This page under construction. For now "enjoy" my rough notes.

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The Smoke Monster

Named Cerberus

Similarities to the mythological Cerberus: three heads - three puffs of smoke, protects escape from Hades - protects

island and not interested in more guests coming, three heads represent periods of time - ?, judgement - judgement

3 headed dog that guards the gates of Hades to prevent those who have crossed the River Styx from ever escaping. Latinised version of Greek "Kerberos" (spotted - Proto-Indo-European) Cerberus is the sibling of the Lernaean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, and the Chimaera (and possibly Stymphalian birds, Ladon

[questionable], and the Sphinx). He has 3 heads, a mane of live serpents, and a dragon's tail. The three heads are

said to represent the past, the present, and the future (others say birth, youth, and old age). He eats only live meat

to allow the spirits of the dead to freely enter the underworld. Hercules was given the task to capture Cerberus alive.

Hercules first had to learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive.  Hades (god) agreed to allow Hercules to bring 

Cerberus to the surface if he could overpower the beast without weapons. He did so and slung the beast over his back,

dragging it out of Hades through a cavern entrance and bringing it to the King. The King was so frightened of it, he

asked Hercules to return it to Hades in return for releasing him from his labors.

Orthrus, a two-headed hellhound was his brother.

The Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast that possessed 9+ heads with deadly breath

and tracks. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian. Parents of the Hydra

was Typhon (most deadly monster of Gr. myth.) and Echidna, who were offspring of the earth goddess Gaia and Tartarus.

Sometimes it is said they are offspring of Ceto and Phorcys or of Chrysaor and the naiad Callirhoe or of Peiras and Styx

(Cerberus keeps those who have crossed the River Styx from escaping from Hades).

Typhon attempted to destroy Zeus at the request of his mother Gaia because Zeus had imprisoned the Titans. Typhon had a

human upper half that reached as high as the stars; his hands reached east and west with 100 dragon heads on each; his

bottom half was gigantic viper coils that could reach the top of his head when streched out and made a hissing noise.

His body was covered in wings and fire flashed from his eyes. He was defeated by Zeus, who trapped Typhon underneath

Mt. Etna.

Echidna was called the mother of all monsters. She was spawned in a cave. Shw produced with Typhon every major

horrible monster in the Greek myths. She is half nymph and half snake with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the

secret parts of the earth. She has a cave deep down under a hollow rock. There the gods appoint her a glorious house

to dwell in. She keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth. She never dies or grows old. Her face and torso of a

beautiful woman was depicted as winged but always with a body of a serpent. Sometimes has two serpent tails.

Protectors of the vineyard. Cave site is called the couch of Typhoeus (Typhon). After Zeus defeated Typhon, he allowed

Echidna and her children to live. She was killed in her sleep by Augus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed giant. According to

one source, she is the Queen of the Forest and gave Hercules four children (Agathyrsi, Gelonus, Scythes, Scytha). From

the Greek meaning "she viper".

Gaia, "land" or "earth" from the ancient greek. She is a mother goddess, a primordial/chthonic deity. Her Roman

equivalent goddess is the Terra Mater. She arose after Chaos, was broad-breasted, and the foundation of the gods of

Olympus. She brought forth Uranus, the starry sky and her equal (her son), to cover the hills, and the fruitless deep

of the Sea, Pontus, "without sweet union of love". She lay with Uranus and bore the oceans. Offspring were Oceanus,

Coeus, Crius, Hyperion (titan) and Iapetus (titan), Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, and Phoebe, Tethys, Cronus, Brontes

(thunder), Sterodes (lightning), Arges, Cottus, Briareos, Gyges. After the castration of Uranus, Gaia gave birth to

Echidna and Typhon by Tartarus. Gaia may be the origin deity behind the Oracle at Delphi. Powers were passed onto

Poseidon, Apollo, or Themis. In ancient Greek, the most binding oath was to be sworn in the name of Gaia. Gaia was

born of Chaos, god of the air. He is the first of the Protogenoi. He is described as the original state of existence,

the dark void of space, made from a mixture of the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. Chaos may be equal to

the Sumerian Tiamat, the Dragon of Chaos, from whose dismembered body the world was formed.

