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by Mudarras Kadhir Gaznavi

SABIANS-MANDAEANS

Av’ram (Abraham) is the common patriarch of the Mosaic belief system, Christianity and Islam. Thefore he must have lived earlier than all of them or have been mentioned in a local literature older than the texts of the celestial belief systems. But the faith itself, Sabianism, has its roots in the pagan cults, Mosaic faith and Christianity. This confusion is created by the actual construction of the story of Abraham in Genesis (Torah). The authors of this story must have developed the ‘Av’ram’ (Abraham) personality by mixing the character called Ebrum of the Ebla (~2300 B.C) tablets and Bahram the Mandai of the Mandaeans. There are difference between the Genesis story in Torah and the story in Kuran, because Islam has borrowed its story from the Sabians-Mandaeans. Here I must refer you to the Mandaean legend titled Abraham and Yurba (in the page titled Prophet Abraham), which basically is a very old legend based on the Zoroastrian dualism developed in time with the addition of various themes from the cultures in the neighbouring lands. Mandaeans are considered as the keepers of the ancient secret knowledge, and this tale about Abraham was one of those tales they must have inherited from the past generations. Mandaeans were one of the haemerobaptist sects in and around Palestine.

As I have pointed out the only place where we meet Ibrahim/Abraham, apart from the codebooks, is the tales of the Mandaeans who lived in Kutha (in Irak) once upon a time. His name was Bahram in his native town. Kutha was one of the most important centers where the Mandaeans had lived. According to Ebu el Zanad (died 747 A.D.) also Mandaeans were a “tribe living in Kutha, Irak.”

The story that brought Ibrahim (Bahram) and our research on the Hagarene movement (the Sabian faith, but we know it as Islam today) begins with the birth of the gnosis thought in and around Samaria, Jordan River, Asia Minor, and Alexandria (Egypt). Naassenes (along with Simon Magus) were regarded by the Heresiologists as the progenitors of gnosis.

Who were these Naassens? According to some scholars Naassenes were the Ophites, and to others Naassenes were the Nasoreans and the Essenes who existed from periods before Jesus until the 4th century A.D. From the Naassenes, reportedly, sprang the Ophites, the Sethians, and the others.

Simon Magus came from Samaria and adopted Christianity  He was said to have been a disciple of Dositheos the Samaritan Messiah. Both of these figures are said to have been disciples of John the Baptist. According to L. A. Waddell, John the Baptist was not merely a Jewish heretic, but also a trained gibil (fire priest). Sumerian tradition was at the root of his training, and the baptism he conveyed reportedly had the same magical properties with the baptisms employed by the Mandaeans.

All right! Who were these Mandaeans?  The historical records describe them as a community living at the Ceziret-ül Mawsil (Land of Mosul - Irak). The Mandaeans and Manichaeans, and Mandaeans and Dositheans were connected. For example, Theodore bar Khoni claims that one of the names for the Mandaeans was Dostai. This was an early name for the Dositheans, going back to the Samaritan exchange period (8th to 7th  centuries B.C.). In other words Dositheans and Samaritans may have been the same group of people or two separate groups coming from an earlier group of people.

Therefore Dositheans should be the group we should begin. Dositheans sprang from the Gnostic group of Haemerobaptists. Dositheans were initiated by Dositheos the Samaritan, who declared himself the ‘Messiah’. He was reportedly a disciple of ‘Yahya’ (John the Baptist), who was known as Yahya by the Mandaeans. The fact that he appears in Kuran with that name is another indication that the source of Islam was the Hagarene teaching of 'the Messenger ('Muhammad'). The Hagarene teaching was based on the Sabian faith.  Dositheans was a heretic sect born in the first centuries of the Christian era. The ancient Sumerian beliefs were at the root of this movement. These beliefs were passed on to the Ophites in Phyrgia, the Samaritans in Samaria, and to the Haemerobaptists.

Mandaeans are believed to have been the possessors of the ancient Sumerian beliefs. Here is Kuran 4:162: “Those of them who are deep in knowledge and the faithful (müminîn/müminûn) who believe both in what is revealed to you and what has been revealed before you. They have their daily prayers, they pay their alms, they believe in Allah and the judgment day. We will have a big reward for them soon.” Those who are deep in knowledge’ are the Mandaeans?

