The City of Alexandria
In the northern banks of ancient Egypt was a port city known as Rhakotis. Very little is known about this city except that eventually, Alexander the Great would turn this site into the city of Alexandria. Here, the Serapeum of Alexandria was built which was a temple dedicated to the local god, Serapis and the location of the legendary Library of Alexandria.
Here, the modern occult was formed by the mystery schools present. Some of the first writings that would lay the foundation of the Great Work were written by the sages and priests of the temple including the Septuagint (written in the 3rd century BCE), Gnostic writings, and Hermeticism. From these teachings, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, mystical Judaism, and Valentinian Christianity emerged before being perverted into literalism by Catholicism. Sadly, the temple was destroyed in fear and those who knewthe Secret of God had to go into hiding, hence creating the occult which would eventually be taught in plain site as alkemy.
Alexandrian Pantheon
All of the deities are allegorical beings meant to represent aspects of alkemy. Their stories, personalities, and imagery are all meant to relay a hidden meaning and are designed to be reflected and meditated upon. Even the most simplistic of images - whether a drawing or a statue - are enough to be able to communicate with the deities as all deities are simply archetypal aspects of ourselves.
Serapis
God of the Underworld & Rebirth
Haroeris
God of Balance
Aion
God of Cyclic Time
Isis
Goddess of Healing & Magic
Hermanubis
God of Death
The Dioskouroi
Twin Gods of Seafarers & War
Harpocrates
Child God of Secrets
Hermes Trismegistus
God of Knowledge & Writing
Sothis
Goddess of Sirius
The Abomination that causes Desolation
In 381 CE ,the Second Oecumenical Council officially codified what was to be considered the canon works of the Christian Bible to provide unity and clarity to the freshly formed Catholic Church whom the Roman Emperor Constantine was the first pope of. From this, modern Christianity was officially born eventually leading to the formation of Lutheranism and the Protestants.
​Before this moment, Valentinian Christians among many others did not believe in a canon set of texts. In fact, it was common practice for individuals to write their own "gospels" such as the Shephard of Hermas (written in the 2nd century) which was even included in the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the earliest compiled bibles.
This is because the original authors and believers carried on the traditions of the Alexandrians and upheld that the stories were not meant to necessarily be taken literally. Instead, they were to be meditated upon to learn the Secret of God. Once one heard the voice of God, they then would provide their own contribution to the Great Work to continue the tradition with the ultimate goal being the construction of the Philosopher's Stone. Stories did not need to be consistent even unto themselves. All that was needed was for the Secret of God to be preserved.
The authors of the Book of Revelations knew this and saw that literalist Christianity was on the rise and likely to win and so wrote the text to preserve the warning against the beast in the form of an occultic message.
Over time, the Greek texts were translated into Aramaic and Hebrew with the oldest known Hebrew bible (the Leningrad Codex) being written in 1008 CE. Most modern Hebrew bibles are based off of the Masoretic texts which are based off the Ben Asher manuscript written in the 9th century CE and were written in Cairo, Egypt. However, the Qumran Cave Scrolls a.k.a. the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Palestine contain Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts ranging from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE.
The myth that the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic is not historically supported as the oldest biblical text known was written in Alexandria and in Greek as far back as the 3rd century BCE. This lie was likely created to reinforce the narrative that the bible was meant to be literally true and this practice is still observed to this day.
Despite the Greek (3rd century BCE) and Latin (Codex Amiatinus being written around 700 CE in England) texts both being older than the Hebrew used today (9th century CE), modern practitioners of Christianity and Judaism still firmly believe that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew because it backs a literal interpretation of the Bible. By accepting that the bible was not meant to be interpreted literally and instead is meant to be seen as a contribution to the Great Work, one can begin to hear the voice of God.
Revival
During the Dark Ages, the Holy Roman Catholic Church ruled supreme and although Rome was gone, the fear of Rome was not. The Vatican was the true capital of the world. All who denied the literalism of the church was to be killed as heretics. The Knight Templar were formed for this singular purpose: preserve the Vatican's view of God.
The occult continued on in hiding and eventually, Islam also was born and the secret continued to remain underground. However, the occult found a way to continue the teachings in plain site - through art.
The emblems of alkemy relayed the message for many years but in order to avoid persecution, they retained the Christian narrative and claimed that they were studying how to transmute base metals and materials into gold. This allowed them to also gain favor with the king and even receive funding for their research. Thus, under the guise as religious scientists, the alkemists continued the Secret of God. Those who were not initiated came to believe in literal "alchemy" but those who were truly initiated simply continued to contribute to the Great Work.