6
Recurring Power
"Then there will be a second Tiphys, and a second Argo
with its crew of chosen heroes. There will be second wars,
and once again great Achilles will be despatched to Troy."
— Virgil, The Eclogues, IV, 34–36
Vassals and Lords
Who were these rulers in the past and what connects them to each other today? Did they know each other long before? Following El Ochre (7 December 2024), we find them among the early rulers of Assyria and Parthia.
Benjamin Netanyahu can be found among the early Assyrian kings in the 21st–20th centuries BCE. His name is recorded in the king list as Hayani. We find him again as Hayanu among the Hyksos (Canaanite) kings of Egypt's Fifteenth dynasty, the local form of his ancient name rendered as Khyan. Several modern Israeli leaders are drawn from this period which then amounted to a Canaanite occupation of Lower and Middle Egypt. We may see a parallel of this in modern Israel's occupation of Palestine. Netanyahu's name comes up once more among the rulers of Assur in the 1st century CE. Assur was then the capital of Assyria and effectively a city-state ruled by a succession of usurpers, although Assyria itself was under Parthian sovereignty. He was then known as Hayyay, a usurper of Arabic descent, and contemporaneous with Parthian King of Kings Vologases I (Vladimir Putin). King Hayyay constantly vied with rivals to hold onto his rulership but, significantly for us today, his entreaties to Vologases for recognition and support as vassal lord went largely ignored.
As may be expected, Bashar al-Assad comes from the Assyrian kings of old at the end of the 7th century BCE. He was none other than Ashur-uballit II, the last ruler of the empire. Like Netanyahu, Assad also ruled the city-state of Assur, but in the 2nd century CE. Known then as R'uth-Assor, he was one of several rival usurpers vying for lordship under Parthian sovereignty. He vacillated in allegiance between Vologases III (today Lukashenko of Belarus) and the usurper Osroes or Chosroes I (today Iran's Supreme Leader Hosseini Khamenei).
Old Enemies, New Allies
As former client kings and honoured citizens of ancient Rome, you could expect Orbán and Erdoğan to feel indebted to America, the New Rome today. However, since a succession of Roman emperors (including Nero) forced them to renounce or abandon their thrones, their loyalties lie elsewhere today. Understandably. In the course of their careers, both Orbán and Erdoğan have shifted their political allegiances as they once did when Antiochus and Tigranes rose to power, first by registering their opposition to a common rival, and then by aligning with an adversary. In the current scenario, Orbán and Erdoğan began as anti-communists and opposed authoritarian governments until, securely in power, they began selectively supporting Russia and China — or at least endorsing the leaders of these countries on select occasions. Ironically, they are now authoritarian leaders themselves. We shall return to the transpersonal lives of Chinese president Xi Jinping in another post. As former siblings, Putin and Zelensky seem to have had an amicable relationship, although the older Vologases probably used his younger brother to advance his own political ambitions. Putin appears to be the reincarnation of Parthian Vologases I, King of Kings, and the big brother of Tiridates I, King of Armenia. Both were active in the mystery rituals of Zoroastrianism. When Vologases invaded Armenia, then a client state of Rome, and set Tiridates up as a new vassal king, he put himself at odds with the Roman empire. After peace was established diplomatically, Tiridates travelled to Rome to be officially crowned by emperor Nero. Though privately disgusted by Nero’s ceremonial extravagance and personal indulgence, Tiridates nevertheless paid obeisance to him as his overlord. Geopolitical alliances are not only ideological or pragmatic but, evidently, a lot more personal. Much of what we see occurring across borders today, west to east, is based on old ties and former loyalties.
As already discussed, modern Russia is heir to the souls of ancient Greece. We now wish to add that this recurrence is far more pervasive than a few Athenian statesmen, lawmakers and poets returning to reform their new city. Rome, Parthia and Armenia also bequeathed their souls to Eastern Europe: Orbán, Erdoğan, Putin and Zelensky do not come from that corner of the world but were contemporaries in the 1st century CE, and all tied to Nero who constantly meddled in their affairs.
As former siblings, Putin and Zelensky seem to have had an amicable relationship, although the older Vologases probably used his younger brother to advance his own political ambitions. Putin appears to be the reincarnation of Parthian Vologases I, King of Kings, and the big brother of Tiridates I, King of Armenia. Both were active in the mystery rituals of Zoroastrianism.
When Vologases invaded Armenia, then a client state of Rome, and set Tiridates up as a new vassal king, he put himself at odds with the Roman empire. After peace was established diplomatically, Tiridates travelled to Rome to be officially crowned by emperor Nero. Though privately disgusted by Nero’s ceremonial extravagance and personal indulgence, Tiridates nevertheless paid obeisance to him as his overlord.
Geopolitical alliances are not only ideological or pragmatic, but also personal. Much of what we see occurring across borders today, west to east, is based on old ties and former loyalties.
"I have the power to take away and to grant kingdoms."