BANYAN TREE OFFERS PROTECTION FROM CERBERUS When in the roots of the Banyan tree, one is protected from the smoke monster. In mythology (whose myth?), the Banyan tree is called

the "Tree of Knowledge" and "Tree of Life". Jesus was called "the tree of life". The banyan tree is the symbol of

spirit and matter, descending to the earth, striking root, and then re-ascending to heavenward again. It germinates in

another tree and drops its roots to the ground. The pattern of its roots is looked upon by Hindus as a holy union (with

the host tree) but marks the beginning of a long struggle between the so-called strangling banyan tree and its host. In

Hindu, it is also called "wish fulfilling tree". It represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding

branches. It is considered a sin to destroy one of these trees. In the tale of Satyavan and Savitri of the Buddhist

Jataka tales, Savyavan lost his life beneath the branches of a banyan. Savitri courageously entered into a debate with

Yama, the God of Death, and won his life back.

ANABIS AND CERBERUS In an engraving below the Temple wall, the Monster is facing what appears to be the Egyptian god Anubis. Anubis was a

jackel-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as

Inpu (or Anpu, or Anupu, or lenpw). Anubis was the most important god of the Dead, replaced laster by the Middle

Kingdom Osiris (Anubis' father). Anubis' mother was Nephtlhys (twin sister of Osiris' wife; tricked). In connection

with his funerary role, he is known as "HE who is upon his mountain". He protected the deceased and their tombs. No

public procession in ancient Egypt was conducted without Anubis at its head. Anubis was the god to protect the dead and

bring them to the afterlife. The jackel was strongly associated with cemetaries in ancient Egypt, as it threatened to

uncover human bodies and eat their flesh. Anubis' black color had to do with the color of rotting flesh and the black

soil of the Nile valley, symbolizing rebirth. He was originally the god of the underworld. After the unification of

the Ennead and Ogdoad belief systems when Anubis was replaced by Osiris, Anubis retained the aspect of being considered

the gatekeeper and ruler of the underworld, the "Guardian of the Veil (of death)". He was said to protect souls as they

journeyed there, and thus be the patron of lost souls and orphans. Anubis' cult was centered in Upper Egypt. Much

later, during the Ptolemaic period, Anubis came to be identified as the Greek god Hermes (Hermanubis). The Greeks and

Romans often scorned Egypt's animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive, but still associated Anubis with Sirius and

Cerberus.

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Taweret Statue

Egyptian goddess of birth, rebirth, and the northern sky. Goddess of childbirth and fertility. Her name means "one who

is great". She became the demon-wife of Apep, the original god of evil. Apep resided below the horizon and was only

present at night, so evil during the day was envisaged as being a result of Taweret. She was a composite of all the

things the Egyptians feared. She had the arms and legs of a lioness, the back of a crocodile, and the major part a

hippopotamus. Female hips only showed aggression when protecting their young, so Taweret was a deity of protection in

pregnancy and childbirth. The ankh is a symbol of life and she was often seen with this. She was often seen in

connectino with the annual flooding of the Nile River and the harvest it brought. As Apep's consort, she was often seen

as one who protected against evil by restraining it. Later, Set became the the god of evil, replacing Apep and Taweret

became seen as his concubine (not wife). Taweret eventually became Mut, the great-mother goddess.

Jacob lives under it. This is similar to Echidna who has a cave deep down under a hollow rock. Echidna was the mother

to Cerberus. (Maybe Jacob is Orthrus, two headed dog brother to Cerberus.)

About Orthrus: he and his master Eurytion were charged with guarding Geryon's herd of red cattle in the "sunset" land of

Erytheia ("red one"), one of the islands of the Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. Hercules everntually

slew Orthrus (along with Eurytion and Geryon) before taking the red cattle to complete his tenth labor. (His 12th and

last labor was to capture Cerberus.)