The DEIFIED MONKEY

or

the Unfinished Consciousness of Mankind

It is sometimes odd to notice how much certain animals were revered while today, they generate a real aversion, as the reptiles and saurians.

The monkey, if one does not run away, immediately induces imitation and buffoonery. He is dissipated, noisy, animal of exhibition extirpated from his jungle and dragged from a circus to another one, sort of unfinished hominid because he is not endowed with word or consciousness.


To look at a monkey, it is to perceive ourselves thousands of years ago, certainly agile, but still with bent back and hooked legs.
Would have then the great Thot shown inconsequence taking back the symbolism of the " Great White", (Hez-Ur in Egyptian) this cynocephalus-baboon, with a lengthened snout like a dog who asserts to be his assistant?
Him, " Pa aa, pa aa, pa aa ", "great, great, great"?


One son of Horus the Ancient was revered as god Hapi. The " Canopic jar baboon" in which one put the lungs of the deceased. And he had for task to protect the throne of Osiris in the " World of Below ".

There is a god of the subterranean worlds Babi, deification of the baboon, of which it would be enough to pronounce his name to penetrate into his space?

One considers him as " bull of baboons ", in other words " leader of the pack ", " primordial male ".

And this is the literal meaning of " babi ". Him who embodied the virility of the deceased, the sex in erection because symbol of a highly focused on sex species.
A sex which was utilized as mast of the boat which led the just souls towards the Egyptian paradise, the Aaru islands, generously ruled by Osiris, the eternally beautiful one ?

Why the so revered Hedj Wer monkey inspired the wise men and brought, in a way, the sacred word where it had to be spread ?
Because he welcomes with his screams the sunrise which has just emerged from its fight with Apopis.

And for the Egyptians always prompt to observe, he became mediator between the men and the solar gods?
Maspero writes: " the habit that have certain species of monkeys to assemble in a kind of plenary court and to noisily chatter together, just before the sunrise and the sunset almost justifies the Egyptians to have confided to cynocephalus the responsibility to greet the celestial body every morning and every evening when it appears in the East or when it fades in the West ".

In Babylon, the warm baboon was in the image of the sun, ape-like Pheobus handling bow and arrows.
Artefacts or sculptures show him bearing the solar disk.

Nevertheless, the hieroglyphic representation of the "furious" word was similar to the baboon, to the cynocephalus, tucked up chops, erected tail, all teeth out. Because the baboon is quarrelsome, violent, aggressive and lustful. He creates his harems, molests his females, attacks his congeners and invades the territory of his neighbour without the slightest problem of consciousness. What reminds the man in prehistory or still nowadays...
Besides the Egyptians believed that baboons were the died ancestors of men because they possessed in common affinities and mentalities.
( A contrario, HP Blavastsky writes that the monkey is the degeneration of man).

Then how, from Egypt, this symbolism was able to invade the heights of Tibet, to animate theRamâyana of India or still the complex Chinese mythology of these old times ?
Let's go together through cultures and continents, if you want it.

I - Monkeys and Tibetans
In Tibet the monkey is synonymic of consciousness.
But a limited one, a "daily" one, which "jumps" from an idea to another one without consistency nor depth.
So, for the Tibetans, the monkey embodies the man without Spiritual Consciousness by opposition to the basic consciousness, that of the sensitive world: I know my name, if I sleep or not, if I am hungry or thirsty...
If the jumps of monkeys evoke our mental errors (and the akkashhic kundalini), they immediately bring us back to agility.
Agile for running away, agile for closing one's eyes, agile for taking offence... such is the man. What? Such monkey, such man?
But, when the monkey jumps from a branch to another one, he rarely falls. He masters his body, his action, his state.
And so, little by little, the monkey also becomes for the Tibetans, Boddhisatva. Who so join the Egyptians considering the monkey as their ancestor.
The monkey, in the Si-Yeou-Ki, son of heaven and earth, born from the division of the primordial egg is a companion of the Hiuan-tsang in his quest for the holy book of Buddhism. A facetious companion, as it is said to us, but also important taoist magician.
A history which is known under the name of King of Monkeys (Saiyuki in Japanese and Xiyouki or Xiyouji in Chinese) which makes the link and junction between the Tibetans and the Chinese myths.

In another way, the monkey is symbol of the erratic movements of the unconsciousness.
He manifests himself in a rough, negative way and without any control or on the contrary favorable and beneficial. It is the brilliant inspiration or the enjoyment of an unexpected present.
Here is what tells us the Tibetans in the tale of the monkey Mani and his wife "Demoness-in rocks".
Avalokitechva and his wife Tara, after the flood, were embodied in monkey and demoness. Six beings were born from their union, mid-men, mid-monkeys.
But the monkey Mani/Avalokitechvara had married the demoness at the request of the gods, and by compassion.
One says that the Demoness had threatened him :
( Soun source - Ariane Mc Donald translation)

"....by the strength of my appetites, I love you,
I burn for you;
by the strength of this love, I pursue you and beg you;
If we do not have to live together you and I,
I shall go myself serve as partner to the demons;
A multitude of small demons will be born
they will devour every morning one thousand times one thousand beings...
And I, when the power of my previous acts will make me die,
I shall fall in the great hell of the beings... "

So, humankind was born from the compassionate monkey and from the Demoness-aux-rochers, what could explain the duality of human nature. Their children received the ten virtues of men and on behalf of the gods, the seeds, gold and precious stones.