The branch leading down to the Mandaeans have began when the Essenes disappeared.  Essenes had sprung from the Dosithean sect. The Essene community can be placed at the Dead Sea area from 90 B.C. to 68 A.D. When the Essenes reached their end the Elchasaites (followers of Elxai) came to being (1st century A.D.), because some of the Essenes have accepted the teaching of Elxai earlier.

Arabs called Elchasaites El Hasih. Elxai/Elkesai was the founder of this sect. He has started imparting his messages in the third year of the emperor Trajan. The narrations relating to Elxai give the impression that he was brought up with the doctrines of the Haemerobaptist/Mughtasila. The name of Elxai/Elkesai (only the name) crops up once in an ethnographic note in the Kitab al-Fihrist by Ibn Ebi Ya’kub el Nedim (ed. Flugel). The note refers to a religious community whose adherents inhabited the extensive swamps in the lower course of the Euphrates, who were locally known to the Arabs as al-Mughtasila (‘those who wash themselves’). These are, in fact, the ‘Sabians of the marshes.’ They must be identical with the Sabians (‘baptists’=subba of the Arabs) mentioned in Kuran. The ‘Sabians of the Marshes‘ are the Elchasaites. This sect is also known as the Mughtasila, Masbutha, Sampsean, Nazerini, Galilei.

The Mughtasilah, before migrating to Mesopotamia must have lived very close to the Jordan River. Because they were baptists and they preferred flowing water. They took offense at the Christian baptism by still water. These Mughtasilah (the haemerobaptists) was the title given by the non-Arab sources.

Haemerobaptists have come to be known as the Sampsaeans 70 A.D. onwards. Epiphanius is reported to have heard of “a sect living in the country eastwards from the Jordan and the Dead Sea. They were called the Sampsaeans (Sampsenes, Sampsites), who believed in one god, and worshipped Him by ablutions. They held that life arose from water. They vaunted Elkesai as their teacher.. In most matters of creed and ritual they were at one with Judaism; nevertheless they were not Jews. Their distinguishing peculiarity was their reverence for the Book of Elkesai, and they did not own the authority of either the Old or the New Testament. Incorporated with them were the Ebionites, the Nasoraeans, the Nazaraeans, and the Osseans.” Epiphanius states that the Osseans (Essenes) had renounced Judaism, and no longer lived in the manner of the Jews.

What is more, Epiphanius identifies the Sampsaeans with the Elchasaites/Elxai. His writings indicate that the Nasoraeans are still in existence in his time although few in number. Epiphanius further states that the Sampsaeans came out of the Ossaeans (Essenes) from the other side of the Dead Sea in Perea (now Moab) where John the Baptist (Yahya of Mandaeans) was once active.

Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, was reportedly born and raised in the Mughtasilah/Hermerobaptist community (Mandaeans or a related community). According to Kitab al-Fihrist, Mani was initiated into the Elchesaite/Elkasaite doctrines (Joachim Klimkeit, Gnosis on the Silk Road). Elchasaites/Elkasai were also the Sampsaeans.

As time passed the Sampsaeans/Elchasaites became known as the Galileans, the Nazerini, and, eventually, the Nusairi.

This is the story: Following the disbanding of the Essenes, Sampsaeans are thought to have migrated to Hauran region, the city of Bosra (Suriye) and Pella. They are thought to have kept moving north, eventually arriving in Dimask/Dimişk-eş Şam (Damascus). From there, it is clear that some of them made their way to Palmyra, because reportedly some of the Mandaean Aramaic has been influenced by the Palmyrene language. From there they migrated south along the Euphrates to their new homeland. Sometime early in the 3rd century A.D. another group (Nazerini of Pliny) migrated northwest from the Hauran region and eventually ended up in Latakia (once known as Laodicea). This group became known as the Nusairis.

Elchasaites/Elxai were most probably the predecessors of the Mandaeans. Mandaeans have supposedly won over some of the followers of Elxai. Mandaeans have reportedly possessed the oldest continuous tradition known to humanity, going all the way back to Sumer.

“Elchasaites/Elkesai were known to Muhammad as monotheists and possessors of sacred writings; and some time afterwards an inquirer learned from them that their founder and lord was called Elkesai or some such name. Now, not every religion has a lord and founder. Islam, however, tolerated such forms of religious belief as were like itself in this respect.” (John Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics).

It is extremely interesting how a group like Essenes, once with singularly Buddhist influences,  would become a Jewish sect at first,  then turning into a Christian sect (that held the most primitive Church religion, which brought about the Anointed One’s mission in the first place) and eventually ending up as an Islamic secret sect, basing itself on Isma’ilî doctrines (of the Sevener faction of Shia Islam). This Johannite-Yahyaist sect was neither Jew nor Christian nor Muslim, yet it is the sect which helped to inspire the creation of all the three celestial belief systems.

