The Ancient Tradition — Inaugural Episode
Edited and formatted transcript (timestamps removed; spelling and grammar lightly corrected while preserving meaning).
Intro Music & Credits
Music
You’re listening to The Ancient Tradition — a Wonk Media Production.
Music provided by Joseph McDade.
Here is your host, Dr. Jack Logan.
Welcome & Purpose
Welcome to The Ancient Tradition podcast. I’m your host, Jack Logan — Jack is short for Jacqueline. Since this is the inaugural edition, it’s only fitting that I start with a brief introduction, some background, and what brought this podcast to fruition.
That story begins way back in the mid‑90s, when I was thinking a lot about religion and spirituality. I started reading — and I read loads and loads of books.
This included everything from academic articles to scholarly books. I even dove into sacred religious writings themselves, and I tried to read across a wide array of religious traditions: the ancient Egyptian religion, the Hellenistic mystery religions, early Christianity, and a whole bunch of Native American folk religions. I was trying to get the lay of the religious landscape. And the more I read, the more I started to notice something.
Discovering Striking Similarities Across Traditions
There were remarkable similarities between these apparently different religious traditions. In the modern world, we often perceive them as vastly different from each other. But as I was reading, I got a very different perception of the world’s religions. Instead of being vastly different, I was seeing an abundance of really remarkable similarities and correspondences.
This was apparent in the symbols they used; in the cosmogonies (ancient creation stories); in the liturgies and rituals; especially in the architecture — really, just everywhere.
And it wasn’t only my impression. In these books, reputable scholars — graduates and professors from prestigious universities — were pointing out the same similarities. They came from backgrounds such as comparative religion, ancient cosmology, anthropology, and archaeoastronomy — just an array. These were not wackadoodle pseudoscientists; these were legitimate academic scholars, which made what they had to say ring more deeply.
Several of them argued that the evidence was so abundant and profound, and that the threads between religions were so apparent, that it was almost incontrovertible that today’s religions are descendants of some common source — a single religious tradition that originated in deep antiquity. Let me give you a feel for some of what they wrote.
Scholarly Voices Pointing to a Common Source
Lord Raglan (formerly a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland) wrote about similarities in religious customs:
“There are some remarkable customs which are found in every continent. The probability is that these customs spread over the world from one center.”
He continues, this time speaking of similarities in religious rites:
“These rites are all found, in one form or another, in most religions, whether ancient or modern, savage or civilized. Striking resemblances, for example, have been pointed out between the rituals of Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, and the ancient religion of Mexico.
It seems absurd to suppose that these resemblances, which run through all known forms of ritual, are the results of instinct or of coincidence. What the facts suggest is that, whatever the ultimate origin of ritual, all extant rituals are derived from a single ritual system.”
I was reading things like this and it was blowing my mind a little bit. They were arguing that in deep antiquity there was an original religion from which all the religions of today sprang.
Here’s another scholar: René Guénon, a French intellectual. He noted many correspondences — particularly in initiation rites — and wrote:
“From all of the comparisons brought forward, we can already draw a conclusion. When one finds such concordances everywhere, is this not more than a mere indication of the existence of a primordial tradition?
There is but one unique tradition from which every orthodox traditional form is derived.”
A little more contemporary, Mircea Eliade (more on him in a moment) wrote:
“Continuous reading reveals above all the fundamental unity of religious phenomena.”
I’ve definitely seen that: the more I read, the more I see it everywhere — because now you know what you’re seeing. You might otherwise glaze over it, thinking, “I don’t know why there’s a bird on a pole.” But once you realize that this bird on a pole is everywhere, you start to see it everywhere.
An even more contemporary scholar, Marinus van der Sluijs, a Dutch scholar who has done extensive work on ancient cosmological traditions, noticed consistent cosmologies worldwide. He writes:
“It emerges that practically all cultures sustain surprisingly similar notions about the origin, the constitution, and the destiny of the cosmos. A single template can be distilled — a story told around the globe.”
I was reading quotations just like that. This was entirely new to me. I had no idea there was abundant evidence pointing to a single, unique religious tradition in deep antiquity.
