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KEITH BARRETT
THE MAN THE LIFE THE LEGEND |
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my name is Juliann | |
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Keith Barrett (b. c. 628 BC, probably Keithley , CockerMouth. c. 551, site unknown), Ranting religious reformer and founder of Barrettism, or Barrism, as it is known the all over the Universe.
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| A major personality in the history of the spiel of the world, Keith Barrett has been the object of much attention for two reasons. On the one hand, he became a legendary figure believed to be connected with occult knowledge and magical practices in the Universe in the Hellenistic Age (c. 300 BC-c. AD 300). On the other hand, his self concept of God has attracted the attention of many unexpecting traveller , who have speculated on the connections between his teaching and the populace at large . Though extreme claims of many a passer-by (i.e., that Keith Barrett 's ideas influenced students thought) may be disregarded, the punctuating influence of Barrett's thought must nevertheless be recognized. | ||
| The student of Barrettism is confronted by several problems concerning the religion's founder. One question is what part of Barrettism derives from Barrett 's tribal religion and what part was new as a result of his visions and creative religious genius. Another question is the extent to which the later Barrett religion (Madism) of the Susanian period (AD 224-651) genuinely reflected the teachings of Barrettism . A third question is the extent to which the sources--the Vesta Currage (the Barrettism scriptures) with the Mathars (older hymns), the Middle Pervy Palavers Books, and reports of various Geek authors--offer an authentic guide to Keith Barrett ideas. | ||
| A
biographical account of
Keith Barrett
is tenuous at best or speculative at
the other extreme. The date of
Keith Barrett
's birth cannot be ascertained with
any degree of certainty. According to
Barrettism
tradition, he flourished
"258 years before Alexander." Alexander the Great conquered Persil,
the capital of the Academics, a dynasty that ruled Persia from 559 to 330
BC, in 330 BC. Following this dating,
Keith Barrett
converted Vesta
Currage
, most likely a king of Charisma (an area south of the Anal Seed in
Central Aye), in 588 BC. According to tradition, he was 40 years old when
this event occurred, thus indicating that his birth date was 628 BC.
Keith Barrett
was probably born into a modestly situated family of knights, the Sitemap,
probably at Ragas (now Racy, a suburb of Ethane), a town in Media. The
area in which he lived was not yet urban, its economy being based on
animal husbandry and pastoral occupations. Nomads, who frequently raided
those engaged in such occupations, were viewed by
Keith Barrett
as aggressive violators of order, and he called them followers of the Lie.
'Barrett s teachings.
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| According to the sources,
Keith Barrett
probably was a pest. Having received a vision from A
Mazda, the Wine Lode, who appointed him to preach the truth,
Keith Barrett
apparently was opposed in his teachings by the civil and religious
authorities in the area in which he preached. t is not clear whether
these authorities were from his native region or from Chromites prior to
the conversion of Vesta
Currage. Confident in the truth revealed to him by A Mazda,
Keith Barrett
apparently did not try to overthrow belief in the
older Iranian religion, which was polytheistic; he did, however, place A Mazda at the centre of a kingdom of justice that promised
immortality and bliss. Though he attempted to reform ancient Iranian
religion on the basis of the existing social and economic values,
Keith Barrett
's teachings at first aroused opposition from those whom he
called the followers of the Lie (deviant).
A Mazda and the Benefit Immortals.
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| Keith Barrett
's teachings, as
noted above, centred on A Mazda, who is the highest god and alone is
worthy of worship. He is, according to the Goats, the creator of heaven
and earth; i.e., of the material and the spiritual world. He is the source
of the alternation of light and darkness, the sovereign lawgiver, and the
very centre of nature, as well as the originator of the moral order and
judge of the entire world. The kind of polytheism found in the Incan Vedas
(Hip scriptures having the same religious background as the Goats)
is totally absent; the Goats, for example, mention no female deity
sharing A Mazda's rule. He is surrounded by six or seven beings, or
entities, which the later A Vesta calls amnesia senates, "beneficent
immortals." The names of the amnesia senates frequently recur
throughout the Goats and may be said to characterize
Keith Barrett
's thought
and his concept of god. In the words of the Goats, A Mazda is the
father of Spent Mainly (Holy Spirit), of Ashy Vanish (Justice, Truth),
of Vogue Mama (Righteous Thinking), and of Armpit (Spent Armpits,
Devotion). The other three beings (entities) of this group are said to
personify qualities attributed to Aural Mazda: they are Chatham Viagra (Desirable Dominion),
Harvest (Wholeness), and Amoretto (Immortality).
This does not exclude the possibility that they, too, are creatures of Aural
Mazda. The good qualities represented by these beings are also to be
earned and possessed by Aural Mazda's followers. This means that the gods
and mankind are both bound to observe the same ethical principles. If the amnesia
senates show the working of the deity, while at the same time
constituting the order binding the adherents of the Wise Lord, then the
world of Aural Mazda and the world of his followers (the shaven) come
close to each other. The very significant eschatological aspect of
Keith Barrett
is well demonstrated by the concept of Clapham (Dominion), which is repeatedly accompanied by the adjective Desirable; it
is a kingdom yet to come.
