THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY

Written by Gevork Nazaryan

Christianity in Armenia, as in other parts of the ancient world, was practiced in secrecy until the year 301 A. D. when St. Gregory the Illuminator or Enlightener converted to Christianity and took upon himself the task of converting king Trdat [Tiridates] III the Great and the royal court. St. Gregory knew that it was necessary to convert the king and upper classes in order to successfully install Christianity as the religion of the state. Initially, King Trdat III, like his predecessors, opposed the new religion. He ordered the arrest of St. Gregory and imprisoned him in the dungeon of Khor Virap [lit. the deep pit] near sacred Mount Ararat.

S T.  N E R S E S   T H E   G R E A T [329-373]. ONE OF THE PROMINENT
 IVTH CENTURY CATHOLICOI OF THE HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH
REIGNED FROM 353 UNTIL HIS PASSING IN 373.

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT DEPICTING
THE BAPTISM/ANOINTING OF KING TRDAT BY ST. GREGORY.
NOTE THE CATHOLICOSAL MITRE [FROM MITHRAS] [FISH...SYMBOLIC OF
EA-HAYA] HEADDRESS AND THE DIVINE STAFF WITH THE PATRIARCHAL
CROSS IN THE LEFT HAND OF THE ILLUMINATOR.
TWO EQUILATERAL RED CROSSES ARE MARKED ON THE TIPS OF
THE SCARF EXTENDING BELOW THE WAISTLINE.
FOUR WINGED ANGEL HEADS MARK THE FOUR CARDINAL POINTS
AROUND THE OCTAGON [EIGHT]. WITHIN A RECTANGLE ALIGNED IN
THE  HARMONIOUS ORDER OF THE GOLDEN MEAN.
THE COSMIC MOUNTAIN TOPPED BY THE ARK [ARC/ARGO]
AND THE MOTHER CATHEDRAL IN THE BACKGROUND.
THE 14 CIRCULAR SPHERES ON THE SIDE DEPICT THE
MANY YEARS OF PERSECUTION, TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
THAT ST. GREGORY UNDERWENT.

SURVIVING BOOKS THAT HAVE WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF TIME...

THE BOOK [KNOWLEDGE] IS A REVERED SACRED RELIQUARY TO AN ARMENIAN...

AS LATE AS THE MIDDLE AGES THE ARMENIAN
TSAŁKOŁNER [LIT. FLOWERERS...FERTILITY/CREATION/LIFE] OR MINIATURE
ILLUMINATORS WERE VERSED HERMETISTS [HERMIT/HERMES]
TRUE TO THEIR NATIONAL TRADITIONS AND THE SYMBOLS
OF PRIMORDIAL GOD OF WISDOM AND COSMIC WATERS EA-HAYA-ENKI
WHO THOUGHT THE ARTS OF CIVILIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE TO ARMANI
[ARMANUM] CHILDREN OF LIGHT...
LEFT: EŁIVARD [LIT. HORN + ROSE] GOSPEL [1318] AY[A]TS-GOAT ONE OF THE
SYMBOLS OF EA OUT OF SPINE/BACK EMERGES THE TREE OF LIFE/AXIS MUNDE...
ORDER FROM INITIAL VOID [01]. THE TREE OF LIFE HAS 8+1=9 BRANCHES...
THE APEX IS IN THE FORM OF THE ETERNAL FLAME/FLEUR DE LYS...
NOTE THE RAM [SPIRALING RIGHT AND LEFT] HORNS
OUT OF WHICH THE FLAME EMANATES AND...THE TWO FLANKING
DOTS. THE STEM/PILLAR OF THE TREE OF LIFE
HAS THE INTERWOVEN DIAMOND [HEAVEN + EARTH UNION]
THAT HAS THE EYE/WOMB/HEARTS OF DIVINE LOVE OF THE GODDESS
AT ITS CORE...UNBROKEN CONTINUATION OF
SUBARTU-SUMER-MITANNI-ARARATIAN SYMBOLISM...
RIGHT: FROM THE UNDERWATER
AQUARIAN [COSMIC WATERS] GOD THE FATHER EMERGES
THE TREE OF LIFE 3 SAINTS ON THE RIGHT AND 3 SAINTS
ON THE LEFT...THE APEX HAS THE MOTHER GODDESS/HOLY SPIRIT
THAT GIVES BIRTH TO CHRIST CHILD [SAVIOR/REDEEMER WHO
WILL SHOW THE WAY TO RETURN AND BECOME LIKE FATHER...
NOTE THE WINGS THAT EMANATE FROM THE FERTILITY
FLEUR DE LYS/IRMINSUL.

IRMIN[E]/ARMIN/ARMAN/ARMEN ORMUS SUL/SOL/SOUL...

However, soon after King Trdat realized that Christianity can be a uniting force and a great shield against Zoroastrian Persia, that earlier in the IIIrd century had overthrown the Iranian branch of the Arsacids and was now governed by the Sassanian House. The new dynasty was antagonistic towards the Arsacids that naturally did not recognize the new rulers of Iran. St. Gregory the Illuminator himself became the first Supreme Patriarch or Catholicos of the Holy Apostolic Church. One of the major drawbacks was initial assault on the rich national heathen [from hetanos/ethnos...lit. national] heritage. The first Bagin [Bag. lit. Divine] Mehian-Mithræa that were destroyed were that of Tir [Hermes-Thoth] the God of Knowledge and Wisdom...Followed by assault and destruction of the temples of the Golden Mother Anahit and the Supreme God the Father Aramazd.

INTERIOR OF TYPICAL EARLY BASILICA. B A S E D  O N   M I T H R Æ V M.

In 303 AD, St. Gregory initiated the construction of the Mother Cathedral of the Holy City of Etchmiadzin right on the ruins of a destroyed Fire Bagin. The holy ground was selected after, according to the tradition, St. Gregory had a vision when Christ Jesus, the Only Begotten Son [Miadzin] descended from the heavens to the sacred spot. In fact, the site sits on an important vortex grid line that since time immemorial was worshipped as a sacred site of fire [eternal masc. principle] and water [eternal fem. principle]. Throughout the succeeding centuries, the Holy Apostolic Church took upon itself the task of converting the neighboring peoples to the Christian faith. Peoples of Caucasian Albania and Iberia [Georgia] were converted to Christianity and other tribes of Caucasus and beyond were also converted.
 

THE ARMENIAN EQUILATERAL CROSS WITHIN THE PERFECT SQUARE --
25 POINTS INCLUDING THE CIRCLE IN THE CENTER
ADOPTED BY THE CHURCH FROM MUCH EARLIER
ARMENIAN MITHRAIC [SOLAR] TRADITION