The summary above shows that Sampseans and  Mughtasilah-Haemerobaptists, and  Nasoraeans-Nazerini, and  Elchasaites-Elkasaites, and Mandaeans-Sabians were the names of the sects within a great Gnostic movement.

The Mughtasilahs-Nasoraeans-Elkasaites-Mandaeans (Sabians) have developed a theology that was very similar in many ways with what came before it, but was very different at the same time.

We are told that the Mandaeans should be regarded as an extreme fringe sect of Jewish Heretics. It is no secret that the Gnosis developed a strong antipathy to anything Jewish, and to most Christian beliefs, mostly because of the past performance of these groups. (Islam has adopted an identical attitude)

The Mughtasilah; Haemerobaptists, Sampsaeans, Elchasaites, Mandaeans (Sabians) appear in Arabic literature as as Sabe’e-Sabiî or Al-Sabiun. Arab authors have sometimes confused the Mandaeans with the Magus, or Magians, and not without reason, since the cults are similar. It was habitual for the travellers in the East to refer to them as ‘Christians of St. John’, and Europeans who have come to Irak since the Great War know them as the ‘Amarah silverworkers’.

In 1994 Professor Şinasi Gündüz published an extensive study in the Journal of Semitic Studies showing conclusively that Mandaeans and Sabians are the same; the remnants of a very ancient monotheistic religion which originated in or about eastern Syria and northern Irak sometime about 4000 B.C. 

We could consider Sabianism as a unique faith/cult comprising a collection of doctrines from Manichaeism, animism, primal religions, and idolatry. The religion as taught to the laymen is syncretistic, and personifications of qualities, aspects and emanations of the 'Great Life', as they call their supreme being, appear in a number of myths. A great number of Sabian doctrines have been adopted especially by Islam. 

In the words of Kuran, Ibrahim was the first ‘muslim’ (‘who surrendered to god’) to have faith in the existence and power of Allah. The Messenger and/or the writers of Kuran must have thought so. They were very clear in their minds when they wrote Kuran 2:135:

• “They said ‘You should be either a Jew or a Christian to be on the right way.’ Say to them: ‘It is not so. Staying clear of polytheism and corruption let us join Ibrahim’s nation. He was not one of those who indulged in polytheism.”

Here polytheism refers to the Christians who have deified Jesus and corruption refers to the Jews who are claimed to have altered the Old Testament (The ‘word of god’, the divine revelation). Paul was the first one to declare in 58 A.D. that Abraham was the ‘father of all of us’  (Romans 4:16), here the Messenger and/or the authors of Kuran are repeating Paul’s statement in their own words. If we go along with the stament in Kuran above ‘Ibrahim’s nation’ should be the Mandaeans-Sabians.

Arabs have called Sabians also as hanifs/hanifiyyun. Umar ibn al-Khattab had once stated that the Messenger was a Sabian. According to the Islamic literature, before his call the Messenger have learnt that some Arabs living in Syria have rediscovered the ‘unadulterated faith of Ibrahim.’ Moreover, four prominent members of the Kureysh tribe have adopted the hanifiyye (the faith of Ibrahim). It was unthinkable to assume that the Messenger did not know the hanifiyyah. In those days, Jews and Christians looked down on the Arabs, and accepted them as the ‘uncivilized barbarians’, because they did not have a temple or a ‘sacred place’ like the Sabians, Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians had. Jews and Christians called the Arabs with the belittling label of hanif/hunefa. So, Arabs had to begin their journey to find the sole god as hanifs who were the godless idolaters according to Jews and Christians. But nevertheless hanifs did have a faith, the Sabian faith. We know that there have been peoples whose belief in the sole god predated by far the elements of Judaism and Christianity.

In this environment the Messenger and/or his advisor/tutor must have thought  that the ‘Oral tradition’ of the rabbis (Kuran 2:211) and the Trinity of the Christians had perverted the unadulterated and real faith of Ibrahim. Furthermore the Old Testament is the proof that Jews have strayed from the Mosaic belief system, therefore they have also violated the true faith of Ibrahim (Av’ram) [or the authors of the initial Hagarene scriptures may have believed that they had done so].