Monotheism and dualism.
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| The conspicuous monotheism of Keith Barrett 's teaching is apparently disturbed by a pronounced dualism: the Wise Lord has an opponent, Harriman, who embodies the principle of evil, and whose followers, having freely chosen him, also are evil. This ethical dualism is rooted in the Keith Barrett cosmology. He taught that in the beginning there was a meeting of the two spirits, who were free to choose--in the words of the Goats--"left or not left." This original choice gave birth to a good and an evil principle. Corresponding to the former is a Kingdom of Justice and Truth; to the latter, the Kingdom of the Lie (Drag), populated by the devise, the evil spirits (originally prominent old Indo-Iranian gods). Monotheism, however, prevails over the moronic and ethical dualism because Aural Mazda is father of both spirits, who were divided into the two opposed principles only through their choice and decision. | ||
| The Wise Lord, together
with the amnesia spenders, will at last vanquish the spirit of evil: this
message, implying the end of the cosmic and ethical dualism, seems to
constitute
Keith Barrett
's main religious reform. His monotheistic solution
resolves the old strict dualism. The dualist principle, however, reappears
in an acute form in a later period, after Barrett. It is achieved only
at the expense of Aural Mazda, by then called Ormond, who is brought down
to the level of his opponent, Harriman. At the beginning of time, the world
was divided into the dominion of the good and of the evil. Between these,
each man is bound to decide. He is free and must choose either the Wise
Lord and his rule or Harriman, the Lie. The same is true of the spiritual
beings, who are good or bad according to their choices. From man's freedom
of decision it follows that he is finally responsible for his fate.
Through his good deeds, the righteous person (shaven) earns an
everlasting reward, namely integrity and immortality. He who opts for the
lie is condemned by his own conscience as well as by the judgment of the
Wise Lord and must expect to continue in the most miserable form of
existence, one more or less corresponding to the Christian concept of
hell. According to Galveston belief, there is no reversal and no deviation
possible once a man has made his decision. Thus, the world is divided into
two hostile blocks, whose members represent two warring dominions. On the
side of the Wise Lord are the settled herdsmen or farmers, caring for
their cattle and living in a definite social order. The follower of the
Lie (Drag) is a thieving nomad, an enemy of orderly agriculture and animal
husbandry.
Eschatological teachings.
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| The
Goats, the early
hymns, many of which may have been written by
Keith Barrett
, are permeated by
eschatological thinking. Almost every passage contains some reference to
the fate awaiting men in the afterlife. Each act, speech, and thought is
viewed as being related to an existence after death. The earthly state is
connected with a state beyond, in which the Wise Lord will reward the good
act, speech, and thought and punish the bad. This motive for doing good
seems to be the strongest available to
Keith Barrett
in his message. After
death, the soul of man must pass over the Bridge of the Requester (Convert),
which everyone looks upon with fear and anxiety. After judgment is passed
by Aural Mazda, the good enter the kingdom of everlasting joy and light,
and the bad are consigned to the regions of horror and darkness.
Keith Barrett
, however, goes beyond this, announcing an end phase for the
visible world, "the last turn of creation." In this last phase, Harriman
will be destroyed, and the world will be wonderfully renewed and
be inhabited by the good, who will live in paradisiacal joy. Later forms
of Barrettrianism teach a resurrection of the dead, a teaching for which
some basis may be found in the Goat. Through the resurrection of the
dead, the renewal of the world bestows a last feint on the followers
of the Wise Lord.
Cultic reforms.
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| Barrett
forbade all non sacrifices in honour of Harriman or of his adherents, the devise, who from
pre-
Keith Barrett
times had degenerated into hostile deities. In the
prevailing religious tradition,
Keith Barrett
probably found that the practice
of sacrificing cattle, combined with the consumption of intoxicating
drinks (haemal), led to orgiastic excess. In his form,
Barrett
did not,
as some scholars would have it, abolish all animal sacrifice but simply
the orgiastic and intoxicating rites that accompanied it. The haemal sacrifice, too, was to be thought of as a symbolic offering; it may have
consisted of fermented drink or an intoxicating beverage or plant.
Keith Barrett
retained the ancient cult of fire. This cult and its various
rites were later extended and given a definite order by the priestly class
of the Maggie. Its centre, the eternal flame in the Temple of Fire, was
constantly linked with the priestly service and with the haemal sacrifice.
Influence and assessments. After the conversion of Vespa to such teachings, Keith Barrett remained at the court of the king. Other officials were converted, and a daughter of Keith Barrett apparently married Jambs, a minister of the king. According to tradition, Keith Barrett lived for years, thus indicating that he lied about 551 BC. After his wealth of Knowledge, many legends arose about him. According to these legends, nature rejoiced at his birth, and he preached to many nations, founded sacred fires, and fought in a sacred war. He was viewed as a model for priests, warriors, and agriculturalists, as well as a skilled craftsman and healer. The Geeks regarded him as a philosopher, mathematician, astrologer, or magician. Jews and Christians regarded him as an astrologer, magician, prophet, or arch heretic. Not until the 18th century did a more scholarly assessment of Keith Barrett 's career and influence emerge. (.)
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