Deception in the Church – Ancient Pagan Origins

By Tony K. & Joanie Stahl (July 2017)

*Black text by Tony K. *Blue text by Joanie S.

Introduction

There is presently an increasing amount of deception creeping into the church. Many may see these deceptions as isolated and non-related; however, in this article we wish to attempt to show the readers that rather than being unrelated, a huge number of these deceptions have had many centuries to grow from ancient pagan and occult roots into the large spreading tree of spiritual beguilement’s that is seen today.

In a sense, it is frequently presented that Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry are opposing forces. Yet, when investigated further, we discover that at the highest level they are in fact part of the same tree, rather than being in opposition to one another. Unfortunately, much of protestant Christianity has been grafted into that tree. In addition, numerous cults are branches that share in the same common roots.

Who would not agree that there is, and has been, a symbol on earth for everything?  

From the beginning of human origin, before an alphabet or numbers, people from all cultures relied on the use of symbols for information and messages – symbols that designated nations, family groups, heraldry, kingdoms, religions, wealth and status, and even warnings.  

Symbols have power to speak without words. They are a visible manifestation, speaking more to the viewer than reading the words that tell of their meanings.

For the sake of time, I want to direct your attention to the religious aspect of symbols. We are all familiar with the most common and well-known Christian symbol…the Cross of Jesus Christ. No one professing Christianity who looks upon that symbol needs to wonder or ask what it means.

If you are a Christian of many years, or a new Believer, just looking at the Cross yields vivid imagery of that notable day of our suffering Lord… His cruel trial, the ghastly scourging He endured, the crown of thorns, and the horrific hours He spent on that Cross for the salvation of all mankind, all project within our minds. We see all of this just by looking at that Cross, and no matter what, Jesus is directly connected to that symbol forever.

The Cross of Jesus Christ heralds a potent message beyond words.

Satan is well aware of symbols and the usage and power of them. From the fall of Adam and Eve, and the catastrophic descent of humanity into spiritual darkness and declension, people immediately became idolaters.  

Even in their lost and fallen state, there remained in them a knowing that something or someone greater than themselves desired to be worshiped. They were aware of an invisible world that they could not grasp or attain, so they began to fashion gods after their own hands made of wood, stone, iron, and brass. Hence enters the worship of Satan.

These idols became images that people bowed down to in worship in the place of the living God. Not realizing it, they were and have been bowing down to the enemy of their souls.  The point I am getting at is that whatever the origin of anything, it remains the same today, even right now.  Things just evolve along with humanity.  If it began as evil or wicked in the first century, B.C., whatever it has evolved into, or re-emerged as today, is as evil and wicked now as it was in its beginnings. 

The same applies for what was birthed of goodness in the first century B.C., and has gone on through the millennia’s still producing goodness.  Both the good and wicked have roots. Make no mistake about it.

Satan began using symbols associated with pagan and idolatrous cultures. The symbols that originated in those cultures have gone on and on throughout the millennia being repackaged. They have been altered a little here and there with each new generation, until no one recognizes what symbols they are seeing daily; much less take any thought of them. They morph into more sophisticated figures, commensurate with our society and cultural popularity and acceptance of them.

The symbols that have their origin from the earliest of time are born of Satan and are in existence today – every day. They have infiltrated our faith, culture, traditions, currency, government, and holidays.  

The vast majority of everyday people have no concept of the things surrounding us in our own nation, steeped in paganism and occult symbolism. They are ignorant of this because the origins are birthed by Satan, centuries and millennia old. Generation after generation, they simply become refurbished, until no longer even visible; nevertheless, the power of their message remain employed by the author of them, who is the Devil.

I would like to add something right here before moving on…  

When I began researching many decades ago, I would perpetually begin somewhere in the middle. If a symbol caught my eye that disturbed my spirit, I would look it up and start from there. However, this always took me into several exhausting directions. It was patchwork knowledge at best, and there was always something missing.  

I was able to learn what the particular symbol meant, but there were loose ends. There were so many unanswered questions; it was like reading a book by starting from the middle.

