The Gospel Of Judas and "Barbelo"
Part 1 of a 2-part Feature
B Y   M A R Y   S P A R R O W D A N C E R

THE TRUTH USUALLY surfaces sooner or later regardless of how carefully concealed it is. One of the most stunning truths imaginable has been hidden so well for the last 2000 years that we have not caught a glimpse of its light until the recently surfaced Gospel of Judas. This gospel suggests, among other things, that all generations of people have sat in judgment of Judas based simply on information given to the masses by the most powerful church on earth. In reading this newly surfaced Gospel, and then reading Bishop Irenaeus' scathing rejection of it in 180 A.D., as well as his scathing rejection of all gnostic teachings (personal knowing of the divine), one wonders if this is the tip of the most unfathomable iceberg that ever was. What else has been kept hidden from us by those in control of church and state? Were we told the truth about the identity of Jesus - or was his identity reinvented? If his identity was reinvented, then it appears that humanity's spiritual identity was reinvented as well.

The primary shock and awe caused by the Gospel of Judas has been in the Gospel's suggestion that Jesus asked Judas to betray him. It appears, however, that this Gospel contains hints of something else far more profound - so profound, in fact, that the implications are staggering, but they seem to have escaped notice thus far. It hints of something extraordinary that has been hidden for thousands of years, although in existence since the beginning.

In the "forbidden" gnostic gospels that have begun to emerge from antiquity, we find we have actually been divinely invited to seek the truth and ask questions, because the truth is never marred or harmed by questions. Asking questions only serves to make the truth shine brighter. One might wonder into which direction we should begin a search for the truth at this hour when the truth about anything is very hard to come by. According to the gnostic gospels, the answer from above seems to have been, "go within," because there is something within that awaits discovery.

In the gnostic scriptures, we learn that blind faith has never been demanded of us. Instead, the one we now refer to as "Jesus" (the J is relatively new - it is Iesous in transliterated Greek) urged people to go within and seek the truth and not stop seeking until they found the truth. Only a portion of this appears in the New Testament, but a more complete version can be read in the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. It includes a curious caveat of wisdom after the invitation to come seek and find all that awaits us. The caveat warns that when we discover the truth, we will at first be disturbed as well as astonished.

In the end, however, it is the truth that will set us free.

In looking at the Gospel of Judas (Ioudas) there are two words that are the keys to unlocking an extraordinary mystery. The first key word is, "Barbelo," the word by which Judas identifies Jesus. "I know who you are and where you have come from," Judas says. "You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo."

According to the scholars and editors who worked on the National Geographic translation of the Gospel of Judas, the word Barbelo "apparently comes from Hebrew," and perhaps means God. Others state it remains unexplained, and some suggest it refers to a divine "emanation." (1)

The second key word in the Gospel of Judas is, "betrayal," the word by which we now identify Judas. In looking closely at this word, one finds that its meaning has changed over the centuries - something that is very common. Many other words have changed in meaning as centuries separate us from the original writings.

"Lucifer," for instance, a Latin word that means "light bringer," has now become equated with "satan" or the devil, despite the fact that Lucifer actually appears in the Latin Vulgate as a reference to Jesus. Most people in the US no longer read or speak Latin, and therefore they are unaware of this. (2)

The meaning of "satan" has also changed. Satan comes from Aramaic and simply means adversary or opponent. In Mark 8:33, Jesus refers to Peter as "satan." However, most people in the US do not speak Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic, and so they do not understand the meaning of this word, either. For them, "satan" has now come to be associated with "the devil," personified these days as Lucifer, no less.

"Betrayal," has come to be associated with Judas Iscariot, who - as the spin keeps spinning - has in turn come to be known as the most despicable of all villains. The end result is that currently, no one in their right mind would want to be associated with Lucifer, Judas, satan or a betrayer. It appears that at least a portion of the truth has been hidden in plain view for almost 2000 years. During those same years, it became clear to those in power that the masses could be easily swayed by what they were told, and most would not check the facts for themselves because most could not read. Reading materials were also easily controlled. It was easy to fill people with fear and misunderstanding of words that were once written, once known and once understood. From generation to generation, the legacy of fear has been handed down our tradition.

