun
additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity.
the·ur·gy
/ˈTHēərjē/
noun
the operation or effect of a supernatural or divine agency in human affairs.
proph·e·sy
/ˈpräfəˌsī/
verb
present participle: prophesying
say that (a specified thing) will happen in the future.
or·a·cle
/ˈôrək(ə)l/
noun
a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity.
ves·sel
/ˈvesəl/
(chiefly in or alluding to biblical use) a person, especially regarded as holding or embodying a particular quality.
dream
/drēm/
noun
a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.
vi·sion
/ˈviZHən/
an experience of seeing someone or something in a dream or trance, or as a supernatural apparition.
som·ni·um
/ˈsom.ni.um/
noun
dream, vision
the spirit world
phrase
the non-physical realm in which disembodied spirits have their existence.
"Hypnos had many children, but he selected Morpheus to be the god of Dreams because of his uncanny ability to assume forms and mimic living beings. Morpheus was assisted by the Oneiroi (Greek for Dreams) who were all his brothers. They helped him to create the dreams of humans. One sibling, Icelus, made the dreams seem real, while another, Phobetor, was responsible for phobic or terrifying dreams. Then Phantasus, the third brother, created fantastic and surreal dreams. Morpheus was their leader. As a result, he ensured that he alone oversaw the dreams of monarchs and heroes. Moreover, he could even appear to the Gods in Olympus. Unlike his brothers, all of Morpheus’ dreams were true and many prophetic… Morpheus did not merely make people dream of simple and everyday things. He was doing so much more. Morpheus was a messenger of the gods and he was transmitting, through dreams, messages from the divinities. The Greeks, and later the Romans, believed that many dreams were portents and omens." -https://classicalwisdom.com/mythology/gods/morpheus-the-god-of-dreams/
Micah 3:6 "Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them"
1 Samuel 3:1 "Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision."
1 Samuel 28:6 "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord Did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets."
Daniel 7:1 "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter."
1 Corinthians 14:1 "Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy."
Amos 3:7 “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets"
Numbers 12:6 "And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream."
Daniel 1:17 "As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams."
Isaiah 46:10 "Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’"
Genesis 46:2 "And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”"
Genesis 28:12 "And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!"
Joel 2:28-32 or Acts 2:16-21 "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day."
Daniel 7:1-28 "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ …"
Daniel 4:5 "I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me."
"THE ONEIROI were the dark-winged spirits (daimones) of dreams which emerged each night like a flock of bats from their cavernous home in Erebos--the land of eternal darkness beyond the rising sun. The Oneiroi passed through one of two gates (pylai). The first of these, made of horn, was the source of the prophetic god-sent dreams, while the other, constructed of ivory, was the source of dreams which were false and without meaning. The term for nightmare was melas oneiros (dark dream)." -https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Oneiroi.html
"Phantasos (Φαντασoς) whose name is "fantasy" or "apparition", is one of the Oneiroi triplets along with Morpheus and Ikelos.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Phantasos was one of the sons (triplets, sometimes simply the most prominent three of many) of Hypnos (god of sleep) and Pasithea (goddess of relaxation, meditation, and hallucinations), or Nyx (goddess of night) and Erebus (god of darkness).
Phantasos' brothers/fellow Oneiroi are Morpheus (who excels in presenting human images) and Ikelos (who presents images of beasts, birds and serpents).
Phantasos was the God of surreal dreams; he represents the inanimate objects seen in Prophetic dreams – images of earth, rock, water, and wood." -https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Phantasos
Latin Religio meaning:
"reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety"
Latin Opinari meaning:
"to have an opinion or "to think."
Relevant Bible Verses:
Mark 11:27-33 - Jesus’ Authority Questioned
1 Samuel 28 - Saul Consults a Medium
Genesis 28:10-22 - Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
Genesis 37 - Joseph’s Dreams
Matthew 12:1 - The Lord of the Sabbath
Matthew 23 - Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses
Mark 7 - Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions
For reference as to the Issuance of Religious Documents, please see Letter “Iuvenescit Ecclesia” to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Regarding the Relationship Between Hierarchical and Charismatic Gifts in the Life and the Mission of the Church in which the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See, accepts that speaking in Tongues and other Charisms are part of the Mission of the Church. To understand this, look to Hellenization when Alexander the Great pulled all the land from Macedonia to Pakistan into 1 Empire, which was then taken by Rome. During Hellenization Statue Crafting, which had gone from Egypt/Kemet to Rome traveled East to India where Statues are made of the Gods now, Christians even know call Hindus "Idolators", believing they Worship Statues, when we are Polytheists (meaning we have many Gods); the Muslims call us Islam calls us Mushrikin, or "Those who put a Partner with God". Meaning, for example, teaching that God had a Wife, or that God had Children, etc, this is Mushrikin. During Hellenization Gem Crafting and other Arts moved from India in the East to Rome in the West. Spices, Herbs, Fruits, Animals and Minerals Traveled between Cultures. The Book Aegyptiaca was written in Egypt/Kemet, by Manetho, who was a Priest of Serapis in Sebennytos where Jesus' family fled from Herod 300 years later…
"Manetho, (flourished c. 300 BCE), Egyptian priest who wrote a history of Egypt in Greek, probably commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246). Manetho’s history has not survived except for some fragments of narrative in Josephus’s treatise“Against Apion” and tables of dynasties, kings, and lengths of reigns given in the works of Julius Africanus, Eusebius, and George Syncellus. The fragments thus preserved showed that Manetho’s work was based on good native sources, perhaps both oral and written. These fragments have been of much service to scholars in determining the succession of kings where the archaeological evidence was inconclusive, and Manetho’s division of the rulers of ancient Egypt into 30 dynasties is still used as the basic framework for ancient Egyptian history." -https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manetho
Berossus wrote Babyloniaca, which was the History of Babylon and Introduced Astrology to the West. You may think of Statues as Eastern, but they came from the West; and you may think of Astrology as Western or Greek, but it comes from the East...