This aspect was crucial for the particular needs of the Messenger and/or his advisor/tutor and/or the authors of the scriptures, and they have declared Ibrahim the forefather of the Hagarenes. Thus, a direct connection was established between the Hagarene teaching and Ibrahim.

Muslim scholars who lived during the Hagarene (Sabian) period and knew the Messenger, connect the term Sabiî-Sabe'e  with the Messenger and his teaching.  These early writers maintain that the Messenger’s teaching is connected with the beliefs of the monotheistic Sabians living in Irak.

The common belief is that the term Sabian comes from Sabi’un,  meaning one who ‘converts from polytheism to the worship of the one true god'. The definition has been used mainly by the Arab scholars since the middle ages. Whereas, to many western scholars the word sabiun is not Arabic. That is right! The ‘hamza’ in the word is to Arabicise the word. The root of the word was Mandaic, where the root ‘sb’ was developed from the Syriac verb. The ‘ayn’ of the Syriac is changed into the ‘alaf’/aleph in Mandaic. Therefore the Arabs must have borrowed the root ‘sb’ from the Mandaeans. E.S. Drower suggests that this term is connected with the Syriac verb ‘sb’ which means to “dip, moisten, dye, baptize”. Mandaeans are known to Arab and Iranian neighbours as Subba ('dippers').

The term Sabian pre-dates the Messenger. Eusebius refers to the works of Hegesippus, who named the sects that once existed among the Jewish community as follows: “Furthermore, there were various opinions on the subject of circumcision among the children of Israel, maintained by the opponents of the tribe of Judah and of Christ, such as the Essenes, the Galileans, the Haemerobaptists, the Masbothaei, the Samaritans, the Sadducees, the Pharisees.” These sects appear also in the Apostolic Constitutions, in a list of Jewish heresies: “For even the Jewish nation had wicked heresies: …Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Basmotheans, the Haemerobaptists, the Ebionites, the Essenes.” 

The word Masbuthaean comes from the same root as the word Sabian. In Mandaic the word Masbuta is the term used for the baptismal rite, and also comes from the root ‘sba’ that means to ‘immerse’, ‘dip in’, or ‘baptize’. This is the same root, which is used for the word Sabian. The Sampsaeans, as recorded by Epiphanius, honored life and the water. Epiphanius has written that he has looked at one of the book of the Sampsaeans, from where he copied the following statement: “I will be your witness on the great day of Judgment.” (This sounds very Islamic!).

The literature created by the Arab scholars on the subject of Sabians could easily be considered as ancient.  But there is a problem. While the Arab scholars closest to the time of the Messenger were writing about the ‘real’ Sabians (Mughtasilah-Haemerobaptists-Mandaeans), the Arab scholars writing in or after the 9th century A.D. have all referred incorrectly to the Harranians as the Sabians. Because the Harranians (Harran is near Urfa, in southeast Turkey) have hurriedly adopted the Sabianism, only in the name. As Hamzah al-Isfahani (died 961 A.D.) wrote: “Today their (Harranians) descendants live in the city of Harran and Ruha (modern Urfa). They gave up the name ‘Chaldaean’ since the time of the caliph al-Mamun and adopted the name sabiun.” They wanted to protect themselves against the onslaught of Islam because they were practicing pagan rituals including human sacrifice. In the end they were successful in furthering this façade of ‘Sabians of Kuran’. But some Arab writers in this later group have referred also to the Sabians of Irak as the ‘real’ Sabians who were monotheists with a codebook and prophets.

According to the Islamic reference sources Sabians were one of the ‘peoples of the book’ and also known as the “believers of the monotheist sect founded in Babylon.” These Sabians were the Sabians of Syria (Irak) and not Harran. The codebook of Islam mentions Sabians in 2:62, 5:69 and 22:17.

The gnostic sect called Mandaeans still exist in Irak and Khuzistan. Their priests are called 'tarmidia' (disciples) and those priests initiated into secret doctrine are nazuraiia (nasoreans - 'nasranis' in Arabic). The cult/belief system survives chiefly through its insistence on cult, baptism particularly, which is looked upon as necessary for all kinds of pollution and essential for salvation. Their belief in baptism is related to John the Baptist (Yahya), and the belief in the spirit. They believe that the purity of the body and spirit is fundamental to reaching the 'godly spirit' via the 'humanly spirit.' They maintain that the universe is governed by many spirits in addition to the 'exalted spirit' and  these spirits reside on seven planets. The belief that god may be reached via the spirits makes Moses and Jesus useless. It necessitates a disbelief in the prophethood.