From Curiosity to a Lifelong Study
I had to know more. So, for the past couple of decades, I’ve tried to make a serious study of it. It’s been an unbelievable ride — a great adventure. Even though I’m still deep into the books (I’ve got a stack next to me, lined up and ready), this was never an academic pursuit for me. It always was — and continues to be — a spiritual one.
I thought about it using the telephone game analogy. If you’ve never played, it’s a fun game: someone starts with a message, whispers it to the next person, and so on down the line. As it’s passed along, the original message gets skewed or altered (and sometimes someone intentionally corrupts it for fun). At the end, the last person recites it to the group, and everyone compares it to the original — which is often hilariously different.
For example, the original message might be: “A dog named Moose ran loose through the spruce forest, chasing a goose.”
After it’s been passed through the group, it might end up as: “A goose and a moose chased a dog up a spruce.”
Through that passing, elements of the original message are lost or altered — but other elements remain stubbornly intact. That’s where the magic is: threads of the original message usually remain (e.g., the goose, the moose, the dog, the spruce).
So I wondered, from a religious perspective: could I work the telephone game in reverse? Start with the elements that stay stubbornly intact and work backward? If so, maybe I could reconstruct the world’s original, pure theology. The farther back I went, the closer I’d get to the original doctrines — a search for the untainted, uncorrupted, unpolluted religious doctrine imparted to human beings.
At its core, this was a search for spiritual truth. I hoped that reconstructing the ancient theology would help answer important questions.
What This Podcast Will Attempt
There are loads of books out there, but I couldn’t find a single one that puts it all together into a comprehensive picture of what this ancient tradition looked like. That’s what I’m going to attempt in this podcast: put the pieces together and create a more comprehensive view.
It will address foundational questions:
- Who is God? What is God like?
- What was taught in this tradition — the basic theology?
- How was the theology taught or imparted?
- Why do human beings need religion?
- Was that original tradition an organized religion? If so, how was it structured?
- What is the purpose of earthly life? What happens after we die?
I don’t want to give it all away, but this tradition addresses every one of those questions. What’s really neat is how the individual parts converge into a beautiful unity and wholeness — the sort of coherence you wouldn’t expect unless there’s something true about it.
To take this approach seriously, I had to set aside preconceived religious notions and just go where the stubbornly intact bits and elements led. That’s not easy — especially if you’ve been raised in a particular religious tradition — but it’s the only way to attempt a reconstruction of the pure religious tradition of the ancients, which I refer to on this podcast as the ancient tradition.
I didn’t know then, but I know now, that this would turn into an adventure of a lifetime. I’m constantly surprised. In fact, just this morning I read a Japanese myth that knocked my socks off for how well it preserved — in Japanese cultural terms — key elements of the ancient tradition. It’s been meaningful and fulfilling.
Before my study, I’d never heard any of this — and almost everyone I talk to hasn’t either. I don’t know how that is. We’re in 2022–23, and I thought: What if I put it into a podcast and share what I found? At least it would force me to organize my thoughts and outline the ideas I’ve pondered for years.
Why a Podcast (and Why Now)
I was also thinking about the world we live in. You look outside and it feels like there’s chaos and confusion in abundance. This is a challenging spiritual environment. For many, the world is a spiritual wilderness. People don’t know where to look or what to believe. All they know is that they don’t feel whole — that something is missing.
A podcast seemed like an excellent way to share the exciting — mind‑boggling — evidence of this pure ancient religious tradition, along with its theological tenets (yes, tenets!). Those who are searching can see for themselves, perhaps find a few answers, or at least get pointed in the right direction.
The ancient tradition is theologically rich. It provides answers to the fundamental existential questions a human being could ask.
Mircea Eliade & A Scholarly On‑Ramp
As I read, I came across a remarkable scholar, Mircea Eliade (whom I quoted earlier). I didn’t know it then, but later learned that before he passed away he was Chair of the Department of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. He was quite famous in academic circles — known as one of, if not the, foremost scholars of comparative religion in the world. After his death, the University of Chicago established the Mircea Eliade Chair in the History of Religions to honor his contributions.
He wrote many books — every one of them, in my opinion, worth reading — and many will play important roles in helping establish the contours of the ancient tradition.