— Nero, crowning ceremony of Tiridates in Rome, 66CE
Tiridates' visit to Rome culminated in an extravagant coronation ceremony followed by public festivities. For the event the capital was bedecked with flags, garlands and bunting. At night the streets and squares were illuminated by torches with great crowds of people seen everywhere. "No reception comparable to this in magnitude and splendour is recorded in the history of Rome." (Wikipedia) The grandeur and symbolism has been vividly described:
"When Nero entered with the senators and the guard, he ascended the Rostra and sat in his chair of state, looking back down the Forum. That is, as Tiridates I approached him through the ranks of soldiers, the rising sun would have hit Nero full on the face, in all his triumphal splendor. The prince then addressed the emperor from the ground, looking up to him on the Rostra: 'I have come to you, my Lord, worshipping you as I do Mithra.' The important point — something Nero would know as an initiate, whether others did or not — is that for Zoroastrians the sun was the eye of Mithra, and Mithra was often so closely associated with the sun as to be identified with it: 'the Sun whom they call Mithres,' as Strabo puts it. (Edward Champlin, Nero, 2003)
As noted at top, Putin and Zelensky are said to have been followers of Zoroaster in the mid-1st century CE. (El Ochre, 9 November 2016)
Putin was allegedly a high priest or hereditary magus who performed ceremonial roles. His actions were symbolic rather than mediumistic. His dualist rhetoric and war tactics today could be a continuation of his religious training and practice. If so, is his invasion of Ukraine to be seen as a Zoroastrian 'end times' in which, at least for him, good triumphs over evil and brings about the restoration of the world?
Zelensky, also a Zoroastrian priest, introduced several governmental reforms and, possibly, brought the Mithraic rites to Rome. In his case, his military strategy could be a re-enactment of the bull-slaying ritual of Roman Mithraism in which the bovine’s head is pulled back by the nostrils, not by the horns, while a short sword is thrust into the neck. Symbolically, the victory (or sacrifice) heralds the beginning of a new phase or age. If so, what will this mean for Ukraine and Europe?
Cyclical histories, Epochal dramas
Previous examples have shown how history repeats itself, or rather, how the same protagonists reappear to repeat similar dramas, from Roman emperors to American presidents, from Grecian thinkers to Russian writers, from ancient rival overlords to modern political allies. Given their scenarios we can conclude that it isn't history that repeats itself but, instead, the souls of returning men (and women) that repeat their own histories. They seem to ascend and descend, to rise and fall, as if forever.
Because such grandiose men re-enact the same epic dramas, history becomes cyclical and their dramas epochal. We now offer a deeper reading of three historical conflicts that started as battles and ended in wars, some of which are still being waged today. We cite El Ochre:
"History is cyclical and repeatedly replays epochal dramas, often with twists and turns. And in these dramatic replays the same chief protagonists may be seen reappearing in reincarnation. Many battles, for example, are replayed over the centuries and millennia, evidencing remarkable parallels.
One such example with which you are already familiar is the replay of the conflict between Hannibal the Carthaginian and [the Roman] Scipio Africanus in the North African campaigns of Rommel [Hannibal] against Montgomery [Scipio] during World War II."
"I now draw your attention to another more ancient illustration. As king of Egypt, Ramses II (the Great), fought the Hittite king Muwatalli II in the Battle of Kadesh [1274 BCE] resulting in a strategic stalemate — although both sides claimed victory in their respective propaganda. Muwatalli was subsequently assassinated and ultimately succeeded by Hattusili III who concluded the Treaty of Kadesh [1258 BCE] with Ramses II [celebrated as the earliest recorded peace treaty in history].
Nearly 3000 years later the Battle of Kadesh was karmically replayed — albeit on a much greater scale — in the theatre of the Great Northern War [1700 – 1721] between a coalition led by Peter the Great [Tsar of Russia], the reincarnation of Ramses the Great, and the Swedish empire under Charles XII, the reincarnation of Muwatalli II. This time their conflict ended in a decisive victory for Peter I. Charles XII fled into exile and sought refuge under the Ottoman Empire. Following his return to Sweden he twice attempted an assault on Norway and, after his army suffered critical losses, he himself was assassinated. His later successor, Frederick I, the reincarnation of Hattusili III, signed the Treaty of Nystad [1721] with Peter the Great, ceding territory to Russia, thus marking the decline of the Swedish empire and the rise of Russian imperialism."
"Which brings me to the current Russia-Ukaine War with its karmic roots in the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 CE over control of Armenia, a sovereign borderland buffer state. This struggle mirrors Putin's invasion to subvert Ukraine’s independent alignment; featuring contested spheres of influence, regime installation objectives, and a grinding, stalemated war of attrition. Since you already know the dramatis personae and their reincarnate identities [see Old Enemies, New Allies], I leave it for you to further research, if you will, the parallels in the twists and turns of this Shakespearesque tragedy."
Clairaudient disclosure given by El Ochre, transcribed by Laurence Oliver, 13 August 2026