Some personifications are saviour figures such as Manda-d-Hiia/Yahya (Knowledge of life), Hibil-Zia (a light bearer), Yawar-Zia (Awaking or 'Arousing light') and kushta ('good faith' 'truth' also a personification of the ritual handshake which symbolizes pact and alliance). Beneficient spirits (utria) and demons are innumerable. Illness is the result of possession by disease-demons. Devout prefer exorcism to medicine (Beneficient spirits, demons, illnesses caused by disease-demons, devout preferring exorcism to medicine still exist in the region among the peoples whether they are Jewish, Christian, Islam or of another faith of a local character). Baptism is followed by the administration of simple sacraments of water (mambuha) and bread (pihta) and this rite is one of a series of razia (mysteries) of which the most important is the 'masiqta,' a solemn ritual meal celebrated by priests only for the raising up (or resurrection) of the dead. Other ritual meals are 'lofani,' a lay meal eaten in commemoration  and for the benefit of the dead, and the blessed oblation (offering) at marriage and burial. As in other gnostic religions, the body is called 'the tomb of the soul' and death is looked upon as a release from prison or cage. The name 'Christians of St. John' was given to the Mandaeans by medieval travelers based on a claim by their priests that John the Baptist was a member of their sect (the Nasoreans), but Jesus to them is a false Messiah. Mandaean tradition, supported by internal evidence and scholarly research, claims the west as the original home of the sect, although the language of their texts is an eastern dialect of Aramaic. References in the Mandaean literature to a flight from Judea and persecution there point to a connection with early Jewish gnosticism.

Though their writings contain many striking parallels to the Gospel of John, because the Mandaeans seem to have some connection with an early group which greatly reverenced John the Baptist (Yahya), it seems doubtful whether the nucleus of their teachings have influenced Christianity. It is hazardous to use them to illuminate early Christian texts. Therefore it is relevant that the 'fourth Evangelist' seems to go out of his way to stress the superiority of the incarnate lord to the one who was merely a forerunner. Libraries consisting of scrolls and codices in Mandaic characters are composed chiefly of fragments of pre-Muslim compositions, collected directly after the Muslim conquest in 7th century A.D. Those who claim that these Mandaeans were the real Sabians, call the  Harranians the 'pagan inhabitants of Haran'.

"..An investigation into the matter will give us the impression   that the language of Adam was Aramaic-Syriac" writes still another Syriac clergy and historian in his book titled History of the Turkish Syriacs, and tries hard to base his claims on Genesis 10:31 and 11:1 of the Old Testament. Although, based on the interpretations of the Old Testament, it could be said that the Syriac community is the oldest in history and their language the oldest on earth, this is unacceptable within scientific criteria. The Sabian faith of the Syriacs could not be the oldest religion on earth. The prerequisites of 'being the first religion' are;

• It has to be the religion of the most primitive people on earth.

• It should not have taken over anything from any other religion predating it.

The Sabians should not be confused with the Sabaeans, who were the pre-Islamic inhabitants of the kingdom of Saba, in southwest Arabia.

THE MOON CULT

Attempts to find the origins of the god and the 'law' we find in the 'sacred books' necessitate the study not only of the Sun cult, but the Moon cult as well. We see the Moon cult mostly and mainly amongst  the Chaldeans. It is accepted generally that the ancient astrology and the religious belief in the celestial beings started amongst  the Chaldeans and spread to other communities from there. Star, planet and mainly Sun and Moon worship was widespread amongst  the commuinities of early ages. One of the renowned Islamic historians Masudi (d. 957 A.D.) makes an interesting quote according to which there are seven temples all of which are described as ' very big.' These temples were built for the worship of Sun, Moon and the five planets. One of them is Ka'ba in Makka. Three of them are in Esfahan and Khorasan, in Iran. Fourth is in Sa'na in Yemen. Sixth in India and the seventh in China. In Khorasan we have two temples; one of them the Sun-temple in Fergana and the other is the Moon-temple in Balkh.

 THE SABIANS' CONCEPT GOD

This is what the Sabians think of their god:  

• "The universe has an eternal reason (the first cause - god). It is the only one with no other. It does not produce offspring. It does not take any character of the things it caused (created). It made the recognition of its godhood  compulsory for the ones (among the creatures it has created) who attained the ability to choose between the good and evil  (persons having wisdom). It has shown everybody the right way and sent them prophets to show them the right way. Prophets are under the obligation of showing the evidence of the god. God commanded the prophets to call everybody to the right way which would make them happy; and to announce that everybody should save themselves from his wrath; those who heed his warnings would reach an endless blessing (paradise); those who do not heed his edicts would be penalized in proportion with what they deserved."

