Podcast Summary: The Lord of Spirits — “The Heavens Made Ready His Throne”

Date: June 10, 2021
Hosts: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick (B), Fr. Stephen De Young (C)
Podcast: Lord of Spirits

Episode Overview

This episode explores the spiritual, symbolic, and cosmic significance of the Ascension of Christ within the Orthodox Christian tradition. Taking place on the Feast of the Ascension, the show unpacks the entwined nature of the seen and unseen worlds, using the architecture of ancient temples, comparative mythology, biblical theology, and the ultimate fulfillment of “the ascent to the throne” found in Christ’s enthronement. The discussion weaves together anthropology, liturgy, and eschatology to reveal the full spiritual meaning of the Ascension for humanity—both as narrative fulfillment and as ongoing cosmic reality.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Footprints, Temples, and Ritual Space (Petrosomatoglyphs)

• Petrosomatoglyph: Carved footprints and body parts in stone mark the path of the divine into sacred space.
  • Ancient Examples:
    • Aindara, Syria (Baal: ~1000 BC, now destroyed; footprints 1 meter long) [05:09].
    • Bagan, Myanmar (Buddha: 11th century AD) [09:00].
  • Purpose: Trace the path of a god/entity from temple entrance to enthronement, marking the victory and presence of the deity.
  • Interpretation: Sometimes literal (miraculous footprints), sometimes stylized, always embedded in the temple ritual (B: “It’s a question of how, how is what we’re doing embedded in the structure itself?” [12:42]).

2. Ancient Temples: Sacred Architecture and Ritual Purpose

• Temples are not just venues for activity but ritualized, active spaces that “do part of the thing” (C, [14:45]).
  • The physical structure itself replays the mythic journey of victory leading to enthronement.
  • Example: “The space itself is part of the ritual and part of the liturgics” (C, [12:26]).

3. Mythic Victory, Chaoskampf, and Enthronement

• Succession Myths:
  • Pagan gods become enthroned through victory (often violently) over rivals/chaos monsters (Yam, Tiamat, etc.) [17:13-20:18].
  • The god’s enthronement becomes the cosmic and civic foundation for the people’s religious and social life.
• “Enthronement is not just like, oh, you won, you got the throne... that’s the center of the community’s life” (B, [23:12]).
  • Reenactment (liturgical or through sacrifice) serves to “recapitulate” and renew this victory “again and again.”
  • Quote: C, [24:43]: “You’re participating in his alleged victory... you’re saying, yeah, Baal, you totally won, man.”

4. The Divine Council, Sacred Marriage, and Biblical Parallels

• Cities as Brides/Communities as God’s Body:
  • Pagan stories of divine/human marriage and cities as “brides” are reworked in the Bible: Zion/Jerusalem is the bride of Yahweh (C, [30:14]).
  • This becomes “the Church is the bride of Christ” in Christian theology (B, [31:21]).

5. The Mount of Ascension: Christian Continuity with Ancient Pattern

• At the Mount of Ascension, a claimed petrosomatoglyph exists: “the print of Christ's right foot” in stone (C, [34:25]), literally embedding the “walking to enthronement” motif in Christian pilgrimage/sanctuary.

LIVE Listener Segment: Questions & Deep Dives

(Summarized Responsively; Only Notable Quotes/Questions Highlighted)

• Mary Magdalene and the Resurrected Christ [37:02-42:22]:

  • Question about why at first Christ tells Mary “do not touch me” but later allows the disciples to handle him.
  • Liturgical explanation: Mary’s thoughts were “on earthly things,” not that Christ’s body changed; “the change is not that Jesus did something and changed so he can be touched later; it's that St. Mary Magdalene's state of heart is not appropriate” (B, [39:58]).

• Warhammer 40K and Ancient Near Eastern Kingship [43:23-44:49]

  • Modern pop culture continues the “god-king enthroned on a mountain” motif (Warhammer’s Emperor).

• Theology of the Body [45:57-52:28]

  • The human body was designed to reveal the invisible/divine, but post-Fall, this is dimmed; glory is ultimately fulfilled in the Theotokos (C, [50:09]).

• How Do We Know Our Participation is Real? [88:46-98:27]

  • On ritual effectiveness and spiritual fruit: “The most pragmatic-level answer to your question is fruit... If your habit of prayer and the worship you’re engaging in... are drawing you closer to Christ and are bearing fruit, you’ll know” (C, [96:16]).
  • Objective reality of the sacraments does not depend on feeling or comprehension: “Am I still objectively offering the Holy Eucharist? Yes, I am... it still is what it is” (B, [93:59]).

6. The Ascension as Cosmic Fulfillment

Daniel 7 — The First Vision of the Ascension

• “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man...” (Daniel 7:13) [99:41].

  • The Ancient of Days (Father) bestows dominion, glory, and kingdom on the Son of Man (Christ).
  • The saints participate: “the kingdom shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (B, [101:42]; C, [106:31]).