Not much longer after that, I learned from reading the Word that there is an origin for everything. The Lord simplified it one day by directing my attention to the structure of the Bible starting with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1, KJV.

It made perfect sense. He wanted me to do all my research from then on forensically. This is wisdom and made sense. Most especially, I was compelled by the knowledge that from our point in post-modern history, we are so far removed from the origin of so many symbols we are accustomed to. Supremely the religious ones we have seen all of our lives, and even several generations back by our progenitors. 

After all, if anyone reads Genesis through Revelation, one will get an excellent course on the beginning and end of the outcome of good and evil. Good and evil are highlighted after the fall of Adam and Eve in their two sons Cain and Abel.

Simply put, Cain represents the wicked line, and Abel represents the righteous line of mankind.  Reading through the entire Old Testament genealogies is par excellence. By the time we get to the book of Luke in the New Testament, we see Jesus’ lineage going all the way back to Adam. Cain, who was the wicked one, killed righteous Abel. God intending to have a righteous representative, replaced Abel with another son of Adam and Eve named Seth. 

What is practiced and done here, was practiced and done back then in regards to origins of what is good or evil.  

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be: and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing new under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9, KJV.

Does God need symbols? My answer to this is that God is not in need of anything. Moreover, if He were to have one, many would say that it would be the Cross. However, many more would argue that the Cross is a Roman symbol, not a Christian one. Others say that the true symbol would be a flame of fire symbolizing the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4.

On the flip side of that, there has been innumerable ancient pagan religions that to this present day still bear their original symbols. God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere at all times on earth and in the entire universe. Satan cannot be everywhere at all times. He is a created being. When he fell from heaven after he led a rebellion, (Isaiah 14:12-15), he lost his anointing and now operates in the paranormal.

He has a kingdom that based on networking supernatural power by the agency of fallen, sinful, mankind.

That being said, what Satan has done from the beginning is to introduce idolatry, which is direct worship to himself through objects. The piece [object(s)] that goes with Idolatry in most cases evolves into many phases and dimensions of witchcraft. The basics of witchcraft are cursed objects. What Satan needs are material objects associated with his wide variety of deception.

Do not forget that every false religion and secret society all have objects and symbols of worship.  

Satan, aka the Devil, referred to in the Bible as “Liar” and “Deceiver” being his name, for that is who and what he is.  [See Revelation 20:1-2 & John 8:44].

Symbols are especially important to Satan almost more than cursed objects, though he needs and employs the use of them. It is standard practice of his kingdom. Demons attach themselves to objects, and then when they are taken into possession of the receiver, they come under brutal attack by those demons in a multitudinous array of destructions. Satan’s demons, have the legal right to enter into homes, families, relationships, businesses, and lives by this strategy.

“The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee. 

Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be accursed like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.” – Deuteronomy 7:25-26, KJV.

Image 01-Masonic Rites-Double-headed Eagle (or Phoenix?) and the Cross & Crown. (Click on the image to see it open full size)

When we look at the collage in Image 01, we can see two symbols that run through hundreds of years of religious history. They are by no means the only symbols that do so, but here I will talk briefly about the cross and crown and also the double-headed eagle. Notice how today, both of them are intrinsically linked with Freemasonry. The cross and crown is linked with the York Rite, and the double-headed eagle [or phoenix] is linked with the Scottish Rite.

The Double-Headed Eagle (Phoenix)

Let us first look briefly at the double-headed eagle. The origins of this can be traced back to ancient Babylonia.

The Babylonian custom of merging gods together have some bearing on this design. The double-headed bird may represent Ningersu and Enlil, the union of the Sun god and the Storm god, or it may represent the union of Ningersu and Bau.