This podcast has a companion website: theancienttradition.com. If you visit and want to learn more about Eliade, go to the menu under Scholars. I list noteworthy scholars I recommend for those who want to pursue more; you’ll find Eliade there.
While reading one of Eliade’s books, Rites and Symbols of Initiation, I came across an amazing account of Aboriginal peoples in New South Wales, Australia (southeastern corner of the continent; above it is Queensland). The story is that they claimed the rituals performed in their sacred ceremonies were the same rituals given to the first ancestors in the beginning.
In their legends, they tell how Bayami — their creator god — after creation, imparted to the first ancestors a religious tradition characterized by initiation rites. Bayami explained that these sacred rituals were to be performed only in a sacred place, on sacred ground.
This sacred ground, along with those sacred rituals, were known among Australian Aboriginals as the Bora.
The anthropologist Robert Matthews, a specialist in Aboriginal cultures, studied these legends. He wrote that the Bora ground itself was considered Bayami’s camp. One of the things I love about this research is how the same elements we see worldwide are expressed in cultural terms. Aboriginal peoples developed camps; thus, they refer to where Bayami dwelt as a camp. Today, we might call it a temple — the place where the god dwells.
Eliade wrote of the Aboriginal descendants of the first ancestors:
“This is to say that the participants in the initiation ceremony reactualized the mythical period in which the Bora was held for the first time. Not only does the sacred ground imitate the exemplary mode — Bayami’s first camp — but the ritual performed reiterates Bayami’s gestures and acts.
During the Bora, the participants returned to the mythical sacred time when Bayami was present on earth and founded the mysteries that are now being performed.
The participants become, in some sort, contemporaries of the first Bora — the Bora that took place in the beginning, in the ‘dream time’ to use the Australian expression.”
I found this truly amazing: Aboriginal tribes in the Outback claim that the Creator imparted a pure religious tradition to human beings in the beginning.
What Struck Me About the Aboriginal Account
1) The timing. According to these tribes, the religious tradition was imparted in the beginning, right after creation. That makes sense: if there are absolute spiritual truths essential to our purpose here, wouldn’t God want to impart them from the very start? Not thousands of years later, leaving millions in the dark. The timing implies the truths were essential — not just nice once‑a‑week sermons.
2) The location. Bayami imparted the tradition in the most sacred place on earth — his camp, his home — the place where he resided when he dwelt on earth with humankind. This suggests the content was of the utmost sacred nature. Matthews also notes that tribes went to great lengths to establish sacred space for Bora initiation rites. The rites couldn’t be performed just anywhere; only where Bayami dwelt — the holiest place on earth.
On the website (theancienttradition.com → Evidence → this episode), you’ll see a map of Australia showing New South Wales, an image of Bayami’s cave with Aboriginal pictographs of Bayami, and a photo of the Mogul Bora Ring — a sacred site (just north of New South Wales, in Queensland) where the “Bora from the first time” was reenacted.
3) How the tradition was transmitted. The legends describe a set of rites — initiation rites — performed by the Creator himself in his sacred abode with the first ancestors. If God performed rites, that implies anthropomorphic features (a mouth to speak the words of the rite; arms and legs to perform them). I’ll save that for a future episode, but the implication is there.
4) Who transmitted it. Bayami — the Creator — dwelt on earth in the beginning with the first ancestors. He walked and talked with them, built an abode, and personally taught them. The first ancestors received the tradition directly from the source, in its pure, perfect form.
Combine the timing (the beginning), the location (the holiest place), the manner (sacred initiation rites), and the officiator (God himself), and the Aboriginal claim is clear: God gave humankind a distinct, very sacred religious tradition in the beginning.
Letting the Aboriginal Record Speak
Whenever possible, I prefer to let ancient peoples speak for themselves through their writings and myths. From the Asia Pacific Journal of Research (the full citation is on the website):
“Bayami smiled and said, ‘When I show myself to the little thing I have created, I shall be well content to show myself in the form of a man.’
Bayami remained for a long while on earth as a man. He loved Taia, the world. He made his home in the mountain, talking with the animals and the men and women whom he created.
There was communion of spirit between them, for the period of rest after the labors of creation were a refreshment to the Great Spirit. Round his earthly home the flowers bloomed in profusion.