Betray comes from the Latin word, "tradere." Tradere means to reveal, declare and make known what is seen, including divine revelations. Hardly an evil word, tradere is also the root of the word "tradition." An archaic, Old English word "bewray," appears in Isaiah in the King James Version (KJV) of the bible, and is translated as "to uncover." "Bewrayeth" is found three times in KJV, twice in Proverbs where it is translated as "to proclaim," and "make known," and in Matthew 26:73, it is translated as "to make manifest, evident." (3)

Only when one understands what the word "betray" once meant can one understand the simple truth about Judas. When Judas realized the identity and origin of Jesus - Barbelo - Jesus then asked him to reveal it and make it known to others. Judas did as he was asked. But, if one is to understand what Judas was asked to reveal - a truth that would indeed leave most disturbed as well as astonished - it becomes imperative to find a more definite, plausible meaning for Barbelo.

When I first saw that word, Barbelo, my own impression was that it was not derived from a Hebrew word at all, but that it was possibly coming from an Aramaic phrase, or possibly even referencing a more ancient, Akkadian word. Anyone who has heard of a "bar mitzvah" might realize that "bar," in Aramaic, means son, and in particular, "son of" the word that follows. If Bar means, "Son of," and if, as the scholars say, Barbelo seems to indicate the word "God," the logical procession might be to find a time and language when "God" was once known by a word sounding like "Belo."

One can find some names of gods in the bible, but in order to see what is actually written rather than what has been translated into English, one has to look at the Hebrew. Starting with the first line of Genesis, one can immediately see that in Hebrew, "God" is another of those words that has also changed in meaning over the ages. In English, the bible speaks only of one God, but in Hebrew, in over 2600 instances, the word is plural: "gods," or elohim starting with the first line of Genesis. Since the beginning, the word has been "Gods."

Some of the gods have been identified by name - such as Jehovah or Yahweh - who is believed to be the only god of the universe by approximately half of the people on earth at this time. Jehovah is described as a "war god," with an impressive death count including men, women, children, babies and animals. Although the name of Jehovah only makes it into the English translation four times, in Hebrew it occurs over 6000 times. In English we usually see this word translated as "LORD." (Caps theirs.) Other gods are also named, but as stated, this is translated repeatedly into English as "God." This in turn gives the impression that the entire bible was only referencing the words of one God - Jehovah - when this is apparently not the case.

In some instances, different gods gave conflicting instructions. In Genesis, for example, there were conflicting instructions pertaining to what mankind may and may not eat. In Genesis 1, mankind is told by the unnamed elohim that we may partake of all seed-bearing fruits and vegetation on the face of the earth. There is no mention of anything forbidden, and there is also no mention of Jehovah. The unnamed gods in Genesis 1 stated we were created in their image.

Genesis 2 tells a different story. The Jehovah elohim tell mankind that severe penalties will apply if certain forbidden vegetation is so much as touched. (The list of forbidden fruits and vegetation continues to this day.) Unlike the unnamed elohim in Genesis 1 who stated we are in their image, the Jehovah elohim state instead that we are dust - and will return to dust - an insult that until the Gospel of Judas has been unchallenged.

Of those gods who were identified by name in the Old Testament, there is one who seems to be the chief enemy of the admittedly jealous Jehovah elohim. The name of the enemy god is "Baal." Baal means, "Lord," not to be confused with "LORD," which means Jehovah. People had been acknowledging The Lord for a very, very long time.

Since the earliest known writings, people acknowledged the presence of gods. All over the world, people have known that the gods came from above. Some were very kind and arrived with gifts of food and civil teachings. According to what has been handed down in some teachings, it appears that at least in some cases, the gods took time to point out the location of their lofty homes that were visible in the night sky, and perhaps this is why the ancients then came to identify certain heavenly bodies with the gods. This would at least provide an answer as to why certain heavenly bodies, such as Jupiter, were carefully followed and venerated.

Baal is referred to by name over 60 times in the KJV, and numerous other times in spelling variations. Baal, or the Lord, is known in other languages as Bel, Belos, Belus, and all of these names were references to what we call Jupiter. Jupiter is also known in Greek as Zeus, and it has been observed that the etymology of Jupiter appears to be two words, Zeus Pater, meaning God the Father. Baal is also associated with Dagon, a fish god associated with water and grain. The ancient root of Baal is in the Akkadian language, reaching back to Babylon and "Babel," the tower, is yet another word that has lost its meaning over the centuries. It was reduced to "babble," after it was destroyed by Jehovah, but its meaning prior to its destruction is from Akkadian, "Bab-elu," which means "The Gate of God." Jehovah destroyed the gate and confused the speech of mankind, and the speech continues to be confused today.

