From time to time, humanity is forced to review their apprehension of the surrounding world. For centuries, it has been considered that the humanity had been barbaric and ignorant for most of its existence. The worldview of antique people has been evaluated as childish and prejudice-driven. And even though our knowledge of the world of our ancestors has changed recently, the old views are still alive.
In particular, the beliefs and faith of ancient Armenians aren’t studied very well. It is widely considered that the Armenian religious traditions’ formation had been influenced by the beliefs of the neighboring populations. However, studies conducted in the recent decades allowed scholars to discover numerous amazing facts.
While the individual accounts of the first Christian religious teachers about the ancient Armenian shrines are fragmentary, their collation allows scholars to conclude that they had been mostly located on the shores of the Araxes, Aratsani, and the Western Euphrates Rivers. On the shore of Aratsani stood the Innankian shrine, as evidenced by the accounts of a 4th-century Armenian historian Zenob Glak who participated in its demolition. He mentions that the Persians and Indians worshipped the shrine as well.
A 19th-century Armenian Catholic priest, historian, and poet Ghevond Alishan made a number of key discoveries, researching the religion of ancient Armenians. He remarks that the shrines located on the shores of the Araxes symbolized the Sacred Seven, the Immanent, and the Creator.
Alishan then analyzes the Armenian word for “God”, “Astvats.” He compares the word with the Indian “Astuattan” from the Vedas and “Asdvat” from the Zoroastrian Avesta. Both these words indicate heavenly entities that can be identified with the Tree of Life, which’s myths are common in Indo-European beliefs. The crown of the Tree was located on the earth, while its roots were up in the heavens.
Alishan claims that a special shrine named “Vramian Krak” (Armenian for “Fire of Vram”) was dedicated to the Sacred Seven. Armenians gave special meaning to the number 3, and that’s why ancient pantheons had 3 main deities. Indians worshipped Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, while Urartian Armenians worshipped Khaldi, Teisheba, and Shivini. Afterwards, Armenians would worship three heavenly deities – Mihr, Vahagn, Vahe – and three earthly deities – Anahit, Nane, and Barsamin. This means that the God and the Tree of Life were one entity connecting the heavens and the earth.
The main shrine of Aramazd was located on the shores of the Western Euphrates in the vicinity of the city of Yerznka. It seems that the name of the city was derived from the phrase “Yer-znk-ka”, which is etymologically is translated from Armenian as “the ringing [voice] of Ara is [there]”. Most likely, Yerznka was dedicated to Aramazd.
In accordance with the ancient Armenian tradition, Aramazd was the messenger of Ara, a cosmic spirit. This is also evidenced by the name of Aramazd: “Ar” means “cosmic spirit”, “Am” indicated a complex of concepts and phenomena, and “Azd” means “sacred news.”
Thereby, the shores of the Araxes were dedicated to the Sacred Seven, the shores of Aratsani to the Sacred Nine, and the shores of the Western Euphrates to the Sacred Eight. The headwaters of all these rivers are located in Byurakn, the name of which means “ten thousand (or countless) headsprings.”
It seems that ancient Armenians divided their country into the domain of Seven, Eight, Nine, as well as into the sacred district of Byurakn. They found that those sites provided them with better opportunities for the connection with cosmic powers.
The Bible, as well as many ancient nations considered Armenia the cradle of humanity and the location of heaven. The Persians called the first human “Ariman” (“Armen”), while Indians called him “Ayamarda” (“one from Armenia”, “human-Armenian”). The Mount Ararat was especially venerated, being considered the place of the humanity’s salvation. Sumerians regarded the higher peak of Ararat, Masis, as the dwelling of gods from where they spoke to the humanity.
The most recent studies attest to the unusualness of Masis. The relative centers of the continent are located at an equal distance from the mount. It is the highest single peak in the world. Besides, it doesn’t house any river headsprings. The mountain also absorbs water from the snow cap and its glaciers to then distribute it throughout the Armenian Highlands.
Until 1840, one of the slopes of Masis accommodated a single spring, which’s sacred water was considered to have healing powers. After Armenians had left the adjacent village of Akori and after it had been settled by the Kurds, an earthquake ruined the village. The spring dried out as well.
Armenian academician Hovhannes Davtyan in his “Theory of fundamental field” attempts to prove that our galaxy possesses a unique field which stores and processes the entirety of information in the galaxy. Having received the information, the field than transfers it back to the source. Davtyan argues that this field is what exactly promotes the development of the galaxy, planet Earth, and humanity.
In the recent years, scholars discovered that water can receive, store, and transfer information. Through our friends, we managed to get glacial water from the peak of Masis for examination. We found out that the energetic activity of this water several thousand times exceeded that of water from other sources. Those who had hiked to the peak of Masis noted the sense of anxiety and unusual isolation present on the peak.
Perhaps, there has been a reason for our pagan and then Christian ancestors to forbid anyone to climb Masis. Our ancestors were perfectly aware that Mount Ararat along with its two peaks corresponds to the Tree of Life. Indians claim that it is Masis that houses the headsprings of the four rivers that spread life all over the planet.
Armenians identify Mount Ararat with God, the Tree of Life, and other chief religious entities. Mount Ararat receives information – the voice of Absolut – from the cosmic center and transfers it to other centers of our planet. This is exactly how the development of our planet and humanity occurs: in accordance with the plans of Absolut and under his control.
Gurgen Karapetyan, analitika.at.ua