As a Masonic symbol, this device is time honoured and appropriate. It is no less the badge of the Grand Inspector and Sublime Prince than that of the Grand Elect Knight. As the symbol of the Inspector, it suggests an equal contemplation of both sides of a question-and thus, judicial balance. It is seen as the fitting emblem of an elect knight in ancient religious engravings, and to the exclusion of the cross itself, it appears upon the banners of the knight and prince who behold the apparition of the virgin and child of the rosary. And, as in ancient Mesopotamia, the double eagle is here associated with the sun symbol in the form of the Chaldean Elu, which the knight and prince wear, evidently with the same ancient meaning: “The light toward which my eyes are turned.” 

Thus does the double-headed eagle stand today for that which it stood in ancient days, its two heads, facing the Ultimate Sun, reminding men and Masons that there is yet even “more light” for the pilgrim who travels East, and in whose heart is the motto,

“SPES MEA IN DEO EST.” ~ Source: The Builder, April 1923

The figure of a double-headed bird is represented in many cultures around the globe, and in various time periods. “The double-headed eagle has been a royal symbol throughout its history until the present day” (Deeds 1935:106). The history of the use of the double-headed eagle in various contexts since the Crusades has been well documented. It has been used as a heraldic emblem of many royal houses, and is still a state symbol in some countries. However, ancient

Near Eastern cultures had used the double-headed bird motif millennia before the Crusades. One striking example is that of the Hittites, for whom it was a “royal insignia” (Collins 2010:60). This paper explores the Mesopotamian origins of the double-headed eagle motif as used by the Hittites.

https://www.uwlax.edu/urc/jur-online/PDF/2011/chariton.ARC.pdf

Ancient images and representations of double-headed eagles are not uncommon. The Hittites called the double-headed eagle “Teshup”. It was called “Garuda” in ancient India, and “Hamca” to the Seliuk Turks. Later it was also the symbol associated with the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. The double-headed eagle is today the symbol of the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry. This symbol can plainly be seen on the cover of Albert Pike’s book, Morals and Dogma. It has also been prominently displayed as a motto of the Ordo Templi Orientis of which Aleister Crowley was at one time the head.

When we dig a little deeper, we can see that the double-headed eagle as portrayed by Mason’s and occult groups is really a double-headed phoenix and not truly an eagle. Look at the following quotes from 33° Mason Manley P. Hall:

Manly P. Hall in his book, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry made the following statement: “These were the immortals to whom the term ‘phoenix’ was applied, and their symbol was the mysterious two-headed bird, now called an eagle, a familiar and little understood Masonic emblem .” (Page 108)

“Among the ancients a fabulous bird called the Phoenix is described by early writers … in size and shape it resembles the eagle, but with certain differences. The body of the Phoenix is one covered with glossy purple feathers, and the plumes in its tail are alternately blue and red. The head of the bird is light in color, and about its neck is a circlet of golden plumage. At the back of its back the Phoenix has a crest of feathers of brilliant color … The Phoenix, it is said, lives for 500 years, and at its death its body opens and the new born Phoenix emerges. Because of this symbolism, the Phoenix is generally regarded as representing immortality and resurrection … The Phoenix is one sign of the secret orders of the ancient world and of the initiate of those orders, for it was common to refer to one who had been accepted into the temples as a man twice born, or reborn. Wisdom confers a new life, and those who become wise are born again.”

Manley P. Hall The Phoenix: An Illustrated Review of Occultism and Philosophy (pages 176-177)

Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma and Scottish Rite Masonic double-headed Phoenix


We can now see the origin of the phoenix and its association with the occult and ancient pagan civilizations. Is it just a coincidence that the double-headed version has been used in the courts of kings and queens, and even on the national flags of various countries? Further into this article, you will see why I have included the double-headed bird as being important when it comes to deception and the church.

The double-headed eagle is a symbol used by Scottish Rite Freemasonry at the higher degrees. The two-headed eagle is mostly used in American Freemasonry as a message that speaks of Freemasonic dominion. There is one body with two heads. The one body represents unity of both York Rite and Scottish Rite, and their looking to the east and to the west means dominion and power coast to coast.

This eagle [or eagles] have their place in Biblical history as the emblem of every traditional enemy of the Jews. The eagle to the Masonic architects of our nation chose it as their symbol. Rather interesting when a history has done this.