The first corroboree and initiation ceremony the world has ever known was held at the ceremonial center — the place of trees — while Bayami was still living on earth.
Bayami summoned the men and addressed them as he stood outside his wurley (an Indigenous shelter). He said, ‘It is good for you to enjoy yourselves. Now the serious business must begin. The real purpose of our meeting together in this place is to prepare the young men for manhood. First, you must make a Bora ground.’”
I love their description of Bayami’s home — flowers blooming in profusion. I can see it in my mind. There’s a warmth woven through the account: Bayami smiles; he enjoys being with the first ancestors; he walks and talks with them; and he teaches them sacred truths. The feeling is beautiful.
Another Witness: The Dayak of Southern Borneo
This is not the only account we have of a tradition imparted in the beginning. There are many such accounts. As time permits, I’ll add them to the website so you can explore them yourself.
Here’s another, from the indigenous Dayak people of southern Borneo (Indonesia). It’s an anthropologist’s description of their religious conceptions:
“The area inhabited by the sacred people is the sacred land. It was given to them by the Godhead. Man lives in the sacred divine land of Mahatala and Jatah.
The mountains of the sacred land reach up to the upper world. The Godhead descends on them, and on them he meets men and gives them his sacred gifts. Man lives in the sacred land in communion with the supreme deities. Mahatala draws close to him and regards him.
The world described here is the primeval village, Batu Nindan Tarang. The first human beings lived in the primeval village. When this time is spoken of or sung about in the sacred legends, the songs say, ‘In the beginning, when our ancestors were still living, such and such happened.’ And in this village, the sacred ceremonies were first established.”
If you listened closely, you can hear the parallels to the Aboriginal account:
- A sacred land (as with Bayami’s sacred ground).
- A creator god (Mahatala) and a companion (Jatah).
- A mountain where the deity descends to commune with people (as Bayami lived in the mountain).
- Communion between the first ancestors and the deity.
- The establishment of sacred ceremonies in that primeval time and place.
This account appears in one of Mircea Eliade’s books on sacred writings (full citation on the website). Eliade observes:
“Similar ideas are to be found among innumerable archaic and traditional societies.”
Evidence of a tradition imparted in the beginning is found everywhere on the planet — on every continent, among many peoples, and across historical eras. That’s why I wanted to put this podcast together: so you can examine the evidence yourself and — more importantly — contemplate the magnificent spiritual truths imparted in the beginning. That’s what this podcast is about.
On Truth in a “Post‑Truth” Age
We live in an interesting world — one where the very notion of truth is questioned. Some argue we live in a post‑truth world, as if truth were a fad or a fading social construct. I reject that.
At the core of this podcast is a quest for truth — the true tradition, the true doctrine given by God in the beginning.
Podcasters often hype their shows, but there’s really no way to overhype this one. If you stick with it — because, like anything religious, it comes precept upon precept — the episodes are organized to start with the basics and build toward a comprehensive view of the ancient tradition. Study the evidence yourself. Contemplate the profound spiritual implications of what you learn. It will blow your socks off. It has mine, and it continues to.
Your deepest spiritual questions will be answered — not by me (I’m a student) — but by what you learn. We’ll let the evidence speak for itself. If you let it, it can change your life.
I can honestly say — because I know what’s coming — that there’s not a single podcast in the entire cyber‑universe that has the potential to change everything like this one does. I know that sounds like oversell. But if what we learn is true — if it really reflects truths transmitted to human beings in the beginning — then it does change everything. And if it changes everything, then it’s not oversell.
Although I hope what draws you here is a search for truth, there will be as many reasons for tuning in as there are listeners. Regardless, I can promise you’ll learn something new in every episode — something you’ve never known before.
What You’ll Learn Along the Way
We’ll travel through world history and across regions of the ancient world:
- The ancient Chinese, Native American tribes, the ancient Maya, African tribes, Polynesian tribes, and many more — especially the ancient Egyptians.
We’ll explore foundational texts:
- The Qur’an, the Holy Bible, the Pyramid Texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Popol Vuh, and more of the world’s great religious writings.
We’ll uncover meanings behind epic literature:
- The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Jason and the Argonauts.
We’ll reinterpret modern culture:
- Films like The Immortals and the Marvel series.