"Berossus T 1-3... a Babylonian, a Chaldean, a priest of Bel (i.e., of Marduk), and a contemporary of Alexander the Great (336-23 b.c.)...Only one work by Berossus is attested, the Babyloniaca, a history of Babylon in three books intended to correct Greek misconceptions about Babylon, which was probably written in 281 b.c." -Encyclopedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 2, pp. 165-166
The Bab created a Religion by stopping one day and beginning to preach, eventually being Executed by the Iranian Government, but Prophesying a Messiah who is thought to have come shortly after, by which time Iran had become Territory divided in Civil War based on exterminating this Religion...
"The Bāb, byname of Mīrzā ʿAlī Moḥammad of Shīrāz, (born October 20, 1819, or October 9, 1820, Shīrāz, Iran—died July 9, 1850, Tabrīz), a merchant’s son whose claim to be the Bāb (Gateway) to the hidden imām (the perfect embodiment of Islamic faith) gave rise to the Bābī religion and made him one of the three central figures of the Bahāʾī Faith." -https://www.britannica.com/biography/the-Bab
Noble Drew Ali is the Founder of the Moorish Science Temple, which is similar to the Shriners, but consider themselves to be Moors, of the Moorish Empire, Morrocan but on a broader scale...
"Noble Drew Ali was the founder and prophet of the Moorish Science Temple of America, the first mass religious community in the history of American Islam and the black nationalist model for the Nation of Islam. He was born Timothy Drew on January 8, 1886, to parents who were ex-slaves in North Carolina. His earliest followers believed that he was an orphan for most of his childhood and was raised by the Cherokee Indians. After several years as a merchant seaman, he established the Canaanite Temple, the first Moorish-American community, in Newark, New Jersey, in 1913. In the 1920s, he renamed his community several times, as the Moorish Holy Temple of Science, the Moorish Science Temple of America, and the Moorish Divine and National Movement of North America, Inc., and founded new temples in several midwestern and southern cities. The Moorish-American community grew to approximately thirty thousand members and was the largest Islamic community in the United States before the ascendancy of the Nation of Islam in the 1950s." -https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/legal-and-political-magazines/noble-drew-ali-1886-1929-religious-leader
"The Vatican’s influence crosses borders and subverts states; it is a metaphysical kingdom, although one with a very real, physical seat. That seat, the Holy See or Vatican City, is so synonymous with Christianity today that it is easy to forget its roots in pagan Rome’s darkest hours. But they are there, buttressing the spiritual state that stands today, counterpointing and reinforcing it.
For the Vatican – itself a pagan term, referring to the Etruscan goddess who guarded the necropolis on Vatican hill and later gave rise to the Latin word for prophecy – was built on a site where Christians were slaughtered and tortured. Including, of course, one of the greatest Christians in all hagiography: Saint Peter himself.
The notorious Caligula built an enormous amphitheater here for public games and races, placing in its center an obelisk from Heliopolis, Egypt in 37 BC. But Nero, arguably the greatest scourge of Christians in the Roman Empire, was said to have been responsible for the execution of St Peter. After the great fire of Rome in 64 AD, Nero blamed the Christians and persecuted them with greater zeal.
Legend has it that the apostle asked to be crucified upside down as he deemed himself unworthy of being killed in the same manner as Christ. Peter’s body was flung into a pauper’s grave, but later recovered and, according to legend, still lies in the heart of the Vatican necropolis.
After Nero’s death, many of his sporting arenas, including the one on Vatican hill, were abandoned or converted. Slowly, this site became a place of pilgrimage and ultimately the seat of the first ever Basilica of Saint Peter, commissioned by Constantine. According to legend, the obelisk that remains from the days of Caligula also marks the spot where Peter was killed. It became a kind of beacon for Christians; many others conquered from the ancient world were dug up, restored and placed across the city by Pope Sisto V (1585-1590), who wanted to help pilgrims to Rome map out their route. If you could followthe line of obelisks set up across the city, you knew you were on the right track. When the Basilica was rebuilt during the Renaissance, the obelisk retained its crucial place in the heart of the square.
The new Basilica’s dome was famously designed by Michelangelo in old age; supposed to represent the head of Christ, the great artist’s assistants feared that Michelangelo’s design was too steep, and softened the shape of the dome. The Basilica is said to stand for the body of Christ, while Bernini’s wonderful curved colonnades are the arms of God, welcoming pilgrims and embracing them. The pilgrim, first seeing this glorious site, could be cowed into fearful submission, if he failed to look up at the saints and apostles on top of the colonnades. Triumphant and encouraging, these saints remind the visitor that they too were once full of sin but have been changed by their faith. Even today, the casual tourist on a trip to the Vatican senses the architect’s purpose and is transported back to the time when this great story began." -https://www.romaexperience.com/rome-blog/true-story-of-the-vatican/