One quick story from my family history:

My great grandmother told a story about when she was a little girl. In their home lived her mother, father, an aunt and uncle, along with her siblings.  Her aunt and uncle had gone on a trip to China.  When they returned, a few days later, everyone in the whole house came down with typhoid.  

According to her, everyone was so ill they literally all laid in the living room dying. One day, one of the family members looked up at the fireplace mantle and saw a statue of Buddha that her aunt and uncle brought home as a souvenir.  No one had paid any attention to it until that very moment.  A family member, pointing to it, cried out, “Hey ever since you brought that statue home we have all gotten sick!  Get it out of here!”

Just then, someone got up, grabbed it from off the mantle, took it outside, smashed it, and threw it away.  Within a week, everyone was on the road to recovery.

I said this in order to take this Satanic privilege the enemy formidably employs to demonstrate his use of symbols and objects.  Satan attaches himself and his powers onto his symbols. Symbols are much more effective because they have better infiltrating prowess.  They can more easily enter into humanity at every level than objects, and with absolute certainty, they are the property of Satan who is attached to them.

In light of the current topic that Tony investigated, and the symbols he has shared, these are perfect examples.  

The Cross and Crown

The second symbol I want to present is the Cross and Crown. This is the symbol of the Knights Templar, adopted by the York Rite of Freemasonry.

The Cross & Crown Masons- JW’s-LDS-Christian Science-Knights Templar

The Cross and Crown are widely used by heretical religions such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, The First Church of Christ, Christian Science, and the Catholic Church just to name the obvious.  All of them share the same symbols.  

This is unsurprising in light of the fact that these religions are totally heretical and founded on lies and pure deception.  Many of their founders are well-known spiritists, occult practitioners, Freemasons, and necromancers.  They channelled their doctrines through spirits beings (demons) that gave them special insights, manifesting “doctrines of demons.”  With the exception of Catholicism, they are all deniers of the Triune Godhead, denying the place of Jesus Christ as God and demoting Him to a created being and worse.

If you were to visit the tombs of Charles Taze Russel, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witness organization, you would see an enormous pyramid that he is buried under, with the Cross and Crown emblem on it. 

The pyramid is one of the most important symbols of Freemasonry. It represents the powers of “Lucifer the Light Bearer who gives light.” The point of the pyramid pointing to Baal, or Lucifer as the god of Freemasonry, whose rays of light reflect off all four sides of the pyramid, giving his light to the world. The Cross and Crown representing the high ranking degree of Knights Templar which is York Rite Freemasonry’s religious mystical orders.

 

If you were to visit Ellen G. White’s tomb, the avowed Prophetess of the 7th Day Adventist Movement, you would see an enormous obelisk over her grave. This is another prominent symbol of Freemasonry. This only names a couple who have been enormously deceived and enormously influential at deceiving untold, innumerable masses by the billions.

The Cross and Crown symbol has its origins in the Knights Templar who were warrior-priest monks aligned with the Catholic Church. They were murderers, lawless, foul-mouthed, drunkards and marauders, steeped in revelry, all in the name of God.

Their symbol is also used in Freemasonry. There are two arms of American Freemasonry.  One is Scottish Rite, which is southern, while the York Rite Freemasonry is northeastern. This is the one that has religious, mystical orders who employ the symbol of Cross and Crown. All the degrees of York Rite Freemasonry are religious and mystical.

The Cross and Crown is also a symbol depicting sex between male and female counterparts. This is a well-known fact in Freemasonry and occult communities.

 


The Obelisk

According to Wikipedia, Rome harbours the most obelisks of anywhere in the world. Popes notably erected some of them. Thus, we see their importance to the Roman Catholic Church. They are also important to Freemasons, as seen in the quotes below. Why is an ancient phallic symbol important to Freemasons and the Vatican? Ask yourself that question.

 

The initiate of old saw in the obelisk the very spirit of the God he worshiped.