• Comparison to Baal Cycle:

  • Daniel retells the ancient “son enthroned” motif but inverts it: Yahweh the Father is freely giving—not afraid or rivalrous—and the Son is humble, not a usurper (B, [110:46]).
    • The “cloud rider” imagery, stolen from Baal, is applied to Christ directly (C, [109:12]).
  • Unlike the limited, local rule of pagan gods, Christ’s authority is over “all nations.”

The New Testament: Daniel’s Vision Fulfilled in Christ’s Ascension

• Matthew 28:18: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
  • Direct echo of Daniel 7.
• Acts 1:6-11: Christ “was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight…” (the cloud-rider enthronement).
• Mark 14:62: Jesus before the High Priest: “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
• Revelation 20:4–6: The divine council — “I saw thrones… they came to life and reigned with Christ…”
  • The saints participate in Christ’s enthronement (C, [125:24]).

The Sabbath, Creation, and the New Creation

• In Genesis, God’s “rest” on the seventh day isn’t exhaustion, but enthronement (C, [62:27]).
  • “Rest” = “sitting down enthroned,” i.e., the fulfillment of creation.
  • Man was created to join God in that rest (theosis)—the original and final destiny.
• Christ, in the Passion, creates anew: “It is finished” (Greek: “tetelestae” — same as Genesis 2’s “completed”).
  • Lays in rest on the Sabbath, to rise as “the eighth day,” the dawn of new creation (C, [81:11]).

Worship as Divine Movement Toward Us (not Vice Versa)

• Contrast with Paganism: In ancient paganism, ritual is human striving to serve, appease, and even “feed” the gods.
• In Orthodox Christianity: God initiates, shares, and invites: “Rather, the whole perspective... is that God shares out of His love the things that are His with humans whom He loves.” (C, [68:00])
  • Divine Liturgy as public service for the people, God’s work on us ([66:22]).
  • “Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee”: We give what He first gave.

7. Cosmic and Existential Implications of the Ascension

• “Regardless of who claims to be Lord... whoever claims to be Lord is a pretender and a fake, just like the gods they worship. Because the one who is truly Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, he is the one who has all dominion and authority on earth.” (C, [134:11])
• The saints (especially martyrs) fear nothing because real victory and enthronement is already theirs in Christ, despite earthly suffering or death ([135:58]).

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “The space itself is doing part of the thing.” (C, [14:45])
  The temple as an active participant in ritual, not just a location.

• “Constantly recapitulating, constantly reaffirming the authority, the victory, the enthronement of their God.” (B, [24:43])
  On the perpetual pagan liturgical cycle.

• “In the worship of the God of Israel, you’ve got a perfectly obedient son who reigns alongside his father… a picture of humility and not of struggle.” (B, [58:11])
  Contrasting pagan succession myths with Trinitarian harmony.

• “This is rest, like coming to rest, like sitting down, like we just talked about in temples enthroned. This is the end of the path... you have built your temple. And now you go and you go and sit down on your throne. You take your seat.” (C, [62:27])
  On the real biblical meaning of “Sabbath rest.”

• “The most pragmatic level answer to your question is fruit… If your habit of prayer… is drawing you closer to Christ and are bearing fruit, you’ll know.” (C, [96:16])
  On the objective discernment of true participation.

• “What we see in the saints and the martyrs is because they had… this same vision… they would literally, in some cases, mock the people who were torturing them to death.” (C, [135:58])
  The martyrs’ confidence as a testimony to cosmic reality.

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Footprints & Temples: 03:11–14:49
• Ritual, Space, and Creation: 12:00–24:43
• Chaoskampf, Succession, and Creation Myths: 17:13–24:43
• Sacred City and Marriage Metaphor: 29:00–34:25
• Christian Re-working of Ancient Patterns: 34:25–35:08
• Daniel 7 & The Ascension: 98:41–106:31
• New Testament Ascension Fulfillment: 115:15–122:26
• Sabbath & New Creation in Christ: 60:21–82:08
• Listener Q&A on Participation: 88:46–98:27
• Pagan Worship vs. Divine Liturgical Action: 65:27–69:55
• Cosmic Consequences of Ascension: 133:17–137:59

Conclusion: Ascension as Invitation and Destiny

• The Ascension is not merely Christ “leaving” but the culmination of God’s victory, enthronement, and—most importantly—His elevation of humanity to participate in His divine reign and Sabbath rest.
• In orthodox Christian life, each liturgical service is both a reenactment and real participation in this cosmic path from creation, through victory, to co-enthronement.
• The Ascension is the answer to anxiety in an uncertain world: “We serve and, more importantly, are loved by the God who rules over all of it.” (C, [137:45])

Happy Feast of the Ascension!
For deeper engagement, listeners are encouraged to read Daniel 7 and reflect on the imagery during the feast, as well as to see the Divine Liturgy not just as ritual, but as a fulfillment of God’s promise of rest, presence, and co-enthronement for all His saints.