Jupiter was called "Marduk belu." "Belu" means "The Great Lord." This appears to bring us back to Barbelo, which, in following this procession would be: Son of the Great Lord, or, Son of Jupiter, God the Father. Since pronunciation changes as a word is spoken in different languages, there is also the possibility that Barbelo might have been reference to "Bab-elu," the Gate of God.

A daring few have noted that the sound of "son" in Modern Greek is pronounced "Yos" and that when it is placed together with Zeus, as in, YosZeus, or even ZeusYos, it seems to have a familiar ring to it. Still others have noted that Virgil's Aeneid, which was written prior to Virgil's death in 19 B.C., tells of a vision in which Zeus was said to have fathered two sons born of a virgin. One son was named Dardanus, and the other is referred to as "Father Iasius" - sounding strangely similar to Esau, who, in Genesis 25:30 is also named "adam." (This word is translated into English as "Edom" although it is spelled in Hebrew the same way "adam" is spelled.) It means red as well as human. According to several translations of the Aeneid - but curiously not all - it is said that the blood of "Father Iasius" and his brother represents the most ancient of the bloodlines of Zeus. (If there were truth in this, it might at least explain why the elusive missing link has never been located by scientists who insist our ancestry is apes, rather than gods.)

We have been told repeatedly of encounters with someone who appears and disappears in a manner that is difficult to describe. He performs his trademark miracles; he heals the sick and reminds us that we should be performing miracles ourselves. He appears to be fully human, and at other times he and the others like him are glowing with an extraordinary light. He seems to have been known by many different names, apparently preferring not to refer to himself by name at all. Throughout the millennia, his messages have been clear, simple and similar. He has imparted teachings about civil liberties and civility, and he seems to be somehow connected to fish, water and grains. In the most ancient times, a similar water deity was referred to as "Ea/Oannes," because he frequently submerged in the waters. John, (as in Baptist), is spelled Ioannes in Greek. He repeatedly told those listening to live just, compassionate and forgiving lives, and he challenged laws that he felt were unjust.

Many believe that Gnosticism predated Christianity. Indeed, perhaps raising the consciousness has resulted in the divine visits of Iesous - a Shining One. One can find ancient written accounts about "the Watchers," (or Shining Ones - glowing beings of great wisdom) referred to in Egyptian writings as netjeru. This word is even mentioned in Jeremiah 4:16 as a warning - the "natzorim" (plural form of ntzr) come from a distant earth to give voice against the cities of Judah. In fact, it appears that this word is the more likely root of the word, "Nazareth," when one considers there was no "town" by this name mentioned by historians, it is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and no one but Jesus is said to have come from this mysterious place. It now seems to have become his descriptive surname.

The great and ancient mysteries of consciousness, however, seem to have been trampled like a serpent and fear has reigned in their place for thousands of years. The only ingredient necessary to assure this ongoing oppression of knowledge has been mandatory ignorance. While we have obeyed, and obeyed, the gates of wisdom and truth were closed, and the Light that is ours by birthright, turned off. A new time is at hand, however. Communication and access to knowledge have finally been restored to us for the first time since the Gate of God was turned to babble by Jehovah. At last, we can finally see that we have been kept ignorant in much the same way that Adam and Eve discovered their nakedness.

Evidence that divine encounters are ours by birthright can be found in our own bodies. We have been physically programmed to encounter the divine. We are born with a pineal gland, two hippocampi, and the mysterious right temporal lobe that some say acts as a receiver. In addition, and as though making certain we might never, ever, lose our most important way, we also have within our bodies the capability of creating a personal dose of dimethyltryptamine - DMT - which is called the "spirit molecule" by physician and researcher, Rick Strassman, M.D. Research shows that when the body creates DMT, it washes through the brain and a gate seems to be opened into another dimension. It is there that many people report face-to-face meetings with very much alive and sentient entities, including Iesous. It would appear that we truly have been invited to seek the divine truth. (4)

Unfortunately, however, at this time fluoride has now been found to be forming concretions in our pineal glands. (The fluoride spin is another one based upon a gamble that people will listen to what is repeated without reading the devastating facts for themselves.) In addition to our pineal glands being turned into pillars of stone, one does not report encountering the divine without risking life, limb, livelihood, reputation and all else. If encounters with angels are dismissed as nonsense or even "temporal lobe epilepsy," encounters with Jesus are met with even worse reactions.