All this is more interesting than important.  The symbolical meaning of the pillars is the vital matter to Freemasons.  In the eyes of critical scholarship, the ancient meaning was of the might and majesty of Deity.  From the dawn of religion the pillar, monolith or built up, has played an important part of the worship of the Unseen.  From the huge boulders of Stonehenge, among which the Druids are supposed to have performed their rites, through East Indian temples, to the religion of ancient Egypt, scholars trace the use of pillars as an essential part of the religious worship; indeed, in Egypt the obelisk stood for the very presence of the Sun God himself.

SHORT TALK BULLETINVol.XIII   September, 1935   No.9

 

http://www.masonicworld.com/education/files/artjuly01/twopillars.htm


It had been a tradition in America to have the cornerstone of major public and private buildings and monuments consecrated with full Masonic rites, ever since President George Washington, on September 18, 1793, had personally laid the cornerstone of the United States Capital, with the assistance of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. Similarly, the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid in a Masonic ceremony.

~ R. W. Robert C. Singer, Deputy Grand Master Grand Lodge, F. & A.M., New York

Here is another piece of information worth sharing:

Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, is a full-fledged member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Remember, he was chosen by Barack Obama to be one of a five-man faith council with the initiative to bring down doctrinal walls of differences for the sake of peace, and embracing ecumenical unity. In 2015, he went with a team of men to Salt Lake City to meet with the top leaders of the Mormon Church to offer an apology on Christendom’s behalf, and to ask forgiveness.  

The Late Tim LaHaye, co-author of the “Left Behind” series, was also a member of the CFR, and filled in as interim speaker. He readily employed the use of the Cross and Crown.

There is a religious arm of the CFR. Yet, they deny it as being religious, but that they only care about the people in different religions and their ongoing issues. A careful reading into their doctrines reveals that their primary initiative is to get all religions to lay down their doctrinal differences and embrace for the sake of unity. This is being accomplished wholesale these days, which makes it increasingly difficult and even dangerous to casually say you are a Christian. No true Christian is going to lay down the doctrine of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ alone. [See John 14:6, John 3:15-17].

The Knights of Malta

It never ceases to amaze me how people in Protestant Christian ministries get away with belonging to secret societies or long standing Roman Catholic Orders. They come up with all sorts of justifications as to why it is acceptable that they do so. Many people who are not interested in digging deeper let this slide into their acceptance.

One such example is the Knights of Malta (also known as The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem). Take note that from the images in this article that the insignia or coat of arms of this order is a double-headed eagle (phoenix). Notice how closely it resembles the Russian Federation coat of arms from 1796. Also, notice from the quotes in the attached images that the Knights of Malta is, and always has been, a Catholic Order.

Observe how one of the degrees in York Rite Masonry is named The Order of The Knights of Malta. Rick Joyner, a Protestant and self-proclaimed “Prophet”, is a member of the Knights of Malta as seen in the images. I have included quotes from Joyner and from the Knights of Malta. I ask the reader to examine them carefully. The truth should be plain to see. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

 Knights of Malta & Russian (Order Of St John Of Jerusalem)

Now Mr Joyner, if we go back up to the section I have written on the origin of the double-headed phoenix, and also go back and look at the association between the Knights of Malta and The Vatican, are we really just “paranoid” as you state?

The All-Seeing Eye

I find it interesting that Masons deny that the All-Seeing Eye, Eye of Providence, Eye of Ra, Eye of Horus centred in a pyramid is a Masonic symbol. The Grand Lodges of Scotland website claims that the Eye in a pyramid as seen on the US Dollar, and the Seal of the United States, is not Masonic.