We’ll decode seemingly simple stories and sayings:
- Why Rapunzel lets down her long hair; why princesses live in towers; why Jack climbs a beanstalk; why birds talk to Cinderella.
- Where phrases like “King of the Hill” and “X marks the spot” come from.
We’ll connect symbols and ceremonies:
- Why Joseph of Egypt wore a coat of many colors.
- Why the swastika was once one of the holiest and most ubiquitous symbols of the ancient world.
- How chess, checkers, and even playing cards represent important cosmological concepts.
- The enthronement of King Charles III.
- Why the Russian coat of arms features a double‑headed eagle.
Although you’ll learn the meanings of these curiosities (and many more), I hope what keeps you coming back is the rich theology inherent in the ancient tradition — because it holds answers to life’s most important questions.
Recap: Key Points From This Episode
What scholars have seen: Research conducted by reputable scholars — many from prestigious universities — indicates that the religious traditions of today descend from a common source: a pure religious tradition existing in deep antiquity. We call this the ancient tradition.
What the ancient record affirms: As noted among the Aborigines of New South Wales and the Dayak of southern Borneo, the Supreme Being himself, in the most sacred place on earth, imparted a distinct religious tradition — marked by initiation rites — to the first ancestors, in the beginning.
Learn More, Subscribe, and What’s Next
That wraps up this episode of The Ancient Tradition. If you’re interested in learning more about the evidence presented here, visit theancienttradition.com and search for this specific episode under Evidence. You’ll find pictures and links, and occasionally I add a bonus section.
Near the bottom of the podcast page, there’s a button to subscribe to the podcast, as well as a running countdown to our next episode.
Next time: I’ll tell you more about my background, and we’ll dive into one of the greatest debates in modern society — and, of course, give you a taste of what’s to come.
For now, remember the words of William Shakespeare:
“Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.”
I’m Jack Logan, and I’ll see you on the next edition of The Ancient Tradition.
Outro
You’ve been listening to The Ancient Tradition — a Wonk Media Production.
Hello.
We would appreciate it if you could avoid copying and pasting or cross-posting content from external sources (full or partial texts, video links, art, etc.).
Thank you.
Guide: Why and How People Abuse and Plagiarise
If you believe this comment is in error, please contact us in #appeals in Discord.
This is a beautiful new project i am excited about. It will bring some NEW beautiful content to hive that several people I know have been wanting to read. And why not on Hive? We need good content on hive. It's full of original... crap. We need to inspire creation of high level content... meaning what people want to consume.
This project is based off of content by an anonymous or pseudonymous author of a popular podcast where people love to study the content and are looking for a good transcript of the spoken word. This provides that opportunity. I hope to publish all episodes not for you or maybe even most hive users right now... but for the fans who are looking for this, Hive can be such a place where this can live on.
The content is actually a new format crafted with care. Crafted to be very readable.
It's important that Hive has high quality content that people will actually want to read and come here for that they can't get elsewhere.
This has nothing to do with hive reward pool. These will never be earning money except to burn. Aren't you mostly focused on reward pool and protecting hive reward pool scams.
We have too much low quality lazy content on Hive we need more content that is of high quality here on hive. And for more people to feel at ease putting it here. I am concerned with your not checking in first and trying to understand and moving first to expect the worst.
Also what you should actually be saying is:
don't steal or break copyright or commit plagiarism or pass off as if it was your own when it isn't your own or try to reap from reward pool when you shouldn't. But please use Hive as a great place to share content that people actually want to read ... not just crappy low effort content no one will read even if it's original. What we want is hive to be useful and interesting.
Declining rewards solves the issue of monetisation of copypasta spam, but the content is still not original for Hive and continues to be a cross-post spam into Hive that undermines search engine trustworthiness and inflicts damage to the Hive ecosystem.
This activity only benefits the spammer, not the Hive ecosystem.
The content is an effortless copy-paste of the YouTube video transcript.
an effortless copy-paste eh? ONe is readable the other is not.
That isn't just my feeling there are other people that have indicated this. That is why this new version was created. Formatting has changed drastically as well as fixes to the automated version... this was not effortless... i can attest to that.
These fixes can be done with a quick GPT prompt.
It is still not original content and is copied and pasted text Hive.