II - The myth of Sun Wukong and the Chinese 
This legendary tale describes the turbulent expedition in the India of the 7th century, of the bonze, Xuanzang, accompanied with the monkey Sun Wukung, the pig Zhu Bajie and Shaseng, the bonze of sands.
The monkey has for mission to quieten down and to realize his still latent potential.

(image wikipédia - Sun Wukong in Xiyou yuanzhi (西遊原旨), published 1819.)

The two other ones have to erase the consequences of their past errors which transformed them into demons. The bonze's mount is a dragon prince transformed into horse.
This book which dates from the Ming period ( 1363 - 1644), shows a smart monkey who regularly serves with his fantastic powers the bonze of which the incredibly naive personality makes him the prey of all demons who meet him.

But let's come back to our "magic" monkey.
Sun Wukong (note that in English, his name is "sun") takes back all the psychic and magic powers which rightly are attributed to the gods and to the heroes which today populate our society.
Gifted with an immense strength, Sun Wukong runs at an inconceivable speed. Mid-Hercule, mid-Superman, he also can take all shapes and fights like the best warrior.
Furthermore, he commands the elements, great basis of an effective magic, he freezes human beings, demons and gods!!!

This incredible character was born from a mythical stone (note: erected magic stones, philosopher's stone)itself engendered by the primitive forms of chaos.
The other monkeys honor him as a god because one day he discovered a big cave hidden behind an immense waterfall, where they sheltered and hid from their enemies.
Determined to find immortality, Sun Wukong (Chinese Gilgamesh) leaves towards civilized territories and acquires manners and human language. He becomes the favourite disciple of master Bodhi (light). But because of too many jokes, he is dismissed from the temple.
Then he becomes the most influential and the most powerful demon of the world. He acquires during his uncountable journeys other gifts and magic powers.
He challenges the hells with the purpose of getting back his soul. He erases his name from the " Book of the dead and of the alive " and finally lands in front of the Jade Emperor, in Heavens, where, rebel, he steals the " peaches of immortality ".
Then, he flees to his kingdom and prepares the rebellion.
But he will be defeated by the 100 000 celestial warriors. (100 000 are needed to vanquish him ! ).
Besides, it will be impossible for the celestial god to kill the monkey, who after staying 49 days in a fire cauldron, explodes it and appears more powerful than ever.
The Buddha himself cannot either mast or coax him. He will only manage to lock him 500 years.
Following numerous adversities, Sun Wuong will be enthroned "Buddahood" (the Visionary) for services he gave to Life.

So, the leaping consciousness of the monkey becomes cosmic consciousness if the mastery intervenes. And that one dares to travel, to learn, to understand and to open oneself to new horizons.

In India, the monkey also is royal and experiences numerous adventures.

III - Hânuman, the monkey 
In the Ramayana, Hânuman the monkey possesses characteristics similar to Sun Wukong.
First of all a word about Ramayana.
This " route of Râma " is the second fundamental writing of Hinduism and Indian civilization after the Mahâbhârata.
It consists of 7 books and counts 24 000 verses.
The Ramayana begins after the birth of Râma, avatar of Vishnou, with the complaint of the devastated Earth which addresses Vishnou, and puts the god in front of his responsibilities.
So this work is the history of Râma, how it was pushed aside from the throne in spite he was the legitimate heir, how he conquers his wife Sîta.
Kidnapped by the demon Râvana (below / wikipedia) and imprisoned in Lankâ, Râma leaves to look for her, frees her and finally gets back his throne.

But he succeeds in freeing her only with the help of Hânuman whose name means " with strong jaw ", a gifted monkey with incredible powers: herculean strength, swiftness, mobility...

Hânuman is the general of the army of monkeys.

( Below: the army of monkeys of Râmâyana, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand)

Hânuman is son of Vayu and Pawan, god of the wind.
The wind which one cannot seize, which spins by squalls..... appropriate symbol of the monkey.
Hânuman lifts mountains, kills the demons and even competes in speed with Garuda, mid-eagle, mid-human being, which served as vehicle to Vishnu.
This god is always very popular in the villages of India.

What characterizes Hânuman in Ramâyana is his indestructible loyalty to Râma. All what he is, his acts, his thoughts, are dedicated to his spiritual master : he is the perfect disciple.
No village can be built without the protection of Hanuman. So, every founder of village at first sets up his statue.

When, after the victory, Râma wanted to reward him, Hânuman refused, too happy to have contributed to make justice and to the love between two beings.
Loyalty and nobility of soul characterize Hanuman. Actually, after the cow and the snake, the monkey is the third great sacred animal of India.
Below, the coronation of Râma, notice Hanûaman at his feet and Ganesh, the elephant god , on his right.

IV - Conclusion. 
. For the Aztecs and the Mayas, the persons been born under the monkey day are talented for arts, industrious or gifted for handicrafts.
The monkey, for the Mayas, is quite specially associated with the sun, but this is not surprising, because Thoth, as Quetzatcoatl passed on to them many Egyptian symbolisms.
One also finds the same sexual temper which is ardent, fascinated and passionate.
. For the Japanese, he chases away the evil spirits.
. For the Africans of Cameroon or the Bororo Indians, the monkey gives fire, he is a civilizing hero and thus invents the fire by friction.
The monkey asserts himself as Initiated.