At this time, all vegetation containing substances that might result in a spiritual encounter are as verboten as the Tree of Knowledge in Eden. As if a further safeguard were needed to assure the worried that humanity's spiritual gates would remain closed, DMT has been labeled a "Schedule 1 Controlled Substance" despite the fact that it occurs naturally within our own bodies.

So overwhelming is this fear of human spiritual encounters, it has caused the truth to be distorted and destroyed.

According to Bart D. Ehrman, Ph.D, expert in early Christianity, author of Misquoting Jesus, and one who worked on the National Geographic Gospel of Judas project, many of the texts contained in the New Testament have been altered throughout the years. Because of this, closer attention should be paid to the ancient and more pristine documents now surfacing. In the lost Gospel of Judas, it is apparent that those encountering Iesous were experiencing something far more extraordinary than a simple carpenter who was the lone resident of a neighboring village. (5)

This gospel states that when Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and spoke of mysteries. "Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself" the gospel states. On one occasion, when he found his disciples in "pious observance" and giving thanks to their god, he laughed and they asked why. In his answer, it is made abundantly clear that their god is not his god - he is not the son of their god, and they did not know his identity. In fact, he does not speak highly of their god. (This sentiment can be also found in the New Testament in John 8, where Jesus refers to their god as a liar, a murderer, and the devil.)

Only moments after understanding this, Judas alone makes his observation: "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you."

Hearing Judas say this, Jesus asks Judas (to whom he refers as the "thirteenth spirit") to come and privately hear the mysteries. He tells Judas that Judas will suffer extreme grief and will be replaced with another so that the twelve may "come to completion with their god."

Judas was indeed replaced and when Iesous and Judas left the picture the thirteenth later became Saint Paul, who was never chosen as a disciple. It would be Church-selected teachings of Paul that would then become the foundation of Christianity, while the gnostic teachings of Iesous were anathematized. This is despite the fact that Paul's meeting with Iesous was, as clearly stated, a gnostic encounter. The writings were selected. Writings such as the instructions not to form a church with clergy over laity, and instructions to allow women to speak, were discarded. According to the gnostic teachings, all who had received visions from the divine were already "divinely ordained to speak, whether man or woman." These teachings were declared a heresy. (6)

But eventually, Jesus says, the truth about Judas will become known. When Judas asks him when the great day of light would dawn, Jesus abruptly leaves and reappears the following morning. They ask him where he had been and he answers that he had been to visit a generation that they cannot even imagine - a generation he refers to as "great and holy." They tell him they have had a disturbing vision, and he interprets it for them, telling them that in the future, atrocities will be done in his name. "That is the god you serve," he states, and many will be led astray.

He explains to Judas that god had only "loaned" souls to humanity, thus perhaps churning out workers again and again. But "The Great One," he states, has ordered that souls and spirits be "given" as a gift to the "great and holy" generation over which there will be no ruler. That generation, upon physical death, will be "taken up" - set free at last for having found the truth.

In what can be gleaned from the fragments, Judas is told that all generations will curse him except for one - and at that time, when the truth is known, Judas will be exalted as the greatest of all the disciples for having revealed the truth of Barbelo - and also cursed for having revealed the truth.

It would seem, therefore, that since the old texts have found their way into our hands, the generation spoken of appears to be this one. We have new information in front of us - information that is certain to leave us disturbed as well as astonished. But there is even more information, and this moment seems the appropriate time for it also to be revealed.

 

Next month, Part 2: Long-Kept Secrets

© 2006, Mary Sparrowdancer

REFERENCES

(1) "The Gospel of Judas," 2006, National Geographic Society. Editors: R. Kasser, M. Meyer, G. Wurst. Commentary: B. Ehrman. "Barbelo," p. 23.
(2) "Lucifer" - New Advent, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX, copyright 1910, Appleton Company. May 2006.
Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09410a.htm
(3) "Tradere." The Latin Mass; The Journal of Catholic Culture and Tradition. Fr. Ripperger, 2001. May, 2006. http://www.latinmassmagazine.com/articles/articles_2001_SP_Ripperger.html
(4) The Spirit Molecule - Rick Strassman, M.D. June, 2006. http://www.rickstrassman.com/
(5) "Misquoting Jesus, The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why," 2005, Bart D. Ehrman. HarperCollins.
(6) "The Gnostic Gospels," Elaine Pagels, PhD, Vintage Books, 1981, p 78.
(7) Jupiter's new storm, "Red, Jr." and possible cosmic show. June, 2006 http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/06/05/jupiter.storms/index.html?eref=aol