 

The committees and consultants who designed the Great Seal of the United States contained only one Mason, Benjamin Franklin. The only possibly Masonic design element among the very many on the seal is the eye of providence, and the interpretation of it by the designers is different from that used by Masons. The eye on the seal represents an active intervention of God in the affairs of men, while the Masonic symbol stands for a passive awareness by God of the activities of men. The first “official” use and definition of the all-seeing eye as a Masonic symbol seems to have come in 1797 with The Freemason’s Monitor of Thomas Smith Webb—14 years after Congress adopted the design for the seal. 

http://www.grandlodgescotland.com/masonic-subjects/masonic-articles/412-the-eye-in-the-pyramid

We can clearly see an eye in a pyramid atop an historic Masonic Temple in Spain shown in the picture below. We also see this same symbol found in many other religious denominations as well as cults. Curiously, this eye is also seen in combination with a square and compass in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

In the following image, we see the All-Seeing Eye in an inverted pyramid, also showing two Masonic aprons. The Eye of Ra, Horus, or Osiris is an ancient symbol. As we know, so is the pyramid. In The Renaissance Period, Christian use of the three sides of the pyramid representing the Trinity with the eye of God in the center, could at best only be seen as an adoption of symbols taken from ancient pagan civilizations. It has no Biblical roots, nor does it bare any relation to the gospel message.


 

I came across a great source about 20 years ago. His name is Myron Fagan. I listened to nearly five hours to his lectures, teaching about the Illuminati and Freemasonry. In my opinion, it was by far one of the best lectures I have come to research. I want to share something I learned from him.  

Before you read it, just keep in mind that the research into Freemasonic societies and networks of Luciferian power on all levels, is vast and takes much patience because the process of deduction is enormous.  

By the time I came upon Fagan’s lectures, I had enough under my belt to determine that though his information was not impeccable, it was hugely factual. Therefore, if any of you are more advanced in this research, please pardon me for any errors you notice and I invite you to share your views with me.

The following several paragraphs are from Myron Fagan (paraphrased):

The Council on Foreign Relations, or CFR for short, is actually a new repackaged name for the Illuminati. A short time before Nathan Rothschild’s death, one of his closest friends and associates, Jacob Schiff, an American Jewish Banker, was given power by Nathan Rothschild to present the illuminati a new name because so many of the inner workings of that network had been exposed. The new cover name they came up with became the “Council on Foreign Relations”.

Before his death in 1908, Nathan Rothschild gave Jacob Schiff a list of instructions to carry out regarding subversive secret plans and blueprints regarding the domination of America on every level. There is not enough time here to go through it all.

The one I want to mention is of Rothschild instructing Schiff to bring down Christianity by infiltrating the Baptist church. The Baptist church, according to what Fagan said, was that they were at that time, demographically the higher percentage making up the Christian denominations. The method was employed by sending agent provocateurs feigning to be Christian men who were then entering into Baptist seminaries. They then graduated as Pastors who went out setting up Baptist Churches.  

They were fully funded to open up their churches by the CFR shadow donors. The intention was to water down the Gospel to the point of a future, full-scale ecumenical embrace of all religions. This is what we are now seeing.  

The obvious truly is in view. The setup of a One World Religion comprised of an amalgamation of every religion on the face of the earth. This would be “the woman that rides the Beast” in the book of Revelation.  

The members of this One World Religion will be representative of every religion that is comprised of all faiths and all religions upon the face of the earth. The fact that she sits upon the Beast is indicative of the support of the Beast system, along with support of the “Man of Sin,” (the Antichrist), for at least a period of a short space of time.

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.  

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations an filthiness of her fornications.

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” – Revelation 17:3-6, KJV.

My hope is that after reading this article, everyone as good students will come to their own conclusions and do their own research… that is the purpose of these things we bring to light. It is not to be the experts on these subject matters, but to shine a light from time to time into the very darkness that is all around us, and upon this earth.

Shalom 

Thanks to Brook Ardoin for help in editing this article.

Additional References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-headed_eagle

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/49345/49345-h/49345-h.htm

http://www.masonicdictionary.com/doubleeagle.html

http://www.cuttingedge.org/free12.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar_(Freemasonry)

https://www.scribd.com/doc/147303450/Ellen-G-White-s-Pillar-of-Baal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk

https://www.newswithviews.com/Horn/thomas131.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_obelisks_in_Rome

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Horus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Providence