 SABIANS' 'ADDRESS TO GOD '

Omar Ibn'ul Verdi - an Islamic historian - says he has seen a page which he claims to have belonged to the Sabians. This page is said to have contained the 'address to god' of the Sabians:

• "You are such an eternal being that all the chiefs and governorships depend on you. You are the god of all the creatures who are thought of and who exist in the region of senses. You are the chief of the worlds and the shepherd of 'realms.' You are the 'Rabb' of all the angels and their superiors. Wisdom originate from you and reach the governor of the earth. You are the first cause. Your might envelops all those who exist. You are a boundless 'oneness.' You are the unfathomable 'one'. You are the supervisor of the celestial sovereigns and the sources of light whose lights are eternal. You are the sovereign of sovereigns who dictates all the good and who forewarns everything via revelations and signs. The creation and development of all the creatures is caused by you. The order takes the right path with your signal. The lights emanate only from you. You are the oldest cause existing before everything. We request you purify our selves (spirits). We wish to succeed in winning your blessings. Now and always. Till eternity. O! god who is pure of all kinds of blemish make our reason sound, and give us health free of all kinds of ailments. Turn our worries into joy. We take refuge in you only, and fear only you. We beg of you to let us succeed in expressing your immensity which could only be expressed by manifestations. This immensity cannot be expressed by words. Everybody and everything comes from you; everything and realization of every success depends on you. You are the desire and hope of the worlds. And you are the supporter of all mankind."

There are echoes here of the ancient Greek thought, because the Syriac community that included the Sabians, was familiar with the ancient Greece as early as Antiquity. During the caliphate of the Abbasids when the Arabs/Muslims were under the dark cover of ignorance and bigotry the Syriac community including the Sabians established the ties between the Arabs and the west which ended up in softening the Arab/Muslim thought.

I am sure that those of you who were at a loss as to the origin of the attributes of the god of the Old Testament, New Testament and Kuran now know where to look at: the Sabian faith, the 'address to god' of which is quoted above.

BIRTHDAYS AGAIN

While we are on the subject of the Sabian god I cannot keep myself from establishing another parallel. Birthday of the Sabian god, 'Rabb', is celebrated in January. The Christmas is used to be celebrated in January as well (January 6th  to be precise). Some scholars suggest that this January birthday of the Christian god was taken over from Egypt and belonged to the Egyptian god Aeon. So here is another story of adoption for you. Let us refresh our memories? Christmas of our day was originally the birthday of Mithra. It was taken over from the Romans who worshipped Mithra as the saviour of the mankind, and these celebrations were for 'Dies Natalis Invicti' ('Birthday of the Unconquered'). Jesus' birthday was fixed as 6th January, which is still celebrated in the Orthodox church, in the Balkans and Mexico. So where did this birthday come from in the first place? The Christian feast of the Epiphany gives us a clue: The choice of date was January 6th This is presumably an adaptation of rival pagan feasts. This birthday was used to be celebrated in Egypt and Asia Minor. So according to these scholars this 'January birthday' may have been taken over from Aeon's birthday. In Egypt, the waters of the Nile were reputed to acquire special powers during the night of January 5-6, the festival of the god Aeon. The stories about all these 'elected' ones being born of virgins(!) makes a reminder imperative: Aeon was also born of the virgin Kore. Why  do you think all these deities and the messengers of a major status seem to be mothered exclusively by virgins? To cut a long story short, the end result of the creation (mankind) is 'bad', 'evil', and 'full of sin' etc. Sexual relations are at the root of this verdict. Sex and all the matters related to it are lowly, downgrading; they take men (celestial belief systems address males only!) away from the road to the 'supreme being'; sexual relations make mankind indulge in self satisfaction, etc. So the natural outcome is that supreme beings cannot be begotten by a lowly act, but by a 'heavenly'(!) 'union'(!) between a vague 'holy ghost'-'divine spirit' and a clean-pure(!) virgin. Well! A virgin is the female who has not had any union with a man, isn't she? These are nonsensical thoughts snd utterances. They are the inventions by humans. These supreme beings are also the inventions of the  incompetent intellect of incognizant people.

That's enough! Let us go back to the Sabian faith and look at it in detail:

sabian faith page 2